If we are able to supply our animal companions with a natural life (free of chemical exposures and unnecessary toxins), adequate exercise and fresh air, and a diet of natural foods, they will thrive and have lasting health. Our vet bills will also be considerably lower, as our friends will suffer less illness (if any at all).

Now that you're noticing animals in all sorts of ways in your daily travels, which ones have a special message for you, and what is it?

Obviously, every single time you see a particular bird, it may not be an omen (unless perhaps it is). I carry a small notebook and pen in my pocket, so I can record "sightings" wherever I may be. If I can, I also write down what I was thinking or talking about at the moment of the sighting. Then later I can contemplate what the animals came into my life to tell me.

Animals are everywhere on our planet with us. We've taken them into our homes as friends and we go out and look for them in nature just to enjoy and observe them. In shamanism or native medicine way teachings, animals are also helpers to us in very powerful ways.