Dear all:

A few months ago, I rushed across town to at least catch some of the NYLCA conference after 
spending the morning doing a support group.  As I was walking fast (which usually is faster than 
taxis or buses) I was wondering if it was worth the walk.  And it certainly was.  Diane Weisseninger 
gave some fascinating information on how animals respond to the birthing process and in one 
part she showed a fawn they had been abandoned and how it would not feed until its neck was 
stretched out and it had support underneath the neck and jaw.  (I'm sure I'm not doing her talk 
justice) but I remember saying that there had to be a sequence of stimuli for the fawn to respond.  
So, I have been watching how the flailing baby syndrome - you know the babies who fling their 
heads from side to side really doesn't happen if you plaster them to their mothers bodies wiht the 
neck in full extension with no gaps at all.  I don't see the flailing anymore.  Then my son wanted to 
go to the Museum of Natural HIstory for a talk on Predators.  One of the animals was a six week 
old abandoned bear cub.  Guess how the keeper fed him - body dangling over the forearm with 
legs splayed, neck stretched out, chin supported by the V between thumb and forefinger.  He fed 
beautifully in that position.  No curled up ball with the bottle held up.  

I think we might learn a lot from animal behaviorists!

Best, Susan E. Burger

PS.  Having had a dad who appeared gruff but had a soft spot for animals, we always seemed to 
have some reproduction going on from our assorted adopted pets (including at one point an owl 
and a fox).  Usually the first litters weren't too successful.  Unfortunately, the bunny learned 
quickly.  After her first litter of 10 died, we eventually ended up with 27 bunnies.  We could never 
figure out how this happened since she was always kept in a separate cage from the two males.   
My mother valiently tried to dropper feed the first litter that the bunny abadoned with the 
expected negative results. 

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