It's not size that matters...

"I know I'm just a tiny guy with a brain the size of a hazelnut, but I do know a photographic opportunity when I see e one! Tell me when to stop saying cheese... "

It used to be that, to satisfy our material needs, we wanted everything big! The bigger the better, the more impressive it became. Big diamonds, big cars, big houses, big bank accounts, this was what everyone yearned for, but only movie stars, millionaires and gangsters got.

Then along came the hippies who denied materialism and went for "flower power". The youth of Europe initiated a worldwide `break away' from the old traditions, the industrialized systems and the old wealth. They wanted to find meaning in life by going in the opposite direction of their parents and the first step was to give everything up, to have nothing. Now suddenly `little' was `in'.

To have as little as possible and to want nothing but "universal love" was the idea. Unfortunately a lot of that idealism went up in smoke when they all got busted for drugs and went home with their tails between their legs.

Then the `yuppies' emerged. To be accepted it became of matter of blending intelligence and sensitivity to become creatively productive. The computer age came to full blossom as mechanisms were refined. Now the tiniest gadget can drive the biggest machine. Our perspective has arrived at a point where we have realized size really is relevant. The smaller it is and the more functions it can perform, the more valuable it becomes.

In relation to this, I'd like to tell you about a tiny friend of mine whom I hold the greatest respect for, especially since he once demonstrated to us all just how clever he is, despite his size. Buddy is a 5-6 year old fruit bat who has been in captivity since he lost a wing to a cat when he was just a few months old. He was well cared for by a 9-year-old boy for over a year before he came to Love Animal Sanctuary where he soon became friendly with everyone. When we moved the animals to our new location last year, we took Buddy along in a birdcage. We hung him under the roof until we had a better place for him. Then one night a cat got up and opened the door. grabbed Buddy in its mouth and took oft with him into the forest whilst the staff watched helplessly. Of course we all thought he was gone forever. But, the next evening the caretaker heard a strange noise on top of - his roof. When he went out to have a look, there was Buddy perched above his door looking right at him.

He held out his hands and Buddy jumped into them. Not a scratch on him. Somehow he had managed to get away from the cat and find his way home to safety. It was a miracle! Or was it just common bat consciousness which the scientists haven't discovered yet?

The morale of this story is: It's not size that t matters, it's how it performs that counts!