Animal ghosts?

[PariahPoet]

I am curious- does anybody believe in or have experiences with animal ghosts? I have never encountered a human ghost, but I have had a couple experiences with what I think were animal spirits.



This is something that happened to me.

When I was very young my parents used to take me to the Ellen Trout zoo which was about an hour away from my house. I was always drawn to the predators. The big cats and wolves in particular.
I would spend hours at the wolf exhibit. There was one girl in particular that I really bonded with. When I stood at the glass she always came over and tried to lick me through the pane(a wolf's expression of respect and acceptance). I wanted to reach her so badly and I think by the way she acted that she felt the same. I was so young I think she thought of me as her puppy.
Several months went by without a zoo visit and one night I woke up and needed to go to the bathroom. When I stepped into the hall, there was a wolf there. It didn't move or make a noise, it was just standing there watching me. I yelped in surprise because it startled me. We didn't have any inside animals so it could not have been a pet.
It was gone in an instant and when my parents heard me and came out I told them I saw a spider because I didn't want them to think I was crazy.
The next time I visited the zoo the wolves were all gone. I heard from somebody that parvo or distemper or something had come through the pack like wildfire and killed every one.
I know this sounds like a stupid campfire story, but this is just what happened. Take it or leave it.
I'm convinced it was "my" girl coming to say goodbye to me finally without that glass between us.




I heard some more stories at Mission:Wolf. The owners of the sanctuary swear that some of the wolves who have passed on there are still around. They talk about one that runs through the guest tee-pees at night and another that they can hear crunching on a bone behind the outhouse.

[WerewolfKeeper3]

i believe in them... even though i've never even seen a ghost, i do believe humans are not the only ones with souls that can become trapped here...

And i believe your story... you're not the type to lie about it. And one last question: you ever get the feeling there's something watching you? And not the creepy kind either...

I'm kinda wondering if your girl is still watching over you...

[Spongy]

I've never enountered ghosts of any kind. I'm not sure if I believe in them or not, but the idea of them both intrigues me and frightens me. The idea that something (supposedly) non-material can exist in a material plane/reality... It boggles my mind.

[IndianaJones]

Wow, that's quite amazing. Never heard that before in my ghost readings of Haunted Places around America. The Wolf you know and love. What happened to your girl? She is saying her good byes to you and letting know that she is going to be alright and is moving on to a better place. She disappeared after you saw her, right? I heard that not just your deceased loved ones visit you during their afterlife. Animals like pets that people loved and cared for, also visit their masters. Sometimes you have a feeling of being watched, not really menacing or creepy. It means that they are still looking out for you, after they have passed on.

Yes, almost all animals have spirits. Wolves, of course. Mostly mammals and birds. Whoever says that animals don't have feelings, love, emotion, personality, and respect deserves a good hit in the face! Because they mostly all have those traits, even in the wild! They show those to fellow animal kind and some predators who tried to hunt them, but failed miserably. Animals feel pain and sadness too. Makes me why wonder humans can be sadistic killer to helpless innocent animals who only just want food, water, love, and shelter. Some wild animals ignore people and fear them, because they cannot trust humans. We all know what humanity did to animals. People who says that animals are here for food and supplies, pisses me off!!!!

Animals are not meant for that. They can be our teachers, best friends, beloved family member, and close companions. Most animals have more open to higher frequencies and dimensions than humans. They can sense unseen presence and unseen beings. Pretty creepy, that they can see something that we cannot see, but we can feel it. Dogs and Cats are a great example. If you have a cat or dog in the house, be sure you house is haunted. They can sense ghosts, demons, and other oddities. They can also sense danger and warn you about it!

I LOVE animals so much!

[Vagrant]

I've no idea whether you'll believe me or not, because I don't believe myself considering how this could easily be attributed to problems with my site. I've seen a hell of a lot of ghost after-images. I've thought I've seen something, even to stare at it for a moment, and then my mind just decides it isn't there, and it isn't any more.

I once had the outline of a Cat wander around one of the rooms in my house, before--well, simply not being there any more. I've had a number of experiences like this, and they're all of the same kind of thing.

But as I said, I just attribute it to having bad sight, so my mind is playing tricks on me. What someone else might believe though, I don't know.

[Terastas]

My only personal experience with ghosts thus far was with an animal, specifically my pet cockatiel.

We lived in a really old, barely legal house in Salem for a few years. The heating in the place was crap, so while most of us lived on the second floor, we had all the birds kept in a room on the third floor because it was sunny and we figured that would be where most of the heat would gather. She was quiet for the most part, except for every now and then when she was happy and/or bored, she'd occasionally let out this single note loud enough that you could even hear it outside in the street over the roar of the traffic.

I tell you that because, after she died and up until we moved out of that house, I'd occasionally hear that sound coming from the room on the third floor. We had other birds in that room up until the move so I guess it's possible one of them could have learned to mimic her, but I doubt that because A) they all had pretty distinct voices of their own, and B) I never heard that sound again after the move, so I really do think that when she passed on, she left a little trace of herself behind.

[Xiroteus]

I believe humans can be ghosts not animals because they would be fine moving to the next place.

I believe they could be something else though.

[PariahPoet]

And i believe your story... you're not the type to lie about it. And one last question: you ever get the feeling there's something watching you? And not the creepy kind either...

I'm kinda wondering if your girl is still watching over you...

Thanks. I have been on this site almost since it began and I never brought up that story because frankly I didn't want people to think I was crazy or making stuff up. :/
I have always had a concrete, scientific mind and the experience never made sense to me because I did not believe in ghosts. But after seeing some things and hearing some stories I have become a little more open to the idea.

Funny thing, I was talking to some people a couple months ago and this guy randomly tells me he didn't want to scare me but he thought I was being haunted.
I don't put much faith in it since I have no idea how credible this guy is, but it was interesting anyway.

[Midnight]

.

[WerewolfKeeper3]

Thanks. I have been on this site almost since it began and I never brought up that story because frankly I didn't want people to think I was crazy or making stuff up. :/
I have always had a concrete, scientific mind and the experience never made sense to me because I did not believe in ghosts. But after seeing some things and hearing some stories I have become a little more open to the idea.

Funny thing, I was talking to some people a couple months ago and this guy randomly tells me he didn't want to scare me but he thought I was being haunted.
I don't put much faith in it since I have no idea how credible this guy is, but it was interesting anyway.

Everyone is afraid they'll be called crazy if they say "I saw a spirit"
Which is why no one ever does tell their experiences, or, when they do, no one believes them. I've never experienced anything, save the creepy, someone's looking over my shoulder feeling... which is really not good, since i'm next to an open door leading out into a dark hallway and i had that feeling a few seconds ago...

Anyway... i've seen alot of Haunted specials on the discovery channel. {I'm making my point, give me a minute} In every, single one, when people first start noticing things occurring, they either don't say anything, or, if it's a kid, they're not believed. Then, when all hell breaks lose, its like duh... you were warned prior to this, remember?

Which is why when my kid say "I saw a man in the mirror" someday, i'm going to say, "Okay... let's get the heck out of here..."

Back to the thread...

I had the feeling that, you were probably right about her thinking you were her puppy. Something also tells me... she would be watching over you still...

Great... now i'm jealous. Pariah's got a wolf spirit looking after her.

[PariahPoet]

Aww! :3
Yeah, I'd love if she was still around.

One time when I was visiting the zoo before they died I was at the window and she was licking it and some old coot came up and said "You be careful, that wolf's trying to taste you. He'd eat you up in a minute!". When I looked up he was completely serious!
Boy I was one pissed 6-year-old. Probably would have kicked him if I'd thought I could get away with it. XD Even at that age I had a low tolerance for stupid people!

[Scott Gardener]

I grew up in Nacogdoches, so I know that zoo, but I missed the wolves; I never got to see them. In fact, I didn't know they once had them. (I haven't been there in 14 or more years, so it's possible they could have since gotten new ones.)

My own ghost animal sightings are nothing nearly so dramatic. At one house where I used to live, one could occasionally see movement suggesting a little black cat darting out of the corner of one's eyes. I was not the only one who saw the being, nor even the first. The cat seemed harmless; our living cat Zara is much more scary than this phantom cat, though her resemblance is a little spooky; she's a black cat born a year after we moved.

[RedEye]

Technocrat here: IMHO:
It takes a Soul to make a ghost. It takes an "I AM" consciousness to make a Soul. Other things can be residues, genuis loci, or simply spirits who are wandering around.

Does a Wolf have a Soul? There is plenty of evidence that many animals have a separate awareness of themselves, an "I AM" awareness. These are individuals, separate persons in the animal kingdom. They are as individual as any person is, with unique likes and dislikes that are separate from instinct or learned behaviour.

In my experience, Wolves are definitely "Persons". They are individuals, who choose to unite into a group for their own benefit. The Alpha is most certainly a person who exercises authority over others in his pack, for the good of the pack.

So, yes; Wolves can make Ghosts who move with will and decision making capability. They may choose to stay with their pack out of the same reasons that they chose their pack to begin with. Eventually, they will move on, once they decide to do so.

And, as a side; Life is a form of energy. Energy may be neither created nor destroyed. It can only change. Energy is eternal, even as the Universe is.

[Whisperwind]

i totally believe animals can be ghosts/spirits... if anything, i think its likely that animal spirits are there for less selfish reasons than human ones! think about it.. animals feel like they have to protect those they bonded to (for the most part)... humans on the other hand.. its a lot easier to see a human haunting someone out of jealous or spite.

i havent seen any animals that i know of... although i have had experiences that lead me to believe there are spirits in general, mine were, if anything, human.

to be honest most of them creeped me out to no end, though, so i dont want to talk about them in further detail

[Wingman]

Hmm, the closest I've come to a ghost would be when me and my friend were doing idiot-kid stuff around town in the wee hours of the morning and saw what looked like, and I'm serious, a garden gnome running across a park. It was that exact size, though it was probably a bird, or pet or something. Still, it was strange.

Then the other day my bag or something in it was making some noise, and with the piles of snow alongside the road it sounded exactly like dog was walking behind me. Since pretty much every second dog I meet lunges at me, it wasn't exactly a happy thought. Some of those guys are huge.

That reminds me of the dog pack that was wandering around town a couple months ago. Since I get off work late, it was usually just me and them walking down the road, shooting glances at each other.


Eh, I'm perfectly willing to say that there's some strange stuff out there, like just the other day I commented on a song that Midnight was posting about, before he posted. If I can pull that off, a ghost isn't too much of a stretch.

[NetherMoon]

Some years ago I went through a bad period of my life. I suffered from insomnia, anxiety, and I couldn't sleep without having nightmares of all sort. Then one night, just as I was falling asleep, I had the feeling that a cat had jumped on the bed, and curled up by my feet, purring quietly. It went on for a week or so, just as I closed my eyes and I was almost asleep this cat appeared. It was a reassuring presence that reminded me of my old black cat who used to curl up on my bed exactly that way, when I was a child.
Maybe it was my mind that needed some rest and decided to do something to let me sleep well. I prefer to think it was a good ghost and I feel istinctively grateful to this cat for helping me.

[WolfMontana]

Lovely stories. Particularly enjoyed yours PariahPoet, and I believe you. I think it's awesome she came to visit you.

I've had a number of ghost experiences, including one with the ghost of a dog. I didn't see him though, just smelled him very intently out of nowhere. I have seen a few human ghosts though. My boyfriend, being an avid disbeliever of ghosts, was most stunned when a big ol' wooden door opened beside him in the Book Barn in PA, wide enough for someone to pass, paused, then closed again. Nobody there, no wind, and no prank setup.

Folks will very adamantly declare there are no such things as ghosts. That's fine. They're wrong. They just haven't had their own experience yet, and that's the only thing that will convince them. (and it'd have to be a real doozie for some folks, or they'll just convince themselves it was a trick of the light/weather phenomenon/hallucination!)

[MoonKit]

Well, this is a well timed topic considering I just finished watching the show Paranormal State for the first time and came online wanting to search into paranormal stuff again. Dun, dun, duh!

I have a tenancy to "trip" over ghost animals I guess.

I had a familiar once. A pretty (and very tough!) little ferret named Behr. (Familiars are animals...usually pets...that you share a very very strong bond with.) And we had several ferrets at the time and they used to be "free-range" ferrets and just wander the house at their leisure. And every time I would go into the bathroom and close the door, Behr would follow me, curious because she was shut out. And when I opened the door, I would usually end up tripping on her or kicking her by accident because I never knew when she would be there. Anyway, she died pretty young because of an accident (ferrets are prone to getting themselves into serious danger it seems) but later that night (possibly the next day), I came out of the bathroom and tipped over her! I swore so badly that she was actually there. I even went to yell at her for standing by the door. And it never happened after that. She was saying goodbye. They always do.

Also, a couple of times I've thought I saw, or violently tripped over, a phantom cat at work. And we do have a cat that wanders around the store (she lives there) and I always think it's her until I look and there's no cat. But maybe that's just a case of her astral traveling. You never know with cats do you?

[WerewolfKeeper3]

Aww! :3
Yeah, I'd love if she was still around.

One time when I was visiting the zoo before they died I was at the window and she was licking it and some old coot came up and said "You be careful, that wolf's trying to taste you. He'd eat you up in a minute!". When I looked up he was completely serious!
Boy I was one pissed 6-year-old. Probably would have kicked him if I'd thought I could get away with it. XD Even at that age I had a low tolerance for stupid people!

{Imagines if 6-year-old Pariah had kicked old man}
"Ow... you little..." Stares behind pariah, moved on...
Pariah turns and sees she-wolf growling, until old man leaves. She-wolf goes back to licking glass. Barks and tilts head when Pariah doesn't come closer to glass. Wags tail when Pariah returns to glass.
{Shakes head}
No idea if that would have happened but... eh...

Also... I think that would have been hilarious if you had kicked him.

[Scott Gardener]

The notion that only humans have souls was one I could never accept; it struck me as an attempt to keep humans "unique" in spite of mounting evidence that other animals feel emotions just as we do, and yes, dare I say it, even think, even if not in any verbose language. It struck me as contrived; either they have souls, too, or we don't, either, and you're just making it up. To me, a theological system in which humans have souls and other animals don't, in which something with consciousness doesn't have a soul unless it happens to be a member of the same species that came up with the idea, deserves to be filed along-side Nazi pseudoscience, Apartheid, Manifest Destiny, and all the millions of other human philosophies that started with the assumption that one group of beings is somehow in the mind of God inherently better than another.

The way a "soul" is described, it sounds more like a property of consciousness than one of biology. There's plausible connections between being conscious and having a soul. There's nothing that makes sense about humans having souls and nothing else having them. Empirically, I see too many people--advanced mental retardation, chronic dementia, and even just plain severe depression--who have less presence, will, and intent about them than the cat sitting in my lap right now, who is quite intent on staying there. The whole idea of "soul" is hard to test, so much so that too many in science just dismiss the idea altogether, as if not being able to test for it meant it wasn't there. I will not make this assumption, but it does strain logic to peg membership in one species, desperately struggling to hang onto the idea of its own importance in an ever-growing awareness of the vastness and indifference of the cosmos, as the thing that grants one immortality in some spectral form and preferential treatment by divinity. I'd sooner disbelieve in souls altogether than believe in, as one Klingon put it, a Homo sapiens Only Club.

Since I happen to be biased in favor of some form of souls and afterlife, I have been taking it as an assumption that it applies to other beings with consciousness. I must admit that I have problems that the humans-only believers don't--the lack of a discreet cut-off point between conscious organisms and non-conscious, for instance. Do sharks have tiny souls, while giraffes have larger ones, but not as big as those of dolphins? What about plants? There's a New Age-y premise that suggests that they do, or that they, and we, too, contain and swap out some sort of "cosmic energy" something. I won't pretend to know, but I did observe something that resembled the cat in my lap; whether it was her before assuming a lifetime or afterwards backtracking through the physical realm's timeline, or another cat's ghost, or something that just likes the form of a cat, I can only speculate.

[WerewolfKeeper3]

I agree...

(Same here...)

I don't understand why the human race does that...

And again, yeah animal ghosts are real...

[Dreamer]

Well, this is very interesting. I wonder when our forum's sole rationalist is going to muck up this beautiful discussion of souls and the nature thereof with nagging questions about waking dreams, wishful thinking and other things that make the mystical into just smoke and mirrors. Although I'm not saying that they aren't smoke and mirrors (I'm a skeptical agnostic who reeeeealy hopes of the existence of some Great Whatever in the Stars that is not named Azatoth).

Although Scott, your "mystical experiences" that I've heard of so far (Like that thing with the watch and the phantom cat) seem more coincidental than actually plausibly otherworldly, produced by your own unique world view..