The Maternal Instinct: A Strong Bond In The Human And The Animals

The Maternal Instinct is something no one can see, but yet we all know it exists. Not even psychologists can explain it. This is a strong, compelling feeling that all Mothers understand. There are no scientific tests to prove or disprove this, but examples are all around us. Wikipedia defines Maternal Instinct as “a bond between Mother and Child”. It wonders me when I witness this bond.

We had a Mockingbird’s nest in our yard. Mama bird built it right in the middle of a huge cactus plant. This bird knew there were a lot of kids on our block, and she didn’t want to take any chances of a curious kid bothering her nest. She would sit on the nest for a while, then flutter over to a nearby tree for a while, and then back again. During her brief intervals away from the nest, we would run over and peek to see if the babies had hatched yet. She would watch us from the tree for a minute or so, the screech loudly and come after us. That would send us all flying to a safe zone. After a period of time, we just knew the baby birds should be hatched. We just had to see them. We very quietly tiptoed up to the nest. She was not on the nest, so we thought it would be perfectly safe. We were wrong. She came at us with a vengeance. We broke all speed records trying to get away from her. After that, we would watch from the safety of our front window.

Once, we had a hound dog who was expecting. She was the sweetest dog in the world. She chose to have her babies underneath our house. I had never seen puppies being born, and I was eager to share in her delivery. When the day came for her to have her puppies, I crawled on my belly to “help” her. She had chosen to go to the middle of the underside of the house. It was tight quarters under there. One puppy had already arrived, so I knew they would be more. I was very excited to share this miracle with her. I was almost up to her when she stopped her work, growled, and looked me straight in the eye. She told me in no uncertain terms to SCRAM! It’s very hard to back up full speed in tight quarters, but I did! From my safe place outside the house, but still on all fours, I could see what was going on, but I felt very left out. So, stupid me, I tried again to be a part of this experience. I just knew she would never bite me, because she loved me too much. I was mistaken. It was days before she would allow me to come closer to see her offspring. If I got too close, she would warn me with her eyes and her snarl to back off. She loved me, but she loved her babies more.

There is a strong maternal instinct in the animal world. There is a great bond between animals and family. It is heartbreaking when you read of poachers killing Mother Elephants, and leaving her baby behind. Fortunately, the other elephant mothers will take care of the baby. When they have the round-ups for wild horses, the Mothers are separated from their foals. This happens frequently. The methods used for rounding up these wild horses are quite brutal. They use helicopters to herd the horses into holding pens. The poor horses are so frightened, and some do not survive the experience

I remember after having my first baby, I could hear my baby crying in the hospital nursery. I knew her cry. I would get very upset if I thought she was not being attended to right away. I’d have to hold myself back, or I would have barged right in and taken care of her. After I took my baby home, I was so concerned that I wouldn't know how to care for her. I should not have worried, because I just knew what to do for her. It was as though Someone was guiding my hands.

A lot has been written about the Maternal Instinct between humans and animals. It is simply put: a very strong bond that no one can really explain: it just exists. Never get between a Mother and her baby, no matter what the species!