zaichikarky

My mom told me that when I was a baby, I would contort my face into a weird expression and convulse if I was given a stuffed animal. At first, she couldn't figure out this reaction and didn't know if giving me the toy was traumatic or ecstatic. Eventually she realized that it was my way of expressing immense joy so I was given many stuffed animals throughout my life.

I love soft things. The things most softest and pleasant to the touch in this world is animal fur. The unfortunate part is that people take their enjoyment of soft animal skins too far. So many animals have been nearly hunted to extinction because people enjoyed wearing them. The Native Americans living in the Great Plains used all parts of the buffalo in their daily lives for both ritual and sustenance. They depended on the great beasts for their livelihood, many tribes nomadic, traveling with the migrating herds. When the whites came to town, all they wanted was the hide. Side effects of the business was the destruction of the Plains Indians way of life, which was ideal for both the settlers and the government. The fur trade destroyed 4 million buffalo in just 3 years in the late 1800s. The American buffalo, who once numbered in the 10s of millions was nearly wiped out by the end of the fur trade in 1884. Bison are making a comeback in the plains, but a far cry from the early settler depictions of the animals.

Suddenly a cloud of dust rose over its crest, and I heard a rushing noise as of a mighty whirlwind, or the charging tramp of ten thousand horse. I had not time to divine its cause, when a herd of buffalo arose over the summit, and a dense mass, thousand upon thousand, gallopped, with headlong speed, directly upon the spot where I stood. . . . Still onward they came—Heaven protect me! it was a fearful sight.
- "Scenes in the West; or, A Night on the Santa Fe Trail, No. III,"
Philip St. George Cooke, Southern Literary Messenger, February 1842

So many more animals have been driven to near extinction due to the value of their fur and overkill as a result of that. Beavers, Otters, Foxes, Minxes are among the American species most valued for their fur. The animals who aren't caught in the wild by traps are raised on farms where they are put under great stress, cramped in small cages.

My mom bought a gorgeous fur coat about 8 years ago. It better be, because it literally cost a grand. She travels to Minnesota for business as her main company office is there and it gets well below freezing. The outside of the coat is covered in stripped hide while the inside is enveloped in the softest fox fur imaginable. I still sometimes stroke the fur, just to experience the rich quality. It is the most elegant tactile sensation imaginable. But it's a bitter sweet feeling, for every time I do, I think "how many foxes were killed to make this fur coat?" At least 10, I must reason.

A couple years ago, when I was shopping with mom to find a warm coat I could wear in Japan, we found a really nice one with a nice hood. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the hood was made from fox fur. She insisted she get it for me, even though I said I wouldn't wear fox, but I guess I didn't protest enough. The coat still sits in my closet. I suppose I could take the hood off.

At least there are some instances where animals are not killed to make soft things for humans to enjoy without guilt.

The panda on the right is Horny Panda. He got his name because he apparently loves to hump people in the face... actually he just loves to do that to my boyfriend. At some point, every time he would be mentioned, my boyfriend would just mutter "FUCKING PANDA". Since my boyfriend lives out of state, I said that Horny Panda was lonely because he couldn't hump him anymore... so he got it a "mate", that one to the left.

Horny Panda is made from Alpaca fur( a type of long-haired llama). He came with a tag that explicitly said that no Alpaca were killed to make his kind. Either they died of natural causes, or the Alpaca were simply groomed for their fur.

While alpaca fur is nice, my "best friend" is made from typical synthetic stuff-animal. While touching animal fur gives me the most tactile excitement, she has a calming effect which overpowers sensory stimuli.

Banja:

She's not a teddy, she's a dog, actually. Her name is derived from both "bandana" because she has one, and "banjo" because I somehow thought that since she has a bandana, she should play the banjo. My grandma and mom were with me when I bought her, and said that it's a she, because she has pink paws. While other stuffed animals, who weren't given away by my mom to either the neighbor's kid or the dog are on display, she is basically the only one left who serves her original purpose for comfort.

She replaced my old best friend, Baby Simba, because she's the perfect size to hug when I'm crying over nothing. One time I was crying because the remote was broken. Yeah, I know, it was a really big deal, ok! My boyfriend was around at the time and complained that I was hugging her instead of him.

Him: Hey. You're supposed to hug me for comfort when you're sad. That's what I'm here for. You're hugging that bear thing.
Me: She's a dog.
Him: Yeah, I know. Cry Sob. *pets me*.

I'm not going to be home for one and a half months. I've learned to travel without Banja, so I guess I'll use Horny Panda for now. She's at her place, on my bed, where she'll be waiting for me.

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