One of many reasons I have always liked animals is that I like their feet and tails. Both of which are fun to play with, at least for me at any rate. Me life-long fantasy was and is to have a spider monkey since they have really long prehensile tails! That would be tail-playing heaven for me since the tail would wrap around my hand and arm! When some animals come along with extra long tails then it’s really a tail-playing Bonanza for me! One such tail belonged to one of our dogs. Max was a German shepherd we had when we were in high school (see pic). He had an unusually long tail for a dog as you can see. I used to love to play with his tail. Sometimes when he came in the living room and was glad to see us, he would sweep stuff off the coffee table with his wagging tail. Even when his tail wasn’t wagging, I would grab it and wag it for him much of the time! Despite the fact that Max was a pure bred German Shepherd, he really wasn’t that mean. This was a real asset when traveling salesman would come into our driveway. One such vehicle pulled in and the guy started getting out of the car and saw Max running at full speed toward him and barking. He quickly got back into his car, rolled the window up, and drove out! Gee, looking back, I hope he wasn’t from Publisher’s Clearing House with a million dollar check for us or something! Hmmm, come to think about it, he didn’t look like Ed McMahan, so I guess we didn’t miss out on the money. In a more contemporary time, i.e. the present I have Newman’s long tail to play with (see pic). He has an unusually long tail for a cat and when I take him to the vets, everyone admires him and comments how beautiful he is. In fact, Newman Long Tail is lying on the desk as I write this and I just stroked his beautiful long tail! Now in direct antithesis to long-tailed pets, we have had animals with short tails too. In come cases the short tails are due to external forces and not by birth. One example is the calf in the below pic. It was born during a really cold spell during the winter of 1990, its tail got partially frostbitten, and the end of it fell off! I am holding the part of the tail that fell off. We named it “Frosty”! When we were very young one of the “Ma” cats had kittens with no tails! They were all very shy and mean (Not just because of us). They would hiss and growl if we got anywhere near them. I’ve often wondered if they crossbred with a Bobcat or something! I guess there is a breed of cat with no tails, so maybe that would explain it. It sure beats me. It’s just one of those past mysteries in life. Ergo, my “tail” tale will end with no “tail”.