Kaje Harper's Top 5 Animals

For this game, we were asked to come up with a Top 5 list— any top 5 somethings— that say something about us. Well, I'm not a big food person, my tastes in music and movies were pretty much set decades ago, I don't travel much and I don't do clothes, like, at all. I'm still wearing a couple of shirts I had in high school (1976 for those keeping track.)  Given that Fair Isn't Life features Luke's beloved cows right on the cover, is it a surprise to any of my readers that I decided to do top 5 animals?

I'm taking dogs and cats off the list. Because we all love our fur babies, and Tate, my little dog, shows up everywhere with me. So, outside of dogs and cats, a favorite 5 animals? 

1 - I'll start conventionally with HORSES. I was that little girl who galloped around the back yard on  my own two feet, pretending to shy at blowing leaves. I was lucky enough to work with real horses later and learned to ride (even taught a bit.) I still love them in all their powerful, sweet, terrified-of-that-horse-eating-bit-of-paper beauty. 

2 - The ROCK HYRAX - fuzzy little 8-pound relatives of the elephant, hyraxes have cute noses, unusual foot-pads, live in burrows, can climb trees, and have interesting social structures. They also apparently chew loudly - not ideal roommates if you have misphonia.

3 - MAUI'S DOLPHIN - the smallest and rarest dolphin species, with black-and-white faces, a tuxedo front, and rounded black dorsal fins, about the size of an aquatic Labrador retriever. Beautiful, smart, and we may lose them soon. Cherish them.

4 - COWS - from the unusual to the commonplace, but I like cows. I didn't grow up around them, the way my character Luke in "Fair Isn't Life" did, but I worked on a dairy farm. They all had definite personalities, from sweet Anne (whom I put in the book) to aggressive Stephanie who would head-butt any cow who got in her way.

5 - GERBILS - these furry babies were the first pet I convinced my husband he wanted. Sweet, fun, social, with big dark eyes. Plus in this day and age, everyone needs a shredder. (They chew paper to nesting material in minutes.)

So - aside from our dogs and cats - what are your top five?