Today the Department of Awesomely Good Deeds salutes Mustafa Efe, Imam at the Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque in the historical Üsküdar district of Istanbul, Turkey. In addition to his religious and community leadership work, Efe is a devoted animal lover with a great big heart. Last year he began welcoming the city’s numerous stray cats and their kittens into his mosque. Efe refers to his feline visitors as “guests” and wants them to find safety and warmth within the walls of his historic mosque, particularly during the cold winter months.
One mama cat was observed bringing her newborn kittens into the mosque one by one. She carried them in her mouth up the stairs and over to the safety of the mosque’s pulpit, where she proceeded to groom and feed them:
On Facebook Imam Efe wrote, “The kitty has found the heart of compassion and mercy.” Meanwhile other feline guests are known to sit in on Imam Efe’s sermons alongside human congregation members.
The crows she feeds obviously have their own little lives. They go about their business, and they spot *pretty thing* or /unique thing/ in question. What gets me is that the *first* thing on their minds as recipient of this thing is the little girl that feeds them.
They spot a thing, and immediately must think, “that nice girl with delicious foodstuffs must have this to show my gratitude.”
It’s actually more than that, though, if you read the articles or watch the videos. This has taken place over YEARS- it started with these birds following this little girl around because she was a messy eater and it has turned into a ritual for the family. They have a water station and food stations where they daily set out things for these birds and sometimes (but not always), these birds leave ‘payment’ behind for the food.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE
These birds are not just taking food and leaving shinies. These birds are watching over this family now. Their lives have become involved. These crows are keeping track of this girl and her mother even when they are out of the yard. How do we know?
One of them is a photographer, and one day while she was photographing some stuff on a bridge, she dropped her camera’s lenscap over the edge. There was no way she could get it back, so she left it. When she got home, the lenscap was sitting on the edge of one of the feeding stations, waiting for her.
Not only were the birds following and watching over her, they were smart enough to realize she dropped an Important Thing and cared enough to bring it back to her.
Fibromyangela 