I had a longer distance experience with a deer. As I looked out across the field, I saw a deer grazing. It turned and looked and despite the distance it was as if we were locked in a gaze together. It was about 5 minutes and as I turned and walked away, I had a "knowing" my dad was dying. That evening I got the call - you need to come now. Dad is dying. I don't know what this is between our animal friends and us, and it seems the unity of all beings and creatures on the planet becomes available to us in deeper ways in times of transition, at births and deaths, as we enter and leave.