Chapter 2: the Skat session

‘Karl-Heinz, hey watch out, make way!’ Swallow bird Herbert landed next to the grey senior with an elegant glide. Squirrel Karl-Heinz slowly looked up from his cards, which had been slightly disorganised by Herbert's airflow.

Karl-Heinz was the oldest squirrel in the forest. Nobody knew how many years he had been living in the tree hollow that once belonged to a woodpecker. When he wasn't angrily searching for nuts, which he was sure he had buried in a certain place, but which someone had surely stolen, he was cosily sitting in his home with a hazelnut cap full of raspberry juice and playing skat. Or so he claimed. Schwalbe Herbert was surprised that people didn't play Skat alone and that the cards were more like this children's game that sounded like UFO, but in the end, he didn't think it was that important.

‘Hey Karl-Heinz, have you heard?’ chirped Swallow Herbert excitedly. ‘Hm,’ said the senior squirrel. ‘What's that?’ ‘Little owl Zweistein was with his favourite human again.’ The squirrel looked up: ‘Ah, uh! So, does he have any news?’ ‘Yes!’ Herbert hopped back and forth nervously and knocked over the nut cup. The raspberry juice flowed over the floor and the senior squirrel looked at the swallow admonishingly. The bird flew onto a branch, where it felt much more comfortable anyway.

‘Zweistein says they've already started the trials. Favourite Human is now doing everything he can to gather arguments against this cruelty.’ The squirrel flapped his paws enthusiastically. ‘That's good,’ he cheeked, ’He's getting active! Hopefully he'll find enough arguments. It's just annoying that these other researchers think they can prove anything, whatever the cost. They won't even stop at living animals. And now they say it's only mice. And then what? Who knows what ideas they'll come up with next.’ Herbert fluttered up and down: ‘Yes, exactly! But Favourite human seems to be trying very hard. He gets up day and even night, opens this computer thing and then writes something down. Zweistein has noticed a lot. He says that this basic research, as they call it, is not compulsory. Nobody has to do it and nobody has to carry it out on animals. They only do it because there is more recognition among researchers and they can publish their results in more famous journals. But it hasn't been about the actual topic for a long time. They only ever change small things, then it's recognised as a modified experiment and they can test on new animals and publish something again. That way they earn money and don't have to worry so much about new, truly modified experiments. Because most people do it that way and there's a whole industry behind it, everyone thinks that's the way it has to be, that it's the only way to develop new things, such as medical drugs. But watch out, Karl-Heinz, here it comes! Favourite human has discovered that many companies that produce medicines would prefer to do without animal testing. They are too expensive and too time-consuming and, here it comes, too uncertain! There are now numerous research institutes that have developed methods that could even replace legally required animal testing. There are far too many animal experiments in drug research and development, but the companies are really putting a lot of energy into abolishing them.’ The senior squirrel's eyes grew big and round. He bobbed from one leg to the other with a smile and played with the nut in his paws. The bird continued: ‘So these researchers from basic research, they always want freedom in their research. But they are not free in their thinking at all. One follows the other and it's like a big kindergarten where everyone does what everyone else does because they want to belong to the group. Many are afraid to do something completely new. But that's exactly what makes researchers researchers, discovering something new and unprecedented. Zweistein says that some of them actually became researchers to do exactly that, to tinker freely and creatively with new projects. But since it's also about money, so that the research can continue, they do what everyone has always done. And those who donate the money want reliable results. However, Favourite human has also discovered that there are more and more creative and courageous scientists who sit down, let everyone else do and for themselfs so some soul-searching to find out what else can be investigated or developed. And then they do wonderful things without any animal experiments. Some still do research on animals, but not on laboratory animals that live their whole lives in cramped cages to be killed at some point. No, they study animals in real life. It used to be said that these experiments could not be compared as well as precisely prepared experiments in the laboratory. But favourite human believes that if you are intelligent and, above all, creative enough, you can carry out this research without suffering and in real life and achieve much more useful results. After all, you don't know all the influences that play a role in real life, but you also have to take them into account. It doesn't work in the lab, but automatically in real life.’

Karl-Heinz furrowed his brow. ‘And what does favourite human want to do now?’ he asked the little swallow, who was now all fluffed up with excitement. ‘He wants to carry out experiments himself, but without suffering. He also thinks that research alone isn't everything, you just have to be able to feel life.’

‘Yes, exactly!’ nodded the squirrel and looked deeply at Herbert: ’Tell Zweistein that this scientist could also become my favourite human.’ ‘I'd be happy to do that.’ Herbert chirped. ‘And now Karl-Heinz, how about a round of Ufo?...äh Skat I mean, of course!’ The squirrel senior beamed: ‘Of course, my dear. Come and flutter over to me and we'll play a round.’

Late into the evening, you could still hear chirping and singing from the tree trunk. Every now and then a little swallow would fly out of the hole, only to return a little later with a raspberry. Every now and then, a nutshell flew out of the hole. How much longer did they play, nibble and drink raspberry juice? Probably longer than the other forest animals would have liked.

Zweistein sat on a branch, gazed into the dusk and let out his familiar evening call: ‘Wuhuhuhuhuhuuuuuu!’