Whether it is weeding one’s garden, hiking a forest trail, taking recycling to a center, or picking up trash in a waterway, when people interact with nature, they are cultivating their nurturing hearts toward the planet.

Across North America, ribbons of crows stretch over highways, rivers, and neighborhoods, converging with uncanny precision on favored roosts. They arrive in waves, first a dozen, then hundreds, then thousands, until entire trees seem to pulse with life. The air fills with a chorus of caws, clicks, and rattling calls.

At least since 2,000 B.C., humankind and horses have traveled, worked, fought, and raced together. Modern research into animal behavior is now finding that these animals—from giant draft horses to dainty ponies—are emotionally complex and highly intelligent.