Happy World Wildlife Day Juicers! This year’s theme is elephants, a noble species whom we all love and cherish despite its having been appropriated as a symbol by the T.rump party. But a species nonetheless in peril. Click the above link to see a cool global map of WWD-related events, and maybe attend one.
Also, check out Humane Society of the U.S. president Wayne Pacelle’s exclusive WWD interview with President Obama. (And for a less sanguine view than Obama’s of how TPP will affect animals, click here.)
More links below. As always, your fauna-related thoughts, views, news, and ideas are welcome in the comments. – Hillary
- Kenya to host Africa’s biggest-to-date conservation summit. Afterwards, the delegates will burn 120 tons of ivory to show “zero tolerance” for poaching.
- Remembering Tyke, an elephant who fought for her freedom in Hawaii. (Netflix is streaming a new documentary based on her story, Tyke Elephant Outlaw.)
- Federal court ruling reinstates 120 million acre “critical habitat” for polar bears. The Alaska Oil and Gas Association and state of Alaska had contested it as an impediment to oil drilling.
- Slaughterhouses kill people, too. “Domestic violence, social withdrawal, drug and alcohol abuse, and severe anxiety….Slaughterhouse workers, in essence, were ‘desensitized,’ and their behavior outside of work reflected it.” Speaking of which…
- Canada having trouble filling slaughterhouse jobs; hoping Syrian refugees will take them.
- New vegan food options from Hampton Creek (brownies, muffins, pancake mix, etc.) and Daiya (Ranch, Blue Cheeze, and Caesar salad dressings).
- Trusted news outlet reports on soybean farm brutality.
Hillary Rettig
Thinking of my maternal grandfather Leo Goldsmith right now. In the depths of the Great Depression, he took a job at a Chicago stockyard. He lasted two days…couldn’t handle it.
Betty Cracker
Here’s a question for animal lovers: Does anyone know how to keep feral cats out of a fenced in yard? We have a neighbor down the road who very irresponsibly feeds the poor critters but doesn’t have them spayed, etc., so the population is growing. I’ve seen them in my yard a time or two, and I’m afraid my dogs will catch one. There’s probably nothing I can do about it, but I thought I’d ask.
dedc79
@Betty Cracker: Seems like some useful info here about low/no cost spaying. Doesn’t directly address your fence question though.
ETA: And there’s not just the issue of your dogs getting at one of the cats.There’s also the fact that these feral cats are likely killing a lot of native birds.
Hillary Rettig
@Betty Cracker: Seems like Alley Cat Allies or one of the other TNR groups would have the answer to that.
A Ghost To Most
I have seen cats climb up and over a 5′ chain link fence in my backyard, not to mention a mountain lion that just jumped to the top and over. So fences probably won’t do it.
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: Get in touch with your local Alley Cat Allies, they trap spay and neuter ferals. They might have some ideas about how to deal with the situation you are facing.
Mary G
@Betty Cracker: Cats take it personally if you try to keep them out anyplace and consider it a challenge that must be overcome. If you have trees, they are probably safe, because they always have a bolt hole in mind. Also, too, your dogs don’t seem like the hunter-killer type, more couch potatoes.
Betty Cracker
Will see if there’s an Alley Cat Allies group willing to come out to the boonies — thanks!
@dedc79: I’m sure they kill lots of birds, and I’ve caught a couple of them eyeing my hens in their coop, but honestly, I’m not sure the hens wouldn’t prevail if a cat managed to bust into the coop.
PurpleGirl
@Hillary Rettig: Second the recommendation to look up Alley Cat Allies. They do good work in TNR of feral/community cats. (My friend Cassie met Kendra at one of their conferences. As a result, Cassie has taken many kittens and momcats that Kendra has in northern Alabama to find homes for them in Connecticut.)
ETA: I keep seeing the argument about cats killing birds. I believe that this has happened for thousands of years. Cats are carnivores, they eat meat. We still have cats and still have birds.
PurpleGirl
http://www.alleycat.org
dedc79
@PurpleGirl:
Are you serious? We have far fewer species of birds and far smaller populations of native birds, and feral cats are to blame for a lot of it. They are non-native, they drive native species to extinction. This is not really in dispute. (ETA: This is only in dispute in the same way that people claim climate science is in dispute)
Gindy51
@Hillary Rettig: My family was the one The Jungle was written for. Mom’s side, the chief’s of the industry, upper crust Chicago snobs from way back. Dad’s side, the immigrants who worked in the grime and filth that is the industry. How the hell the two of them met is beyond me, but it happened and the kids are stanch vegetarians as well as raising all our kids to be. Funny, that.
Gindy51
@PurpleGirl: Feral domestic cats are considered an invasive species in North America, hon. They do quite a number on ground nesting birds and fledglngs.My “farm” is a native wildlife sanctuary so we trap them and turn them over to the humane society for rehoming if they can. Feral cats are one reason family pets get FIV and other diseases.
Hillary Rettig
@dedc79: The housecats versus songbirds fight is one compared to which Clinton/Sanders pales…
I’m NOT gonna take sides except to point out that there are more reasons than just cats that songbirds are in decline – habitat destruction being a big one.
Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods gives an excellent description of what we’ve lost. Seems like in olden days you could walk through the woods and be absolutely deafened by the songbirds and other critters. Now things are mostly silent. So sad.
Hillary Rettig
@Gindy51: I would TOTALLY read that novel! What a great family story and lovely arc toward nonviolence! Thanks for sharing!
dedc79
@Hillary Rettig: One clarification – I was talking about feral cats, not house cats. House cats present their own problems, but on a different scale (Growing up our neighbors constantly had to chase away local house cats that would wait for songbirds to land on the bird feeder only to nab the birds, kill them, and then just leave them there.)
This is a big part of the problem. People are used to how things are now, and they don’t even realize all that’s been lost.
Hillary Rettig
@dedc79: thanks for the useful clarification!