"So a bear walks into a bar in Estes Park..."

Yikes, I have over a year's worth of saved articles and links to share.  Time to catch up!

This story could have had a less than happy ending, but instead it made me smile.

I know some individuals need genuine emotional support, but maybe this privilege should have tighter restrictions on airlines so that dogs that have depression or anxiety issues of their own aren't put through this by owners abusing the system and ignorant of their dog's own emotional needs.  

While I believe everyone has a right to worship their deity/deities of choice, I don't think anyone has the right to practice religion at the expense of other animals' lives, whether it's confinement, handling, or sacrifice.  I hope the snakes win this one.

In the shadow of man?

This is a photo of a tiny prairie dog community on 104th Ave, next to the Albertson's chain grocery store.  This is one of the lucky little groups who have only been rounded up into an 'open space'.  Many are gassed to death in their little homes for the convenience of humans' urban sprawl and the clearing of grazing land.

Read more about prairie dog management and human reasons for exterminating them HERE.  I especially recommend the last article on the list from the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, dated 3 years ago.  I believe putting beef producers (and for that matter, oil companies) in charge of any part of wildlife welfare is unethical; in this particular case, these are people who "represent the interest of Colorado's cattle industry".  While I agree that they have their own interests to look after in this situation, where are the folk representing the interests of the ferrets and prairie dogs?  Someone completely outside the beef industry needs some level of jurisdiction; what is to stop the cattle ranchers from killing the white-tailed dogs as well if there is no one to regulate them?  Regular bi-monthly surveys of prairie dog habitats on beef producers' lands by government consultants should be mandatory.  In the meantime, the ghost of the black footed ferret haunts the hapless cattle in their pastures, while prairie dog populations are checked only by humans' whose best interest is to exterminate them.

Here are some other links:

Contest Kills

Seekers of the Red Mist

Listen my dears, and listen closely.  So that you can enjoy all the convenience and comfort of your modern day life of iPhones and fast food wrappers, others (and by others, I mean other species and your own kind) must thin out and die out, or live with the inconveniences.  Think about that and how disconnected we are from what is really happening outside our computers and television sets.  And have the humility to feel guilty.

Thumbs and bipedalism do not a person make

I know some human people who would read THIS and still think they had valid arguments to the contrary.  What is it that makes some human peeps feel so threatened with the idea that other animals are more like us than not?  Why does the fact that other species are capable of emotions and compassion make some two-legs so full of fear and WANT to distance themselves from it?

Sigh, some days I seem to see/read more about the terrible things people do to each other and other species than the good things, and have to remind myself that we have a good side.  HERE are some more photos from the same website that a friend sent me awhile back, to help remind us that human people are capable of good deeds too.

Incident at the Bronx Zoo

Maybe I'm cold hearted, but I have zero sympathy for the man who recently received a tiger smackdown at the Bronx Zoo.  I don't wish death on the guy, but he earned those swipes.  What could he possibly have been thinking?!  The man, who's motives aren't clear from this article, voluntarily invaded a tiger den in which cubs had recently been born.  Is it safe to say the adult tiger(s) involved were protecting their family and space?  I believe so.  I also believe they had the right.  I think it's just as important to protect the captive wildlife from the human people staring at them through the glass as vice versa.  There should be stronger measures to ensure the public can't pull stunts like this.  Have you read Marc Bekoff's Animal Manifesto?  Or Wild Justice?  Or The Emotional Lives of Animals?  You should.  It should be required high school level reading.

The caption headline of the article on MSN.com's homepage is entitled, "Man badly mauled by tiger attack".  It should say, "Man badly mauled by tiger after invading tiger's personal space, tiger protects cubs".

Female crocodile given waxing and pedicure in time for mating season

Click HERE, for the article from the Daily Mail.

To me, this sounds downright twisted.  How was this allowed to happen, because the creature came from a research center? Where were the professional handlers? If the poor crocodile had objected to this treatment just once by snapping or biting someone, you can bet she would have been put down. Absolutely unacceptable. Does anyone know anything more about this?

Angry Birds!

Alfred Hitchcock may have been onto something. Today's shared article is from page 32 of National Geographic's July 2011 issue. Just click the pic to enlarge and read.

Hey, I've known people that have been less than friendly to the birds trying to nest on their porches. Turn about is fair play.

Tilapia Farming

From the NYTimes, The Flip Side of Tilapia. Hm, what do YOU think about fish farming?

Meet Joel Sartore

"My job is to...get people to see what's going on. It's not hopeless." -Joel Sartore

No, it's not hopeless. But getting the public to realize that simple things they do every day without thinking about them ( like flushing the toilet, throwing away recyclable things, and using non-biodegradable cleaning products), can have huge impacts on the natural world isn't easy. But we are past the point that thoughtlessness and ignorance are excuses. I came across this article last April and saved it. Giving voice to the voiceless is not hopeless, but it's no easy task and there need to be more people doing it. This is what I want to do, FIGHT THE APATHY! I would like to meet this man and pick his brain. And shake his hand.