If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.
--Paul McCartney, singer-songwriter, composer, poet, and activist (1942- )
Helping injured wildlife
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| wildliferehabber.com |
If some evening you spot a squirrel who looks
hurt . . . or if some other small wild animal appears to be injured, you can
help. The Mercer County Wildlife Center is
open 365 days a year, and its hours for receiving patients vary: summer, 9 am-6
pm; winter, 9 am-4 pm daily.
If you miss those hours, (1) use gloves to place
the animal in a box in a warm, quiet place away from pets and children, (2)
don’t handle the animal, and (3) don’t try to feed or force water.
The center’s phone number is 609-303-0552, and
it’s at 1748 River Road, Hopewell Township (mailing address = Lambertville). The Wildlife Center is the last item under “Facilities”
at MercerCountyParks.org.
Changing times & dog houses
When two “women of a certain age”
recently talked about pet dogs when they were growing up, one remembered only
dogs who lived outside, in dog houses. That was the norm.
These days, the notion of “dog
houses” is archaic, even cruel. Today’s dogs typically live in the home, often
sleeping on their people’s beds. And still other “luxuries” abound.
No wonder then, that a Dodo story
about a rescued puppy in Brazil who shared her cozy blanket with a stray dog,
drew numereous comments – not about the pup’s generous act, but the fact that
Lana lives outside her adoptive
family’s home, in a dog house.
Not the “cat’s meow,” but “the cat’s whiskers”
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| Jasper |
The story appeared in the
“Wellness” section of the NYTimes,
which sometimes features news and views about pets as well as people. It easily
caught my attention because of the cat connection – then the concern about
cats’ whiskers that has led to new food bowl designs.
Pretend you have sensitive whiskers
that stick out from your face three or more inches in each direction. Then
imagine having to eat by sticking your face into a narrow, deep bowl with sides
that would rub against those whiskers. Finally, picture yourself reaching into
the bowl to pull out food instead, or getting grouchy or just giving up.
That’s called “whisker fatigue,”
the dilemma some cats are thought to face when their info-gathering whiskers
are tampered with by . . . a bowl! The
solution: bowls designed with whiskers in mind:
shallow, with no rim or sides to brush against whiskers. Mealtime becomes happy
time again.
(Note to readers who may have or know a cat with food issues that suggest whisker fatigue: I have two of the "Dr. Catsby” bowls described in the article. They’re free to the
first two responders here.)
Deep in dog days
Does anyone doubt we’re deep in
the dog days of summer right now? Think
hot, sultry, fevered kind of weather that promotes lethargy – a good reason for
those dreamy images of lounging under a
tree, reading.
The name “Dog days”
alludes to the “dog star” Sirius, part of the Canis Major, or Large Dog constellation, which
at this time of year rises near the same time as the sun in this hemisphere. Depending on your info source, dog days run
from July 3-August 11 or July 24-August 24. We’ll soon find out.
Today’s word
abattoir (AHB-a-twar) From French. Slaughterhouse; butchery. A place where animals are killed for their
meat.
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Interesting concept with the bowls and very attractive looking bowls too - but rather expensive! Also Woodlands Wildlife Center: 676 County Rd 513, Pittstown, NJ 08867, Hours: Generally 10AM–6PM
ReplyDeletePhone: (908) 730-8300