‘Independence day’-- it doesn’t apply to animals

*    You’re the family matriarch who remembers everything your family did, and where, and how

they got there.  Everyone else depends on you and your long memory. Suddenly, you are brutally murdered.  But then, surprisingly, your daughters step up and take over family leadership. The luckiest of your surviving babies go to orphanages.

*    You live in an isolated area you’re used to and know your way around.  But then great noise and activity arrive, bringing buildings and highways. You’re disoriented and cut off from your usual travel routes . . . until you notice tube-like structures under the roads that somehow invite you to use them for transit to the other side. 

     

*    Your family has always lived low, close to the ground. When alarmed, you automatically zoom straight out and away from your home.  Except that now, you could easily be killed by the loud, fast-moving metal boxes speeding along the roads.

*    For eons, you and others like you all over the world have been diurnal -- active during daylight, resting at night. Now, you’re moving toward becoming nocturnal: active at night. This has necessitated lifestyle changes, including diet.

Often for the worse, human beings have changed the lives of non-human animals around the world.  We know too well about hunted and lab animals, factory farmed animals and “service animals” of all kinds, from seeing eye dogs through those involved in (human) warfare, and animals engaged in various other forms of involuntary servitude, like pulling carriages. 

                           PAWS pic

But now, the mere presence of humans is causing mammals across continents — including coyotes, elephants and tigers — to alter their sleep schedules so they can avoid “humans’ expanding presence,” according to this news story.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/science/animals-human-nocturnal-study.html?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_sc_20180619&nl=science-times&nl_art=1&nlid=20760274emc%3Dedit_sc_20180619&ref=headline&te=1   

To avoid being slaughtered for their tusks, elephants have developed new social norms and survival techniques. Daughters have stepped up to lead groups their mothers led, and some elephants have begun traveling at night, a safer time for them.  

Population growth and related development are behind the intrusion of cities and roadways in formerly remote areas. Realizing they were building over animals’ traditional routes to food and water, some planners have advocated for under-highway tunnels that animals might use to maintain their usual travel patterns.  Good luck with that.

Not all birds are arboreal, living instead in brush and low bushes along roadsides. When vehicles roar up, the birds take off -- parallel with their nests, which are under car height.  Startled drivers might exclaim as birds fly right in front of their vehicles, seemingly out of nowhere and for no (known) good reason. Will such birds gradually evolve into higher-flying escapees?

Independence day for humans is just days away. When will it come for animals?

Concise cat compendium!

The online Catster magazine has been churning out good ideas and info lately, much of it too valuable not to share. So, for fellow feline fans, here are articles on (1) how to find a lost cat:  https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/how-to-find-a-lost-cat?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Catster%20Ful%20List+All%20Subscribers&utm_campaign=CED20180619   

. . . and (2) what to try when a cat won’t eat.   
http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-health-food-8-things-wont-eat?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Catster%20Ful%20List+All%20Subscribers&utm_campaign=CED20180608

The publication has also provided a range of summer tips for cats, including hydrating, grooming and heat stroke. http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/three-essential-summer-tips-for-cats?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=Catster%20Ful%20List+All%20Subscribers&utm_campaign=CED20180605

On the subject of hydration and cats, I’m sorry to report that chicken broth added to our cats’ water did absolutely nothing for them; they continued ignoring their water bowls.  Maybe I didn’t use enough broth; maybe I didn’t get Harry and Billy psyched enough about tasty new water, maybe. . . well, who knows.  On to tuna juice?  (But then what about the [canned] tuna itself, since I’ve heard it can sicken cats?)

Finally, this little image of a “sea kitten” is meant to serve as a preview of coming attractions:  it’s time for a “sea change” here, and it’s coming soon to a blog near you!  

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