'Great & small creatures' sometimes win; other times . . .

If only I could so live and so serve the world that after me there should never again be birds in cages.  --Isak Dinesen (pen name of Karen Blixen), author (1885-1962)

                                                                                 A true homing pigeon

Rock pigeon

In the spirit of “All creatures great and small,” there’s good news on the pigeon front.  To the       surprise of a staffer at an animal shelter’s adoption site, a pigeon landed in her hair.  And stayed there.

She soon learned that “Valley” regularly hitched rides that way.  Even so, shelter employees feared for the bird’s safety with the animals around so they put the pigeon up for adoption – and a woman quickly responded.  For a pet her two young sons would love, she drove three hours to pick up the new family member.

Predictably, Valley rode home on the front seat or the driver’s head.  No cage at home, either: her new mom ordered cloth pigeon diapers, along with a harness and leash for outdoors. https://tinyurl.com/42nj7pnb

My reaction to this story: utter amazement.  Not only do people adopt pigeons, but they also buy diapers and an amazing range of toys and accessories for them!  Online adoption tips cited the birds’ fine qualities, historical, helpful bonds with humans and sheer deservingness.     

‘More money than . . .’

“Human interest” stories in at least two newspapers recently featured a young boy who had long wanted a pet octopus.  Apparently indulgent and well-off, his father arranged for that to happen, in a tank in the boy’s bedroom.   

It gets “better.”  The “pet octopus” -- talk about contradiction in terms -- then proved to be female, not the expected male, producing some 50 baby octopuses, all needing individual care.  About half of them died and survivors now live with a friend while the father reaches out to aquatic institutions that may home them.

This story began at the point of the ridiculous and quickly moved to the point of animal abuse.  It started with the first octopus, who should never have been taken from her natural habitat to satisfy a spoiled child’s ignorant desire, humored by his father, a true spoiler.   

What will this boy pine for when he’s 10 or 11? https://tinyurl.com/2s3a75j9  

No friend of felines

Because it struck me as too long and rambling, I took my time getting through Jonathan Franzen's  article in a January '24 magazine -- The Cats of L. A.: The No Kill movement helps keep cats outdoors.  The consequences belie the name.

In it, Franzen took on numerous elements of life with and for outdoor cats in Los Angeles (and here on the East Coast too).  His critical takes on TNR, "no-kill," "community cats" and other common cat-world beliefs and practices surprised me . . . until I learned he's an outspoken, widely published "bird advocate" -- and therefore not likely to be a friend of cats.

Cat lovers may want to review "The Cats of L. A." -- if only to know the enemy and consider counter-arguments.        https://www.newyorker.com/maga

Animals in brief

If you’re looking for it, there’s abundant media news about both wild and domesticated animals.  A short while ago, there was Flako, the male Eurasian eagle-owl who captivated New Yorkers and far-away others with his flying-free exploits.  But before he could enjoy even a year of freedom, the majestic bird died.

The necropsy indicated there was rat poisoning in his system – as had been feared once Flako learned to hunt for food in rat-ridden Manhattan -- and he had apparently crashed into a building before falling and dying.  A sad end for the bird, who had been illegally freed from the zoo where he lived.

Migratory species – birds, whales, sharks, elephants, jaguars and other big cats -- are experiencing population declines, according to a first-time United Nations report.  The “two most pervasive threats” are habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation resulting from agriculture and overexploitation caused by hunters and fishers. 

On this subject, the Humane Society of the US says, “Human practices have insatiably consumed wild animals as if they are inert and infinite resources.”

Dominionism.  Again.

 

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Help backyard critters, think dog crates & adopt adult cats

Firefly

Weather or not, spring started last week.  Here’s a timely suggestion for what to do now that may surprise you: give in to holiday candy, take nice long naps or read a good book -- but don’t race outside to clean up the yard or garden!  

Right now is just too early for all that, and animals still need plant debris and dead leaves to shelter in when the weather turns bad (which it will do) or when predators are around.  Further, there’s no need to clean up when you still can’t plant till near mid-May anyway. 

The latest Master Gardeners of Mercer County flyer put it this way: “April is almost always a fickle month.  Walking on wet soil leads to compaction.  Planting too early can result in damage from a late frost . . . Cleaning up planting beds too early or too well can disturb overwintering insects.”

Chipmunk

Not only do creatures living outdoors need safe hiding places, but they also welcome any relief from gas-powered landscape machines – just think of the racket caused by leaf blowers and lawn mowers – a.k.a. “landscape pollution.”   (Does anyone out there remember, or even own rakes?!)   

Those noisy mechanized devices drown out birdsong, a recognized mental health benefit for humans, and kick up unhealthy contaminants – which, by the way, their human operators  are closest to!  Use of leaf-blowers destroys the “critical understory where birds, frogs, fireflies, bees, caterpillars and chipmunks forage and nest.”   No wonder we see fewer fireflies and insects every year!

https://www.humanesociety.org/news/birdsong-interrupted  

In-home dog prison?

A recent Washington Post article asked a troublesome question: “Should you crate your dog?”  (To me, the answer is obvious: No!)  

The writer discusses various uses for dog crates, citing what “experts” say, and mentions locking her own dog in a (well-furnished) crate when she leaves home for a few hours.  At that, all I could think of was that poor dog, unable to escape the crate, dying in a house fire.

Have dog crates, which I think were initially meant to be temporary new-puppy training devices only, become the 24-hour norm for dogs who live in homes?  How often, and for what purposes, should crates be used by dog parents for their pets? 

Can’t dogs be raised to have “the run of the house” after puppyhood?  https://tinyurl.com/j824zj73

Tip

Tried & true adults  

Every spring, kittens charm people.  (How could they not?!)  But in the midst of all that “Aw-w-w-w-w!”ness, one fact often eludes those who want to adopt a kitten on the spot: kittens quickly grow into . . . cats! 

Meanwhile, especially during kitten season, adult cats who need homes are hard put to compete with/ kittens, even though they’re the more needy of the two adoptable varieties.  Adult cats who are now in shelters or with rescue groups deserve homes now because they offer so much to

 

Ashley

adopters and homes would do them such good!

Grown-up felines “have been there,” and often don’t need training.  Their energy level is typically much lower than kittens’ non-stop curiosity and activity, so they fit into a family more peacefully – and, it’s been said, with greater appreciation.  (If you’re hoping for a lap-cat, here’s where you’re most likely to find a ready-made!)

Despite the current flood of cute kittens, please consider adopting an adult cat.  Three such felines now at the Ewing, NJ animal shelter run by Easel Animal Rescue League include a bonded pair of lovely gray cats (mother and daughter), Tip and Ashley, ages 12 and 11; and

Marshall

Marshall, a black cat of about 10, who is FIV+.  Described as "sweet," all three cats need homes.  

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All about elephants & help for Canada geese

Woolly mammoth (model)

The rains, floods and fires, the long Covid, the horrifying headlines . . . and more and more, and on and on . . .  .  Nothing to do about all that except: think of elephants.

Beg pardon? 

Well, doing that is possible for a day, anyway, when you daytrip to the Upper West Side of Manhattan and the American Museum of Natural History, where “The Secret Lives of Elephants” is now featured. This multi-faceted exhibition overviews the evolution and behavior our planet’s largest land animal, from the ancient world to today.    

Potentially fascinating for adults and children alike, the exhibition (think: a giant “cabinet of curiosities”) offers a wide variety of “elephant things” to look at, read, interact with, learn from, remember.  These include . . .  

      *  Life-size models of elephants and their ancestors, historically beginning with the woolly mammoth: what a guy!  

      *  Three different films to sit down and watch, including a touching one about an orphan baby elephant’s return to the wild.  Two others also star elephants, of course. 

·       Explanatory materials, illuminated, accompanies each elephant display so visitors can look and read, using various modes to acquire info.  

·       Buttons to push for fun mini quizzes or things to do, see or hear (When he made an African elephant’s ear flap, a little boy called out: “I’m cooling off the elephant!” – which those ears really do.  

A   And I heard an elephant rumble for the first time in my life.  These low-frequency sounds travel through the ground to distant elephants.)    https://tinyurl.com/4z698wt8

·        Another life-size elephant, whose digestive system is lighted up from within, and who is circled by numerous info sections about the many benefits of elephant poop (only starting with plant-seed dispersal) for the curious child in all of us.  

·        “Conservation," now a concept of great importance for the world’s endangered elephants, turns up throughout the exhibition, suggesting ways to foster elephant survival.   

·       A major feature of this exhibit is someone I’ll call “The explainer”: a staff member wearing an ID tag who roams around answering questions and striking up conversations with visitors.  Thanks to him, I found out just what the big lump atop the woolly mammoth’s head was: not some kind of bony structure, but stored fat for hard, hungry times.   https://tinyurl.com/yu52nwe

Sometimes, thankfully, they’re free in the wild (although increasingly threatened by poachers and habitat loss), but elephants are also forced into working-animal life, living in zoos and other demeaning, undeserved forms of existence.  Despite all that, they survive – maybe the moral of their story for us humans.  So, “think about elephants.” 

(Here are links to two enjoyable videos about elephants: first, some surprises (maybe!) from AMNH in a delightfully narrated 6-minutes -- amnh.org/exhibitions/secret-world-elephants -- and another video showing a baby elephant in tantrum mode -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvT40aCNMKM. 

After last year’s tremendous exhibition on sharks (including the near-unbelievable megalodon), and now this show on elephants, AMNH continues to enchant.  I think of it as a “magnet museum,” for its old- and new-style exhibits, in old and new building sections.

Blue whales (mom & calf)

Till April, visitors can also marvel at an awesome movie on the giant screen: Blue Whales: Return of the Giants – with beautiful seascapes and the sleek cetaceans who are now “rebounding from the brink of extinction.”  Starting next month, “Life by a Whisker,” about sea lions, will replace Blue Whales.   

Much closer to home (and sometimes all-too-familiar), another land animal experiences unnecessary, wholly inhumane action: Canada geese.

Communities choosing to reject humane options for co-existing with these birds often contract for their merciless killing instead.  Geese are forced into gas chambers, where they slowly die.

The Animal Protection League of NJ (aplnj.org) is fighting this cruelly primitive means of dealing with geese.  Those who also object are invited to a midday demonstration early next month.  Please see this flyer and mark your calendars!  https://conta.cc/4cdgY7t

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Wrong for right whales, animal briefs & wannabe homies

Once considered the 'right' whale to kill

Her short life was pain-filled and her death was unavoidable – all part of a very sad story.  She -- # 5120 – to those watching out for her, was a young female right whale whose every fin stroke hurt because a rope was “corkscrewed” around the base of her fluke, affecting her mobility.

Last month, her body washed ashore in Massachusetts, where clues in the rope revealed its source: Maine waters, where fisheries for lobster and crab operate.  While such entanglement is claimed by lobster industry reps as a rare occurrence, this scenario has played out often enough for some whale advocates to argue against shellfish harvesting.

Whatever happens in that ongoing debate, the fact remains that right whales are “one of the most endangered marine mammals on earth.”  About 70 reproductively active female right whales are left, among some 360 individuals altogether.

Vessel strikes may in fact be the main reason why this whale species is “at the precipice of extinction.”  Shipping guidelines and laws for the areas frequented by right whales are simply not taken seriously or sufficiently enforced, while pleas to legislators for help have so far seemed wasted.  

Apparently, extinction of right whales doesn’t bother enough people to do enough to conserve them.  Meanwhile, the number of right whales continues to drop.  

http://tinyurl.com/4pusv927

http://tinyurl.com/2szt6jch  (Sue Russell is wildlife policy director for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey [APLNJ].)  

Selected short subjects 

A few animal news shorts from elsewhere in the animal world . . .  The first news brief, regrettably, marks the death of Flako, the Eurasian eagle-owl who died last week in Manhattan.  Learning to live independently after escaping from the Central Park Zoo, he attracted countless followers during his year of freedom.

      Early theories suggested Flako hit a building/window hard and fell to his death – an end always considered possible for him because so many other birds suffer the same fate.

  h  http://tinyurl.com/tvhrbh7j ; http://tinyurl.com/2z5jyfde   

And two small-but-significant things I read recently that are reminders of ongoing cruelty to animals:

·         The first, excerpted from a tiny folded insert in a box of eye drops: Under “Animal data,” specified test doses administered to rats and rabbits resulted in “increased pre- and postnatal mortality, reduced fetal weight and skeletal retardations.”  And further, “This dose is 7,000 times greater than the daily recommended human use.”

So animal experimentation continues . . . to the point of death for test animals for a measure of safety for human animals.  

 ·         An even smaller reminder: wording on a Levi’s belt tag: “Responsible Leather” – a contradiction in terms!  There’s no such thing as “responsible” killing of animals for human clothing. 

 Homecoming hopes

As “kitten season” fast approaches, two adult cats (of many!) need homes – and as happens so often with mature felines, Meo and GrubHub will be extra appreciative.  Now in residence at the EASEL Animal Rescue League shelter, in Ewing, they deserve the security of loving homes.

Ladies first: Ms. GrubHub is a petite tuxedo described as “a 7-year old baby, so sweet and silly and little,” she looks like a kitten and will never get bigger. 

Nearly 4 years old, Meo came to the shelter with a big mouse toy that shelter staffers were told he needed to keep with him.  True enough: “He sleeps with it and he loves it so much!” says one. 

Handsome Meo is FIV+ (for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).  Such cats can live with other cats indoors as long as they are fixed and not fighting, thereby avoiding a blood-to-blood or saliva-to-blood transfer.  

(Specs on visiting and adopting cats are available at EASELNJ.org.)    

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 NOTE:  A few pictures from the Feb. 24 Wildlife Protest that was sponsored by the Animal Protection League of NJ appear below.

                                                                                                                          Frega photos

Save our wildlife: save the date!

“New Jersey has only 17 days a year when some animals are not hunted.”  As an animal-advocating state resident, I was shocked by that statement -- and the accompanying information:

On the 348 other days [of the year], deer, bears, turkeys, geese, opossums, coots, coyotes, groundhogs, squirrels, ducks, rabbits and numerous other species are all in the crosshairs of hunters.

That list of target animals was followed by “partial kill lists,” which are probably under-estimates since not all killings are reported.  Please, force yourself to look at all those horrifying specifics and try to picture the animals who lost their lives.  

Our state’s wildlife is and has long been in grave danger because of the attitudes and practices of the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife (NJDFW), considered by many to be a “rogue state agency” -- one far more intent on “sport” hunting than on management or conservation.  Its antiquated outlook has made killing its default action in conflicts with wildlife (as the kill list totals readily demonstrate).

This inhumane and ineffectual practice must stop!  

That’s why the Animal Protection League of NJ (APLNJ) is sponsoring a “Wildlife Protest” on Saturday, Feb. 24, calling for nonlethal 21^st century means of dealing with wildlife conflicts that could put an end to hundreds of thousands of animal deaths each year.  

Please use this link to see the entire call-to-action message about the Wildlife Protest: ttps://conta.cc/3Ik8Xjv

                                                                   Jersey is blooming!

No, that’s not Garden State news.  It’s about my rescue cat, Jersey, with me for more than a year.  A lovable multi-colored and toothless tabby, he has definitely made his presence felt.  But for much of his time here, he was (probably necessarily) subordinate to Billy, my dear aging tuxedo.  

Now that sweet Billy is gone, Jersey’s a changed creature: more affectionate, outgoing, playful, and fun.  As the new “king of the hill,” he’s more assertive toward me and even his vet (!).  It’s been an interesting transition to watch.

I’ve read about this pattern so often it’s become an animal-behavior cliché:  A new, young or abused pet is suddenly accepted, adopted or newly treated lovingly.  In turn, that animal’s personality undergoes a positive, dramatic change -- sometimes described as “blooming.”

Familiar to you?  It’s familiar to me now, too!   

 Adult cat seeks home

Meet Bronx, an all-black 4-year old with no tail, now in the care of the EASEL Animal Rescue League shelter, in Ewing.  Reported to be both gentle and playful, Bronx is seriously searching for -- and deserving! -- a loving home.  

(Specs on visiting and adopting cats are available at EASELNJ.org.)                                

 

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Chilly pets, killer kitty, flying free & adoptable adult cats

Other people who watch the weather have already commented on the weird, unpredictable weather we’ve had, including days this month and last that wanted to be spring-like.  Even though they didn’t take hold, those days allowed for at least one “robin convention,” as I describe them, in my neighborhood, and an unusual number of squirrels, including what looked like squirrel babies in training.  

Then there are the decidedly wintery days (including a now-novel snowstorm), when there are myriad ways to assure our pets’ comfort, indoors and out.  The first thing that comes to mind is straw – never hay! -- as the best ingredient for outdoor pet and community/feral cat shelters, with doorways covered with waterproof burlap or heavy plastic.

Pets who are walked outdoors would appreciate warm sweaters or coats and paw-protecting booties -- or at least thorough towel-wiping back inside.  Not only can snow and ice cause discomfort, but thickly sprinkled ice-melting “salt” can be even worse.  All house pets need warm, comfy beds away from in-house drafts (as well as home temps set high enough for all inhabitants). 

Overall, keeping warm takes extra energy, so give pets more food in winter.  Warm car engines appeal to cold cats and small wildlife, so bang on your car hood to scare them away before you start driving.

For still more advice, google “keeping pets warm in winter,” ready to take notes.  And take a look at these 7 tips: http://tinyurl.com/2547w4yy.

No passport for her (please!)

“She weighs less than three pounds, she makes you go aww, and she’s one of the best killers on the planet.”

Introducing Gaia (please see story for image), a virtually unknown cat native to Africa who is bth tiny and terrible, yet terribly cute.  (When you learn about her, you’ll want assurance that she’s safely secured in a US zoo.)  And you can drop any impulse to cuddle her or other black-footed cats, some 30 of which live in other US zoos.

Weighing a trace more than 2-1/2 pounds, Gaia is part of a breeding-for-conservation effort.  Because numbers of black-footed cats in the African wild are declining, they’re classified as “vulnerable,” heading for “endangered.”

And since “conservation” is becoming a more common word and practice, Gaia and her cat compatriots may help build their numbers back up, motivating more such programs for other animals.    http://tinyurl.com/28pwxnva

Look! Up in the sky! 

With a wingspan of about six feet and glowing fierce orange eyes, little wonder that Flako, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo last year, has become the talk of Manhattan.  Besides merely tracking and watching him, his fans take pictures, create art, write poems and sport Flako tattoos.

While they busy themselves honoring Flako, the bird himself has toured the city and learned to hunt, apparently deciding this is the life for him.  It’s not an easy life, either, as the deaths of other big birds due to city traffic and rat poison prove.

Details on “The Life of Flako” filled more than two pages of a recent Sunday NYTimes story, complete with numerous photos.     http://tinyurl.com/5b6n4he7

They’re coming, they’re coming!

Yes, the [many-colored]coats are coming!  That would be spring’s crop of kittens, coming soon.  During “kitten season,” winsome baby cats effortlessly win hearts merely by existing.

But please remember: kittens quickly grow into cats, when you can really know about them.  Only then will you see adult looks and experience adult behavior.

An easier, better way to get the pet cat you hope for is to start with a grown-up cat!  Adult cats have “been there, done that,” and they come with experience and savvy that will save you working from the ground up.  Much more important, adult and senior cats appreciate having a home and can fit in faster.

It’s almost the time of year when would-be adopters race right past smart, beautiful, adult cats to seize kitten(s).  Getting to know some adult cats could change all that.  

So meet Reggie, a “male model” adult cat now at the EASEL Animal Rescue League shelter, Ewing.  Estimated to be about 7 years old, Reggie’s looking for a home.  While he has no teeth, that doesn’t inhibit his enthusiasm for food.  And get that gorgeous coat he’s wearing!  

(Specs on visiting and adopting cats are available at EASELNJ.org.  And there’s more to come here on adoptable adult cats.)

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This one, deservedly, is wholly ‘for the birds’

California Condor

Hours of torrential rain, often with high winds.  Day-long snowfall with intense cold.  How and where do the birds shelter? 

So small, birds can seem so vulnerable.  And yet these beautiful, winged, often tuneful descendants of dinosaurs have proven able to cope with conditions that would baffle or defeat us.

Much like sharks, another ancient breed, birds survived after dinosaurs and others went extinct and after drastic environment changes.  But, like sharks, they’re now seriously threatened . . . by humans.

Tufted titmouse

Today, largely unaware of their long history that includes 150-million-year-old bird fossils, we take birds for granted.  They started out as feathered small, meat-eating dinosaurs (theropods) with sharp teeth that over time evolved into beaks.  

Their survival, one theory has it, occurred because they were small, could eat a variety of foods and could fly.  But now, population numbers have declined by around 3 billion birds in North America during the last 50 years alone.  http://tinyurl.com/mr385vxu  and http://tinyurl.com/2p9d6tmr

Female cardinal

Given the estimated 11,000 bird species in the world, it’s impossible to imagine the great variety that must exist among them.  But this look at some of the birds mentioned lately in the media might suggest the possibilities – and enhance the respect. There’s much more to say about birds than the common advice in health and fitness articles – listen to bird song and feel better.   

First, back to that concern about how birds survive major storms.  Their methods are surprising.  A large percentage of birds are migratory, which helps, as does their ability to detect and “read” air pressure system changes, then react accordingly.       http://tinyurl.com/3px7wz2z  

However, even in migrating, birds face obstacles, starting with habitat losses along the way http://tinyurl.com/54dme94m  and modern hazards, like building lights at night, which can attract them and cause fatal or debilitating window strikes.     http://tinyurl.com/sp9c3s2f

Pelicans & pouches

Whether stay-at-homes or travelers, birds are also affected by temperature changes, particularly severe cold snaps that can lessen survival rates of new-born hatchlings. One for-instance: cold kills nsects, so parent birds can only scout up less food for their young. 

 http://tinyurl.com/yc8d2rd7

Then this sadly familiar fact about birds: As is true in human life, birds too are sometimes the victims of sexism in science.  Male specimen birds have been found to prevail in 5 respected natural history museums, often accompanied by denigrating assumptions about female birds that were reached because of incomplete study.         http://tinyurl.com/yezzh2cd 

In short, “Half of all birds are females, yet they have long been overlooked in ornithology.”  (And yes, steps are underway to correct this practice of sex-skewing!)

Hawk

I'm not a “birder,” in the usual sense of the word, but more and more I’m intrigued by news about birds – such as word that a particular woodpecker may not be extinct after all (http://tinyurl.com/2hxar8k6 ) or that near New Zealand’s capital, conservation efforts succeeded in the hatching of kiwi eggs in the wild for “the first time in living memory.”    http://tinyurl.com/2ebhhpy6

Further, I’ve been delighted to learn that love still actively lives between 2 long-separated macaws in Brazil.  For decades now, one bird regularly visits the other and they commune between the netting that keeps them apart.  I challenge you to read their story without welling up.    http://tinyurl.com/2vjbu7yv

Chickadee

Vultures.  Did you “Ugh!” at that word alone?  Both their looks and their job of carrion-eating can prompt such reactions.  But read this story and learn how very smart these birds are in pursuing their scavenging occupation – using their “wide-angle intelligence.”       http://tinyurl.com/2y8hvnum

Stale bread with soup: wouldn’t you dip the bread to make it more palatable?  That’s just what these white parrots also do with their dry, twice-baked toast and water every day at lunch -- and they’re the first known to do so.  (Shades of our tendency to dunk biscotti!)     http://tinyurl.com/mr2jyjax

Seabird

Birds are such varied and fascinating creatures, we may all be happy about plans to improve on their North American names – to focus “attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves,” rather than keeping names with “associations with the past that continue to be exclusionary and harmful today.”

Starting this year, the re-naming process will be carried out by the American Ornithological Society, and affect around 150 birds, some now named for racists, slaveholders and others now in disrepute.  As the admired writer of the article linked here says, “If renaming the birds becomes part of a broad reorientation toward nature itself, it’s a symbolic gesture that could be the start of saving it all. The birds and us.”    http://tinyurl.com/5cys36fs   

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