'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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