Round-up: news briefs about animals

Once again, my files runneth over with stories about animals to share here.  So I’ll handle each topic in brief, with a link to full coverage if possible.

Monarch in royal purple

Starting with monarchs – the butterflies, that is, not the rulers -- the news isn’t good.  Their loss of habitat continues, along with climate change, agricultural pesticides and predators, so these beautiful insects continue to decline.  “Poor butterflies,” for sure.

The only recommendation I’ve seen for those wanting to help monarchs is to plant milkweed, which they require.  But judging by how my backyard offering came late and little this summer – with no monarch sightings at all – we’ll have to do more and better than that!

Time to travel

Knowing the time was right, three adventurous African sisters started a long, perilous trip last October.  They “braved lions, crocodiles, poachers, raging rivers and other dangers on a 1,300-mile transnational effort to forge a new dynasty.”

A species known as “elite predators,” the three African wild dog siblings knew they had to leave their birth pack now, while in their prime, to avoid spinsterhood there and to be able to start their own families elsewhere.

From eastern Zambia they crisscrossed that country and parts of Mozambique and the edge of Zimbabwe and back to central Zambia, where they settled in a national park.  During their nine months on the road, the sisters overcame challenges that would have defeated lesser wild dog travelers.

African wild dogs

One sister wore a GPS collar, while the other two are presumed to have stayed with her, given wild dogs’ reliance on “bonded interdependence.”

https://tinyurl.com/2p98b5wc

More hummer lore

I’ve learned even more since spotting and writing about the hummingbirds enjoying my trumpet vine. It started of course with Kim Kurki’s delightful “bird book.”  (See July 17 post.)

Artist-writer Kurki seems to have included the most surprising facts about hummers.  Larger than a ping-pong ball and no heavier than a nickel, they’re found only in the Americas.  And, “with very small feet and legs, (the bird) can’t walk, but it can scoot sideways on a perch.”

Finally, beautiful, tiny, lightweight hummingbirds make a long migration before winter: from eastern North America it’s 1,850 miles, including a 500-mile nonstop flight over the Gulf of Mexico.

Animals abound

Judging by her writing acclaim and subject choice for her recent book, you might expect much more than you get from Susan Orlean’s On Animals.  Claiming to have loved animals of all kinds from childhood, she has devoted each of her 15 chapters to a different animal: dogs to donkeys, lion to whale, rabbits to pandas, with even a chapter on taxidermy that I simply skipped.

It's a book to dip into and move on when it gets too thick with back stories that are much less captivating than discussion of the animals themselves.  Yes, there are clever laugh lines, though most of them appear on the back cover.  Not enough!

Yoked oxen

Overall, worth trying On Animals, liking parts, and quitting.  

Another hero for animals

A recent obituary in an area newspaper honored a 31-year old man who lost his life saving his dog “in a tragic swimming accident at Virginia Beach.”  The piece described the man’s giving nature and his love of the outdoors, where he enjoyed “adventures with his best friend and loving dog, Gadsden,” who survives him. 

Pets: Cool it!

The high-heat days of summer can be lethal for pets – especially dogs and cats who are very old, very young or who have underlying health issues.  Breeds with thicker coats (huskies to Siberian cats) or shorter snouts (pugs and bulldogs to Persian and Himalayan cats) are at special risk.

It’s ideal to keep pets inside with air-conditioning, but if outside’s a must, provide shade and fresh water.  Walk dogs at off-peak sun times and take water.  Most important: never leave a pet alone in the car!

Bonus video

You'll love this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68dmwNpf7A4

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