Elephants forever! But only we can make it happen

                                                                                     AMNH image

It’s up and running: “The Secret World of Elephants” at New York’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).  And of course, readers, I hope it’s part of your plans for the next couple months.    

The museum’s 7-minute video about elephants should spur attendance at this exciting exhibition that covers the 60 million year-evolution of the elephant family, showing ancient and modern elephants via casts, fossils and life-size models: meet a woolly mammoth and see a dwarf elephant, just 4 feet high at the shoulders!     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTbLHV7lDV8

Elephants, those marvelous creatures who have played major roles in human history, are endangered (at best) and facing extinction (at worst).  For many years, humans’ mad desire for ivory and the resulting slaughter of elephants for their tusks have been largely to blame. 

Maternal love

And in some places now, elephants and farmers are competing for living space and food crops that are grown by and for people, but that also mightily appeal to elephants.  Less conservation-minded and hungry themselves, angry farmers may kill the elephants who eat up their crops.

Conservationists work diligently to combat such threats to elephants, starting with the poachers who kill for tusks and profit and the countries where ivory is still a valuable commodity.  They’ve also devised wise ways to deter elephants from raiding gardens.   

Illustrating another way to minimize elephant loss, the Humane Society of the US recently applauded Canada, where “landmark regulations” that ban trade in elephant ivory . . . as well as imports of hunting trophies . . . . take effect early January, ’24.  If wildlife hunters can’t bring home their “trophies” to brag about, they may be less inclined to hunt.     https://tinyurl.com/39tdd8ck   

Elephants have been extolled for numerous behavioral wonders (that humans could learn from!).  Physically, they’re also marvels.  

Only consider their trunks – far stronger and more versatile than they may look.  An elephant’s (boneless) trunk can weigh up to 300 pounds and lift 700 pounds, yet thanks to remarkable musculature, it’s amazingly flexible. 

Gabon landscape with elephant

Fusing elephants’ upper lip and nose, trunks can be used for -- take a breath! -- “everything from drinking water, foraging, bathing, smelling, exploring, tossing dust and mud onto their bodies, picking up and manipulating objects, blowing objects away or sniffing them in, signaling aggression, producing sounds, tactile contact with other elephants,” and more.  (Thanks for these specs to the Performing Animal Welfare Society [pawsweb.org]).

Till I get there to see for myself, I can only hope that “Secret World of Elephants” includes effective pitches to savor and protect elephants -- animals who deserve to live forever!

 Canned that idea!

After my total failure to inspire readers to creatively re-purpose the numerous jangling metal cat-food cans, I’ll propose a better, more worthy idea now and see if it flies: 

how about a pet ambulance to take pets to an animal hospital when their families can’t?  

Some loving pet parents simply don’t drive or can’t drive in dark or bad weather, while desperate to get a pet with major health issues to care-providers right away.  That's a job for . . . a pet ambulance! 

Maybe this idea already exists somewhere.  If it does, I hope a reader who knows will tell us about it.  Please comment!    

‘Hay is for horses!’

Community cats (those who live outdoors, formerly known as “feral cats”) can be woeful sights, especially in cold, icy weather.  How can we make life more comfortable for them?

Think “straw”! Then go get some (see link below) for bedding and put it in the cat shelter(s) you plan to position outside.  Once you know that straw traps heat and repels moisture, what else do you need to know?  

As for the shelter itself, I’ve seen wooden ones and heard of using big Styrofoam boxes (lidded, of course), firmly positioned in sheltered spots – shelter the shelter! -- with as entrance hole cut into one side.

Voila: cozy cats!  

https://tinyurl.com/3fcnpd5e

 

                            They're after leaves but capable of pulling down branches                PAWS image

#

  

Pity poor puppy mill pets & the people who love them

Decades ago, eager to bring home our first family dog, we went straight to the pet store at a nearby mall and soon walked out with a buff cocker spaniel puppy.  He was darling and we were thrilled . . . until one ailment after another afflicted him.

It soon grew to frequent vet visits, multiple medications and regular baths with special shampoo. The (inevitable) end was horribly sad.

There were puppy mills then, as there are now, often supplying pet stores with poorly-bred animals from overworked and undertreated females, often violating whatever guidelines and ground rules may have been in place.

Finally, people and the media are waking up to the perils of puppy mill pups.  Today's Times of Trenton included coverage of legislators’ determination to do better – for the animals themselves and unwitting buyers.

Last Sunday’s Times had showcased a special report, “Sick puppies, healthy profits” (linked below), about both animal and human pain and financial loss connected with puppy mills.  Forewarned is . . . happier families with happier pets.   https://tinyurl.com/m6db63ff

Vetting the cats – yes!

Soon after “Linda” and I met, the subject of cats came up, and she told me about her own cat’s recent vet visit – the first with Linda in 6 years– a new experience for both of them.  

Aware of how often my 2 cats are vetted, I was astonished.  When Linda reported that her cat was deemed ‘fine” by the vet, more astonishment, prompting me to check on “official” recommendations for how often pet cats should be seen by a vet.  (I looked for online info from the American Veterinary Medical Assn. and the American Assn of Feline Practitioners, besides recalling what I’d “always” been told.)

Once a year was the most common advice, with twice yearly or more suggested for older cats, and still more often for a cat with health issues.

A cat parent simply can’t tell just by looking whether a feline is OK; furthermore, cats are known for hiding signs of ill health.  And too, teeth can tell a tale, as can results of blood and urine tests.

Bottom line: pets and vets belong together!

Some horseshoe crabs spared harvesting

It wasn’t enough that they’re primordial creatures who have lived through one animal extinction after another; nor enough that substitutes exist for their use as bait by fishermen and their blue blood in biomedical testing. 

It took threatened shorebirds – red knots, specifically -- who need horseshoe crab eggs to fuel their long migration journeys.  And so female horseshoe crabs of the Delaware Bay won’t be harvested for a season.  Once again, Reed’s Beach on the bay will host the egg-laying and bird-feasting.   

Welcome back, everyone!

Diagnosis by Dodo

Since Jersey joined Billy and me, I’ve mentioned his frequent  (screeching? screaming? caterwauling? sound effects? – take your pick) and searched for reasons and cures.  Theories abounded.  So did suggestions for what to do about it.  None worked.

Major oral surgery to clean up his toothlessness didn’t change it, nor did more and more time in a loving home after life as an outdoor cat, or vet’s or Jackson Galaxy’s or friends’ ideas.

Then roaming around YouTube recently, I came upon a Dodo story about “Donut,” a cat who screams at his parents -- and why.  I didn’t yell it, but I sure thought it: “Eureka!” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9GUSe0o328

I’ve known for a while that Jersey's at least partially deaf.  That’s where Donut’s story surprised me: he too is deaf – and he “talks” so loud all the time because he can’t hear himself at a normal sound level!

Simple, right? 

But . . . that suggests a treatment question: should I shout to Jersey so he’s sure to hear me?  Now, to avoid startling him if his back is turned, I walk more heavily and speak extra distinctly while approaching, before I touch him.

We’ll see (hear?) how it goes.

#