Kingston hosts wild animals on Saturday

This Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, a free program in Kingston will introduce four “animal ambassadors” from the Mercer County Wildlife Center. All are permanent residents there because for one reason or another, they can’t be released back into the wild.

Shown here from the last such visit, the turkey vulture can’t fly. But s/he provided a fascinating close up look at an animal we usually see in fields or by the side of the road, making a meal of dead animals. (photo by Tari Pantaleo)

A barred owl and two more (alive!) Center residents kept the vulture company. This Saturday, the focus will be on hawk family members.

The event, sponsored by the Kingston Greenways Assn., is open to all and appropriate to all ages. It promises to tell those who attend “more about these species, their interface with our world, and what to do and NOT do should you come upon wildlife in need of help.”

The one-hour presentation will take place at the Mapleton Preserve/D&R Canal State Park, 145 Mapleton Road. For more information, phone 609-750-1821 or see www.kingstongreenways.org.

Information about the county’s Wildlife Center appeared earlier in this blog. A state and federally licensed facility that cares for injured, ill and displaced native wildlife, it is located on Rt. 29 in Hopewell. More information about the Center can be found at this website:
http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/community/wildlife/.
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. . . come out, wherever you are!

Snake on the loose! Well, make that "baby snake," and not so much on the loose as playing hide and seek right now; not answering to "Come!"

The Bronx Zoo is short one young Egyptian cobra that went missing last Friday. It's around 20 inches long now -- a far cry from the 5-8 foot length cobras can reach. Till the snake is found, the zoo’s reptile house is closed.

Dark-colored with a narrow hood and fangs in front of its mouth, the cobra must bite and hang on – rather than hit and run (or hit and slither) -- its venom is extra deadly to compensate for this inefficiency.

One theory has it that the pipes, conduits and ducts behind the reptile house have become a playground for the snake. He or she (reports vary on the snake’s sex) should be easier to catch once hunger sets in.

Although it’s true that snake charmers and cobras go together, the idea that Cleopatra used a cobra as her suicide tool is debunked in Stacy Schiff’s best selling biography of the queen.

A NYTimes editorial about the A.W.O.L. reptile invited readers interested in seeing a 3-D CT scan of a revolving cobra (both skeletal and with skin) to go to the following link: http://www.digimorph.org/specimens/Naja_haje/
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Helping little young amphibians

The classic good deed used to be helping little old ladies cross the street. But these days you read more about helping romantic young salamanders get to the other side of the road.

Yes, salamanders and frogs are the amphibians in need – and in jeopardy -- on today’s highways, already too often filled with road kill.

Reminiscent of the seashore turtles who each summer must also cross congested roads to lay their eggs, frogs and salamanders emerge from hibernation about now. Then, crossing roads in the dark to reach vernal pools where they can lay their eggs – females carry 200-2,000 – they’re easily and often killed by motorists.

They don't travel on just any night, but only when temperatures reach a certain point and it’s rainy.

On such spring nights, volunteers in North Jersey go out to help them, picking up the creatures in their hands and carrying them across the road to safety. In so doing, they’re helping “preserve future generations of spotted and Jefferson salamanders, wood frogs and spring peepers” (see March 9 post) a story in yesterday's Trenton Times reports.

“Amphibians are an important part of a healthy ecosystem and its food chain,” one participant says. “Like everything in nature, they eat and are eaten. As adults, they feed on all kinds of insects and help to keep pests in check. It’s definitely worth it.”

The Amphibian Crossing Project is jointly sponsored by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation, the NJ Audubon Society and the state’s Endangered and Nongame Species Program.
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Animals & people: 'bound together'

(This post consists of excerpts from “Animals,” a special Science Times issue in the NYTimes, March 15, 2011.)

Animals. And people. We have always been bound together. Humans are animals, after all. . . . We share behaviors. We share homes and habitats. We consume each other. Mostly we eat them, a moral quandary for many people . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Members of the Family: About 37 percent of American households have pet dogs (78 million dogs), and about 32 percent have cats (94 million).

Keeping Pets Fed: Americans spent almost $18 billion on food for their pets in 2009, an amount similar to what they spend on coffee each year.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The road to certification as man’s best friend has been long and pitted. . . . dogs have often been a menu item. . . . street markets in South Korea sell dogs meant for meat right next to dogs meant for pets, with the latter distinguished by the cheery pink color of the cages.

As a rule, however, the elevation of an animal to pet status removes it entirely from the human food chain. Other tell-tale signs of petdom include bestowing a name on the animal and allowing it into the house. . . .

In this country, pet keeping didn’t get serious until after World War II. . . . today about two-thirds of American households include at least one pet. . . . (shown above, Cali Lagomarsino, Andy's girl.)

People may even be willing to die for their pets. “In studies done on why people refused to evacuate New Orleans during Katrina, a surprising number said they could not leave their pets behind,” according to Dr. Harold Herzog, author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat.#

Come back as a pet, not a farm animal

“Some animals are more equal than others,” wrote Mark Bittman in his March 15 NYTimes column. How tragically true.

He talked about the line – and what a line! – between “pet” and “animal”: “. . . we protect ‘companion animals’ like hamsters while largely ignoring what amounts to the torture of chickens and cows and pigs. In short, if I keep a pig as a pet, I can’t kick it. If I keep a pig I intend to sell for food, I can pretty much torture it.”

Bittman continued, “ . . . we ‘process’ (that means kill) nearly 10 billion animals annually in this country, approximately one-sixth of the world’s total” – for food.

He reported on how the ASPCA had gone after a 19-year old woman who violently killed a pet hamster – but not, of course, the city reps who poison rats left and right. “Might we more usefully police those who keep egg-laying hens in cages so small the birds can’t open their wings,” he asked.

“But,” Bittman wrote, “thanks to Common Farming Exemptions, as long as I ‘raise’ animals for food and it’s done by my fellow ‘farmers’ (in this case, manufacturers might be a better word), I can put around 200 million male chicks a year through grinders . . . castrate — mostly without anesthetic — 65 million calves and piglets a year, breed sick animals (don’t forget: more than half a billion eggs were recalled last summer, from just two Iowa farms) who in turn breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria, allow those sick animals to die without individual veterinary care, imprison animals in cages so small they cannot turn around, skin live animals, or kill animals en masse to stem disease outbreaks.

“All of this is legal, because we will eat them.”
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http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others/?emc=eta1

From Japan: 'a tale of two dogs'

Scott Simon, NPR commentator, tells this dog story best. Here’s his column, complete.

A news crew from Fuji TV saw a couple of dogs this week, lying in the wreckage of Mito, Japan.

A dog with brown and white splotches seemed to hover over one with gray, black and white splotches. Both dogs looked grimy. The second dog didn't seem to move.

When the dog with brown and white splotches came toward the crew, they thought it was warning them to stay away. But it returned to the other dog, and put a paw on its head.

Then they understood: the dog was sticking by his friend, and asking for help.

Japan is a nation of pet lovers. Most families have a dog or cat, birds, a rabbit, or other pets in their apartments.

When I covered Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, it seemed that the commonest reason people who stayed through the storm gave for refusing to evacuate was, "I couldn't leave my pet."

But earthquakes strike suddenly. People can get stuck at work, school, or in panicked transit, leaving pets to fend for themselves.

Among the thousands of volunteers who have been mining the rubble of the earthquake are Japanese Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support, who look and listen for dogs and cats among the ruins.

To those who might find such relief work frivolous when so many people are hungry and homeless, Animal Rescue and Support says, ". . . helping the pets in Japan is to help people. All of us who are animal lovers can relate to what it would feel like to be reunited with a pet after a disaster."

The dog with brown and white splotches and his friend with gray, black and white splotches were rescued, and are in a veterinary clinic in the Ibaraki Prefecture.

Kenn Sakurai, the president of a dog food company, who has been among the volunteers, says on Facebook: ". . . The one which came close to the camera is in the better condition. The other . . was weak. . . But please know that those two are just the tip of the iceberg. There are more and we need help."

I noticed another, smaller story this week. An 11-month old Tibetan mastiff puppy named Hong Dong, or Big Splash, went for 1.5 million U.S. dollars in China.

Tibetan mastiffs are massive, fluffy status symbols there. Hong Dong has been raised on beef, chicken, abalone, and sea cucumber. His breeder told Britain's Telegraph, "He is a perfect specimen."

The million-dollar puppy that's been fattened with abalone, or the grimy dog with brown and white splotches who stood over his friend until he found help: which do you think of as a perfect specimen?

-- NPR’s “Simon Says” column for March 19, 2011: “A Tale of Two Dogs Is Testament to Japan’s Humanity”
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A dog day

Three thoughts about dogs kept going through my mind today. Here are two; the third and best will have to wait till tomorrow.

First comes the subject of fat dogs. There’s no other way to say it. These dogs have been overfed – and probably also under-exercised. Unlike fat people, who theoretically have control over what and how much they eat, dogs are dependent on their people. That’s often too bad.

Surely fat dogs’ owners, and hopefully fat dogs’ vets too, see that they’re fat and therefore living with more health risks than necessary. But the fat dogs continue to be fat. Here's the big question: can someone who’s not a fat dog’s owner or vet step in and say something about the dog's condition? If Y, what and how?

Second, there’s the dog as management trainer – or at least as the inspirer of important management principles. That’s the claim in All I Know About Management I Learned from my Dog: The Real Life Story of Angel, A Rescued Golden Retriever, Who Inspired the New Four Golden Rules of Management, by Martin P. Levin.

After a long, successful career in publishing and then as a lawyer, Levin adopted an aging shelter dog. He came to recognize surprising parallels between owning a dog and effective leadership. These include (1) You sometimes have to earn trust, and (2) Clear communication is essential.

The press release doesn’t say whether these examples are two of the four golden rules. You’ll have to buy the book next month ( Skyhorse Publishing) and see.
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N.B. Yes, the image here shows a fat CAT. But s/he's so cute. Which must be what owners of fat dogs say too.