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| Wild boar |
A hairbrush with boar bristles, as in “boar,” or wild pig. As in, the boar didn’t donate those bristles,
so I have to assume this brush and others like it, made in China (why am I not
surprised?), involved killing boars for their bristles, and probably their meat and other body
parts too.
consumer of elephant ivory — also not donated by elephants, but coming to
China indirectly, as in smuggled from Africa through other countries after the
elephants had been killed by poachers for their tusks.
subject of ivory, its lust for rhino horns and pangolin scales and lion bones
and tiger parts continues for use in Eastern medicinal practices (with no
proven efficacy). Whether stated or not,
animals are still seen in China as objects that exist for human use. Eastern religions may not preach human dominion
over animals — maybe Genesis (1:26) has a lock on stating that belief — nonetheless, people in those countries are living the belief.
Consider pigs, for instance: animals bred en masse to be killed and
eaten. Since “African swine fever” broke
out in Asia, millions of pigs have had to be killed. Horrors! No, not from compassion for the animals, but
grief over lost income. https://www.google.com/search?q=pig+disease+%2B+Asia+%2B+culling&rlz=1C1VSNG_enUS691US702&oq=pig+disease+%2B+Asia+%2B+culling&aqs=chrome..69i57.9543j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
pig I didn’t like. All pigs
are intelligent, emotional, and sensitive souls. They all love
company. They all crave
contact and comfort. Pigs have a
sense of mischief; most of them seem to enjoy a good joke and
music. And that is something you would certainly never suspect
relationship with a pork chop.”
― Sy Montgomery, naturalist and author
(1958- )
subject of human-used animals, just think about silk, a Chinese invention based
on the threads of silkworms. Moths lay eggs and worms hatch, eat mulberry
leaves till they’re fat, then spin cocoons. Cocoons are steamed to kill the growing moth
inside, then rinsed in hot water to loosen the fibers, which are combined into
threads, which in turn are woven into cloth: silk.
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| California condor |
But we can’t be too righteous about China’s
sins against animals. After all, we’re the ones who killed off American buffaloes
and drove majestic California condors — North America’s largest flying bird —
nearly to extinction. (Now in gradual recovery, they’re still
endangered by lead exposure in carcasses (lead ammo must go!) and consumption
of junk in their habitats (humans must clean up after themselves!).
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| Cicada |
On to a happier
and much noisier subject: the sizzling seasonal sounds of . . . bugs. Specifically, cicadas, crickets and
katydids. We hear them in alpha-order,
with male cicadas buzzing during the day, singing to attract females by vibrating
a special membrane in their abdomens.
their wings together to produce their chirpy mating calls late afternoon and
evening, while katydids rub their front wings
together to “sing” to each other late at night in bursts of two,
three or four notes.
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| Cricket |
Nor are these
three insects the only ones we hear
these steamy days and nights. Rubbing a hind
leg against one of its hard front wings, a grasshopper also makes sounds, and for
the same purpose: courting and mating.
chirpy world out there during these “bug days of summer.” But as
temperatures drop, the seasonal sounds lessen and are usually gone by
October. It’s sad.
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| Katydid |
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are always welcome. Simply go to 1moreonce.blogspot.com and have a
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