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| HSI pic |
It’s
nearly Thanksgiving – a blessedly non-sectarian holiday-invitation to think about all we’re
grateful for. This year, it could be
very simple: we’re still alive!
An
added benefit is looking at ourselves and others with heightened appreciation. What were annoyances before (say, dentist
appointments) suddenly become welcome distractions from precautions and worry. Other living creatures are even more
cherished because we’re here to cherish them.
Life goes on.
And
may it long continue, so we may continue to be thrilled by the kinds of
animal-world marvels described here.
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| NYT pic |
Humans
recently discovered another proof that ancient people were as much into cats as we are. A huge feline figure
about 40 yards long and thought to date back to 200 BC-100 BC was found on a
hillside in Peru.
It
joins numerous other larger-than-life geoglyphs portraying myriad animals, spiders to alpacas to fish. Together, they
comprise what are known as the “Nazca lines,” first discovered in 1927.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/world/americas/peru-cat-nazca-lines-nasca.html? campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20201020&instance_id=23299&nl=the-
morning®i_id=20760274§ion_index=2§ion_name=the_latest_news&segment_id=41591&te=1&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd
Bring on Thanksgiving, so needed this
year. Much as the CDC urges people not
to gather in groups for their health’s sake, the ASPCA warns against four harmful
foods for pets this holiday season: (1) onions and garlic, (2) animal bones,
(3) bouillon and (4) baked goods. Worst
case, an animal poison control center number is included.
“Freeing turkeys” (or “pardoning” them – ha! when
it’s people who need pardoning for raising them to be eaten, and then
doing so) is a nice-enough but minimal good deed. Here’s another approach to freeing these
sentient beings from the holiday feast: https://dawnwatch.com/turkey-rescue/
That link leads to “DawnWatch Turkey Rescue,” where you
need only to click on the video at the top: “DawnWatch Guide to Holiday Turkey
Preparation.” Prepare to be amazed.
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| Major Biden |
Dogs & cats
My last post featured Champ Biden, one of the two
family German shepherds the Bidens will bring with them to the White
House. I’ve since found a good image of Major,
the younger dog, who will be the first shelter dog ever to live in the
president’s mansion. (canine poetic
justice!)
Please remember that November is “adopt an older cat
month.” It’s a great time to bring a
homeless cat home for the holidays – and beyond!
Hippos au naturel
“The hippo has long been an enigma: an
aquatic mammal that cannot swim, a vegetarian that is also the most dangerous
animal in Africa.” That sentence alone was
enough to get my attention and prompt me to watch Hippos: Africa’s River
Giants (PBS, Nature), a 55-minute documentary narrated by David
Attenborough.
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| Hippos |
Although hippos are “utterly dependent
on water,” they must somehow survive when the deep floodwaters they move
through gradually dry up. The film
features aerial tracking of hippos in Botswana, moving along watery channels
they create by traveling through grasses around the nearby river.
No, they don’t swim through those
channels – they walk or run underwater along the paths, and from above resemble swift dark torpedoes.
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| William |
Hippos includes how
they protect their families and fight their enemies. It also shows that these animals are not lovely
in any traditional way! Any resemblance
between them and “William,” the blue faience hippo who’s the unofficial mascot
of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, is purely coincidental.
Animal sightings
Recently spotted: two creatures I’ve rarely
seen. First, early one morning, a hawk
sat on our backyard fence, looking straight ahead– very much in charge, very
understandably frightening to smaller birds and creatures. S/he quickly flew off, maybe seeing my
movement at the window.
Next was a pheasant – not seen in
years — on a school’s wooded property. Fewer
kids around may mean more pheasants.
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| Albino squirrel |
Finally, a second-hand sighting reported
by a friend who sent a photo: an albino squirrel who lives in Burlington County,
NJ. (Wonder whether s/he likes peanuts
too.)
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