The Science Behind Nature - in Layperson Speak
If you live in SoCal and particularly Carson - and are concerned about plans to kill coyotes – please read below from Bee Simpson of ProjectCoyote. (see my previous blog about them)
2/11/12 Update: Carson Trapping Plan Continues - The city decided to go ahead and remove the coyotes. Letters/emails still help. Meanwhile, Bee and others continue to work with city. [Read more...]
Shortly after we moved to Redlands CA, I read a LA Times article about a tracker hired by a Redlands resident to trap and kill coyotes. It triggered my ‘But we moved into their territory’ reaction. The article gave examples of southern California cities occasionally hiring a local trapper, Jimmie Rizzo of Animal Pest Management, and also provided criticism from animal advocates. I was always going to check on whether our county or city utilized his services (update – have not found recent examples of this in my city.)
Fast forward to this summer when the LA Times had a number of articles about coyote issues in Calabasas, which later passed a very progressive Coyote Management Plan [Read more...]
Acquaintances of ours were over at our house the other night and when they asked if we wanted to see a photo of the rattlesnake they found on their property, I thought to myself ‘they probably killed it.’ Yep, they did. It was a good 4-plus feet long, so likely had lived many years of its 25 year lifespan in the wild canyon that is off one side of their property.
While I’ve encountered few rattlesnakes on my various hikes, we have encountered over a half dozen on the 3 acre canyon property we lived on in San Diego County.
Except for the concern for our dog, we didn’t mind them around because: [Read more...]
Full Disclosure: I have had both an indoor cat and an outdoor cat!
While vacationing in British Columbia this fall, I read a good letter to the editor about cat owners who let their cats run free, thinking it’s good for the cat. A statistic jumped out at me, which I checked out.
More than 20 percent — so 1 of every 5 songbird death – is due to cats running free. American Wildlife Foundation scientists have been studying the drop in songbird population. Habitat destruction is a big reason but obviously cats are another. You read about the statistic of millions of bird deaths yearly due to cats (a 2010 U of Nebraska report estimated 480 million birds in the U.S. annually!) but I think the above factoid is easier to understand. There’s also the baby ducks, squirrels and rabbits they catch.
Reasons why to keep your cat indoors:
If you’re a cat owner, look at the resources below & consider the following:
My goal is to educate about the science of nature in layperson speak, through my writing, science and education background. I grew up in the Chicago area, loved living in Minneapolis before gravitating to the West, which is now home. The search for … [Read More...]
