Ways Humans Can Help Other Animals

[Aspergers_Aspie]

Here in Scotland. I've been helping wild birds. Feeding pigeons and doves wild bird seed. Gulls and crows wholemeal, seeded or brown bread

 

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Steven Spielberg apologises to sharks for Jaws

Steven Spielberg has apologised to sharks for the negative press that Jaws gave them.

www.unilad.com

Publicly admitting that you perpetuated false information is a step in the right direction.

From the article:
“I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that,” said Spielberg during his guest spot on BBC's Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne.

According to shark researcher George Burgess, the legendary film inspired fishermen to take their own little boats out onto the water to catch 500 pound sharks to prove their bravery, which eventually led to the wasteful hobby of shark finning.

Shark finning involves catching sharks and chopping off their fins to sell, before dumping the rest of the body back into the ocean. Although sharks could have survived a shark finning, they would simply have sunk to the bottom of the ocean and died since they could no longer swim.


The chances of being attacked by a shark are one in 3.7 million, and you're more likely to be struck by lightning or die of accidental poisoning.

Peter Benchley, who became a millionaire after the success of the original 1974 novel, has confessed that he feels terribly guilty for the shark populations decline.
"What I now know, which wasn't known when I wrote Jaws, is that there is no such thing as a rogue shark which develops a taste for human flesh," he told Animal Attack Files.

 

[tree]

"...what if we thought about wildlife in terms of conservation? What kinds of habitats do we want to create, and what kinds of creatures do we want to surround ourselves with? To do that, we need to think about reorienting pest control toward habitat management and not so much just like lethal control. We need to think about the fact that our agencies don’t really have good mechanisms for including wildlife in their decision-making processes.

And on an individual basis, people are doing kind of crowdsourced wildlife management all the time, and they just don’t know it. If you’re planting trees around your home, you are repelling some creatures and inviting others. If you’re going twice the speed limit, you’re increasing the risk that some species are going to die on the roads. If we account for these creatures more often, it would probably create a better, healthier environment for them and for us."

How to Coexist With Animals in Cities, From Rats to Coyotes

One of the greatest modern feats for animal conservation was wildlife adapting to urban spaces, according to a new book. Now the challenge is learning to live with them.

getpocket.com

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

I hate to see and am worried for birds potentially having discarded wires or string caught in their feet or legs and pick them up and bin

 

[tree]

This is not a circumstance I would have imagined.
Seals getting eels stuck up their noses.

‘Make better choices’: Researchers beg endangered seals to not stick eels up nose

“Mondays...it might not have been a good one for you, but it had to have been better than an eel in your nose."

www.wpbf.com

 

[Foggy]

You can help animals by signing this petition to tell Seaworld to release their orcas to sanctuaries.

 

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“The safety of this rabbit population is of utmost importance to the City, and any decision to involve ourselves will be certain to see these rabbits placed into the hands of people with a passion to provide the necessary care and love for these rabbits,” Police Chief Gary Blocker said in a statement.

Fuzzy invasion of domestic rabbits has a Florida suburb hopping into a hunt for new owners

A Florida neighborhood is having to deal with a growing group of domestic rabbits on its streets after a breeder illegally let hers loose.

apnews.com

Lionhead rabbit - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[TBRS1]

I stop for turtles (Turtle Rescue Squad on duty!).

A snapping turtle in the road is a female, on her way to lay eggs in the same place she hatched. A snapper never leaves the water for any other reason.

Every turtle I pick up from the road saves an entire generation of turtle.

(if you do this: A - don't get bit, and B - always note the direction the turtle is traveling and put it on the side of the road she is headed for. If you don't she will head right back into the road!)

 

[tree]

A snow shovel is useful for scooping up a big snapping turtle.

 

[Mary Terry]

Driving at night in the car, cut back on the speed. Seriously--you'll save a lot of animals AND a lot of radiators and grills. If you're in deer country slow it down to about 45 per hour, keep the lights on, and blow the horn if you see deer. Deer do not like electric horns, & will bounce out of the way--but their hooves are slippery on asphalt roads; cloven hooves don't do too great when deer want to make a panic start on some pavement. Deer have no brakes. Automobiles do. Use them if you've got them (This applies to motorists. If you are reading this, you are not a deer.)

The ones to watch for are opossums. I've nearly hit opossums before; they are small and cuddly and appear to be suicidal. Remember that for opossums their defense is to play dead, and for armadillos they leap straight up into the air when confronted. Unfortunately neither of these helps them with cars. Armadillos could duck & pass between the wheels, but end up leaping into the front bumper or the radiator grill--bonk--and then, if you are a sportsman & eat what you kill, you have 'possum on the half-shell.

Snakes, frogs, turtles, rabbits, all that--leave them be. I have, on occasion, stopped the car to retrieve particularly large turtles from the road. Most other drivers will leave you be if you make eye contact while standing in the road like a crazy person, wielding a walking, flailing, biting manhole-cover from the Pleistocene. Do not do this with snapping-turtles; they can reach almost out of their shells and they bite ferociously. Snapping-turtles can be chased or swept across with a big stick; I tend to leave them be as they are faster than most turtles anyway & can get on out the way. Pick turtles up from behind and do not turn them horizontally--I repeat, keep the tail end of the turtle aimed away from the front of shirts. There's a family story about a friend who went & moved a Florida gopher tortoise and then had the bragging rights of being crapped on by an endangered species.

Place your turtle in the grass on the other side of the road embankment (where he was going anyway), and give him a push, like curling if rednecks had invented it. He'll slide off and when he feels the grass moving he will start to scoot again and go find water to sink in.

For whatever reason people will run over turtles with the car; I still don't get this but every day I think we strayed from the light when we got rid of the public whipping-post. Same applies to snakes; there are enough misconceptions about snakes that people will deliberately swerve to run them over.

Another thing about deer crossing roads is that the does are often followed by their fawns and does stay together in little herds during rutting season. So just because a doe has safely crossed the road doesn't mean that others aren't following her.

 

[DuckRabbit]

Good to see France imposing hefty fines for abandoning animals:

France’s animal shelters reach capacity as holidaymakers dump pets at roadside

Protection group appeals for funds after accepting 12,000 animals since beginning of summer

www.theguardian.com

“There are still thousands of abandonments in France each year and mainly in summer … many people are still departing for holidays and leaving their pet by the side of the road or in motorway service areas,” Beaune said.

“It is unacceptable. Those who abandon will be severely and heavily punished.”

In 2022, the French government passed a law qualifying abandoning an animal as “mistreatment” and introducing fines of up to €45,000 (£38,700) and three-year prison sentences for those convicted.

 

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[Judge]

Reminds me of observing a Turkish veterinarian named Tugay İnanoğlu on YouTube.

I didn't include his many videos because they often involve very uncooperative pets, primarily housecats. Which may be too intense for some. But his gentle demeanor in the face of some frighteningly dangerous and angry pets is amazing to see. Clearly he loves them all...even when they behave like "something else".

Kudos to kind, patient and brave vets everywhere.

 

[tree]

Paws Off! Xylitol is Toxic to Dogs

This poster describes the common types of xylitol containing products and the most common symptoms of xylitol poisoning in dogs.

www.fda.gov

Xylitol Is Toxic To Dogs, and It's Probably in Your Home Right Now

What is xylitol, also called birch sugar? It's found in a lot more than you think, and it's very dangerous for your dog to ingest.

www.akc.org

Could Xylitol — AKA 'Birch Sugar' — Kill Dogs That Eat It?

Not all dog owners recognize potentially dangerous Xylitol when it is listed under other names.

www.snopes.com

 

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Try not to let moose lick your car​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dont-let-moose-lick-1.7074587

 

[tree]

As Banff’s famed wildlife overpasses turn 20, the world looks to Canada for conservation inspiration

The innovative structures are heralded for having opened migration corridors and saved countless animals from vehicle collisions

canadiangeographic.ca

The Alberta Story: Wildlife Crossing in Banff

My very first job out of high school was cleaning up roadkill, all along the highways and back roads in my county. It was very depressing. There’s nothing like picking up dead deer and smushed racoons all summer to convince a kid that going to college isn’t such a bad idea. It also had a…

www.nationalgeographic.com