Will Oregon Zoo's prized baby elephant end up in a traveling show?

Tragic, and a disgusting example of humanity's gratuitous need to use abuse animals as "entertainment." Bad enough elephants are in zoos, but the potential fate of the Portland Zoos recently born elephant is dismal: Will Oregon Zoo's prized baby elephant end up in a traveling show? "Trunks Will Travel" cute, huh? Owners may or may not take ownership.

Please do what you can to make sure this doesn't happen. Animals, especially creatures such as elephants, do not belong in circuses or to be rented for entertainment. The bond between mother and child in the elephant world is life long and strong. The good news is the zoo insists the elephant will "stay put." But there is a contract dispute:

Kari Johnson, who co-owns Have Trunk Will Travel with her husband, Gary, told the Times that they were looking forward to visiting the newborn elephant and added that details regarding her future had not yet been worked out.

Perris, California, where the Johnsons have their elephant for hire business.  That sounded familiar. So I went back into my files. Ah, here it is; I posted about lion meat hamburgers available at a Tuscon, Arizona restaurant. Source of the lion meat? Perris, California. Tuscon Restaurant Serves Lion Meat Tacos. I have no idea if there is a connection between the lion meat and the Johnsons; I'm not saying there is one, only that the town of Perris, California seems to be the area for gratuitous indulgences with animals. There's more. Seems Have Trunk Will Travel was sued for animal abuse and fraud, according to this article in Animal Defenders International:

Los Angeles, Monday June 27, 2011 -- Today, in the US District Court, Central District of California, Los Angeles, Animal Defenders International (ADI), together with members of the public, Gail Profant and Leslie Hemstreet, filed suit against Have Trunk Will Travel, as well as the owners Gary and Kari Johnson, over their claims about the training of the elephant Tai, who played Rosie in the film ‘Water for Elephants’. The suit is based on erroneous assurances that the defendants gave the public that the elephant Tai was trained with kindness for her role in Water for Elephants. Video footage released by Animal Defenders International (ADI) showed Tai and other elephants being electric shocked with a stun gun and jabbed and hit will bull hooks during her training for the same types of tricks seen in the movie, at the Perris, CA ranch of Have Trunk Will Travel.

Howling For Justice:No Justice For Journey’s Brother, OR9? � Howling For Justice

From Howling For Justice, a blog I recently discovered that is focused on informing us about wolf: (protection, activism, news, etc) this item on the sad news of the harvesting murder of OR-9 in Idaho.No Justice For Journey’s Brother, OR9? Howling For Justice

Oregon Bigfoot Blog: Stand for Sasquatch

Join Autumn and others. Stand for Sasquatch. I do, do you?
Please Stand For Sasquatch - Oregon Bigfoot Blog | Oregon Bigfoot Blog

Texas Approves Aerial Hunting of Pigs and Coyotes | Care2 Causes

Wild and feral hogs are a problem in Texas, and that state has come up with a solution: legalizing aerial hunting killing of hogs -- and coyotes, as Care2Causes reports.:Texas Approves Aerial Hunting of Pigs and Coyotes | Care2 Causes

The language used (twilight language, subliminal controls, etc.) is interesting. Example: the bill, signed into law by Governor Rick Perry, is called the "pork chopper bill." Adding to the gratuitous innate blood lust factor is the annual "Get the Hogs Outta Texas”" event slaughter, in which "where the top five hog-killing counties win a total of $60,000 in grant money."


While this new law isn't exactly one that falls into the canned hunt category, it is interesting to point out that Texas has over 750 canned hunt sites, according to Advocacy for Animals.  


At least there are 20 states that either ban canned hunts outright, or have restrictions on them. Oregon, where I live, is one of those states. It bans canned hunts, but sort of. You can kill if you are "hunting" the animal in order to eat it as long as it's not an exotic animal.  Little solace, but it's something.



It is unlawful to hunt, kill, or attempt to hunt or kill, exotic mammals (as defined in OAR 635, Division 56) or game mammals (as defined in OAR 635, Division 45) held or obtained by private parties; however:
(1) Any person may slaughter such an animal for meat, leather, or fur production;
(2) Any person may euthanize such an animal for scientific, health, safety or other valid husbandry concerns; and
(3) The department's Wildlife Division Director may authorize any person to hunt or kill such an animal if the Division Director determines it would be in the best interest of sound wildlife management. The Division Director may impose conditions on such authorizations.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 496.012 & ORS 496.138
Stats. Implemented: ORS 496.012 & ORS 496.138
Hist.: DFW 26-1999, f. & cert. ef. 4-26-99
OAR 635-064-0010, OR ADC 635-064-0010

Odd Skeleton Find

I had an odd and creepy thing happen to me today. I parked in the large parking lot at the Goodwill. After checking out the Goodwill, I walked across the parking lot to go to the St. Vincent de Paul's, which is right next door. The Goodwill parking lot extends all the way to a little patch of grass, then the much smaller St. Vinnie's parking lot.

So I'm walking along, hot day, and see this skeleton just spread out on the blacktop, next to the patch of grass. You can see a bit of the grass in this photo:

The placement is very odd. What's it doing there, right off the sidewalk and close to the parking lot entrance by a heavily trafficked street? A decomposing body would very likely have been moved by any number of businesses around there. It takes a bit of time for a body to decompose, so I'd think it would have  been noticed long before it got to the state I found it in.  It looked staged, as if someone had brought it there. Maybe another animal dragged it there somehow. But, why? Overall, seems odd.

That parking lot gets a lot of traffic every day, lots of people going by in cars, and on bikes, as well as pedestrians.  The area is an industrialized area with lots of stores around; right across the street from a large grocery and department store, fast food places, etc.

When I looked closer at the photo it looked like one of the legs had been cut off, or detached. Either intentionally cut or by natural process, hard to know. And its other back leg bent and sticking up, then the long tail, which you can see in the first photo. At first I thought the leg sticking up on the left was a tail, but I think it's a rear leg. I'm not sure what this animal was.  At first I thought it was a cat, but what looks like a tail (on the left) is awfully long; too long for a cat.  Then I thought possum, but the head doesn't seem the right shape.

 

This is the first picture I took; sun was bright but the image has a spooky artistic  vibe, don't you think?

Say, maybe this is the skeleton of a chupacabra!

I don't mean to be flip, it's both creepy and sad, as well as a bit weird. A mundane explanation -- possum, say, -- but I can't figure out what it is. And it is strange how it got there.

Another Reason Why We're Fucking Doomed: Geese Kills Feed Homeless

I just heard about this; but it's been going on for at least a year. Mass killings of geese, in New York -- ostensibly to stop the damage caused when geese fly into jet engines -- and the meat is shipped off to homeless shelters, including my own now home state of Oregon. Before the seemingly altruistic gesture of giving the goose meat to feed the homeless, the geese carcasses were dumped in a landfill. Only after much protesting from area residents did Prospect Park and the Department of Environmental Protection change their method of getting rid of the bodies.

In a truth is stranger than fiction Fortean moment, there was a story that many believed to be true about the homeless in Los Angeles eating pigeons.  back in January of this year. Even though those columns were fictional, and an attempt at humor,I found the articles disturbing, and the fact that many were linking to this as a real news item interesting. This is what I wrote in January about that article:

I found the link on Rense.com, where it was presented as serious. "371 Dead Birds Fall from Sky on Sunset Blvd." The article very quickly turns ugly in a not- funny- but- we- think- we're -being -funny way. Kind of nasty all the way around, with the smarmy comments about the homeless. But what I strikes me the most is the marginalization of a very serious global phenomena. Whether it's intentional, as in government Dr. Evil plant and cover-up doing its disinfo thing, or, just some smart ass being not as clever as he thinks he is, that constant, low level hum that sends the signal it's not that bad, these events aren't connected, nothing to see here, is being maintained. 

The Humane Society has plenty to say about this, naturally...

As I mentioned, the goose killing has been in the works for a year; as reported by  Diana Duel in July of 2010:

New York has declared war against Canadian geese, and has authorized the destruction of nearly two-thirds of the current population (or about 170,000 birds). That means two-thirds of the current population could be exterminated. Plans are to target Canadian geese found in "open areas and more than 40 public parks in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx within five miles of regional airports."

A year before that, according to Duel, New York killed 2,000 geese; again, the reason given was to protect planes.

I'm not naive; large numbers of geese are a problem. We have large numbers of geese where I live; they're everywhere along the river, for example. Nothing like navigating your way through slippery icky goose poo on your way to the water. Or warding off aggressive geese who hope you have food to give them. I've seem geese chase after little kids; the geese are sometimes taller than the kids! But as the Humane Society and others point out, there are other ways to combat the goose problem. And going deeper, is the issue of how we treat our poor and homeless in this country. There's something horrifying about doing a 180 on sloppy, unethical and careless behavior (throwing goose carcases onto landfills) and deciding "Oh, we'll just give the meat to the homeless." It's an afterthought. It's simply giving away trash to what many consider also trash -- the poor, the homeless -- it's appeasement without taking responsibility.

Previous related post: Bird Falls Go Hollywood
See also: Why We Can't Eat Slaughtered Geese - NYTimes.com

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife:Wolf Death; Unknown Cause

ODFW - News Release

The exact cause of death for the Imnaha wolf found dead in early March is unclear.
Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory ran several tests on the carcass looking for injuries, disease and toxins but test results did not point to a specific cause of death.
The only abnormal finding was some internal hemorrhage in the wolf’s chest cavity. Forensic analysis did not point to a clear cause of the hemorrhage but biologists believe the hemorrhage may have contributed to the wolf’s death.

Rest of story at site.

Animal Die-Offs and the Fortean Conspiracy Matrix on Binnall of America

My new Trickster's Realm column is now up at Binnall of America: Animal Die-Offs and the Fortean Conspiracy Matrix.

At the start of the New Year, we saw several stories of mysterious bird deaths, along with mass die-offs of fish and other marine life. Stories of large flocks of birds falling to their deaths and other large groups of animals dying were coming in literally every day, sometimes a few in one day.

As with mass UFO sightings and other Fortean phenomena, the mainstream media offered downright silly explanations for these UADs. (Unexplained Animal Deaths.) Fireworks startled birds from their sleep, causing them to drop to their deaths. It was too cold. It was too hot. No food. Disorientation due to severe climate change. Poison. Confused birds, drunk from eating fermented berries. And the most calm, rational and sane response from authority: it happens all the time, it just doesn't get reported. Humans, being pattern seeking creatures, create synchronicities or conspiracies inside of otherwise mundane events.


It's not that many of the above explanations are invalid; in some places, it was climate that caused animals to die off, and we know animals can get drunk eating fermented fruit. Fish kills are not uncommon. The government admitted setting out poison for birds in South Dakota.

But there are no coincidences, and within the context of a Fortean conspiracy matrix, these animal deaths are very strange indeed.

The rest at BoA!

A Squirrely Day

An odd day so far...

Jim hits his head, starts to bleed.  Not good, because he's on medication that affects bleeding and bruising --  the simplest cut bleeds profusely and takes a long time to heal. Scary but we think it'll be okay. Keeping a watch on it of course.

A few minutes after that, we're sitting in the living room, reading, when we hear strange sounds from the side of the house. Loud, scrambling scratching sounds. It sounded close to the sound a cat makes when it scratches its claws on wood. I had a fleeting thought it was one of our cats outside scratching on the side of the house, which has never happened, and, that would be one huge cat to make such a loud noise.

Then we hear something falling down the chimney and into our fireplace. Yep, a squirrel! Fortunately for us we have a wood stove insert, and the squirrel can't get out into the house. But the poor thing is stuck inside, terrified of course, and we're sitting here listening to its frantic scrambling. We wouldn't try to do anything ourselves; Jim can't afford to get bit or scratched, we have four cats, and the last thing I want in this crazy house of ours is a loose squirrel running around.

I've called Willamette Wildlife Rehabilitation and left messages. Our neighbor tells us they respond no matter what the hour or day of the week so we're hoping they call us back soon.

This is not the first time this has happened; a squirrel fell down our chimney a few years ago. Jim climbed up on the roof and put a cap on the chimney at the time. We've had a few storms and snow so no doubt things got out of alignment up there.

Superbowl Sunday. Not that I care about that, I don't, not one bit, but Jim does, (as I realize half of America) and all he wanted to do was relax and watch the game. Poor sweetie.

image: courtesy of Public Domain Image.

Horse registration bill already bucked from Salem | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News

There isn't anything Fortean or paranormal about this story, just the sad reality for many horses and their owners:

Here in Oregon, as well as all over the U.S., horses are being abandoned. Owners can't afford to properly care for them, so they neglect them or turn them loose. In some areas, you can't even give a horse away for free. Lindy Minten wants a law requiring horse owners to register their horses, believing this will help stop horse traders from taking advantage of this sad situation.

Horse traders often present themselves as rescue outfits, but in reality, they sell the horses to slaughter houses.

Her proposal would have required horses to be registered with the state for a fee under $100. In that way, the animals could be tracked so anyone “flipping” them could be caught.

“They have a reasonable justification to expect that this horse is going to be cared for until the end of its life. It’s not going to get back on the slaughter track; it’s not going to end up starving in somebody else’s field,” she said.

Unfortunately, it's a typical mind-set that "no one's gonna tell me how to raise my animals." The other side of this are the concerns legitimate horse rescue groups have concerning the expense and the ironic outcome of trying to rescue horses, but finding oneself unable to do so because of the fees:

Wayne Geiger, the founder of the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary which rescues farm animals, opposes any plan to create a horse registration fee. He said it would only hurt legitimate rescue organizations which already struggle financially to stay afloat.

“I do believe that a lot of the responsibility should fall on the original owner of the animals. It’s up to them to make sure that their horses, their animals are going to legitimate places,” he said.

It is the owner's responsibility, but there's also the reality of the fate of the horses. Which is the more critical: the principal of the thing (owner's responsibly) or the horses?

A tough situation. But as Minten believes, even if the bill is going nowhere, it's hopefully starting a dialogue and bringing awareness.

Horse registration bill already bucked from Salem | KVAL CBS 13 - News, Weather and Sports - Eugene, OR - Eugene, Oregon | Local & Regional News

Tucson Restaurant Serves Lion Meat Tacos

This is a hard one; I didn't want to follow this link because stories like this make me sick, sad and angry.

This story is another example of our never ending need to satisfy our gratuitous gastronomical whims: Tucson restaurant to serve up African lion tacos for $8.75 | Mail Online.

The article doesn't say where the lion meat comes from; but it doesn't much matter. Another article (linked below) reports that the lion meat comes from "...a farm in Perris, California, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles." (A "farm?" It's not a "farm," if you raise animals for meat. . .) Since lions aren't classified as endangered, it's legal to kill them and eat them, which is all the justification restaurant owner Bryan Mazon and his customer's need. Hey, they're not breaking any laws.

Adding to this hedonistic food offerng, is restaurant owner Bryan Mazon's reasoning for serving up lion meat tacos:

“I'm doing the African lion to get my name out,” he said. “I've never tried it myself, but this one really caught my eye.”

Comments left on the above articles, and on the restaurant Facebook's page, make the point that animals are killed all over the world for food. True. Many of us eat meat in the U.S. But it's not a matter of meat eating and therefore, it's all an equal playing field. Hence the word "gratuitous," and the concept of context. In the U.S. we don't need to eat lion meat. How far do we go to indulge ourselves, just because we can? If the lions were going to be killed anyway, well, what's the harm, some ask. To that I say, why are the lions going to be killed, and really, I can't see any reason to eat lion meat in that case. They're killed because they're: old, in which case, who wants to eat gamy old meat? Sick, well, ew. Culling? Shouldn't  be having lions in the first place. Canned hunts? You can guess my feelings on that.


Related articles by yours truly:
Conspiracies and Cannibalism: Animals and Advertising
Lemon Pepper Cougar and Feral Hawaiian Cats

Update on Bear on Bike Path

A news report of a bear seen on the bike path 2 miles from my house turned out to be incorrect. It was a brown sheep; not a bear.

The bike path in runs along a creek; brambly banks on either side. A nice bit of nature just yards away from the busy streets, commercial areas, etc. One of the businesses that fronts the very busy street has had a few sheep that graze in back of the building. I've seen them there myself many times. Apparently one of the sheep managed to make its way from behind the shop, and up onto the other side, to the bike path. Why or how it was the person mistook the sheep for a bear . . . but, in a way, it makes a bit of sense. You don't expect to see sheep, unless you know they're there, and actually a fixture in that spot. Bear have been seen in the area although certainly not in town like this.

Pretty funny actually. Glad all is okay; no scared bears, or humans, everyone safe. Including the sheep, who made it back and is safe.

Central Oregon Home to Rare White Buffalo Herd

Central Oregon home to rare white buffalo herd (Associated Press | The Register-Guard)

BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Pendleton Woolen Mills is making new Navajo-style blankets using wool and blended hair shed by an unusual herd of white buffalo in central Oregon.

Ranching experts say fewer than 50 white buffalo, or American bison, live in the U.S., The Oregonian reported.

On a sanctuary east of Bend, 11 of them roam acres of isolated juniper forest under the care of Cynthia Hart-Button and her husband, Charles Button. It's one of the larger collections of white buffalos.

Some Native American tribes consider them sacred.

"The significance of the white buffalo has been recognized by all the tribes that are buffalo culture people," Jim Stone, a Yankton-Yanktonai Sioux, told The Oregonian. Stone is executive director of the Intertribal Buffalo Council in Rapid City, S.D., an organization created to restore buffalo to Indian nations.

The white buffalo's presence is a prophesy of spiritual rebirth - "an indicator of better times coming to tribal people," Stone said. "Historically, that has been the view."

For more visit link.