A pictorial appendix to the post published an hour and a half ago.

Koala pic from HERE.

"I am more worthy of being saved because I'm cute, cuddly and the worst thing I could do to a human is pee on him."

American crocodile pic from HERE.

"What a load 'o croc."

King cobra pic from HERE.

"You think you have it tough? I've had a bad rap ssssince they found my great great great great great great great great grand dad in ssssome garden."


Giant panda pic from HERE.

"Come on guys. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what you need." 


This pic from HERE.

"Better PR." 

Whales, sharks and more bloody questions.

I went whale watching on a friend's boat recently. It was a beautiful morning. The humpbacks were feeling friendly and it took less than an hour to sight a pod. One of them breached quite close to our boat.


Sighting of a blow. Can you see Sydney in the background?

I only managed to catch the whale on its way back down. 

And as it waved goodbye.

I wish I could say I took this picture of a humpback. Alas, it's from HERE.


We're very serious about whale conservation in Australia and rightly so.


But did you know that many sharks are also protected in Australia and around the world? 


How on earth did a top predator of the ocean become an endangered species requiring protection? If you have some time, a strong stomach, and are interested in finding out,  CLICK HERE for the Pew Report.

This scary pic from HERE. Quite a few species are listed as threatened including everyone's favourite set of jaws.

There was sadly another fatal shark attack in WA, just 11 days ago [which is probably why I've been thinking about today's topic]. In these situations, a hunt is usually called to find the rogue animal. In this case, almost immediately, the protected species status of the great white came into question. There was some concern that tourists might be too afraid to go to the beach. 


Informal polls and comments on news reports, facebook and blogs however, seem to indicate that most people would like to see the great white's protected status maintained.

Check out this timeline of shark attacks in Australian waters over the last decade.


While the number of attacks appear to have increased of late, the average fatality in Australia over the last 50 years, has been less than 1 human per year. 


I think I may have more chance of being killed stepping out onto a pedestrian crossing on Darling Street.


By comparison, guess how many sharks get killed in a year? According to the Pew Report above, about 73 million. I don't even know how you can count a number like that.

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I get disturbed when I read this sort of stuff. There's a lot of noise in my head and I find it difficult to organize it into coherent sentences. It took me the better part of an hour to word the 3 questions below and I expect my thoughts on the subject will be contentious and unpopular. But here goes anyway.

Should maintaining our comfort, safety and way of life always take precedent over that of animals, even endangered ones? [I don't think so.]


Do you think we discriminate when it comes to [protecting] animals and are partial to saving cute ones? [I do.]


Do you think it does any good to hunt down and kill an animal that has killed a human? [I don't, unless it can be proven that the animal's action was pre-meditated.]

What are YOUR thoughts? And do you have other questions yourself?

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"Yeah I do! Anyone want to know if I'm still farting?"

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2 helpful reads before you next get in the water. 


+ 10 myths about sharks by Valerie Taylor.
2. TRUE: Sharks are attracted to swimming dogs

Sharks’ curiosity attracts them to any unusual creature in their environment. A small animal like a dog is more likely to be considered prey than a big animal. 

+ 13 tips for avoiding a shark attack.
11. Avoid swimming or surfing at dawn, dusk or night. These are typically the feeding times for a lot of sharks.


And look what I found when I googled "are cute animals better protected than ugly dangerous ones"


+ THIS ARTICLE.


Excerpt:

He set out to describe what attributes make animals attractive to humans. The successful candidate will exhibit:

• Usefulness (providing humans with food, clothing or medicine);
• Human-like traits, such as having a high forehead and expressive eyes and being a mammal, or at least a vertebrate;
• Be large and fierce. For some reason we like dangerous animals, and are fascinated with their weapons, from teeth to horns. (Watch any kid in the dinosaur gallery.) Small thinks this may explain the fact that tigers are the kings of global conservation efforts;
• It must live above ground, preferably in a family setting showing off the mother with adorable cubs or kittens (one Toronto conservationist calls such animals “the cuddlies”);
• It should not smell bad;
• It helps to be warm-blooded;
• Bright colours also help while being covered with scales, or a slimy skin, is bad;
• Attractive animals eat “clean” food. We don’t like scavengers and carrion-pickers;
• Traits that are unhealthy in humans should be avoided. We have little urge to conserve animals with warts, bow legs, wrinkles (except for elephants), irregular teeth or a habit of drooling.

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For what it's worth, my instructions to the Other Half, if I should get attacked or killed by a wild animal, is to let it be. He's left the same instructions with me. [We like being prepared for 1-in-a-squillion chance events.]


The person that runs me over at a pedestrian crossing however, won't get away with it that easily.


By the way, I. am. not. anthropomorphic. or. a. bleeding. heart. [Though I do like sniffing trees.] And it's okay if you're now thinking I'm simplistic, unrealistic and delusional. I already know that. 


Have a good day! :) X

Introspection and my 1st question.

The endorphins are gone and I'm not just bored, I'm getting introspective. That's a worry as my rabbit hole can be rather cavernous. 


First, let me apologise if I've been leaving snarky snarkier than usual comments at your blog or even [gulp] sermonising. I tried to stay away from my google reader for a few days but finally got tired of talking to myself and to Georgia.


I've kept away from posting too because frankly, I have

I knew this sign, taken outside one of our local hardware stores, would come in handy one day. The old man has a message for us every day. These ones are from a long time ago since I haven't been out walking lately.

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Here's a report for all the lovely people who've been checking up on me. [Even the ones who called me lazy. Really, some people can be so rude.]  :) 


I met up with my surgeon last Tuesday. He's happy with my progress, as am I! 

I was left to remove the plasters myself, a simple enough task. But these last bits were super sticky and I was too cowardly to peel them off. They finally fell off this morning.

Looking very good, if I say so myself.


The Person In Charge Of Stinky Knees has been incredibly kind to me. Thanks to a cancellation, I was able to meet up with the physiotherapist last Wednesday and am now doing more rehab exercises. The best news! I can now walk normally [though with caution] down the stairs!

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It's Be [or is it Blog?] The Change for Animals week in the dogblog park. I was going to give it a pass. I'm not good awful at bloghops and doing group stuff. But for some reason, I can't get this one out of my head. Probably because I'm bored, feeling introspective, and have a lot of questions when it comes to animals and their welfare, and not too many answers.


So here's what I've decided to do. I'm going to pose a few questions over the week that have always bugged me. They won't be about any animal causes. They'll be more like a chart of my personal journey.


I'm going to include some interesting reading I've done. It won't be deep, well thought out research, just some googling. Of course, I hope you'll give me your wisdom on the subject. 


Here's my 1st question.


Can we really call ourselves animal lovers if we eat meat?


[I'm giving you some space here to think about it.]

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The tulip magnolia tree outside the study window is looking lovely today.

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Here's where I'm at.


I love animals but I'm not vegetarian. I don't think I ever could be. I crave my crispy double-smoked bacon and slow barbecued ribs too much. Meat constitutes about 1/4 to 1/3 of our current diet [mostly white and seafood], yet I feel guilty [and I know The Other Half does too. The Dog pshaws at such absurdity.]


What's my excuse for this double standard? I believe in the food chain. 


Can I at least lessen my karmic burden? I hope so.

Here are some simple things I believe I can and should do.


When shopping for food or eating out -


+  Choose free range. For the longest time, this was hard for me to do, as the cost of anything free range here can be prohibitive. But I've since learnt to buy and eat less, which is not a bad thing.


+  Don't just go for the canned tuna on offer. Jordan and Rufus ate tuna regularly and that's exactly what I used to do. Just as well it doesn't agree with Georgia's tummy. Here's a ranking for brands commonly found on Australian shelves. 


+  Stop eating pate foie gras and other food that is produced in dubious ways.


+ Do not eat caviar, yellow fin tuna, swordfish, orange roughy and other overfished or endangered fish. Want to know if your favourite eating fish falls in this category? Check out this helpful guide. 

+ Always read labels and try to make informed choices. Here are 2 useful guides for anyone reading this in Australia. I've learnt that my eggs are OK!
Animal Welfare Labels
Ethical Consumer Guide

I'm sure there are heaps more ideas you could add to that list. I'm learning as I go.

I'll never be a Jain, but I can do better than what I'm doing today.

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Interesting titbit. 


Ahimsa 
The most fundamental value of Jainism is nonviolence, or ahimsa. This word is usually found on the Jain symbol of the open palm (which means "stop"). Ahimsa is the first of the vows taken by both Jain householders and monks. Ahimsa means harming no living being as well as protecting all living beings from harm. 


While several religions practice nonviolence and peace as a fundamental principle, Jainism is unique in extending this principle to all jivas (living beings). For Jains, living beings include not only humans and animals, but everything one finds on earth. Ahimsa must therefore be extended not only to humans and animals, but also soil, sand, oceans, fires, insects, microbes and plants.

For this reason, most Jains are not just vegetarians but "fruitarians" - they eat only fruit, nuts and milk. These foods are acceptable because they are only the by-products of the living beings and not the living beings themselves. To pull up a carrot or chop a potato would be to do violence to a living being (actually several living beings, as root vegetables are seen as multi-organic and therefore multi-souled).

This unique concept of nonviolence also explains why some Jain monks and nuns wear masks over their mouths and noses or carry whisks with which they brush chairs before sitting. To inhale or squash even a microbe would constitute violence to a living thing, resulting in unwanted karma.

Source 

As I said, the rabbit hole is cavernous.