Hazing Bison. Dogs For PTSD Vets. Tangled Whales. Adopt-A-Mutt. Pig Poop In National River? Pet Poisons. Seal's Whiskers. “U.S.A”. California.

 

For “Mammal Monday”:

Give Yellowstone's Buffalo More Room to Roam

“Most of Yellowstone National Park is over 6,000 feet in elevation. As a result, deep snows during harsh winters force Yellowstone’s bison to lower elevations outside the boundaries of the park in search of food and shelter.

The bison remain at the lower elevations outside the park’s boundaries into the spring when they give birth to their calves.
And it is in spring when workers from Montana’s Department of Livestock start hazing bison back into the boundaries of Yellowstone with helicopters, four-wheelers and horses. This practice to try and prevent the bison from coming into contact with local livestock has been going on for more than a decade.

The hazing can be a real horror show—bison calves bawling as they search for their mothers; and even worse, calves suffering broken legs or other potentially fatal injuries in the mayhem.

In the coldest months of winter, sometimes thousands of bison migrate out of Yellowstone—largely to National Forest lands immediately outside of the park.

Then in the spring bison are hazed back into Yellowstone to address ranchers’ fears that the bison could transmit disease to domestic livestock. This hazing still occurs even though, most of the National Forest lands no longer have domestic cattle on them, and thus there is no risk of disease transmission.

It’s time to eliminate these out-of-date policies that compel agencies to haze bison back into Yellowstone Park every spring.
We have until September 13 to submit comments on behalf of bison to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Your voice is extremely important in this effort, as local livestock interests are strongly resisting any change in the status quo.”

Please speak up now to end this hazing of bison and help bison to roam year-round on lands adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. 

More at: http://online.nwf.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=142871.1&dlv_id=144998 

and one from the National Parks: https://secure.npca.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1125

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How Dogs Can Help Veterans Overcome PTSD

““I would constantly be scanning for who was going to come stab me from behind,” says Robert Soliz, a 31-year-old former Army Specialist from San Joaquin, California. He was discharged in 2005 after serving in a heavy artillery quick-reaction force in South Baghdad. But fear, anxiety, depression and substance abuse swept into his life, and Soliz became one of 300,000 U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

New research finds that "man's best friend" can be lifesavers for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”    Video: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/How-Dogs-are-Replacing-Drugs-in-the-Treatment-of-PTSD.html#ooid=Z5dnk4NTo3AUO-ZgwUJ36PJ8OIElKneg

Article at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/How-Dogs-Can-Help-Veterans-Overcome-PTSD-160281185.html#

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Four-Legged Therapy for Military Veterans with PTSD

Fireworks are no fun for vets with PTSD

“Several hundred thousand U.S. military veterans are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) each year. It has been shown that many of the most distressing symptoms experienced by combat veterans can be eased by the presence of a specially trained therapy dog.

The Veterans Administration currently does not provide service dogs for vets with PTSD, unless they also have a vision, hearing or mobility problem.

Fortunately, there are organizations across the U.S. that have realized the enormous value of therapy dogs for PTSD sufferers and are raising money to provide more dogs to more U.S. military veterans.”  Complete article at: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/08/26/therapy-dogs-m

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Protect Right Whales from Slow Death

“Every year right whales, humpback whales, and other endangered whales get tangled in heavy lines used in lobster and other commercial fisheries. Once entangled, they can drown or die slowly from wounds and infection.

Females and young right whales tend to die more frequently. These deaths threaten the species as right whales struggle to grow from a current population of only around 500 whales.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed restricting fisheries in times and areas where right whales are most at risk. Although they are proposing greater protections in some areas; they are also proposing to reduce protections in others. Please let the NMFS know it’s important to require changes in commercial fisheries to reduce deaths of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

TAKE ACTION
Please fill out the form below to tell the NMFS that although you support their proposal to restrict fishing gear, you do not agree that large areas of the East Coast should have exemption from this rule.”    https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=6245

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A unique way to get people to adopt dogs.

“No one wanted abandoned mixed breed dogs until a rescue organization did something unique to help them.”

“Mutts are great! Just choose the correct size for you and you have a loyal companion.”

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6 Reasons to Go Mad for a Mutt

“Mutt… mongrel… Heinz 57… all-American. No matter what you call your mixed breed dog, he’s no less wonderful for his unknown ancestry. In fact, he may be the dog of your dreams…

1: You can pick your favorite size and color.

Mutts come in small, medium, large and XL sizes. They come with short, long, curly or wiry coats in every color. They have small ears that stand up, or big floppy, droopy ears. They come with long or short legs, and big fluffy tails, or no tail at all. Whatever you're looking for in a canine companion, you can find in a mixed breed dog.

 

2: You can find a mixed breed to fit your lifestyle.

You might be looking for a very friendly dog, or one who's security conscious. Perhaps you want a four-legged workout partner or a snuggler who enjoys long naps on the couch. Whatever your lifestyle, there's a dog out there who will fit right in.

 

3: You don't have to spend big bucks.

Animal shelter adoption fees are much more affordable than the cost of a purebred dog. (But keep in mind that every dog requires a nutritious diet, routine vet visits, obedience training, grooming supplies, bedding, a collar and leash, toys, and other odds and ends.)

 

4: Many mutts are great athletes.

If your mixed breed dog is healthy and active, he can compete and earn titles in agility, dock diving, flyball, canine disc, freestyle, lure coursing, obedience, rally and more.

 

5: You can DNA test your mixed breed dog.

 

Doggy DNA tests are growing in popularity as more pet owners realize the value of learning something about the breeds that make up their furry friend.

 

6: You're saving a life.

Mixed breed dogs account for about 75 percent of the U.S. shelter population, so adopting a homeless pet means one less animal languishing in the system or being euthanized.”

From: http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/09/06/mixed-breed-dogs.aspx

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Keep Buffalo National River Pristine: Ask Cargill to Move C&H Pigs!

“A factory farm threatens to pollute the Buffalo, America’s First National River. Please ask Cargill to move C&H Farms, Inc. to a more appropriate location. This factory farm will produce over three million gallons of manure, litter, and wastewater each year. Don’t let waste ruin the Buffalo National River. Cargill is C&H Farm’s primary customer. Please ask Cargill to move C&H farms to a more appropriate location and protect the watershed of the Buffalo National River.” Learn More.

TAKE ACTION! Keep Buffalo National River Pristine, ask Cargill to move C&H pigs!

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Pet Poisons:

 

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A Seal's Amazing Whiskers

“God's creation is vast and varied.

Researchers in Germany have discovered that seals are able to detect prey by following the invisible trails left by fish in the water. Even in low visibility and murky water, seals use their whiskers as a locating device, picking up movement in the wake of prey up to 35 seconds after the fish have passed by.

Experts believe that all seals, and likely sea lions, share this ability. The role whiskers play in hunting is comparable to echolocation used by dolphins and whales. Seals may also use their whiskers to tell the size of the fish and speed at which their prey is traveling. (Richard Gray, "Seals Can Detect Underwater Wakes Left Behind by Fish," Telegraph.co.uk, June 20, 2010).

The creatures He designed are brilliant in their complexity, and their God-installed instincts are astounding.”   From: http://www.ucg.org/science/news-seals-amazing-whiskers/     Article by Amanda Stiver

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On This Day:

Congress renames the nation "United States of America", Sep 9, 1776:

“On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress formally declares the name of the new nation to be the "United States" of America. This replaced the term "United Colonies," which had been in general use.  Congress had created a country from a cluster of colonies and the nation's new name reflected that reality.”

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California becomes the 31st state in record time, Sep 9, 1850:

“Though it had only been a part of the United States for less than two years, California becomes the 31st state in the union (without ever even having been a territory) on this day in 1850.

Mexico had reluctantly ceded California and much of its northern territory to the United States in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,. When the Mexican diplomats signed the treaty, they pictured California as a region of sleepy mission towns with a tiny population of about 7,300-not a devastating loss to the Mexican empire. Their regret might have been much sharper had they known that gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, nine days before they signed the peace treaty. Suddenly, the greatest gold rush in history was on, and "forty-niners" began flooding into California chasing after the fist-sized gold nuggets rumored to be strewn about the ground just waiting to be picked up. California's population and wealth skyrocketed.

Most newly acquired regions of the U.S. went through long periods as territories before they had the 60,000 inhabitants needed to achieve statehood, and prior to the Gold Rush, emigration to California had been so slow that it would have been decades before the population reached that number. But with gold fever reaching epidemic proportions around the world, more than 60,000 people from around the globe came to California in 1849 alone.

Faced with such rapid growth, as well as a thorny congressional debate over the question of slavery in the new territories, Congress allowed California to jump straight to full statehood without ever passing through the formal territorial stage. After a rancorous debate between the slave-state and free-soil advocates, Congress finally accepted California as a free-labor state under the Compromise of 1850, beginning the state's long reign as the most powerful economic and political force in the far West.”

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Yesterday:

Misty didn’t want to go walkies with me when I went to get Jay.  I put her leash on her, but she didn’t want to be disturbed from her after-breakfast nap.  At her age, that’s OK if we take our walk later.

Ray painted some high places on the front porch entry, while I held the extension ladder, then Jay went up there with his long arms, and did the rest of it. Jay had hired ‘three men’ to level out the gravel ready for the metal carport.  Supposed to be ‘three men’ for one price.  Two teenage boys arrived.  We screwed some boards onto the existing posts, to hold the gravel in place. The boys worked hard smoothing out the gravel, and I hope it will be what is needed for the installation of the carport on Tuesday.