The Fake: Shark Week Shows Not Real?!

I know that many people around me love the infamous "Shark Week" on Discovery Channel...or something like "Big Cats Diary"...however, I read an article today that not only disappointed me, but shocked me a little. It's sort of an ironic thing that people try to educate the public about wildlife, yet do so by using human tactics to achieve their goal. SHAME ON YOU!!

Wildlife Film Maker, Chris Palmer released a book on how many wildlife documentaries are not in fact captured under "wild" conditions...AND some of them use animals from gaming farms. Gaming farms are places that raise animals for human use, like crocodile farms that produce large amounts of leather for expensive purses and shoes (a completely unnecessary fashion statement in my opinion!).

So they "buy" a croc. from one of these farms...drive out to Lake Placid...throw the croc. in, and then film the whole event as it gets into a fight with another animal or tries to hunt---> and that's what we're watching on television as "wild-life documentaries."

I say blasphemy!

Even more ironic are shows like "Shark Week" that portray sharks as demonic man-eating monsters while trying to urge people to preserve these creatures in the end credits. le sigh.

Let's have week-long show about how Sharks are getting their fins cut off, then thrown back into the ocean alive (only to drown/suffocate later since oxygen is not passing threw their gills since they can't swim)....just for a soup that is seriously not that nutritious. TAKE VITAMINS PEOPLE, EAT MORE FRUIT.

It's a fine balance between using fakes and getting to close trying to get the real thing. The danger happens when people believe they are "one with nature" and get too close...and something happens. Then the animal is deemed dangerous or a killer, when, in fact, it was only protecting its already dwindling territory. You would smack a stranger with a baseball bat if you saw them sneak into your house, right?!? me too.

read here

The Rare Saola: ...usually die in captivity :(

I'm one of those people who use AIM and still manages to deal with it's front page, separate pop windows each time I log in. Originally, I had planned to turn off this little tick, but soon found myself browsing some of it's interesting news and facts and fun tid-bits (a reason why I love Yahoo front page over a personalized Google homepage)

Anyways, I read this article on the Saola aka The Spindlehorn...a species first "officially" discovered in 1992 and now has proved to be one of the most rare animals. Needless to say---> definitely on the endangered species list.

With only a few hundred remaining between it's Vietnam and Laos territory, to see one in all its glory would be amazing to say the least. And apparently deadly.

A local village sighted one and couldn't resist their urge to capture it. It's not clear rather the animal would have been set free or a shrine might have developed over time to worship it...or maybe the villagers were hoping to make some tourist money off it. What is known that after only a few days in captivity...the animal died.

The carcass will be studied in order to obtain a better understanding of the animal and perhaps one day be able to raise some in captivity so the species does not go completely extinct. With so few numbers, I feel a little disheartened by this story, just thought I'd share. Here's the link to the one I read...but perhaps you found another?

The Smuggling: 95 Boa constrictors break "free" out of luggage bag!

yes, you read the title correctly!! Officials say that on August 26th, Keng Liang "Anson" Wong, 52, attempted to smuggle 95 Boa constrictors (hardcore snakes!) and a few other species of snakes and a turtle through Kuala Lumpur International airport.

His plight ended early when his luggage burst open on the conveyor belt and all the animals came tumbling out. Ironically, Wong was arrested almost a decade ago for the SAME crime and sentenced to almost 6 years in jail for smuggling wildlife in the U.S. between 1996 and 1998.

Why do we allow these things to happen? Shouldn't there be some sort of an alarm or colorful sticker on these people's passports that say "hey, I once tried to smuggle wildlife, you should probably check my baggage carefully!! K,thanks."

And even more ridiculous is that he is only being charged for the boa constrictor snakes smuggling because the others are not on the endangered species list!!

WHAT?!? Now, we must wait until a species population ranks so low that it makes the human bottom list before we care? Cynical and egotistical things we are.

READ IT!!

The Infuriatingt!!: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!

So I have a tumblr...and through this tumblr I reblog pictures, videos, and other sporadically random things I come by. It's not really a diary, but a sweep of visual memories that make an impression.

Anyways, today I saw (on my tumblr) someone blogged this photo:



And I thought...hm...what is she doing and why is she wanted by police? You can't really tell from the photo here..




Well...what she's doing is throwing new born, live puppies into the river...!!






WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?! seriously. Apparently her identity is now known because news travels fast in this high tech world...and authorities have asked that people do not take any direct actions or make any personal threats to this woman...because the circumstances are unknown.

While all that is true and sound...what REAL excuse can one throw out regarding chucking live puppies into a river?!?!? I don't understand. I don't understand these things at all. I don't understand people at all.

Not only do you have this girl who's throwing puppies into a river...you have the person VIDEO TAPING a girl throwing puppies into the river...WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TOO RECORDING MYSTERY PERSON?!?

These kinds of things make me think that there is no way for us to reverse all the damage we've done.

here's the video if you'd like to watch...but you've been warned, it's brutal. and stupid. and I hope she %#$#@^*%.......gets what she deserves.

The Picture: CHEESE.

These guys look familiar??





SAY CHEESE!! I love this photo, it captures these curious, playful creatures--perfectly. (Read about Meerkats!!)
















^ that up there is the reality of Timon from Disney's "The Lion King" famed...weirdo-pair of best friends...Timon and Pumba!! :)






Cats are another furry animal that take AWESOME pictures! They do the most random, genius things!!

<<---Like this fella here...he knows how to be cool!! (get it?? cool...HA!)







<<---This also makes me happy. For more reasons than one. Either way, the message is perfect.

The "Ground Hog" woodchucker: Marmot

It's currently 6:30am (no joke!) as I write this, so I'm not sure why my brain isn't dead and my body limp, but I'm relatively awake! It was a night full of long talks, remembering, smiling, and bonding. I crave these nights...so while my mind is still alive, I decided I would do a little more remembering through animals.

I hiked California Yosemite National Park's "Half Dome" about a week and a half ago and it was AMAZING!! For someone who never went to the gym, I think I did pretty well for a round trip of 11 hours and 9 minutes. The top of the dome is AMAZING (I suppose I will be using this word a lot in this one). It's height and stature is awesome and its views are breathtaking while still completely scaring me to my core.

Nature never ceases to put me in my rightful place and reminds me that although I concurred the mountain, I only did it because the mountain allowed me to. It was entirely because of the AMAZING guidance I received and the fact that nature chose to grace me with its grandeur, so thank you. For everything.

Anyway...back to the animal part. At the top of the dome I saw a "marmot" and honestly I didn't even know what it was! It's the look of a beaver meets giant-fatty-mutant-squirrel. And actually GROUND HOG day was named after a marmot!
They're a type of rodent that's closely related to both ground squirrels and prairie dogs and found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. If you've ever heard "how much could a woodchuck chuck wood if a wood chuck could chuck wood" (phew, that was a mouthful!)---they're talking about a marmot!!
There are actually about 14 different species of marmots, and none of them really "chuck" wood, but it helps with rhymes. The one in Canada is endangered with fewer than 100 left, while some places in the alps hunt them for food and sport. They hibernate in the winter but wake up once a week or so then go back to its deep sleep. (weird!) They can be social and solitary...depending on where you look. And while they're on the prey list for many carnivores, marmots are generally vegetarian.

This is the one I saw @ Half Dome!! very cute and chubby and "friendly."



Although they're chubby and cute, and I saw people feeding it cranberries, it's important to remember that feeding wildlife only diminishes their chances of surviving and fending for themselves in the wild, so don't do it!

The Oil: taints your seafood buffet

I'm not sure if everyone knows this, but for the most part, I get my information about the world via my awesome Yahoo front page. No...they didn't give me money--I wish! But I'm sort of a cluttered (but organized!) person that enjoys having many things around me. I like that Yahoo front page gives me a little bit of everything including politics, cute animal videos, celeb gossip, sex blogs...and updated on what matters.

Like this darn BP oil spill...just when you think you've heard enough and that we've all escaped the dirty waters unscathed (save for those who actually live in it)...now there's news that the sneaky oil drops might've already climbed up the food chain!

In this article on one of my ridiculously long and informative list of yahoo front-scroll-bar-stories...the blue crab has apparently been hit by the BP crisis---in a big way! If you count reproductive viability a "big" way---which I do.

The wild blue crab's larvae (or "eggs" which hold teeny-tiny crabs) are found tainted with a familiar orange oily hue on the exterior. Scientists are concerned because if these droplets get inside the larvae, it could affect the health of the new babies and the reductive viability of the future generation...thus impacting the whole species in a BIG way in the years to come.

Only a handful of these 3 million or so eggs actually grow to adulthood as it is...and now their chances are lowering again.

And let's not forget about all the other creatures that depend on the blue crab for food! HOPE YOU HATE SEAFOOD.

Although crab extinction is sort of a stretch as of now, the though is still scary, and it SHOULD BE scary. It may be hard to fathom how a tiny blue crab affects OUR health, but they do and they will. So reserve your oil...ride a bike, walk the dog, play some soccer...and pray for the crabbies.