What a waste...

My whole life I've always tried to clean my plate - because I think of those in the world who don't have anything to eat, and feel bad throwing it away.  Of course, everyone cites the argument "What are you going to do, send it to them?", and the reality of it is true (and thus absurd that I feel the need to eat it all).

However - I read this in the summer 2013 edition of World Vision's magazine, and it really hit home.

Up to half of all food produced in the world never reaches a plate.  Between 1.3 and 2.2 billion tons of food are wasted each year due to lost harvests, inefficient storage practices, and retail and consumer waste.  In industrialized regions, almost half of the total food squandered - more than 330 million tons of edible food - would be enough to feed the estimated 870 million hungry people in the world.

So no - you can't scrape your leftovers into a carryout carton and mail it to India.  However - we can be smarter about our purchasing/eating habits, and more aware of those in the world around us, and make a difference, indirectly.  Be more aware of waste.  Buy efficiently, consume efficiently, and use those monetary savings that are sure to result to support a cause you believe in - like an organization that feeds the hungry.  It is a shame to waste when there are so many who go hungry.

Living on the most remote wildlife refuge in the lower 48 has made me much more efficient/less wasteful.  When you must drive 4 hours round trip to the grocery, and in the winter only make the trip once/month, you learn to be extremely organized, efficient, and waste nothing.  But, this is a skill I will carry on, even once we're in civilization again.  Making a month's worth of menus, and a grocery list to obtain all the needed ingredients, and being smart about making the fresh meals first and the canned/frozen later, makes sure you use everything before it spoils and waste nothing.  I think the convenience of grocery stores encourages over-buying and thus waste.  Think about the people in the world who do their shopping daily or weekly at the local market, buying everything fresh for that day/week, and using it immediately.  I suspect they waste much less.  We could all adopt a lifestyle more in line with this.

Behind the Dolphin Smile

Interested in dolphins?  Want to read about dolphins?  

I was asked to review Richard O'Barry's book Behind the Dolphin Smile by Mandala Publishing.  

I first became aware of Ric O'Barry through his work on halting the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.  It is a disgusting, heartbreaking event, and if you are not aware of it (or even if you are) I suggest you check out the film The Cove, which in graphic detail sheds light on the atrocities occurring there.  From this site, you can also find out more and get involved.  To take further action, check out this site, affiliated with them.

Because I am such a strong advocate for O'Barry's work and admire what he's doing, I was disappointed in the book.  Not because it isn't interesting or well-written, but rather because it is strife with stories of environmental plunder and animal abuse.  Granted, this book was published before O'Barry became an advocate for not only the Taiji dolphins but captive dolphins everywhere, and one could argue before he "saw the light"; furthermore, I cannot imagine spending a handful of years creating your own hell that you then spend the rest of your life trying to dig yourself out of (think being responsible for putting many of the world's captive dolphins in horrendous conditions and then spending the rest of your years trying, usually unsuccessfully, to free those dolphins).  I feel deeply sorry for this man who is trying to right his wrongs, and only commend him for coming to his senses and fighting - hard - for dolphins everywhere.  For this reason, I am apprehensive about posting anything negative about him, for fear of harming his cause in anyway.  

Let me state that what Ric O'Barry is doing is courageous and commendable and I admire his efforts deeply.  

I found some anecdotes from Behind the Dolphin Smile fascinating, from the story of his attempt to free Charlie Brown in Bimini, to hand feeding a baby dolphin (which ultimately led to her survival in captivity) when it had never before been done, to the realization that dolphins were not automatic breathers like other mammals and therefore cannot be anesthetized.

I loved this passage:

"In some ages, as depicted in ancient fables, animals were our friends, or at least equals.  Animals and people talked together.  Gods sometimes took the form of animals, and some societies either deified or defiled certain animals. 

With the triumph of Christianity, all that changed.  Nature became the bad guy.  And animals were a part of nature.  When the soul was attributed to humans and not the animals, the pious decided that if we didn’t keep tight rein on our passions, we, too, could return to the level of beasts.  The animal nature in each of us was like the Devil himself waiting to snare the unwary.  Man pictured himself as a sort of amphibian, one foot in heaven, the other in nature with the animals.  He considered passion, emotion, and feelings as signs of his animal nature, the best in each of us that must be restrained.  To many people, civilization itself is but the restraint of animal emotion on the largest scale.  Without laws, they say, we would all revert to the level of savage brutes."

However, I found it bothersome that someone who held dolphins in such esteem has such little (or even total) disregard for other wildlife, including but not limited to stingrays, parrot fish, seahorses, octopi, sharks, and pelicans.  He thought nothing of sacrificing these animals, whether for display in aquaria or for a good screen shot for the TV series Flipper (for which he was the dolphin trainer).  He even implies that the pelican whose wings they clipped upon capture "loved" being held captive on the set of a TV show.  It is this anthropomorphic, naive mentality that has created the very man-made hell for dolphins that he fights against - I was shocked to see that even he is not immune from that mentality, when it comes to species other than dolphins.  Along these same lines, at one point he suggests that Susie the dolphin wanted to be "rescued" rather than allowed to go back out to sea, and later he implies that the dolphins he was training were  "spoiled and manipulative".  Again, these anthropomorphic assumptions are why humans hold animals in captivity in the first place, including dolphins.  He also contributed to widespread environmental destruction through his collection efforts, via trawling, long lines, the dispensing of ammonia into the sea, and the destruction of coral reefs, which he shared no remorse for.

There were a few instances in which he should have conducted some further research - as his use of the terms "gosset hawks" (which do not exist) and "seagulls" (which is an incorrect term) evidence, as well as a remark that dolphin anatomy is different because their mouths are connected to their stomachs and not their lungs (implying that our mouths are connected to what...  our lungs?).

Finally, and perhaps the most egregious criticism of all that I have, is near the end of the book, once he'd decided he no longer believed in keeping dolphins in captivity and started his Dolphin Project, he targeted three individuals whom he called the primary dolphin capturers in the country.  I thought, finally, we're getting somewhere, he's going to go after them and shut them down.  But no - what does he then do?  He paid one of those very individuals in order to acquire more dolphins for his own captive purposes.  He totally lost me here, and I must say, this makes me question, on some level, all of his motivation.  It reeks of "I can have wild dolphins for my purposes but no one else can."  I take enormous issue with this, and would love for him to explain himself on this point.

The book aside, I think the movement behind his organization is larger than the man, and very worthy.  I stand for all they do, and I hope that you will check out the two above links and take further action.

And I will leave you with a quote that I gleaned from the book:

“The time will come when they will sell you even your rain.  At the moment, it is still free and I am in it, I celebrate its gratuity and its meaninglessness.”

~ Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable

Click for a cause (or two!)

I am starting a new series of posts - Cause Friday.

On Fridays I'll highlight a particular cause that I feel strongly about (and I have many!).

Today I want to bring your attention to two extremely easy ways you can make a big difference - simply by the click of your mouse.

The first is part of the GreaterGood network:

"Welcome to the GreaterGood Network of websites, a family of online activism sites that harness the power of the Internet to help people, animals, and causes in need."

By clicking on any of the following sites, you can access all the rest, but here are the options.  It would take less than 2 minutes of your day (and btw, there are 1440 minutes in a day) and you could do so much good.

  click here

 click here

 click here

 click here

 click here

 click here

 click here

 click here

And if you're like me, you need a daily reminder.  From each site, you can sign up for one!



You only need to sign up for one, however, because you can access any cause from any of the others.

And they have awesome gifts that you can buy, to help each cause, and links to other petitions and ways you can help!

The second is Care2.

They also have a Click-to-Donate site.  Same exact premise, and you can also subscribe to get daily reminders.  So, each day, I get 2 reminder emails, one from each cause, directly to my inbox, and I take about 4 minutes to help a grand total of 19 causes (one being a daily action that varies, well, each day).  Wow.  Can't beat that.

Have a particular cause you care about?  From their site, you can even start your own petition.  How cool is that?

Captivity for marine mammals - what do you think?

Many of us grew up with an iconic marine mammal television star - Flipper, Willy, and now there's Dolphin Tale.  Several of us have probably seen these creatures housed in captivity, at a place such as Sea World.  And some of us are probably familiar with a case in which a trainer has been killed by one of these captive animals.



Many emotions are likely involved with these captive animals - whether emotions of excitement and awe, as you get up close and personal with them, only a slab of glass between you and them as you stare into their eyes - or emotions of sadness and guilt as you get up close and personal with them, only a slab of glass between you and them as you stare into their eyes.

I must admit, recently on a trip to San Diego, as I found I had a day to kill and could take my young daughter anywhere I wanted to kill it, I had to remind myself of all the reasons I should NOT go to Sea World.  Instead, we spent the day at the coast, looking at wild harbor seals and playing in the sand.  I was tempting, but I couldn't justify it.

I recently watched The Cove, and it broke my heart.  Thousands of dolphins are being slaughtered in Taiji, Japan.  "But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling – and the consequences are so dangerous to human health – they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it."  (To watch it, click here.)  If you want to do more, click here and here.

The mastermind behind this, Ric O'Barry, is also outspoken against keeping marine mammals in captivity.  As is PETA:

"SeaWorld confines orcas—who often swim up to 100 miles a day in the wild—to concrete tanks that, to them, are the size of a bathtub. They are also forced to perform meaningless tricks for "entertainment." SeaWorld strips animals of everything that is natural and important to them—their families, the open ocean, and their happiness.  Animals trapped at SeaWorld often die prematurely from stress and other causes related to captivity, but you can help them today.  Explore SeaWorldOfHurt.com to learn more about the abysmal record SeaWorld has, including the premature deaths of countless orcas—and say "No!" to SeaWorld. You can help by refusing to support this cruel industry, which uses animals to make a hefty profit. Please sign the letter to urge SeaWorld to release its animals to coastal sanctuaries and never purchase tickets to SeaWorld."

To distill it down - if you are opposed to these animals being kept in captivity, sign this letter and never purchase tickets to places that display them.  If you are not opposed to it, well - I hope you've read all the supporting evidence and thought it over.  If you have and still can't see reason to oppose it, that is your choice!

 

 

Manatees from A to Z

Manatees!  My favorite marine mammal.

Note - special section for kids at bottom of post

I wrote two articles about them - one regarding their natural history, and the other their conservation.  I hope you'll check them out!

 I have had the amazing opportunity to snorkle with them, and let me tell you - there are few experiences as awesome as being side by side with an extremely large yet extremely gentle marine mammal like this.  And even more amazing to me is that they seemed to seek out human company.  At times they would swim into the "off-limits" zone (meaning off-limits to human divers, to afford them a peaceful human-free zone when they wanted it), only to turn around and come back to me once they realized I was no longer with them!

If you are interested in manatees and conserving them, you must check out this organization.  I hope you will sign up to receive their action alerts, helping manatees whenever possible.

They also have the option to "adopt" a manatee - these make great gifts!

Manatee Kid Zone

The Save the Manatee site has a great page just for kids!  And another for educators!  Whether you're a teacher looking for classroom materials, or a parent looking for fun activities to do with your kids, you're sure to find something usable!  Here and here are links to a bunch of free manatee stuff.  Enjoy!

Turtles and tots - which will you help?

Two organizations are having fundraisers right now, and I wanted to share those with you in case it is something you'd like to support.

First, Mercy and Sharing is having a t-shirt drive called "Promise 126" to raise funds for the 126 orphans in their care.

There are 126 orphans at Mercy & Sharing Village in Haiti. We have made a promise to each child to care for them and raise them. Mercy & Sharing provides food, shelter, education, therapy, education, and LOVE for each child.  Our latest project—"Promise 126"—gives you a new opportunity to help us care for these precious kids. And you'll get to proudly wear this colorful "Promise 126" t-shirt design.  We need at least 126 donors to donate $39.11 for each t-shirt. From that gift, $25.00 will go directly to helping these orphans. WE HAVE JUST 21 DAYS TO SELL 126 T-SHIRTS.

Order your "Promise 126" t-shirt today »

Second, HerpDigest is trying to raise funds to keep the site going through the sale of books, such as this one:



HEALTH CARE AND REHABILITATION OF TURTLES AND TORTOISES

An excellent, must have for every turtle owner and every turtle & wildlife rehabilitator

Covers everything from general information such as: turtle anatomy, diet, stress, hibernation, brumation, outdoor and indoor enclosures and more --- to over 250 pages on shell fractures, tube feeding, bacterial and viral diseases, parasites, diagnostics, antibiotics in chelonians, and with supporting photographs. The author took great time and care to translate her and others experiences in turtle rehabilitation without the jargon, so all turtle owners enthusiasts can understand.

Full-color photographs. (2012) 393 pp. Softcover, by Amanda Ebenhack  $39.85 plus $6.00 S&H see below on how to order (Overseas email us at asalzberg@herpdigest.org for S&H price.)

Help HerpDigest Survive. Buy a book, an important book, add on a small donation. $5.00? $10? $20? more. Longer list of other books available upon request. Book is $39.95 plus $6.00 S&H. Use PayPal our account is asalzberg@herpdigest.org  THE EXACT SAME PRICE AS AMAZON, BUT REMEMBER ALL PROFITS HERE GO TO HERPDIGEST NOT AMAZON SHAREHOLDERS.

Shot at Life

The United Nations Foundation supports a campaign entitled Shot at Life, in which they aim to use immunization to save more than 2.5 million children's lives each year.  Isn't it amazing, to think that for only $20 (probably about half of what it takes to fill your gas tank) you could literally SAVE the life of a child?  That's right.  It has already saved the lives of at least 6.4 million people worldwide.



Check out this infographic on the power of vaccines, because it is - well - powerful.  And click here for even more information.

Add your voice to the movement!  Check out their homepage here.

Email Congress and tell them to support global vaccine funding - it only takes a few seconds!

DONATE!  It is amazing what such a SMALL AMOUNT can do!  Check it out!

And if you feel compelled to do more - read here.

And a WAY cool event going on this month is Blogust - simply by going to a different blog each day and leaving a post, your comment will donate another $20 to save a life!  I challenge you to go - every day!

Eating turtles to extinction?

As a lover of all animals, I must admit, my deep appreciation for herps (reptiles and amphibians) came later in life.  Don't get me wrong - I was always fascinated by them.  I always picked up frogs and toads, despite the "warts" warning from my friends, always stopped (or made my parents stop) to move box turtles across the road.  But it wasn't until I married my husband - a bonafide herpetologist (and more specifically rattlesnake biologist) that I gained a real appreciation for these little understood animals.



Like how the metabolism of a turtle is so slow, if they are fatally injured it can take days or even weeks for them to expire.  Consider that the next time you see an injured turtle on the roadside (or even worse - consider running over a turtle in the road).  Not to mention many of them are probably older than you are.



Or like how a limbless snake must rely on it's extra-sensory organs, such as heat-sensing pits and scent-sensing Jacobson's organs, to catch its dinner - which it then must do with its mouth and nothing else.  Could you do that?



They are fascinating creatures, with fascinating life histories and roles within the ecosystem, and contrary to popular belief, were NOT put here for the sole purpose of harming us.  Trust me - after tracking many timber rattlesnakes with my husband in east-central Missouri, and finding myself on more than one occasion standing inches from a coiled snake yet never receiving any indication it was there (hiss/rattle/strike), I know these animals have a "live and let live" attitude.  They want to be left alone.  The only reason I ever knew I was inches from them is because of the transmitter implanted in their bodies which my husband was able to to track to, well - just beside my foot!  Otherwise I would have stepped right over/past them and never even known.

So, this is the first of what will probably be a few posts on hazards facing herpetofauna, why we should care, and what we should do.  I hope you also find them interesting, and worth protecting, enough to do something for them.

The first article I encourage you to read was a New York Times editorial titled Eating the Wild.  Here's an excerpt:

As global wealth rises, so does global consumption of meat, which includes wild meat. Turtle meat used to be a rare delicacy in the Asian diet, but no longer. China, along with Hong Kong and Taiwan, has vacuumed the wild turtles out of most of Southeast Asia. Now, according to a recent report in The Los Angeles Times, they are consuming common soft-shell turtles from the American Southeast, especially Florida, at an alarming rate.

Here's a National Geographic article about the same topic.



The second was a BBC News article titled A Billion Frogs on World's Plates.  Here's an excerpt:

Up to one billion frogs are taken from the wild for human consumption each year, according to a new study.  France and the US are the two biggest importers, with significant consumption in several East Asian nations.

What can you do?  First of all - refuse to eat wild-harvested reptiles and amphibians.  In the US they are popularly prepared as turtle soup and frog legs.  And don't put any other pressure on these already dwindling populations, such as having them for pets.

Second, write to your state legislature and encourage them to list native herps as protected species.  In some states, they are.  In others, people are free to do with them as they please - including collecting them for mass export to other countries.

Finally, become informed, and participate in action alerts having to do with these matters when possible.  I encourage you to join HerpDigest.org : The Only Free Weekly E-Zine That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation and Science as well as Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.  Their mission?  "To conserve amphibians, reptiles and their habitats as integral parts of our ecosystem and culture through proactive and coordinated public-private partnerships.”

My charitable organization

I have fallen in love with an organization, Mercy and Sharing, who helps orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti (I wrote this post about them earlier).  As a single-income family (though I feel we live well compared to many, and are very blessed) I have struggled with how to work this organization into our budget.  One way I have decided to do this is to donate any funds generated from this site to them.



If you, too, would like to donate to them, click here.  And thanks for any support you give the blog, as through that you will be helping as well!

Trash, trash, everywhere

We truly, sadly, have become a throw-away society.  We use a lot of unnecessary junk.  Just watch this video by The Story of Stuff project.  It's very impactful.

How big of a problem our garbage has become was brought home to me when I read this article, highlighting the sheer number of Albatross chicks dying from ingesting trash.  I couldn't get this article out of my mind.



That led me to write an article about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a raft of flotsam over twice the size of the US made up of our trash, floating around out in the Pacific Ocean.  Disgusting.

Which led me to write two more articles about plastic items that we use every day, and absolutely should not be.  Plastic water bottles (and see here for another post about how ridiculous it is that we're wasting money on something that is free and readily available to us, when it's not to much of the developing world) and plastic sacks.



We have to realize that WE are the only ones, through our actions, who can truly make a difference.  So - get yourself a Klean Kanteen and refill.  Buy yourself some reusable shopping bags and refuse to get another plastic sack (I LOVE my envirosax).  For the albatross.



Because "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

~ Margaret Mead

Sea turtles and Share the Beach

In the wake of BP's big oil spill, sea turtles need our help now more than ever! Additionally, they are faced with drowning in fishing nets not outfitted with TEDs (Turtle Exclusion Devices), because many refuse to use them and are granted the right not to through various loopholes.  And then, some fishermen even slaughter them when they do encounter them, because they are so angered at being dictated to that they have to use the TEDs. Growing up in Alabama, I am most familiar with the Sea Turtles of the U.S. Gulf Coast.  When in college at Auburn University, I had the chance to partake in a two month career development program/Spanish language class in Costa Rica.  While there, we visited Tortuguero National Park and I was blessed to see both a Green and Hawksbill sea turtle laying their eggs.  It was unbelievable.  Then, a few years ago, I had the chance to see a nest of Loggerhead and Kemp's Ridley turtles hatching!  It was awesome.

All of our sea turtles are listed under the Endangered Species Act.  If you want to help, click here and check out Alabama's Share the Beach Program.



And finally, this from Defenders of Wildlife:

It's a terrible way to die: Trapped in shrimp trawling nets, sea turtles desperately try to surface for air. But with no escape, these ancient sea mariners slowly drown.

Tens of thousands of endangered and threatened sea turtles are accidentally trapped by shrimp trawls each year. And without Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) -- special equipment that provides sea turtles an escape -- many face the grim fate of drowning at sea.

You can help save threatened and endangered sea turtles now -- speak out in support of the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) proposal to strengthen TED requirements.

Record numbers of sea turtles wash shore in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and 2011. When scientists looked closely at these turtles, they found that many likely died after being forced underwater by shrimp trawls.

TEDs are required on many shrimp trawlers. But a loophole in current regulations exempts certain types of fishing gear from these otherwise mandated sea turtle-saving devices. This exemption can lead to tens of thousands of sea turtles being accidentally captured with many drowned each year.

Federal officials have now proposed to close this deadly loophole by requiring all shrimp trawls to use TEDs -- and provide endangered sea turtles with a chance at recovery.

Close this deadly loophole for sea turtles: Urge federal officials to require life-saving TEDs on all shrimp trawls before the July 9th deadline.

Gulf shrimping remains the number one killer of sea turtles in the U.S. -- but TEDs have had an enormous impact on sea turtle recovery. Properly used TEDs have been shown to be 97% effectivein releasing sea turtles unharmed -- and they've allowed the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle to slowly recover from the brink of extinction.

But TEDs also help other marine species by allowing fishermen to more narrowly target the shrimp they are trying to catch, reducing accidental catch of other fish like red snapper . They also help reduce harmful debris from shrimp nets, cutting down on expensive damage and leading to cleaner, more profitable catch for fishermen.

Please take action today to speak out for stronger protections for threatened and endangered sea turtles.  The deadline for comments is Monday, July 9th.

Thanks for all you do to speak out for sea turtles and other wildlife.

Gardening for Ivory-bills

In 2005 groundbreaking news was passed around the University of Arkansas one day as I was working away on my thesis up in my lab.  The Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a bird not seen since the 1940s, had been rediscovered in the cypress swamps of eastern Arkansas.  It was the news of the decade - no wait, the CENTURY, if it proved to be true.



I was part of the search team, deployed to two areas of Arkansas, the Cache and White Rivers, with one mission - to find and obtain evidence of the existence of the "Lord God Bird".  I did not see, hear, smell, taste nor touch the bird while in those steamy mosquito-laden woods that April, nor did anyone else gain any worthwhile evidence that season.

Today, I have mixed feelings.  Does the bird still exist, tucked away in the remote, rugged, woolly, swampy forests somewhere in the southeastern United States, eluding searchers (though some claim to have seen them, including my old Auburn ornithology professor, Geoff Hill)?  Or is this a case of wishful thinking?  I can only hope this majestic bird still flies out there, but I may never know for sure in my lifetime.

Anyway.  The point of this post is not, exactly, about Ivory-billed Woodpeckers at all, but rather about an article by Jesse Greenspan that I read in the September-October 2005 issue of Audubon.  Whether or not the bird exists, there is value in conserving the habitat it shares with numerous other creatures, including hundreds of birds, black bears, cottonmouth and water snakes, many species of amphibians, and numerous small mammals.  The cypress swamp is a unique habitat, declining drastically, that I was able to experience first hand, and, trust me - it is worth protecting.



So - in order to save the cypress swamp, one must preserve the cypress trees.  Old growth mystical looking giants rising out of the water, surrounded by their own "knees" - stumps rising to my kneecaps, a tell-tale sign of cypress.  And they are being logged at an alarming rate, for...  mulch.  That's right.  You can run down to the local Wal-Mart, Home Depot, or Lowe's, and for a couple of bucks walk out with a bag of wood chips that used to be one of these majestic living organisms to spread around your peonies.



PLEASE be mindful of your daily actions.  You, as a consumer, are powerful.  Choose pine bark at the store, or even better, rake up those pine needles and leaves around your yard and recycle them!  Don't buy cypress mulch!  For the Ivory-bills!  :)

Monarch Butterflies - miracles of the sky

I taught high school for 3 1/2 years after obtaining my MS, and while waiting on my husband to finish his PhD.  I had my classes build an outdoor wildlife habitat, and one of the things we did was obtain milkweed seeds from Live Monarch to plant in our habitat, in order to attract monarch butterflies.  You can actually get FREE seeds (well, please donate the recommended minimum of at least $3 to offset postage so that they can continue the work that they do) to raise your own milkweed!  Or, you can get plants for only $1!  What a deal!

Their goal: The education, involvement, assistance and acknowledgment of persons directly acting to benefit the Monarch Butterfly and various native creatures who have suffered a decline in their natural habitats.

Did You Know? Each year aproximately 180-280 million Monarchs start migrating, mate, lay eggs along the way and their children continue the round trip. Milkweed is needed along the entire route or they will not survive. It takes more than one milkweed plant for each surviving adult due to natural predators. That is an enormous ammount of milkweed! Most North Americans were very lucky to have seen even one Monarch Butterfly over the past few years.

Visit their site map, where you can learn all sorts of things, from how to fix a butterfly's wing to ideas for a monarch-themed birthday gift to care instructions for eggs and caterpillars.

Kids can adopt a FREE online butterfly, enter an art contest, or visit this site full of fun links.

What are you waiting for?  Check them out!

The CBD's 2011 Annual Report

Here are some of our key achievements in 2011:

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  We signed the largest agreement in history to speed up protections for 757 animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act.

  
  

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  We obtained new, final critical habitat protection on more than 2 million acres in Alaska, California and beyond, as well as proposed protected habitat on another 9 million acres -- from Hawaii to Mississippi.

  
  

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  We helped kill an "extinction rider" that would have done away with funding for new species listings and habitat protection.

  
  

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  We launched a campaign, 7 Billion and Counting, making a public connection between human overpopulation and species extinction; we gave away 100,000 free Endangered Species Condoms across the country and published a report on the 10 U.S. species most threatened by human population growth.

  
  

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  We were instrumental in securing from the Obama administration a 20-year ban on new uranium mining across 1 million Grand Canyon acres.

  
  

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  After 10 years of fighting, we also won new protections for more than 40 threatened and endangered species on four national forests in Southern California.

  
  

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  Our Climate Law Institute launched an innovative national campaign, Clean Air Cities, that's had stellar success to date in rallying 27 cities across the United States to sign resolutions in support of clean air and a healthy climate.

  
  

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  In the high-profile fight against the destructive Keystone XL Pipeline, we led a lawsuit to halt illegal construction along a 100-mile corridor of Nebraska.

  
  

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  In our toxics work, we filed to protect more than 200 species from hundreds of pesticides -- the most comprehensive legal action ever brought under the Endangered Species Act.

  
  

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  In our creative media and outreach work, we helped supporters take 1.3 million online actions to save wildlife and wild places; we launched our new Species Finder Android app, containing instantly accessible information on more than 1,000 imperiled plants and animals.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  To see the full report, go here.

Ban Atrazine - for the frogs

Save the Frogs is working to get one of the nastiest pesticides out of our environment.



They've described it as "the 21st century's DDT".



And, who wants this near them anyway?

Atrazine Usage By State

If you live in the Midwest; downwind from the Midwest (i.e. the Mid-Atlantic States) or down the Mississippi River, you should be very concerned about the Atrazine usage in your part of the world.





What can you do?

First:

www.savethefrogs.com/atrazine-petition

Second (by going to their website):

Please donate to fund our Atrazine campaign! It's us against Syngenta, Atrazine's producer, the largest pesticide company on the planet, with 11 billion dollars in revenues and hundreds of lobbyists working politicians fulltime. We need your help. Please make the largest contribution you can to help our campaign: it's tax-deductible and will help frogs, humans and lots of other wildlife species that share the planet with us. Thank you!!!

Beware: no longer cruelty free

I follow PETA.  I subscribe to their updates, partake in their action alerts, and while I don't always agree with their stance, I appreciate what they do and think there is a need for an organization to stand up for animals.  This came across the wire recently.  Earlier, I had posted regarding animal testing.  This is an issue important to me, and I go to great lengths to avoid products tested on animals.  Unfortunate, as I'd purchased from these companies in the past because they were on the "do not test" list.  Now I'll have to move them to my "boycott" list.

Avon, Mary Kay, and Estee Lauder Are Paying for Tests on Animals

For more than two decades, Avon, Mary Kay, and Estee Lauder have been among the largest mainstream international companies on PETA's cruelty-free lists. Avon banned all tests on animals following PETA's massive "Avon Killing" campaign, and Mary Kay pledged to go cruelty-free after cartoonist Berkeley Breathed mocked the company in his popular Bloom County comic strip. Since then, all three companies have enjoyed the support of PETA and millions of consumers who choose to buy cosmetics from companies that don't harm animals. But now we have learned that all three companies have been paying for tests on animals at the requirement of the Chinese government—and they did not inform PETA or consumers that their policies had changed. We have no choice but to downgrade them by placing them on our list of companies that test on animals.

When we learned that the Chinese government requires tests on animals before many cosmetics products can be marketed in China, we immediately contacted all three companies. While we understand that China is an enormous market that these companies aren't willing to ignore, we had hoped they would take action to eliminate this requirement or push for non-animal test methods to be accepted. Mary Kay had taken some steps to work with officials in China, and at our urging, promised to continue this effort—but Avon and Estee Lauder appear to have gone along with the painful animal tests without objection.

PETA is financially supporting the efforts of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), which is putting together a coalition of corporate experts, providing training for scientists in China in the use of non-animal test methods, and working with officials there to promote the acceptance of non-animal methods that are used in the U.S., the European Union, and much of the world.

Fortunately, there are still more than 1,000 companies on our "Don't Test" list whose products consumers can buy with a clear conscience.

Please take a moment to let Avon, Mary Kay, and Estee Lauder know that you are disappointed in their backsliding and that you will no longer buy the companies' products as long they are tested on animals.

But I LOVE meat!

I don't think vegetarianism is the only way to go.  I choose that lifestyle, but I know many caring compassionate carnivores.  There are things you can do to support more humane, sustainable farms.



From the World Society for the Protection of Animals:

The industrial farming of billions of animals every year has damaging effects - it causes mass animal suffering, environmental pollution and even threatens human health. It's a very high price for us all to pay - animals and humans, alike - for our food.

But there's good news. There's a better way.

Every day, welfare-friendly and sustainable farms around the world are proving that raising animals in better conditions brings many surprising benefits to people and the planet.  Meet some of the best cared-for farm animals and discover the surprising benefits of animal-friendly farming.



Okay, seriously, to take action, click here.

I am not philisophically opposed to eating a living creature, as long as it is done humanely and sustainably.  All the more reason to support causes that do!

Watch this video:

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Operation Migration

This way cool organization works to save the endangered Whooping Crane.

Wanna help?  Become a MileMaker.

Seven states, 1285 miles, and an unknown number of migration days lie between the Class of 2012 Whooping crane chicks' fledging grounds in Wisconsin, and their wintering grounds in Florida.

Your generous support by becoming a MileMaker Sponsor will help to ensure the newest generation of Whooping crane chicks is well prepared and the funding is in place for the biggest adventure of their young lives - their first-ever migration - a migration led by OM's aircraft.

And the coolest part?  During their migration, the site maintains a map showing their progress, so any given day you can login and see where the birds have progressed to!  I love it!

I saw my lifer Whooping Crane in Aransas, on the coast of Texas.  We took a boat excursion and saw them feeding among the reeds in the marsh.  Lo and behold - since then the Whoopers have begun stopping over during their migration just down the road from my parents house, at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Decatur AL!  So I didn't have to go all the way to Texas to see them after all!

For the birds?

I will never purchase from Scott's company again.  Or any of these brands:



They are all under the umbrella of the same company.

And they knowingly poisoned birds for the sake of profit.  Here's the article:

Scotts Miracle-Gro Pleads Guilty to Breaking Federal Pesticide Law

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 14, 2012 (ENS) - Ohio lawn and garden care company Scotts Miracle-Gro has pleaded guilty to breaching federal pesticide laws by using an unapproved insecticide on bird seed sold nationwide for two years.

In Columbus, U.S. District Court Judge James Graham accepted the company's guilty plea on Tuesday.

Scotts is proposing to pay a $4 million fine and give $500,000 to help support wildlife conservation and study. Judge Graham said he will issue his decision on the plea agreement at sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.

The government alleges that beginning in 2005, Scotts produced a line of wild bird food products under names including "Morning Song" and "Country Pride" that contained insecticides.

Doves, sparrow and house finch on an Illinois backyard birdfeeder that does not contain the toxic products mentioned in the Scotts' lawsuit. (Photo byMarilee)

The government says the insecticides, which are toxic to birds and other wildlife, were not approved for use on bird food.

According to court records, in 2008, Scotts distributed 73 million packages of bird seed coated with the insecticides Storcide II, containing the active ingredient chlorpyrifos, and and Actellic 5E, containing the active ingredient pirimiphos-methyl, intended to keep insects from destroying the seed.

The company continued to produce and market the insecticide-coated seeds despite being alerted to toxicity dangers by a Scotts staff chemist and ornithologist.

Storcide II is labeled as "Toxic to birds. Toxic to wildlife," and that "Exposed treated seed may be hazardous to birds." No such warning exists on the Actellic 5E label.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's own fact sheet on pirimiphos-mehtyl states that "Ecological risks are not of concern to the Agency." Yet the same fact sheet also states "Although pirimphos-methyl is highly toxic to birds and fish, these risks are not of concern based on the use pattern of pirimiphos-methyl."

This would seem to indicate that the EPA did not anticipate this chemical to be used on anything intentionally fed to birds, says the nonprofit American Bird Conservancy.

"EPA needs to amend the use label for Actellic 5E and any other pesticide containing the same active ingredient, pirimiphos-methyl, to agree with their own fact sheet, and ensure that no other birds are poisoned by seed dosed with this toxic chemical," said American Bird Conservancy President George Fenwick.

"This highlights a key problem that it is the pesticide registrant that writes the labels on pesticides, not EPA," Fenwick said. "In some cases, it would seem that EPA is not effectively checking that the labels encompass the agency's responsibilities for birds."

The federal government also alleged that a Scotts manager fabricated federal documents and correspondence to obtain state registrations for two products that were being marketed without U.S. EPA registration.

The government alleged that the manager "told EPA that these files proved that the products had been properly reviewed and registered by EPA when, in fact, they were not authentic EPA files and when, in fact, the products had not been approved and registered by EPA."

The government also charged that between 2005 and 2007 Scotts sold two pesticides without directions required by the EPA and making claims on labels about the product that the EPA had rejected.

On April 23, 2008, EPA Region 5 today issued a "stop sale, use or removal" order against Scotts Miracle Gro Co., Scotts Lawn Care Service and three affiliates, all of Marysville, Ohio, for illegal, unregistered and misbranded pesticides.

Identified by invalid registration number 62355-4, the two products were marketed as Garden Weed Preventer + Plant Food and Miracle Gro Shake 'n' Feed All Purpose Plant Food Plus Weed Preventer.

A Scotts spokesman declined comment until after sentencing.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2012. All rights reserved.

 

Full Tummy Project

For any readers in Alabama, check out this really neat organization:



What does the Full Tummy Project do?

This project is a ministry designed to provide a small bag of food on Fridays for children in our local schools who are at risk for hunger on the weekends.  Several breakfast, lunch and dinner items, along with snacks and a healthy drink, are discreetly placed in the child's backpack at a time on Friday when children are not in the classroom.