newsonaut
Turning inner space into outer space
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Pollux may have travelled to Kamloops by train
I had the pleasure of meeting Pollux — the Montreal dog who wound up in Kamloops — when I shot a brief video for The Daily News website. She really is the perfect pet: friendly, energetic, well-behaved. Pollux is the kind of dog that could convert a cat person.
Only she knows how she managed to travel across the country in the space of a year, but owner Isabelle Robitaille has a theory that sounds pretty good. Apparently it was raining the day Pollux went missing, and she doesn’t like to get wet. When she ran out of the yard, she may have headed for some nearby railway tracks, hoping to find shelter in one of the train cars. If she got stuck inside, that could very well have been the beginning of her voyages.
How Pollux got her name is a different story. It’s based on a character in children’s movies and TV shows featuring a flop-eared dog with a sweet tooth. The character’s main claim to fame is a movie from 1970 called Pollux et le Chat bleu. An English version called Dougal and the Blue Cat was also made.
I’ve never heard of Pollux (or Dougal) before, but I found this picture of the case for the movie video. It might jog some memories.
More posts in the Nature category
Friday, May 20, 2011
Greenery all the better when it's edible
The concept of a public food garden is amazingly simple. Why hasn’t anyone thought of it before?
And now that the idea has cropped up, it’s being embraced as a common sense solution here in Kamloops. It started with American author and city planner Darrin Nordahl speaking at the Kamloops Food Policy conference. And already volunteers led by Kendra Besanger have seeds in the ground in the 100 block of Victoria.
As it turns out, Nordahl has a website where you learn more about his book, Public Produce, where he elaborates on his contention that public spaces — of which there are many — can be put to good use by growing food for public consumption. He’d like to see communities changing their whole attitude toward agriculture into something more positive.
Meanwhile, David Tracey, a journalist and environmental designer based in Vancouver, also has a book — Urban Agriculture. He’d like to see food growing not only in public areas, but on suburban lawns and uptown condominiums. He spoke recently to The Vancouver Sun about his vision of a city of the future with mini-farms everywhere.
We’ve definitely got the germ of a good idea here.
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Monday, April 25, 2011
Lock up your garbage — here come the bears
It sure sounds cute — a big, ol’ bear in the minivan munching on the kids’ Easter candy. Unfortunately, it’s bears like this one that often wind up getting shot.
That’s because they get used to the easy pickings in the city — garbage left outside, fallen fruit left to rot on the ground, pet food sitting in the yard, barbecues that aren’t properly cleaned, bird feeders brimming with seed. Sure, there’s a few pesky humans, but they can easily be dispatched.
In the end, though, we’ve got the guns, and — sadly — it’s the citified bears that wind up dead. Luckily, education programs — along with the city’s bear bylaw — have drastically reduced the bruin carnage in recent years.
It was just a year and a half ago that Kamloops was named B.C.‘s first official Bear Smart city. When then-Environment Minister Barry Penner made the announcement at the B.C. Wildlife Park, we were recognized for having brought the number of bear deaths down from a peak of about 100 a decade ago to just three in 2009.
You can read more about the bear bylaw at the city’s website, but the most important part is to keep your garbage where bears can’t get at it. Our trash is their treasure, and they’ll gladly feast on leftovers. There are also plenty of tips, but my favourite is phoning the Food Bank to ask for a team of gleaners to pick your fruit tree clean. That way, both species come out ahead.
More posts in the Nature category
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Of dogs and humans
The candle light vigil held Sunday night in memory of 100 sled dogs slaughtered at Whistler brings to mind a question asked so often in these situations. Why do people become so emotional about the maltreatment of animals, but not so much about humans?
Anyone who keeps up with the news knows that hardly a day goes by without humans brutally killing and raping each other by the dozens and the hundreds. It’s reached the point in Iraq where suicide bombings are so common that they are barely noticed unless the death toll reaches three figures. Conflicts in Africa see entire villages wiped out after every woman and girl has been raped. The horror has become so common and so unstoppable that we wind up averting our eyes if only to protect ourselves from the trauma of taking it in.
So why is it different for animals? The first argument, of course, is that there is no difference. Many animal lovers have compassion for their fellow human as well. They give donations to Amnesty International. They support UNICEF and the Red Cross.
But getting beyond that, there is still a difference. Animals — especially dogs — form a bond with humans that makes us feel we have something in common with them. They definitely have personalities. We can’t say for sure if they have emotions, but they do things that sure seem like they have them — affection being the one that really gets to us.
As pets, dogs can be dependent to almost the same degree as children. And there is no denying their innocence. Even the most vicious pit bull is not seen as the guilty party.
Humans, on the other hand, are often viewed as the authors of their own destruction — at least the adults.
So there you have it: innocent, child-like beings who give us their equivalent of love and who would not harm us unless corrupted by other humans. No wonder we hold candle light vigils when they are harmed.
More posts in the Nature category
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Time to think different about feral horses
As I attended the horse auction Tuesday at the Kamloops stockyards, the thing that struck me most was that the feral horses didn’t seem all that different from the tame ones — at least not to my untrained eye.
They were thinner, of course. And the wranglers in the pen area had to be a little more persuasive to get them to move along. They seemed to be constantly on the move.
The main difference, from what I understand, is in their innate ability to be trained. A lot of time and effort would be needed to bring a feral horse to the point where you could actually ride it, or even just have it around as a pet.
One rancher bid low on one of the ferals with the idea of making a “project.” But when the bids went higher, he decided it just wasn’t worth it. He was thinking with his head instead of his heart, to be sure, but let’s remember that these guys have to be businessmen.
On the other hand, it should be kept in mind that feral is not the same as wild. These horses are descended from tame ancestors, so a charitable group likely would have some success in rescuing them.
We really should start rethinking this whole issue and come up with innovative solutions. In the U.S., where it’s illegal to slaughter horses, they have been forced to find a workaround for the problem of feral horses overgrazing in cattle areas. Would putting out bales of hay for feral horses do the trick? If it worked, it would be easier and cheaper than rounding them up.
I’m sure we could come up with other good ideas, but it will involve compromise and a willingness to be creative.
More posts in the Nature category
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Ban Sting? Never!
After meeting Sting, an American Staffordshire terrier, I can fully appreciate why people are afraid of pit bulls. Technically, Sting is not a pit bull, but he sure looks like one.
He’s a solid mass of muscle. You get the impression that you could run into him at full speed and he wouldn’t budge. And he’s got a big face — placid, sure, but all the better to bite you with.
Then there are those tiger stripes. Sting’s short fur has a black-and-orange mottling that makes him look like he could be a jungle animal.
Topping things off are those awful words: “pit” and “bull.” Both have bad connotations. A pit is not a place where anyone wants to be — it’s dark, dangerous and down there. A bull, of course, reminds us of the bulls that matadors fight. Plus, if you add a “y” it becomes “bully,” and no one likes a bully.
So anyway, there was Sting — seeming to meet all of anyone’s preconceptions. It didn’t take long, though, before I realized he was one of the best behaved dogs I have ever met. He went wherever he was led. He stood still. He didn’t try to jump on people or slobber on them. And all this was taking place in our newsroom with a bunch of strangers around. Most dogs would be going crazy trying to figure out all the new scents. He even met another dog with a polite sniff exchange.
Sting was every inch the perfect gentleman.
The upshot of all this is that I can now better understand why so many people support the concept of banning the deed, not the breed. I’d sure hate to see a nice fellow like Sting kicked out of Kamloops.
He’s obviously been well trained and well cared for. He has good owners. Could he be turned into a ferocious, biting machine by bad owners? Maybe. But that would be the fault of those bad owners — not Sting.
More posts in the Nature category
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Surviving a moose attack
A moose is one of the most dangerous animals you’ll ever meet. Big bulls weigh up to 600 kg and some of the really big ones tip the scales at 800 kg. The last thing you need is an animal that size decide to trample you.
In one respect, the cross-country skier who met with a moose at Stake Lake was lucky: that one was a female, which may have weighed at little as 300 kg.
Opinions vary on what to do when a moose attack, but probably the most sensible thing to do is run away. The most likely reason for a moose to take a run at you is because it wants to drive you away for some reason. At Stake Lake, it appears a mother wanted the skier and her dog away from a moose baby.
Another thing you can do is get behind a tree or rock. When a moose charges, it’s likely bluffing so it won’t persist. If all else fails, you can play dead — curl up in a ball and protect your head.
Here are couple of websites with moose survival tips:
Go to: Moose attack survival skills
Go to: Survive a moose attack
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