Adam Gopnik’s piece “Dog Story” in the New Yorker for 11 August (available online only for subscribers I think) is full of nuggets, observations, and pointers to good books including Derr’s forthcoming one which should be essential. Meanwhile there are good “detachable quotes”: “She does a better impersonation of a person than we do as …
Tag: Animal Behavior
Avian Drama, Home Version
In remote, dirt- road Magdalena, wildlife comes into town. Deer track through the central arroyo, followed by mountain lions. An adolescent lion got himself cornered and darted in the High school yard a couple of years ago; a bear went up an electric pole and was electrocuted the same year. Coyotes challenge the hounds from …
How to make (this) bird happy…
The peregrine (who I sometimes call Bella II after an older bird of the same breeding I once had, who moved to Utah ended up killing five- pound sage grouse though she only weighed about what this one does, 23 ounces) is pretty well trained now. She even has good manners. She never screams or …
Progress?
As several readers who communicate outside of the blog know, the redheaded falcon has been extremely wild and difficult. I had decided to send him back to the breeder and was feeding him to repletion every night. But, as his weight rose, against all expectations he got tamer and tamer. He is now butter- fat, …
Killers?
Annie Hocker sent a query about self- appointed “spokesman” Chris Palmer on the orca tragedy: “…Palmer has a big pulpit in his role as head of the environmental film dept. at AU, as well as being on the board of several other school and film festival depts. across the US. I did note that a …
Lane Batot’s Trailhounds 4
Trailhounds Part 4……When I had kept Notches, the Black-And-Tan hound for a year or so, I became curious as to whether she still had her “raccoon phobia”. Though I probably would have found out eventually by happenstance–raccoons being common in the area–I decided to set up an encounter where I had some control of the …
Better Dog Stuff
The intelligent subway dogs of Moscow. (English Russia is always fun).(HT Annie D). This has a snowball’s chance in hell of passing but I could sure use a $3500 tax break for my menagerie. I don’t know though; if HSUS likes it there is probably a hidden bomb somewhere! (HT Reid).
Cracker stacker
My Mongolian trip travel partner and friend Janell Cannon is now playing with video. She’s posted a fun new one on how crows stack crackers:
Smart Corvids
And for pleasure: A BBC feature on the always- amazing abilities of Corvids, with videos. HT Jonathan Hanson.
Squirrel study, part 2
Janell concluded her Mama Squirrel nature study with a test of her hypothesis that Mama Squirrel would stuff an entire roll of toilet paper into her burrow. As background, Janell noted she had witnessed ground squirrels scavenging TP from the public bathrooms at the beach in the springtime. “I assume that they are lining their …