Because I know many of you are like me in that you are interested in other animals besides dogs and cats, I have a few links to share in that department:
Midwestern Harry Potter fans will be happy to hear there is a glut of snowy owls in Kansas this year. But it’s important to keep a good distance if you sight one on the ground so as to allow them to regain their strength after flying in from the arctic and to use their reserves for hunting, not for fleeing from curious bird watchers.
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The housing of lab rodents is a complex issue (which I did not realize before reading this article) and the subject has become confusing to researchers after reading the government’s new guidelines.
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A new study finds that manta and mobula rays – the majestic ballet swimmers – are in danger of extinction due to a Chinese market for their gill rakers (the mechanism by which the animal filters food from the water). Perhaps even sadder is the reason for the demand:
The researchers note that the gills had not previously been prescribed in traditional Chinese medicine, and many of its practitioners conceded in interviews for the study that gill rakers were not effective in treating illness and that many alternatives were available. The rising popularity of the ingredient seems to be the result of traders’ efforts to create a market, the report’s authors concluded.
“The rising popularity of the ingredient seems to be the result of traders’ efforts to create a market, the report’s authors concluded.”
Looks like their marketing efforts are working too well since they will soon not have a product to sell.
We live in a MAD, MAD, MAD world. So sad.