Pet Monologues

Strutt was born in England but spent a great deal of his life in Australia. He is known for his work as an illustrator and later for his commissioned works. One of his most famous pieces is titled Black Thursday, February 6th which depicted men and animals running from the bush fire that swept across Victoria, Australia.

William Strutt ‘Cultivating an Acquaintance’ 1889 Painting, Oil on Canvas

William Strutt ‘A Warm Response’ 1889 Painting, Oil on Canvas

In the two above paintings, Strutt’s dog is a Jack Russell Terrier. Fitting with a JRT’s instincts to harass or harm small animals, this dog attempts to mess with a crawfish…and the crawfish sets him straight!! ouch!! Read the rest of this entry »

Creativity: the amazing fish highway.

What is a Fish Highway? Read the rest of this entry »

Global warming—birds know. Read the rest of this entry »

Global warming and polar bears. It does not take much imagination to see what is going on.

October is adopt a shelter dog month.

ASPCA’s message this month is “Think Globally, Adopt Locally.” They encourage people who are considering adding a four legged barking buddy to their family to adopt from their local shelter. And, if you do bring a new friend home, they also have tips that will help make the transition go smoothly for you and your new dog. Here are some of their tips…

1. You Better Shop Around
Stock up on supplies before Fido arrives! Your new pal won’t need much—the Burberry overcoat and crystal tiara are optional—but essentials include food and water bowls, safe chew toys, grooming tools, a collar and leash, an identification tag and a crate with bedding (towels will do if you don’t want to spend money on a fancy crate pad).

When it comes to food, try to buy the same brand he’s already eating. If you want to change foods, make the switch gradually, mixing old food with new, over a period of a few weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

Chapter 9: The stories that nourish a newspaper.
By John Armstrong

[This is the ninth of 14 excerpts, running Tuesdays and Thursdays, from John Armstrong's memoir of the working life: Wages.]

When a cement truck lost its brakes on a hill and ploughed through someone’s backyard, you needed the parents and relatives of the dead and wounded, the name of the driver, the owner of the company, the neighbours (to fill out the background and describe the terror they faced daily with Big Trucks roaring though their neighbourhood) and someone from government licensing to comment on why he and his department hadn’t checked this truck’s brakes.

It was also important to get the Opposition critic for that department who would describe how the government had failed so tragically in this case, despite his repeated warnings that such a disaster was coming, and how his party would do things differently if they were in office….

The same was true of any local tragedy whether it was the man who hacked up his wife and mailed her postage due to her parents or an immigrant woman who spoke and read no English and bled to death in the emergency room because she couldn’t fill out the admittance papers. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever wonder why some dogs need haircuts? Why some leave a trail of lost hair behind them? Why people are allergic to certain breeds of dogs and most cats? A common belief is that some animals have hair, non-shedding, while others have fur, the shedders and allergy bombs.

All mammals have some sort of hair covering some, much, or virtually all of their bodies. The hair on some animals is known as fur, but it’s all the same no matter the name. Hair is made of the protein keratin and dead epidermal, or skin, cells and it grows from follicles in the inner layer of the skin. Human follicles each give rise to a single hair, but animals that depend on fur coats for temperature regulation often has several or many hairs per follicle. The diameter of individual hairs decreases as the number of hairs per follicle increases. Each follicle has an oil gland to keep skin and hair smooth. Dog breeds developed to work in water generally have high oil content in their coats so that water runs off hair and does not penetrate to the skin. Read the rest of this entry »

Anywhere people live, you’ll find dogs. Our species has made its way into nearly every nook and cranny in the world, and we’ve bred dogs to go with us. One of the main reasons why dogs are so remarkably adaptable is their ability to survive on a variety of foods. While cats need nutrients only found in a meat-based diet, a dog’s digestive system can pull the nutrients out of just about anything that’s edible. That’s why dogs don’t need as much protein in their diets as cats. Still, dogs are naturally meat eaters, so meat protein is still an important part of a dog’s diet. An all-around balanced diet is a six-part story: protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water.

Water

Fresh, clean water is more important to your dog than any other nutrient. About 70 percent of a dog’s body is made up of water, which is vital for cell function and tissue lubrication. Dogs can live for many days without food, but a lack of water will kill them quickly. When it’s hot outside, or if your dog is sick, especially if he is vomiting or has diarrhea, water is even more important.

If you drink bottled or filtered water because of the quality of tap water in your area, you may want to safeguard your dog’s health by also giving him bottled water or investing in a good-quality water filter for your tap. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s better than a soap opera.

Since late March, my neighbors and I have been privy to the continuing saga of the trials and tribulations of a family consisting of papa and mama osprey and their very hungry, very noisy young. There are three of those.

Don’t think it’s easy to keep that growing trio of fledglings fed. It’s not as if the parents get to drive to a fast-food restaurant to pick up burgers and some chicken for supper. On the contrary, a lot of hard work goes into providing enough fish for three growing youngsters, plus the mother who gets to baby-sit while the babies are still defenseless.

It’s been estimated that one juvenile consumes close to 200 pounds during a typical season; multiply that times three and it is apparent the life of an osprey adult is not easy.

Last year an osprey pair nested on a snag farther down the river and although we were able to see some of the action, we were only able to observe them through binoculars. My neighbors, Paul and Phyllis, decided a closer nest would be a good addition to our neighborhood and last year they had an artificial nesting box put on a convenient snag closer to their house on the banks of the South Umpqua River. Read the rest of this entry »

Warning: Violence. Adult language.

Man, I saw this guy get chomped by a fucking hippo dude. Man, this guy was getting eaten alive man. No, I wasn’t there dog, I saw it on t.v. It was on the Discovery Channel bro. This guy was in this canoe thing right and he’s rowing along, minding his own business, when all of a sudden, a huge fucking hippopotamus comes exploding out of the water!

The dude gets sucked into the jaws of this fucking hippo man and the hippo is like munch, munch, munch on the dude, dude! It was crazy man. No, I didn’t see it happen like that exactly man. It was like a whatchamacallit, a, ahhhh, like when those actor people act like what happened in real life man. What is that shit called??? Oh yeah, a reenactment. Right..renac, a rena, a shit, you know, anyways, fucking hippo was chowing down on this dude and then it spits the guy out of its jaws man. Read the rest of this entry »