Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Wolf Communication Part 1- Howling










Recently while watching “A Man Among Wolves” Sean, the man whom chose to live amongst wolves, has believed he has found  a way for farmers to keep their livestock safe from wolves without resorting to violence.

Wolves howl for communication in the wild with each other and others around them.
Whimper, whines and yelps are used for short range communication and are most often associated with friendly or submissive gestures.
Growls and snarls are used by more dominant wolves for assertions of  leadership or as a defence or attack signal. The leadership in wolves society is particular key as it helps form the social pecking order of the back and each wolf’s individual role there.

However wolves also can use long range communication which can travel up to ten miles and can be used to communication through its own members , social bonding & as well as developing territories around themselves and setting those boundaries around for other wolves to understand.It’s a helpful tool to avoid physical confrontation between the packs as if one vastly outnumbers the other, the lesser group may have the opportunity to retreat away.

Sean has proposed the idea of recorded howling to keep wild wolves away from the farmers “territory”  which in return would help keep the distinct boundaries of wolves and the farmers livestock which would lead to reduction in farmers having to cull wild wolves .

Unfortunately auditory communication such as howling has not been investigate scientifically as thoroughly  as the other communication sense of wolves and much research is still needed to be done.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Kitten Dies From Vegan Diet


Source: http://m.heraldsun.com.au/leader/west/kitten-nearly-dies-from-vegan-diet/story-fngnvmj7-1226682108386

I found this most interesting. Since I am one who belongs on both sides of this argument I think I would have a go.
 As much as some of us would love to keep our entire lifestyle cruelty free , sometimes that’s not compatible. Even dogs who are brought up on vegan diets can become very unhealthy very quickly and some just can't cope with it at all.

Cats strictly carnivores and are unable to be vegan for any time without it having long term effects on their health. Any vet will tell you this.

Some simple reasons why cats can't be vegan ;
*They can  only get much needed vitamin A from animal sources.
*They can't convert beta carotene into vitamin A.
*Cat can't produce taurine unlike us & dogs, taurine helps run & maintain the cardiovascular system
& the nervous system.
*Vitamin B12 which is present only in animal products can't be synthesis by cats.
*Thiamin,Arachidonic acid are just some more simple but much needed elements the body needs which a cat can't get from any plant based diet.

As much as I believe in a cruelty free lifestyle, is it really cruelty free if your cat's suffering? When you are a pet owner you acknowledge all aspects of your animal no matter what and you accommodate everything it may need for it's development no matter what. You can't pick & change on biology. If you don't like that, don't get a cat.