Leave the Rabbits Alone!

baby groundhog

I had seen some kids playing around here.  They were chasing and terrorizing wild rabbits.  I never saw them hurt any rabbits, but I saw them poking at them with sticks.  Obviously, you would be terrorized if you were being chased by giants, and you couldn't understand what they were saying or what they wanted.  They can play amongst themselves, and not be living nightmares for little wild animals.  I haven't hesitated in the past to intervene in such situations, but I regretted not saying anything the first time I saw it.  I had another chance today.  I said something, but it wasn't loud enough, so they didn't hear me.  I saw a girl throw a tennis racket at a rabbit.  The next time they came around, they heard me.  All I said was, "Leave the rabbits alone!"  And they did.  Unfortunately, it's only natural for humans to want to make life miserable for animals.  If protecting them is the right thing to do, then do it.  I certainly wouldn't have touched those kids.  All I'm willing to do is talk to them or yell at them.  Heroes of mine include Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr, both believed in non-violent resistance.
On a more positive note, I have come to realize there are at least five baby groundhogs living right next to my building.  So far, Veronica is my choice for mother of the year.  She was out grazing with one of her babies.  Suddenly, she ran toward the family hole in the ground.  That's something I've seen groundhogs do plenty of times.  This time was different.  On her way to the hole, she made several high-pitched noises with her mouth.  It was instantly obvious why she did that.  It was for the sake of her baby, who immediately followed her mother to the hole.  What was all this about?  I looked around and saw an animal I had never seen around here before: a large raccoon.  Veronica watched the raccoon carefully from her position, which was right at the hole.  It's possible she had never seen one before.  Even after the raccoon had been gone for several minutes, she continued to look around cautiously.  Her baby even helped out.  She stood on her hind legs and looked around.  I'm not sure if she even knew what she was looking for, but her intentions were good.  Baby groundhogs are among the cutest animals I've ever seen.               

The Week in Wildlife: Life and Death

Baby Phoebe with mama Veronica

This is the week I realized I have new neighbors: baby groundhogs.  Love those groundhogs: especially the babies.  I had been out, and before going up to my home, I figured I'd take a peek at the groundhog hole that's been right next to my building for at least as long as I've been living here: a few years.  I saw some kids plugging up that hole with debris one day last year.  I told them to stop doing that, then I cleared the stuff out so the groundhogs could use it again.  That, and other incidents, have convinced me that I am my (groundhog) brother's keeper.  So I just wanted to make sure the hole was clear.  I peeked around the corner of the building and saw two baby groundhogs poking their little heads out of the hole and looking at me.  What a great surprise.  There are at least four of them, and they are currently the size of little fur balls.  I've taken some photos, but I need to take as many as I can, because they grow up quickly.   
While I was out walking, I saw a police car.  The cop turned the flashing lights and siren on.  Then he or she put the pedal to the metal.  Unfortunately, a sparrow was crossing the road.  If the cop hadn't been accelerating so rapidly; everything probably would have been fine.  But the police car hit the poor sparrow, which threw her violently into the street.  It was a horrible thing for someone like me (a lover of all animals) to witness, and I had a front row seat.  She flapped her wings some, and she managed to get a little bit off the ground, but, ultimately, she faltered.  Within seconds, she was dead.  On the way back, I noticed that she had been squashed completely: probably by a car's tire. 
Maybe I was meant to see that.  My car died this past fall.  I haven't replaced it yet.  One of the good things about that is not being able to hit an animal with my car.  As far as I know, I've never hit an animal with a car I was driving.  As far as I'm concerned, one of the worst things I could do is hit an animal with a car.  I hate seeing road kill.  It's a real shame how us humans have made life so horrible and dangerous for countless animals.  Maybe I'll be able to afford to live in NYC again one day.  You truly don't need a car there, and that's a great thing.        

A Letter for President Obama

I had to include Michelle, because she's hot.

Mr. Obama, I believe this country, and world, are backwards in certain ways.  In the way it bothers me most, animals, like cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys, are treated horribly, because people like to eat their flesh.  They don't NEED to eat their flesh; they just WANT to.  The amount of violence and torture people inflict upon animals is depressing and disgusting to me.  I believe that crime should be all about violence and stealing.  Violence includes sex crimes.  Please spearhead a movement that seeks to make any unprovoked violence against any animal a crime.  I firmly believe that all animals should receive the same protection from violence that people do.  They live under our thumb.  Why not be proud of ourselves and treat them well?  Of course we'd need to make more room in jails and prisons; legalize all drugs.   People are free to kill themselves with alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and food.  The war on drugs has been a failure for quite some time.  The drug laws tend to be racist.  Free all non-violent drug offenders to make room for those who have committed violent acts against animals.  Tax the crap out of all those drugs and have plenty of money for helping those who need it.
Another way in this country (and world) is backwards is that most people bring other people (their kids) into this brutal, miserable death world.  And they get tax breaks for doing so: ridiculous!  Stop giving tax breaks to people who irresponsibly bring other people into this violent, vulgar world, and instead give them to people who refuse to bring others into the world.  You could really make a difference.  The human population has exploded in recent years.  There are just too many people.  Plenty of people can't get jobs, because they're competing with too many humans for them.
Another way in which the country/world is backwards is religion.  God was created out of fear and ignorance.  Many things couldn't be explained, because science hadn't done so yet.  We used to be afraid, so we believed in a god who would watch our backs.  It's clear that no one is watching our backs.  Horrible things happen to many every single day.  And science can now explain so much of what was once thought to be unexplainable.  The time for religion has come and gone.  I have no problem with people worshiping, but let's start taxing churches.  They do not deserve tax-exempt status.  I resent the fact that my mother used to drag me to church every week as a boy.  As far as I'm concerned, they filled my head with lies.  That's what adults do to kids; they lie to them.  They tell them that god exists, and so does the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, and the tooth fairy.   

A Letter Written by a Squirrel for Humans

My name is Nutsie.  The bald vegan named me that, because I love nuts.  I really do.  He tried to feed me a piece of carrot.  After sniffing at it for one second, I knew I didn't want it.  Fortunately, he also had a whole walnut for me too.  He gave it to me.  But that silly bald vegan kept trying.  He tossed a piece of broccoli to me.  This time, it took a few seconds of sniffing for me to decide I didn't want it.  Then he tossed a whole almond to me.  Next time, he gave me a slice of cucumber.  Once again, one sniff, and I was done.  He gave another almond to me.  He's silly, but he tries.
Other people aren't as nice as the bald vegan.  I heard they had something in Holley, NY called a "squirrel shoot."  That wasn't nice.  They had all kinds of people shooting at, and killing, squirrels.  I don't understand this.  What did we ever do to you?  We're all so afraid of you.  We know it's your world, and we're just squirrels trying to get a nut.  Some people eat us.  But is it really worth it to kill us for food?  We're so small.  And so many of you are so fat.  The meat of one squirrel can't make much of a dent in those super-sized bellies I've seen.
And please be careful when driving your cars.  So many squirrels have been run over by cars.  If you can avoid us, please do so.  The bald vegan saw someone run right over a squirrel with his or her car.  He or she killed her.  The driver made no attempt whatsoever to avoid running over the squirrel.  There were no pedestrians or other cars around, so the bald vegan thinks the driver should have tried to avoid the squirrel.  People need to be attentive when they're driving.  This person killed the squirrel, kept driving like nothing happened, and parked at a nearby restaurant.  The bald vegan thought about confronting the driver, but he was too sad to do it.  He was more sad than mad.  But if he had been more mad than sad, he might have at least yelled at the driver.  And if the driver messed with him, he might have gotten physical.  You should keep that in your mind.  There are people who are willing to fight for animals.            

A Letter from a Parakeet to Her Human Warden

How would you like to live like this?

Why do you keep me in this cage?  I don't understand you.  You tell me you love me.  I don't believe you.  I don't believe you at all.  You say you love your kids too, but you don't imprison them in cages.  You say you love your husband, but he doesn't have to live in a cage.  Why me?  What did I ever do to you?  I've never hurt any person or animal.  I've never stolen anything.  I've never robbed a bank.  I'm not a terrorist.  I don't understand why I'm locked in this cage.
Are you jealous of me?  Are you jealous of my ability to fly?  Is this your response to that jealousy?  To imprison me in a cage so I can't fly?  It's not my fault I can fly.  I was born to have this advantage.  And I guess you were born to have the ability to take it away from me.
I want to be free.  I want to fly.  I want out of this cage.  If you really loved me, you wouldn't keep me in this cage.  Polly want a cracker?  No.  Polly wants to be free: free to spread her wings and fly.

The Bald Vegan adds-"If you have a pet bird, that bird is dependent on you.  Perhaps he or she has spent his or her entire life being dependent on humans to be fed.  So, if by some miracle, what you've read here has moved you, and you want to free your pet bird, that might not be the right thing to do.  On the other hand, it might be the right thing to do.  You should do some research into the matter before setting the bird(s) free: to see if it's the right thing to do.  Find out how they would fare in the wild before doing it.  Please don't buy any more birds that you'll imprison in cages.  You know you wouldn't want to live that way, so why force an animal to live like that?  Sting sang, 'If you love somebody, set them free.'  If, after doing ample research, you've determined that your bird inmates would thrive in the wild, then set them free.  Ideally, you'd leave the cage by an open window, with the cage door open, so the bird can make his or her own choice whether to remain  free or return."