Big Cats Should Not be Bred in Little Cages

I was watching the episodes of Snow Leopards of Leafy London, about the National Cat Trust, with Dr. Terry Moore in the UK. Although its great to see someone taking in cats who have no where else to go. In the end, they are living in captivity for however long they live. Not able to have space, hunt, and live a feral life. He also breeds them. It wasn’t clear if he also lets the domestic cats breed too. The Trust takes in domestic homeless cats as well as the big cats. I hope the Trust works on some version of the neuter and release idea.

The series was made awhile ago and I wondered what became of the cats, especially the snow leopards which were featured, and the Trust. I found the website, not really updated since 2013 it seems to me. I didn’t see any updates about the snow leopard release project with India which was talked about often in the films. There is some project based in Argentina.

Also, interesting, was to find that his wife was part of things, one of the trustees for the organization. But, she was never mentioned in the films. If she were there, she wasn’t given credit for her work.

I found reviews on the TripAdvisor site, which made the Trust seem overwhelmed. Not enough volunteers to look after the place. Also, no visitors due to restrictions. That may be changed now, but it was only for sponsors/ members of the Trust. Not a bad thing, no doubt they need the funds. Feeding big cats would be expensive.

I posted this as a comment on Facebook:

I don’t think any of these kept cats can go back to the wild. Even if a habitat could be found for them. These cats have had an indolent lifestyle. They will have hunting instincts but no practice. So they will not have the skills or the muscles built up to take care of themselves without someone feeding them dead carcasses. So they will look for humans to feed them, leaving the wild areas and likely end up being shot by people who are afraid of big cats approaching them. It’s really sad to see these cats being bred in captivity to live their lives in small spaces, never having space to roam and be wild.

I love cats of all sizes. But, I think it is very misled to breed them in cat farms like this. Without a sure place to release them into the wild and a lifestyle which keeps them fit and skilled (and not relying on humans to feed them) there isn’t real hope for these cats to live anywhere but in concrete with a little patch of grass. Cats need to wander and roam and hunt. Even domestic cats will have a territory (unless they are kept indoors all their lives).

It would be very hard, if not impossible, to have these kept cats able to adapt and live in their natural home now. They’ve adapted to our environment, our culture, pollution, schedule, etc. Like being a tourist in another country, they would not know the local culture, the language and the ways of the other big cats who were born to the wild life in that area. They would not know what to eat when seasons change and prey migrate or change their habits. They won’t know or have natural defenses from other animals, insects, and diseases.

Their ancestors could be from that area but it would be culture shock for them to be dropped into a new place and left to learn how to survive. Having eaten dead meat all their lives, is it possible they would only look along roadways and other places they could smell roadkill and dead animals. Are their bodies able to live that way, deal with the parasites and such which they would pick up from dead meat versus the freshly killed animals they would eat naturally.

I wish the Cat Trust well but I think the project is really Terry Moore and volunteers making friends and pets out of these cats. Cats can be great pets, but not every cat should be kept as a pet.

Trying to give them a better life is a great ambition, but breeding them is selfish not selfless. There is no natural selection when females are forced to be bred/ pregnant every few months or every year with whatever male is closed in with them.

Not every female will want to be having batches of kittens constantly. I’ve seen domestic cats abandon new born kittens because they did not want them. I’m sure that must happen with big cats too.

Kept big cats do not live a natural, healthy, active life. Are they physically strong enough to have kittens? Being pampered and inactive means these big cats may not have the strength and stamina for pregnancy and birth. They are not exposed to conditions which toughen wild big cats, including bacteria, which they build immunity to. They just don’t make pet happy documentaries about any of these things.

I don’t think this will end well. Other places like this have failed, had to close. The cats are left homeless when shelters can’t be found for all of them. When there are reports about big cats wandering and hunting in rural and suburban areas, its likely true. How many of them are cats which grew up in zoos/farms which had to close and let the cats out of their cages rather than euthanizing them. It is not a kindness to breed cats, or any animal, just to hoard them in captivity.

Insects as Pets

Keeping insects as pets requires some extra research into native versus non-native species, laws about keeping insects in your local area (usually applies to poisonous or invasive species). Also, like exotic animals, insects of some types may not be imported or kept in North America, without permits, licenses or other paperwork.

I would prefer something low maintenance and local. I’m not taking responsibility for an invasive species which might find a way to escape or breed, or anything else we don’t need more bugs doing.

Probably a quiet bug, not prone to escape from a jar with holes in the lid. Nothing poisonous or likely to bite, sting, or otherwise draw blood. Considering the lifespan of most insects, something like a butterfly isn’t a good choice. Although a cockroach could seem a practical choice, it’s not for me.

However, you can get some exotic and colourful creatures. I’d consider a spider. I did keep one in my window pane when I was a kid. Not intentionally, she just ended up there and I let her stay. In spring I discovered she had become a mother over the winter. There were hundreds of tiny spiders in my bedroom for awhile. I had put her and her nest (I’m calling it a nest) in a jar at some point. I waited a few days because it was pretty amazing to watch all those little spiders. But, I didn’t want them to die so I took them to the rooftop of my house and let them all free. They mostly set off on drafts of air rather than walking over the roof. I learned quite a bit about common spiders back then. I’m remembering more as I write this.

Like any pet, there’s a lot to consider with bug ownership—time, money and space being key concerns—and there are trendy pet bugs as much as their are trendy designer dogs. Ramsey’s journey began with books, and a lot of trial and error to figure out what kinds of food and living conditions different bugs required (errors oftentimes resulting in dead insects). Since his first pill bugs and earwigs, Ramsey has raised nine different species of praying mantis and several species of millipedes, spiders, and (really huge) stick insects, to name a few. Four giant silk moths currently flutter around his office space.

Source: How to Choose the Pet Bug That’s Right for You

You could look for an ant farm. Maybe not as popular these days but certainly one way to start having insects as pets.

Others easily available:

crickets
praying mantis
centipedes and milipedes
snails
grasshoppers
ladybugs
beetles
silk worms

Canada is Running Low on Insects

Think of insects as more than creepy crawlers. They each have their function for the cycle of life on the planet. Insects matter. From honeybees to the common fly, they all have a part. This post focuses on insects as bird food. But, that seems less important, unless you are a devoted birdwatcher. Insects are important in pollinating plants, spreading seeds and being plant food too.

When Jeff Skevington’s parents used to take the family camping in Algonquin Park, they needed to stop the car halfway and buy windshield washer fluid because of all the squished bugs.

Source: Canada is actually running short of bugs

Digital Camera: Zoom, Focus, Pixels and Batteries

I take photos of buildings, abandoned sites and the odd wild flowers in the landscape. Sometimes I get talked into family photos too. I don’t mind family photos but they always require more uploading via email, Facebook and other places so family can share them. It’s odd how the personal stuff takes up more time than the photos I really love to take.

One thing you should do right away is get a decent camera bag. Take the time to find one which has a hard outer shell so your camera bag can take some abuse without harming the camera inside of it.

Zoom and Focus for Macro and Long Distance Photographs

One thing I look for in a camera is a lot of optical zoom. Most people don’t need a lot of zoom. Step closer rather than zoom in. However, I photograph abandoned places – often on the other side of a barrier, like a ‘No Trespassing” sign. So, I don’t have the option of getting closer myself. Instead I use the zoom to bring the picture to me. I love zoom!

Someone else might want a camera with a faster speed, for action photography. In my case, things are pretty much staying right where they are.

Other photos I like to take are called macro. This means I get as close up as I can and fill my viewable screen with the entire image I am looking at. Macro photography gives you a new look at very small things. I use it for taking photos of wild flowers and insects usually. I push the camera lens as close to the subject as I can. I have to be careful not to get so close I touch it with the camera.

The camera I have right now isn’t the best one for giving a sharp focus when I use the full 10X optical zoom. I’ve also noticed it loses focus, or is hard to focus, when I am up close for macro photos. In the case of taking a macro photo I need to pull back in order to get a sharp, clear focus. When using the zoom I’ve learned to pull back then too in order not to lose the sharpness which I need to bring all the finer details into the long range photograph.

I have learned that the focus range needs to start with a small number, the smaller the better, in order for the camera to be able to get a clear focus when the subject is near your camera. I also know that the only zoom that keeps a sharp focus is the optical zoom. If you break into the range of digital zoom you lose your sharp focus and the photo framing can get out of whack too.

So camera focus depends on a few extra things but the focus range is an important feature to watch for when you look at getting a new camera.

Resolution: It’s in the Pixels

The resolution is the amount, or density, of pixels in the image. Pixels are tiny dots of colour which build up the photo as a whole. A high amount of megapixels lets you use the photos you take for larger sizes in processed images. But, for most people 3 MP (MegaPixels) will be all you need.

Images which are used online, for websites require less pixels than an image which you want to print as a photograph. Keep that in mind when looking for a new camera. Unless you are selling your photos professionally or printing them up for poster sized images, you don’t need high resolution images.

Battery Life for your Digital Camera

Digital camera batteries are either lithium or AA batteries. Use rechargeable batteries to save money and having more stuff to throw away. Lithium batteries last longer and are lighter but, they are hard to replace once they finally stop working. I’ve had a camera more than 3 years and have not needed to replace the lithium battery it came with. So replacing the battery is not something to worry about very much. Just take care of whatever batteries you use.

Things that ask more from your battery:

LCD screen
flash
zoom

Tips for saving and conserving battery power.

Don’t leave your camera on when you aren’t using it. Why rely on power saving when you could just turn it off.
Don’t leave your camera on long after your photos are uploaded. When it’s done, it’s done.
Don’t leave your camera battery out in sunlight. It likes cool, dark places.
Don’t use the flash when you can do without it. Low light can be good for photos.
Don’t use the zoom when you can move your camera (or yourself) closer instead.
Don’t spend time viewing the photos you have already taken. Upload them and then take your time reviewing them.

Wrist Straps and Camera Bags

A camera may come with a strap and a camera bag. The best thing about the camera bag that comes with your camera is that it fits your camera size. It may not be the best choice for keeping and carrying around your camera. Also, I very much prefer using a wrist strap versus a longer strap that goes over your shoulders (around your neck). A long strap leaves your camera dangling in front of you.

I like the wrist strap so I can keep the camera in my hand while knowing I have the strap around my wrist so I can’t drop the camera on the ground. My wrist strap has saved my camera from dropping twice so far. I’m careful but I still tend to be walking over uneven ground, watching for animals flying above me and hiding below my feet. I’ve had something startle me or I’ve just plain lost my footing and stumbled, countless times. I’m glad my camera strap was looped over my wrist then and not banging into my chest.

In the case of the camera bag, I took time to find one which was firm on the outside. I knew my camera was going to be bumped around in my backpack, my purse and so on. So a firm case was essential to protect it. I didn’t keep the case the camera came with for very long. It was soft and easily squished.

Butter Moths are Free

Pick a word, like butterflies. How did that word come to be? Were there some flying insects around the butter churn one day and forever after flying insects with pretty wings shall be known as butterflies? Or was it some odd story about people throwing butter during an argument and a splat of butter landed on a flying bug and …. did the rest become history?

Don’t look up the real story until later. Come up with a more interesting and yet (at least slightly) possible explanation for the word yourself.

The Abandoned Shopping Mall Plants

In an abandoned shopping mall there are hundreds of plants slowing dying from lack of water. They can get sunlight (most of them) from skylights in the mall. But, no one comes in to bring them water. The whole mall closed down weeks ago when there just weren’t enough shoppers, the last shop closed it’s doors and then the owners of the mall itself gave up and had the utilities turned off and the mall boarded and locked up.

Rodents and insects inherited the mall. In one store the roof has begun leaking. Not close to any of the plants, no help to them, but the leak is getting worse and the ceiling tiles are falling in.

How do the plants get rescued? Do the plants get rescued in time or do they just die off quietly and uncared for?