Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Nature...Impressions

It is fitting that I choose the word "Nature" for my Alphabe-Thursday post. Tomorrow marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. What could I do for this post that might educate, influence opinion and quite possibly alter the course of events in the Natural world? I will come to that in a moment.

Nature is a term with broad, although mostly related, meanings. The term entered the English language in the 14th century. It was derived from the Latin term "Natura", meaning "that which has been born".

The term Nature is often used to refer to the "Natural environment" as disconnected from humanity and all that has been brought into existence by human effort, mind, or consciousness. I am of the opinion that this separation or disconnection has been one of our biggest mistakes.

My academic background and much of my life's work makes this week's Alphabe-Thursday pick for me a "Natural selection" (Darwin would be grinning now). It gives me an opportunity to climb onto my soapbox for a short while, and let you wonderful, Alphabe-Thursday Nymphs know about a Nature related situation that is of concern to me...The Plight of Wolves.

Grey wolves have only been recently brought back from near extermination in the lower 48 states. Current populations in the Northern Rockies of the Western U.S. are under threat once again, as Governors of these states are opening up hunting of these beautiful animals. Consensus opinion of wildlife scientists and managers does not support the actions taken by the Governors of these Rocky Mtn. states. These Governors have succumbed to a vocal minority of hunters hell-bent on freedom to shoot anything. Recent lifting of Federal protection for wolves has opened the floodgates for this vocal hunting minority, which chooses threats and intimidation to sway state government opinion. IMHO, hunting wolves is akin to shooting dogs. In Alaska, where the populations are much healthier, former Governor Palin created a bounty for wolves, where a front leg fetches $300. In Alaska they are often hunted from the air, when 'hunters' will use airplanes and helicopters to chase down wolves running in deep snow until they tire. Often they are illegally shot from the aircraft. The meat of these animals in rarely used. The pelts remain as a tribute to a 'hunter's' ability to shoot a dog. IMHO it is cruel, inhumane, and senseless. I urge you to research this issue. the Defenders of Wildlife organization is a good place to start. They are front and center in the fight for wolf protection.

The first two photos below are of endangered Red Wolves. These two wolves are part of a captive breeding/reintroduction program at our Chattanooga Nature Center. Their offspring have been, and will continue to be released in protected areas within their historic range. Please forgive the photo quality as I was shooting through chain-link fencing. The other photos were taken during an outing this week to the same Nature Center with MrsC (yes, we are now venturing out once again for brief photo excursions). Have a glorious Earth Day! FYI, you can double click on the photos to enlarge, and you should click on Playlist song #20 as you check out the photos. Thank you to Jenny Matlock, our illustrious "teacher" for Alphabe-Thursday.

Peace and blessings
Namaste
Shalom aleichem















Horse whisperer MrsC !

21 comments:

  1. I must say Nature is a Natural choice for you! I did not know all this info about wolves and I will check it out. I hate when beautiful creatures of any kind are killed like you described. That said, great photos! Glad Mrs. C is getting out and about also.

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  2. Beautiful animal. What surprisingly long legs. I wrote to the Discovery Channel in opposition to the Sarah Palin show. The $200,000 per episode that they are paying her should go into preservation efforts.

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  3. I'm with you on the hunting of wolves (or anything else for that matter). I wrote about a state park here in Texas where there's camping and the deer come into the camping area at dusk and some eat right from the people's hands. Then they close the park for a while (I thnk it's in the fall) and let the hunters come in to thin out the herd. I hardly consider it a sport when the deer walk right up to the hunters. A friend told me once that when you feed a wild animal you sentence it to death.

    Beautiful photographs again!

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  4. I'm not much for hunting. It seems especially cruel for hunters to be on a helicopter and shooting the wolves. It just sickens me. Maybe because I don't like hunting, I just don't understand the appeal of it.

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  5. Here in Michigan there is a ban on baiting deer because we have a disease that is spreading because of deer living in herds. I do not see the sport in killing wolves at all along with many other animals. But I do understand the hunting of deer since we live where if they are not thinned out they will eat the farmers harvest. My hubs is a hunter but venison is ate in this house and there are no mounted animals to be seen.

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  6. Reminds me of the buffalo "hunters" that shot from trains.
    Beautiful pictures.

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  7. Lovely looking creatures ... and great flower shots as well.

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  8. What a great collection of pics I love the one through a hole

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  9. I've always thought wolves were beautiful. I've always been against hunting for the sport of it.

    You always have such beautiful photos, Jeff! Some of these made me feel as though I could reach out and touch the flowers!

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  10. All of your pictures are amazing! They really jump off the screen.

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  11. i think that dandilion pic is divine :D

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  12. Before I even got here I thought you might do nature.

    And what a wonderful post!

    Does your areas of interest extend to nidology?

    Although I suspect you totally know this word already!

    Perhaps you actually wrote the obscure word dictionary I'm using this week!

    Thanks for a great post Jeff.

    I forgive you for passing the note then!

    A+

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  13. Again, wonderful pictures. And I completely agree with you about the wolf hunting controversy. They are majestic animals and ought to be left alone. Makes me sad to have them killed for sport.

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  14. I am not for hunting and killing animals, i could never hunt. We need to live the wolves alone for sure. Great post, great pictures.
    Thank you for your comment on my blog and following me. following you back :)
    Frenchy

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  15. Dear hubby, one again your post is inspiring and full of information! It is such a joy to have you in my life and you have been my angel during this recouperation period of my surgery!

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  16. My folks live near a wolf sanctuary in Washington. My Dad has taken several of his grandkids to the "howl in".
    A couple of years ago I read "The Loop" by Nicholas Evans (same guy who wrote "the Horse Whisperer" ) and it is all about the plight of the wolves and the fight between wildlife biologists and ranchers. I wish they would make this one into a movie so more people would be aware.

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  17. thanks for making me aware...I love nature and the wolves are part of that!

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  18. This is a subject that is very dear to me. The "hunting" of wolves is despicable, particularly the air hunts. I personally don't hunt, but I have friends who do. They hunt what they can eat, not just to kill. And they find this as revolting as I do. One man said to me that that is not hunting, it's a just a sad way for small men to feel big. Kathy

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  19. Great shots. Wolves are one of my hubby's favorite animals. Personally, I really love your floral pics...

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  20. How could I not read this post??

    Best wishes,
    Anna

    Anna's N-Words

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  21. Dear Jeff,
    For the sake of wolves all over the world, I am putting a link on my W-post to this post .

    Best wishes,
    Anna
    Thanks for visiting my W-post!

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