The Wild in Our Backyards

What activities, by law, actually fund wildlife research, management, conservation, and the likes?

Spent my day fixing and fine tuning the fire engine I’m in charge of while day dreaming about being on a fire. Covered in water, grease, and oil, but nothing beats the smell of that smoke coming off a freshly burned/burning field or woodlands. Missing those calls to ‘take a little more’ or 'take a little less’ while arms are burning under the nomex and the constant swinging of a pulaski while working the firebreak. Missing those days.

It kinda irritates me when people mix up feral and wild animals, especially when they call a domestic animal just out roaming, a wild/feral animal. Like, no. Stop.

Can I submit landscape or similar photos? Yes! Please do. Also please add a caption of where it was taken (i.e. -photo- Miami, Florida)

Can I submit a picture of my pet? Submissions featuring solely featuring a domestic animal will not be accepted though. Unless the background is accepted by our moderators.

If you asked me if I like cats (domestic/pet) cats, then I would say yes. IF people kept them indoors. Besides, indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats for a variety of reasons.

Check out these links on why you should keep your cat indoors.

http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/index.html

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/preventing-your-cat-getting-outside

http://www.theanimalrescue.com/indoors.html

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/12-reasons-to-keep-your-cat-indoors/

If you asked me if I liked feral cats, then I would say no. Feral cats, but really all domestic/house cats, are efficient hunters. Cats kill tons of native wildlife species. Cats “kill from 1.4 billion to as many as 3.7 billion birds in the continental U.S. each year”. Each year! And that’s just birds. They also kill numerous small mammals, like shrews, voles, mice, and the likes. The numbers fall ” from 6.9 billion to as many as 20.7 billion mammals”. So, here’s me telling you, pleading with you, to keep your cats indoors. It’s the least you can do for wildlife, even if you don’t care for them (even though you should). Wildlife is already having enough trouble as it is with climate change and habitat loss/destruction/fragmentation. Read more about the harm of outdoor cats at these links (I advise you to educate yourself more on this subject matter):

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/03/27/unnatural-world-killer-cats

http://www.shop.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/pdf/impacts_of_free_ranging_domestic_cats.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/29/cats-wild-birds-mammals-study/1873871/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130621-threats-against-birds-cats-wind-turbines-climate-change-habitat-loss-science-united-states/

http://web1.cnre.vt.edu/extension/fiw/wildlife/damage/Cats.pdf

Do y'all think it’ll be weird if I just went over to the campus I’ll be living near and started projects for them to get their pathetic (I say pathetic since they literally have nothing going on, since the past few years I’ve been told) and just start encouraging them with weekend trips and such? I think it’s it’s a great idea, just weird since I’m not affiliated with the campus (yet). I also would love to bring them as volunteers on jobs I’ll be doing. We’ll see. I hope to become a professor at one of these colleges and striving for success and active participation in student organizations.