A Professional Mess™

If someone is suffering and you want to help, instead of saying “let me know if there’s anything I can do,” offer a few options of things you know you can do.

“Can I do your dishes while you study for your exam?”

“Would it help if I came to the waiting room with you?”

“I can distract you if you like.”

Alright y’all, spring has sprung and it’s baby season! This is a PSA for anyone who finds themselves with a baby creature that has fallen out of its nest or is injured. I work with a licensed wildlife rehabber, and I see the results of improper care every day, and have to put down babies myself that were too weak and malnourished to survive because someone thought they could “save” them

DONT

TAKE 

CARE

OF 

THEM 

YOURSELF!!!!!!

Baby birds require extreme and scientific attention for them to live, and they will die if you don’t know how to take care of them properly, which, for the record, the average person cannot do. You need to take any baby bird you find to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator if you want them to survive. Baby mammals (squirrels, skunks, rabbits, etc) are even more difficult to care for and they risk deformation and abnormal development if they aren’t taken care of by someone who knows what they’re doing. 

DONT

KEEM

THEM 

AS 

PETS!!!!!!

Wild animals are not, should not, and will never be good pets! I don’t care if you know a guy who has pet squirrels or a pet raccoon, they are wild heckin animals that will not thrive in captivity! It is cruel to keep them behind bars when they are built to live in the wild. If you want a cute, niche, exotic pet, do some extensive research and buy yourself a snake or a sugar glider! 

YOU

ARE

NOT

PROPERLY

EQUIPPED!!!!!!

Taking care of wild animals requires an extensive amount of tools, equipment, and hard-to-procure instruments. I have like three drawers filled with special tools that I can’t do my job without, including special feeding syringes, surgical tools, attachments for syringes, special heating pads, and a lot more that the average person doesn’t have access to. 

LEARN 

THE 

DIFFERENCE!!!!

Not all baby animals need rescuing! If you find a baby bird that is fully feathered, walking around, and basically look like a tiny adult, leave them alone!!! Chances are their parent is close by and they’re learning to live on their own. Same goes for baby mammals. A good rule of thumb is that if you have to put any kind of effort into catching them or keeping them contained, they’re probably just fine and you should leave them alone. Not to mention the risk of the parent of a baby mammal possibly rejecting the baby if it comes into contact with humans.

A TIDBIT: IT IS ILLEGAL TO KEEP AND RAISE WILD ANIMALS IF YOU DONT HAVE A PERMIT AND LICENSE FOR IT. 

This law is in place because the average human is physically incapable of properly rehabilitating a wild animal, and the wild animal in question will have its life endangered by well meaning people who try to “save” them. 

TL;DR - You are not properly equipped to care for orphaned or injured wildlife, and you need to take any wild animal you find to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator if you care at all for that creature’s welfare. 

Me, after learning that Athena holds herself to the ‘not like other girls’ standard and usuallys sides with whatever the nearest dick-toting diety says: what the fuck what a fake bitch

text of the declaration:

The Burnum Burnum Declaration England, 26th January, 1988

I, Burnum Burnum, being a nobleman of ancient Australia do hereby take posession of England on behalf of the Aboriginal people. In claiming this colonial outpost, we wish no harm to you natives, but assure you that we are here to bring you good manners, refinement and an opportunity to make a Koompartoo - ‘a fresh start’. Henceforth, an Aboriginal face shall appear on your coins and stamps to signify our sovreignty over this domain. For the more advanced, bring the complex language of the Pitjantjajara; we will teach you how to have a spiritual relationship with the Earth and show you how to get bush tucker.

We do not intend to souvenir, pickle and preserve the heads of your 2000 of your people, nor to publicly display the skeletal remains of your Royal Highness, as was done to our Queen Truganninni for 80 years. Neither do we intend to poison your water holes, lace your flour with strychnine or introduce you to highly toxic drugs. Based on our 50,000 year heritage, we acknowledge the need to preserve the Caucasian race as of interest to antiquity, although we may be inclined to conduct experiments by measuring the size of your skulls for levels of intelligence. We pledge not to sterilise your women, nor to separate your children from their families. We give an absolute undertaking that you shall not be placed onto the mentality of government handouts for the next five generations but you will enjoy the full benefits of Aboriginal equality. At the end of two hundred years, we will make a treaty to validate occupation by peaceful means and not by conquest.

Finally, we solemnly promise not to make a quarry of England and export your valuable minerals back to the old country Australia, and we vow never to destroy three-quarters of your trees, but to encourage Earth Repair Action to unite people, communities, religions and nations in a common, productive, peaceful purpose.

That’s pride alright lmfao

“When I was growing up, my parents spoke to each other in Spanish, but they didn’t speak to us in Spanish because they were told not to. In school we weren’t allowed to speak it.”

and also???

“… But America is the only country that promotes monolingualism. Here it’s English, English, English. Every other country makes their children learn a second language very early on. So as my political and social activism grew, I was like, ‘I really need to learn Spanish.’ So I did.“ 

idk how many people i’ve known growing up in texas whose parents speak fluent spanish but they don’t speak a lick solely because their parents were afraid or told not to teach their children. it’s unspeakably common and doesn’t in any way shape or form diminish someone’s claim to or pride in their heritage. 

I’m no better or worse than anyone else.

I deserve the same things in life as anyone else.

I’m a human being.

Right now, I am feeling ________(fill in the blank).

I don’t know how I’ll feel in 5 minutes, or tomorrow.

I can’t predict the future.

Life is full of painful, pleasurable, and boring moments.