Puddles Weblog edited by Thomas Hollyday

Our Mission: As world water resources decline and habitat is destroyed plans are being made by governments to save enough drinking water for humans. What about animals and wildlife?

In 1985 our editor Thomas Hollyday created Puddles to comment on our culture, our literature and our organizations and make sure animals and wildlife are remembered in this coming water crisis. Join him and others on the Puddles weblog with your comments and questions to make sure animals and wildlife are always protected with an adequate supply of clean drinking water.

Puddles weblog is named for Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, the home of the greatest animal champion in literature, Doctor John Dolittle, MD. Join us now!


Friday, November 30th

matchmaker matchmaker


The latest issue of ASPCA Winter 2007 has announced the new ASPCA "Meet Your Match" and has taken the cat adoption world by storm. Doctor Emily Weiss, Senior Director of Shelter Behavior Programs, and researcher of the Meet Your Match program, states that the Felin-ality part of the program aimed at cats benefits adopters, shelter staff and most of all the cats. By assessing the cat's behavior and interest in play, exploration, "talking" and being the center of attention, shelter experts can predict how the cat will behave once adopted. Cats are categorized in one of 9 "feline-alities" that fall into a tri-color coded system. Potential adopters are asked to fill out surveys to identify which feline-alities they are most compatible with. Initial beta testing showed up to a 46 percent increase in adoptions and returns and euthanasia decreased by up to 40 percent. This program follows the introduction of the successful Canine-ality and Puppy-ality programs based on the same premise. The Meet your Match programs are avaialble to shelters nationwide.-ed smile smile smile
dhh on 11.30.07 @ 07:55 AM EST [link]


Saturday, November 24th

light in health


An interesting article in The Johns Hopkins Magazine November 2007 applealed to the Editor's Mensan interest in strange ideas. Johns Hopkins biologist Samer Hattar has studied the effect of travel fatigue and the lack of light coming to animals in dark hours and suggests that the animal world including humans needs light for a certain number of hours to be healthy. this he concludes is due to a clock resident in the brain. he is persuative and claims himslef that the more hours he gets in sunlight, the better he feels. My question is whether this applies in any way to the new discoveries that we are all deficient in Vitamin D and that we should get at least a half hour a day of unprotected sunlight in order to get enough of this vitamin for health. What does all this mean for our health? Do we revert to the unclothed days of our African heritage in order to survive? We welcome your comments.-Ed
dhh on 11.24.07 @ 12:51 PM EST [link]


light in health


An interesting article in The Johns Hopkins Magazine November 2007 applealed to the Editor's Mensan interest in strange ideas. Johns Hopkins biologist Samer Hattar has studied the effect of travel fatigue and the lack of light coming to animals in dark hours and suggests that the animal world including humans needs light for a certain number of hours to be healthy. this he concludes is due to a clock resident in the brain. he is persuative and claims himslef that the more hours he gets in sunlight, the better he feels. My question is whether this applies in any way to the new discoveries that we are all deficient in Vitamin D and that we should get at least a half hour a day of unprotected sunlight in order to get enough of this vitamin for health. What does all this mean for our health? Do we revert to the unclothed days of our African heritage in order to survive? We welcome your comments.-Ed
dhh on 11.24.07 @ 12:50 PM EST [link]


Thursday, November 15th

the five freedoms


The United Kingdom Farm Animal Welfare Council published the five freedoms as standards of animal treatment for farmers and this has been adapted as the Animal Welfare Approved standards of the
Animal Welfare Institute www.awionline.org. These are freedom from fear and distress, freedom from pain, injury and disease (inlcuding parasitical infections) freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition, freedom to express normal behavior and freedom from physical and thermal discomfort. Look for a label on food stating Animal Welfare Approved for farm goods which follow these freedoms.
dhh on 11.15.07 @ 03:30 PM EST [link]


bird flu


We've found the best site to get updated information on the bird flu epidemic and how it will affect our love of birdwatching and helping wildlife. Check out the current information on the Cornell site and see the results of the various samplings around the country as we all watch for signs of this insidious disease. see http://www.bird.cornell.edu/birdflu
dhh on 11.15.07 @ 03:13 PM EST [link]


Tuesday, November 6th

rescuing birds


Baby birds with little or no feathers should be placed back in the nest as quickly as possible. If the nest has been destroyed, take the contents and put them in a plastic bowl (like the kind whipped cream comes in) that has holes drilled in the bottom. Place this "nest" in the tree directly above where you found the chick. And remember, just because you don't see the parents, doesn't mean they're not there.
Bird chicks have a very specific diet and require around-the-clock feeding. The best thing to do for a baby bird is to get it back to where its parents can feed it, or take it to an experienced bird rehabilitation center (like the Twin Cities Wildlife Rehabilitation Center ((651) 486-9453)-ed. or your local center. Do not give the baby bird anything to eat or drink, but get it to help quickly.
Not every bird needs your help. Birds go through a fledgling period where they're still "learning to drive." If the bird is fully feathered, doesn't appear to be injured, and is in no immediate danger from predators, you should probably leave it alone to figure out how to fly.

This is from BirdChick Blog which we highly recommend for comments and photos. -editor

dhh on 11.06.07 @ 10:47 AM EST [link]


Thursday, November 1st

animals in literature


In my novels and short stories I have tried to portray animals as equal to humans. I don't see animals as caricatures of humans as they are often portrayed in literature, pigs with man like faces and so forth, but rather as what they are. To me animals and humans share a capability of emotional response, that of love and hate. They also share the need to survive and as such they destroy each other for food. To me that is not hate, but survival. The Native Americans knew this in their religious traditions. Killing for killing's sake,on the other hand, is hate or insanity and that phenomenon is shared by all animals, human and otherwise. Love to the point of irrationality, complete altruism, is shared likewise, for example in the sagas of Lassie type dogs. What living things in nature can be eliminated from this portrayal and which included? That is another controversy. I know of people who converse with trees and others with snakes. In Puddles Weblog, I try to note the animals in books I review so as to remark on how the writer has shown them to be what they are, not what cartoon purpose they are written to illustrate for purposes of the theme of the book.-editor
dhh on 11.01.07 @ 10:10 AM EST [link]


watering animals


I was rereading John Dennis's classic Guide to Birdfeeding and noted his advice on watering wild birds. In these days of diseases among wildlife and scarce water resources, his notes seem even more relevant. "If you have an old fashioned bird bath the first step in improving it is to remove the pedestal, then locate the bath near the ground in a shady or semi shady part of the yard.The side of the bath should slope gradually toward the middle and ...the deepest portion could be up to 3 inches...bird baths should be cleaned frequently and kept filled. John K. Terres(sic) recommends cleaning and refilling baths daily. This is good advice. Baths should be scrubbed or hosed out at frequent intervals if birds are to be safe from exposure to salmonella and other disease organisms. On busy days when birds are drinking and bathing a great deal, it may be necessary to refill the bath several times daily. Even in rainy weather it is a good idea to clean baths occasionally in order to rid them of leaves and other debris."-editor
dhh on 11.01.07 @ 09:30 AM EST [link]




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