Squirrely

What I’d really like to do is download a bunch of videos about squirrels, remix them, then upload them onto the Internet just to show people how unfounded their fears are. However, digital rights management says that the practice is a “no-no,” because it infringes on copyright and other people’s “intellectual property.” Since when does ignorance get to be called “intellectual,” as in the case of the previously mentioned gardening article in the Chronicle?

Like the great poet Pablo Neruda wrote, “I have a mind to confuse things, unite them, bring them to birth, mix them up, undress them.” That’s what the free culture movement is all about—using creativity and technology to show what is possible. For me, what’s possible is that people might someday dismiss the notion that man, earth’s supreme destroyer, has “dominion” over everything on this tiny planet. Maybe early scribes mistranslated meanings publicized in THE BOOK? According to Dr. Michael W. Fox, the original meaning of the word “dominion” comes from the Hebrew word yorade, which means to “have communion with and compassion for,” not supremacy. We have to set it right.

I’d start with this video, that in actuality shows a squirrel with a concussion, then cut to a shot of running with the squirrels, and end with squirrels dancing to a Michael Jackson song (free culture in action!). Yeah.

I posted a comment on YouTube regarding the mislabeled “drunk squirrel” video, informing people that the poor squirrel was actually suffering from a concussion. I got this rabid response from some a_hole whose username is "icanrideabigbike," “hey a concussion is even funnier! when the show gets old get out the pellet gun and put the little guy out of his erratic misery.”

I think you get the message. People, not squirrels, are nuts!

What if each one of us was to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves? What if we were to stand in front of the trees, as did William Faulkner’s character Boon in The Bear, and shout, “They’re my squirrels!”

This week’s New York Times and other news outlets featured an article “One in 4 Mammals Threatened With Extinction” that every single human on the planet should read, if they can.

As the food chain declines, so will humans, and as THE BOOK promises, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Think about it.

Squirrel photo downloaded from Google images.

Urban Wildlife, Part 2

Urban wildlife: they are wild and they are in your city. But does that mean that you or your loved ones are in danger of contracting the dreaded disease called rabies? Statistically, no. How is it then that articles like “Raccoon inundation a community problem,” that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on July 30, 2008, are allowed to be published in mainstream media without some fact checking or at least an alternative view?

According to the Center for Citizen Media, the principles of and core values of responsible journalism are: accuracy, thoroughness, fairness, transparency, and independence. The author of the above-mentioned article failed at accuracy and fairness, possibly because she only relied on a “vector control” officer for her source of information. Media democracy dictates that I put the record straight. As a former veterinary technician, long-time wildlife rehabilitator, humane educator, and media karma-inducer, let me tell you about vector control officers. Their job is to keep humans safe by controlling critters that that can or might spread germs (Wikipedia). Of course, people are vectors too! Duh.

Historically, the most common and serious known vector is mosquitoes. Think West Nile Virus and malaria. Vector control officers often consider wildlife “pests,” and many county job postings call for vector control officers to have had “pest control” experience. They are exterminators. They do not relocate wildlife. They shoot first, ask questions later.

In order to work with wildlife in the State of California, the Department of Fish and Game requires rehabilitators to take at least one professionally recognized course per year. One such class is on zooneses, diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans (who are also animals). Rabies is considered a zoonotic disease, and raccoons and skunks can be vectors for it. Rabies is spread through the saliva of an infected animal; saliva that enters the bloodstream from bites. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “The number of rabies-related human deaths in the United States has declined from more than 100 annually at the turn of the century to one or two per year in the 1990s.” With a total U.S. population of 305 million people, one or two a year is statistically nil. You have a greater chance of being hit by lightning.

In a map depicting the locations of animal rabies in the State of California in 2007, most cases were bats, and only one raccoon. There were no cases of squirrel rabies. The California Department of Health’s Report on Animal Rabies by County and Species for years 1997-2006 shows not a single case of rabies in squirrels, only three in raccoons, and six cases in humans (mostly from bats and skunks).

Dr. John Pitts, a veterinarian who teaches courses nationwide for teachers, said that biologists, health officials, and veterinarians do not consider squirrels a vector for rabies. Why? Because they are prey animals, low on the food chain. They are eaten by other animals like foxes, coyotes, wild cats, hawks, owls, and snakes. Squirrels are "dead-end hosts," meaning that the rabid animal kills the squirrel before the virus has a chance to infect it. Simply put, small rodents get eaten immediately, as in dead.

My next post will discuss other sad, absurd, or fun-filled and freaky stories about people’s interactions with animals. Stay tuned.

Hawk eating squirrel. Image from google images.