Talking Animals

Babs Fry—a San Diego-based pet recovery specialist (she’s often dubbed a “pet detective,” but prefers the other term, and explains why), who for several years, has helped pet owners find their missing animals, never charging a dime for her services–discusses how she got launched on this esoteric career path. Fry describes her background in animal rescue, figuring she has fostered more than 200 dogs, specializing in very fearful ones. Fry chronicles how it was the experience of one of those fosters going missing, and assistance she received from a pet recovery specialist, who helped her locate that wayward pooch, setting in motion her lengthy string of finding missing dogs—her growing reputation in that realm enhanced by refusing payment for her efforts. She addresses why she works pro bono, and why she feels it can be important to the outcome of a case to do so.  Then, after we’d each alluded to some of her recommended procedures seeming counterintuitive, Fry walked us through those techniques, and the rationale behind them (her efforts predominantly involve hooked in part to solving my fictional case of my equally fictional missing dog, Ralph. For example, she strongly advises against a practice that, to many, otherwise seems perfectly sensible: walking or driving around, looking for the missing dog—problematic, Fry says, because you are spreading your scent, and confusing the dog. Similarly well-meaning but counter-productive, in Fry’s view, is calling out your dog’s name—problematic because people in this situation are typically upset, worried, and scared, and the dogs can identify fear in their owners’ voices, often prompting them to steer clear. There are more we cover in this interview,  plus Fry makes herself available for telephone consultations from other areas, states, even other countries: 619-249-2221.  (https://www.facebook.com/buyfrombabs)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Dr. Darryl Heard, an associate professor of zoological medicine at the University of Florida, and a veterinarian who helps look after the animals at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. Heard recalls that it was brought to his attention that a 12-foot alligator there, named Bob, looked to be hampered by mobility issues–specifically, it appeared that Bob was experiencing pain in his right rear leg. Heard outlines the procedure the UF team (Yes, Gators helping a gator) used to examine and diagnose Bob, noting that radiographs suggested a bone infection; he explains that the prognosis is good. He also observes that he was surprised that this account—and the accompanying photo, shown here, of Bob strapped onto a gurney—went viral, becoming a national, if not international story. (https://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/2020/09/11/gators-helping-a-gator-bob-a-660-pound-alligator-treated-at-uf-goes-viral/)

COMEDY CORNER:  Joe Zimmerman’s “Pet Snakes” (portion)  (http://www.zimmermancomedy.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  Bill Haley & His Comets’ “See You Later, Alligator”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TASept16Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Kathleen Edwards—the Canadian singer-songwriter who recently released the critically-acclaimed “Total Freedom,” her first album in eight years—discusses writing the new song, “Who Rescued Who,” and the dog it’s an elegy for: Redd.  This story includes recognizing her relationship with the Ontario-based golden retriever rescue, Golden Rescue, for which she had agreed to foster Redd. That became a glorious “foster fail,” he was a magical presence and mentor to another of her dogs, Penny, and while Redd is no longer with us, he’s immortalized in various ways, including the trailer adjacent to Edwards’ coffee house, Quitters, dispensing Redd’s Ice Cream. She recounts how the song was really a product of being urged by her producer to write a short, “feel good” song to complete “Total Freedom—and “Who Rescued Who” poured out of her quickly. We also touch on the inspiration for another new animal song of sorts, “Birds On A Feeder,” really more of a celebration of solitude, which prompted Edwards to share her joy in observing birds gather in her yard, and in some cases, flying by on a migration route—and displaying the expertise of an aspiring birder. More broadly, she shares the story of the confluence of factors that led her to set aside her music career and open Quitters, largely the by-product of being a longtime aficionado–seeking out a good cup of coffee each morning of all those tours–and having training as a barista from a stint working at Starbucks. She says she loves interacting with Quitters customers, and making their coffee drinks—even the intricate, kooky ones (provided there’s no pumpkin spice involved).  Edwards explains that it was an inquiry from Maren Morris about collaborating on some songwriting, which she agreed to do and really enjoyed, that revitalized her interest in writing and making her own music. The result, ultimately, was “Total Freedom,” which she notes she’s looking forward to touring behind, when the time comes when conventional touring can be resumed.  (https://www.kathleenedwards.com, https://www.instagram.com/kittythefool/, https://www.facebook.com/kathleenedwardsmusic)

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Clearwater photographer Carol Moorhead, who will be photographing local dogs for a forthcoming book, “Tails Of The Suncoast,” that will also serve as a fundraiser for Pet Pal Animal Shelter. Moorhead explained that each dog in the book will be featured in a double-page spread and story, and that she anticipates “Tails Of The Suncoast “ will present 40-50 pooches, noting about half of those slots are already spoken for. Owners who would like to add their dog to the book need to register and that when they pay the registration fee, half of it is earmarked to benefit Pet Pal. (https://www.dog-tog.com/book-registration, https://petpalanimalshelter.com)

 

COMEDY CORNER:  Brian Simpson’s “Missing Pets”  (https://www.instagram.com/bscomedian/?hl=en)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Kathleen Edwards’ “Who Rescued Who,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  Baha Men’s “Who Let The Dogs Out”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TASept9Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Heidi Jo Markel—longtime film producer and founder of Stop Poaching Now! (SPN), an organization dedicated to combating poaching through conservation strategies and educational efforts—recounts her foray into producing movies, starting by trying her hand at acting before realizing she preferred being behind the camera, and working behind the scenes. In 1999, she says, she produced her first film, “Ivans Xtc,” kicking off a string of 20 movies she has overseen, citing a few that were closest to her heart, among them “Septembers of Shiraz.” Markel recalls how she became aware of poaching, partly the product of regularly consulting the section of the CITES (the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) website that tracks the running population of certain species. She explains why she felt compelled to take action, to create an organization that would marshal its forces, and resources, to stand up to the nefarious operators who kill elephants for their tusks, rhinos for their horns, pangolins for their scales (and their meat), and so on. Markel outlines the Stop Poaching Now! strategy to carry out its mission, and how they have had to adapt to the impact of Covid-19, which has essentially eliminated tourism in Africa, sending the incidence of poaching skyrocketing. So, for example, in mid-August, SPN presented E-Race Extinction, a global event designed to raise awareness about the current poaching circumstance, and raise funds for eight beneficiaries, a number of which will direct monies to hire more rangers, to heighten protection against the poachers. (https://www.stoppoaching-now.org, https://www.facebook.com/stoppoachingnowofficial, https://www.instagram.com/stoppoachingnowofficial/)

 

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Patrick Verdugo, co-founder of Two Shepherds Taproom, Tampa’s  new bar/dog park combination that’s distinctive by way of not only featuring a large, fenced-in space outside, but also offering an air-conditioned, indoor area for the dogs and their owners. Verdugo explained how the enterprise got its name (Verdugo has an Australian shepherd named Cooper, while co-founder Ross O’Bryan has a German shepherd, Hobbes, pictured), and how it works to visit the Taproom, including uploading—or simply bringing—your dog’s vaccination records, before being allowed to enter the park; as part of their sophisticated system, Two Shepherds will notify an owner when their pooch is due for new shots. (https://twoshepherdstaproom.com, https://www.instagram.com/twoshepherdstaproom/, https://www.facebook.com/twoshepherdstaproom

COMEDY CORNER:  Nick DiPaolo’s “Animal Activists” (https://www.nickdip.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  The Eels’  “I Like Birds”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TASept2Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Peggy Hoyt—a veteran Florida attorney whose practice involves estate planning and a host of related areas, including pet planning that ensures pets will be cared for if their owner dies or becomes incapacitated (this interview was tied to August being National Make-A-Will month; today also happens to be National Dog Day)—explains what estate planning is, and why it’s important. Hoyt runs through the downsides and risks of not having an estate plan in place, while also pointing out some differences between fashioning a plan strictly for humans and one that also covers pets. Hoyt offers some ballpark figures for what estate planning for pets might cost, noting the size and complexity of plans can vary greatly, and that there are forms available online and other Do-It-Yourself methods, but cautions that devising an estate plan for “free” in this manner can end up costing someone a great deal of money, if things don’t work out as intended. She notes that the estate planning landscape has shifted considerably in the Covid-19 era, adding her law office is busier than ever, with people eager to create or update estate plans. In a departure from our standard format, partway through this one-on-one interview with Hoyt, I welcomed to the conversation Claudia Labbe, fundraising/public relations chair of YOUR Humane Society SPCA (also known as the Humane Society/SPCA of Sumter County, who provided some important observations and insights, from the standpoint of this no-kill shelter, about the importance of providing for pets in a pet trust. Without that sort of directive, Labbe explains by way of example, a man may drop off at the shelter the diabetic cat that had belonged to his mother, but he’s unwilling or unable to care for the cat—raising the question for Labbe and her colleagues: Is there room at the shelter exception for another cat, and one that has medical needs? And that’s just one animal, one day–but one lacking a pet trust or other directive. Hoyt later addresses Animal Care Trust USA, a nonprofit she founded which can help people with the creation of pet trusts and other documents, on a less costly basis than an estate planning law firm. She also gives some details about “All My Children Wear Fur Coats,” a weekly podcast she hosts, covering various pet topics, animal rescue, and more. (https://hoytbryan.com, https://www.animalcaretrustusa.org https://allmychildrenwearfurcoats.buzzsprout.com, https://yhsspca.org, https://www.facebook.com/YOURHSSPCA/)

COMEDY CORNER:  Jim Gaffigan’s “Whales” (portion)  (https://www.jimgaffigan.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” Kathleen Edwards’ “Who Rescued Who,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/TAAug26Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Patrick Craig—founder of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, launched in 1980, located in Keenesburg, Colorado, and devoted to housing lions, tigers, bears, wolves and other carnivores—recounts what spurred him, at age 19, to start the Sanctuary, and the initial steps he took. Craig figures the unusual, precocious compassion and empathy propelling his desire to help what he learned were the large number of surplus (and soon to be euthanized) zoo animals were shaped, in part, by growing up on the family farm and feeling a profound connection to animals of all kinds. As part of the earliest days of the Sanctuary, Craig recalls picking up a mountain lion at a zoo that was otherwise planning to euthanize her, traveling in an old pick-up truck carrying a primitive cage—and how, after loading in the terrified animal, he decided he could best comfort her by riding inside the cage with the mountain lion while his then-girlfriend drove them all back to the Sanctuary. Craig outlines his philosophy for providing habitat space for the residents of The Wild Animal Sanctuary, which involves tremendous room to move around  (typically, 5-25 acres per habitat) and other elements that, as closely as possible, approximate conditions in the wild. As something of a parallel narrative, he explains how his philosophy on fundraising for the Sanctuary evolved, along with related efforts in marketing and publicity. Tied to the related development of judiciously opening the Sanctuary to visitors (it was not open to the public for the first 20 years), he describes how he came up with the idea for the “Mile Into The Wild,” an innovative mile and a half long walkway that’s elevated well above the animal habitats, allowing visitors to see the animals without disturbing them or causing them any stress. (https://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org, https://www.facebook.com/TheWildAnimalSanctuary, https://www.instagram.com/wildanimalsanctuary/)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Karen Ankerstar, whose advocacy in recent years has tended to focus on giving legal teeth to the “Adopt Don’t Shop” slogan, as she’s worked to help pass ordinances in various parts of Florida  (the counties of Sarasota, DeSoto, Hillsborough, plus Saint Petersburg),  prohibiting pet stores from selling dogs that came from puppy mills and nefarious breeders. She explains the health issues often associated with dogs that originated from puppy mills, and that she’s hoping that Manatee county will be the next area to pass one of these ordinances.

 

 

 

 

COMEDY CORNER:  Nate Bargatze’s “Consider A Tiger” (https://www.natebargatze.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/TAAugust19Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Rebekah Keat & Siri Lindley—co-founders of Horses in Our Hands, which is dedicated to ending horse slaughter—discuss their respective entries into competing at the world-class level in the Triathlon. Lindley recalls that she started at 23 (late, she says, to take up the triathlon) and didn’t swim then, but worked intensely for the next eight years, until she reached her goal of becoming “number one in the world”—and became a coach of similarly-accomplished athletes. Keat grew up as a highly competitive athlete—competing most closely, it seems, with her more athletically-gifted twin sister—but found her sister-free niche in triathlon, and also found great success there: two-time Junior Triathlon Champion and three-time National Triathlon Champion. We discuss how the sort of fierce ambition and discipline required to excel in this grueling sport will put them in good stead having undertaken a major quest, like seeking to end horse slaughter. The pair, who are married, recall how and when animals became important to them, and both describe strong  connections to animals as kids, though those connections manifested differently. Lindley recounts the pivotal story of rescuing a horse about four years ago, and how she got to wondering: “What, exactly, are we rescuing this horse from?” As part of her research to answer that question, Lindley remembers, she stumbled into an absolutely horrifying video of horse slaughter. Within moments, she’d shown the video to Keat, putting into motion the beginnings of what became Horses In Our Hand, a nonprofit involving a broad coalition of experts and high-profile figures committed to halting horse slaughter, aiming to achieve that result by way of focusing on lobbying Congress to ban the export of horses. They also outline the roles of the related In Our Hands Action Fund, and Believe Ranch & Rescue, in Longmont, Colorado. (https://www.horsesinourhands.org, https://www.facebook.com/horsesinourhands/, https://www.instagram.com/horsesinourhands/)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Sue Wiese, founder of Operation Roger, a network chiefly consisting of truckers who use their rigs to help transport animals–who had been in shelters—to new homes across the country, as their trucking routes allow. Wiese mentions that Operation Roger is always seeking new truckers (figuring some would travel routes currently not covered), layover homes (a foster situation wherein animals await their next truck driver to take them to their forever home), and shuttle drivers, who, with regular vehicles, transport the animals to/from major stops where the truckers have done drop-offs or pick-ups. She notes that those interested in volunteering can text her at 682-622-1172, email her at operationroger01atyahoo.com or via the website: https://www.operationroger.com

COMEDY CORNER:  Brian Regan’s “Animals”  (https://brianregan.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/TAAug5Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Marc Bekoff —professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder—discusses, in a conversation that traveled from his very latest work backwards, his current research, which involves the way various animals play, and the rules that govern that play. He explains the importance of observing rules, whether it’s a Retriever at the dog park or a coyote in the wild, and how an animal that violates those rules, that doesn’t play fair, quickly earns a reputation as an unfair player. Which, in turn, can lead to that animal being ostracized from that group and this, Bekoff says, can lead to those exiled animals experiencing higher mortality than their counterparts. Bekoff notes along the way what this research teaches us about human behavior and interaction, pointing out that kids engage in similar rituals and follow similar rules on the schoolyard and elsewhere. As one of the featured speakers scheduled to deliver present at the forthcoming Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit (FACES), a free online symposium organized by Animal Place, and including such other prominent figures as Peter Singer, Neal Barnard, and Anita Krajnc, Bekoff offers a sneak of his talk, entitled “Farmed Animal Emotions.” Additionally, as an author or co-author who’s published 31 books, Bekoff outlines the subject matter of “Dogs Gone Wild,” the forthcoming book he co-wrote with occasional collaborator Jessica Pierce, with, he imagines, a publishing date of summer or fall of 2021. (https://marcbekoff.com)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Rob Whitehair, CEO and co-founder of Mammalz, a new app that enables you to use your smart phone to become a nature photographer or filmmaker, who can share your images with like-minded folks anywhere, and they with you. Whitehair responds to my question about how posting to Mammalz differs from someone posting their wildlife photos or videos on their social media pages. He likens Mammalz more to a very nature-specific YouTube with elements of Instagram and Facebook, but adds that in developing Mammalz, he and his colleagues looked to other platforms, like Twitch. A major by-product of that examination, Whitehair says, was arriving at a way to monetize some of the Mammalz users’ images, with so-called “Seeds.” (https://community.mammalz.com, https://www.instagram.com/mammalzpbc/, https://www.facebook.com/mammalzpbc/)

COMEDY CORNER:  Robert Schimmel’s  “Punching A Shark In The Nose”

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TAJuly29Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Brian Hare —a professor in Evolutionary Anthropology, Psychology, and Neuroscience at Duke University, where he founded the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and co-author (with Vanessa Woods) of “Survival of the Friendliest: Understanding Our Origins and Rediscovering Our Common Humanity”—explains why, as a self-described “dog guy,” creator of the Canine Cognition Center, and who’s previous book (also co-written with Woods) was “The Genius of Dogs,” the new book, in defying reasonable expectations, is not a dog book. From there, Hare recounts how he and Woods pursued and developed a fundamental premise of the new book: examining how an inclination toward friendliness helps allow species to live more successfully with their counterparts. And how the absence of that predisposition—the dark side of it—can lead to dehumanizing others. On a not unrelated note, Hare discusses how they completed the manuscript in October of 2016, but in observing what unfolded in the next few months, and the changes that were occurring in the country, proposed to their editor that they discard the second half of the book, conduct further research, and write a new second half. Later, as part of a discussion about bonobos—arguably, the stars of “Survival of the Friendliest,” and probably the best species (not just because they believe sex solves damn near every problem)—Hare outlines, as a measure of how powerful the inclination toward friendliness can be, examples of how, over generations, that friendliness can play a role in altering an animal’s, or human’s, appearance. We close out the interview with a slightly off-topic conversation about actress-writer-filmmaker Isabella Rossellini–best known in the animal world for “Green Porno,” her series of short films about animals—who provided a blurb for the new book, posted about it recently on her Instagram page, and has become friends with Hare and Woods, before he knew anything about her showbiz career. (http://brianhare.net, https://twitter.com/bharedogguy,  https://www.instagram.com/dukecaninecognition/)

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Scott Trebatoski, director of the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, as a follow-up to the conversation we had in April, when he described a significant surge in adoptions, owing to the pandemic—specifically, the lockdown seemed to be behind the dramatic increase in the number of people now willing to provide homes to cats and dogs. In that April conversation, we discussed the prospects of that trend reversing itself, as Covid-19 led to widespread job loss, prompting a serious financial struggle hampering the ability to afford to feed and care for those animals, many of whom would be returned to the shelter—a concern echoed by shelter professionals across the country. But Trebatoski says this has not happened at the Pet Resource Center, in part because they have resources available to provide pet food to those whose households are now facing tighter budgets. (https://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/en/locations/pet-resource-center, https://www.facebook.com/PRCPets/)

 

 

COMEDY CORNER:  Dana Gould’s “Snakes & Alligators”  (https://www.danagould.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TAJuly22Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

Wendy Clark —the publisher of Bird Watcher’s Digest, which is the name of the 42-year-old flagship magazine, but now really also refers to the multi-media enterprise that includes bird identification guides, publications, podcasts, and events—recounts the history of how the Digest began, founded by Bill and Elsa Thompson, in the living room of their home in Marietta, Ohio, back in 1978. In some detail, Clark describes the Thompsons, their backgrounds, their talents, their family—the Thompsons’ son, Bill III, was Clark’s boyfriend, and the publication’s publisher, until he died of pancreatic cancer in March of 2019. She explains that, having amassed a range of work experience before and after joining the Bird Watcher’s Digest operation, she then stepped into the publisher’s role. Clark recalls her own foray into birdwatching, which as she notes, she came to later in life—the first bird that thrilled her, the so-called “spark bird,” was a Scarlet Tanager, which has a blood-red body and black wings. Clark outlines what someone would need to get started as a birdwatcher, which amounts to an inexpensive pair of binoculars, and a field guide or a birding app—and, she emphasized, you can get going with less: Just being outside and mindful of the birds you see will work at the outset.  (https://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/, https://www.facebook.com/BirdWatchersDigest, https://www.instagram.com/birdwatchersdigest/)

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Martha Sullivan, an animal advocate who wrote a smart intriguing opinion piece for the Times of San Diego (https://tinyurl.com/y9btmnku) that dealt chiefly with horse racing, by noting it tends to be the domain of wealthy white men, contrasting that with men of color, who tend to engage in dog fighting, and examining that through the lense of Black Lives Matter. She notes that the apparent increase in horse deaths at tracks does not reflect a rise in the number of horses dying on these tracks, so much as a surge in the media coverage of those deaths. As if that’s not dark enough, Sullivan points out that with track workers, jockeys and others move from track to track as racing seasons end and begin, a number of those people have been exposed to—and diagnosed with–Covid-19.

 

 

COMEDY CORNER:  Martha Kelly’s “Horses Hate That We Ride Them” (https://marthakelly.net)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TAJuly15Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window

William Neal —writer-director of “Long Gone Wild,” a documentary that focuses on captive orcas, arriving as a cinematic successor to “Blackfish”—provides an overview of his pre-doc career, a mix of all sort of television work, writing books, and, early on, coaching hockey at the college and professional levels.He recounts how he began considering the idea for “Long Gone Wild,” and rather than feeling trepidation at following “Blackfish”—and enormously successful and influential film—he saw the opportunity to update the captive orca saga, including the point that the whales covered in the previous movie were still there, with their status largely unchanged. There was also entirely new information to present, including that the whale wildlife trade has undergone a significant shift, whereby Russia is capturing orcas and then selling them to China, which is amidst a period of building numerous marine parks. Neal addresses the complex perceptions and feelings about Tilikum, the humongous orca who had, over the years, killed three people, famously including Dawn Brancheau, the veteran trainer at SeaWorld Orlando. (Tilikum died in early 2017.)  He also elaborates on the section of his film dealing with China’s aggressive inroads into the marine park business, and the attendant effort to populate the expanding number of parks with freshly-captured orcas; one park alone holds nine orcas. He does correct the misinterpretation I’d developed from watching “Long Gone Wild: that the new marine stadiumsbeing built in China reflect the structures and technology of American parks in the 1960s—turns out, this was an anomaly, not widely characteristic. We also touched on the value of orcas in that emerging Chinese market ($6-7 million per whale), The Whale Sanctuary, and the platforms on which “Long Gone Wild” can be watched, including Amazon Prime. (https://www.longgonewild.com, https://www.facebook.com/longgonewild/, https://www.instagram.com/longgonewild/)

 

ALSO: I spoke briefly with Debbie Burns, vice-president of the Friends of Largo Nature Park, specifically about the Park’s Bird of Prey exhibit. This involves 22 raptors who were injured at some point, and rehabilitated, but are unable to be released back into the wild. She explains how the pandemic forced the exhibit to close down for three months, it reopened in recent weeks, but some of the educational tours and presentations—at schools, festivals, and so on—they would typically do, and which would ordinarily generate donations and other revenues that would help offset the cost of the birds’ food and care, have been foreclosed by COVID-19. She mentions that there is a way to donate in support of this effort on The Friends of The Largo Nature Park’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thefriendsoflargonatureparks/     (http://www.natureparkfriends.org/our-parks.html)

COMEDY CORNER:  Ron White’s  “Killer Whale”  (https://tatersalad.com)

MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals

NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE:  The B-52s’ “Rock Lobster”

AUDIO ARCHIVE:

Listen Online Now: https://talkinganimals.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/TAJuly8Final.mp3 | Open Player in New Window