Why I’m Writing Again

This blog was created for a English class in high school, and since that class was finished I haven’t touched it. My name is Bryant, I’ll be writing about my thoughts and experiences as this year goes on, as a kind of release from daily activities. You are welcome to read along, give feedback, and help me as I progress as a writer. This blog is only for fun, a place to put my thoughts down, a place for self learning, a place to enjoy yourself. The topics discussed here will range from nature and the environment, to my view and opinion on the human condition. In summary this is a place I’m going to be putting my thoughts down, a place for us to learn and grow together, a hobby with a productive twist.

It’s great to be back,

Bryant

Domestication

One of the biggest things that has progressed human society is domestication. Think about it: every peice of meat, every morsel of cheese, every drop of milk come from domesticated animals. Domestication is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as-

to adapt (an animal or plant) to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of humans.

Early domestication helped to progress society far beyond the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that was the only thing that had been know. Dogs, domesticated from wolves, were our first hunting partners, enabling us to have a more reliable supply of food and a source of protection against predators, and of other humans. Food animals were next to be domesticated, including sheep, pigs, goats, and cattle. These animals provided a even more reliable source of food, from meat and dairy. 

As the story of domestication goes on there is a shift to animals that enabled transportation to improve or for humans to be able to labor and farm more efficiently.  These animals included the horse, camel, oxen, llama, and alpaca. Because the llama and alpaca can not bear or pull heavy weight the american indians were put a severe disadvantage to the early peoples of Africa, Europe, and Asia whose horses and oxen enabled them to explore and conquer vastly.

There are many other domesticated species many of which can be found in this article where I learned quite a bit about the history of domestication.

What fascinates me the most about domestication is the relationship it has formed between humans and animals. With all domesticated animals their relationship with humans has enabled them to become much more numerous than their wild counterparts. Domestic cats far outnumber the wild cats of the world, reaching numbers of around 500 million. Dogs number upwards of 525 million with wolf populations around the world struggling to hold on to existence. Farm animals too vastly outnumber wild hogs, cattle, and poultry.

This evolutionary strategy, working with another species to survive is found all over the globe in many environments. One of the best known examples is that of the clownfish and anemone. The clownfish uses the anemone for protection, in exchange the fish help to clean and defend their homes. This enables both animals to have higher reproductive success and to survive to pass on their genes.

Humans use animals for food, clothing, transportation, comfort, medicine, etc. Domestic animals have in return been given life and have spread across the entire world. Both creating a world entirely different from the one before these epic partnerships.

The Giant Panda

The first time I saw a giant panda was on a family zoo trip in Memphis Tennessee, we looked at the monkeys and big cats but then in came time to see the main attraction. The zoo had a theater in the “mandarin gardens” for viewing a movie on pandas, meant to get us very hyped up about seeing the actual animals. The whole exhibit attempted to take us to a different place of the world, there was a duck pond full of koi and exotic waterfowl. The architecture was that of ancient china, full of extravagant archways, large golden statues, and curved roofs. As we rounded a corner we came upon the panda exhibit, and well it was disappointing.

While the animals were quite beautiful, at least in the zoo’s enclosure they were quite boring. There were two of them, one was sleeping and the other was chomping on bamboo. Both looked relatively small compared to what the video had portrayed.

The reason why I remember all of this so vividly is because I visited the Memphis zoo  this march, bring all of those memories back. The pandas were as I had remembered them, one sleeping the other furiously chomping on bamboo, but the way I viewed these animals had changed. I now thought of them in context of their evolutionary history and of their modern-day relatives.

Pandas are bears, and even though they eat bamboo all day they still look like bears. Bears, as many people know, are omnivorous, eating both plants and animals. The polar bears of the arctic almost exclusively eat meat, and most other bears in North America, Europe, and Asia eat meat quite regularly, depending on the season and what food is available.  The panda does not however eat meat, but exclusively feeds on bamboo.

A study was done on the microorganisms that help to digest the bamboo in a panda’s stomach. The results turned out to be that most of the bacteria that are found in giant pandas are those that are found in the digestive systems of predatory animals. This leads us to believe that pandas, while very well adapted to eating bamboo, would be able to not only digest meat, but do so very well. How then did pandas evolve their wrist perfectly suited for eating bamboo? While we can only guess at the answers, it probably has something to do with the fact that there was a limited food supply in the area that pandas lived, and because of that those who were able to eat lived, that thing that they ate was bamboo.

Nature Documentaries

As a child I would, on occasion, watch a fair amount television. Some of the time it would be cartoons, such as Arthur or Clifford the Big Red Dog. Certain times there would be other interesting shows on the television, but what I enjoyed watching the most were nature documentaries. I loved being able to see animals who lived in such a different place of the world find food, eat it, reproduce, care for their young, battle competitors, migrate, find water, escape the literal jaws of death, and many many more things. These documentaries made me want to travel the world, see these creatures face to face, and face danger for myself. Some of the most notable places that I desperately wanted to go to included the African plains, the vast jungles of the Amazon, and the sheer awesomeness of the Alaskan wilderness.

The desire to visit these places has not left me, I still want to go all over the world, even so many years after my initial contact with the wonders of nature documentary. While I do not have any interest in making these films, and while the initial awestruckness that I experienced when I first viewed the wild is gone, I still enjoy on occasion a good nature film.

However many people, including myself, have been deceived. All of the nature films that I watched gave the appearance that they were filmed in the wildernesses of the world with wild animals acting in a wild manner undisturbed by humans (with rare exceptions). This is not the case. An Article in the Huffington Post described some of the shortcuts filmmakers  take in order to meet time, and budget requirements. Often animals are filmed while they are in captivity, while being portrayed as though they are in the wild. There are other cases in which prey animals are wounded or disabled in order to ensure that the powerful predator that they are filming gets a kill. In other more extreme cases animals are even more poorly treated.

Beyond the treatment of the animals in these films is the treatment of the audience. The viewers are deceived, told that one thing is happening while another is. This will make me much more cautious as I watch nature films and I will be much less likely to be drawn in completely to any one show or episode. I will also look for things such as were described in the article, seeing if I can be smarter than many of the producers think that the average viewer will be. Not all nature documentaries are like this, many of them use good filming techniques and are very ethically treat the animals, some of them are listed in the article, but all regardless of how they are made expose us to nature.

 

 

The Mammoth

My very first exposure to the animals of the ice age came through a movie called Ice Age. In this movie a wooly mammoth named Sid helps a human child find its parents, with the help of a giant sloth, saber tooth tiger, and a prehistoric squirrel.

This movie was completely unrealistic, and followed no archeological evidence whatsoever. But what it did do was made us think, imagine what interactions with these ancient species would be like, and riveted our imaginations with the possibilities from a time now past. I have often thought of how awesome it would be to see such a fantastic and wild creature, and that just got one step closer.

The entire genome of wooly mammoths has been done and this has been put side by side with that of modern-day elephants. The result was the discovery of 14 or so genes that made it so the wooly mammoth was able to resist the cold that was oh so prevalent during the period of time in wich it lived. The genetic diffenences are now being tested on those of elephant cells, with the hopes of eventuaally creating an “arctic elephant” but what the creation of such a species would look like, and how it would impact the ecosystem of modern arctic and sub arctic areas is a question that has not been answered.

But just think about how aawesome it would be to go to Canada or Russia and see massive creatures with tusks and trunks roaming the tundra and northern forests. most people in the United States, Canada, Russia, and other northern countries have never seen an elephant in the wild, but have seen them in zoos. I feel as if the elephants that we see in zoos are very poor representations of how elephants really are. THe ones that we see behind the fences just sit around all day because of their small inclosures. Their enclosures arent all that small, but they are when you compare them to the vast savahnas deserts and swamps that wild elephants explore. So as we discuss the bioethics of releasing “arctic elephants” into the wild let us also consider the ethics of raising proud wild animals in situations that are so poorly suited for their natural abilities and habits. Would you want to be kept locked up in an uncomfortable little pit?

Why we are how we are

Have you ever thought about how our race came about? When you look at the animals that live on our earth today there are none that look like evolution could lead them to look like us. While some do have a couple of humanesque characteristics, such as family and love, they do not posses what we would call “humanity” they have no permanent dwelling places, do not farm, and by no means raise animals. They do however survive, some quite well, some even too well.

Gorillas have lived a very easy life for the majority of their existence. They have relatively few predators, and food is quite plentiful. This has resulted in what can be termed as a “genetic bottleneck“.  Gorillas have no need to evolve, and so genetically different animals have no advantage over those who are genetically similar to their ancestors.  In the case of Mountain gorillas, who live in very small isolated populations in The Democratic Population of the Congo. These populations interbreed so much that they have become increasingly susceptible to disease. These gorillas have faced quite a good deal of pressure from humans from hunting and habitat loss, but nevertheless they continue to struggle on. Did we as a young species face such genetic problems?

We most likely did, many times perhaps. But most notable are the times when we overcame the hardships that were thrown at us.

The Bubonic plague originated near Mongolia and has broken out multiple times over its recorded history. The most notable outbreak occurred in Europe in the mid fourteenth century.

“Black Death” as it was termed killed one-third of the entire population of Europe, and infected all those who came in contact with any humans, or fleas during that time period (meaning everyone). Those who survived had some advantage over those who did not: their genome. Somehow the genes of one man were stronger than another, meaning that they could overcome the disease. After the plague those who survived passed on their genes, and almost the entirety of Caucasian descendants have some of their genome.

The moral of the story is that we are very susceptible to our environment. Nowadays with air conditioning, heating, and the amenities of modern housing we do not notice the hardships that nature throws at us. However there are still many things that we need to be aware of. Drought affects us all, from an increase in the price of our food-to less trees and more carbon in our atmosphere. We are how we are for reasons, and we will continue to be put to the test.

The Amargosa Vole

Some of you might have seen a little creature at one point in your lives that we call a vole. A vole looks very similarly to a mouse only it has a more rounded head, smaller eyes and ears, and a stouter body. Voles live lives that are very short, and full of danger from predators, the environment and the occasional human that they run into.

One particular kind of vole that lives in the desert marshes of California is having some trouble overcoming the obstacles that it is running into. The Amargosa vole lives in desert marshes(which I googled and had very little luck, my best guess is it is a marsh that is somehow on the edge of a desert). These voles are not doing too hot because of a loss of habitat, somehow desert marshes in southern Cali are prime real estate.  The vole has experienced so much pressure that it was almost driven to extinction. A breeding program that started with 20 voles now has 90, and releases into the wild will soon take place.

As I read about these voles I could not help but think on the fragility of a species. All around the world there are animals that are specialized for a particular environment, from frozen arctic tundra to arid desert dunes. If just one or two things about the environment that the animal lives in are changed it now is subject to extreme pressure to adapt. More often than not these adaptations do not happen in time. The animal must change or it will not survive. The problem is that so few animals are able to adapt their behavior to the challenges presented by the modern world.

There are many animals that are able to do so however, such as our friend the raccoon, deer, possum, coyote, and even baboons. These animals are doing how well they are doing because of their ability to use human activity to their favor. Look at the raccoons for instance, instead of hunting for food all day all they have to do is just tip over one garbage can. Deer love the juicy flowers that we grow for them. The rest do similar things even as far as stealing groceries(in the case of baboons)

 

The Strength of Species

Our world is full of greatly diverse species, birds that only swim, to birds that fly almost all of their lives. Salamanders who survive for months under ice, live in the hottest places on earth, and some who never the light of day. Mammals are also a very diverse species, from those who fly, to those who live only in the water. This miraculous diversity came out of something: a need to survive. This need to survive forced some of the most well adapted species to change in order to better meet the demands of their environment.

Species that can be termed as “super species” are those who can survive in just about any environment and can survive almost anything thrown at them. These include the cockroach, wild hog, raccoon, baboon ect. All of these species have a certain amount of physical ability but the majority of their success comes from their ability to adapt and improve with their surroundings. All of the above are omnivores, giving them the ability to eat anything that they can get their hands on. They all can be found in very diverse locations. The raccoon for example from tropical mexico and the Caribbean to cold frozen Canada. These animals can also reproduce very fast, and are highly protective of their young. There is one other species that can boast an ability to survive nearly as amazing as these, and that is us, the Humans.

We come from every continent except for Antarctica. We are able to overcome mountains, fires, floods, war, famine, cold, heat, drought, and monsoon. Although we do not reproduce at an extremely high rate we do raise our young in a way that the vast majority survive and are able to pass on their genes. Our ability to conquer any environment has led to a great deal of variation within our species.

There are four major race groups on earth, and many ethnic groups. These groups are found in the far north of the arctic, in the hottest deserts, on the loneliest islands. Some are even found in the deepest and thickest rain forests known to man. These groups of people practice life the way that humans have done for thousands of years, and they have adapted perfectly to their environment. Evolution has made species that are absolutely tiny, and absolutely large. It has put organisms at the top of mountains, and at the bottom of seas. And we have somehow come out on top.

Cattle

I recently read a book by Peter Singer titled The Way We Eat:why our food choices matter. In this book Singer talks about the origins of the food that we eat. The section that particularly hit me was on modern animal agriculture, and the factory farms that raise the majority of the meat that we eat. These farms, termed “factories” by Singer, are terribly cruel to both the workers and animals. The livestock is raised in an unnatural fashion, being fed things that they don’t naturally eat and pumped full of hormones and chemicals in order to survive in the harmful environments they are forced to live in.

As I browsed the web for something to write about I came upon an article about a farmer who is raising cattle the way that they are naturally supposed to. The cattle are fed hay in the winter and graze during the months when there is grass. These cattle are given no hormones to promote grow, and follow a more natural life style. The calves are given more time with their mothers, and cows wait an extra year before they breed. This system is much more humane than that used for cattle who live their entire short lives pumped with antibiotics, living ankle high in manure.

Raising cattle in this way leaves much less of a carbon footprint than using conventional methods . The cattle eat grass rather than corn, which means the hundreds of gallons of fuel used to grow, fertilize, and transport the corn is not used. The only thing the cattle eat that requires transport is hay, and that is only for the winter. The hay also uses very little or no fertilizers to grow, and does not need to be transported nearly as far to get it to the cattle.

This is how cows are meant to be raised, eating grass, having families, and living out their lives in peace. Although it would be completely impractical for everyone to eat meat that is raised wild (game meat such as venison, bison, elk, moose, various antelope ect.) animals that have lived their entire lives  in the wild and experience a quick death are the best ethical option for meat. These animals had a real life, which is much more than the hogs and beef that are “raised” in what look much more like factories than the rolling green hills that are printed on meat packages.

 

The “Terror Bird”

A Terror Bird, or Phorusrhacidae, are an extinct clade of large carnivorous flightless birds that were the largest species of apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic, 62–2.5 million years (Ma) ago.  They had large beaks and could run at very high speeds and were carnivorous. If you have seen the Pixar movie UP you have seen a fictional relative of the Phorusrhacidae.

While none of the terror birds were nearly as friendly or as colorful as “Kevin” they were similar in a couple of ways. 1. The gigantic beak-although real terror birds had a much more curved and ominous beak. 2. The tiny little wings- even though Phorusrhacidae’s wings were not a bright shade of blue. and 3. The long ultra strong running legs- which are very very very similar.

Recently the most complete fossil remains of a Phorusrhacidae to be discovered were unearthed, and it is a new species.

In this artist’s interpretation of the terror bird we see why the birds are called as such. With a beak that can rip apart flesh and legs that can propel it across the grasslands and forests at dizzying speeds Llallawavis scagliai is truly a bird from a nightmare.

As I researched more about this apex predator some things came very much into the light most prominent of which is that this is not a bird I would ever want to mess with. Humans were not in existence at this time, and if they were they would have most certainly not been on the top of the food chain.

Humans have since become the top of the food  chain, but have not done so easily. We as a species have advanced because of our ability to out think the obstacles that get in our path. Early hunters needed meat- and in order to obtain that meat they hunted. Trapping came to supplement, and eventually we gained a hunting partner-the dog. Beyond the dog’s hunting help it was a source of protection against predators, and other people. No other animal had used another the way that we did with the dog, using it for food, protection, etc. Similarly farming advanced us greatly as a species in a way no other animal had done. All of these thing made it so that we could spend less time worrying about where our next meal would come from and more time on how we could make our lives better. Intelligence set us apart from our cousins in the animal kingdom, and how we used it put us above them.