On Sunday, Joe Biden’s granddaughter Naomi gave us an update on the presidential dogs Champ and Major: I love this piece by Matthew Dessem at Slate. He ranks all the presidential pets. I won’t tell you which pet comes in...
animals
What COVID-19 exposed about the United States
All of these points come from Ed Yong’s recent piece at The Atlantic: “How the Pandemic Defeated America.” We under-fund public health. Our health-care system is weak. Too much of what we do spend on healthcare is wasted. We have not...
Eager Beavers
Over at Pacific Standard, Kate Wheeling interviews Ben Goldfarb, the author of Eager: The Surprising Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Here is Wheeling’s introduction to the interview: Since I first picked up Ben Goldfarb’s Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of...
The Author’s Corner with Catherine McNeur
Catherine McNeur is Assistant Professor of Environmental History and Public History at Portland State University. This interview is based on her new book, Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City (Harvard University Press, November 2014). JF: What led you to write...
Bear Fight in Rockaway, New Jersey
This is only a few miles from where I grew up. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBhR5ToR7a8]
Goats on Cliffs
A little animal fun today. Click here for more.
A Seal at the Jersey Shore?
What is a seal doing on the beach at Seaside Heights? (Notice that the boardwalk roller coaster is still in the ocean–a reminder of the devastation that hurricane Sandy brought to the shore)....
The Animals of the Civil War
If you are an animal lover, you may want to check out the recent New York Times slide show, “Animals of the Civil War.”
Who Will Take Care of Your Pets After the Rapture?
Over at Religion in American History, Kelly Baker has a great post on the various responses to Harold Camping’s prediction that the rapture will take place on Saturday (May 21, 2011). Here is a taste: As someone with an ongoing […]
It is Not the Policy of the Anglican Church to Give Communion to Animals
So wrote the Anglican bishop of Toronto when a priest at St. Peter’s Anglican Church gave holy communion to a dog. From the Toronto Star: St. Peter’s Anglican Church has long been known as an open and inclusive place. So...
When Zoo Animals Attack
“Hidden Histories,” a blog of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, has published a very entertaining post about 19th century and early 20th century zoo and circus animals that escaped from their handlers and wreaked havoc on cities and towns. Here...
Rod Dreher on Louisiana Pelicans
Here is what a commentator on Rod Dreher’s Beliefnet blog had to say about a post he did yesterday on oil-soaked birds in the Gulf Coast. If you eat chicken and duck, you are NOT ENTITLED to bitch and screech […]