Blue Planet Journey

  A mother and her baby (joey), collected and displayed. One of the sad things about scientific collections is that young mammals and birds are also collected. In the famous wildlife dioramas at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, there are numerous examples of young animals being collected. It's important to note that most if not all of these young animals were collected decades ago, when the sentiment regarding the collection of young was not negative. I wonder about the actions and conversations of these collectors of yore. Did they go out looking for young to trap or shoot? Did they wake up in the morning with a "to do" list that included the collection of young wildlife? Did they collect orphaned young as a humane alternative to predation or starvation? Whatever the case, the result is that there are young - some very young - mammals and birds in the dioramas. It's not my intent to chastise these collectors from the 1940s-1970s, but rather to note that colle...

Holding a model of the skull of an adult saltwater croc . I’ve spent over 2 weeks in Sydney, and I’ve seen exactly zero cats.  This includes Sydney Harbour around Circular Quay, a couple of miles of both Bondi and Manly beachfront, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Darling Harbour, central Sydney, and a side trip to the Blue Mountains.  I’ve chatted with police, security guards, and somebody with the word “ranger” stitched on his shirt.  I’ve also talked with people on the Solstice who live in Sydney.  What do they all say?  There are very few cats in the city, but many cats in the rural areas.  I’ve talked to no one who can say why there are few city cats.  I’m convinced there are cats being released or escaping in Sydney, so where are they?  I suspect they are being controlled or managed, but by whom and how I don’t know.  I’ve been looking for a vet clinic, but they are scarce in the high-rent business neighborhoods.  Everyone - eve...