Evidently not very often as my last post was about 7 years ago.  I think I forgot this place even existed until this morning when an ad for freelance writers popped up and refreshed my memory.  "Can you really make money at freelance writing?" was a question posed to which the answer was (of course) "Absolutely! Here's my $50 curriculum to get you started, we take paypal!"  Another question asked involved blogs and the author said they are a necessity, so I remembered I already had one.  It had been so long since I'd been here that I thought upon my arrival I would be greeted with some type of reprimand and finger wagging, 'shame on you for neglecting this wonderful space we've provided free of charge, we took it away and now you must start all over...maybe that will teach you not to take advantage.'

But here it is, just as I left it, not a cobweb in sight, way cool!

This place was initially meant to share information and feelings on our non-human co-inhabitants here on planet earth, whether it's a sphere or flat (something I've recently started researching) but since 2009 my once narrow view of life has expanded significantly and horizons have opened that I never knew existed.

Now, if I am granted enough time, energy and material worthy of sharing, I will be returning more frequently.

Working on something positive in hopes to educate others

PETA has recently relaunched their McCruelty campaign and I've sent out as many emails as possible to share the awareness. Though I firmly believe that PETA, as an organization, is justified in their cause, sometimes I disagree with their approach. My hope, as an animal lover, is to share knowledge and further growth in understanding animals and their role in our society...as well as our role in thiers. We should be good stewards to our planet, do our best to care for her and all those creatures reliant upon her bounty. Most of us understand this and do our best to live this way, but there are some who don't. For reasons of profit, misunderstanding, or severe lack of knowledge or compassion, they live their lives as though nothing else is connected to them and they have no responsibility to others. Some people react well to 'shock' type therapy as is seen in alot of PETA's campaign material, others will turn away in disgust and others will not feel any empathy or responsibility for the treatment of animals PETA is so firmly against. It's always a fine line to walk when sharing education, and I hope to do that with my blog. This is just my first attempt at utilizing my blog for something about which I am so passionate. I hope this is a good foot forward and the begining of somthing powerful.
Thanks for reading!
If you'd like to learn more about animal welfare and what you can do to help, please visit any or all of the following:

www.harpseals.org www.seashepherd.org www.ifaw.org www.hsus.org www.peta.com

And if you'd like to share some sites you believe in, please feel free!

Bears!

Hey, first blog post ever!!! Checkmeout.
Hi Dr. Renee!
If anyone else should ever read this Dr. Gray at LSAH is the worlds best, most classy, most beautiful veterinarian, with the biggest heart and I am so glad I found her.

But this post is about bears.
spoooookie

We live in Machias area, past Newberg road, on about 5 acres. Our neighborhood is pretty tight, we can hear the neighbor kids next door when they play, I can see their house and the house below me. What I'm trying to say is that, even though I live on 5 acres, I'm far from secluded.
Most of our land is trees and green bush, blackberries and such. Only about 1/2 is livable, the rest is my zooland. I love to attract birds and squirrels, chipmunks and most recently a peacock!
I have feeders for the birds and squirrels in designated areas of the back yard. (I'll see if there's a way to put up pictures)
A few months ago someone drug both my iron shepherd's hooks (what holds my feeders) down the hill and emptied all the feeders attached. I thought of raccoons...my husband new better.
Both hooks were bent up severely at the bottom and I had to replace all the feeders due to damages.
I soon got over it, and then we acquired a new visitor...a peacock. This thing loves dog food. A product which we recently also acquired in large quantities of 'sample bags'. Good food, high quality, and free. Trouble is, we don't have a garage and there is a ton of this stuff...almost literally...to contain outside. It's been boxed up and fine all summer, but a couple weeks ago we had another break in. This time someone had gone through the boxes and done some damage. These boxes are right up against the back wall of our house. Under our eaves, by the living room. I figured raccoons again. Again, husband new better...but not wanting to scare me he didn't say anything and we moved the dog food (all but a garbage can's worth) into the spare room. Last night our visitor was back, took my remaining bird feeders and effectively squashed them (three in all) tore the shepherd's hooks my son had bent back into shape back down the hill and tore into the garbage can (but didn't eat the dog food, oddly enough) leaving big-old scratches and teeth marks in the lid of our can!
So I'm trying to figure out what's best now...do I call authorities or what? I decided to look online first and what I learned, though simple enough, shocked me.
If anyone reading this doesn't already know, and feeds birds regularly at their home, please take the feeders down until our bears go into hibernation for the season...about mid-November.
Although I don't feed as much in spring, I do still feed (because I love to watch the birds) but I guess that's just wrong.
If you feed birds in your yard, and you live in wooded areas, feed only through winter, into about April or whenever local bears come out of hibernation. Bears love bird food, and once they become accustomed to local feeding spots they are more likely to die an untimely death, either by a homeowner or local game/wildlife departments. They are more likely to break into your home, as well (which is frightening to consider) if you feed the birds nearby. The website I found said, 'A fed bear is a dead bear' so I'm going to try doing my best to remember that. Another thing I do is compost. Evidently if you compost, it's best to keep a wired electric fence around the compost site, so as to deter the bear. Rotting vegetation of any kind will attract the bear, so if you have fruit trees or a garden, it's best to keep the food off the ground.
The other areas of concern are animal food containers kept outside (which I don't) and garbage cans (which I figure most people already consider).
I'll post more on other bits newly acquired knowledge as I find them! Until then, thanks for reading my very first blog!