Notices by Barbara J. King (bjkingape@mastodon.online)

Thanks @nytimes for including my perspective in this piece on keeping an octopus as a pet. Octopuses are wild animals who belong in the ocean, and anyway, what message does it send to a child when a family orders an octopus online and she arrives in a cardboard box as shoes or a computer would arrive? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/us/tiktok-octopus-pet-oklahoma.html?ugrp=m&unlocked_article_code=1.jk0.DQgs.-hFwE9n7Cvs8&smid=url-share #octopus #cephalopod #animals #pets #animalwelfare #animalrights

Caturday caption: Yearning. This is Marie. #Caturday #catsofmastodon

I'm working on my book but my assistant has gone unconscious. #catsofmastodon #today

Collaboration among whale scientists and a grad-student computer scientist yields fascinating new information on sperm-whale communication: "The researchers identified 156 different codas, each with distinct combinations of tempo, rhythm, rubato and ornamentation... this variation is strikingly similar to the way humans combine movements in our lips and tongue to produce a set of phonetic sounds" https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/science/whale-song-alphabet.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qE0.GQ-b.I7AWzexhM-Ol&smid=url-share #whales #cetaceans #animals #animalcommunication #marinebiology

I spent yesterday in shock and grief over the death of primatologist and animal-behavior scientist Frans de Waal, and that continues today. Here are only some of his books that revolutionized my thinking, research, and teaching about animal cognition and emotion. #FransDeWaal #animals #ethology #chimpanzees #animalbehavior #animalcognition #books

As ever, I am loving all the Caturday photos and here's my Marie. She's a force of nature, bossy with the other cats, and super-smart. #Caturday #catsofmastodon

@aral It's overwhelming.

Once again, the message comes through loud and clear to people highly vulnerable to COVID/ COVID damage (including me): Tough luck. "Americans who test positive for the coronavirus no longer need to routinely stay home from work and school for five days under new guidance planned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." #COVID #CovidIsNotOver #LongCOVID #immunocompromised #publichealth
https://wapo.st/3wosNqL

This requirement involving 45,000 dogs sounds a bit... over the top....
"Italian province orders all dogs to be DNA tested in poo crackdown
Owners in Bolzano, northern Italy, must pay €65 for test, which police can use to search for dog muck culprits." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/17/italian-province-orders-all-dogs-to-be-dna-tested-in-poo-crackdown #dogs #animals #Italy

#SilentSunday #birdphotography

@kathhayhoe Thank you; I tend to be that way about plant-based eating and about flying (two things at least!!), and take your point. Signed up for Project Drawdown newsletter.