Animal Person

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

When I agreed to read and review Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson's THE DOG WHO COULDN'T STOP LOVING (Harper 2010), the regal Charles Hobson Booger, III was still with us. Masson tells Benjy's story--and Benjy stories--while explaining his theory about the mutual domestication of dogs and humans. And the crying would never stop.

Dogs 100

Dogs Pit Bulls Greyhounds Kennels 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 157

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

Over the winter, the universe lost four whooping cranes to what appears to be recreational shooting: three gunned down together in Georgia on December 30, 2010, and another in Alabama on January 28, 2011. All of them had successfully learned the skills we taught them to forage in “safe&# areas and avoid humans. I think not!

2011 244

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 244

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

March 14, 2011 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Jon Gassett, Commissioner One Sportsman’s Lane Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Dear Mr. Gassett, I am a writer, naturalist and artist with a special interest in human/bird interactions. Where Are You Birding this Second Weekend of March 2009? Thanks for visiting!

2011 257

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 257