10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2021

In October of 2017, I took what was my first trip to California as a birder. We’d arrived in San Francisco just in time for the very beginning of the record-breaking 2017 Northern California wildfires. The view of Tomales Bay from the picnic tables at Hog Island Oyster Company in Marshall, California.

San Francisco 218

San Francisco 2020 California Blackbirds 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2013

Later it was determined these condors suffered from organophosphate poisoning after they were exposed to insecticides used for agriculture. Unfortunately, contemporary people from the high Andes are beginning to see condors as the enemy; a predator that will kill and eat livestock. Photo: Alexander More.

Livestock 172

Livestock Chile Colombia Ecuador 172

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2014

Sentient people recoil at the idea of leg-hold traps, those medieval–torture devices which cause so much pain and suffering before their victims eventually die, are killed, or (very occasionally) are rescued. Glue traps: For compassion’s sake, please do not set, place, or hang them. Here’s why.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 279

Wildlife Rehabilitation Mice Rodents Rescue 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2014

Wildlife rehabilitators constantly receive lost racing pigeons who are starving, riddled with lice, and suffering from coccidia, trichinosis, or worms. Animals aren’t metaphors for people or their plans,” says Monte Merrick, a rehabber in California. After a few days they will die of starvation, unless a predator gets them first.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 254

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ethics Virginia Atlanta 254

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2013

And so, when Salvador Ramirez left, there were feral goats on the island of San Clemente, the southernmost of the Channel Islands off the coast of California. And so, the foxes and shrikes endemic to the island began to suffer as the greenery went.

Goats 159

Goats Bald Eagle Fox Feral 159

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

And managing means killing them, breeding them, and otherwise fiddling with their populations. This is irksome, as the premise is that we need to save the animals (and which ones is an interesting discussion) because we will suffer if they are gone. This is all very unveganly, but I went for it nevertheless.

Polar Bears 100

Polar Bears California Condor Bald Eagle Lions 100

Animal Person

MARCH 17, 2009

The meat industry is inherently destructive and inhumane, there is no way to make it otherwise, and much of the harm it does to ecosystems is by inflicting suffering and death on billions of nonhuman animals, farmed and free-living, each year. Another went out last Friday. Many say you can’t eat meat and be an environmentalist.

Meat Industry 100

Meat Industry Industry Meat Responsible Policies 100