Snowy Owl Irruption

OK.  So you probably understand the Owl part of the title and may even know what a snowy owl looks like but that other word - irruption - what could that mean?

In the birding world an irruption is when a population of birds moves into an area where they aren't seen every year.  These happen every few years but are hard to predict.  They occur when a species has a particularly good breeding season or when food is scarce in their normal wintering grounds.

Most winters there are a few snowy owls in New England, some winters there are none, but this is an irruption year and they are EVERYWHERE.  

The Snowy Owl is a large bird, around 2 feet high, that nests high in the Arctic and they are spectacular!

Image thanks to David Syzdek via Wikimedia commons

The best places to see a Snowy Owl?  Anyplace that reminds them of their Arctic home - in other words wide open spaces with few trees.  Like the beach and airports.

Snowy Owls do cause a lot of problems at airports during irruption years.  A plane hitting a 2 foot tall bird is not good for the plane, the people on the plane, or the owl.  Some airports hire people to chase off the owls, or catch and relocate them, other airports kill them.

If you want to find one near you check your local Rare Bird Alert (Google that phrase and your state to find yours).  If you're in Massachusetts you can check on massbird.org or just go to the beach.  They've been see on Cape Cod, Lynn beach, and at Plum Island (a great place to see them most years that they're around).

Please respect the birds, though, and watch from a distance. If the bird responds to you by turning to look at you, you're close enough.  These birds are going to have a tough winter and don't need to be scared in to flying unnecessarily by inconsiderate humans.

If you're at a good location the best way to narrow down your search is to ask a birder.  See someone standing by the side of the road with binoculars?  Stop and look to see what they're looking at, then, if it's not your target bird, ask if they've spotted one today.  It may seem weird (especially to native New Englanders) but it's a normal part of bird watching culture.  Most birders will be happy to give you advice on where to look, some might even be willing to share a view through their spotting scope (looks like a small telescope) if you ask nicely.

Good birding!

End of the Semester

Well, it's the end of the semester once again and all of my students are busy with end of the semester assignments and studying (and so am I!) so instead of posting weekend readings this week I thought I'd offer up some advice.

Read.

OK, maybe I should elaborate.

Read anything other than Facebook, Twitter and those magazines that are sold by the check stand at the grocery store.

Like Harry Potter?  Good.  "Trashy" Romance novels?  Fine.  Mystery, Science Fiction?  Great.  

Here's a secret.  Reading ANYTHING will help you in life and career.  Sounds amazing, right?  It's true.

One of the big complaints employers are expressing about the fresh out of college crowd is that they don't know how to write well.  They use text-speak in memos, they don't know when to capitalize words and they use punctuation inappropriately.  Were they taught how to write in school?  Probably.  But then they forgot it all because who needs that stuff about references and dangling participles and all that, right?

If you work for a living and ever have to write anything, even an email to your boss, YOU need to remember that.  Your boss won't fire you for a dangling participle but they also won't think highly of you at promotion time if you sent them an email like this...

im two sic to come to werk 2day... i think i 8 sumthin bad...LOL

So read.  You will pick up basic writing skills without even trying.  You will expand your vocabulary without studying.  And then you will write in a style your boss appreciates.

And who knows, you might discover that you enjoy it more than you expect.

Weekend Reading BONUS LINK

This is so, so, so gobsmakingly AWESOME! that I couldn't wait to post this link.

The American Alligator and tool use!  Yes, tool use!  We've seen this in many primates, a few other mammals, several bird species, the octopus and now in a reptile.  It seems to be a much more common phenomenon then anyone would have expected.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/11/30/tool-use-in-crocs-and-gators/

Be sure to read to the end to see the list of some of the other amazing things we've discovered alligators doing.  They really are wicked cool animals.

Weekend Reading Nov. 29, 2013

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the snakes that live in my yard that keep the local mouse population to a minimum.  Now if only I could coax them to winter in my attic space where we had mice a few weeks back [update on the mice: the act of crawling in to their space and plugging holes in the insulation seemed to have driven them off - no activity noticed in the past two weeks and we didn't even have to deploy the mouse traps].

http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20131123/NEWHAMPSHIRE02/131129682

This Thanksgiving show some compassion to the spineless. No, not your cousin Larry, to the invertebrates!  New Research shows that Cockroaches [yes, THOSE Cockroaches] have a complex social life and exhibit stress behaviors when isolated from friends and family.  So stuff some turkey under the fridge for your second family.

Actually don't.  Even I don't want cockroaches in my house.

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/do-cockroaches-have-a-form-of-consciousness/

Feel like all your relatives are budding psychopaths?  Especially after being stuck together in bad weather for two days!  Do a brain scan to see if your relatives are really potential serial killers!  Or not, since the data does not support the claims of James Fallon.  A good discussion of common misconceptions when interpreting scientific information.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/25/could-a-brain-scan-diagnose-you-as-a-psychopath

Traveling for the holidays?  Guys, like your testicles?  Hope your vaccines are up to date!

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/image-of-the-week/2013/11/25/vaccinate-do-it-for-the-testicles/

Think evolution is a complex, hard to understand concept?  How about Sea Level?  Just remember we understand evolution better than we understand gravity (and we have more proof for evolution!).

http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/68179141566/what-is-sea-level

23 and YOUR DATA

Several companies offer DNA sequencing to the home consumer.  One of the better ones is 23andme [yes, I did get my DNA tested by them].  For $99 and a vial of spit this company will tell you about your probable genetic ancestry (Neanderthal?  European?  Native American?) and genetic disease risks.

If you have a college biology background (or had a good high school biology teacher) and read the provided information carefully, then this site provides lots of good information that would be very difficult to get from your doctor's office.  For example: are you thinking you might be a carrier for a genetic disease like cystic fibrosis? If you went to your doctor's office you could get this information (and, if you're thinking of reproducing and cystic fibrosis runs in your family you SHOULD talk to your doctor about the risks before reproducing!). But at 23andme you can get results for 53 different inherited genetic disorders that you could pass on to your kids without having yourself.  Key word - COULD.

What about breast cancer risk?  Yep, you can find out if you have any of the most common genetic mutations for BRCA genes.  This is what prompted Angelina Jolie to undergo a double mastectomy.  Key word - RISK - these genetic mutations increase your risk, they don't guarantee that you'll have a problem.

The real problem comes in interpreting the medical data.  It isn't easy, unless you have a lot of specialized education (and sometimes even then!).  And this is why the FDA is getting involved.  They are wanting tighter regulation over your access to this information.  Is this a good thing?  Or a bad thing?

Most people could look at my Gallstone Risk level (which is 1.52x normal at a four star confidence rating) and understand that a 20% chance of getting gall stones also means an 80% chance I WON'T get gallstones. This fits with my family history, so I will keep this in mind and I'll avoid fasting or trying to drop weight quickly since these can trigger problems with gall stones.

But not everyone has a strong understanding of genetics and someone else might find a single gene mutation that a single, poorly done study suggests indicates an increased risk of Alzheimer's, and then they have a nervous breakdown worrying about it every time they forget where they put their keys.

Here's a first person account of someone who found out he had a genetic mutations that causes a form of muscular dystrophy. Or so he thought. Tl;dr? Turns out he's a carrier (which means he could pass it on to a child) but there a glitch in the way the data is acquired that led 23andme to think he had the disease. He did a lot of research and found the problem himself but it did cause him a great deal of stress and worry.

And THAT is what the FDA is upset about. And rightly so.

If you get results from a company like this that say you're going to be sick (or die) you NEED to go to your own doctor for confirmation.  The company may be wrong.  False positives can and do occur and there are lots of studies out there that HINT at associations that may or may not be real.  [so why isn't the FDA going after the mammogram industry? They have an inexcusably high rate of false positives - but that's a rant for a different time]

I don't know about you but I WANT to know my risks for various genetic diseases and I believe I have that right, without having to pay a lot of money or fight with my doctor and insurance company to get the information.  I'm sure my co-pay for genetic testing would be a LOT more than the $99 I paid to 23andme.

So what is the solution?

I don't know.

Ideally we would have a better form of informed consent and everyone who participated would completely understand the risk of bad information. I doubt that will happen.

Probably the FDA will try to shut down 23andme, or only allow them to release the ancestry information and none of the medical information.  But it's a tricky case for the FDA to make.  I don't think the law is completely on their side and 23andme might be able to fight the FDA in courts and win.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Oh, and my results?  That's a personal question! But I will admit that I am 3.1% Neanderthal.  I guess that explains that one quirky trait...

;)

Weekend Reading Nov. 22, 2013

For all my students who are scared of spiders:  Why you need not fear the Brown Recluse.  Remember - spiders keep the number of flies and cockroaches down!  And they are much less likely to carry diseases onto your kitchen countertops.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/11/poor-misunderstood-brown-recluse/

Think Invertebrate animals are boring?  How about this one - it was born in 1499, before Henry VIII married the first wife!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10447117/Worlds-oldest-creature-was-507...but-scientists-killed-it.html

A look at the process of science from PZ Myers; what non-scientists expect from science compared to what scientists expect.  Let me add that a lot of the science that doesn't seem to lead directly to a cure for cancer or to flying cars turns out to be potentially important for future progress.  You may not care about understanding kinase pathways but it's possible that one day, in the future, our understand will be important for treating genetic disorders (or cancer).  We just can't see it yet.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/11/09/balance/

The Amorphophallus genus of flowering plants takes attracting pollinators to new heights.  Or maybe to new lows...

http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2013/11/giant-misshapen-penises.html

Coldblooded and smart?  Reptiles are more intelligent than you think.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/science/coldblooded-does-not-mean-stupid.html?ref=science&_r=1&

Bonus Funny of the Week.  What if animals were round?  And bounced?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yltlJEdSAHw

Weekend Reading Nov. 15, 2013

Giant Armadillos in South America.  No, this is not a SyFy original.  These are very important "ecosystem engineers."  Now, with lots of great photos!

http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1024-hance-giant-armadillo-burrows.html

Carnivore, Herbivore, Scavenger?  Turns out animals don't read the biology textbook and don't fit into neat and tidy categories.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/08/looking-nature-in-the-mouth/

An excellent article on which alternative medicines work and which ones don't.  tl:dr?  Most of them don't.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alternative-medicines-are-popular-but-do-any-of-them-really-work/2013/11/11/067f9272-004f-11e3-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

An interesting overview of tool use.  Unfortunately this article only covers birds and mammals and leaves out tool use in invertebrates (particularly octopus).

http://io9.com/the-mysterious-tool-making-culture-shared-by-crows-and-1460350033

Biology will find a way.  We are polluting our oceans with tons of plastic; some forms of marine life have started creating a new ecosystem by feeding or living on this floating debris.  We are definitely changing life in the oceans (and destroying our fishing industries) but some form of life will survive.  Things will look very different in another 50 or 100 years.

http://nautil.us/issue/7/waste/when-waste-becomes-home?utm_source=feedly

Funny of the week.  Gourmet Himalayan Pink Salt.  Now without any GMOs!  If you don't understand what's funny about that try reading the reviews of this product or bring your questions to lab and I'll be happy to explain just what is GMO and what does ORGANIC mean and why it's so funny when they use these terms to discuss salt!

http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Himalayan-Gourmet-Chemicals-Non-gmo/dp/B007PR93EU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1384121001&sr=8-4&keywords=pink+himalayan+salt

How a Biologist Handles a Mouse Infestation

Recently, late at night, I woke up to hear a strange sound.

No, it wasn't my husband snoring.  Or the dog.

No, this was the pitter patter of tiny paws.  And gnawing.  And it sounded like it was coming from right over my head.

We have mice.

Image by George Shulkin via Wikimedia Commons

Now, most houses have mice.  They are capable of getting through openings the size of a dime.  I've been reading on how to mouse proof your home and I have to laugh.  They suggest blocking up all openings 1/4 of an inch or large.  Like I can block up every opening that small in a 70 year old house.  Heck, I'm not sure even new home construction is that tight.

So, what is a biologist to do?

Normally my dog will manage to deal with any mice that get in to our living space.  He spent the first year or so of his life out on the street and he will catch and kill (and often eat) anything he can get his teeth on, including mice when they foolishly come into our backyard or house.

Clearly these mice have learned to stay inside the walls and attic, out of his reach.

Instead, I will double check the "sanitation" of the house.  I'll make sure the dog and cat food bags, and the wild bird seed, are in sealed containers.  I'm be more diligent in taking out the trash when there is food waste.  I'll chide the husband about leaving out the plate from his late night snack, the one with cookie crumbs on it.

Then I'll go buy snap traps.

I'm not big on killing innocent critters trying to survive.  Mice in the yard?  No problem.  But when you come in to my space and interrupt my sleep, possibly bring in fleas and poop outside of the litter box then we have to come to terms.  They also don't listen when I tell them to move back outside.

Why don't I use live traps?  They aren't as humane as you think - you catch the mouse, scare it and then dump it outside in an unfamiliar place.  Chances are that the mouse will be not do well, instead it might starve or freeze to death.  Or even die of fear (which can happen to mice).

Why don't I use glue traps?  Because then I'd have to either kill the animal by hand or leave it stuck to the glue trap to starve to death.  Not nice.

How about poison?  Talk about CRUEL.  Many rodent poisons contain anti-coagulants.  That means they prevent the blood from clotting.  The mouse will bleed to death.  Maybe inside your walls where you can't get to the corpse and have to smell it for days or weeks.  Maybe on your living room rug when your pet cat or dog will eat it and then THEY have been poisoned.  Maybe it will make it outside so your neighbor's dog or cat, or local wildlife will eat it and be poisoned.

I have two places on my property where snakes over winter.  Snakes that would love to snack on a slow moving mouse.  Snakes that normally keep down the number of mice in my yard (and therefore house).  Nope, I don't want to harm predators of mice.

Snap traps and fast.  Death is nearly instantaneous.  And they work.

Wish me (and not the mice) luck.

Photo by Karen Rustad via Wikimedia Commons

Weekend Reading Nov. 8, 2013

If you want to survive this winter READ THIS!!!!

http://www.redwineandapplesauce.com/2013/10/28/setting-the-record-straight-dubunking-all-the-flu-vaccine-myths/

Think Art and Science don't mix (like the polar and the non-polar solvents in an HPLC)?  Don't take my word for it (almost every good scientist I've known has also been an artist, even if only in the privacy of their own home).  Here's famed artist and, in his spare time, science fan, Tim Minchin.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/science-inspires-so-dont-let-your-art-rule-your-head-20131101-2wrjb.html

It's OK to be Smart about Evolution and Genetics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhd9c3Td5gg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUH4BNI0-FOK2dMXoFtViWHw

The amazing Glass Katydid - faster than a speeding fly, able to sing at a pitch 3 times higher than the human ear can hear and transparent when young!  You thought human superheros were cool?

http://thesmallermajority.com/2013/11/05/the-amazing-glass-katydid/

Out of sight, out of mind?  Only until it comes back to bite us!

http://seanetters.wordpress.com/2013/11/05/under-the-rug-the-limitations-of-dilution/

How to Respond to a Dangerous Animal, US edition

On Halloween I gave a quiz to my Biology 102 students that included the question: "what real life animal are you afraid of?"

Only a few of them listed animals that are dangerous to humans living here in the US.  One in particular stands out as the most dangerous animal in the US; the one that causes the most harm and by far the most deaths every year!  He answered "humans."

The majority of answers were spiders and snakes.  In Massachusetts we only have two venomous snakes and one venomous spider.  It turns out to be very easy to avoid being hurt by these.  In fact, it's easy in most places around the world.

Let's start with snakes.

Step 1:  Don't pick up the snake.

Step 2:  See step 1.

In the United States most people who are bitten by snakes are bitten because they are handling them.  They may be trying to "move them someplace safer" or kill them or show off to their buddies after drinking too many beers.  On rare occasions a hiker will step near or on a snake and both of them get startled.  Most snakes can feel the vibrations of your footsteps when you're out walking and will move away from you.

Timber Rattlesnake (above) by Tony Alter

Copperhead (Right) by Ltshears







Neither of these snakes occur in the part of the state where I teach!





Statistics time.  On average six people are killed by venomous snakes in the US each year.  Twenty one people are killed by dogs.  Fifty four by lightning.

Which one are you worried about?



OK, but what about spiders?

There are very few species of venomous spiders in the US - they mostly fall into two groups - the black widows (easy to identify) and the brown recluses (harder to identify, much less common and less dangerous when they do bite).


Black Widow by Shenrick91

[I did not post a photo of a brown recluse because when I searched for photos there were several distinct species listed as brown recluse and, not being an arachnologist, I didn't want to post an innocent species' photo by mistake.]

Most spider bite wounds are not caused by spider bites (if you didn't see the spider don't assume spider bite - many types of insects also bite and many bacterial skin infections mimic spider bites).

How do you avoid dangerous spider bites?

Step 1:  Look before you put your hand into that dark space.

Step 2:  Don't pick up the spider.

According to a report in the International Journal of Dermatology, there were a total of 36 deaths from black widow bites between 1965 and 1990.

Umm... That averages out to 1.4 per year.

And we now have an antivenom.  So in the first decade of this century there were zero reported deaths.

And deaths from the Brown Recluse are even less common.

So WHY are you afraid of snakes and spiders?

Weekend Reading November 1, 2013

An EXCELLENT video that goes over some of the common misconceptions (fictoids) of global climate change.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/10/28/_10_failed_climate_change_denial_arguments.html

Sorry to disappoint.  Mermaids are not real.  In fact, they couldn't exist!  Here's why...

http://deepseanews.com/2013/10/fishful-thinking-five-reasons-why-mermaids-cant-physically-exist/

Weekend Reading Oct. 25, 2013

It's ARACTOBER!  Your fun fact for the week is about that spider bite you got.  You know, the one your doctor told you was a spider bite (or your cousin or your friend or a friend of a friend).  The one that was actually a bacterial infection?  Yeah,  That's right.  Spiders very rarely bite people and your doctor is definitely NOT an expert on telling the difference between spider bites, other insect bites and various skin infections.

http://arthropodecology.com/2012/02/15/spiders-do-not-bite/

Where are all the females?  Turns out that studies of Whale Sharks, the largest sharks in the world, have been looking almost exclusively at "teenage" males.  Shark researchers don't know where the  young sharks live, or the females or the mature adults. It's impressive how the largest fish in the sea can basically hide most of its population.

http://deepseanews.com/2013/10/where-are-all-the-ladies-at/

Wildlife is adapting to living very close to humans.  Seen a coyote lately?  One has probably seen you! Now there is a cougar living in Griffith Park in the center of the sea of urbanity known as Los Angeles.  And in order to get there he had to cross two of the busiest highways in the country.  The kinds of highways where you might be able to do the speed limit at 2 am but definitely not anytime between 5 am and midnight.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-griffith-park-lion-20131005,0,3681647,full.story

Think evolution works to perfect an organism?  To improve it?  Think again.  Humans could design better eyes, feet, backs...

http://news.sciencemag.org/evolution/2013/02/human-evolution-gain-came-pain

Organism of the week:  The Hero Shrew, a Brain Scoop Video.  A shrew that can support a man's weight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP3GPHdx9v8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUkyfHZ6bY2TjqbJhiH8Y2QQ

BONUS COMIC.  A comic about speciation.  Specifically about allopatric speciation (which we just covered in lecture!).

http://buzzhootroar.com/jumping-spiders-an-evolutionary-love-story/

Arachtober Fools Day

What? Fools Day is supposed to be in April?  Could've fooled me.

The news from Britain lately is about the invasion of the False Widow Spider, a deadly spider that is rapidly spreading all across Great Britain and has even led to some school closures (students: don't get any ideas!).

Image from Wikimedia Commons by Andre Karwarth

The problem with this?

1.  False Widow Spiders are not poisonous.

2.  False Widow Spiders are not new to Great Britain

3.  False Widow Spiders are not spreading like crazy.

Bug Girl explains:

"It’s difficult to convey why this is so incredibly silly without using a lot of four letter words, arm waving, and spittle. These spiders are NOT that dangerous. Headlines have used words like “rampaging killer spiders” and “flesh-eating,” but those claims are ridiculous and false.

These little spiders are related to black widows, but other than genetics and web structure, that’s about the end of the resemblance. They do not have venom that dissolves your flesh. They are not “flesh eating,” unless you are a fly or a cricket. They can’t “kill humans with a single bite!“; and there is NO record of their ever having killed anyone in the UK (or elsewhere, best as I can tell)."

Here's the deal.  Spiders seldom bite people and very, very few of them can actually cause any harm to  humans. Mostly they are beneficial; they eat insects. 

My biggest problem with spiders? When they leave they don't clean up after themselves and I end up with cobwebs in the basement that I have to go clean up. Slobs.

Weekend Reading Oct. 18, 2013

How long can you keep moving?  These birds probably flew for over 200 days without perching!

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/08/three-swifts-probably-flew-non-stop-for-200-days/

Why shouldn't you let your cat outdoors?  Not only do cats that go outdoors have a significantly shorter lifespan (at the most half that of cats that stay inside) but they are also the leading cause of death for wild birds.

http://io9.com/cats-are-the-leading-cause-of-death-for-canada-s-birds-1442037841

That spider bite?  Yeah, probably not from a Brown Recluse.

http://buzzhootroar.com/a-spider-did-not-bite-you/

Afraid of the coming zombie apocalypse? Never fear, Mother Nature has your back!

http://boingboing.net/2013/10/14/zombiesvsanimals.html

Parrot intelligence and social structure.  Or, why you don't really want that pocket parrot for a pet!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/problem-solving-parrots-understand-cause-and-effect/

Halloween season bonus image.  Do NOT Try This at Home! [Can you believe that people buy these snakes as pets, albeit when they are much, much smaller]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dejeuxx/8506846921/

Buyer Beware

I recently ranted about the real definition of "all natural" on food labels.  At least with food products you do have to put the CORRECT ingredients on the label.  Turns out this is not true for herbal supplements.

A recent study1 showed that 59% of herbal supplements contained products other than what was listed on the label.

That's over half.  This off label product includes things like fillers and weeds.  Including plants known to be toxic!  Want some poison ivy with your Ginko?

On the positive side just over 2/3 actually had the herb listed on the label.

But if you do the math that means that almost 1/3 don't contain the plant product listed on the label.

So, uh...

So, unless you are growing it yourself you can't be sure what's in that herbal supplement you just bought. Remember, these products are NOT GOVERNMENT REGULATED.  Think about that next time you support a smaller government.

ginko leaf by Magnus Manske via wikimedia commons

1. Steven G Newmaster, Meghan Grguric, Dhivya Shanmughanandhan, Sathishkumar Ramalingam and Subramanyam Ragupathy. DNA barcoding detects contamination and substitution in North American herbal products. BMC Medicine, October 2013 DOI:10.1186/1741-7015-11-222

Weekend Reading Oct. 11, 2013

Got digestive issues?  Try the new Poop Pill.  [wait, what?]

http://news.yahoo.com/pills-made-poop-cure-serious-gut-infections-150405405.html

I'm just going to copy the title here.  Sometimes you just gotta punch a deep-sea squid with a toilet brush.  Now with VIDEOS.

http://deepseanews.com/2013/09/sometimes-you-just-gotta-punch-deep-sea-squid-with-a-toilet-brush/

Found a poisonous snake?  Here's what to do and what NOT to do in order to reduce your risks of a snakebite!  [EXCELLENT advice]

http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2013/10/the-only-good-dog-is-dead-dog-why-it.html

Where entomology (study of insects) and crime intersect OR do you want to become a maggot wrangler?

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/when-crime-scene-evidence-crawls-away/

A controversial look at Breast Cancer and Early Detection.  Should you be getting yearly mammograms?  Maybe, but then again maybe not!  (winner of the 2012 National Association of Science Writers’ Science in Society Award )

http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2012/02/08/komen/

What does THAT mean?

I was making lunch one day recently and looked at the bottle of mustard.

See what it says?  Right there, in BIG letters.

100% NATURAL.

What does that mean?  Produced by nature?  Like the ingredients were harvest off plants, blended and bottled?  That's what I would think.

But when I turned it over and looked at the back I saw this...

Ummm...  Distilled vinegar?  Distilled?  That's not what I would consider a natural process?  It's not like you can go to your vinegar plant and pour out distilled vinegar.

So what does 100% Natural mean?

Absolutely nothing.  There are no government regulations about putting this label on foods.  I could have The Husband (who is a Chemist) whip something up in the lab (he is certainly capable of distilling vinegar!) and label it 100% Natural.  No problem.

I think this is deceptive advertise, don't you?

Weekend Reading Oct. 4, 2013

Did I mention I have a fondness for parasite?  They may be disturbing but they are disturbing in some seriously unique and totally wicked cool ways!

http://therevscience.com/?p=1488

I guess I'm not a "real" biologist since I have yet to get a bot fly infection...

I just want to cuddle up to this cutie!

http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2013/09/common-cuttlefish.html

For anyone who thinks parenting is a role reserved for those of us with bones, just because mom doesn't have a spinal cord doesn't mean she's spineless!

http://entomologytoday.org/2013/09/27/can-beetles-make-good-mothers/

Great, easy read on some very early research into a pooly studied bird - the red throated Caracara, complete with video!

http://ibycter.com/2013/09/30/nest-camera-study-of-the-red-throated-caracara/

Alien intelligence?  How the octopus can educate us about intelligence, computers and possibly aliens.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/10/how-the-freaky-octopus-can-help-us-understand-the-human-brain/

Looking for Alien Life....

Tree Lobsters for the win!

LINK

What does the Affordable Care Act really mean?

Since I teach biology, including classes related to human health, I often get this sort of question.  I know this means lots of people have the same questions, so here's my understanding.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) means that everyone in the US must buy health insurance.  If you get health insurance from your job NOTHING WILL CHANGE except that you will have to tell the IRS that you have health insurance next time you fill our your taxes.

If you do not have health insurance you can go to www.healthcare.gov to look at your options. The government has created "exchanges" so that people with low incomes can find low cost insurance programs.

But, you say, I'm young and healthy, I don't need insurance.  Sure, unless you fall down the stairs and break your leg, or get in a car accident or grow older.  We will all need health care at some point in our lives.  The goal of insurance is that if enough people pay into the system when they are healthy, then when you DO get sick you will have to pay less.  It's a way of spreading out the cost.

But that's SOCIALISM. 

Yep.  And I'm good with that.  My husband had to have gall bladder surgery recently and his medical bills totaled over $10,000.  This was a relatively simple illness.  Could you afford to pay for that all at once?

What else do you get?

The insurance companies have to spend 85% of their income on health care.  Which limits overhead (things like CEO pay and paperwork) and profit.

If you have a pre-existing condition the insurance still has to cover you - things like allergies, asthma, or even that ankle you sprained when you were 10 and that you re-injured as an adult.

There is no lifetime maximum cap.  This means that if you are in a horrific car accident when you are 20 - something and it costs $1 million (not out of the question, sadly) but then when you are 65 you need hearth by-pass surgery the insurance company will still have to pay.  Before the Affordable Care Act they could refuse to pay for your by-pass because you had already cost them too much money.

This type of health care bring the US more in line with the rest of the "industrialized" world.  Countries where people don't have to worry about a single health care problem causing them to go bankrupt (the number one cause of American bankruptcies is health care costs!).  Countries where people live longer, healthier lives.  It may not be ideal to everyone's viewpoint but the system has been proven to work in other free countries, why don't we give it a try here?

Weekend Reading Sept. 27, 2013

If you read nothing else I ever post a link to, read THIS!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/09/24/mandatory_vaccinations_unvaccinated_public_school_students_face_suspension.html

Holy Guacamole, batman!  What is that frog eating?  Uh, batman?

[I'm showing my age with that joke, aren't I?]

http://blog.perunature.com/2013/09/what-heck-is-going-on-in-this-picture.html

Remember the Bobbit worm?  The 10 foot long worm that hides under the ocean floor and then explodes out to cut its prey in half?  Want to see a video?  of course you do!

http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2013/09/jaws-bobbit-worm.html

I'm a big fan of Anoles.  Turns out it's for a good reason.   They are much smarter than we've given them credit for.  [Read link below but videos available at this link:  http://chipojolab.blogspot.com/2011/07/chipojolab-goes-viral.html - and it sounds like there may be more interesting research being published soon!]

http://www.anoleannals.org/2011/07/13/is-an-anole-smarter-than-a-fifth-grader/

Do fire ants cause weddings?  Funny title for a post...  Click the link to find the answer!

http://6legs2many.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/do-fire-ants-cause-weddings/

Great article on wildlife in Europe that is making a comeback!

Www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24230765

Time Sink

I have been looking for some good Citizen Science Projects that I could incorporate into labs for my biology students.  Something so that they feel like they are DOING science and contributing to science and not just repeating stuff that has been done over and over by generations of students before them.

I haven't found the magic project yet but I did find the Zooniverse.

This web site has a bunch of projects that anyone can contribute to in their spare time.  I'm working on the "Snapshot Serengeti" project.  Researchers have put camera traps in the Serengeti (in Africa).  Doing this produces millions of images.  If one person had to go through them all they'd go crazy.  So instead they get hundreds of thousands of volunteers to sift through the images and try to identify animals that they see. 

Some are boring (nothing there), some are good scenery but nothing there, some are hard and others are, well, really easy.






















So next time you've got 5 minutes to waste, why not help out SCIENCE?  It's more fun than that silly fruit game.

Weekend Reading Sept. 20, 2013

EXCELLENT post on what happens when you put out rat killer.  Hint:  it doesn't stop with the rats.

http://natureofaman.blogspot.com/2013/09/death-by-1000-cuts.html?showComment=1379420380877#c5846191979597326973

Cool story of the moving rat corpse.  Is it a zombie?  Check out the link to find out!

http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2013/09/readers-write-in-are-endangered-insects.html

On the theme of overuse - overuse of antibiotics could lead to some major problems in the not-to-distant future.  Do you really need that medication?

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/cdc-amr-rpt1/

And now on to skipping vaccines.  Why, as a society, do we take antibiotics every time we get the sniffles but we skip potentially life-saving vaccinations?  Reality doesn't care about your personal beliefs.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/i-refute-it-thus/

For our gross out of the week - a look at everything you can learn from the earwax of a blue whale.  Yes, earwax.  Be sure to read to the bottom for fun facts about the blue whale ;)

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/16/biography-of-a-blue-whale-told-through-ear-wax/

Bonus Links - good topics for presentations!

Did you know there are lizards that don't have legs?  Did you know that there can be animals unknown to science even in dense urban areas?  Vacant lot?  End of runway at LAX?   Researchers in California went looking and found FOUR NEW SPECIES of legless lizards - this increases the number of know species of legless lizard in California from 1 to 5!!!  Way cool.

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/09/17/four-new-species-of-legless-lizards-discovered-living-on-the-edge/

Sticking with the reptile theme - Leatherback sea turtles are MASSIVE turtles that live on the ocean equivalent of cucumbers - jellyfish.  How can  they get to be over 1,000 pounds by eating a food that is mostly water?  By having interesting anatomy...

http://www.storyofsize.com/2013/09/13/growing-large-on-jelly/

Species Profile - the New Guinea Singing Dog

It's finally happened.  Well, it happened last year but finally!  A biologist in New Guinea took the second every photograph of a wild New Guinea Singing Dog (Singer).

Cool, right?

What?  You don't know what a Singer is?  Singers are probably the rarest of the wild canids (canids include dogs, wolves, dingoes and their relatives).  The population size in the wild is unknown, partly due to the difficult terrain, partly due to their clever avoidance of humans and partly due to the small number of Singers that still exist.

There are around 200 pure bred Singers in captivity.

I've met about 5% of the captive population.

THIS is a captive Singer.  [The one on the right.]

Very, very little is known about Singers in the wild - what they eat, what type of society they form (if any), much of their behavior.  What is known is their distinctive vocalizations.  They aren't called Singers for nothin'.

Based on observations in captivity we can draw some conclusions about wild Singers.  They probably live alone or in pairs (in captivity females generally do not tolerate other females and males do not tolerate other males).  Foldo, pictured above, used to be a pet dog but had a habit of escaping his yard and fighting other, often much bigger dogs.  And winning.  Animal Control finally told his people that he needed to go somewhere else.  

[PSA - exotic animals generally do not make good pets, think very carefully before you consider an exotic.  Better yet, don't.  Volunteer at a rescue that specializes in these frequently abandoned former pets instead.]

They have incredible skills as escape artists.  Not a surprise since they live in very steep, mountainous habitat.  They can climb chain link.  Think a wood fence would be better?  Think again.  They can climb out at corners.  Or dig out.  They do dig a LOT in captivity so their enclosures need to have sturdy dig barriers.  In fact females in captivity sometimes dig dens to bear and raise their pups. 

Despite being aggressive to other dogs, Singers do very well with people.  Now, they have to have been raised in captivity and they need to get to know you.  OK.  Maybe not very well with people.  They do tend to be shy.  But once they get to know you they trust you as much as a good domestic dog will trust a person.  Better than some domestic dogs.  I could help with nail trimming on the Singers but I have to take my own dogs to the groomers to get their nails clipped.

So where did I get to work with such a huge percentage of an endangered species?  A carnivore sanctuary called The Conservators' Center.  This facility mostly takes in exotic former pets like Lions and Tigers but also has a breeding program for certain rare and endangered species.

Like the Singers. 

Foldo, above, and his mate Clancy produced several litters that are now spread around the world (literally!  Their daughter, Palantina, is in Germany on a breeding loan).

Now that a second wild Singer has been photographed researchers are planning an expedition to collect hair and stool samples to try and get a grasp of the wild population size.  And if they are really lucky they'd like to capture a wild Singer to diversify the genetics of the captive population.  With increasing human population the range of the wild Singer is undoubtedly shrinking and the captive population may hold the key to preserving this rare and wild species.

For a video (including singing!) check out this Animal Planet Video (only 4 minutes).  

Because these dogs are so poorly known to science some of the facts presented in the Animal Planet video may not be correct.

Weekend Reading Sept. 13, 2013

Yet another example of the intelligence of octopus.  These animals continually amaze me with their complex skills, their curiosity and their ability to learn and play.  Imagine what they could do if they lived more than a year or two!

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=5116

Competition for the baddest of oceanic badness.  The infamous Mantis Shrimp must now compete with the poorly known, up to 10 foot long, Bobbit worm.  Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/absurd-creature-of-the-week-bobbit-worm/

Excellent article from last year on dealing with urban coyotes.  Yes, there are coyotes in this area, including in the city of Boston.  This would be a GREAT article to base a presentation on.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/learning-to-live-with-urban-coyotes/?_r=1

An excellent essay on the current state of animal cognition (thinking) research.

http://danbrubaker.blogspot.com/2013/09/animal-cognition-science-ruffling-more.html

More cool ants!  Ants do an awful lot of amazing things for such a small, seemingly simple organism.  Fortunately they are heavily studied so we get cool stories like this.  It does make me think - what else could we learn if we put as much effort into other insects and invertebrates?  What else super-deluxe-cool is out there just waiting for an entomologist who can afford to do research on something other than "pest control"????

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/09/mercenary-ants-protect-farmers-with-chemical-weapons/

BONUS ARTICLE:  a little long but worth the read - Tickling Rats for Science.  Yes, Scientists tickled rats and the rats responded by laughing.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/tickling-rats-for-science/

Weekend Reading Sept 6

The difference between biologist and normal people is that when biologist hear a story like this one they say "wow, I wish I could have been there" and normal people start wondering about the process for involuntary committal.

http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/2013/09/huckleberry-finns-adventure-on-devils.html

The Earth is filled with living species that have yet to be identified and categorized by scientists.  Not everything fits neatly into our categories.  Imagine how much harder it must be if you only have fossils to go by - we aren't even sure if some of these organisms are plant or animal!

http://io9.com/the-bizarre-life-forms-that-cannot-be-categorized-1245804910

Amazing how fast they grow up.  An adaptation to a hostile environment.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/09/03/life-in-a-rapidly-shrinking-puddle/

Anyone who thinks language is unique to humans has not been paying attention to research like this.  A species of S. American monkey that can tell others WHAT the threat is (what type of predator) and WHERE it is (in the trees?  On the ground?).

http://www.nature.com/news/monkey-s-alarm-calls-reveal-predator-location-1.13662

Save the birds, save the coffee!  North American warblers that winter in Costa Rica are helping to save the coffee crop from pest insects.

http://www.nature.com/news/birds-protect-costa-rica-s-coffee-crop-1.13689

PSA - Molly

Molly is a nickname for a popular "club drug."  This is a form of Ecstasy, it is illegal.  Right now there is some bad Molly going around in New England.  It has caused several deaths in young club goers.

While I do not endorse drug use I do want to warn you - abstain from Molly for the next few weeks or months.  You don't want to get any of the bad Molly.

PSA - Measles

There have been a couple of measles cases in Boston this week.  Measles is a potentially deadly disease that can cause permanent vision and hearing problems in survivors.  In the US modern medical treatments can reduce your risks but it is still a serious illness that can require hospitalization.

How do you prevent measles?  Easy.  There is a vaccine.  If you were vaccinated as a child you may need a booster when you're an adult (I did).  A vaccine will protect you against contracting measles.  

What about vaccine side effects?  In most people the side effects include a sore arm.  That's it.  More serious side effects are extremely rare.  THE MEASLES VACCINE DOES NOT CAUSE AUTISM.  That has been proven in multiple scientific studies. 

Penn and Teller did an excellent video that demonstrates your relative risks from diseases and from vaccination.  It is NSFW because of language (they do cuss a lot).  A link is below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfdZTZQvuCo

Weekend Reading August 30, 2012

One of the concepts I try to get into my students' heads is that all of biology is interconnected and dependent on each other.  You may not like mosquitoes but they are important to the overall ecosystem.  Eliminate something you don't want and you may loose something you value. 

Another idea is that a healthy ecosystem can deal with changes we humans are creating much better than a flawed ecosystem.  Here's an example of both of these concepts:  Sea Otters reduce problems caused by excess fertilizer runoff in California.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/26/sea-otters-your-defence-against-the-algal-apocalypse/

I learned that these bugs were called "toe-biters."  Now I am very glad I've not been bitten by one.  Graphic video included at link.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/2013/08/27/the-attack-of-the-giant-water-bug/

One of my favorite soapboxes, via IO9:  Cats should be kept indoors.  It's better for the cat (indoor cats have a life expectancy approximately twice that of cats that go outdoors) and here's a rundown on why it's better for the environment.

http://io9.com/whats-being-done-about-all-those-damn-feral-cats-1212779224

I really love this guy's photos!  AND he's talking about a sub-group of Preying Mantises (Mantids?).  Very cool.

http://thesmallermajority.com/2013/08/25/empusids/

Scientists are not all knowing and all infallible.  An entomologist recently posted this picture with a plea for help in identification.  What a very, very, odd structure.  Check it out (and read the caption for the current best guess about what it might be).

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=652163484801646&set=a.137894259561907.20827.133864286631571&type=1&theater

Reason number 1,618,435 to not use pesticides

This.

A Giant Swallowtail.  They're rare where I live and this one is well worn, suggesting he's been around for a while.

If I used pesticides on my lawn chances are I would never have gotten to see him because this poor fellow would have been poisoned before I spotted him (I'm not sure of the gender, I just made a wild guess and named him George).

Pollinators around the world are in trouble due, in part, to overuse of pesticides.  Farmer in the US are doing a good job of reducing their pesticide use so pesticide companies are targeting the home consumer with products that recommend regular pesticide application whether you see a problem or not and "weed and feed" fertilizers that come with pesticide included and companies that charge you to apply pesticide to your lawn on their schedule.  I'm SURE they're honest about your needs and not putting down extra pesticide and fertilizer so they can increase their profits (heavy, heavy sarcasm)

[I honestly don't know why people put pesticide on the LAWN. I've never notice insect damage to my lawn. The dogs have done some damage  And the neighborhood kids. And the dry weather.  But not insects.]

So next time you reach for that pesticide just because remember this gorgeous fellow and ask yourself if loosing pollinators, including butterflies, is worth it to have a "perfect" monoculture lawn.

Weekend Reading August 23, 2013

Bored with your commute?  Instead of texting, trying doing some SCIENCE!

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/21/speeding-towards-birds-in-a-car-for-science/

Some birds lay their eggs in other species' nests.  Some of these host species are completely unaware of the new, unwanted egg.  When African Honeyguides lay eggs in the nests of Bee-Eaters the poor Bee-Eaters don't notice.  So why are African Honeyguides evolving so that their eggs look more like the eggs of the Bee-Eater?  Very cool story that demonstrates the complexity of life.  Gains bonus points for close up of newly hatched murderous African Honeyguide.  Looses points for no pictures of Bee-Eaters.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/20/parasitic-bird-fights-evolutionary-arms-race-with-itself/

Green Bee-Eater by Anton Croos thanks to Wikimedia Commons

While some people still try to deny that the global climate in changing other people are preparing for a very different climactic future.

http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2013/08/19/hot-times-in-the-cotswolds/

It takes more intelligence for animals to live in ecosystems affected by people.  Some animals have been evolving bigger brains to help them deal.  This is evolution in action!

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/22/science/as-humans-change-landscape-brains-of-some-animals-change-too.html?ref=science&_r=1&

One more reason to spare the pesticide - the "lowly" dung beetle helps to reduce methane released by feces and therefore...  Dung Beetles Help Reduce Climate Change!

http://www.livescience.com/39104-dung-beetles-cows-methane.html

Weekend Reading August 17, 2013

Continuing with the thoughts on exotic animals in captivity:

Costa Rica is closing it's zoos - what's going to happen to the animals?  If you know much about life in the wild or the lack of good "rescue" facilities the answer is not as nice as it sounds.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/world/americas/costa-rica-zoo-cages/index.html?sr=sharebar_twitter

Captive exotic animals are not domesticated animals.  The calm, easy going Tapir is known for attacking people when they (the Tapirs) have young.  As in this case where someone had the very, very bad idea of letting a 2 year old human in an enclosure with a Tapir and her cub.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/08/11/tapir-attacks-past-present-not-future/

To change the subject - one of the baddest of the baddies - the Mantis Shrimp!  They can hit at speeds of a 22 caliber gun and see colors that we can't even imagine.  You don't want this guy in your fish tank - he can literally break the glass to  let himself out!  [True Facts videos such as this one sometimes contain NSFW language)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5FEj9U-CJM&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLOHbM4GGWADc5bZgvbivvttAuWGow6h05

Some of my favorite bees are not the stereotypical yellow and black.  Great picts on Wired.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/08/beautiful-bees/

Looking Up - Part 2!

While laying on the deck recently [stretching my back out, if you must know] and watching the birds and clouds fly overhead I was reminded of all the life that goes on up there, out of sight to those of us who are earth bound.  Even if we do go up in airplanes it's unlikely we'll look out the window and count insects as we fly along at 5-600 miles an hour.  I'm good at spotting birds at 55 but I think spotting insects at 555 is a bit too challenging. 

Besides, it's not just birds and insects up there.  Ready to be creeped out again?

At 30,000 feet your plane is surrounded by life.  Fungi, pollen and bacteria, LOTS of bacteria.  

thanks to Przemyslaw "BlueShade" Idzkiewicz and Wikimedia Commons

What a shock that must have been?  Finding bacteria in the clouds.  Not much is known about these bacteria.  Sure, some are species that are commonly found down here at ground (or sea) level.  It wouldn't be surprising to find that bacteria use air currents to move from one place to another.  But over 60% of the bacteria in the clouds appears to be active.  They are going about their normal lives, growing, dividing, spreading.  And they quite possibly serve at least one function that we find useful - cloud formation.

So next time your laying outside, looking up and explaining what you think that cloud looks like just remember this - it really looks like a bunch of bacteria clumping together!

Looking Up

The weather today is fantastic.  Perfect for laying down on the deck and watching birds, dragonflies and clouds.  Only, as a scientist, my brain continued to analyze what I was seeing.

The birds were mostly swallows, a few chimney swifts, a lone gull.  The gull was just flying by but the swifts and swallows were performing acrobatics - flying fast and high and making sudden turns.  What were they doing?  Hunting.  Swifts and swallows eat their insect prey on the wing.

Thanks to Walter Siegmond and Wikimedia Commons

Which means...  there must be a LOT of insects up there that I don't see.  Enough to fuel high powered flight. Enough to raise hungry offspring.  How many could there be?  British scientist Jason Chapman estimates that about 3 billion insects pass over head every month 1.  That comes out to 100 million each day.  That will feed more than a few swallows.  And give the insect-paranoid a raging case of the creeps.

What are the insects doing up there?  Migrating, moving from one territory to another, hunting each other (remember those dragonflies I spotted?), trying to catch a ride on a Virgin Atlantic flight?  [only one of these is unlikely - guess which one]

It is truly amazing how much life it out there, just beyond our range of vision.  Even it we're paying attention we could miss it.

1.  For more information check out this NPR story at

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/06/01/128389587/look-up-the-billion-bug-highway-you-cant-see

Weekend Reading August 9

Shark week - now with REAL FACTS (a lot of scientists are unhappy with Discovery's Shark Week this year because of all the bad information and flat out wrong information).

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/06/like-shark-week-but-with-actual-facts/

Did you know that Dolphins have names?  They call out their own name to let others know they're around (probably).  Instead of trying to teach dolphins to speak human languages, scientists are finally started to try and  understand THEIR language.  Here's a study that shows that dolphins remember the names of other dolphins for at least 20  years.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130806-dolphins-memories-animals-science-longest/

Any excuse to use alcohol in the lab - a study that got zebra fish drunk to study anxiety.

http://inkfish.fieldofscience.com/2013/08/fish-fear-robotic-predators-unless.html

Disturbing view of what happens when a mosquito bites.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/06/heres-what-happens-inside-you-when-a-mosquito-bites/

Excellent editorial on whether crabs and lobsters feel pain and whether the answer to that should influence how we treat them.

http://marine-biology.net/2013/01/18/do-crabs-feel-pain/

Bonus Video:  For our friends at the NSF - your cat video.  Big cats.  Very Big Cats.  Be sure you have your speakers turned on.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/serengeti-lion/index.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_tw20130806ngm-coalintw&utm_campaign=Content/#/coalition

Zoos and Captivity

There is a lot in the news right now about exotic (non-domesticated) animals in zoos and other forms of captivity.  Costa Rica is apparently closing all of it's zoos and several countries are banning dolphins in captivity.  I'm reading a lot about how exotic animals, especially large ones, would be happier in the wild.

My opinion?  It's complicated, and many of those commenting on the situation are anthropomorphizing.

[Anthropomorphizing is putting human characteristics in a non-human "my computer hates me" or "my dog KNOWS he's not supposed to poop on the rug"]

I've been considering this issue for a long time and, being a scientist, I decided I needed more data.  

So I've volunteered at zoos and animal sanctuaries, I've worked with wildlife and I've studied a lot about how animals live in the wild.  And my conclusion?  It's complicated.

I think we CAN (and probably SHOULD) have exotic animals in zoos.  But we have to pick and choose the species and make sure the habitat and enrichment are high quality [enrichment is entertainment and exercise, so the animals don't get bored].

Let's talk about cats.

No, not those cats, THESE cats.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME - I helped to bottle raise this still very young tiger from infancy.  This is the last time I went in the cage with him.  He was getting too large and too potentially dangerous after this point.

I've done volunteer work with several species of exotic cat and I've observed a few species in the wild.  Lions and tigers?  Easy to do in captivity.  They do well in the right situation.  Small cats like the fishing cat?  Not so much.  Exotic cat species that are the size of a house cat are very nervous in captivity and do not like people looking at them.  

Image via Wikimedia Commons thanks to Cliff for posting it there

Lions and tigers?  They either don't care or enjoy interacting with people (I know of one place that had to reinforce their glass viewing area because one of their tigers liked to jump out of hiding at people and slam against the glass - great reaction from the people, entertainment for the tiger, but we don't want that glass breaking!).

So smaller is not necessarily better.  

How is the average person supposed to form an opinion on the subject? I really don't know.  I have opinions about certain species, those I've worked with or know a lot about through research but other species?  For example I don't know if giraffes do well in captivity or not but I hate seeing bears in zoos (I have seen ONE place that does bears right.   ONE).

Then there is the idea that animals are happier in the wild.

Snort.

I've studied and worked with wild animals, too.  Life in the wild is not a Disney movie.  It's hard, often painful and very often short.  Are wild animals happy?  Maybe some are but I don't think that happiness is the appropriate word for how they feel.  Most of them they're just trying to survive day by day.  I'd be willing to bet the tiger in the above picture is "happier" in captivity than if he were in the wild.  His life is certainly easier.

Let me leave you with an anecdote.  

There is a facility in Florida that has captive dolphins.  Their enclosures are set up so that water flows freely from the "wild" into the "pens."  When a hurricane is on track to hit this facility they open the pens and let the dolphins out.  The dolphins can then swim out to deeper water or away from the direct path of the storm where it is safer.  After the storm the dolphins come back on their own.  

Now tell me they're happier in the wild than in captivity.

Photo by Faraj Meir from Wikimedia Commons