Happy Earth Day!

I hope you have all enjoyed your Easter long weekend.  We had some nice weather and today seems like a good day to snuggle down in your house with a good book.  I read two books this weekend -- neither was great literature, but they both kept me interested.  The Last Stone by Mark Bowden is about a cold case of two missing little girls in Maryland and how the police officers never gave up trying to find out what had happened to them.  It was a very depressing story, and I found the ending as depressing as the entire book.  Certainly, it was amazing how persistent the police officers were, and I guess for many people dealing with crimes, the ending is never neat and perfectly tied up.  Then I read Beautiful Bad (which is a bad title, in my opinion).  It was an interesting mystery and although none of the characters were particularly admirable, it kept me reading to the end.  I guessed the ending about halfway through but I did want to see how it was accomplished.

Now I am reading The Overstory by Richard Powers and even though I have just started, I realize that it is on a completely different planet from the other two.  It is gloriously written and is thoughtful and makes you think about the connection between us and the other living things on earth (perfect for Earth Day) and he is able to create characters that you want to read more about in just a few short words.  It is about a farming family in Iowa and how their lives are reflected by a chestnut tree that the founding farmer planted when they settled the farm in the first place.  I have wanted to read it for some time and now my desire is being fulfilled.

On this earth day, all my green correspondents are communicating with me.  I support several environmental groups with donations (however small) -- Wildlife Rescue (which helps injured animals and birds), the Nature Conservancy (which buys land to protect habitat), the World Wildlife Fund (which works to help wildlife in all sorts of ways -- preserving habitat, preventing the international trade in wildlife and wildlife "products", fighting for endangered species, holding public awareness campaigns) and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada (which focuses on chimpanzees and their welfare).  They have all sent me encouraging messages for Earth Day.

This is from Wildlife Rescue and tells us what we can do to help the wild creatures with whom we share our community:

Pack your own!

• If you know you have to have your frappé, latte, macchiato or bubble tea to get through your day, commit to carrying with you a re-usable cup with lid that you can rinse and throw in your bag or purse. Same with bottled water. There are so many attractive options now!

Stow it away! 

• When not in use, put soccer nets, volleyball nets, hammocks and other recreational equipment in the garage or another storage space. If something can’t be moved, try tying bright fabric or a ribbon to it—something that animals with good night vision can clearly see.

Patch it up!

• Patch up any holes around the exterior of your home that attract bird species for nesting during spring. But be cautious and check first – you don’t want to trap bird or animal babies already inside! 

De-tangle!

• Lovingly toiling over your garden for hours means you want to protect the fruits of your labour from nibbling wildlife. However, small animals and birds can get hopelessly entangled in trellis and lawn netting and wound themselves or dehydrate and die. Consider alternatives such as flash tape, motion-detecting sprinklers, or wooden trellises.

I have another addition!  Keep your cat inside your house!  Not only will your cat live longer (safe from predators like raccoons and coyotes and safe from cars!) but it will not be a hunting hazard to songbirds and other small wild creatures.  Cats are beautiful, loving creatures but they are also excellent hunters and they kill from 100 million to 350 million songbirds in Canada every year.  When people tell me that's "natural", I am compelled to point out to them that their cat is not surviving in nature like the songbird is.  The bird has to take risks to get its food, to find a mate and to rear its young, but your cat is cared for by you -- it is well fed and if it gets hurt, you take it to the vet.  It doesn't have to fight off predators.  So your cat has an unfair advantage.  It is better for all of us if your cat learns that its territory is your house.  If a mouse sneaks in, your cat has every right to hunt it down, but the songbirds are not invading your house and deserve a chance to survive and bring us all joy through their beauty, their songs and their fascinating behaviors!