Permaculture Blog

A new mountain lion has been spotted in Los Angeles, and locals are eager to catch a glimpse of it.

Source: Hollywood’s next big star is a mountain lion

A 20-year study on the effects of reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park was just published.

Source: Researchers find adverse effects of apex predator reintroduction: ‘The conservation message is don’t lose them in the first place’

When you disturb ecosystems by changing the makeup of a food web, it can lead to lasting changes that are not quickly fixed,” Tom Hobbs, lead author and professor emeritus with the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability and the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, said in the report.

And stop destroying it from the other end by spraying pesticides all over our wilderness areas. In 50 years we will be going “oh my gosh we shouldn’t have been destroying the smaller creatures.”

Who would have thought.

You really should watch this! It does a good job of pointing out the problems in the food industry advertisement campaigns. Do you want to bet that their PR departments have psychologists on speed dial so that they can choose the right words to manipulate you. And why hot dogs need to have sugar added has always puzzled me.

Four out of five doctors prefer Camel cigarettes. 😀 That was a real ad. And the pesticide industry is just as bad if not worse. “You can drink it” “we have to use it on this invasive species to preserve _______”, “it is a harmless inert ingredient”, “it is a green pesticide”, etc.  By the way, if it’s truly inert than just replace it with water.  Oh!!  You need it?  Then it is not so inert after all.

A lot of this is due to our desire for instant gratification! We could try to not to blame the companies as much, they are simply giving us what we want. The number of people on a permaculture website crying how do I kill ________ in _my_ beehive, Garden, Barn, or ________ is mind-boggling. I must admit I’ve done it at some level myself. I try to be better everyday. I hope you do too my friends.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) received confirmation on May 6 samples collected from two deer, one in Madera County near Yosemite Lakes and the other in Inyo County, near Bishop. The deer in Madera County was found dead due to unknown causes and the Inyo County deer was found dead after a vehicle collision.

Source: Chronic Wasting Disease Discovered in California Deer For the First Time; Fish & Wildlife Asks Hunters and Others to Be on the Lookout for Symptoms

There appears to be no known link between CWD and human disease, although a similar prion animal disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease in cattle, has been linked to fatal disease in humans through the consumption of infected beef.

The above quote is absolutely not true. There is a clear link. Deer were originally contaminated on the East Coast and Midwest due to feeding them during the winter with contaminated cattle feed. The deer prion is literally derived from the same source as the cow prion.
Hunters on the East Coast must turn in samples of all kills for analysis. And hunters are warned to not eat neurological tissue. If you are eating venison in California beware. Another very good reason to go vegan. 😀 But here’s an additional problem. Dogs are thought to have acquired bovine spongiform encephalopathy BSE in Europe from contaminated pet food so it’s possible that it can be transmitted to our newly established wolf populations They may be in serious trouble. There is also more and more suggestion that Alzheimer’s may be derived from the cattle part of this. Be safe out there my friends.