Badgers- one of the most powerful predators

The honey badger is known as “the world’s fearless animal” due to its eating habits and the fact that it attacks animals bigger than itself and does not hesitate to attack venomous creatures.

Show your support- BUY BADGER TOY

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DailySkew post #900: Perception creates reality and why is it illegal to feed ducks?

Blinders. False constructs. The limitations of your five senses. Attachment to powerful emotions. Being the sum of our experiences. Traditions and society indoctrinating customs and beliefs. Intelligence (or the lack of). Genetics. Personality. Physical desires which cannot be quenched. The ego’s need to feel powerful and important. All of these things can obscure how we see the world.

***Fade out.***

***Fade in***

Let’s take South Florida’s obsession with complaining about ducks and iguanas. This is a sore subject for many Floridians. The ducks and iguanas you see walking around are not native to Florida. People brought them over a while back, and the population has boomed.

The humans and governments in Florida have major issues with ducks and iguanas. Florida law says specifically that you cannot feed ducks. There’s no explanation on the books, and some apologists want us to believe that lawmakers and cops are concerned about people making ducks reliant on humans and being unable to fend for themselves. In fact, there is *one* person who posts on every duck blog or duck forum and has a duck website spreading this and trying to make it a fact.

But that’s not the real reason.

Speak to any member of a homeowners association. Talk with your neighbor. Ask your rental manager. Floridians hate ducks because they crap on the ground and eat stuff.

Can you imagine?

How dare those birds do that. Why can’t they use the bathroom like (most) of us?

I know a former co-worker who is part of his townhouse association, and his job is to crack duck eggs that he sees (or someone reports!) so they don’t hatch. He also tells the board head if someone is caught feeding ducks, and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office may be called in to deal with the homeowner.

I’m serious, folks.

I see a dead duck on the road and cry; these people are happy there’s one less duck, and just want someone to dispose of the body- but not in their garbage, it would attract maggots. Our minds have different perceptions of the same event.

When it comes to animals, I am in the less than 1% percentile of people who treat animals as equals. I read forum debates, and have had debates with people in real life about their perceptions of pets, food, and animals in general. It’s amazing how contradictory people are.

Most people love turkey for Thanksgiving. There are disturbing videos out and confirmed reports, showing how the turkeys are kept before they are killed. It’s not pretty, folks. Think Auschwitz. I won’t even link it. But most people don’t care. The food is nicely packaged, and holiday tradition says it’s okay, so…

People don’t want to know how they get their food. They rationalize it. A great scene is where you eat your KFC chicken while your pet parakeet is chirping away.

I know how hard it is, though. So please don’t interpret this as an attack on carnivores. You can do whatever you want. When I was a kid, and was fed lamb chops, I didn’t see the cute lamb in that slab of meat on my dish. Pass the ketchup, please. I mean, my family was eating it. People on TV eat it. My role models ate it.

But one day I stopped. It was because pets were treated as members of the family. So if we are going to treat a cat like my sister and a guinea pig as my little brother- once you realize that all animals have feelings- then my would I want to be contributing to the suffering of a lamb in some sick farm factory?

I don’t discriminate, although I am a mass murder of non-sentient microscopic beings. I don’t practice “speciation”, or have a ranking of animals based on intelligence or feelings. So your cat has the same rights to live as you do. What- you think you are entitled to more because you can turn on the TV and sit in front of the idiot tube all night while you doze off drinking beer?

So many people boast about being on top of the food chain, and being more intelligent than animals. It’s like just because you can debate morality or appreciate beauty or practice religion or have the awareness of science somehow makes your feelings and right to live more important than other animals. I mean…Rush Limbaugh is a human. Is he “better” than a snail?

Others like to say, “Hey, this is survival of the fittest, and we are the apex predator”. I’d like to see their reaction if more intelligent aliens come here and use them for food. It would be perfectly okay in their belief system, but watch as these fools protect their families with shotguns in a hopeless attempt to stop our superior overlords. It should be noted that Adolf Hitler believed in practicing “survival of the fittest” with humans, as well.

The truth is some people are subconsciously jealous of animals because animals don’t have to go to work from 9-5 or worry about paying bills, and animals are beyond worrying about “right and wrong”. But animals have a such tougher life- they can be eaten at any given time, and have to worry about shelter and food constantly.

Most people who try to debate the South Floridians who use baseball bats to club iguanas refuse to get pushed by their opponents to admitting that they think humans are equal to iguanas; they never want to go there.

Well, I will go there. If monkeys take over India or Iguanas eat your fruit trees and sunbathe on your roof- good for them. I really don’t care about your selfish needs. The debate rages on when animals start destroying ecosystems or if rats start owning your house..but again….it is what it is. {shrug}

Get used to living with nature.

That’s my perception. It could be interpreted as an extreme skewed stance, or it could be an accurate description.

I get real riled up when someone complains about an iguana swimming in their Dade County swimming pool or if a duck poops on your steps.

The animals haters always say raccoons, possums, foxes, and birds spread disease and stuff. Most Floridians consider the wildlife here “pests, nuisances, and annoyances”. The law is on their side- they can kill any of these animals with no punishment as long as the animals (certain animals) aren’t “tortured”.

You can rationalize food chain and the right man has over animals all you want. The bottom line is humanity has destroyed so many habitats, has polluted the air, ground, and water, and has hunted species to extinction or to the brink of extinction, that you think I give a f–k if an iguana ate your tomato plants? Whose side do you think I will be rooting for when Godzilla comes back at takes care of business? The world would be a LOT quieter without humans destroying the environment in the name of “progress” [profit], and the laws of nature would take care of things in the animal world without human intervention (such as population control).

Animal abuse is all over YouTube…as animal populations grow, many South Floridians have become amateur hunters and post their “exploits” on the net.

Always listen to your children, because their perceptions are innocent and are not tainted:

“Why can’t we feed the ducks, Mommy?“

Posted in animals, psychology, rant | 2 Comments »

What horse supplies do you need?

Okay, so you finally bought a horse. Now what horse supplies do you need to keep your new friend happy and healthy? Well, first things first: you will need to maintain the physical well being of your horse. There are many horse nursing kits and supplies, such as allergy relief, milk replacers, natural remedies, hoof repair, dental supplies, horse thermometers, and more.

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Bow down to the Cockroach

The DailySkew has been conducting an interview with new correspondent Cecil the Cockroach for the last two weeks. Cecil has a few things he wants to discuss about humanity. During the course of our interview (to be published at a later date) two coincidences occurred:

1) Aliens were revealed to be evolved cockroaches from another planet in a Godzilla movie I watched last week.

2) A dying cockroach (big sucker) was on its back in front of the ladies restroom at work Monday morning.

Here is that story.

I saw the brown mass at 10:02 AM Monday morning, and was scared at first, but then saddened because the insect was dead…or so I thought. I saw an antenna move. Then some legs moved. This giant cockroach was probably a German cockroach, as opposed to Florida’s own Palmetto bug.

Now, as Cecil told me, the reason why dead or dying roaches are found on their backs is because their legs haven’t adapted to turn around on flat tiled floors without support. Roaches are just fine in the wild if they fall on their backs, but not on kitchen or bathroom floors. Cecil said it’s pretty embarrassing to die like that…he also said that many roaches on their backs have been poisoned, but I know that we don’t spray for bugs at the office.

I figured the roach was as good as dead…and I also knew that no one was going to pick it up and throw it out. Since it was so big, I had assumed that it lived a long life (probably 4-6 months) and it was just dying of old age.

Come Tuesday morning, I went to examine the carcass, and I was surprised to see the antenna still moving. I went closer, and that’s when the roach communicated to me. It said (by using images):

“Help me! I am still alive! Give me a fighting chance on the outside, not here on the floor in a man made creation. Even if I am to be eaten by a predator…give me a chance to live.”

So, under the cockroach’s control, I got a broom and a dustpan. One co-worker said, “Good, it’s about time someone picked it up”. But I informed her that I was not going to dispose of it..that it has a chance to live. But since I am always afraid to pick them up, I got Danny. He initially refused my first two requests, but under the mind control over the cockroach, I was unrelenting. I gave the items to Danny, and he put the roach in the dust pan. (As soon as the roach got on his feet, he started to run- he was in great condition!)

As Cecil told me during the unpublished interview, one day in the life of a roach is equal to 273 days of a human. So this particular roach had a long, rough day with no food, and was exposed on his back with no hope to get back on his feet- if it wasn’t for me, of course. The mind control was over once the roach was back on his feet.

So Danny took the roach out back. But Danny can’t be trusted because he abused animals when he was a kid in Cuba. And he dropped my new friend at the base of the canal- he wanted to see the fish, bird, or turtle tear my friend to pieces, or perhaps he wanted to see my friend drown after 273+ days of torment on the floor.

Well, guess what?

The cockroach was smarter than Danny.

It swam back on shore, and climbed the concrete curb. He starred at Danny and said, “I will always survive- you can’t beat me!”

Then he ran and hid in the grass, and we parted ways.

Danny claims he wanted to replenish the roach’s energy by dumping him in the water. He lied, of course. An attempted murderer and a liar, and this guy is supposed to be a Christian. (Oh wait, I forgot, the Bible says for Man to rule over all other life forms.)

Compare and contrast my compassion for living things to a former co-worker of mine, let’s call him Don.

One day, a girl, let’s call her Marie, was shouting- “A roach! A roach! Kill it!”

And here comes Don (Enneagram Type 3)- gleefully stepping on it in a LOUD THUD.

There were many reasons why Don did it, none of them noble:

1) To please Marie for a) a chance to have sex and b) political reasons.
2) To support his image of being macho and a protective alpha-male.
3) All other beings (human and non-human) are inferior, thus without value.

Anyway, I felt great that I played a part in saving one life today. I don’t care if people think I’m crazy, weird, or not macho. I really, really don’t care about their opinion when it comes to be saving the lives of creatures. Heck, even Danny felt great about it afterward. It’s not every day that he is outfoxed by a roach!

Posted in animals | 18 Comments »

Could mankind have existed without trees?

Could mankind exist without trees now? No. Of course, based on the theory of evolution, most of the world’s ecosystem would also cease to exist. From the evolutionary standpoint, if trees did not exist, Earth would be a totally different place, and it is debatable if humans would have even evolved in the first place because oxygen would not be the dominate gas for life forms.

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WAR’s interview: Travis chimpanzee monkey attacks woman

DailySkew: W.A.R., what do you think about the story making headlines: Chimp Attacks Woman.

W.A.R.: its pretty morbid.i mean its not everyday that a monkey rips a woman to shreds.truthfully i have been kinda in another zone these past few days.but sure enough i put on the tv(before comcast disconnected it) and theres this whole monkey attack story, and im like wow i didnt miss much now did it?

DS: Do you agree with the decision for the police to kill Travis the Chimp?

WR: well the ape attack is pretty sad on every end.i mean what else could they do when there is a monkey attack?

DS: What about smoke bombs?

WR: yeah.yeah.i guess the cops should have used smoke bombs.

DS: Tear gas?

WR: yeah. come to think about it this sounds like the cops shot first and asked questions later.

RIP Travis, brutally murdered by police.

Posted in Crime, animals | 8 Comments »

Pan: The leader of the goats, sheep, and pigs at Tradewinds Park

This is how the official Broward County websites describe Tradewinds Park:

“Tradewinds Park is an approximately 627-acre Broward County regional park and is located on both sides of Sample Road at 3600 W. Sample Rd. in Coconut Creek, just west of Florida’s Turnpike. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.“

This is what they don’t tell you:

The livestock pen at the farm (some people mistakenly believe it is a petting zoo) is run by one of the most powerful and magical goats of all time. His name is Pan, and he is colored black and white, with penetrating eyes and sharp horns.

Last Sunday, CCB3 and I observed how Pan and the other goats and sheep live and interact with each other. Whereas some families simply walked by the open stables and pen and saw a bunch of animals lying on the ground resting, CCB3 and I stood for hours watching the nuancies and details of Pan’s World.

Here’s our report:

Every society is run by alpha males, whether it be at your workplace or the livestock pen at Tradewinds Park. Pan is the dominant male in that society. At first we saw Pan patrolling the area, and he stood out because of his unusual color and mesmerizing eyes. Not only was Pan the most physically active, but he charged the other goats and sheep who dared lie down on the wooden Lookout Point (a stair/slide) in the center of the stable. After Pan cleared out Lookout Point, he proceeded to strut, grandstand, and stare down the female animals and any male animal foolish enough to challenge him.

Pan sharpened his horns, flexed his chest, and exercised his hooves. When a female goat approached CCB3 and I after I made a goat call, Pan ignored us, and sent mental telepathy to the female to “keep on movin’ bit_h”.

In fact, CCB3 and I heard Pan taunt and threaten all the males there. Pan, who sent these communications while he stared them down, said such threats as “Step down, punk”, “What?”, “I thought so…”, “Whatcha gonna do, boy?”, and “Sit your @$$ down”.

We also overheard Gar-Gar try to rally the sheep and goats to overthrown Pan again. Gar-Gar used to rule the pen years ago, before Pan rose to power by crippling Gar-Gar’s legs.

We also observed the mischievous Pan, Jr. Junior is an unstoppable force who knows he is protected by his father. Only Pan, Jr. was allowed to ascend Lookout Point with Pan’s permission. The pathetic Gar-Gar resents Pan Jr.

GAR-GAR: “Sheep, I bring news from Aldaron- news that can defeat Pan! Wait, please, you must listen!”

Pan allows Mexican chickens and roosters to make brief cameo appearances from the other pen. He also is well aware of the pigs next door to his area. As long as they have food, they are not a threat to his society. Birds are allowed to rest in their nests in the shade.

Pan seemingly was taking a rest in the middle of the day, as he lied down at the entrance of Lookout Point. However, we watched and chuckled as Pan sensed when one goat approached the other end of Lookout Point. All Pan had to do was slightly adjust his weight, and the other goat was caught in mid-step, and pretended that he was just “passing by”.

Pan’s life is tough because he must always supervise and be aware of everything. The sheep and other goats are not productive enough for Pan. We felt Pan sigh as one goat jumped into their water tub and fell asleep. Pan has been grooming the undisciplined Pan, Jr. but is not ready to turn over the reigns of power to him. Indeed, Pan will not transfer power willingly. Years from now, Pan Jr. must slay his father to claim his throne at Lookout Point.

At the end of our day, Pan put on a majestic and regal demonstration of his masculinity and power: he began to bang his head on lookout point, stood up and sharpened his horns. All of the female animals froze and worshiped him. After 6:00PM, when Tradewinds Park closed, Pan has his way with his preferred mates.

Gar-Gar did his best to look away from Pan, and pleaded with the humans that passed by to help his rebellion to overthrow Pan. Many times Gar-Gar looked at CCB3 and I with his sad and defeated eyes begging for us to help. Little did Gar-Gar know that we support Pan’s reign.

Long live PAN!

Posted in animals, ccb3 | 14 Comments »