Author: Mr. Breeze

I do be a kitteh. I haz a blog.

Video: The Tigers of Scotland

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Narrated by Iain Glen, this independent natural history documentary investigates the Scottish Wildcat, their endangered status and the conservation efforts being undertaken to prevent their extinction.

Scottish Wildcats are affectionately known as Highland Tigers. The name originates from their striped fur and that they’re not only one of Britain’s largest predators, but the UK’s only “big cat”.

Originally released on Netflix in 2018, this is the first time the full length, unedited version has been published, and in 4K.

Shooting Craps: The Wombat

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Wombat Shooting Craps
Wombat Shooting Craps
by @kittehboi and Nightcafe.

Wombats are cute little Australian animals. Their long teeth make them look like rodents, but in reality they’re marsupials, relatives of koalas and kangaroos.

Marsupials differ from mammals like dogs and cats in a number of ways, but the most important way is that wombat fetuses have a simple placenta that doesn’t provide enough nutrition for a large fetus. The joeys have to get out so early that they can’t live outside the mother’s body. After the joeys are born they have to make the arduous climb into their mama’s special pouch, where they will keep warm and drink milk until they’re big enough to live outside.

Wombat pouches are unique among marsupials. While kangaroo pouches open at the top, wombat pouches open at the bottom. Wombats like to dig. If they had a normal pouch, it would scoop up dirt.

According the the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, bare-nosed wombats are about the size of a medium size dog.

Bare-nosed wombats average 1 m [39 inches] in length and 27 kg [50 pounds] in weight yet can reach up to 1.2 m [47 inches] in length and up to 35 kg [77 pounds] in weight. The Tasmanian wombat is not as large or bulky, averaging 85 cm [33 inches] in length and 20 kg [48 pounds] in weight, while the Flinders Island wombat is smaller still averaging only 75 cm [30 inches] in length.

Now about the dice.

Wombats have particularly long, flexible intestines. It takes up to 12 days for poop to traverse the wombat’s digestive tract, and it is wrung dry during the trip. The result is that wombat poop is unique: it’s cubic like dice. No other animal in the world poops dice!



Why Animal Testing is Illogical

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Animal testing is illogical. Although humans and many other species have similar DNA, and though most organ systems are similar, subtle differences make using animal models to test food, drugs and cosmetics unreliable. Here are just three ways animals don’t react the same as humans.

Rats are known to be more resistant to a certain mushroom toxin than humans. Some mushrooms, notably the Fools webcap, contain a nephrotoxin called orellanine. Rats can eat mushrooms that are deadly to humans.
Feeding a food to animals is not a valid test.

In 2006 a new immune system boosting drug, TGN1412, which had been successfully tested in animals, went to human trials. The subjects were only given the equivalent of 1/500th the safe dose for “non-human primates,” macaques. A single amino acid difference between macaque and human DNA caused violent immune system reactions in humans. Within 90 minutes of the injection, the test subjects suffered searing pain. Within a few hours they suffered multiple organ failure. On a positive note, all the test subjects survived.
Giving a drug to animals is not a valid test.

Dogs and cats don’t usually get poison ivy. Most humans are highly allergic to the active ingredient, urushiol oil. Non-primate species can walk through poison ivy and at most get some irritation.
Applying cosmetics to an animal’s skin is not a valid test.

Fortunately, modern medicine has a number of alternatives to animal tests. One promising technology is Organ Chips, tiny devices about the size of a USB memory stick that contain living human cells.

Lots of drugs don’t make it through the animal trials, but who knows whether the drug companies have thrown away the Magic Bullet simply because it didn’t work on animals?

How to Use Social Media Safely

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Evolution of online communication
Evolution of online communication
by ChatGPT and @kittehboi

A Guide for Anipals

  • Pick the Right App
    Use apps you understand, preferably recommended by trusted friends. Read the app’s Privacy Statement and if you disagree, don’t sign up! Despite what you see on Facebook, it’s not possible to unilaterally override a binding contract by posting that you disagree.
  • Keep Your Info Private
    Don’t share your full name, address, or phone number. Don’t share your email address or your workplace. Make your account private. There are millions of people globally on social media and they aren’t all nice. Most apps have a Settings section where you can pick your privacy, enable or disable notifications, allow AI to train with your posts, manage advertising preferences, and maintain your block list.
  • Use Strong Passwords
    Pick a password no one can guess. Don’t reuse old ones. If you use something obvious like your spouse’s birthday or your pet’s name, anybody who can find that information can guess your password, log in to your account, lock you out, then post terrible things in your name.
  • Think Before You Post
    Never say anything on the internet you wouldn’t want to see spray-painted on the front of your house. This goes for private messages too. Companies may change their privacy policies and expose DMs and profile info. A corollary to this is that unless you delete your posts then your entire account, your posts may show up 5, 10, or even 40 years later.
  • Be Kind
    No name-calling or threats. A reputation can be gone in a minute with a single post. You never know whether deleted posts are really deleted, or whether somebody is screen-capturing conversations. The obverse, of course, is to BLOCK rude people. It’s not worth the aggravation.
  • Don’t Fall for Fake News
    Check before you believe or share a story. Look up the original source on a legitimate, well-known web page. BTW, Wikipedia itself isn’t a reliable web page, but the References at the bottom of the article often are. Bad actors can generate false videos- deepfakes – using AI. Avoid biased pages. Remember, Snopes is your friend.

Links for Further Reading