Importance Of, Is Bigger Than You Think.

Earlier Today I read 2 articles that told of great victories in the protection of wildlife.(The links to these articles will be posted at the bottom of my blog) I very often have thoughts related to this topic that run through my head, so I decided to share.

Articles and stories, like the 2 that I read today, are ones that can educate, inspire and change peoples views, and perhaps make their views clearer on the importance towards conservation and the treatment of animals, and their surroundings.

More often than not, there seems to be a negative and hopeless view towards this issue by many people; a view that the conservation of animals will not benefit our (humans) society and therefor is “not worth the time”, care, or effort. I have heard many views and opinions on the issue, and, a lot of the time I hear things such as, “Well, they are part of the food chain”, ” They are just animals; they are meant to die” and then the most heard, ” Its JUST an animal…”, I mostly think that these people don’t see animals as having significance, they seem to think that animals have no feelings, thoughts or souls. That when  an animals baby is taken, killed, or poached – a huge issue – the mother won’t feel what a human mother would feel, simply because its an animal.

Once you have interacted with another species, you truly see it for who it is. You are able to see that they, who are looking you right in the eyes, are looking deeper into you than you know. That unlike most of you, he/she is seeing a different species and has a curiosity towards you, sees you not as a non-living thing, but rather a being who looks different from himself, but at the same time, such similarity in so many ways that causes a feel of connection and respect.

Watching them in how they behave, how they eat to survive, adapt, follow the rules and ways taught down through generations of the first; caring for the young until the young is old enough to care for itself, showing feelings of sympathy and sadness — Showing love . These are all the things that we also do, but with less of a destruction to themselves and to others, like we (humans) do.

Now, everything I said above is not the only reason you should care about other living species who share this home (earth) with us. Another reason being that, without them, we would also not survive. We live on a earth that requires balance, and when we remove one of the species we are creating an unbalance that is causing disruption to the entire system. We also most likely wont notice the disruption until it’s too late.

I think society needs to enrich their knowledge of  space, earth, climate, environment, and all species, to really learn about how all of these, and many more, are so important to why everything surrounding us, is as it is for a reason; all a part of the system. Once you are able to understand and connect all of these parts, you start to see how everything on this earth has purpose. Sure, we can continue to cause destruction, but we will have to suffer when it might be too late to fix. We did not create this earth and so we have no right to destroy it.

This quote, I find, says it pretty well: ““the diversity of life is something like the rivets on an airplane. Each species plays a small but significant role in the working of the whole, and the loss of any rivet weakens the plane by a small but measurable amount. Pop too many rivets and the plane will crash that is, some vital function will collapse.” – Yvonne Baskin

The other day I was thinking about how the earth, environment, and animals all inspire so many great things. How so many movies have been made from the idea of a lion who goes through struggles growing up and becomes king ( Lion King), a boy growing up in the jungle and develops strong friendships with the animals ( jungle book & tarzan), Animals have inspired more movies than I can write into here. They have also inspired creative, enchanting books for children and adults, stuffed animals we slept with, the joy that they brought, and still bring, to many children and grown-ups.

Imagine if we were the generation that lived after previous generations who continued to ignore the importance of the earth and all species on it, causing the extinction of many animals and causing the loss of pristine locations. Imagine if we were not to know what a lion was, or that the Rainforest existed. The thought of not knowing these animals or the beauty of these locations, never getting to see or visit them, or just knowing that I never could…it weighs me down with such sadness.

That sadness I mentioned above is what inspires me to keep myself educated and continue to learn as much as I can about the earth I live on, and the animals who I share the land and water with. And with the knowledge, I will continue to stand-up and demand the importance not be ignored.

I do have hope…I hope that more people will learn to appreciate what surrounds them and learn to care about all others, because if not…we will be the cause of death to such beauty that this earth holds.

C.Coughlan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17492146

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/travelnews/2012/03/pictures/120327-africa-parks-conservation/

Mount-Royal ; Natures Beauty Hidden Within The City.

Last Saturday was planned to be a day outdoors -no matter what the weather. We recently had one week of unbelievable March summer-like-weather, and it seems to have diminished.
The day turned out to be a little chilly and cloudy, but the sun became less shy as the day went on. And, It ended up being one of the most recent well-spent Saturdays, with a good friend, in the outdoors of Montreal.

The photos from this outing can be seen below this entry, at the bottom.

As I woke myself up at around 10:30-11 — I slept in a bit longer than I planned — I instantly hopped out of bed and let Mel — a very good friend of mine since childhood, and whos company I would be enjoying for the day — know that I had woken-up and was planning to leave my place by around 12:30PM. The day of adventure was planned that we would explore Mount-Royal, have a nice walk-up and enjoy its beauty and trails.

As Mel arrived at my place at the planned time, we began our walk towards Westmount –we chose this route to get to the base of Mount-Royal. We walked, and we talked, and we made our way up steep, long streets. We had then arrived at the wooden staircase that leads to the start of  just one of the many trails. We have both been to Mount-Royal before, but never quite explored it like we were about to; getting lost in the cemetery, ending up in Côte-des-Neiges, and finally ending up back on track and on top of Mount-Royal.

After Mel and I had reached the Beaver Lake, one of the first stops on the way up the mountain, we took a short break from walking, and took in the scenery of the water and seagulls; whom were vocalizing to each-other, as well as one bullying another out of its spot on the water. We also saw 1 duck floating along around the seagulls – It was really nice to watch and snap photos of!

We continued on, and came to an intersection of paths and randomly picked which one to head into. We noticed the path was bringing us OUT of the trails, but we didn’t mind because, as we planned, it was to be a day of adventure!…we continued to walk out of the path, and noticed a cemetery just ahead of us; we both agreed to enter and take a look.

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, is where we entered and explored. It was pretty interesting to see all the names, different years –that dated way back–, sections of rows, tombstone styles. It was really a nice walk, and, aside from the dug-up ground in some areas, it was a non-creepy feeling. You cant help but wonder about who they were and what their life story was.

We continued to walk around the cemetery, and started to realize that we had no clue what entrance we had entered from, and that we needed to find an exit so we could continue on with our Mount-Royal trails. After finally finding out way out, we exited on Côte-des-Neiges Road, and Mel did some searching on exactly where we were located in order to get back to where we had gone-off. After a short bus ride, coffee break at Starbucks, metro ride, and walk; we were back to the hills! Mel and I both really enjoy walking around places and taking in the surroundings, so the ending up in a different area was extremely fun to us!

We eventually — after climbing another wooden staircase that went on forever, and leaving us feeling like we had been on the stair master for over an hour — reached the top lookout where we took in the view and re-hydrated…it was such a rewarding feeling and a nice scenic view of the city.

4 1/2 – 5 hours of walking, amazing time spent with Mel and being around all the beauty that is hidden in the City — truly an AWESOME day! I was, of course, dead tired and couldn’t resist falling halfway onto my bed when I arrived home, but I still was able to build some energy and head out to my plans I had made for the night. And even though my feet felt the stinging the next day, I would do…WILL do, all of it ALL over again any upcoming weekend 😀

C.Coughlan

Beaver Lake

Seagulls at Beaver Lake

This seagull was floating along beautifully.

The only duck -at that time- at Beaver Lake.

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery

Road inside Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery. I loved how the trees looked.

This one was my favorite in the cemetery – hobbit house? 😛

One of the mud trails on Mount-Royal.

On Mount-Royal trail, but not far up at this point.

At the start of one of the wooden stairs going up.

Lookout location!

Montreal  View from Lookout.

Mel and I at the lookout – we struggled to snap a picture ourself, lol.

Back at Beaver Lake on our way back down Mount-Royal.

I absolutely loved getting pictures of this one.

Not quite sure what this is, it was located on one of the trails – but it looked interesting and I just ad to get a picture of it.

The sound of that water hitting the rock…relaxing

A Weekend Away, Brought The Honeydew Melon Air, My Way

After a weekend away in the townships, i’m back in Montreal and missing my dad, Lili & the kitties, already. It was – as always is – a wonderful visit.

We arrived on Friday evening, at around 8 o’clock, and spent the rest of the night catching up, having dinner and watching hockey ( not my choice 😛 ). We all headed to bed pretty early – Fridays, being the end of the work week, we were all pretty pooped.

It certainly felt nice waking up Saturday, and seeing the gorgeous weather that had arrived and set-in for the day. My sister and I took it pretty easy in the morning/afternoon – watching movies and enjoying the chance of being able to just relax and be task-free. But each time I took a glance out the window, I couldn’t sit still. Each glare left me wanting to just go out and take advantage of the sun and crisp air. I was trying to hold-off on giving into the urge – the plan was that after my dad’s nap, we would go to the water and enjoy the nature of the area, and so i was trying to wait -… and I couldn’t! I ended up taking a nice little walk alone. The beautiful spring wind blowing and smelling of Honeydew ( it did! and i don’t know why! But I loved it!) 

At around — late afternoon, my Dad, Sister and I decided to head out to the 1st of the 2, water locations that Dad had planned for us to visit. The first was not at all far from his place, just up the road in fact. It was quiet and the sound of the flowing water was soothing. I carefully walked down a steep hill of rocks, in order to get closer to the stream. Prepared with my water boots on, I wasn’t shy to get closer in the rocky, dirt-filled location. I was able to shoot some pretty nice pictures and enjoyed the father-daughter time with my sister and dad. After fully enjoying this location, we headed back to the car. On to the next!  Dad drove us to the 2nd location a little farther. This location was very interesting for me. It’s in an area that has tended to flood quite often and was still very damp and muddy from the last flood. It was fascinating to explore and snap photos of.
As we parked just above the hill that lead down to the lake, I – without hesitation – jumped out of the car and instantly found a way to make it down the muddy hill and to the edge of the water. It did feel, at times, as though the ground beneath me was going to sink at any second – due to the flooding, the ground was still VERY moist and pressure was certainly not the greatest idea… But I, very cautiously, moved along the edge and around, and got to take close-up looks at the plants, trees and dirt surrounding. One tree really caught my eye, It was shaped so differently than the rest and had holes all up and down the trunk. These holes show that a small species was, or is living in, or pecking at, the trunk. The pictures I snapped of this tree, really show its beauty. I also got a bunch of other great pictures of this location. I noticed I had been there a while, and I could tell my dad and sister were ready to go – it was beginning to get pretty dark and my dad wanted to start the barbecue before the night set-in – so I, amazingly without falling for slipping, made my way back up the muddy hill and to the car. We made it back in time for dad to cook-up a very tummy pleasing meal of, hamburgers for Himself, Lili and Shawna. And veggie dogs, for me. The rest of the weekend was perfectly relaxing and we enjoyed summer-like temperatures on Sunday, the same day we had to head back to Montreal.

Not only did I get to experience some of the spring weather out in nature. but more importantly, I got to spend quality time with my silly, charming, most loving dad, who I love so much!, and with Lili and my Sister. The weekends never seem like long enough and i’m missing them already.

C. Coughlan

 

Tst

Pure-Inspirational Power And Freedom.

“And if we dare to look into those eyes, then we shall feel their suffering in our hearts. More and more people have seen that appeal and felt it in their hearts. All around the world there is an awakening of understanding and compassion…”
– Jane Goodall

A photo I found online. I find it absolutely stunning! The wolf, being the ultimate symbol of freedom, also a sibling to us on this earth. Looking at this photo, you can’t help but feel a sudden rush of pure, inspiring power and –as quoted by Jane goodall–compassion.

Not Known To Many, But Not Forgotten, By Many More.

The Baiji Dolphin (Goddess Of The Yangtze) a beautiful aquatic mammal.

The Baiji use to call the Yangtze River home, and sadly they can no longer be found there or anywhere else. In 2006 they were declared to be functionally extinct. Scientists went on a 6 week search covering a very large body of the river, and spotted not one. The recording of thier population over the years gives alert with each number ; 1980’s – around 400 left, 1990’s- aroud 100 left, in 1997 there were 13 sightings. Amazingly, 1 year after the 2006 search, 1 Baiji was spotted — Which likely to be the last sighting ever.

And WHY? why can’t these beautiful dolphins ever be seen again? Humans selfish-arrogance, in my opinion.

TWO major factors of their species being extinct; Over-fishing and Dam building. Not only did the baiji struggle to get food due to the over-fishing, but also, the Baiji were VERY likely disoriented from the high noise activity taking place by these boats, and by the damming –They had a hard time finding food (fish).  The baiji, being almost completely blind, rely mostly on their sonar to find  food. It’s tragically heartbreaking to think of the incidents that would take place when the baiji wouldn’t notice a boat –often these fishers illegally used dynamite along with other un-approved fishing methods– or, because of high noise, they wouldn’t accurately be able to use their sonar. They were helpless, and not only were they unsure of how to adapt but, it was nearly impossible for them to adapt. Humans had not only taken over their home; they were abusing it.

The Baiji is the first aquatic mammal to go extinct in over more than half a century. As stated by Mr. Wang, a researcher at a hydrobiology center, who did studies on the baiji, ” The Baiji were at the top of the food chain like humans, and if the river cant support them anymore, how will it support humans?”.

If we continue to use and abuse the earth we live on, and the other species living with us, what fate are we driving ourselves to ?  Brings you to think, If this species, and other species, can go extinct…So can we! Yet we are constantly thinking we are the ‘better’ ones, and think we have some right to decide that they, or our home (earth) is our possession that we can control and decide for … is it not all of ours? Or, do we not belong TO the earth ? We seem to think we are indestructible to it. We aren’t. We all will have the same fate as the Baiji.

I wanted to write about the Baiji, because a lot of people don’t know and never will know about them, unless its taught. Its sad enough that they have already been killed out of existence — it would be even more tragic if they became lost, with no one new learning of them, or of their story and souls.

So I dedicate today to the Baiji Dolphins. You may not be known to many, but you will never be forgotten, by many more.

C.Coughlan

I Was Me, But I Wasn’t The REAL Me.

Living Downtown – Ah yes, its nice…sometimes. The good things are that: 1) It’s convenient and there’s not much need for a car – you can walk and take the Metro almost everywhere. 2) There’s never REALLY a dull moment. Anywhere you walk, there’s pretty much always something going on. 3) You get to meet some pretty awesome people; people who are also from here, and visitors from other parts of the world. Had I not moved here, some amazing people wouldn’t be in my life right now.

Now, all the good reasons listed above, I must say, are pretty cool at times. But living here can also be overwhelming, and cause you to get sucked into a different kind of world. The busyness, loudness, the large quantity of buildings and people…it can get very stressful being around it all. It sometimes caused me to go a little coo-coo.

Years ago, when I was younger, if you would have told me that I would be living downtown I would laugh and say ” NO WAY!”. All my life I told everyone that I would live in the country, have a ranch, be taking care of horses–no way would i be downtown in the CITY! its exactly what i wanted to avoid. As I grew up, and certain things in my life changed, I became more open to the idea. I had been Living on my own in the west island, and it wasn’t too bad. I had my family close by. but, nothing was convenient and to be honest it was very annoying not being able to walk to — well, anywhere!. So moving Downtown it was!  And at first it was great, it was really fun actually. We (Roommate & I ) spent alot of nights having adventures in the city, and now have great memories of it. But one thing I noticed, was that I was loosing a significant part of what made me who I am. I stopped doing anything that I used to love doing and I started focusing on all the wrong things. I didn’t even notice that I wasn’t really my true-self anymore. In the city you don’t really stop to notice things or think clearly, especially when surrounded by all the stores and people trying to convince you that you need to get this and that… oouff, it can be insane. So, there I was… it was me…but not the REAL me. The passion for the things I loved was stored away and just waiting for my realization to hit. And it did.

In my pre-teen and teen years, I would spend every other weekend at my dads place in the Eastern Townships, In Bolton Center. I loved it SO much up there. Clean-fresh air, mountains, deer, cows, beavers, rabbits, frogs, and most importantly – Horses! ! My heart and soul is in complete love with Horses, THEY are indeed my true soul-mates. As a child I would always say that ” If I were to be surrounded by horses but then told I would die within days, I would be fine! I would be the happiest person because I got to be with the horses and that’s all I wanted!”. I look back on all the times I would say this and…yeah, maybe It sounds a little extreme. but oooh, if you know me, and know the love I have for them – it wouldn’t sound extreme at all ;).  So this (E.Townships) is where I loved to be. Being surrounded by nature, and beautiful scenery–There’s no better place to find peace of mind, clear thoughts, balance, and to enjoy and see the true beauty of the earth we live on. This is the environment I loved and still do love being surrounded by.

My realization of the lost ME was when I finally – after too long of a time- went to the townships to visit my dad and Lili ( his long-time girlfriend and who’s like a 2nd mother to me). I spent only the weekend –Never feels like long enough– but it was just what I needed. Being surrounded by the beauty of nature and also by family. It’s almost like a magical place for me. My head instantly de-cluttered and my thoughts became so pure; I was able to step outside of myself and observe the year that passed. It was then, that I realized I wasnt happy because I had not been surrounding myself with anything that truly actually made me happy, I wasn’t working with animals anymore, I wasn’t helping with the petitions for human-rights and animal rights like i used to do… I wasn’t around anything, or doing anything that I TRULY loved to do or be around. This trip changed all that. I came back and decided from there on I would not loose myself again. I would begin to to all the things that I used to do and I would stand-up and fight for all the things i used to fight for. I would continue where I left off on wanting to work with animals and wildlife… It was time to be ME again.

So here I am today. I still live Downtown for now,  but i’m slowly (not too slow) getting back at doing the things I love. I am seeing the beauty in most things again and I finally feel that spark is back. I was put here, with the love that I have, for a reason, and I will use it fully to do whatever I can to help.

So I guess what I want to share with others is that… Easily you can forget who you really are. But it never leaves you, its down there and you may have forgotten a little or maybe even a lot, but its there. So go to that place that clears your thoughts, the place that makes you feel most connected to yourself,  and really look back on things and think about it all… What makes you truly happy? what do you really believe? What is missing ? what is more needed of? What will you want to of had, done, or of been when you move on? what to you, is as horses and nature, are to me?

C.Coughlan

I Pledge To Go See “Chimpanzee” On Opening Week!

“They are going to see we are NOT the only beings with personalities, and minds capable of thoughts…” – Jane Goodall

JOIN IN AND PLEDGE AT:

http://www.causes.com/causes/652532-disneynature/actions/1596665

“Balance” More of us need to remember how important it is!

THIS video really gives good insight into the wolf “problem” that is taking place in Idaho and elsewhere. And its a pretty big battle.

I personally find that the man who is PRO-kill all Canadian Wolves, is really just mental case and close-minded. He is anti-wolf for all the wrong reasons. However, the rancher, Luke Morgan – who is shown halfway through – makes some reasonable points that i can understand. He is not against them, and doesn’t see them as “Evil” – as quoted by mental-case, anti-wolf, man -,but his points are more towards that it is harder for him to protect his cattle…in this I can respect his opinion and how he’s sided, but, what needs to be looked at more precisely is..WHY, why is it that more than before, they are coming after the cattle more frequently(as made seemed by him) ? there’s a reason for all things and it seems like instead of getting to that reason, the people are just full blaming the wolves because they are too ignorant to care what the real reason behind this assumed issue, may be.

The Nez Perce Indians, opinions and points in this video, I respect the most! The words they speak not only have such truth that rings through, but they also understand the balance that is needed in life. As quoted from this video by one of them, Brooklyn Baptiste- “There’s always a balance to things; there’s a balance in nature, there’s a balance in culture, in your spirituality…whatever is it. There’s always balance in life, and without that one part – you unbalance the ecosystem.”

I strongly recommend this video, for everyone who cares, to see. I found it to be a very good insight into this problem. I like that both sides are shown equally and you can then make your own judgement towards it. However, I believe you will find yourself hearing truth in what the Indians say.

C.Coughlan

Key Points quoted from the Nez Perce Indians:

You can’t just sacrifice a species of a life because it’s comfortable for your civilization, or because its comfortable for your frame of mind.”

“..It’s unfortunate that the arrogance of someones culture can override what has belonged here for thousands of years. THAT arrogance, we face it and will continue to face it…”

“Wolves shouldn’t be in just a book. We have enough of those stories. And, if we don’t bring those back, they will just be that – a story, a story that they USED to be around..”

Gorillas More Related to People Than Thought, Genome Says

Gorillas More Related to People Than Thought, Genome Says.

“The big picture is that we’re perhaps 98 percent identical in our sequences to gorillas. So that means most of our genes are very similar, or even identical to, the gorilla version of the same gene,” said Chris Tyler-Smith

To Read The Full Article, Go here:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120306-gorilla-genome-apes-humans-evolution-science/

Canadian plan to kill wolves may save caribou, upset ecologists

Canadian plan to kill wolves may save caribou, upset ecologists.

Read the article if you don’t already know much about this.

Total B.S! This pisses me off!