• Socioecology,  Uncategorized,  Wildlife

    Let’s Talk About: Feeding Wildlife

    I think we all have an innate connection with wildlife. Whether you’re a city slicker who visits the zoo, an avid sportsman who hunts and fishes to feed your family, or you’re like me and you’re somewhere in between, we all have a desire to see our wild counterparts.  Many people feed wildlife in some capacity as a way to engage with nature. But is feeding wildlife an ethical thing to do? In this blog post I’m going to explore the various components of this question in regards to the individual or household. Government agencies at both the state and federal level may engage in feeding wildlife for certain population…

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  • Home and Energy,  Socioecology,  Uncategorized

    Let’s Talk About: Leaving the Leaves

    What’s all the fuss about? A beautiful yard full of luscious green grass with a white picket fence is often included in the description of the American Dream, a little piece of land to call your own. And to many, having a meticulously manicured lawn is still important to them. Personally, I can never figure out how to mow in a way that creates the baseball field patterns, and our grass grows so fast that at peak times, mowing it twice a week is a challenge enough. It boggles my grandmother’s mind that I don’t bag my grass clippings. And how many times have I heard other’s lament on a…

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  • Socioecology,  Uncategorized,  Wildlife

    California: Let It Burn?

    As we all know, social media is both a blessing and a curse. One of the negatives of social media has been the propagation of misinformation and catchy sayings or infographics that just don’t hold any truth. The biggest one of these has been regarding the wild fires of 2020, specifically of those in California and the Western United States. I’ve seen tweets comparing 2019 wildfire statistics to those of 2020, and posts like “I don’t need a time machine to see climate change, all I have to do is look outside my window,” set to scenes of red smoky skies. As you can imagine, these and other similar posts…