With the past weekend in the rearview mirror, we’ve wrapped up October, Halloween, and the craziness of voting here in the U.S. -- at least for most of us. Some will still be dealing with both the last little bits of voting in person and leftover Halloween candy for the rest of the week, and both might be somewhat traumatic for us in some way or another. But we’re feeling lighter already and a little slaphappy, so we’ll bring up some ideas that seem far apart, but are actually connected (just like people). Green monsters, Silicon Valley, Waffles, Death Valley, The high-intensity vapor lamp, and laundry detergent.
In celebration of the last big event in October, The Donkey Welfare Symposium (virtual this year), we wanted to include an interview with Erick Lundgren. This gentleman is studying donkeys, but not in the everyday husbandry sense. He’s looking at the broader ecological impact of the animals we use, when the humans drop out of the picture. Ever wonder where all the wild burros come from in the U.S.? Some of the agricultural animals that we have domesticated, imported, used, and then set loose have adapted and thrived. Are they pests, or contributing members of their ecosystem? Erick is collecting data to determine that answer. If you saw him at the seminar this weekend, or even if you didn’t we hope you enjoy our interview with this field scientist who studies megafauna and their impact on the environment. We didn’t offer him any waffles when we met, via Zoom. This guy does some serious traveling.
Links:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qgdLndsAAAAJ&hl=en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0126029/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/11/17/barron-park-donkey-perry-returns-home
http://www.donkeywelfaresymposium.org/
https://www.facebook.com/DonkeyWelfareSymposium
https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/ten-ways-donkeys-are-different-horses
https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/11/27/palo-alto-donkey-is-a-true-screen-gem/
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/10/04/beloved-palo-alto-donkey-dies-at-32
http://barronparkdonkeys.org/donkeys/perry/
http://barronparkdonkeys.org/about/park-history/
https://patch.com/california/paloalto/palo-altos-resident-donkeys-perry-jenny-receive-2k-donation
http://www.paloaltohistory.org/bol-park-donkeys.php
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=3872
http://www.paloaltohistory.org/bol-park-donkeys.php
http://www.mulerescue.org/