Animals

MEET HUBIE, SCHUBIE AND DUBIE!

This week’s shelter pets are guinea pigs Hubert aka Hubie, Schubert aka Schubie and Dubois aka Dubie, currently up for adoption at the Smithtown Animal Shelter.

These 3 guinea pigs are all males of unknown ages.  They are a bit dominant together, so they can be adopted separately. All three were abandoned in Blydenburgh Park and left to fend for themselves. This is certain death for a guinea pig! Luckily, a Good Samaritan witnessed it and called it in.

Hubert is the tan and white – shy and gentle

Schubert is tri-colored (calico) very curious and vocal, he is still nervous about pets but will take treat from people and sniff/nibble on fingers.  He is the largest

Dubois is the smallest of the trio and is the most active/playful.  He will run and hop about the cage and is really beginning to enjoy head scratches.

The Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Visitor hours are currently Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings by appointment only). For more information, call 631-360-7575 or visit www.townofsmithtownanimalshelter.com.

**Please note the Smithtown Animal Shelter is not equipped to handle anything other than dogs/cats but as all rescues were full, they are holding these guinea pigs until they can get a place for them.

 

Mimi

On December 5, a Good Samaritan brought a stray cat to the Brookhaven Town Animal Shelter and Adoption Center after caring and feeding her for the past three months. Upon examining “Mimi,” the Animal Shelter Veterinarian tech found she had a microchip that traced her back to a family in East Setauket. When they contacted the owners, they couldn’t believe what they heard since “Mimi” had been lost 10 years ago. The owners had looked everywhere for “Mimi” and they thought she was never to be found. They have since moved to Spain with their three other cats and are now arranging an animal transport company to fly “Mimi” back to Spain with them.

The Town of Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center is celebrating the holiday season with its “Home for the Holidays” promotion, featuring free pet adoptions now through the month of December. Each adoption includes free neuter or spay, vaccinations, microchip, heartworm test, flea and other tests. The normal adoption fees are $137 for a dog and $140 for a cat. All adoptable pets are looking for a forever home this holiday season.

If you are interested in adopting a dog or cat, visit the Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center located at 300 Horseblock Road in Brookhaven. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm. For more information, visit the Town website or call 631-451-6950.

Doc

MEET DOC THE DELIGHTFUL DIABETIC!

This week’s shelter pet is handsome Doc who was found as a stray at the end of November and is now  doing his residency at the Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter until he can move on to a permanent home.

Doc

At approximately 8 years old, this man has a purr that won’t quit and an appetite for love and affection. Doc is diabetic, so he will need a home that can manage insulin injections twice a day and vet visits twice a year. This cat loves all people and would be a great addition to any home. He is available for adoption or as a Forever Foster. 

If you would like to meet Doc, please call ahead to schedule an hour to properly interact with him in a domestic setting.

The Smithtown Animal & Adoption Shelter is located at 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown. Visitor hours are currently Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings by appointment only). 

For more information, call 631-360-7575 or visit www.townofsmithtownanimalshelter.com.

Park poses for his portrait on Christmas, 2021. Photo by Barbara Anne Kirshner

By Barbara Anne Kirshner

I begin with a heartfelt thank you to all who have joined Park and me on our life’s journey through the pages of TBR News Media. Readers with whom I had the privilege to meet have shared how they enjoyed our stories, how they sympathized and even empathized with our bond.

It pains me to tell you that this is our final chapter.

Park crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Oct.  26, at 16 years and almost 4 months. He valiantly fought for the past year and a half to stay with me even as his aged body was breaking. He fought against the paralysis that took over his hind legs last year keeping him down for four months. 

But the resilient little man miraculously bounced back. At the point when I broached the subject of having a wheelchair made to fit Park, he started to push his hind legs up, to arch, then to straighten those legs and to my amazement, the day came when he walked on all fours again! 

Life was beautiful with my Prince Charming Park by my side — until Aug.  28. Park put his head down and when he raised it up again, he was blind. This blindness was proceeded by two weeks of noticeable head tremors which I reported to the vet who felt that at his advanced age, anything could happen.

We went to an ophthalmic dog specialist at VMCLI who, after giving Park a thorough examination, diagnosed that his blindness was not due to cataracts, but probably to a tumor pushing against his eyes. An MRI would corroborate this diagnosis, but I was cautioned of the danger of putting a dog of his advanced age under anesthetic. They could not guarantee he would survive the procedure. There was a very real chance that he might die on the operating table or have a negative reaction shortly after. The doctors at VMCLI were caring and understanding. Their advice was to hold Park close for whatever time we have left, but to put him through procedures that might reveal a tumor and then to follow that up with radiation was really too much for my little senior man. 

I followed their advice. We went home and I held Park tight, praying for more time.

BUT that was not to be. He started stroking out, falling into a coma. The first time it happened, I revived him with an eyedropper of water, prying it into his mouth through clenched teeth. As he revived, I tried giving him a spoonful of canned dog food, but he turned away from it which was alarming given the never satiated appetite of a dachshund. That’s when I thought of his favorite treat, McNulty’s vanilla ice cream. It worked like a charm!! He sniffed the plate, then licked it clean. That restored enough energy so he could sit up on his own.

I laughed thinking McNulty’s needs to advertise “Our ice cream is not only scrumptious but it saves lives too!!”

This wasn’t the last of the strokes though. A few weeks later, another took him down and he fell into a coma again. Once again, through his clenched teeth I pushed water into his mouth with the eyedropper. When he started to come around, once again, he needed several scoops of vanilla ice cream to revive, but this time he remained extremely weak, unable to hold himself up with his front legs, the legs that had remained strong even when his hind legs were paralyzed. This episode proved so debilitating that his frail body couldn’t go on.

Park crossed the Rainbow Bridge as I kissed his sweet forehead and held him, talking him from this world into the next.

I am empty without my sweet boy, my loyal companion, my protector, my travel buddy, my everything.

I try to take solace in Brandon McMillan’s quote, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

I smile when I think of my boy which is every minute of every day — about our shared trips to Park’s Bench in Stony Brook Village, about all of our journeys, our fun, his antics done deliberately to make me smile and make me give him extra attention like his penchant to stand in the rain until sopping wet knowing full well that when he sauntered into the house I would be there to towel all that long, luxurious fur.

I smile to recall how Park, the Christmas Puppy, pranced into my life ignoring my concerns that three dogs were maybe three too many and I will feel blessed for the rest of my days that Park, the Angel Puppy, chose to share his life with me.

A resident of Miller Place, Barbara Anne Kirshner writes theater reviews for TBR News Media and is a freelance journalist, playwright and author of “Madison Weatherbee — The Different Dachshund.

Franklin the Bald Eagle at Sweetbriar Nature Center Photo by John Davis

By John L. Turner

“There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew.” 

— Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Philosopher and Media Expert 

John Turner

Walking through the backyard to add some coffee grounds and banana peels to the compost bin, I looked up to see, to my surprise, an adult Bald Eagle circling over a phalanx of maple trees. A splendid white head and tail shone brightly, sandwiching a massive dark body and wings. For each of the first several circles it became partially hidden by the maples halfway through its arc but soon broke out entirely into the sky of blue before slipping north. 

I was uplifted by this chance experience,  not only by the presence of the eagle itself, but for what the eagle represented — resilience. I knew full well that were I to have walked to the compost bin anytime from the 1960’s through the 1990’s I would have little to no chance of spotting an eagle because they were very few in number.    

Hammered by the widespread use of DDT, a persistent pesticide once viewed as a miracle chemical, Bald Eagle populations plummeted from the late 1950’s through the late 1970’s. There was a real fear this bird of prey would be extirpated in the lower 48 states and perhaps disappear entirely — yet another extinct species in the sad legacy of human impact to other inhabitants of the planet. 

Scientists soon determined that DDT interfered with the ability of eagles and other birds to make eggshells. In some cases they laid yolks with no shells at all; in most cases the shells were thinner, often cracking or breaking under the weight of the incubating adult. The species got a reprieve with the federal ban on the use of DDT by the Environmental Protection Agency, a campaign, by the way, that has its roots in Setauket, where the Environmental Defense Fund, which led the charge, was born. 

But half a century after DDT’s banning, we are witness to the result: Bald Eagle populations are surging, as evidenced by its 2007 demotion from the federal Endangered Species list. Today, there are more than a dozen active eagle nests on Long Island as this iconic species re-establishes its historic presence here. Other impacted species, like Peregrine Falcons and Ospreys also high on the food chain, have rebounded too and are more common than they were decades ago. As these species illustrate, bad environmental outcomes can be reversed (i.e. if they are reversible, unlike outcomes such as extinction).  

The reversibility of environmental problems and the resilience of natural systems is highlighted by two well-known examples that helped usher in the modern environmental movement: The blanketing haze of air pollution that choked the residents of Los Angeles during the 1960’s and Ohio’s Cuyahoga River catching on fire (yes a river catching on fire!) in 1969, fueled by copious amounts of oil dumped into it. Today, the air is much cleaner over Los Angeles as is the water in the Cuyahoga River, although there is, no doubt, still room for improvement in both places. 

With the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, the nation began on a path toward markedly better air quality. Factories and incinerators were required to install pollution control equipment as were mobile sources like trucks and cars. Cars were equipped with  catalytic converters which break down pollutants. Today, despite there being more stationary sources like factories and Americans driving considerably more miles and more vehicles on the road, concentrations of the top six pollutants such as particulate matter, volatile organic chemicals, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, and sulfur dioxide have decreased by more than 75%. 

Another metric highlighting the improvement in air quality is reflected by the reduction in the number of “unhealthy air days” tracked in 35 major American cities. In 2001 there were 2,155 such days collectively in these cities; by 2019 the number had dropped to 466 (it has jumped up slightly in the last two years due to the numerous western wildfires).  

And we can thank the federal Clean Water Act (passed in 1972 we celebrate its 50th anniversary this year), for marked improvements in the quality of the nation’s waters. Although more progress is needed, we have made great strides in meeting the Act’s goal to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters,” or as its goal has been better understood to say: “to make the nation’s waters drinkable, swimmable, and fishable.”

And these briny waters surrounding Long Island that we like to swim in and boat on are clearly cleaner than they were decades ago due to sustained governmental efforts catalyzed by the Clean Water Act. For example, if we jump to the Island’s North Shore and focus on the Long Island Sound we find water quality and overall environmental conditions have significantly improved since the 1980’s when collective intervention by the federal and state governments began to reverse downward trends in water quality. Foremost among these troubling signs were low to non-existent levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) levels (referred to as hypoxia and anoxia, respectively) suffocating bottom-dwelling species such as crabs and lobsters. 

These conditions were caused by too much nitrogen entering the estuary, mostly from sewage treatment plant (STP) discharges. The nitrogen set off algae blooms, events which pull DO out of the water column when the algae decomposes. Today the duration and areal extent of hypoxic conditions in the Long Island Sound are markedly lower than several decades before because of the many operational upgrades made at STP’s that reduce nitrogen levels in wastewater.   

A school of menhaden. Photo by Stephen Borghardt

An example of ecological recovery is being played out in the coastal waters around Long Island, most notably in the Atlantic Ocean along Long Island’s south shore. This story involves an oily fish — the menhaden — that a lot of other fishes, birds, and marine mammals  like to eat. The fish, also known as bunker, has prospered ever since the state several years ago banned their commercial harvest in New York waters. Schools of fish ranging from tens of thousands to millions of fish frequent the nearshore waters of the South Shore (these schools are easily recorded from aerial drones and the videos posted on YouTube). 

This largess has attracted humpback whales that are regularly seen close to shore, with their characteristic feeding behavior of breaking to the surface with an open mouth in the middle of a large school of fish. Aerial videos captured by drones show large fish in the form of various shark and tuna species swimming through these schools. Eagles and ospreys feed on menhaden as they move into bays, harbors, and the mouths of Long Island’s countless rivers and streams. The passage of an important state law has fueled a resurgence of marine life in the briny waters around the island.    

Given the many environmental afflictions we currently face, what are the take away lessons from these examples? Some might conclude the lesson is a permission slip or a continued license to pollute since Nature often has the ability to restore itself, so what’s the harm? I prefer to think that the resiliency of Nature means, more profoundly, that we live in a world of second chances, that environmental problems need not be depressingly intractable and irreversible, but can be successfully ameliorated. In many cases, recent history has proven we can right environmental wrongs.

What are the ingredients necessary to achieve success in turning around an environmental problem? I think a person or individuals persuasively spotlight a problem and others in a position of power or authority to do something about it. 

People like Rachel Carson who revealed the dangers of widespread pesticide exposure to wildlife and EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus in a position to do something about it through the national ban on the use of DDT. Or staff within organizations like The Nature Conservancy explaining the ecological value of menhaden in coastal ecosystems to key individuals like New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright who introduced and secured passage of the legislation to shut down the commercial harvest of menhaden in New York waters.

 And here’s the really good news — the first ingredient of this formula lies even closer — in the latent power possessed by you and me, if we’re unwilling to accept a dying and unclean world, but, instead, demand a planet vibrant and alive, one filled with whales and menhaden, eagles, clean air and water, salamanders in woodland pools, bees in wildflower-filled meadows, and piping plovers sharing our beloved beaches, keeping all the while in the back of our mind a recognition from past experience the damage that has been done to this resilient planet and its inhabitants doesn’t have to be permanent — often it is in our power and ability to reverse it, and in fact, to paraphrase McLuhan: “it is our responsibility, all being part of the crew, to do so.”   

A resident of Setauket, John Turner is conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, author of “Exploring the Other Island: A Seasonal Nature Guide to Long Island” and president of Alula Birding & Natural History Tours.

UPDATE: Samson has been adopted! 

MEET SAMSON!

Samson is an eight year-old Male Boxer/Pit Mix who was found abandoned in a park with his sister after his mom passed away. His sister, Delilah, has found her furever home, but Samson is still sadly at the Smithtown Animal Shelter waiting for a loving owner to come along. Samson adores people, is a big fan of snuggles, and is very friendly and gentle. He often gets overlooked because of his age, but he has as much energy and desire to play as any young dog. Samson will do well in a home with older children and with some dogs.

If you are interested in meeting Samson, please fill out an application to schedule time to properly interact with him in a domestic setting, which includes a Meet and Greet Room, the dog runs, and a Dog Walk trail.

Additional Foster Opportunity:

If you have no other pets or young children at home, and are looking for a way to serve your community, please consider signing up to be a foster. Foster parents provide temporary care for cats, kittens, and dogs in their own homes. Some animals need as little as two weeks of care, while others may need care for extended periods of time.

Download the Foster Application at:

https://www.smithtownny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4325/Foster-Application

Thinking About Adoption:

The Smithtown Animal Shelter’s primary concern is finding the perfect home for each animal that finds his/her way to us. The Animal Control Officers and Kennel Attendants at the Smithtown Animal Shelter will go out of their way to ensure both the rescued and rescuer are made for one another.

Residents who have other pets can arrange to bring your four-legged family member to the shelter or set up an at home meet & greet to see how your prospective family member does with other family, pets and the household itself. Please allow yourself an hour minimum to meet with your potential new family member.

Hours at the Smithtown Animal Shelter, 410 Middle Country Road, Smithtown are currently Monday – Saturday 10AM – 3PM. (Sundays and Wednesday evenings: by appointment only).

While they are open to the public, they ask that you call ahead to schedule an appointment.

To inquire about the Pet of the Week or to meet your potential soulmate, please call the Smithtown Animal Shelter at 631-360-7575.

Isabella Rossellini ‘s new one woman show Darwin’s Smile reconciles two worlds that are often at the opposite ends: art and science. Photo by © André Rau/CSHL

By Daniel Dunaief

A model and actress, Isabella Rossellini has spent her life as a part of numerous stories. Nowadays, the 70-year old Rossellini, who has a home in Bellport, is eager to share the next chapter in her story-telling.

This time, Rossellini will bring her one-woman show “Darwin’s Smile,” which she originally wrote in French but will perform in English, to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Grace Auditorium for a two-day run on Saturday and Sunday, March 4 and 5, 2023.

Tapping into her love for animals, Rossellini plans to share her observations and insights about the nexus between her art as an actress and the science she studied and observed when she earned her Master’s Degree from Hunter College in animal behavior and conservation.

“What I would like to do is share my wonderment and stupor about information I learned” about animals, Rossellini said in a recent interview with Times Beacon Record News Media. “Science is notoriously difficult. The language is very enigmatic. Even to read Darwin is complicated. Once you get it, it’s really incredible.”

Indeed, Rossellini wrote the show as an extension of  the 1872 book by Charles Darwin titled Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, which was published 13 years after his famous On the Origin of Species.

Darwin studied a range of expressions from people all over the world and discovered that some of those expressions, such as smiling, responding to fear, or being disgusted, are the same regardless of the cultural background.

Darwin, Rossellini said, believed that evolution through natural selection shaped these expressions of emotion, the same way natural selection might affect a bone, the horns on a buck or the shape of a bird’s beak. The core of emotion across species appeals to her as an actress and as someone who appreciates and admires animals.

“Modeling is all about expression,” said Rossellini, who was the world’s highest paid model in 1982. “Yes, you have to be beautiful, and all this. What makes a good model is not so much beauty. People respond to emotion, rather than a beautiful nose or a beautiful mouth.”

As she did with her series of shorts called “Green Porno,” in which Rossellini dressed as creatures such as a praying mantis, shrimp, snails, spiders, and whales, among others, and described their mating, Rossellini uses humor to entertain and educate in “Darwin’s Smile.”

At one point, she dresses as a peacock with an attractive tail. Darwin, Rossellini said, found the brilliant colors of those feathers overwhelming, which gave him a headache.

Rossellini emerges from her peacock costume in another costume and sings a song, slowly, in French.

In her show, Rossellini uses her acting skills to convey emotions that use the same words. Repeating “I love you and I want to be with you all my life,” she shares that thought with rage, love and sadness, making it clear through her acting that humans derive meaning from a range of cues.

On a scientific level, Rossellini would like to challenge the idea that research into animals can’t include a recognition of their emotions. The science of behaviorism suggested that researchers shouldn’t “project any emotion into animals,” she said. Many scientists look, instead, directly at the behavior of animals.

“Darwin did not have that problem,” she said. He recognized that his dog was happy to see him and that a cat was angry.

As for the emotions she feels when she views her own acting performances, Rossellini suggested her experience mirrors that of many other actors and actresses. “It’s difficult to see oneself on screen in front of everybody,” she said. The mental image she has of herself sometimes conflicts with what she sees on screen.

“It’s very disturbing,” she said. “I don’t really like to watch my past work.”

The movies also create some melancholy for her, as they can evoke memories of her experiences during filming. She said the film “Blue Velvet” conjures thoughts of the time she and the cast, with whom she shared close friendships, worked together in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Sometimes she watches her movies twice. The first time, she adjusts to herself on screen. The second time, she follows the storyline and plot.

In terms of movies that came out this year, Rossellini said the film EO, which is about the life of a donkey who performs in a circus and then moves from one challenging circumstance to another, “makes you feel for the farm animal.” She described the film, which was made in Poland by director Jerzy Skolimowski, as “kind of beautiful.”

As for her life, Rossellini, who is the daughter of famed director Roberto Rossellini and actress Ingrid Bergman, said her interest in animals started when she was around 14 and her father gave her the book King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz.  

When she read the book, she thought “this is what I want to be,” Rossellini said. Only later, after modeling and acting, both of which she continues to do, did she add ethology to the mix. 

———————————————

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor will host a special performance of “Darwin’s Smile” at Grace Auditorium on March 4, with doors opening at 5 p.m. The show starts at 6 p.m., followed by a reception and Q&A with Rossellini led by Helen Hou, an assistant professor and neuroscientist at CSHL. 

An encore performance (sans Q&A and reception) will be held March 5, with doors opening at 3 p.m. and showtime at 4 p.m. For tickets, visit www.cshl.edu. For further information, call 516-367-8800.

From left, Patricia Wright with Pamela Reed Sanchez, President and CEO of the Seneca Park Zoo Society with the Warrior Award, a depiction of a tree growing out of rock, designed and created by artists at the Corning Museum of Glass. Photo courtesy of Amanda Lindley

By Daniel Dunaief

For only a short period of time, Patricia Wright was just a primatologist who studies the charming lemurs of Madagascar.

Now the Herrnstein Professor of Conservation Biology and Distinguished Service Professor at Stony Brook University, Wright first trekked to the island nation off the southwest coast of the African continent in 1986 to understand and study these unique primates.

Within a year, she realized she wouldn’t have much to observe and understand in a perilously short time if she didn’t also work to protect them, their habitat, and many other threatened and endangered animals and plants.

With the help of the government of Madagascar, Wright created a protected area known as Ranomafana National Park, which includes 41,500 hectares of space, keeping loggers, poachers and others from threatening to eradicate animals and plants that are unique to the country.

Between the original effort to create the national park and today, Wright has collected numerous honors and distinctions. She has won three Medals of Honor from the Malagasy government and become the first female recipient of the coveted Indianapolis Zoo Prize in 2014.

Recently, the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York named Wright its inaugural “Conservation Warrior,” providing her with a $20,000 prize in recognition for conservation work that has had a lasting, meaningful impact on species survival.

Patricia Wright with her Warrior Award from the Seneca Park Zoo.

“Dr. Wright’s early years were spent in Rochester, New York and it is fitting that the inaugural Conservation Warrior award be bestowed upon arguably the most influential conservationist to come out of the Finger Lakes region,” Pamela Reed Sanchez, President and CEO of the Seneca Park Zoo Society, explained in an email.

The newly anointed conservation warrior recently traveled to Montreal as a member of the Madagascar delegation at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP-15.

While she’s in Montreal, she plans to meet with conservation donors in an all-out effort to save wildlife on Madagascar, where almost all the reptiles and amphibians, half of its birds and all of its lemurs are only found on the island nation.

Wright hopes to raise $250 million for the country and $50 million for Centre ValBio (CVB), the research station she created in Ranomafana in 2003 and that employs 80 Malagasy staff. CVB has developed a conservation network around CVB that includes work with 75 villages.

Drew Fellman, who directed and wrote the Island of Lemurs documentary, encouraged donors to support Wright’s efforts. Wright and CVB are at the “front line of defense and anyone who cares [about] wildlife and endangered species should lend them a hand,” Fellman wrote in an email. He described how some species of lemurs are down to fewer than 10 individuals and “without conservation, there will be nothing left to research.”

In areas where conservation isn’t a priority, the region has lost habitat and biodiversity. In the northern areas of Madagascar, loggers and timber exporters reduced rainforest areas to grasslands, she said.

In the bigger picture, Wright said Madagascar needs funding immediately as the country is “closer to the brink of extinction with so many more species.” Saving plants and animals in Madagascar extends beyond committing to the protection and stewardship of vulnerable creatures. It also could provide benefits for people.

“So many lemur species are close relatives [to humans] and contain genetic information” about Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other conditions, she said. Additionally, creatures like bamboo lemurs regularly eat large quantities of cyanide, which would kill humans. Understanding how they can tolerate such high quantities of cyanide could provide an antidote.

The forests in the national park, which might otherwise attract loggers, prevent erosion, silting and landslides, she explained.

The benefit of a research stations like CVB extend beyond gathering information and conducting experiments.

In a recent correspondence in Nature Communications, lead author Timothy Eppley, a postdoctoral fellow at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance along with three other scientists including Wright, argues that field research stations “are on the front line of biodiversity conservation, acting as no-take zones that rewild surrounding ecosystems.”

In the correspondence, Eppley and his colleagues said that these stations are “invisible” in global environmental policy, despite their importance in conservation.

“Our point in the paper is that this has not been given any conservation attention,” said Wright. “Nobody is funding us for doing conservation” even though these sites are “conservation engines. We should be given recognition and more conservation money.”

Eppley, who leads SDZWA’s lemur conservation program, added that the Nature correspondence didn’t include any of the data the group collected.

While Eppley cautioned in an email sent from Madagascar that it’s difficult to generalize about conservation efforts at field stations, he said many have some conservation initiatives or projects, or that some element of their research includes a strong conservation component.

“Without the conservation piece, all other research will eventually disappear: we need the ecosystem and animals to exist in the first place,” he explained.

Eppley suggested that scientists often approach conservation initiatives that they can test on a small scale and then, if they are effective, find the best way of scaling up those initiatives for entire protected areas, landscapes, countries or broader geographic regions.

As for the honor Wright received from the Seneca Park Zoo, Eppley believes such recognition dovetails with their recent correspondence piece in Nature Communications.

Wright “founded CVB and has been tirelessly building it into a globally recognized field research station,” he wrote.

Bringing international recognition to the work being done at CVB “highlights the overall importance of field research stations and why they need to be included in global environmental policy frameworks,” Eppley added.

Krispy Kreme

Welcome to the 12th edition of Paw Prints, a monthly column for animal lovers dedicated to helping shelter pets find their furever home! 

Herman and Lily

 

Meet Herman and Lily

Influential and successful in their own right, meet Little Shelter’s newest power couple, Herman and Lily! This five year old Yorkie mix and this eight year old Lhasa apso complement each other perfectly, making the case for why a double adoption is an excellent idea! Doing everything in sync, whether a walk, enjoying a pet or sharing secrets, these two are always seen side by side; their bond unmistakable. Herman is considerate and protective of his best friend, while Lily usually allows him to have control of the TV remote! Ready to enlarge their circle and welcome in a family, they are looking forward to meeting you…we suggest that you don’t keep them waiting! Call 631-368-8770.

Jack

Meet Jack

Jack is a senior Jack Russell Terrier at Brookhaven Animal Shelter in need of a hospice home. He is probably about 14 years old, is good with dogs and cats and is full of spunk. This poor sweetheart has chronic kidney disease and is on a special diet. He needs a home that will give him the extra TLC he deserves, maybe some nice home cooking too! If you are interested, please submit a matchmaker application, www.brookhavenny.gov/animalshelter. For more information, call 631-451-6950.

Linx

Meet Linx

Linx was taken to Smithtown Animal Shelter as a stray and was never claimed. This young boy is around 3 to 4 years old. He is well mannered and housebroken. Linx is beyond a typical German Shepherd and needs a GSD experienced owner. He is ball and stick obsessed and loves to play. Linx is a good natured dog that needs a strong Alpha leader to follow. He requires a very active home that will meet his mental and physical stimulation needs. Linx does not want to snuggle, he only wants to play. If you would like to meet this beautiful boy, please schedule an appointment by calling 631-360-7575.

Sebastian Miguel

Meet Sebastian Miguel – ADOPTED! HAPPY LIFE SWEET BOY!

Though only ten months old, this young charmer at Little Shelter already has the suave, debonair thing down pat! Meet Chihuahua mix and certified heart throb, Sebastian Miguel! Full of excitement and zest for life, this Passage to Freedom traveler has passed inspection with flying colors and is ready to be adopted into his forever home, eager to become part of a real family. Fun loving and busy, Chihuahuas like nothing more than being with their people and make wonderful go-everywhere companions. Stop by Little Shelter soon to meet the “man” of your dreams. Call 631-368-8770.

Krispy Kreme

Meet Krispy Kreme

This is Krispy Kreme, a handsome orange tabby available for adoption at Little Shelter in Huntington. Krispy Kreme is a young adult male who has been a very good boy this year. He  loves to play, be picked up, and all he wants is to be someone’s buddy for the holidays. Will that be you? Call 631-368-8770.

Home for the Holidays

The Town of Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center is celebrating the holiday season with its “Home for the Holidays” promotion, featuring free pet adoptions now through the month of December. Each adoption includes free neuter or spay, vaccinations, microchip, heartworm test, flea and other tests. The normal adoption fees are $137 for a dog and $140 for a cat. All adoptable pets are looking for a forever home this holiday season. If you are interested in adopting a dog or cat, visit the Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center located at 300 Horseblock Road in Brookhaven. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.. For more information, visit www.BrookhavenNY.gov or call 631-451-6950.

Check out the next Paw Prints in the issue of Jan. 12, 2023

Paw Prints is generously sponsored by Mark T. Freeley, Esq.

Stitch the Red-Tailed Hawk is just one of many raptors living at Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Photo by John Davis

By Tara Mae

Birds of a feather, come together to support Sweetbriar Nature Center’s latest event, Rock ‘N’ Raptors, that puts the “fun” in fundraisers! The celebration will be held on Sunday, Dec. 11 at the Bates House, 1 Bates Road in Setauket from 2 to 6 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Smithtown wildlife rehabilitation and nature preserve.

Meet Lily the Great Horned Owl at the Bates House in Setauket on Dec. 11. Photo by John Davis

“We have never done an event that featured only raptors, though they are the majority of what we have [at Sweetbriar], so it is an important opportunity to promote them. They are really expensive to feed…and since organizations like ours are not funded by the state or local governments, we largely depend on the generosity of our supporters,” said Sweetbriar’s Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation Janine Bendicksen.

The fundraiser will feature live music, raffles, games, and other activities. An auction, currently underway online, will conclude in person that night. St. James Brewery will provide beer and other beverages while Maui Chop House’s food truck will be onsite offering savory snacks. Homemade baked goods, created by volunteers, will be available for purchase. The guests of honor, raptors including a barn owl, Eurasian eagle owl, great horned owl, red tailed hawk, will make a fashionably late entrance as the music fades out, intermingling with guests and performing a demonstration. 

Brimstone (William M. Kucmierowski), a pro-wrestler, author, actor, and host of The Grindhouse Radio, will act as Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon. Three different tribute bands will provide the soundtrack for making merry and raising money: The Petty Rumors, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover band; Streetfighter, a Rolling Stones cover band; and 70s Rock Parade, a genre cover band. Each will each play a 45 minute set. All of the entertainment is donating their time. 

Having first connected with Sweetbriar through social media when he reached out to Bendicksen to see if he could meet baby squirrels being cared for in its rehabilitation unit, Brimstone is happy to lend his name and talents since he wants to amplify both the center’s work and its needs. 

“As a native Long Islander, I have known about Sweetbriar for many years, but I did not know in detail the true heroes they are until I was going back and forth with Janine on social media,” Brimstone said. “I got to see what they do at Sweetbriar and how they rehabilitate the animals. They are overworked and underappreciated and it kills me that they do not get the help, attention, and assistance that they deserve.”  

Meet Nebula the Barn Owl at Sweetbriar’s fundraiser on Dec. 11. Photo by John Davis

John Davis, who has been volunteering at Sweetbriar for two years, was similarly drawn to work with Sweetbriar after he visited the center and explored the nature preserve while participating in a photo shoot with a photography club. Now, he volunteers there a couple days a week and primarily handles the raptor residents, inspired by their majesty even in adversity. 

“They are majestic, powerful, efficient, streamlined, glorious hunters that are incredibly beautiful. What I find most interesting with our raptors is despite their shortcomings, whether it’s wing injuries or vision loss…or both, they’ve all found a way to adapt. They know their own  aviaries and navigate then with precision despite not being able to fly or see,” he said. 

As a tribute to the raptors and a sign of his dedication to the cause, Davis is coming out of retirement for one night only, resuming his role as the bassist and a vocalist for 70s Rock Parade. (He retired from the group last year.) Davis also helped connect the musicians with Sweetbriar.

The power of community interdependency, both in the animal kingdom and human society, are themes that tie this event and Sweetbriar’s mission together. Located on 54 acres of diverse garden, woodland, field, and wetland habitats, Sweetbriar’s rehabilitation unit, in addition to the raptors, houses other animals, such as rabbits, squirrels, songbirds and even tarantulas. 

There are over 100 permanent residents who call Sweetbriar home. Many of them live inside the center, but most reside in permanent enclosures. The staff and volunteers of the center, who may receive hundreds of calls a day about distressed or injured wildlife, treat more than 2000 patients a year, over half of whom are rehabilitated and released back into the wild.  

Addie the Red-Tailed Hawk is just one of many raptors living at Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Photo by John Davis

“What the people of Sweetbriar do is incredible. They care for injured animals rehabilitate them, if they are not able to be released, Sweetbriar keeps them for their lifespans,” Davis added. 

Ultimately, the goal of Rock ‘N’ Raptors is simple: to enable to Sweetbriar to continue its lifesaving work while encouraging people of all ages to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the natural world and its inhabitants.  

“Sweetbriar is so special, and as a nonprofit, it relies on people’s generosity and good hearts…I show up to the center and my blood pressure goes down; it is my zen,” Davis said.

Tickets to Rock ‘N’ Raptors are $25 each, free for children under the age of 12. To register, visit www.sweetbriarnc.org. For more information, call 631-979-6344.