BWAHAHA! Animal Protection, How Not To
Aug. 4th, 2022 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellerUnintentional joke of the day: this guide on how (not) to feed crows. I'm amazed. Among other pieces of pretty useless advice (of which the only pieces that are not incorrect are so obvious they shouldn't need mentioning), it contains this gem:
"
Was dürfen Sie an Krähen auf keinen Fall verfüttern?
Rohes oder gekochtes Fleisch aller Art. Es können darin Krankheitskeime sein, die für Krähen tödlich wirken.
"
(Translation: "What should you never feed to crows? Raw or cooked meat of any kind. There may be disease germs in it, which are fatal for crows.")
I'm... amazed. Like, uh... Has this writer ever met a crow? Do they understand a crow's natural feeding behavior? Like... Do they understand what the euphemism 'feeding the crows' stands for, and why? These birds are not vegetarians. (Hint: they're carrion birds. They eat meat all the time, including meat that has been dead for quite a while, and not stored in a particularly hygienic environment.) It's correct that you probably shouldn't feed them cooked or cured meat (but, who the heck would try and feed processed food to wildlife in the first place, anyway?!?), but, that's because of salt and stuff - I assure you, the meat itself doesn't kill them. Of course, it's also true that you don't have to feed crows with meat (or, really, any other food) because they're smart enough to find enough of that on their own (and also, meat that's hygienic enough humans can eat it is valuable, takes a lot of resources to produce, and shouldn't be wasted like that). But, really - ACKHHHH.
Other pieces of grossly incorrect advice include the suggestion to give them apples. Apples are really unhealthy, and the core with the apple seeds (which, unfortunately, is usually what's thrown to the birds) even toxic for crows. (They're very sensitive to cyanide compounds, even in low concentration - don't give them almonds, either!) Of course, crows are smart enough to just not touch that stuff even if it happens to be lying around... Unless they're starving. Which, in a big city, they're usually not. But, if you're going to feed them fruit - which, again, is a waste, but whatever - stick to berries and other stuff crows will actually eat voluntarily... And keep it to a minimum, because this sh*t is sugar-rich and should not play a big role in a healthy crow's diet. (No worries, though: most likely, they'll just ignore fruit in favor of tastier food, anyway! Trying to get a crow to eat an apple is kind of like trying that with a toddler: Very Unlikely To Succeed.)
And, again: feeding crows, beyond the 'polite' minimum needed for communication with these lovely birds, is pretty unnecessary. Exchanging food is a social thing for them, but, usually (unless it's a particularly bad winter), they don't actually need extra stuff from humans to survive! Also: if you give food to a crow, don't be surprised if it tries to feed you right back... And with pretty gross things, too! XD XD XD Again: they're carrion birds...
"
Was dürfen Sie an Krähen auf keinen Fall verfüttern?
Rohes oder gekochtes Fleisch aller Art. Es können darin Krankheitskeime sein, die für Krähen tödlich wirken.
"
(Translation: "What should you never feed to crows? Raw or cooked meat of any kind. There may be disease germs in it, which are fatal for crows.")
I'm... amazed. Like, uh... Has this writer ever met a crow? Do they understand a crow's natural feeding behavior? Like... Do they understand what the euphemism 'feeding the crows' stands for, and why? These birds are not vegetarians. (Hint: they're carrion birds. They eat meat all the time, including meat that has been dead for quite a while, and not stored in a particularly hygienic environment.) It's correct that you probably shouldn't feed them cooked or cured meat (but, who the heck would try and feed processed food to wildlife in the first place, anyway?!?), but, that's because of salt and stuff - I assure you, the meat itself doesn't kill them. Of course, it's also true that you don't have to feed crows with meat (or, really, any other food) because they're smart enough to find enough of that on their own (and also, meat that's hygienic enough humans can eat it is valuable, takes a lot of resources to produce, and shouldn't be wasted like that). But, really - ACKHHHH.
Other pieces of grossly incorrect advice include the suggestion to give them apples. Apples are really unhealthy, and the core with the apple seeds (which, unfortunately, is usually what's thrown to the birds) even toxic for crows. (They're very sensitive to cyanide compounds, even in low concentration - don't give them almonds, either!) Of course, crows are smart enough to just not touch that stuff even if it happens to be lying around... Unless they're starving. Which, in a big city, they're usually not. But, if you're going to feed them fruit - which, again, is a waste, but whatever - stick to berries and other stuff crows will actually eat voluntarily... And keep it to a minimum, because this sh*t is sugar-rich and should not play a big role in a healthy crow's diet. (No worries, though: most likely, they'll just ignore fruit in favor of tastier food, anyway! Trying to get a crow to eat an apple is kind of like trying that with a toddler: Very Unlikely To Succeed.)
And, again: feeding crows, beyond the 'polite' minimum needed for communication with these lovely birds, is pretty unnecessary. Exchanging food is a social thing for them, but, usually (unless it's a particularly bad winter), they don't actually need extra stuff from humans to survive! Also: if you give food to a crow, don't be surprised if it tries to feed you right back... And with pretty gross things, too! XD XD XD Again: they're carrion birds...
no subject
Date: 2022-08-05 04:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-05 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-05 02:25 pm (UTC)Our 11-year-old daughter is a vegetarian, and it is already worrisome enough to try to make sure she gets a full range of nutrients. :-/ I am glad she has no leanings toward veganism :P
And vegan cats!!!! o.O
Someone skipped science/biology class.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-05 05:17 pm (UTC)Lucky you. XD Also: it's good that you have a daughter who thinks about stuff and is able to make decisions on that.
Of course, I made the very conscious choice not to be a vegetarian. I mean - I love animals. I don't like the basic fact that animals die for my food. Still, I also know what happens to my health when I don't eat meat. (I take iron supplements even when eating normally. Three weeks of spending my summer holidays with a friend whose family lives vegetarian had disastrous results.) Humans are omnivores. I'm also fine with the concept of hunting (as long as it's not just done for fun and trophies). The only thing that really annoys me is when people throw leftover food with meat away... I mean - something died for that. The least a human can do is actually eat it. Killing an animal just to put it in the trash seems kind of... disrespectful?!?
"Someone skipped science/biology class."
That, or they never really grasped the difference between basic facts and wishful thinking. It would be so nice to have a cute, cuddly cat while not causing any of the associated damages to other animals and, for that matter, the climate... XD I think it's wishful thinking, really. Like our neighbors when asked to keep their cat inside during bird breeding season: 'Oh, our cat doesn't do that, she wouldn't hurt a baby bird, she's so nice and well-behaved!' - Yeah, right.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-06 05:11 am (UTC)This was (is) one of the reasons why we wanted to raise our own meat birds. We wanted to make sure they had the best life possible followed by the cleanest, quickest, kindest death possible. As one person said, "We only want them to have one bad day in their whole lives." I think it makes people a lot more responsible when they have to raise (and look at and care for) their own food. We harvested our own meat for years, and it was never easy, never grew "lighter" to do, but it sure made us appreciate the animal that fed us. I too get upset when people waste food, any food. As you pointed out, people are too divorced from the the labor, cycle (of all beings involved), time, resource, etc. involved in food production. Living in a flat in a city makes us feel pretty impotent and frustrated sometimes because of that divorce. It is only for a "season," though...
I agree about hunting. My husband spearfishes, and it is great when he can bring home food. However, he would never spearfish with scuba-diving equipment and doesn't respect those who do.
'Oh, our cat doesn't do that, she wouldn't hurt a baby bird, she's so nice and well-behaved!' ROFL. "yeah, right" is right. ;)
no subject
Date: 2022-08-06 11:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-08-09 12:39 pm (UTC)I've lost your snail-mail address; could you PM me?