Another Installment In The "A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" Series

We've done a few shows on "Talking Animals" over the years focusing on the issue of feline de-clawing--which as our periodic guest and perhaps foremost expert on this, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, has explained essentially involves amputation--so we were quite struck by this billboard at the center of the new campaign by Dr. Conrad's organization, The Paw Project.

Vick Story Has A Weird Wrinkle That Hits Close To Home

When it comes to the ongoing Michael Vick story, recently turbo-charged in the media world (most notable, Sunday's interview on "60 Minutes") and blogosphere by the double-barrel news that he was released from prison and signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, I think it's safe to say there's been no shortage of opinions--many quite emotionally charged--being expressed...well, damn near everywhere.

For the record, my own view is closely aligned with that of Humane Society Of The US honcho Wayne Pacelle, who obviously feels that this particular leopard not only can change his spots, and did, but having done so is in a uniquely potent position to influence and guide young Vick types away from the dogfighting subculture--and Alec Baldwin, whose Vick-deserves-a-second chance piece on Huffington Post was, I thought, spot-on.

But as has been made abundantly clear since the first bit of Vick news broke--and was underscored on last night's edition of "Larry King Live," which did a nice job of capturing some of the chief facets of the current Vick brouhaha, featuring a key exec from PETA, a key exec from HSUS, a Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter and James Brown, who conducted the "60 Minutes" interview--animal welfare groups, including the most notable ones, are sharply divided on the matter.

We've already outlined the Pacelle/HSUS position, whereas the PETA stance is squarely opposed to Vick--and vehemently opposed to Vicks' new Eagles contract. Part of PETA's campaign to make this displeasure known, loud and clear, is to urge PETA supporters to boycott Eagles sponsors, and otherwise communicate just how unhappy they are with the Eagles, and anyone affiliated with the Eagles.

Here's where the plot thickens (or sickens): One of those sponsors is an organization called The Strauss Foundation. Now, I don't know what this Strauss Foundation does, but I will tell you I'm part of something called The Strauss Foundation--full name: The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation--which, as the longer name suggests, provides public service scholarships.

Our Strauss Foundation is based in Newport Beach, CA, was founded more than a dozen years ago by Mom, the late Dorothy Strauss (to pay tribute to my Dad after he died, the titular Donald, and cultivate interest in public service) and provides those scholarships to juniors at more than 15 California colleges and universities, including Stanford and all the UCs.

My Mom's vision for the foundation has proved to be pretty remarkable. We're now mentioned by administrators at prominent schools in the same breath as big, venerable, national scholarships like the Rhodes. Our alumni include a slew of impressive young adults (among them, multiple Rhodes Scholars)--one is a member of the Obama Administration, working in the West Wing.

So the administrator of that Strauss Foundation--my Strauss Foundation, as it were--rolls into the office Monday, fires up the computer, and there's a zillion e-mails, virtually all with the subject heading "sponsorship"...all quite peeved about our support of the Eagles.

But, of course, we don't sponsor or support the Eagles. We aren't that Strauss Foundation. Weird.

Writer Siebert Discusses His New Book—Which Was Re-Titled 11th Hour (And I’d Subtitle “Simian Roger & Me”)—And Animals In Crisis

I was greatly privileged to speak on Wednesday’s show with writer Charles Siebert, whose new book is “The Wauchula Woods Accord: Toward A New Understanding Of Animals.”

The book chronicles his extended encounter with a retired circus chimp named Roger at The Center For Great Apes, a chimpanzee sanctuary in Wauchula, FL, but widens out considerably from the personal reportage of that encounter.

But as Charles made clear in our on-air conversation, his time spent with Roger had a profound impact on him (he originally intended to call the book “Humanzee”; it’s probably too late to consider my proposed sub-title: “Simian Roger & Me”), while serving as a jumping off point for addressing what he found at other chimp sanctuaries across the county he traveled to, and musings about scientific research and literature on the man/ape connection, as well as observations and reporting from other pieces he’s written.

Indeed, over the years, Charles Siebert has written a number of New York Times Magazine cover stories about animals and animal issues, most recently his July 13 piece on whales—a sizable portion of which was devoted to the phenomenon of “friendly whales,” the focus of the May 13 “Talking Animals.”

Other celebrated Siebert NYT Magazine cover pieces include an Oct. 2006 article on elephants experiencing something akin to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and, perhaps most disturbingly, as Charles and I discussed, this didn’t apply merely to captive elephants, but ones in the wild, too; and the story on chimps, the reporting of which led to his pivotal meeting with Roger and, ultimately, the new book.

In briefly addressing his career path, he explained that he came to writing about animals from a background as a poet. That makes perfect sense: "The Wauchula Woods Accord" and his Times Magazine pieces reflect the heart of a animal lover and advocate, and the soul of a poet.

Or maybe vice versa.

Blog Sloth Becomes New Animal!

Pictured at the left is a cartoonish depiction of 10-toed sloth.

By which, I mean that it's been nearly five months since my last blog post--for reasons too boring and pitiful to explain, though they largely involve...yes, sloth.

But I am ready to return to regular posting, mindful that the blogosphere is absolutely clamoring for yet another person with lots of fuzzy opinions, and even fuzzier grammar...

Hangin' With Whales: Part One

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words, give or take a few hundred. I just returned from San Ignacio Lagoon, an area in Baja California, Mexico, where mother California grey whales deliver their babies each winter.

Against all rules of nature--at least those I'm familiar with--these mothers not only allow strangers, human strangers, to get close to their babies, but encourage it.

To the point where these mom whales invite you to touch their babies; sometimes they seek an opportunity to be touched themselves. This whale, for instance, is being touched by my sister, Nancy. Incredible, no?

More posts, and pictures, on this trip in the coming days...

Chrissie Hynde, Temple Grandin: A Tale Of Two Guests

One of the major perks of hosting "Talking Animals" is the opportunity to speak with all kinds of bright, fascinating folks.

And while I make a concerted effort to achieve a real mix, so that the type of guests and the fields or interests they represent tend to vary significantly over the course of any given three to four show block, I still sometimes wind-up with some intriguing back-to-back bookings.

Like the juxtaposition of my two most recent guests, Chrissie Hynde, who chatted with me Feb. 4, and Dr. Temple Grandin, who joined me Feb. 11. (By way of the "Talking Animals" archives, you can check out the Hynde show, and the Grandin show

They're both enormously smart, accomplished, well-spoken women--Hynde, of course, is the veteran Pretenders leader and animal activist, while Grandin is a renowned expert on animal behavior and autism (she herself is autistic), and bestselling author--but probably occupy decidedly spots on the animal welfare continuum.

For instance, Grandin eats meat (in a previous "Talking Animals" interview she explained she'd tried but abandoned a vegeterian diet, which she said created some medical complications) and has done pioneering work in fostering more humane treatment of animals at slaughter plants. Hynde hasn't eaten meat in decades, and for much of that time has been a vegan.

At the same time, the organization Chrissie Hynde has been most closely identified for the better part of two decades is PETA, for which she's participated in campaigns and protests (efforts that have gotten her arrested a coupla times). If you know much about Hynde, nothing here is surprising.

What may be far more surprising, to some, is that, in 2004, PETA awarded Temple Grandin a Proggy (PETA Progress) Award in the "Visionary" category.

Strange bedfellows, indeed. And back to back guests--and exceptional guests, both, I might add--on "Talking Animals."

Here's Another Reason I'm Glad We Live In This House...

My family (wife Colleen, son Mike) and & I live in Jupiter Farms, a somewhat rural and more than a little equestrian-oriented area of Florida about 20 miles north of West Palm Beach.

We're five minutes from the grocery story, other shopping and restaurants, so it's not all remote, but it feels delightfully remote. Of course, we have friends who live as close as West Palm Beach yet consider driving up here such a major trip that you almost think they should bring their passport.

And there is some serious driving to commute to WMNF, the radio station in Tampa where I broadcast "Talking Animals": It takes three-plus hours to get there, which means on days I do one or more radio shows there, I'm spending more than six hours on the road. (Thank goodness for my Prius!)

But here's an example of just one of the virtues of this house: Thanks to what was happening with California real estate prices when we sold our home there a little over three years ago, we wound up with some spacious digs, including a good-sized house, a nice hunk of land that includes a pond where fish and turtles reside, even a barn; I'm writing this post from my office in the barn.

Over the weekend, my wonderful mother-in-law Liz and her also wonderful Yorkshire Terrier, Monty--an irresistibly sweet, happy guy; we call him the dog who loves too much--were visiting, and while Mike was napping, I took Monty for a walk around our digs, with Colleen and Liz strolling behind us.

All of a sudden, Monty was trying to dart off, straining mightily against his leash. We thought surely he'd spotted one of the many squirrels who live on the property, but when we got a closer look, we saw that it was a raccoon. A gorgeous raccoon, calmly ambling just on the other side of the fence that separates our property from the road.

This raccoon was doing turns like a furry runway model, so we all got a good look at him--he seemed really relaxed as he finally climbed up one of the trees, and settled in. I came back later with a camera, but didn't see any sign of him.

It would've been nice to include a picture of him with this post, but that's OK. The fact that we could see a raccoon on our property (and, at the risk of anthropomorphising, that he seemed quite comfortable being there) was plenty cool.

And yet another reason I love living here.