Urban Coyote

 

Thursday: 

It is 4:00 in the morning.  I have just been out in the full moon looking for the wounded coyote I met earlier today.

You think I am in the mountains of the west, don’t you?

You don’t know that I am in the closely packed northwestern suburbs of Chicago. 

It started this morning when I was in the forest preserve adjacent to this subdivision.  The subdivision and the world literally in its backyard are worlds apart.  In the subdivision, laundry lines are against the rules, workers spray large amounts of herbicides on even the tiniest plants (I refuse to say weeds) growing up around the barren soil at the base of the landscaped trees.  After the original trees were removed, the streets were named after the removed trees and the landscape trees and shrubs were brought in.  Deer wander through the yards and eat the expensive landscaped additions.  It is a conflict in communities like this across America.

It is very surreal to be where these worlds collide. The suburbs grew around and through the habitat of deer, coyotes, rabbits, skunks and other wild beings.  These beings are still here making their way around the strange new land that was once their domain.  For the most part they have learned to navigate across busy highways and chemical laden lawns.  They have managed to make home wherever they can in the maze of traffic, concrete, houses and people.

I was biking on the trails through the forest preserve with my dog Bean.  We crossed over the creek (so blue with lawn chemical run off that Bean won’t drink from it) and turned up into the thicker woods.

One large downed tree made me get off my bike.  A second after I swung my leg over the bike seat, I heard what I thought was a dog barking close behind me.  I looked back and saw a coyote about twenty feet away.  He stared right at me and barked and howled. 

For the next hour he followed us at close range on three legs, his fourth leg dangling and wounded.  Here is where I wish I had done things differently.  I wish I had sat down with Bean and let the coyote come to me so I could help him.  My fearful self could not figure out what a coyote was doing in the Chicago suburbs, out in the middle of the day and so close to us.  I thought he must be crazed from rabies or drinking polluted water.  In fear, I got on my bike and rode fast with Bean at my side.  No matter how fast I rode, the coyote stayed with us…running and limping on his three good legs and never taking his eyes off us.  When I stopped he stopped and barked and howled.  I could tell he was in pain.  He followed us as far as the busy road with constant cars in both lanes.   When we crossed, he stopped and watched us from the woods. 

I got back to my parents house and looked up Chicago coyote on the computer immediately.  I was shocked to find out that they are common in these woods.  The first story I got in my search was of a coyote walking into a Quiznos sandwich shop in the middle of the city on a very hot day.  He walked through the propped open door and wandered straight back to a walk-in cooler and rested there.  The people in the restaurant took photos with their phones or finished their sandwiches.  Animal control simply came in and put a noose around the neck of the coyote and walked the calm creature out the door to who knows what fate. I found out that coyotes in the city are such a regular occurrence that people complain if they get into the newspaper because it is not really news.  Recently, one urban coyote in the news had wandered onto an athletic field at a school and was taken away and “destroyed”.  The athletic field bordered the forest.  

I called the wildlife rescue center closest to here.  He said there was nothing they could do. He also said that the coyote is probably following our scent and most likely trying to get my help. Apparently, because we don’t follow trails, we are easy to follow by our scent.  The coyote was probably hit by a car and the rehab folks are not allowed to live trap animals in the forest preserve.  I asked if coyotes had any predators in the area and was told that humans were their only predators.  The guy on the phone had obviously heard thousands of coyote stories and dully told me that people poison or illegally shoot them or intentionally hit them while driving.

These are coyotes.  These are the same animals who are revered enough to be the subject of pseudo-native art that people buy on their vacation in Santa Fe or Scottsdale.  My aunt and uncle live a few blocks from here in the same subdivision.  Their son lives on the edge of Tucson.  When I visited him, I slept outside and listened to the coyotes howling.  My cousin and I both love this sound.  We love the pure wildness of it.  Hearing them howl feels like all is well in the world. 

Here, these sacred animals are caught by suburban sprawl and endless traffic.  The people I asked about them felt no awe at sharing the land with the coyotes.  They spoke of them as annoying pests who threaten their cats and dogs and children (Everyone who shared this with me had NEVER experienced this problem or really knew of anyone who had…an urban myth apparently).

I went back to the woods and searched for the wounded coyote.  This time I was determined to help him in some way, anyway.  Hours of searching and no coyote. 

After sunset a truck drove through the subdivision spraying the air with pesticides meant to take care of the mosquitoes.  I had thought that this practice ended with the DDT foggers of our childhoods.  As kids, JC and his brothers use to follow the cloud and play in the mist of DDT while they chased the slow moving truck down the street.  While I know that this fogger did not spray the now-banned DDT, I also know that what it sprayed tonight, most likely has consequences we will not discover for another 10 years after torturing thousands of animals in labs around the world to determine if it is toxic.

I quickly closed the bedroom windows and wondered where the bats and birds are who would eat the mosquitoes.  What have we done with the balance that once existed?  I would bet that I could easily get a bat exterminator to come out with short notice to any home in the area.

I went to bed with Bean lying at my feet and the coyote still on my mind.  We were both startled awake at 2:30 am when we heard our wounded coyote again.  The sound of his erratic bark and howl is unmistakable.  He found me, I thought.

I walked outside in the full moon light and searched again.  Wandering around the neighborhood between mailboxes with huge American flags, I looked in the shadows for the coyote….but only caught glimpses of who I assumed was our limping coyote.

What have we done?  What have we humans done? We inherited this beautiful planet.  We were given incredible life all around us have chosen to cut ourselves off from it and lock ourselves up in our houses and cars and stop caring for it…..  We were given these miraculous bodies and chose to cut ourselves off from them and stopped using them and caring for them. 

I heard a wonderful speaker this past weekend who asked the audience if they would like the car of their dreams given to them free of charge.  Everyone answered “yes”.  He said there was one catch: This would be the only one you will have for the rest of your life.  “How will you care for it?” he asked.  Then he compared that car to our bodies.  This is it.  We don’t get another one.  Rats make better choices than humans.  Given the choice between healthy fruits and vegetables and junk food, they always choose the healthy foods.  Humans are as evolved or intelligent.  Given the choice to care for our bodies or not, most have opted to not care for them.

It is the same with this planet.  This is it.  This is the only one we will have for the rest of our lives.  We are treating it like most of us are treating our bodies. 

Now, from the bed, I hear the sound of the interstate but no coyote.  Bean and I are not sleeping.  We are staring out the window into the yellow glow of the streetlight with the full moon light mixed in…looking past the giant American flag on the mailbox… and hoping to see something more….

Friday:

Just got back from a long walk with Bean.  An hour into our walk, the coyote showed up 15 feet to our right.  I immediately sat down this time.  The coyote didn’t move.  Just stared at us.  I got up and we walked a bit….the coyote shadowing us at about 15 feet away, still limping and unable to use the foot, but not seeming to be in as much pain.  I stopped again and sat on the ground with Bean.  The coyote came closer and curled up in the grass like a puppy.  He closed his eyes and slept.  I let him rest for quite a while by not moving at all.  The mosquitos were so busy eating me and Bean that I think the coyote got to have a good snooze.  When the coyote opened his eyes I got up and tried to approach him.  If Bean had not been with me, he might have let me get close, but he got up and kept the 15 feet between us.  I considered calling animal control for help.  Then I realized that they would most likely either trap him to take him “who knows where”…or shoot him. And once I had called them, it would be out of my hands and out of the coyote’s paws.  I decided to at least let him have his freedom in the forest preserve.

Our coyote buddy followed us to the highway again and sat and watched us leave.  I turned around and watched him over the passing cars on the highway.  He watched me just as closely. 

Intimacy comes in so many forms.  I am missing the coyote already.  I know that there is some message in all this….I know that, one day, looking back I will understand more of what I am meant to take away from this powerful connection.  For now, it is just another lesson in letting go.  I don’t get to fix all the pain in the world.  I don’t even get to fix the pain in this one little corner of the world for this one small beautiful being.

After So Long....

A terrible pipeline explosion tore through Nanjing, China, killing 13 people and injuring 300.  News like that has become so commonplace that it’s almost hard to connect and understand the reality for those in that region.  The news rarely, if ever,  covers the suffering of non-humans. 

This monkey saved the puppy from the explosion.

If anyone asks me why I work as a voice for other species instead of just working to help humans, and claims that other species are somehow less worthy than we humans, I want to show them this picture.  Most humans would save themselves and get the heck out of there....

These are our forgotten relatives. These caring, feeling, thinking beings whom many of us still think are "things".  They want nothing more than their own lives....They want freedom and family and friends and comfort.  Just like us.

I have not been able to blog lately because I have been crazy busy with conferences and speaking and leading workshops.  In between those, I have not had internet access. 

Thanks for waiting patiently for my return. 

Untouchable Subjects

There are things that you just don't talk about with other people, because you don't want to offend them or you just know they don't want to go there....untouchable subjects.  Sometimes it is to avoid conflict. Some untouchable subjects are permanently untouchable, almost like cultural taboos.  Others are temporary untouchable subjects that eventually get talked about.
And there are things you just don't want to talk to others about because you don't want to feel the emotions that go with it.  These are temporary untouchables.
This blog is about three topics that are totally unrelated except for their different flavors of untouchableness. 

 (My soul mate, Tikvah...You can have more than one soul mate in life and that soul mate is not always a human)

Let me start with why it has taken me a while to visit blogland.  I have not wanted to deal with a personal untouchable topic. I did not want to feel the emotions.  This untouchable subject is now ok to talk about. I have had people writing and asking me how Tikvah's health is (our old dog who had diabetes).  I chose not to write the blog for a while because it seemed terrible to not mention him and too personal and too emotional to talk about him.  Now, two weeks after his passing, I can write about him with fewer tears. He went totally blind in a weeks time and was also completely deaf.  He was so disoriented that he was walking into the kitchen cabinets thinking they were his dog door.  I rescued him at 2 am from a river bank were he was struggling in brush trying to find the path to get back home.  His breathing was labored and I knew he was in pain.  We chose to let him go.  He is now buried next to one of his Maine dog buddies, Paix.  I have not written about him because the sadness still feels close to my most vital organ, my heart.  He was so loved by so many people....the Buddha dog is now free of pain.






Untouchable subject two:
Commenting on how people raise their children is generally an untouchable subject unless they are doing something that is against the law.  So much damage is done to innocent children that falls within the legal realms of parenting.  I recently visited two high-powered wealthy professional friends who have two little girls.  One child is treated like a goddess and given everything she wants.  She has a major earthshaking mind-numbing screaming tantrum every 10 minutes or so when she thinks things aren't going her way.  The other child is a brilliant quiet little caretaker who is pretty much fearless.  She is mostly ignored in the family.  The parents continuously tell the little indulged goddess child that they love her and they call her all kinds of little sweetie lovey dovey nicknames.  The other one, the quiet smart little caretaker has no nicknames and is put down for the one very minor fear that she has in life.  It was painful to watch the extreme inequality in this family during my days there.  I wanted to say something and did not know how to approach it with the parents.  After returning home, I sought the advice of many other friends who do and do not have children.  I wanted to know what they would do in this situation.  100% of the wise council advice I got was the same: There is nothing you can do.  Parents of children and puppies are very defensive about how they raise their little ones and will not take any input.  So, for now, I have chosen to not say or do anything.  And I feel like I am deserting a little being in need.  Not easy for me.


 

Untouchable subject three:
People's lifestyle choices.  I am not saying that I want to tell people what to choose in their life or that I am always comfortable with people giving me their opinions on my choices.  I am just saying that there is often a giant elephant walking around in the room who we ignore with even our closest friends.  I think that not discussing the elephant effects our honesty and intimacy levels in a big way.  We recently stayed with two very old friends.  One of the friends has never in all our years as close friends asked me about my work.  I know that I am not supposed to bring it up and he never brings it up.  It is a sort of unspoken rule.  I know all about his work, he knows nothing about mine.  I know that my work is threatening to many of his lifestyle choices.  It has sort of worked to not talk about it all these years....but I have to wonder if we will ever really be as close as two friends could be.  My work is not just work.  It is who I am at my core in many ways.  Not wanting to know about this work, is not wanting to know much of who I am.
Another version of this elephant in the room is when friends or acquaintances share information with me that is counter to the exact issues I care about deeply (and my work) and we do not say anything about the contrast to what I do each day.  Instead of telling the truth, as I see it, I stand there and wonder: "Do they know the reality of what they are saying to me and don't care if it is offensive or do they not see the connections?"  But I don't say anything.
A friend was showing me her new purchase this week.  A big wool rug made from New Zealand wool that was shipped to India and made into a rug that was then shipped to New York where she purchased it. I knew I was only supposed to ooooh and ahhhh over it.  Instead, I pictured every photo and film I have seen about the abuse of sheep in the wool industry in New Zealand and the shipping of the wool in freighters going to India and the people making the rug in India for pennies and the shipping of the rugs to New York.  My mind was reeling from the environmental and human and non-human animal costs that brought the rug to her house.  We did not talk about anything but how beautiful it was and that she had two more in other parts of the house.
There are times when all of us make purchases that are not the most conscientious, but I think it is important to talk about the realities of our choices with each other.

Another recent example:
A friend keeps making disparaging remarks about vegans when she is with me.  She makes broad sweeping statements that clump all vegans into one tidy little box for her.  But, like any population group, we vegans are all very different.  We range from junk food vegans who care about animals to those who are in it for their health only.  I am hurt by her stereotyping us, and yet I don't say anything about how hurtful it is for me when she does this. 
While I am not saying that my life is the perfect example of no-impact woman, I just don't know why we or I don't talk about the realities of these things.  I don't want people to be uncomfortable with us visiting because of what the focus of our work is.  I don't want them to feel watched or judged.  But I do want honest relationships.
In every communication workshop I give, I encourage people to discuss the reality sitting right there in front of them and the person they are trying to communicate with.  We work on non-judgemental ways to do this.  Ways of just saying what our personal reality is.  But, I realize how often I don't take my own advice.
I often keep things to myself because they are too emotional (like Tikvah dying) or they will cross some cultural taboo (like commenting on how a child is raised) or it will offend someone who is my friend (like the rug scene).  We walk around with the thoughts and feelings we are unwilling to share with each other.  We all know we do this.  We all know that no one really knows the full reality of who we are and we do not know the full reality of who they are.  We all have a sort of unspoken agreement about this. 
How different would this world be if we spoke our truths?  How different would our communities be if we opened up enough to take the chance to express who we really are and what we are really thinking and feeling?

Why I Do What I Do

I rarely send something to my entire list.  Today I am sending out my blog posting to my entire email list.
I have many people in my life who think that the vegan choice is just sort of my little thing I do or the equivalent of my religion or is a popular trend and nothing more.  They would not think this if it were me working each day to end violence toward humans. In most human circles, the non-violence education work I do would be considered "more important" if I were working for humans rather than non-humans.
I am sending this out because it is important to not turn our backs on needless violence.  It is not to point a finger at anyone or to say that I am a perfect example of non-violence/consistency.
I am not perfect.  I have inconsistencies in my life.  Like everyone, I do my best with what I know and with the often difficult choices I have to make. 
Most people want to help create a less violent and more caring society.  Some situations seem overwhelming.  How do I personally stop the war in the Middle East?  I have no idea.  Other situations are totally within our power.  How do I personally stop contributing to the war on innocent non-humans?  Here the choices are often within our hands and can be acted on immediately.
Some choices are easier than others.
Whether it is ethical to eat dairy or not eat dairy is not one of the more difficult choices in life.  It is quite clear that we are causing lifetimes of violence and suffering for the pleasure of a bowl of yogurt or a cheese pizza or a dish of ice cream. Most people do not realize this or do not want to make this connection.

Most people do not want to watch difficult/violent footage.  I understand....there are images that I have witnessed that have haunted me for years.  And, it is important to not turn away, especially if the industries are ones we choose to support. 

I am going over to the meditation center to volunteer today.  The center serves dairy.  It is accepted in even the most caring circles.
I know that many of my most politically and environmentally conscious friends are going to say that they only get "humane" or "organic" dairy products.  Most of them have never visited these dairies.  Caring people would not support these farms if they were witness to every step of the process.  Even the most "humane" dairy farm has to deal with the by-product of their industry: the male calves.  They are slaughtered or sent to a veal facility within a few days because the milk meant for them is destined for ice cream, yogurt, cheese and milk for humans who are beyond the nursing age.
There is no humane way around that or the fact that the mothers are slaughtered while still in the prime of their life and become part of the meat industry.
Eating dairy is a slippery slope.  You may start out saying you only support "humane" or "organic" animals products, but when you go out to eat you go ahead and order animal products in your meal without regard for the source.

Please, if you still consume dairy products and decide that you do not want to witness the extremely difficult/violent video attached to this email, there are other, gentler places to get informed. 
Buy some Daiya vegan cheese (the best..) and some coconut milk ice cream and make yourself a comfort food snack while reading through the endless vegan educational material on-line.  Simple Google: Dairy cruelty

Once you read the material you find, you will be more informed.
What you do with that information is up to you.
I hope you will choose to act on what you see.



http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/05/26/conklin-dairy-farms-animal-abuse-video-goes-viral/

Exactly Len.....Memorial Day As If All Life Mattered

On May 28, 2010, at 8:17 AM, My friend Len Frenkel wrote:

AN UNTRADITIONAL MEMORIAL DAY

Please allow me to express some ideas about Memorial Day that go beyond the traditional. Of course I honor those men and women who have given their time, their bodies, their lives for the betterment of this country or the salvation of another. I honor those unfortunate innocent civilians caught in the crossfire who have lost their homes, their belongings, their lives.

But I also honor those living things and beings, innocent of any crime, who have also lost their place, lost their right to exist in peace, or lost their lives after brutal treatment by humans. I refer to trees cut down, needlessly; to fish corralled in nets by the zillions, needlessly; to mammals that undergo painful testing, needlessly; to animals in circuses and zoos forced to perform unnatural acts or live in constrained spaces, needlessly; to the billions of chickens, cows, pigs, turkeys, sheep and goats that are confined and brutalized for their short lives so that we can eat them, needlessly.

That’s what my Memorial Day is about, and it is a profoundly sad one. When will humans learn to cohabit with other life forms rather than treat them as property to be used for selfish purposes?

Pet Them, View Them, Feed Them, Fall in Love with Them and Eat Them.....

WHICH ONE LOOKS LIKE LUNCH?

 

It is no wonder that human children grow up confused about what constitutes violence and what it means to be compassionate and live our values with consistency........

Here is an ad from the local Quaker e-newsletter:

(I removed the full name and email to give this guy some anonymity)

Roger Y. of River Oak Farm is selling organic Angus beef from cattle he has raised in Micaville. Groups make an order together. He can have 1/2 cut the way a group wants it. People can order with 2,4, 6, or 8 together. The full steer is about 500 lbs. His e-mail is: ay@peoplepc.com. His cell is 208-55**.  Small children may come and feed a calf.

And this from the Christian Science Monitor:

 Hey kids, wanna go to the zoo today and look at the crocodiles? And then maybe eat one? The Beijing Zoo puts the same animals on its restaurant menu as it keeps behind bars. Crocodile, kangaroo, antelope, and hippopotamus are among the species that visitors can go the zoo to admire on the hoof, and then savor at lunch – steamed, braised, or roasted – at the Bin Feng Tang restaurant. This has been going on for years, according to the restaurant’s manager, who seemed surprised that a newspaper article this week about her establishment should cause a stir on the Chinese Internet. The news has not gone down well. “How would you feel, watching animals imprisoned in a limited space while eating their siblings?” asked Zheng Yuanjie, a well-known author, on his blog. The zoo restaurant apparently has the requisite license from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry (which would presumably prefer to see crocodiles and hippos in a soup than in their landscapes) and is quite legal because none of the species on the menu is endangered.  Nor, the restaurant insists, do any of the animals come from the zoo’s own enclosures. Still, the restaurant’s menu makes some people wonder. “The zoo is where we teach children to be nice to animals,” Qin Xiaona, head of the Capital Animal Welfare Association told the daily “Global Times.” “How can we do this after eating them?”
 

*Christian Science Monitor
The original link:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0520/Beijing-Zoo-lets-visitors-admire-eat-wildlife
 

Forks Over Knives - Movie Trailer

I cannot wait to see this film...check out the trailer....fantastic! Two of my favorite people coming together for this film!