Kohl’s Misrepresenting Real as “Faux Fur”– Caught Again!

September 24, 2014 / jrmilson / Leave a comment

Sad news today. The department store chain Kohl’s has been passing off real fur as “faux” or artificial, synthetic fur. Again! This time Raccoon Dog real fur trim on a men’s parka was described as “faux-fur”. Hey Kohl’s– it’s not that hard to tell the difference if someone cared enough to check. For one, faux fur has a woven, synthetic cloth backing. Raccoon Dog fur, as with other real furs, has a real hide backing. As in someone’s skin. Duh!

Kohl’s Mens Parka, Photo: Pierre Grzybowski, The Human Society

As those who may recall Rusty the Fairydiddle’s first interview with the Gray Fox on my Blog here, the Raccoon Dog is the only other canine species in the world capable of climbing trees. Apparently they didn’t climb high enough to avoid Kohl’s reach. Here’s a link to the interview if you missed it → The Gray Fox Interview

Asian Raccoon Dog

I’m thinking customer refunds aren’t really that appreciated by the Raccoon Dogs. Or the Cyber Monday Rabbits. It is one thing to be tricked and misled by a supplier once, as with the rabbit fur last year. But not twice. It calls into question what else may be improperly labeled or described. Way to go Kohl’s, the second time in a year that you have been caught misrepresenting real fur as artificial. Shame on you!

Raccoon Dogs, Photo: Chiaki Tsukumo, AP

For more information, here is a link to the news article as presented by USA Today → USA Today News Article, 09-24-14

Being caught the second time in a year makes me think that Kohl’s wasn’t all that truly sorry the first time. Once may be accidental. The second time is at least careless, if not intentional and knowingly dishonest.

But corporate credibility and dishonesty is one issue. The other is the issue of fur trapping in general. Haven’t we advanced enough as a civilization not to be trapping and hunting down other living creatures for their fur? Is it really necessary anymore, with so may other options available to us now? There is a better way.

Asian Raccoon Dogs Pair

We’re Going Walkabout to Writeabout

August 29, 2014 / jrmilson / 1 Comment

What are your plans for the Labor Day Weekend? Have you ever gone “Walkabout”? Just taking off on a walking trip thru nature? Wonderful exercise and helps clear the mind while restoring energy and balance. Take along the binoculars for bird and other animal watching if you have them. And a camera to remember the journey. It’s good to be outdoors in the fresh air, reconnecting with Mother Nature and her wondrous bounties and creations. It would be a great time to visit one of the wonderful local, state or national parks.

I will be going “Walkabout” myself over the weekend, while also going “Writeabout”, spending the weekend with Little Red Bear to complete the fifth story in his upcoming collection of adventures. It involves an abandoned old mine, and we’ll just leave it at that for now. Four stories are in the hopper and ready to go, and the fifth to be finished this weekend. We have about a dozen competing story ideas to be number six in the first collection, but we need to finish number five first. That’s our plan for the weekend.

Little Red Bear asked me to remind that if you are headed outdoors over the holiday weekend- picnics, camping, hiking, etc.- please do be careful of fires, most especially in drought-stricken areas, the Southwest, California and other red-flagged western areas where it has been so dry. There are a lot of homes at stake– human and wildlife. As our friend Smokey says-

“Remember- only YOU can prevent forest fires!”– Smokey the Bear

And if headed to the beach, please keep a watch for dangerous rip currents still present from off-shore storms on both coasts. And remember the sunscreen.

Please check back next week for more Little Red Bear updates. Our new Blog assistant, Rusty the Fairydiddle, left on an out-of-town assignment a couple weeks ago and I haven’t heard from him in a while. Should we be concerned?

As always, thanks for reading and have a wonderful, safe weekend! — Jim (and Red!)

Smokey the Bear and Babes in the Woods

Smokey the Bear Rules for Fire Safety

Knitting Nests To Save Orphaned Baby Birds & Wildlife!

August 25, 2014August 25, 2014 / jrmilson / Leave a comment

Little Red Bear and I have rescued a number of orphaned baby birds and other baby critters over the years. Are you a friend of the birds and like helping out? Do you knit or know someone who does? The NBC Nightly News on Saturday evening (August 23, 2014) featured wonderful work being done to rescue orphaned baby birds at a wildlife rescue center.

The name of the center is Wildcare and they are located in San Rafael, California in Marin, County. Each spring throughout the country, baby birds are orphaned while still in the nest due to severe weather and storms, tree trimming, flooding (for ground nesting birds, baby rabbits and such), lost parents, and other causes.

The Wildcare center has a “Baby Bird Nest Craft-along” project where people make knitted nests in various sizes (for different sized baby birds) and donate them to the center to help care for orphaned babies. The fabric nests serve as snug and cozy replacement nests while the baby birds are being cared for in the center, being the next best thing to real nests. The fabric nests retain heat and insulate against the cold, keeping the babies toasty warm (very important for baby birds!), and are soft for fragile little bodies, preventing injuries from the birds bashing against hard cardboard boxes and the like.

Wildcare has instructions for making the nests on their website. Knitting a bunch of little nests would make for a wonderful and rewarding project thru the upcoming cold winter months to have a supply ready to help out orphaned baby birds come next spring’s nesting season. If reading this outside the U.S. or if one did not want to send the knitted nests out to California, I am sure any local wildlife rescue organization in your area would be delighted to have these available for their use. I think the larger size would be perfect for baby rabbits, squirrels and such.

Here are some helpful links for more information and the patterns to download, along with the NBC news report to help get you going. Happy knitting! And thanks for helping the baby birds and critters! — Jim (and Red!)

Wildcare’s Main Site→ Wildcare Wildlife Rescue

Information On Making Knitted Nests→ Making Knitted Nests Patterns & Downloads

NBC News Feature→ NBC Nightly News Wildcare Feature 08-23-2014

Knitted Nests for Baby Birds, courtesy of Wildcare Wildlife Rescue Center

World Elephant Day– The Power of 96!

August 12, 2014 / jrmilson / Leave a comment

Today is WORLD ELEPHANT DAY! Please check out “The Power of 96 Elephants Campaign” below, as 96 elephants die every day for their ivory. At the current rate of slaughter they will be gone in 12 years, as ivory poaching is at its highest level since 1989, with much of the money going to fund terrorist groups. Elephants can be a vital long term tool to aid African communities thru eco-tourism.

“But with 35,000 elephants killed on average each year, more work is needed to reverse this trend. The death of 96 elephants each day is more than just a tragedy; it destabilizes countries by funding dangerous armed groups and international criminals, disrupts the order of delicate ecosystems, and brings the already endangered species of African elephants, who now number around 420,000, ever closer to extinction.” — from the article. Here is a link for more information on “The Power of 96 Elephants Campaign.”

Elephant Conservation and Eco-Tourism

Famous Elephant “Mountain Bull” in Kenya, Poached for Tusks on 05-16-2014.

World Elephant Day

Rusty’s Very First News Feature- The Gray Fox Interview

July 16, 2014 / jrmilson / Leave a comment

We are proud to publish Rusty’s first interview in the new Blog feature series today- “Rusty Behind the Scenes!”

As you may recall, Rusty the Red Squirrel, or “Rusty the Fairydiddle” as he has become known here, was recently hired as a Blog Assistant to provide special behind the scenes access for you while Little Red Bear and I finish his collection of short story adventures for release in the coming months. This is the first in a series of news articles, features and interviews Rusty will be doing. If you missed it, more information about Rusty himself is available a few posts below, when he was first introduced.

Rusty sat down for a chat the other day with one of the Gray Foxes from the “Ozarks Ostrich Crisis” story. Not sure everything went quite according to Rusty’s plan though. Having been raised in England, some of his assumptions about the backwoods critters here in the Ozarks Mountains may have been a little off. Here is a link to the full length interview text→ “The Gray Fox Interview” Hope you enjoy it.

Gray Fox

Rusty is hard at work now preparing for his next interview which, in all likelihood, may go a little more smoothly for him—“Buzz the Honeybee”. Watch for it soon.

Fatal Copperhead Snake Bite in Missouri State Park- Be Safe!

July 11, 2014 / jrmilson / 1 Comment

A St. Charles, Missouri man nearby died after being bitten by a Copperhead Snake in a Missouri state park. It is the third Copperhead bite fatality in the state’s history, and the fourth snake bite death overall in the state, the other being from a Rattlesnake in the 1930’s.

Here’s the point → If you don’t know what it is do NOT pick it up. And even if you do THINK you know what it is, still do NOT pick it up. Snakes can be very confusing and not obvious when covered under leaf litter and detritus in the woods.

For copperheads specifically, note the distinctive hourglass shape pattern and coloration. But- they are easily and frequently confused with Rat Snakes and other snakes. As are Water Moccasins (Cottonmouths). And Coral Snakes vs King Snakes. Please leave snake handling to the experts. Snakes are on the move and very active this time of year, baby snakes are coming out and even a poisonous baby snake is dangerous. Please teach your children to give all snakes and wildlife a wide berth and to please leave the critters alone. For your safety and the wildlife’s.

Have fun in the outdoors, but please use common sense and be safe. Prayers for the family. So sad and avoidable. Here is a link to the original news story as filed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.

Snake bite article.