The Mentor magazine

It was snowing in Columbus, OH, on January 19.  I'm recovering from back strain and much improved, so was tackling the laundry. My adult ADHD kicked in and I noticed something on a top shelf peeking out, calling to me while the washer filled. Debating whether to stress my back, I reached for it and found a May 1929 "The Mentor" magazine.

"The Mentor magazine was published from 1913 to about 1931 by The Mentor Association. The Association was founded by William David Moffat in 1912 and included experts in various fields. Each issue was devoted to a single subject augmented by fine photogravures (photogravures are prints produced in such a way as to mimic the richness and subtle range of tone found in photographs). . . http://archives.dyclibrary.net/?p=206

I've searched this computer for the data base of my grandparents' library, but I can't find it.  I created and printed it back in the 90s, but my back will not allow bending, stretching and lifting. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have picked this up anywhere unless I recognized it. Both my maternal grandparents attended college in the 1890s and although they subscribed to many practical and farming magazines, this looks like it would have appealed to their interests.  This issue concerns wild animals (birds, bears, elephants) and travels, particularly the American west.  Also articles about animal artists. Robert L. Dickey, Grace Mott Johnson, Louis Jonas

I particularly enjoy the advertisements in old magazines. There's a full-page ad for Woman's Home Companion (Springfield Ohio) which promised serialized books for only $1.00 a year. Last year (1928?) the subscriber could have enjoyed The Story of Religion, What is Wrong with Marriage, Mareea-Maria,  The Foolish Virgin, The Quart Eye, Mamba's Daughters, Troupers of the Gold Coast or the rise of Lotta Crabtree, Keeping off the Shelf, and The Father. Of course, on the back, there is a full color ad for Camel cigarettes, "a Miss is as good as a mile" with an attractive young woman offering cigarettes to a handsome man.

Wildhood

I am offered a lot of books to review, and occasionally I accept. If you've been baffled by adolescent behavior--your pupils, your kids, your grandchildren, or even your own if you can remember that far back, this is the book that explains it, and why it's probably necessary. "Wildhood; the epic journey from adolescence to adulthood in humans and other animals," by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers (Scribner, 2019). I'm assuming that Barbara is the scientist and Kathryn the word magician, because it's both very learned, and easy to read.

Using the lives of four animals, Ursula the penguin, Shrink the hyena, Salt a humpback whale, and Slavc a wolf (plus dozens of examples of other animal species--salmon, bats, gazelles, seals, etc.) they provide a look at everything you see in teenagers from status, to anxiety, to bullying, to risk taking, to privilege to sexual coercion. Is your son living in your basement? If animal parents were that protective, the species wouldn't survive.

"Animals will suffer pain, forgo food, give up sex, and betray others just to ensure they've not left out or driven from a group. You might say that for social animals, status is like gravity. It's powerful and inescapable. It's invisible. It exerts an omnipresent force, and it molds how a creature moves through the world and behaves around others." p. 97

Now, doesn't that sound just like junior high school?

Killer whales and wailing kitties

It surprised me to learn that the whale trainer Dawn Brancheau at Sea World who was killed had a loose pony tail which might have looked like a toy/food to the Orca Tillikum which just did what whales do. People who live and work and care for animals should understand animal behavior and never let down their guard, or forget that animals have instincts. Whether they are 11,000 lb whales, or 11 lb dogs. For instance, my 11 year old cat will still attack my shoe strings. I don't know what she thinks they are, but they send a signal. Another cat we had never figured out the tail thing (this one's never noticed her tail). And what cat or dog owner doesn't know not to stare their pet in the eye--even to tease--and if they do, should know not to put their face up to the pet's nose. Yes, maybe 99 times she just licks your nose, but the 100th time she bites, draws blood, sees your reaction, and from then on, you're in trouble.

The dog bite statistics for males is telling. Young male children are bitten by young male dogs, owned by young adult males. See a pattern? Dawn was not a male; Tillikum wasn't a dog. But I'm sure there are patterns that whales follow. I don't blame the whale, and I don't blame captivity. The whale has probably lived longer and had a better life than in the wild. Better than many human beings. Whale trainers are probably safer in a tank with a whale than on a California freeway. But long, loose hair? No, not ever.

Vote NO on Issue 2 Ohio

What is Issue 2?

Issue 2 is a ballot issue that Ohio voters will decide tomorrow, in the November 3, 2009 general election. The issue proposes an amendment to the Ohio Constitution that addresses the care of livestock in Ohio.

The ads are even more confusing than issue 3, sometimes making the same argument for and against. But having worked in the agriculture library for three and a half years and the veterinary medicine library for fourteen (yes, I know that's strange for a Russian major, Spanish/History minor), I'm very, very familiar with the animal rights organizations and agribusiness. Either way, I smell a rat. There is absolutely no need for this. All areas of agriculture and animal health are extremely regulated both for safety and health of humans and animals. No one needs to amend the Constitution for this any more than they need to amend the Constitution to fix sidewalks, repair sewers, or build wind mills.

It's important to remember--there is no definition for "family farm." Not in the dictionary, not in the state constitution. It's just a useful tool for advertising and can mean anything you want it to mean.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture already has the authority to do all the things this newly created board is supposed to do.

Ohio is well covered by animal cruelty laws.

No other state in the nation has anything like this, not even wacko California.

See "Legal Questions and Answers about Issue 2,
The Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board Ballot Issue"

The story of Cowslip

They started with three young heifers. Then

Several years later Snowdrop suddenly died. Cowslip stood next to Snowdrop's dead body refusing to leave until Snowdrop was buried. It was after Snowdrop died that we realized there was something very wrong with Cowslip. Our neighbor took one look at her and said she was blind. Then it all made sense. Snowdrop had been her eyes and without her old friend she was lost and afraid of the other cows and new places. Judging by Cowslips pale brown eyes, I'd say she been born blind." Rest of the story here at My Mustangs.