June 9, 2021

The buzz round our house lately has been the continued success of the OmaHogs.  The Arkansas Men’s baseball team won the conference, conference tournament, and now the Fayetteville Regional.  They will host the Super Regional and then hopefully back to Omaha for their third straight appearance (2020 was canceled).   If you were lucky enough to be in Fayetteville over the weekend, you probably saw someone on an e-scooter.  A year and a half after Fayetteville’s e-scooter program launched in November 2019, the two-wheelers are proving a popular way to make quick trips around the city.

Two different companies supply Fayetteville’s e-scooter corps, Veo and Spin.  Each have 500 e-scooters in the city with every scooter averaging one ride per day.  As of May 10, an ongoing Fayetteville community survey shows that nearly 60% of respondents are either “happy” or “very happy” with the program, and more than 67% would recommend visitors use e-scooters to explore Fayetteville.  The reason micro-mobility programs like e-scooters and bike share are so popular is their potential to reduce car trips, traffic, parking needs and carbon emissions.  Fayetteville has several price options for riders, ranging from monthly memberships ($17) to pay as you go options (unlock and minute charges averaging under $3 per ride). This provides the mobility demanded and avoids the hassle of parking.

The downside for both bike share and e-scooter programs comes when the devices are not used responsibly, putting pedestrians, other cyclists, and users at risk.  The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) says there were 18 shared scooter fatalities in the US in 2019.  There were 136 million shared micro-mobility trips on scooters and bikes during the year, up 60% from 2018.  A study conducted by Henry Ford Health System shows that nearly 28% of scooter accidents in the US result in head and neck injuries.  Dane Eifling, Fayetteville’s mobility coordinator, said there have been no fatalities or severe injury crashes reported through the city’s shared bikes or e-scooter programs.

Thoughts:  Micro-mobility is more common in countries where traffic is crowded, and cars are expensive to buy and maintain.  Typical trips on shared e-scooters and bikes in the US are around 12 minutes and usually range from 1 mile to 1.5 miles.  According to Fayetteville’s survey, 14% of respondents would have skipped a trip if not for an e-scooter.  While most folks ride responsibly, there are always those who do not, and there are accidents involving e-scooters.  Research has shown most activities would be safer if not for human error.  That is true as well with driverless cars.  The problem comes when human drivers act irresponsibly and defy traffic laws.  AI has yet to learn to compensate for “stupid.”  I admit, I struggle with this as well.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 8, 2021

When I planted my container pots last year, I placed the small cilantro start in one of the large shallow pots.  It grew quickly and produced a large amount of leafy foliage.  I mentioned to a friend who also grows cilantro for salsa that mine was starting to top.  That was when she told me if I let them go to flower the leaves would become bitter and not be worth harvesting.  I mentioned I have not been as vigilant this year and the plant began to top two weeks ago.  I cut off the flowering portion in hopes of saving it, and again ignored the plant.   When I checked last weekend, it was apparently too late.  The leaves had turned yellow, and the plant had become covered with beautiful tiny white flowers.  I did not know if it was supposed to, but it no longer smelled like cilantro.

Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum L) is part of the Apiaceae family, which contains 3,700 species, including carrots, celery, and parsley.  All parts of the plant are edible, but people most commonly use the fresh leaves and dried seeds in cooking.  Cilantro has been a part of global cuisine for a long time.  One of the sites that came up when I looked up cilantro online was WebMD, which said cilantro can be used as a medicine.  It is known to be used for cancer, measles, toothache, and other conditions.  However, there appears to be no real scientific evidence to support these uses.  Instead, I saw “it might” remove metals from the body, or “it might” help antibiotics or antivirals work better, and “it might” help eliminate bacteria that cause infection.  In other words, while it works as a spice its use as a homeopathic medicine is at best dubious.

It was interesting to note cilantro is known to cause side effects.  When taken by mouth “it is LIKELY SAFE when taken in food amounts.”  It is uncertain what the effects are if taken in larger doses as a medicine (read, never studied it).  The site went on to say that some people might experience allergies after eating cilantro.  There are reports of hives, facial swelling, and throat swelling.  Others apply cilantro to the skin as a poultice.  Again, there is not enough reliable information to know if cilantro is safe or effective.  What is known is when cilantro contacts the skin, it can cause hives or itching.  This may be a cure I will avoid.  The flowers are nice though.

Thoughts:  When I told my mom I was harvesting my cilantro last year she said, “Keep that away from me!”  I assume she is one of the ones who have negative reactions to the plant.  In the US, cilantro refers to the leaves, and coriander refers to the seeds.  Since my plants have all gone to flower, I could collect the seeds.  I believe I have a jar of coriander seeds in my spice cabinet that I purchased about 10 years ago.  You could say I do not go through a lot of this spice.  I have found it is never a good practice to take folk remedies without understanding what they do.  While some are highly effective and have been proven to have known medicinal properties, others are not.  “What could it hurt,” is never a good reason to ingest or apply any treatment.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 7, 2021

When I got up yesterday, I noticed two squirrels holding court over the squirrel feeder in my back yard.  What surprised me was that they had paid little attention to the feeder for the last year.  Now they were both squabbling over the contents.  One even entered the hole on the side of the feeder (something they had never done before) to make sure it got the best there was to offer.  Then they drove off a blue Jay who tried to horn his way in to get at the seed.  I have mentioned that while I do not begrudge the squirrels their fair share, I still consider them feeding off the public trough I set up for the birds to enjoy.

When I looked up “Feeding off the public trough” online, it defined this as using government funds to enrich oneself.  The phrase generally refers to activities which are legal, but which are morally shameful.  Someone who feeds at the public trough is fattening themselves at the expense of the public.  The term seems to come in vogue during the Gilded Age in late 19th century America.  At the time, the country was wealthier and more industrialized than ever before.  Historian Eric Foner said, these “riches more often derived from manipulating stock prices, driving out competitors, and feeding at the public trough, than from entrepreneurial genius.”  The phrase is universally understood to be negative.

Working for the State of Utah was one of my dream jobs.  I was able to do research and write papers I delivered at conferences.  On the weekends I often took my son Alex along as we researched historic or archeological sites across the state.  One day as we drove, Alex was sitting in the back of the car when he said, “Dad, when I grow up, I want to do what you do.”  After a ten second pause, he asked the appropriate question.  “Dad, what do you do?”  I told him I was a petty bureaucrat who fed at the public trough.  There was another pause, and then I heard, “I think I want to be a paleontologist.”  Although he never became one, I think he chose wisely.

Thoughts:  I found it interesting that when I saw my squirrel activity, I associated them with a pig trough.  When we see cartoons of politicians they are often depicted eating out of a trough.  Pigs are omnivores (like humans), which means they eat both animals and plants.  In the wild, they are foragers and will eat roots, grass, nuts, fruits, leaves, flowers, tubers, and particular kinds of large and small insects.  There are reported cases of people collapsing in a domestic pig pen and being eaten.  The pig eating habits site I looked up had more information on what pigs should not eat.  If you give it to them, they will eat it even if it is bad for them.  Here again, pigs are like people.  One theory is that eating the wrong thing is what started the pandemic.  Perhaps we should be more careful.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 5, 2021

We live along a busy stretch of road that runs north-south along the western section of our state and always has a lot of traffic.  Even though it is a divided four lane road, it cuts through a populated area and the speed limits around us run from 45 to 55 mph.  I have noticed it is also a favorite spot for both the highway police and the county sheriff.  When I first moved to Arkansas Melissa warned me not to speed because they were often waiting for the traffic to whizz by.  That is especially true on the weekends.

When I looked online, I found the city of Berkeley, California, moved forward Wednesday with a proposal to eliminate police from conducting traffic stops.  They decided instead to use unarmed civilian city workers as part of a broad overhaul of law enforcement.  The vote calls on the city manager to convene a “community engagement process” to create a separate department to handle transportation projects as well as enforcement of parking and traffic.  The plan seems to be the first of its kind in the US to separate traffic from law enforcement.   It comes as cities attempt broad safety reforms following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in May.  The reform also seeks to remove armed officers from homeless services, mental health and crisis management, establishes a community safety coalition and steering committee, and initiates an analysis of police calls and responses.

As I took off to the grocery last Saturday I turned onto the highway and looked down to set my cruise control.  I looked up as I crested the hill in time to see a patrol car sitting along the road.   As I looked in my rearview and wondered how long it would take to catch a speeder, I saw his lights flash as he pulled someone over.   I turned back to the road and noticed another patrol car just ahead.  Again, just after I passed his lights flashed and another car was pulled over.  In the next mile I saw two more sheriff cars, and one of them had also stopped a speeder.  On my way home I saw another had someone pulled over.  A mile passing the four cars searching for speeders, I passed a car broken down at the side of the road and the driver stranded.  I wondered if it might have been better to focus on “serve.”

Thoughts:  I worked as a security guard when I lived in Berkeley.  We had a constant stream of traffic coming onto our grounds at night to sleep.  My job was to ask them to move on.  While I never made one, I always wanted to make a tee shirt with our logo and the words, “To Harass and Badger” circling around the shield.  The Bureau of Justice web site indicates the most frequent interaction with police is from a traffic stop, and Black people are more likely than whites to be targeted for investigatory stops that have nothing to do with driving (to search for drugs or check for warrants).  These are inherently tense situations that result in a higher proportion of deadly shootings involving Black drivers.  If unarmed persons conducted the stop or cameras captured and issued tickets these situations would be far less confrontational.  That might allow the police time to provide protection.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 4, 2021

When I went out to check on my bird feeders this week, I found one of them had been robbed.  This was a hanging suet feeder that had a new chunk of a berry and corn mix.  When I saw the cage open, I assumed the wind had knocked it open and the cake had fallen to the ground.  When I looked closer, I found the entire cake was missing.  I was also skeptical the wind could have opened the cage.  I have had it for over a year, and it had never happened before.  That made me think it was something large enough to carry the five-by-five-inch cake off, or at least to take it in large chunks.  It also needed to be an animal who liked suet cakes, or at least what was inside of them.  While I am not sure who the culprit was, I believe I can blame it on one of my squirrels.  I was profiling them as the usual suspect.

When I went to the ACLU website, I found that Racial Profiling refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.  The criminal profiling generally practiced by police is the reliance on a group of characteristics they believe to be associated with crime.  Examples of racial profiling are the use of race to determine which drivers to stop for minor traffic violations (referred to as “driving while black or brown”), or the use of race to determine which pedestrians to search for contraband.  Most persons targeted by profiling walk away with a ticket, but too often the result can be death. 

I also found and article where the New York Times reviewed files of INS raids and found profiling to be prevalent in department reports released as part of the settlement of a garment workers union selective enforcement suit filed against the agency in New York City.  The settlement included a summary that Latinos were 96 percent of the 2,907 people arrested in the 187 worksite raids carried out by the INS in the district.  This was far greater than their representation in the city’s population, legal or illegal.  This occurred even where the INS acknowledged that half the workers were not Latino but Asian, including undocumented immigrants.  Undocumented workers were discovered and arrested in all but a few of the reviewed raids, but nearly all arrested were Latino.  Since it is illegal to hire undocumented workers, I always wonder why the business is rarely targeted?

Thoughts:  I find it interesting how quickly I default to my squirrels as the cause of any mayhem that happens in my back yard.  Since I did not see it happen and I have no evidence of who knocked the suet out of the feeder and then ran off with it, I will never really know.  That leaves me with conjecture, and when I assume I am profiling the animals in my yard.  Profiling my animals will not result in adverse effects toward them.  I have placed special squirrel food in one of the feeders and although I sometimes grimace when either the squirrels or the grackles invade the feeders, I generally leave them alone.  Studies have found our attitude about a person or group of individuals greatly alter our response.  When we assume someone is guilty of a crime it does not make them guilty.  Neither does assuming they are going to be violent make them violent.  However, it does affect the response.  While profiling makes our response easier, it rarely works well for the one being profiled.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 3, 2021

The only history course I took as an undergrad was on farming technology.  I have always been interested in manufacturing and machinery and needed another liberal arts course, so this seemed like a no brainer.  The course covered the development from threshers to combines and the steel plow by John Deere in 1869.  The steel plow was the implement that transformed the central plains from the Great American Desert to the breadbasket of the world.  The other reason I took the course was because my family came from an agricultural background, and I thought this might help me understand what they faced when moving to rural Kansas.  This was a way to understand my roots.

When I checked an online photo reference on the millet plants I was growing along the back fence (that were run over by the mower), it identified the plant as Durham Wheat.   Durum wheat (Triticum durum or Triticum turgidum subsp. durum) is also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat.  It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it represents only 5% to 8% of global wheat production.  It was developed by artificial selection of the domesticated emmer wheat strains grown in Central Europe and the Near East around 7000 BC.  This wheat formed the roots of much of civilization.

While I had thought the plants growing along the fence looked like wheat, when I checked the package ingredients it did not list wheat as an ingredient, only millet.  This showed I was a bit removed from my roots. Yesterday I decided to try another process that could take me closer to my agricultural roots.  I harvested the grain, tied it together in a shock, and placed it on the screened porch to dry.  My hope is to be able to thresh the rain and then again feed it to the birds who had pitched it out of the feeder in the first place.  I felt while it might help me connect to the roots of my ancestors, it would also help the birds connect to the grain they had rejected.  It could happen, right?

Thoughts:  I was part of an archeological survey on the high mesas of Utah when it began to snow.  We stopped and huddled together for warmth while we waited for the truck to arrive to pick us up.  I had read stories on my Kansas roots about the early settlers having no wood on the prairie and instead burned the buffalo chips (read poop) that littered the landscape.  Since the mesa was also a pasture, I suggested we collect dried cow chips and burn them for warmth.  They did not burn well and smelled horrendous.  I was glad this was a part of my roots I did not have to live with.  Every time I think how bad I have it, I remember things have been worse in the past.  The Influenza epidemic of 1918 and 1919 never had a vaccine to bring resolution.  It is estimated there were 50 million deaths worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the US.  One hundred years later, there are those who choose to refuse to get the vaccine.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 2, 2021

With everything that has been going on health and the weather wise I have been neglecting my garden.  The rains seem to be in a lull this week and the temperatures are overcast and cool.  While this is not normal June weather, it is perfect for a return to my garden.  The first thing I decided to tackle was my vegetables.  The peppers are not liking the cool and rain and have barely changed since they were planted three weeks ago.  The tomatoes are a different story.  They have all sprouted to around three feet and are sporting flowers.  Last year I got caught in the determinant/indeterminant debate about how to prune my tomatoes and they did not produce well.  I have again caged the plants and return periodically to brush the foliage up to the next level of the cage.  Today I cut the bottom stems and leaves off the main trunks.  They had started turning yellow, and when they lie on the soil, they become susceptible to fungus and rot.  This year I have a more minimalist approach toward pruning. 

When I checked online it said strawberries (Fragaria spp.) grow as a perennial in US Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 10 (we are in zone 7) and as annuals elsewhere.  It further mentioned they do not usually require much care to produce tasty fruit.  That was good as I have been neglecting mine.   However, the plants and the fruit are susceptible to damage from several sources, including neglect (oops!).  The ripe fruit needs to get off the vine before it starts to rot.  That means picking the ripe ones every two to three days.  The harvest season for June-bearing plants lasts about three weeks and the ever-bearing plants that I have should produce until it frosts.  When in season, you must get the ripe fruit off the vine (oops!) before it starts to rot so it does not spread disease throughout the plants.  You should also pick the berries by snapping them off at the stem instead of pinching the berries below their green leafy caps.  Any pieces of berry left on the plant will again rot, and the rot can spread to other parts of the plant.  I use a pair of garden scissors which does the same.

With the tomatoes prepped I turned my full attention to the strawberries.  Two weeks ago, there were a dozen or more of the berries on the vines along with flowers.  I had seen flashes of red and knew they needed to be picked, but never got around to doing so.  When I tackled the weeding today, I found few ripe berries.  There were some that had been eaten by the birds, but most had shriveled up and died on the vine.  Despite my plants suffering this disaster (according to the online site), they seemed to be doing well.  I discarded the shriveled berries and weeded around the plants to give them better access to the nutrients of the soil.  I am going to get some fruit yet.

Thoughts:  What amazed me while weeding my strawberries were the number of earthworms that came out of the soil along with the weeds.  I had mulched the plants with straw last year and dozens of worms were living just beneath the mulch layer.  While I returned the worms back to the soil, I began to realize I may not have to buy worms this year.  I could just go to my strawberry patch, collect what I needed, and then return any unused worms to keep them alive.  I like the idea of creating sustainable bait along with perennial strawberries.  Like my worm supply, when we are forced to look at life in new ways during the pandemic, we have found new opportunities.  We need to hold onto these sustainable patterns even as we try to innovatively make new ones.  Finding and producing sustainable resources is a necessity, not a luxury.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

June 1, 2021

Memorial Day I got Melissa out of the house for the first time since she came home.  I guess technically that is not true.  She came outside while I was weeding out front several days ago to see her succulents and we took a short walk through our cul-de-sac yesterday.  That strikes me as more along the line of what happened during the pandemic when people would poke their heads outside and then run back indoors.  Today was a real trip.  Although we did not have a specific destination, we were able to drive through the Boston Mountains and enjoy the scenery.  And we went topless.

When I say topless, I do not mean without shirts.  The Wrangler has a three-section roof that allows you to either take the two sections off the front seats or remove the entire roof.  In fact, you can not only take off the top, but you can also take off the doors.  Sadly, we have owned the vehicle for three years and this is the first time we went topless, and we have yet to remove the doors.  I had noticed how easy it could have been to remove the top.  It was held on with pins that slid through holes and eight levers that locked the roof in place.  I found being easy does not necessarily correlate to doing something.

It was supposed to rain in the afternoon so rather than putting the roof sections in the cool cover that was provided at purchase, I just put down the rear seats and laid the two sections in the back so I could bring them along, just in case.  After our topless drive north, we decided it was time to head home.  We had planning on cooking my (famous?) ribs and they need four hours to slow cook.  I had also seen the rains might be coming in around three.  We headed home and sure enough, the sprinkles started right on time.  Being topless in the rain was not something I was looking forward to.  We were only a few miles from home and the storms were coming from the west and we were traveling southeast.  I made the calculated decision to drive on.  Thankfully, it worked.

Thoughts:  Driving topless in the Jeep is just as fun as driving with the top down in the Benz.  You get the wind in your hair and the sun on you head.  After we got home, I realized while we had been driving topless, I had gotten a sun burn.  While this was not a first, it was the first for the summer and this seemed appropriate on the unofficial start of summer.   It was a little cold to go topless yesterday, but since Melissa had suggested it, I followed through.  We were sprinkled on, and I got sunburned.  Then I had to put the top back on once we got home.  Even though going topless was easy, it did not come without risks, still we both thought it was worth it.  Being easy does not necessarily correlate into doing something.  It was easy to wear a mask during the height of the pandemic just as it is now easy to get fully vaccinated.  Apparently, some think the risk of getting sick is better than doing what is best for others.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

May 31, 2021

Memorial Day is an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May honoring the men and women who died while serving in the US military to remember their service.  This was originally known as Decoration Day and originated in the years following the Civil War.  It became a federal holiday in 1971.  While the day has officially been set aside to honor veterans, many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials to also remember family members.  This day unofficially marks the beginning of the summer season.  With the opening of most events this will be welcomed by many.

While established events are reopening the Remember and Rise event in Tulsa, Oklahoma has been canceled.  This year’s Memorial Day falls on the 100^th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre (May 31-June 1, 1921).  Remember and Rise was scheduled to feature a performance from John Legend and a speech by Stacey Abrams.  The event was organized by the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission (TRMCC), which was founded and is chaired by Oklahoma state Sen. Kevin Matthews (D).  The mostly Black commission is dedicated to commemorating the event and raised $30 million for a new history museum at the site of the massacre and a cultural center and art projects around the neighborhood of Greenwood.  At the time of the massacre this was known as the “Black Wall Street.”

The TRMCC said it was canceling the Remember and Rise event on Monday “due to unexpected circumstances with entertainers and speakers, the Centennial Commission is unable to fulfill our high expectations for Monday afternoon’s commemoration event and has determined not to move forward with the event.”  The event fell apart over disagreement on using a portion of the money raised as reparations for massacre survivors.  Lawyers representing the three known survivors in a lawsuit argued money from the commission should be used as reparations for the survivors.  Last Friday the lawyers requested $100,000 each and a $2 million donation toward a reparations fund.  After agreeing to the terms, the commission was informed Sunday the stakes had been raised to $1 million for each survivor and $50 million for the fund.  It seems to remember has a price.

Thoughts:  While the official centennial event will not happen, other actions will.  The president has agreed in a separate effort to remember the massacre by visiting Tulsa on Tuesday.  I found a footnote at the bottom of the online article concerning the dispute over reparations.  “Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions.  In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting.”  This appears to be another way to say the issue is too controversial so we are not going to open this can of worms.  History is generally written by the victors, or at least the survivors.  The history we remember is always biased and sometimes painful.  If we do not remember, both the good and the bad, we are doomed to repeat the past.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

May 29, 2021

As I came out of work last week, I noticed the two magnolia trees on the north side of the building had several flowers on them.  While the beautiful array of flowers covering the trees had not yet happened, the display had begun.  Magnolias are a popular ornamental tree that has a long history in the southern United States.  Many large and incredibly old specimens can be found in the subtropical port cities of the Gulf and Southern Atlantic coast.  The species is cultivated north into the coastal areas of the Maryland and up to Connecticut.  On the West Coast the trees will grow north into Vancouver, Canada, but the cooler West Coast summers do slow growth compared to the East Coast.  There are few known long term specimens found in the Midwest due to severe winters and lack of sufficient summer heat.

The Southern Magnolia (magnolia grandiflora), commonly known as the bull bay, is a tree of the family Magnoliaceae.  The trees are native to the southeastern United States.  This striking evergreen tree reaches 90’ (27.5 m) tall.  It has large dark green leaves up to 7 3⁄4” (20 cm) long and 4 3⁄4” (12 cm) wide.  The trees produce large, fragrant, white flowers up to 12” (30 cm) in diameter.  Although they are native to the lowland subtropical forests on the Gulf and south Atlantic coastal plain, magnolia trees are widely cultivated in warm areas around the world.  Obviously, that includes Northwest Arkansas.

An iconic Southern Magnolia planted by President Andrew Jackson nearly 200 years ago grew near the South Portico of the White House.  It was said to be planted as a seedling from Jackson’s plantation, The Hermitage, in Tennessee.  It was the oldest tree on the White House grounds and between 1928 and 1998 it was featured on the back of the $20 bill.  Jackson is still pictured on the face of the bill.  There was a tradition of gifting cuttings or seedlings grown from the tree.  Among others, Ronald Reagan gifted a cutting to his Chief of Staff Howard Baker upon his retirement and Michelle Obama donated a seedling to the “people’s garden” of the US Department of Agriculture.  During the 1940’s the tree suffered a gash that caused a large section of its trunk to rot, the tree had been supported by metal poles and cables.  Due to its deteriorating condition and on the advice of the National Arboretum the Magnolia was removed on December 27, 2017.

Thoughts:  When I checked online, I found the average lifespan of the Southern Magnolia is around 80 years, but there are some that live to 120 years.  What is odd is the cause of this tree’s demise is a gash received in the 1940’s (120+ years old) and being clipped by a small plane in 1994 (170+ years old).  Fortunately, White House groundskeepers have long been preparing for the loss and healthy offshoots of the tree were being grown at “an undisclosed greenhouse-like location.”  Just as the tree thrived in cultivation, a study of more than 50 mammal species found that in over 80 per cent of cases, zoo animals also live longer than their wild counterparts.  It seems the protection zoos offer against predators, disease, and the elements outweigh the social and behavioral problems of captivity.  Still, larger species with few predators (like elephants) live longer in the wild.  The greatest threat to most species is human encroachment.  We destroy habits and then use crop and livestock depredation as an excuse to kill or confine animals to a zoo.  We need to make an effort to find ways to live together.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.