Tag Archives: Conservation

Ancient Word of the Day: Humus

From the word ‘Humus’ come many of the words for being human and humility. For millennia and across many cultures, walking with your bare feet in the earth has been a sign of humility.

Book Review: The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall

An engaging and big novel that’s less about wolves, and more about instinct, wildness, independence and sexual connection coupled with big themes like Scottish political independence, class privilege and the UK’s national identity – 4 stars.

Powerful Thought: The dead bird urges you to write

Rachel Carson was urged to write ‘Silent Spring’ by the dead birds she held in her hands who called her to write.

She could not live, knowing what she had learned about DDT, without speaking, without – her gift – lifting her pen to write.

Ancient Word of the Day: Orangutan

Orangutan: n. Orang ‘forest’ hutan ‘person’ or forest person in Malay Orangutans belong to the great ape family, our closest biological relatives. This familial link is reflected in the word orangutan itself, which Malay speakers today can still recognise as deriving from the phrase orang hutan, which means “forest person”. This term goes back over aContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Orangutan”

Ancient Word of the Day: Gibbon / Kebong

The word gibbon entered European languages through French in the 18th century. The French adopted it from the Malay word, kebon. However etymological research shows this Malay word originally came from a group of languages called Northern Aslian, spoken by indigenous communities in peninsular Malaysia. In Northern Aslian, it was probably pronounced kebong. Gibbons are a type of apeContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Gibbon / Kebong”

Comforting Thought: We all have four limbs and a shared history

“Just as all humans are the same and each human differs. All species are the same and each species differs, and within that, each creature too, is an individual. It is a matter of mystery and delight compounded that so many species can bring that buondary between us, so that the hawk looks for theContinue reading “Comforting Thought: We all have four limbs and a shared history”

Six Quirky Facts About Red Pandas

Red pandas are sweet looking, unobtrusive and stunning mammals that live in the mountainous forests in the Himalayas. With their lustrous and vibrant reddish brown fur and round sweet faces; they have the vague appearance of a fox rather than a Giant Panda. Here’s more about a mysterious animal that my boyfriend and I fellContinue reading “Six Quirky Facts About Red Pandas”

The Sky Bastard Who Ate My Ancestors in New Zealand

Here is another rough diamond plucked from the caverns of Content Catnip’s vault, this post from 2014 and resuscitated for your enjoyment. I still love megafauna just as much, even now. Introducing the Sky Bastard who once sparked universal terror in the hearts of my Māori ancestors. Common Name: Haast’s Eagle Scientific Name: Harpagornis moorei (DiscoveredContinue reading “The Sky Bastard Who Ate My Ancestors in New Zealand”

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #46

Bonjour et bienvenue. This weeks wild and wooly wonders blew off the neighbours washing line into my backyard and now I’m just sifting through them! The first lines of famous books infographic This infographic definitely makes me want to check out some of these books I haven’t gotten around to reading yet. What about you?Continue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #46”