Wolves Should not be Hunted in Minnesota or anywhere

                                     Wolves Should not be Hunted in Minnesota

         Everybody has an opinion when it comes to whether or not we should hunt the grey wolves in our area. My opinion is that we should not hunt the wolves. I personally do not believe that we need to control the population and I disagree with every other excuse the hunters give us as reasons to hunt the wolves.

        Many hunters say that the wolf hunt is a good thing. Some even say that killing the wolves will help the wolves. An article in The North American Hunting Club Magazine written by Luke Hartle states,"The good news: The boys at the USSA are more ready to fight for us—and for what’s best for the wolves—than ever before."

         How could killing wolves possibly be good for them? Some say killing wolves would benefit the wolves because they would have less resources they would have to share. There would be less wolves to kill the deer so there would be more deer available for the wolves and the hunters to kill. In the article"The Great Wolf Debate: Hunt Them Down or Let Them Flourish," Mayton points out that "For biologists such as Kronemann, killing wolves in order to protect them is contradictory. The Idaho biologist told The Ecologist that he believes it is simply fear that is driving government officials to push for hunting as a way to resolve the situation."

        Another argument people use to kill the wolves is because they are killing all the deer. This is simply not true. The hunters are killing "all the deer." According to www.deefriendly.com "Minnesota hunters harvested 192,300 deer during the 2011 season." It is estimated that each healthy wolf kills approximately 15-20 deer a year. With this year's estimate of 3,000 wolves in Minnesota we can assume that the wolves kill 45,000 to 60,000 deer a year. That means the wolves kill only about 1/4 of the number of deer that Minnesota hunters kill. According to the Minnesota DNR website, Minnesota has approximately 1 million deer. That means the wolves kill only 4-6 percent of the population a year while Minnesota hunters kill 19-21 percent of the deer population a year.
        It seems that a large number of people are supporting the hunt out of fear. People believe they need to kill the wolves to protect themselves and their family. People who are for the hunt are instilling fear in locals causing them to believe they are in danger. According to www.mnforsustain.org, "There is no record of a non-rabid wolf killing a human in North America and rabies has never been found in Minnesota wolves. A healthy wild wolf generally tries to avoid contact with humans." Wolf attacks are very rare. You are more likely to be attacked by your neighbors dog than by a wolf.
         A more common excuse to kill wolves is that they prey on livestock. Farmers are in fear that their livestock is in danger of wolves. The facts are that livestock are always vulnerable to predators and to theft from other people but killing by wolves is so low that we can not justifiably use this as an excuse to kill them. According to The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)'s 2005 report, livestock loss due to wolves killing them is the lowest, second only to killings from bears. According to the DNR we have had about 3,000 wolves in Minnesota for the last 10 years so the report has likely not changed much since then. In 2005 only 5 percent of all cattle loss was due to predators and only 0.11 percent (not even a whole percent) were due to predation by wolves.
Even if the statistics of wolves killing livestock were mich higher (which they aren't), there are other ways to solve this problem besides killing such a beautiful creature. Collette Adkins Giese said in her article against the delisting of wolves, "There are plenty of tested, nonlethal options to safeguard livestock from wolves, including the use of guard dogs, flagging and predator-proof fencing. And when depredations do happen, livestock owners in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are compensated for their losses."
          I believe that hunters will use any excuse to justify the killing of wolves (or any animal) and instill fear into the local population to make it acceptable to hunt. They make claims that hunting benefits the animals, benefits nature and that it protects our families and livestock. All the hunters really care about is getting the trophy or achievement from getting the biggest or fastest animals. Luke Hartle said in his article, "As a hunter, I want the opportunity to kill a wolf as much as anyone else." Melissa Timm of Hamptom wrote to MPR News and said "I would love to hunt a wolf, just once. It is a highly skilled and smart predator. It would also be a great trophy."
I believe that if an animal is to be hunted it should be for food only. Sadly, the wolves are hunted for their pelts. Not very many people are willing to eat the wolf meat. People are looking forward to making money off the pelts. Some say that it makes sense to have the wolf hunting season when pelts are at their prime so we can get use out of the wolves that are killed to control population. I believe that nature has it's own balance. The wolves are at the top of the food chain and we never had a problem without human interfereance. There is a circle of life and every thing in nature has a purpose. Humans were not born with guns and bows in their hands. I believe, if we are not fast enough to catch them by foot and strong enough to take them down by hand, then we are not truly meant to kill them by nature's rules.
         The wolf is a beautiful and magestic creature who has just as much right to be here as humans do. Killing the wolves will never be right according to nature, no matter what excuses we try to use.

5 months

Today marks 5 months that I have been a vegetarian. I can't say I have had NO MEAT at all during those 5 months. I have had a couple accidental bites of meat not knowing it was meat. But, I haven't cooked a meal using meat in 5 months. I also haven't had chicken in even longer than that. It feels so good. I have lost 41 lbs, not all from being a vegetarian but I look in the mirror and I dont see myself as super fat anymore. I have a new confidence. It looks amazing on me. I have a new positive attitude. I no longer have stomach problems. I am not sick every day anymore. Changing my diet was like changing my whole life. This has been an amazing experience and I am glad I made the decision to become a vegetarian. I am so proud of myself for being so strong.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

So tonight I was majorly craving something chocolatey. I had some silken tofu and cocoa powder so I gave it a try. This is what I did.
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cocoa powder (mine was dark cocoa)
1 package silken tofu
I blended all the ingredients in the blender until smooth and it was enough for 2 servings. 1 for me and 1 for my daughter. She said it was great. She didn't even know it wasn't normal dairy pudding. I have to admit that it was delicious. I couldn't even taste the tofu in it. I will definitely do this again.

Not the best picture but it was a quick decision with no time to set up a nicer photo but you get the idea. :)

My vegan experience so far

Ok so on Saturday, I drove 2 hours to a Whole Foods Co-op and bought an assortment of vegan cheese items to try figuring that once I know what I like I can venture out and stock up on the items I enjoy.I must say I dont care for the vegan cheeses. So far I tried a hickory cheddar cheese spread that I put both on my buns for my veggie burger and on some crackers. Thankfully on the burger there was no after taste but I'd rather save the money and just eat a plain veggie burger with some lettuce and onions. On the crackers I loved the hickory flavor but the after taste was dreadful.It made the thought of eating it again very unpleasant. I also had some shredded cheddar on my salad. That was "OK". I would probably eat it on my salad again but is it really worth $5 for a tiny bag? I don't think so. I bought some vegan parmesan which I also tried on salad but to me there seemed to be no flavor really and I'd rather save the money and not have parmesan on my salad at all. Cheese is the main reason I am not vegan yet. I bought the powdered egg replacer and have already been using other items to replace eggs like applesauce. I enjoy soy and rice milk. I enjoy the Rice Dream frozen treats so it seems the only problem is the cheese. What will I do without pizza, lasagna and cheese filled raviolis? I am slowly going to cut cheese out of my diet and have to live without my favorite dishes. So sad. :(

The joy of animal rescue

I can honestly say that one of the most rewarding things I have done is rescue animals. I have met some pretty amazing animals and have also added members to my family this way. I do not understand how a person could abuse or mistreat an animal in anyway. I have rescued animals from the side of the road that were about to get run over, bottle fed a baby wild bunny when a dog carried it away from it's mother, took in animals that were starving and had been abused.
Currently we have a dog named Tippy. She is approximately 4 years old and she looks like a doberman mix. She is gorgeous. She was found on the side of a highway in a wooded area. We adopted her from the animal shelter and my daughter called her Tippy. She loves to swim and go for walks. She is very vocal and "talks" to us every morning. She is very sweet and loveable.
We have a cat named Cowboy. We were just going to bed late the night of the 4th of July. Our fireworks were rained out by a huge thunderstorm. We heard a cat crying and got up to look out the window. We couldn't see anything so my wife went outside and found him. He was still a kitten and he was soaked and terrified. He was also very hungry. We didn't plan to keep him but he spent that night cuddled up with me in my bed. He is the most well behaved cat I have ever had and he is a sweetheart. How anyone could leave him outside in a thunderstorm on one of the busiest streets in town I will never understand it.
We also have a cat named Henry. He is still just a baby. My mom lives out in the country and is surrounded by woods on all sides. One day she heard a cat crying and found Henry. He looked about 6 weeks old and how he stumbled on her house out there I will never know. She asked me to take care of him and find him a home. Again, we didn't plan to keep him but it's really hard not to fall in love with a tiny kitten you bottle feed. He was so tiny and his little ribs were sticking out. Someone must have dropped a litter of kittens in the wood because her neighbor that lives down the road found 2 more kittens and took them in. Henry is so sweet and he loves to cuddle. He wants me to hold him all the time just like a baby. He jumps up and lays against my chest as if to say "Hold me, Mama." He closes his eyes and purrs.
Now how could anyone not love animals? How could anyone hurt these precious creatures?

Veganized Blueberry Muffins Recipe

This is my favorite blueberry muffin recipe veganized.  

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk (replace with soy, rice or almond milk)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar (replace with half a cup of Truvia or agave nectar)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (replace with a pinch of sea salt)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten (replace with 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil  (replace with 1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (change to 2 cups)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix milk and lemon juice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. Add applesauce and oil to milk mixture; mix well. Gently stir into flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.
3. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees F at 22-24 minutes or until center of muffin springs back when lightly touched.

Laundry Detergent Recipe

I make my own laundry detergent because it is better for the environment. I like this recipe because my clothes come clean, it costs less, it uses less and there are no extra added chemicals. I also started using dryer balls and totally cut out dryer sheets. My clothes come out smelling fresh. This is good for me because I don't like smelling really strong scents on clothes. This is good for people who are sensitive to smells and also with sensitive skin. It smells clean without being overpowered by a strong scent. Try it out! I have been using it for several months now and I will never buy store bought laundry detergent or dryer sheets again.

                1 bar castile soap
                1 cup washing or baking soda
                1 cup borax
1. Grate one bar castile soap into fluffy flakes. (I personally like Kirk's Original which is $2.99 for 3 bars at my local SuperOne Foods store.)
2. Mix in 1 cup washing or baking soda (I prefer baking soda because I can buy in bulk and use in baking) and 1 cup borax with the soap flakes.
3. Add one or two TBSP to laundry.