19 Comments
Sep 2Liked by Christopher Brown

Insightful statement here that resonated with me: "I often find myself thinking how it is that we have come to live more like ants than apex predators." And it seems we're continuing on this path of refinement where we operate a digital colony of ants.

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author

Absolutely—all in service of the accumulation of digital surplus. Thanks for reading 🙏

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Sep 3Liked by Christopher Brown

So many times I think to myself when people videoing or snapping pictures, "that will never be viewed again!". The digital surplus landfill. Thanks for replying.

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Sep 1Liked by Christopher Brown

As usual, Mr. Brown, a great morning read. Thanks! I like how you leave the USFW Barred Owl removal program unjudged for readers to draw their own conclusions. Dan Flores' tale, in Coyote America, of the many cruelties and outrages of the several iterations of what is today USDA Wildlife Services (what a misnomer!) I found almost too hard to read. But I, too, will leave other readers to judge. Ha.

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Thank you! 🦉🙏

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I'm with you on those sentiments, JDavis.

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Sep 1Liked by Christopher Brown

the barred is the most common owl where i live, regularly commenting from the edge of the meadow in the pre-dawn hours. climate change is effecting them too, several winters ago unusual ice crusted the snowfall and the owls were not able to break thru to the mice n moles they heard burrowing underneath. many reports and rescues of weakened owls, found in the daylight by folks who had never been aware of the night crew in their more urban neighborhoods. of couse one questions the wisdom of removing them from anywhere.

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Sep 2Liked by Christopher Brown

Early morning dyslexia had my eyes reading "ANT-hropologists" in your section asking if humans had become mostly ant-like in the ant-hropocene era. The bit about Humboldt's parrot colleague will stick in my mind for a good while.

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Yeah, that story about Humboldt’s parrot is a good one that sticks 🦜

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Sep 1Liked by Christopher Brown

Humankind (how do we define 'human' exactly?) strayed down the wrong path when we made the Esau-Jacob choice between a nomadic life (hunting-gathering-herding) and a settled agrarian life (farming annual crops and domesticating livestock). Toil, sweat, blood and tears for 6,000 years. Maybe the Anthropocene is Gaia's way of hitting the rest button.

Good essay. I love owls.

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I agree (though I hadn’t thought about that part of Genesis as a source), and dig into that question at some length in the new book. Thanks for reading 🙏

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The owls! Enjoyed reading this. Reminded me of Jonathan Slaght's OWLS OF THE EASTERN ICE.

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Thank you, Jill! I need to check that book out 🦉

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It's the inverse of urban fieldwork in the extreme but an incredibly fascinating account of what is involved in doing fieldwork with owls. University of Minnesota Press and I think it won a Minnesota Book Award. Looking forward to reading your new book.

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Sep 1Liked by Christopher Brown

"Lethal removal shall be done by shotgun of 20 gauge or larger bore, using non-toxic lead-substitute shot ..."

Well, at least we know what is authorized.

I look forward to your book.

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author

Thank you, Stacy! 🙏

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Sep 1Liked by Christopher Brown

perfect morning read this 2024 Labor Day

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author

Thank you!

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curious those other letters....see an e, an o...fun puzzling...

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