Badgers and fox

Between 2:00am and 3:00am today, I spotted these animals in the backyard:

A fox and two badgers! I've seen the fox sniff and snack around the back a few times but this is the first occasion I can recall seeing a British badger (discounting those I've seen as roadkill). The badgers sniffed and snacked through the grass, too.

The chicken

I visited my grandparents today to do some garden work for them. One task consisted of me trimming the hedge at the back of their property; while said hedge faces their neighbours' house, the hedge nevertheless belongs to my grandparents.

While I trimmed the hedge, I had "help" from one of the neighbours' chickens. As the leaves from the hedge fell to the ground, the chicken rummaged through it looking for snails to eat. She had previously looked through the rest of the yard for food but decided that her newfound leaves were far more worthy of a forage for food than anywhere else.

I'll be back at my grandparents' house tomorrow and Friday to do more work at theirs.

Not dog mess

Besides submitting a formative plan for an essay that is due in three weeks, my day has mostly been unproductive. My cold meant I couldn't sleep and so I was up all night until almost 6:00am, which I most definitely could have done without. As such, I've had to sleep in parts of the day to catch up on rest; needless to say, I'm not happy with how today progressed.

This evening, I went up to Morrisons to purchase for dinner for tonight. On the way there, I trod in something slippery and then groaned, as I thought I had trod in dog mess. There's no easy place at my accommodation to clean my shoes but beyond that, even if there were, being sick still meant I wasn't looking forward to the prospect of cleaning dog dump from my shoe.

Before continuing to Morrisons, I removed my shoe to ensure it really was mess on my shoe. Luckily for me, I had only stepped in loose mud from the grass; I had not stepped in anything disgusting. A feeling of relief came over me at that point.

Final inductions and Ruddington

My inductions at university are now complete. All but two of them were general information talks about the library, the online workspace, travel opportunities, etc.; the remaining two were about English and Media. I have the rest of the week free for the most part before I begin lectures and seminars for my course next week.

As this afternoon was mostly sunny, I used my free time to catch up on some exercise by walking to Ruddington, with the Rushcliffe Country Park being my intended destination. My first visit to the park was in September of last year and until today, I had not returned for a second visit, despite visiting Ruddington since. Yes, a venture to the Rushcliffe Country Park was indeed appropriate.

This is one of the many paths in the park; this particular path is located near to the wooded area along the northwestern boundary.

In this wooded area was this animal sculpture, made from wood and tyres. I think it's a hedgehog? Either that or another rodent coming out of its lair.

Near the centre of the park is this lake, where ducks, fish and swans all reside. The area contains signs that note a ban on feeding bread to the ducks, citing that doing so is of no nutritional value to them and that uneaten bread pollutes the lake.

In addition, I also briefly wandered into the Rushcliffe Fields Business Park, which is home to the Ruddington campus of Central College Nottingham. The business park is within the boundaries of the country park, even though it contains private property.

Once I'd seen the Ruddington campus I walked back to and around the lake and began my trek back up to Clifton. I would estimate, depending on weather and traffic, that it takes about 45 minutes to reach the Rushcliffe Country Park from my accommodation by foot, so it's an excellent walk.

Steve Irwin - ten years later

Nearly a decade ago, I wrote this small tribute to Steve Irwin:

"Steve Irwin invested millions in lands. He did this to protect the environments that wildlife lived in. He should be remembered for that, and the other great achievements he did."

I cannot believe that it has been ten years since Irwin's death. I remember the day as though it were yesterday - I read the news in the morning and by the time the afternoon came around (on the US West coast, where I was located at the time), the Internet was almost impossible to navigate with all the people who were logged on at once reading up about Irwin.

When Irwin became famous, he often received criticism for emphasising entertainment over conservation but he used the former to aid with the latter while remaining true to his principles; Australia Zoo is part of that legacy as is the awareness he raised/people he inspired to become involved. He was most certainly a positive force in the world and he went too soon.

All these years later, thank you, Steve Irwin, for your conservation work and thank you to Terri Irwin for continuing it.

Cat and chips

On my way back from my evening walk, I saw something that brought about mixed feelings of "Good news, everyone!" and "I don't want to live on this planet anymore". What was it? A cat eating out of a container on the ground filled with leftover pie and chips.

It was cute in that the cat was eating out of the container and because the cat would take a chip or two out, run underneath a parked car to eat them before returning to the food to repeat the process. However, it was sad in that the pie, chips and their container were all litter and because a cat should not be eating human food, as it unhealthful for them to do so (well, some meats are okay, provided they're not raw).

The cat looked healthy, so I doubt it was eating the pie and chips because of malnutrition. No, more likely the cat thought the human food smelled nice and decided that it would take a bite. In the long run, the cat munching on the occasional bit of human food in encounters won't hurt it but even so, it's better off with food designed for cats.

Cat on the way

When on my return walk this evening, I spotted this cat:

The cat was less bothered about my presence than I was of its; well, I wasn't bothered - rather, I hadn't noticed the cat until I had almost stepped on it. I was able take some photographs and then cross the road without the cat moving away.

Another pigeon frenzy

At the Victoria Centre bus station this past weekend, I encountered another pigeon frenzy:

There was some food on the ground but I couldn't tell exactly what had this avian fleet in a fiasco. They had earned themselves a small human audience.

At the bottom of the disagreement pyramid

On a certain popular Facebook page last week, the owner posted a joke that involved animal cruelty. Now, I have a fairly healthy sense of humour but even I have limits - I do not enjoy laughing at the suffering of others. As such, I posted a comment critical of the joke and since my comment was among the first posted, it received significant attention and was soon the most "liked" comment in the thread.

While the comment went on to be my most "liked" to date (160+), it was not without its critics. In fact, I would estimate that over half the people who left a non-like response opposed me. I say "oppose" because they were not discussing or arguing against me in a constructive manner; no, far from it - they immediately descended to the bottom two tiers of Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement:

The first person to respond fell into the "Ad Hominem" tier, as they decided to interrogate me on whether or not I am a vegan and a user of animal products. Their goal was to derail my criticism by painting me as a hypocrite if I answered no and yes, respectively, or to label me as a liar if I said I did not use animal products (everyone uses animal products in everyday life, whether we like it or not). Other people who fell into this tier were those who mocked me for being "offended", even though I clearly stated that I had not taken offence and that criticising something does mean that someone is offended. Also, even if I were offended, that wouldn't have invalidated my point.

A couple of others attacked my intelligence, claiming that only someone with a low IQ would criticise the joke or not appreciate the humour. Most other people fell into the bottom tier, "Name-calling". Yep, because yelling "you're an asshat/idiot/stupid" is an excellent way of refuting an argument. I shrugged off the trolling and in one instance flung an insult back at its speaker; as tempting as it was to engage in reciprocal obnoxiousness, I maintained my composure.

My point is that I was astounded - although I shouldn't have been - at the amount of people who jumped to aggressively defend a poor joke by maligning me. Over a joke involving cruelty to an animal, at that! Even if people had politely disagreed I would still have regarded their views as wrong and would not have been convinced by their arguments but I would have at least respected their willingness to engage in constructive debate. By attacking me, not only did they reinforce confidence in my own perspective but they left me with a negative impression of people who laugh at the type of joke I opposed. It's disappointing that so many people think that trolling and vulgarities, backed up with no substance whatsoever, is a valid form of debate.

A few people defended me, such as by agreeing, telling others to not "jump on the bully bandwagon" and by praising me for speaking up, all of which I appreciated. Less than 24 hours after my comment was posted, the joke was deleted; while I did not ask or demand the joke's removal (they were free to post, I was free to criticise) I nevertheless appreciated this response to my comment, to those who made similar comments and to anyone who agreed.

It is possible to disagree with someone without insulting them. If you disagree in a constructive and civil manner, at the very least you and the other person will have respect for each other and the possibility exists for one person to change the other's mind. By contrast, if you denigrate someone, it is almost certainly guaranteed that you will not defeat their argument and you will most likely cause that person think that anyone with your viewpoint is prone to attacking rather than debating.

Note: above image is not mine and is from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graham's_Hierarchy_of_Disagreement-en.svg

The staring sheep

In the addition to photographing the rolling greens yesterday, I also took a picture of this staring sheep:

Most of the other sheep in the field ignored my brother and me but this one thought we were interesting enough to watch. She continued to stare at us as we were walking away.

Dog duty

I encountered this "polite notice" up in Hucknall on Saturday. I wonder what would happen if a "rude notice" were to be implemented.

Rushcliffe Country Park

I visited the Rushcliffe Country Park, which is located in the village of Ruddington. I took a bus to Ruddington and walked around the place for a bit before I came across an entrance to the park. I intend to visit there again on a day when I have more time available to explore but for now, here is a picture of a squirrel on a bench at the park:

Hucknall, mach 4

I complete my third successful walk (fourth attempt overall) to Hucknall today. I left in the morning and walked all the way there; after eating a little in Hucknall, I walked all the way back from the town to the Broadmarsh, rather than take a bus to the Victoria Centre like I did on the previous two occasions. When I returned to Nottingham's city centre I took a bus back home.

I estimate that I walked 20.5 miles today, which would likely make today's walk my longest to date.

On the way to Hucknall, I photographed this swan family. They were not at all bothered by my presence.

This is a The Threes bus. The Threes is a major bus route operated by Trentbarton, who also operate the main bus route where I live; however, my buses are green rather than orange.

The burial

I conducted some gardening for my grandparents today. When I was nearing the end of my work, I noticed a frog in the garden waste bin. I extracted the frog from the bin and placed it on the ground; sadly, the amphibian was dying from an injury. When I brought my grandfather around to check it, the frog had died.

I am uncertain if the frog was already wounded or if I somehow caused its death. Either way, I was upset and so I ensured that the frog received a proper burial. It was not my intention to leave the frog's corpse out in the open; it deserved to be respectfully buried.

Ducks in white water

My grandfather and I visited Holme Pierrepont this afternoon. We watched these two ducks - likely a mating pair - peck food from the bottom of the white water course area:

I didn't photograph the couple together; they were both too busy eating to move closer to each other.

Holme Pierrepont was busy today; there was a boating event taking place. The event was over before we finished our walk around the main water area.

Sheep run

My family and I visited Rutland Water a few days ago. This was a sight to behold:

It's a group of sheep running back to their field after spending some time by the water. This paved path here crosses the dam segment of Rutland Water; the sheep climb over the dam's rocks to reach the water. The trails the sheep have made on the rocks reminded me of deer trails in Southern Oregon.

A few minutes after I took this picture, another group of four sheep crossed the dam, except this time they were going from the field to the water. The one who went up onto the rocks first had to wait for several minutes before her three followers joined her.

Nottingham day visit July 2014 (2)

Here are some pictures from yesterday when my parents, my Hong Kong uncle and I walked around the Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre:

This is the main rowing area, taken from a pier at the south-western end of the water. There were a few rowers present.

This goose posed for us; she was still standing there when we walked away. She's similar to the goose who I use as my blog profile's avatar!

This is the whitewater kayaking slalom course/training area. There was only one person on the course when we were walking through this zone.

 This is where the River Trent flows into the watersports facility.

This is the previous image again, except this time through an HDR filter. I used an app called Snapseed, which my uncle recommended, to obtain this effect. I like it, but what do you think?

We all enjoyed yesterday. We'll see my Hong Kong uncle again at Christmastime.

Liveland History: 17 June 2011

When I began Air Nice-to-Livelands in May 2011, my early posts received little readership, which I expected; however, now that I have a greater readership than I did back then I'd like to highlight some of my old works in a segment that I have called Liveland History.

A Liveland History post will highlight a blog post of mine that is over three years old and will feature a summary of that old post. The Liveland History posts will be infrequent - no more than two of them per month - as I do not want my blog to become a recycling bin for my old posts. No, this segment is intended to provide the occasional trip to this blog's past. I know that my readers would be unhappy if I constantly brought back old material and, in all honesty, so would I.

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The first early post of mine that I would like to highlight is "Gopher snakes", which I wrote on 17 June 2011:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/gopher-snakes.html

In "Gopher snakes", I wrote about a type of wildlife in Oregon for which my brother and I had a strong fascination: gopher snakes. I explained about how to recognise gopher snakes and what to expect from them in regards to their behaviour towards humans. I also included a picture of a gopher snake in my hand and warned readers to seek additional advice and research before looking for wild snakes or catching them: better to leave animals alone rather than risk harm to them or yourself.

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The text in the dotted lines is how the average Liveland History post will be; however, I expect the length to vary based on how long or short the highlighted post is, and whether or not I have any additional comments to make about it.

Is Liveland History something that would interest you? Like I said, I wouldn't be writing the segment often but I would like to occasionally re-feature and write about some of my early posts. Please do let me know what you think.

Human cat perch

I've seen this video, filmed in July 2008, appear several times these past few days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZ0i04pSeY

It's certainly an interesting routine; I don't think I've heard of a cat that willingly sat atop a person's head. Cats are strange (and lovable) creatures, but this is weird even by feline standards!

There is no way that our cat Smudge could ever have done anything similar. Assuming he had ever developed the desire to balance himself on top of someone's head, his sheer size and weight would have been too much for that person; more likely, though, he would have just fallen off and taken the towel with him.

Poppy, the world's oldest cat

I was saddened to hear that Poppy, the world's oldest cat, has died:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/27794411

Guinness World Records recognised Poppy as the world's oldest cat last month. It's saddening that Poppy died and more so because she only recently attained the title of world's oldest cat. On the bright side, Poppy lived a long and happy life, which is the best life any pet can have.

Poppy

February 1990 - June 2014