Camels Kill More Tennesseans than Copperheads

We were alarmed and saddened yesterday to see the tragic news about a dromedary camel in Obion County, belonging to Shirley Petting Zoo. The animal went on a rampage and killed two men, trampling a police vehicle before finally being shot to death. This comes just a few months after a similarly bizarre and shockingContinue reading “Camels Kill More Tennesseans than Copperheads”

Beware of Poaching for the Pet Trade

Spring is on its way, and that unfortunately means that we’re close to the time of year when our native wild animals are at the greatest risk for an under-recognized, under-reported, and under-enforced form of poaching: the illegal capture of wildlife for the pet trade. People tend to think of poaching as something from theContinue reading “Beware of Poaching for the Pet Trade”

The Opossum Rabies Bluff

Opossums are great fakers. In addition to very convincingly “playing dead,” their other common defense mechanism is to stagger, sway, drool, open their jaws, and hiss when frightened. To anyone with a passing familiarity with rabies— even if only from old movies— it’s easy to mistake these behaviors for symptoms of a serious and fatalContinue reading “The Opossum Rabies Bluff”