Pets
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 week agoThe pet I'll never forget: Merlin the therapy sheep
Merlin the sheep provides emotional support and therapy to clients, showcasing the calming effect of animals on human well-being.
Many public libraries, as well as some universities and conservation groups, have seed libraries available for anyone who wants to use them. Libraries will require you to have a valid card, while schools and conservation groups may have different requirements depending on where you are.
Please do enjoy walking around the site, but just give them some space. We're asking people to remember that these are not pets - they are conservation grazers doing an important job. Jessica Allam, Senior Wilder Grazing Ranger at Kent Wildlife Trust, emphasizes the need for visitors to respect the animals' boundaries and understand their conservation role.
Around a third of UK gardeners use pesticides, and our studies found that house sparrow numbers, for example, were nearly 40% lower in gardens where the pesticide metaldehyde was used. By reducing pesticide use, you can actively encourage birds back into your outdoor spaces, as they rely on invertebrates such as slugs and snails as natural prey.
She had this very motherly energy, which is weird to say about a horse. I just always felt like she was going to take care of me. The two even had the same birthday, April 1, though Blumer was 8 and the horse - whom she called "Fancy" - was 12.
Long before they became destination stops, farm shops were practical lifelines in Cornwall; places where farming families sold what they reared, grew or made, and where local communities stocked their pantries. In a county shaped by smallholdings, dairy herds and mixed farms, the connection between land and table has always been close - and still, today, hyper-local food is something Cornwall does exceptionally well.
The 13-year-old Swiss Brown cow lives in the village of Notsch at the foot of the Carinthia mountains in southern Austria. She's kept as a pet by a local farmer, and can roam her meadow to her heart's delight. Like many other pets, she likes to have her back scratched. If no friendly humans are around to do the job, that's not a problem Veronika uses a brush or stick to do it herself.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
For someone aiming to end the global livestock industry, Bruce Friedrich begins his new book called Meat in disarming fashion: I'm not here to tell anyone what to eat. You won't find vegetarian or vegan recipes in this book, and you won't find a single sentence attempting to convince you to eat differently. This book isn't about policing your plate.
I'm thrilled I did, and my learning curve was vertical in this page-turning work that "offers a hopeful and rigorously researched exploration of how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world's soaring demand for meat, while building a healthier and more sustainable world." There is nothing "radical" about what likely will become a classic, one that is already endorsed by experts in global hunger, global health, climate change, and food security.
The Rural Cut places vintage fashion in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, among vineyards, open fields, and the animals that inhabit the land. As a Beirut-based stylist, I worked with a fully Lebanese team to create a shoot that feels authentic, where each garment and every frame reflects the textures, history, and rhythm of the rural landscape. Photography by Angele Basile / Instagram: @angelebasile Styling by Rinad Saad / Instagram: @rinaaaaddd
To an unimaginable eye, a seed looks inert. Yet they are packed with genetic information and biological processes poised to unfold. All it takes is the right configuration of signals and stimuli from the environment to let them know it's time to dare to grow.
When you think of farming, what ingredients do you generally associate with a successful harvest? The basics certainly come to mind: fertile soil, plenty of sunlight and lots of water. But there are other variables that can also mean the difference between a crop of healthy fruits and vegetables and a large heap of organic waste. And it turns out that one of those variables is a very small hawk.
Central to this window is the delivery of colostrum, which provides essential antibodies and energy. To ensure success, she recommends following a "two by four" rule. "...getting colostrum in within those first four hours is really critical to getting the best absorption," says Fowler, specifying that calves should receive two litres by four hours of age and an additional two litres by 12 hours. She points out that failure of passive transfer can lead to a 10-kilogram decrease in weaning weight.