About life in the mountains

Zoology student. I love taking photos of nature, plants and animals. I post my own photos and repost photos I really like.

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[cagaderamental]

[megheadmed]

You need.. you need to unmute…

[cobaltdays-deactivated20210208]

I’ve waited too long to find this gem again!

[colombian-jacob-49]

This is perfection 😂

[gorreality-deactivated20170927]

“I can’t be vegan, I love cheese”

Dairy industry is as evil as meat. No less harm for animals. Does it look natural that calf can’t drink milk so you can taste your piece of cheese? 

GO VEGAN. 

[smellyoldblanket]

WRONG

That calf is wearing a nose tag. Nose tags are put on calves so that they are able to stay with their mothers longer, but are unable to nurse. They don’t NEED to nurse as they get older, they just get greedier and pushier and will bash up the cow’s udder and bruise it with their noses.

This nose-tag is so that calves can stay with their mothers, their mothers can remain pain-free and healthy, and nobody is stressed.

Educate yourselves you ignorant fucking tarts.

[horseandarcher-deactivated20150]

…really? You don’t think it might have anything to do with the milk being stolen for human consumption? At all? Not even a tiny bit?

[the-gay-is-over9000]

Militant vegans can fuck right off

[periegesisvoid-deactivated]

Based on fur texture and face shape, that calf is at least six months old, probably older.  Calves can survive without actual cow milk even at three months, though older is better (calves weaned that early are usually fed a sort of formula for another couple months).

Also, nose tags like that one don’t go through the cow’s septum.  They basically work like those fake septum rings for humans.

In addition to weaning the calves, another use for nose tags is protecting non-lactating cows.  Sometimes weanlings or even adult cows will suck on themselves or other non-lactating cows; this can cause internal teat scarring bad enough to prevent that teat or teats from ever working.  I’ve seen this happen, and it’s ugly, probably at least somewhat painful, and, if bad enough, would lead to the cow being slaughtered at a very young age because she can’t produce milk, has chronic mastitis, and/or can’t be milked with automatic milking equipment.  So, nose tags actually prevent animal cruelty.

Also, calves will suck on anything remotely oblong (and attempt to eat literally anything), even if they are being adequately fed or overfed.  Often they will suck on other calves’ ears, and, since ears are longer than teats and cows have upper as well as lower teeth in the back of their mouths, many calves get bites on their ears, which often become severely infected.  I’m not sure if nose tags would work there, because physics—a non-toxic but bad-tasting ear paint would be better—but yeah, letting a calf put anything it wants in its mouth is not always a good idea.

[master-dog]

reblogging for educational purposes.

[kijikun-deactivated20150220]

reblogging for people being schooled

[gonnagoandrunwiththehorses-deac]

This was the funniest argument about false cruelty I have read.. Thank you. 

[namesnotfred]

I love this for 2 reasons: Most people don’t realize that in farming areas agriculture/horticulture/animal husbandry is part of public school education from as early on as 7th grade. (Though I remember dissecting cow eyes in 4th grade science sooo) I assure you fifteen year old farm kids know more about what constitutes animal cruelty in farms than thirty year old vegans with, or without an agenda. 

Also that if you really want good quality beef/pork/eggs/milk/etc you don’t abuse your animals. Ever. That’s not the point and if you want to make any kind of money off your career choice, you are going to treat those creatures better than you treat yourself. You’ll call a vet five times for an infection in your herd before you visit the hospital for a missing foot on your own leg. 

So. Yeah. Watch out, because we’re getting internet access these days. We’re on tumblr too. 

[somejane-deactivated20200807]

P.S. The immigrant workers farming your supermarket produce have no health care or legal protection, and the Bolivians farming your 365 Organic Quinoa can’t afford to eat it. But PLEASE won’t someone think of the poor baby cows who won’t get off the tit?!

[thehornedwitch-deactivated20211]

Also this is a LOT nicer than what mother cows do to calves that won’t be weaned. You know what mother cows do to calves that won’t wean? kick them in the head. Now I don’t know about vegans, but I’d rather have a nose tag that discouraged me from injuring my mother (because calves that don’t wean tend to chew on udders and make mother cows bleed) rather than being kicked in the head. Source: I grew up on a fucking cattle ranch. I have seen chickens skeletonize a mouse I KNOW SHIT.

[gettingvetted]

Also like… if the calf is on the mom then that means she’s definitely not a dairy cow getting milked. Sorry, I mean her milk isn’t getting “stolen.” HA

[lizziedoesvetpath]

On top of that, calves still get milk, even if they’re separated from their mothers. They’re separated because the yarding involved in milking would separate calves and mothers, and they’d all be repeatedly stressed by the issue. Milk is saved from the mothers to be given to the calves, who actually get to live in the cow equivalent of the Ritz so that they’ll be as healthy as possible.

And, on milking: 1) I’ve spent at least 6 weeks full time on dairy farms, generally helping with milking. The cows are so chill at milking, they’re not distressed at all (which some people seem to think they are). In most modern sheds, they get high energy, amazingly delicious food while they’re milking, so they’re stoked to be there (This is what I’ve seen in pastoral based NZ systems, I’m not sure how it works in feedlot systems). 2) Most dairy breeds have been selectively bred so they actually produce so much milk that were it just up to the calf to drink it the milk would literally rot in the udder. This has allowed us to produce a lot more food from far fewer cows, and so with significantly less land, which is necessary to sustain the rising population. I’m not saying it was the greatest thing to do ever, but that’s what’s happened. To change this would take decades of selective breeding back in the opposite direction, so no, we can’t just leave the poor little calvies alone.

TL;DR: The dairy cows I’ve seen are pretty damn happy. Trust me, I’ve actually studied animal behaviour and dairy systems, so I know why things are happening. Farming will often seem cruel from an uninformed perspective. But so can stopping a child from sticking a fork into an electrical outlet, making them cry.

[thefloofer-snooter]

I’ve literally never met a die-hard vegan or animal rights activist who actually has any understanding or experience with what they’re talking about.

[annearachne]

I was a milkmaid for 3 years and I second all of the above. I’ve seen teats so swollen with milk that the calf can’t fit its mouth around them. Domestic cattle, especially dairy breeds, have been bred so they need human intervention to stay healthy. Also happy. I’ve nearly been run over by hungry cows rushing to get to the milking parlor to get rid of the 10-30+ lbs of liquid hanging off of them.

[platypuspowerblog]

[platypuspowerblog]

🐐#chamois#gämse#wildlifesaasfee#naturephotography#wildlifephotography#switzerland#alps#wallis#rupicaprarupicapra#hunting#hiking#exploring#wanderlust#zoologystudent#animal#goat#mountaingoat#abs#horns#swissmountains#swissalps#mountainlife#saasfee#saastal#mountainlifesaasfee#animalphotography#naturephotography#autumn#animalwatching#rupicapra#abs (hier: Saas-Fee, Switzerland)

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[end0skeletal]

Have some weird-lookin’ birds.

1. Potoo 2. Knobbed Hornbill 3. Superb bird of paradise 4. Andean cock-of-the-rock 5. Magnificent frigatebird 6. King vulture 7. Bearded vulture 8. Cassowary 9. Shoebill 10. Rhinoceros hornbill

[rattiefluffs]

http://ift.tt/2yEozfV

[staudnhuckn]

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) on patrol across the snow covered slopes of Val Trupchun

Parc Naziunal Svizzer, Engadin, Switzerland

[platypuspowerblog]

Daydreaming about chasing rabbits

[platypuspowerblog]

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Our beautiful dog when he was a puppy. His paws were massive and made him look even more clumsy. He is a German long haired pointer. 

[platypuspowerblog]

Male and female red crossbill. I see them very rarely but on that day I was lucky enough to watch five of them searching for food on a pine tree. They spent a lot of time on that one tree, which gave me plenty time to get some good photos of them. Lucky me.

[platypuspowerblog]

I follow wherever he goes.