Save the worms

Same for me, I like to grow ornamental plants in my tiny back garden, the pretty ones seem to be under constant attack from snail, they must taste as good they look, if you’re a snail. I spend quite a lot of time searching out the snail, I never use pesticides, I remove them, and then when it’s dark I put them into the next door neighbours garden. 

I Sperg said:

I really, really, resent snails sometimes

The unpleasant truth about nuclear war is proliferation may be making the world safer. In the old deterrence model if one mad general launched a nuke the first world (nato) and second world (Soviet Union and maybe China) would nuke each other out of existence leaving only africa, South America and parts of the Near East untouched. The reality is once most nations have nukes big military alliances like nato will fall apart. Small countries won’t need to look to big ones for security when they’ve got nukes. And then inevitably some mad general will launch a nuke only it won’t be half the world that gets obliterated just two nations, possibly quite small unstable  ones. And then when having a nukes is no longer the mark of a super power, and the world has seen an entire nation or two turned to ash, multi lateral disarmament with probably start to get serious traction.

Autonomistic said:

Good luck with the cheese resolve

Thank you 

Pubs too to soak up any fluid that might end up on the floor.

Shardovan said:

Ah yes, I remember the sawdust floor well. They also had that in one especially rough night club in Belfast.

I did used to go out to nightclubs as a young person + there was a famous club in Southsea called Joanna's.

It was a sailors haunt in the days when many a ship would be docked there.

Your feet stuck to the floor - sawdust would have been useful.

I've never been able to tolerate going anywhere near the inside of a butchers due to the smell 

Good luck with the cheese resolve.

Ah yes, I remember the sawdust floor well. They also had that in one especially rough night club in Belfast. Thankfully I was only in it once. On one of my extremely rare nights out even as a younger person. 

Autonomistic said:

I never liked the taste or texture of meat and as soon as I was old enough to understand what I was eating I stopped

Similar to you, my mum always moaned about how little food types I would eat as a child.

I wouldn't eat meat.

She would take me into butchers which in those days weren't as cosmetically 'attractive' as nowadays.

Horror shows actually with sawdust on the floor to soak up blood.

The smell was horrific.

I used to stand outside in the end, when I was old enough.

I remember our market had rabbits hanging down and one day I walked into one.

Ugh.

Autonomistic said:

However cheese is a different matter. I've tried so many vegan alternatives but none of them come close to real cheese. Every time I've experimented with going completely vegan it's been cheese that has been my downfall.

Cheese is my downfall too but I just removed it from my food delivery tomorrow.

How long my cheese resolve will last is unknown.

As long as you're aware what you're eating that's all that matters. You can make an informed decision. I'm in no position to preach as I still eat dairy cheese 

I've been vegetarian for most of my life. I never liked the taste or texture of meat and as soon as I was old enough to understand what I was eating I stopped. I happily gave up dairy milk too, even though the only alternative back then was soya milk which wasn't great. Now thankfully there are loads of great alternatives to dairy for milk, cream and yoghurt.

However cheese is a different matter. I've tried so many vegan alternatives but none of them come close to real cheese. Every time I've experimented with going completely vegan it's been cheese that has been my downfall. Progress is being made though and vegan alternatives are improving all the time.

Autonomistic said:

recently watched the film 'Cow' about the life of a dairy cow. It was so upsetting and should be compulsory viewing for everyone who consumes dairy products. To understand what suffering a typical dairy cow has to endure in order to produce that milk.

I remember this from the leaflets.  This was probably about a decade ago I did the volunteering.

I think actually it was reading the one about dairy farming in this country that resolved me to read no more.

However, what I did learn is that most of Europe, if not all, is far worse than we are.

What this thread has achieved for me is resolving to become veganish.

I have been vegetarianish most of my life, and just eat minced beef from free range cows, when it's beneficial to anyone cooking for me + guests (so rarely) and just to please them and the occasional sinful fish.

I'm now going to cut out as much dairy as is feasible.

I can't go 'the whole hog'  anyway as I'd have to look at every ingredient and be very careful about everything I buy.

I don't think I could be that extreme.

Dairy: milk and milk products, eggs etc etc is a good start though 

Yes those reasons apply too. I am much happier stopping to say hello to a sheep than another human. The sheep don't make verbal demands of me 

It is good that such charities exist but the problem is huge. I recently watched the film 'Cow' about the life of a dairy cow. It was so upsetting and should be compulsory viewing for everyone who consumes dairy products. To understand what suffering a typical dairy cow has to endure in order to produce that milk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkCXJfdJE5A

Autonomistic said:

I sometimes wonder if autists relate to animals so much because we are both mistreated and misunderstood by much of humanity.

It could be that but I also think it's the lack of a communal language.

We can communicate with them in other ways and I think that suits us as does the fact that they don't make verbal demands of us.

We can pick up on their needs.

Autonomistic said:

he was able to recognise how farmed animals were suffering and achieve changes to make their treatment more humane.

A superb organisation in this country that works to help farmed animals is Compassion in World Farming:

https://www.ciwf.org.uk/

It's one of the organisations I held the leaflets for when I used to collect for animal charities, but could never read.

Any kind of animal suffering means huge emotional turmoil for me, more so than any suffering of humans.

I relate to that kind of empathy towards animals rather than humans. I sometimes wonder if autists relate to animals so much because we are both mistreated and misunderstood by much of humanity.

One of the greatest examples of autistic hyper empathy towards animals is the work of Temple Grandin. She was able to recognise how farmed animals were suffering and achieve changes to make their treatment more humane.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/oct/15/autistic-scholar-temple-grandin-the-education-system-is-screening-out-visual-thinkers

I've seen pheasants do that too when their mate has been killed on the road. So sad 

When those young pheasants are released from their 'safe' enclosures they sadly have no idea of the dangers that await them in this cruel world.

Welcome back.

I remember reading that now.

That's why it's so solid in their beaks.

Martin said:

The parents probably instinctively carry it some distance from the nest, as an easily seen, or smelled, pile of bird droppings would give away the position of the nest to predators.

Good point.

I don’t know how they do it. One of the saddest things I saw was a duck that had been run over and killed, and it’s mate kept walking in and out of the road to it’s body  

They shoot pheasants here too, In fact on one of my walks I know where they breed them. They’re enclosed in a woods with electric fencing around them. An awful sport, if you can even call it that. 

The hatchlings' waste is produced as a package with a sort of gelatinous coating, so that it can be easily removed by the parents. The parents probably instinctively carry it some distance from the nest, as an easily seen, or smelled, pile of bird droppings would give away the position of the nest to predators.

The only way I can watch those nature documentaries is to record them first. Then I watch with my finger ready on the fast forward button for when things get unpleasant.

I get so many starlings in my garden, they love the fat balls and I’ve had up to 50 in one go. Very noisy  

Same! We had to watch watership down at school and I’ve never been able to watch it since. I can’t even watch David Attenborough documentaries as I find it hard to watch when they always seem to prey on the young, I’ll always turn it over which is annoying as I do like watching nature. 

That must have been incredibly tough witnessing that poor squirrel suffering like that. You did the kindest thing in the circumstances.

It reminds me of the time when I spotted a hedgehog on the road ahead of me. Sadly I was not able to swerve or stop in time and my front wheel had already gone over it by the time I came to a complete stop. I will never forget the squealing noise come from that poor injured hedgehog. I decided the kindest thing would be to drive on and allow my back wheel to run over it and put it out of it's misery. It was incredibly upsetting

My brakes get a lot of wear and tear as I'm always having to stop for pheasants on the road. Other drivers just power on, seemingly oblivious if they hit them. People also shoot them in my area and I hate that