Shandy’s Breakfast

Well, I have discontinued the monthly “Cat-man-do” columns updating readers about Shandy cat, because it seemed that nobody except my friend Billy in the U.S.A. ever read them.  In posting them, anyway, it was as much a strategy for me as it was for our cat.  I read somewhere that if you are busy, as I am, running multiple blogs & sites, working, helping others, and writing a book, that it can be a good idea to write & post a regular post on one’s Blog, so I thought what better subject than to blog regularly about than one of my best buddies, Shandy?

So, no more  cat-man-do  posts unless there is a popular demand for their return (and Shandy & I have the time and energy to post them), and instead a random blog post about Shandy cat.  In between posting about my cat friend, I will post here on Fascinating Animals, what I like, when I feel inclined to do so.  So, there you have it.

This photo was taken on 7 January 2014

In this photo Shandy is looking a little solemn and sleepy, perhaps due to the run of hot weather we are having here Down Under, and the fact that he has a fur coat.

Anglo American Dumps the Pebble Mine in Alaska

Anglo American Dumps the Pebble Mine

By Joel Reynolds, September 16, 2013

Today Anglo American, a 50 percent partner in the Pebble Limited Partnership, announced that it is withdrawing from Pebble Mine – a giant gold and copper mine proposed at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska.  The London-based mining giant finally recognized what Alaska Natives, Bristol Bay residents, commercial fishermen, sportsmen, lodge owners, chefs, jewelers, EPA scientists, NRDC and others have been saying for years: Pebble Mine poses too great of a risk.

Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani issued a statement lauding the “rare magnitude and quality” of the Pebble deposit, while also justifying Anglo’s plans to withdraw from the risky venture: “Our focus has been to prioritise capital to projects with the highest value and lowest risks within our portfolio, and reduce the capital required to sustain such projects during the pre-approval phases of development as part of a more effective, value-driven capital allocation model.”

There is no question that Pebble Mine is a  bad investment, replete with environmental, economic, operational,  reputational, social, regulatory, and legal risks.  Mitsubishi Corporation realized it in 2011 when it sold 100% of its interest in the Pebble project.  Anglo American realized it only after spending $541 million trying to develop Pebble Mine.

Proposed at the headwaters of the world’s greatest wild salmon fishery, Pebble Mine would threaten the region’s internationally renowned salmon runs.  Salmon are the economic, cultural, and ecological linchpin of the region, supporting a  $1.5 billion annual commercial fishery that employ 14,000 workers.  Salmon also sustain the culture, tradition, and spirituality of native communities that have relied on subsistence fishing for thousands of years, and they are food to a vast array of wildlife, including bears, eagles, seals and whales.

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Website Update – Freshwater Fish Fanatics!

Banded Rainbowfish

Johno’s website   Freshwater Fish Fanatics!    is a great resource for those who keep or would like to keep Aquarium fish.   Please visit Johno’s site and “Like” the posts, and / or comment upon Johno’s posts, to give feedback – thus ensuring that the website continues.  Keep up the good work Johno!

3,000 gold fish compete at 1st Chinese gold fish beauty contest

Red & White Oranda Goldfish

Photo Link

More than three thousand ornamental gold fish took part in the inaugural International Goldfish Championships held in Fuzhou city of China on September 16. The gold fish competed in twelve categories to grab the title “World Gold Fish Queen

The first  International Goldfish Competition  opened during the 2012 Cross-strait Fishery Week in Fuzhou in east China’s Fujian Province.

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Poll – Which 3 Aquarium fishes do you like best?

Banded Rainbowfish

Picture Source – Free Wallpapers

The “My Aquarium Critterz” blog, run by Johno, has now got a Poll where you can choose your top 3 favourite aquarium fishes.  Johno’s blog also has pages on the fishes that are listed in his poll, so you can look at the pictures and information on his blog (or google them) to help make your choices.   (I chose Guppies, Featherfin Catfish and Glass Catfish, if you must know).

Click on the link below to enter the poll.

Poll – click here

You can get some great fish pictures and other animal pictures for your PC Desktop at the “Picture Source – Free Wallpapers” link above, if you like.  Enjoy !

Mowzer The Mousehole Cat – Tom Bawcock – Cornwall – Stargazy Pie

Illustration © Nicola Bayley

http://www.puppetcraft.co.uk/mousehole.html

Mousehole (pronounced ‘Mowzel’) is a small fishing village in West Cornwall about three miles South of Penzance. Every Christmas Mousehole’s pretty harbour is decorated with a spectacular display of lights. As well as the harbour, the surrounding pubs, shops and houses are decorated and the illuminations extend up the road leading out of Mousehole to the South.