The Finicky Raccoon Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I've been racking my brain, trying to come up with a solution to my problem. I knew there had to be some way to feed JR the raccoon the cat treats that he loves without also feeding the feral cats. Those cats and I have had a silent feud for years. They've destroyed more than their share of fountains and are currently using my favorite patio chair as a scratching post, but the one thing that's had me simmering in my own juices is how many birds they've killed. That's the unforgivable thing in my book. (Well... one unforgivable thing; the first is the poor excuses for human beings who turned them loose in the first place.) There's no way to keep them out of the back garden, and I'll be darned if I feed them treats that will only encourage them to spend even more time on the property.

Inspiration struck the other night at midnight, and I immediately went out to put my plan in action. It was a success. All the cats but one were oblivious to the treats, and the one that could smell them couldn't get to them. 

 

But JR could!

 

Here he is, figuring out how to open the container. (Once he'd finished his snack, he went over to the pool and washed his paws.)

He kept coming back to check the container, and I thought that he'd emptied it and was hoping that more had miraculously appeared. When I went out the next morning, I saw the truth of the matter: to make sure that the container would sit in the birdbath and not float around, I had poured in a different flavor of cat treats on top of what was already in there. JR loves the "Backyard Cookout" flavor and turns his nose up at "Seafood Medley." Leave it to me to befriend a finicky raccoon!

While I'm adjusting my grocery list, enjoy the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• A brief history of calling women witches.
• Being a librarian isn't just about books-- it's about helping everyone get access to information and resources.
• An ode of gratitude to all the books the writer doesn't want to read.
• France has set a delivery fee for online book sales to help stores compete with Amazon.
• How libraries became refuges for people with mental illness.
• How will the overturning of Roe v. Wade influence book trends?
• Things you never knew about audiobook narrators.
• At 21,450 pages, the longest book in the world is impossible to read. (You couldn't pick up the physical book, and trying to download it would blow up a Kindle!)

 

►Book Banning & Censorship◄

• 5,100 free library cards have been issued by the Brooklyn Library in the fight against book banning.
• The City of Chicago and the Chicago Public Library have declared themselves book sanctuaries. 
• A bipartisan congressional resolution has been introduced that condemns nationwide book banning efforts. 
• The dangerous books too powerful to read. 
• The City of Keller (Texas) has ordered the Keller Public Library to remove its post about Banned Books Week. (I sometimes think that there are several places in this country where the inmates are in charge of the asylum. how about you?)
• How independent bookstores help in the fight against book banning-- and why it matters. 
• There was a parade against book-banning in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. 
• Libraries across the U.S. are receiving violent threats. 
• Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani is speaking out after learning that her company's book series had been banned from a Pennsylvania school district. 
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A rare 3,000-year-old gold mask has been found in Chinese royal tombs. More from Live Science.
  
• A sealed cave of artifacts from the time of Ramses II has been found by accident in an Israeli park. More from Live Science.
• Crystal-stuffed dinosaur eggs the size of cannonballs have been discovered in China.
• A 7,000-year-old structure near Prague is older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.
• The 3,300-year-old pink granite sarcophagus of an Egyptian "pyramid keeper" has been found in Saqqara.
• Opium dating back to the fourteenth century BC has been found in an ancient grave site in Israel.
• Gold and silver treasures have been discovered with "elite craftspeople" burials near a powerful Wari queen's tomb.
• A bargain hunter at a Maine estate sale discovered a 700-year-old medieval document.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄

• A leash-trained black cat hikes and camps across the United States with his human.
• Which animals could go extinct by 2050? 
• How domestic cats originated from a single wildcat species over 10,000 years ago. 
• Doug, the domesticated prairie dog, travels across the U.S. with his humans. 
• Hundreds of pilot whales were stranded in Tasmania. 
• Having both lost their mothers, a raccoon and a fawn have formed a close friendship. 
• This horse is determined to visit his friends in a dementia unit. 
• Shy raccoons are better learners than bold ones. 

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• Best-selling author Jeff VanderMeer found that nature is stranger than fiction.
• Pioneering journalist Bessie Beatty, a woman on a mission.
• Lady Arbella Stuart, the woman who might have been Queen of England.
• The little-known story of the women who stood up to General Motors and demanded equal pay.
• Ukrainian teenager Igor Klymenko has invented a drone that can detect land mines.
• California teenagers Harper Forbes and Prakrit Jain discovered two new scorpion species. 
• Sidney Poitier is back on the big screen. 
• Remembering Hilary Mantel.

 

►The Wanderer◄

• Due to prolonged drought, Glen Canyon is revealing its breathtaking secrets. (Opponents to Glen Canyon Dam have said that Glen Canyon was more awe-inspiring than the Grand Canyon.)
• A volcanic eruption has created a new island in the South Pacific. 
• Starrett House, one of the many reasons why I love Port Townsend, Washington. 

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Eight delicious cooking memoirs.
• Eight books that look at masculinity through a refreshing new lens.
• Ten cozy detective series.
• Twenty must-read witchy mysteries and thrillers.
• Four library collections filled with culinary treasures.
• Art fan? Read these books!
• Five mysteries that don't sacrifice the whodunit for the whydunit.
• Twelve books translated from Arabic.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

 

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!