Sue Coletta's Blog

Crows are notoriously clever, and some of the smartest animals in the Natural World. Now, a new study suggests their grasp of a complex cognitive principle is better than that of macaques and young children. Crows Understand Recursion Researchers discovered crows can distinguish paired elements buried in larger sequences ��� a cognitive ability known as recursion. ���Recursion, the process of embedding structures within similar structures, is often considered a foundation of symbolic competence and a uniquely human capability. To understand its evolution, we can study the recursive aptitudes of nonhuman animals. We adopted the behavioral protocol of a recent study demonstrating that humans and nonhuman primates grasp recursion. We presented sequences of bracket pair stimuli (e.g., [ ] and { }) to crows who were instructed to peck at training lists. They were then tested on their ability to transfer center-embedded structure to never-before-seen pairings of brackets.��� ���Abstract of 2024 study in Science Advances Consider the sentence: The cat the dog chased booked it down an alley. Though the sentence is a grammatical nightmare, most adults understand the cat booked it down an alley and the dog chased the cat. This capacity to pair elements such as ���cat��� to ���booked it��� and ���dog��� to ���chase��� in the above sentence/sequence was once thought to be a uniquely human trait. But crows have the same ability. This new research builds on previous work that tested recursive reasoning in macaques. ���One of the most distinguishing features of human communicative cognition may turn out to be not that human-specific after all,��� said lead researcher/author Diana A. Liao, a postdoctoral candidate, who conducted the study at the University of T��bingen in Germany. Recursion occurs outside of human language. Consider a musical phrase within a larger piece or a mathematical expression embedded within parentheses. In a 2020 study published in Science Advances, researchers proved humans can follow recursive patterns without a formal background in reading and mathematics, which they demonstrated by including isolated Amazonian tribe members. In the same study, macaques were only slightly inferior to toddlers when it came to distinguishing paired elements, such as opened and closed brackets, from a plethora of symbols. The new study published November 2, 2024, in Science Advances builds on this work to extend the findings beyond primates. ���The study is well-designed and executed, and the results are clear and compelling,��� said Stephen Ferrigno, lead author of the 2020 findings and an assistant professor in the psychology department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ferrigno was not involved in the new study. Liao and her colleagues taught crows to identify the symbols { }, [ ], and < > by rewarding them with treats when they pecked the correct order of center-embedded recursive sequences. It took the crows about a week to learn to peck the symbols, after which the crows sat for their final exam, which included strings of similar symbols they had not seen before. Humans and macaques faced with the same test usually understood if {( )} is correct then [{ }] is also correct. Not only did the crows do as well as children, they outperformed the macaques. This result suggests the ability to identify recursive sequences may have evolved for purposes outside of the language domain. ���The crows continued to produce recursive sequences after extending to longer and thus deeper embeddings. These results demonstrate that recursive capabilities are not limited to the primate genealogy and may have occurred separately from or before human symbolic competence in different animal taxa.��� ���Abstract of 2024 study in Science Advances Recursive logic might also be a key component of communication for crows. ���If corvid songbirds can understand and produce recursive structures, they may also use it for vocal communication and managing their intricate social relationships.��� ~Diana Liao When I read that quote, I was immediately reminded of the male wood thrush, who sings ee-oh-lay, ee-oh-lay in the middle of a three-part sequence. Males try to out-sing each other in a contest of sorts, where they compete for who sang the sweetest song. Or they sing the same melody over and over to win the title of who sang it best. Could these tiny forest songbirds understand the concept of recursion? After all, the males also sing ���internal duets.��� In the final trilling phrase of their three-part song, they sing pairs of notes simultaneously, one in each branch of their y-shaped syrinx (voice box). The two parts harmonize to produce a haunting, ventriloquially sound. Amazing, right? Here���s the gut-wrenching part: Humans are pushing the wood thrush to the brink of extinction. Right now, they are on the Yellow Watch List for birds most at risk for extinction without significant conservation efforts to reverse habitat loss and forest fragmentation. The wood thrush is one of the most prominent examples of declining forest songbirds in North America. That notion tears me up inside. Imagine a nature walk without birdsong? The male wood thrush���s magical, flute-like song echoes through the forest. They sing several variants with eight to ten loud, clear notes. In combination with the introductory phrase���s low, soft notes and six to twelve variants of the final higher-pitched complex trill, a male wood thrush can easily sing over fifty unique songs. Though the female wood thrush can also sing, it���s most often the males we hear due to their competitive nature. Fun Fact All birds veered off on their own evolutionary path before dinosaurs reached extinction. Scientists agree birds are dinosaurs (!!) because they directly descended from theropods, the common ancestor of all dinosaurs. Other than our avian friends, there is no scientific evidence of non-avian dinosaurs ��� carnivorous, walked on two legs ��� still in existence. Final Thought on Recursion The new research published in November 2024, made me wonder how many other species understand recursion. I bet whales, Orca, and dolphin do. Science has only begun to scratch the surface of animal intelligence. What do you think of the new study? A crow���s intelligence rarely surprises me anymore ��� still fascinates me, though ��� but their recursion ability blew my mind��� as did their ability to understand the concept of zero. Crows Understand Zero Think about what zero means in a number system. The notion of, say, 5 x 0 = 5, or 0 + 10 = 10, didn���t develop in humans till around the fifth century A.D. The concept of ���none,��� or the absence of any quantity, likely emerged earlier, but it differs from using zero as a distinct quantity. ���If you ask mathematicians, most of them will probably tell you that the discovery of zero was a mind-blowing achievement,��� said Andreas Nieder, a professor of animal physiology at the Institute of Neurobiology, University of T��bingen in Germany. ���The special thing about zero is that it doesn���t fit into a routine of counting real objects������ For example, we can count three apples or peaches in a basket���one, two, three���but when the basket is empty, there is no fruit to count. Zero represents the emptiness, the absence of fruit in the basket. ���That obviously requires very abstract thinking��� thinking that is detached from empirical reality.��� Different species of animals can determine the countable number of objects in a set. However, despite its importance for human number theory, the empty set ���zero��� had remained largely unexplored. Understanding the concept of zero as a meaningful numerical category demands high-level intelligence. Still, cognitively advanced animals, like macaques and honeybees, possess a primitive non-symbolic notion of zero. How Did Crows Do? In the study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, when Nieder and colleagues peered into the brains of smarty-pants crows, they discovered their nerve cells, or neurons, encode ���zero��� as they do other numbers. By inserting a thin wire into the crows’ brain, activity patterns supported their findings that 0 came before 1 in a number sequence. In other words, crows already valued zero in their ���mental number line��� and grasped the empty set as a null numerical quantity that���s mentally represented next to number one. I���ve written about the counting ability of crows before. In fact, I included this amazing ability in Unnatural Mayhem, when Poe and his brethren found themselves in a dangerous position. If Poe and the local murder couldn���t count, they might not escape thirty armed crow hunters. How did Poe use this critical skill? Guess you���ll have to read the book to find out. ���� Wishing you and yours a joyous holiday season!

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Not all heroes wear capes. Some don fur or feathers. Let’s delve into the wonderful world of animal superheroes who solved their human’s murder. Bud, the African Grey Parrot A 20-year-old African Grey parrot named Bud solved the 2015 murder of his human dad, 45-year-old Martin Duram, who was found shot to death inside his Sand Lake, Michigan residence. In the weeks following the fatal shooting, Bud reenacted an argument between Martin and his wife, Glenna. In the voice of his human dad, Bud screamed, ���Don���t f**king shoot!��� leading investigators to believe those were Martin���s last words. Glenna shot her husband five times in front of Bud before turning the gun on herself in a failed suicide attempt. She suffered a head wound but survived. Initially, police believed Glenna was another victim. But when Bud reenacted the murder, he revealed the truth of that fateful day. After the murder, Bud went to live with Martin���s ex-wife, Christina Keller, who heard Bud���s squawks and mimicked speech. ���I felt it,��� she said. ���I literally felt what the bird was going through.��� African Grey parrots are extremely intelligent, expert mimics, and highly sensitive to traumatic events. Martin���s mother said, ���that bird picks up everything and anything, and it���s got the filthiest mouth around.��� LOL After an eight-hour jury deliberation, Glenna Duram was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of her husband. And Bud was the star witness at her trial. Way to go, Bud! Pet Duck In North Carolina, a pet duck led police to the decomposed body of missing 92-year-old grandmother Nellie Sullivan. Sgt. Mark Walker of the Buncombe County Sheriff���s office explained how the duck ran underneath the trailer at 11 Beady Eyed Lane, and as they were chasing after the pet duck, they found the container Nellie Sullivan was stuffed inside. Beady Eyed Lane? Truth really is stranger than fiction! Even before the grim discovery of the remains, Nellie���s granddaughter, Angela Wamsley, and her boyfriend, Mark Barnes, had been charged with concealing her death, along with charges of animal cruelty and drug possession. Sgt. Walker described the initial search for Nellie as being ���a wild goose chase.��� Nothing turned up after multiple local searches, and Nellie���s neighbors had insisted she had, in fact, gone missing several years prior. Wamsley and Barnes had been collecting Nellie���s social security and retirement benefit check, as well as refilling her prescriptions in her absence. ���If I could give that duck a medal, I would.��� ��� Sgt. Walker   Advances in animal DNA technology now stand at the forefront of forensic science. Enhanced testing techniques and ever-expanding databases are helping law enforcement agencies catch criminals. In recent years, the hair, fur, feathers, blood, and other bodily fluids from cats, dogs, birds, and other animals have helped solve countless violent crimes around the globe. The next three animal involved homicides turned into landmark cases. Bird, the White-Crested Cockatoo In Texas, Kevin Butler was such a huge fan of NBA star Larry Bird that he named his White-Crested Cockatoo ���Bird.��� Friends described Bird as devoted to Kevin. After two men broke into Kevin���s Pleasant Grove residence on Christmas Eve 2001, Bird tried to defend his home and his dad. Unfortunately, the home invaders bound Kevin, brutally beat him, and stabbed him multiple times, causing his death. Sadly, Bird was also fatally wounded in the altercation���the scumbags stabbed him with a fork before fleeing the scene. Regardless, Bird still provided investigators with the evidence they needed to solve the crime and secure a conviction. Following the attack, DNA recovered from Bird���s beak and claws was matched to a man named Daniel Torres, a disgruntled former employee at Kevin���s pool company. Torres also wiped the blood off his head after being badly pecked by Bird and then touched a light switch, leaving trace evidence, which put him at the crime scene. Faced with the evidence, Torres confessed to killing both Butler and Bird. He was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. They were also able to track down Torres���s accomplice, his half-brother Johnny Serna. The prosecutor submitted to the court… ���Bird died valiantly. There were feathers scattered through the house, and he put up a fight, no doubt about that. Kevin���s family and co-workers have told me that you just didn���t mess with Kevin while that bird was around.��� Snowball, the Tomcat On Canada���s Prince Edward Island in 1994, a 32-year-old mother of five, Shirley Duguay, vanished without a trace. Friends and family suspected her sometimes boyfriend, ex-con Douglas Beamish, was somehow involved in her disappearance. Three days after she went missing, a blood-stained men���s jacket was found in a bag in the woods near Shirley���s home. The jacket also contained several white cat hairs. Constable Roger Savoie recalled seeing a white cat in Douglas Beamish���s home while investigating Shirley���s disappearance. Savoie sent the hairs for a DNA test, and the lab confirmed they belonged to the family pet, a white tomcat named Snowball. This was in the early days of animal DNA testing. Constable Savoie even went catnapping (cat-borrowing?) in the neighborhood to collect blood samples from numerous strays, whose DNA profiles were all quite different. The chance of another cat having Snowball���s DNA was one in forty-five million. As the DNA testing came in, a local fisherman discovered Shirley���s body. The constable arrested Beamish. While his defense attorney argued, ���without the cat, the case falls flat,��� a jury convicted Beamish of second-degree murder and sentenced him to life with no parole for 18 years. This landmark case was the first to successfully use animal DNA to secure a conviction. Chief, the Pitbull/Lab Mix In 1998, a Seattle, Washington, couple, Raquel Rivera and Jay Johnson, were found slain with their pitbull/lab mix pup, Chief ��� all victims of a home invasion gone wrong. During the investigation, police found dog blood on the jackets and pants of Ken Leuluaialii and George Tuilefano. Forensic testing showed the blood belonged to Chief. When prosecutors entered Chief���s DNA into evidence, the defense panicked. In his opening statement, prosecutor Tim Bradshaw stated… ���The irony will be that the witness who could never speak, even when he was alive, will present the most eloquent of evidence.��� Evidently, after Johnson refused to sell marijuana to Tuilefano and Leuluaialii, they kicked in the front door and open fired. The scumbags shot Chief before killing the couple. Pets should never pay for their human���s sins! Too bad the courts didn���t put the defendants in front of a firing squad. Oh, how I love karmic justice. ���� Ahem. Anyway… At the time, the forensic science of animal DNA wasn���t as reliable as human DNA. Joy Halverson, a senior scientist at PE AgGen, the company that tested the bloodstains, brought up the Canadian case of Snowball, the cat, (above) to show how animal DNA could secure a conviction. Testing revealed one chance in 350 million the blood did not belong to Chief. Sure enough, the jury agreed. The defense appealed the guilty verdict. The Court of Appeals upheld the murder convictions and even ruled Tuilefano and Leuluaialii should be re-sentenced to a longer prison term. The landmark case involving Snowball put cats on the map in Canada���s criminal courts. Chief did the same for dogs in the U.S. Heera, the Parrot In 2014, when Neelam Sharma was killed in her home in Agra, India, along with her dog, the local police had few leads to go on. Until a parrot named Heera provided them with a vital clue. Heera was the only witness to Sharma���s murder, as the attacker had killed the family dog, who���d been barking throughout the struggle. Neelam���s grieving husband, Vijay Sharma, was also at a loss as to who could have perpetrated the crime. Then a family member noticed how Heera became highly agitated whenever his nephew, Ashutosh, visited or even when his name was mentioned in passing. Convinced Heera witnessed the murder, Vijay informed the police of his suspicions. Ashutosh eventually confessed to the robbery-turned-murder of his aunt. Ashutosh and an accomplice had entered the house intending to steal cash and other valuables items. He stabbed his aunt to death when she caught them in the act. Police later downplayed the bird���s participation in solving the crime, saying it was an unexplained bite mark on Ashutosh that made him the primary focus of the investigation. However, a local newspaper reported that when investigators spoke with Heera and read through a list of suspects, the bird squawked, ���Usne maara, usne maara,��� when they reached Ashutosh���s name. It translates to ���he���s the killer, he���s the killer.��� Incredible, right? Grasshopper According to forensic entomologist M. Lee Goff, the 1985 murder of a woman in Texas was ultimately solved by a dead, mangled grasshopper that had been found on the victim���s clothing. The insect was missing a limb, and a close investigation of one of the main suspects revealed he just so happened to have the severed hind leg of a grasshopper attached to the cuff of his pants. When Goff re-assembled the insect, the fracture lines lined up perfectly. Although the defense argued in court ���grasshoppers always break their legs like that,��� the evidence was rock solid. It was impossible to deny the stray grasshopper leg on the suspect matched what was missing from the grasshopper recovered from the victim���s body. The jury agreed and convicted him of murder. Many consider this case to signify the birth of forensic etymology. Kinda cool, right? The Real Scooby-Doo A real-life Scooby-Doo created legal history in Paris, France, when he took to the witness stand to ���testify��� at his human mom���s murder trial. When Scooby���s owner was found hanging from the ceiling in her apartment, her death was initially presumed to be a suicide. However, the woman���s family persuaded the police to open a murder investigation. They identified a suspect, and the man was brought to court for a preliminary hearing to decide if there was enough sufficient evidence to launch a full murder inquiry. As Scooby was in the apartment at the time of the alleged murder, he went to the witness box. When faced with the potential killer, he immediately reacted and ���barked furiously.��� A court clerk recorded Scooby���s barks and noted his ���general behavior throughout the cross-examination.��� After Scooby gave his ���evidence,��� Judge Thomas Cassuto praised him for his ���exemplary behavior and invaluable assistance.��� While the prosecution welcomed the dog���s appearance in court, others doubted the dog���s behavior could be interpreted as legally binding, legitimate evidence. Some critics of the move pointed out the two-and-a-half years since the death of Scooby���s owner is the equivalent of approximately seventeen dog years. ���That���s a long time for a dog to remember what went on,��� explained a legal source close to the case. A spokesman for the Palais de Justice in Paris confirmed the case was the first time a dog had appeared as a witness in criminal proceedings in France. He said he was almost certain it was also a world first in legal history.  

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Thanks to all my friends & partners on Story Empire, Savage Mayhem had an amazing book tour. At many stops, I shared an excerpt. At others, I chatted about why I focused on saving American Buffalo (species: bison, bison) instead of grizzlies, wolves, and lynxes like I’d planned. While writing Savage Mayhem, it stirred up long-forgotten memories in me. Hence my absence here. As a writer, I lean into my emotions rather than shy away from them, so it transfers to the page. It’s not always easy to bare your soul — I bawled while writing some scenes — but the honesty benefits the book. As a writer, I hope you feel what I feel, see what I see, smell what I smell, taste what I taste, hear what I hear, and touch what I touch. I hope you experience it all, good times and the bad. Emotional resonance is the magic sauce of storytelling. And that’s also why I read. When a novel moves me, the author becomes one of my favorites. Is it the same for you? There’s plenty of fun moments in Savage Mayhem, where I was laughing so hard I could barely type. Anyway, if you take a chance on Savage Mayhem, lean back and enjoy the ride. So far, early readers love it. A massive thank you to my generous hosts! Without you, the book launch wouldn’t be nearly as fun. If you’d like to follow the tour, here are all my stops (the excerpts or subjects are all different): Sue Coletta Delivers with Savage Mayhem – Indie Spot! Beem Weeks Sue Coletta’s Latest Offers Compelling Fiction – Stephen Geez Sue Coletta Has a New Release – Blog Reflections Gwen Plano Savage Mayhem by Sue Coletta #EcoThriller – Staci Troilo ARC Review of Savage Mayhem – D.L. Finn Savage Mayhem #NewRelease by @SueColetta1 – Joan Hall Welcome Sue Coletta – Entertaining Stories C.S. Boyack�� Roberta Writes – Book Promotion: Savage Mayhem by Sue Coletta Welcome Sue Coletta and Her Latest, Savage Mayhem – WordDreams Jacqui Murray Not only are they amazing people, they write unputdownable books. Just sayin’. You can’t go wrong with any of them. Upcoming Appearance     Beem Weeks and Stephen Geez invited me to the Voice of Indie Podcast! On Wednesday, May 1 @ 8 p.m. ET click the link to listen live. It should be an absolute blast. The podcast’s claim to fame resides in audience participation. I’ll post a reminder on the blog, home page, and on social media. Join in the fun!           What is Savage Mayhem About? Amidst the wild and unforgiving landscapes of Yellowstone Park, join Mayhem, a fearless Apache warrior and champion of the Natural World, and his partner and prot��g��, Shawnee, as they race against the clock to protect an American Buffalo herd from the ruthless Killzme Corporation. With a massive bounty on their heads and an army of killers on their trail, Mayhem and Shawnee must use all their cunning and survival skills to outsmart their enemies. They will risk it all to preserve the sacred lineage of the Innocent Ones. There is no line Shawnee and Mayhem won���t cross. Even murder. As the danger intensifies and the clock winds down, will they be able to save the herd? Or will this be the mission that finally breaks them? *** Though Savage Mayhem is book 9 in the Mayhem Series, it can be read as a standalone. If you’re unsure what an eco-thriller is, this post explains the genre (at least how I write them). Basically, my characters protect wildlife from unscrupulous poachers, trophy hunters, and animal traffickers. All my eco-thrillers entertain and educate without sacrificing the super-fast pace, action, suspense, tenderness, laugh-out-loud moments, Native spirituality, culture, traditions, or our connection to Mother Earth. *From the proceeds, I donate to protect the Innocent Ones (animals) and to preserve the Natural World for us all. The 99c sale ends tomorrow! It was supposed to end today, but I’m late posting this announcement. Story of my life lately. ���� Available in paperback and digital formats.

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The differences between human and animal eyes are just as interesting as the similarities. Eye shape can transcend class of animal, eyeballs don’t always align with body size, and pupils come in a variety of shapes. But what about the eyes of a predator? Do they differ in humans vs. animals? The Psychopathic Stare Believe it or not, research exists for what’s called “the psychopathic stare.” A 2019 study assessed two groups of incarcerated offenders, one with psychopathic traits and one without. Psychopaths spent less time looking at the eyes ��� and eye area ��� of others. If you���ve ever stared into the eyes of a psychopath, they tend to look through you, not at you. An unnerving glare meant to intimidate, and it���s effective!   According to PsychCentral, the psychopathic stare has the following common characteristics: a coldness, with a lack of warmth, empathy, or compassion wide-eyed, with more of the white of the eye showing reduced blinking a focus that feels predatory or threatening dilated pupils heightened intensity eye contact or fixation held for longer Do those same predatory traits carry into the Animal Kingdom? Unlike human predators, animals don���t kill for hatred, dominance, or sport. They may have a similar drive ��� the instinct to kill ��� but it’s unfair to attach human emotions to their ability to hunt and feed their family. My, What Big Eyes You Have Eyes come in many different shapes and sizes. We share our round human eyes with bears, foxes, birds, and turtles. Larger mammals such as cows, horses, deer, and moose have horizontal oval-shaped eyes. Snakes and bobcats have a more vertical oval shape. Pupils The evolutionary path of an animal, and the manner in which they hunt or defend themselves from predators, has a huge impact on pupil shape. The five most common shapes are: Circular (like us) Horizontal slits Vertical slits W-shaped Crescent-shaped Large animals and powerful predators like lions, wolves, and humans usually have circular pupils. A circular pupil allows light to pass through the retina, thus controls the amount of light entering the eye. It is characteristic of a species who hunts higher off the ground, moves in packs, and are intelligent hunters. Humans fall into this category. We, and other predators such as dogs and wildcats, can���t contract our pupils as tightly as animals with slit-shaped pupils, so we don���t cope as well with sudden changes in light. However, we do have even focus across the entire visual field, which helps us to survey our surroundings. Horizontal slit pupils are commonly found in prey animals, like horses and sheep, while vertical slit pupils are typical of smaller hunters, such as domestic cats, foxes, and snakes. W-shaped pupils are exclusive to cuttlefish. Crescent-shaped pupils are found in sea life, like stingrays, catfish, dolphins, and Orca. Some frogs have heart-shaped pupils, while geckos have pupils that look like pinholes arranged in a vertical line. In the Science Mag journal,��scientists report a strong linkage between the shape of an animal’s pupil and its way of life. ���If you’re the kind of animal that gets hunted,��� says Banks, “you’re very likely to have a horizontal pupil” and to have your eyes on the side of your head. That makes sense, he says, because it gives prey animals a panoramic view, so they can best scan all directions for danger. But then the scientists wondered if this theory held true if the animal’s pupils were parallel with the horizon. Animals like horses and sheep are continual grazers. When the researchers watched the animals in action, they discovered something remarkable. “When they pitch their head down, their eyes rotate in the head to maintain parallelism with the ground,” says Banks. “And that’s kind of remarkable, because the eyes have to spin in opposite directions in the head.” Hunting Style vs. Pupil Shape Prey animals often have horizontal slit pupils, which provide a wider field of vision and thus, an advantage in spotting approaching predators. Slit pupils are found in goats, sheep, and antelopes ��� animals that need to be aware of their surroundings and able to flee in a split-second. The drawback of a wider visual field means their vision clarity isn���t as crisp. Some reptiles and amphibians (like frogs and snakes) also have horizontal slit pupils that benefit them, as much of their time is spent on the ground peering upward for predators. Smaller predatory animals who hunt close to the ground, like domestic cats and foxes in pursuit of rabbits, chipmunks, mice, moles, and other rodents, have vertical slit pupils. The vertical pupils allow highly focused vision and provide an accurate distance to help the predator know exactly when to strike. These types of smaller predatory animals are often nocturnal hunters, so they���ve evolved an extra set of muscles to drag the pupil into a narrow slit during the day to prevent damage by bright light ��� i.e., the Sun ��� preserving vision and protecting the eye. Pretty cool, right? Crescent-shaped pupils are another amazing adaptation of evolution. Crescent-shaped pupils are usually found in marine life, such as string rays, catfish, and flatfish. The shape of the pupil provides a wide visual field, helping with the search of predators and prey. The most notable thing about the crescent shape is it reduces light distortion by water, which gives marine life a huge advantage in their environment. The cuttlefish���s W-shaped pupil evolved from horizontal-shaped pupils to allow the eye to open wider in dark environments like deeper water or nighttime. Their uniquely shaped pupils allow light to enter the eye from multiple angles and provides greater vision underwater, boosting image contrast and distance. Eye Size Human eyes are typically 24mm in diameter ��� same size as a dolphin eye. The largest eyes belong to the colossal squid at 280mm, while the blue whale���s eyes are only 150mm. Eye size doesn’t always align to the size of the animal. Some smaller eyes belong to the rattlesnake, ferret, squirrel, and bullfrog, which are all 8mm in diameter. Dogs��� eyes are typically between 9.5mm and 11.6mm in diameter, depending on the breed.   Color Vision With different habitats, prey species, and various predators, one would presume animals evolved to possess varying levels of color vision, but that’s not always the case. Plenty of myths surround animals��� color vision. For example, some say owls are the only bird that can see the color blue. Not true. Why would peacocks display such a vibrant blue plumage if potential partners couldn’t see it? The colors and patterns on their tail are a vital part of finding a mate, and female peacocks clearly appreciate blue hues. ���� Crows have better vision than humans. While we see combinations of three primary colors ��� red, green, and blue ��� crows perceive combinations of four colors, blue included. Where they falter is with a specific hue of yellow. In fact, Professor Sugita in Japan helped produced a trash bag in that special shade of yellow to keep crows out of the city garbage. If the pigment is off at all, the crows won���t be fooled, so the exact recipe is a closely guarded secret. This particular nuance of yellow has the effect of blocking one of crow’s four primary colors. Genius! I love when science works to help solve a problem without harming animals. Geckos have excellent color vision ��� 350 times better than humans ��� even in dark environments like rainforests. Pigeons actually have one of the best color visions of all animals, and can even see UV light. Their vision is so remarkable they���re often used in search and rescue missions at sea. Contrary to popular belief, dogs do see color, just not as well as humans. Canine vision may be slightly tinged with grey and they struggle to differentiate red and green. Other than that, they’re fine. So, stop calling Fido color blind! ���� Bird Vision A study conducted at Cornwell University focused on how corvids and other birds perceived ultraviolet light. While humans can detect red, green and blue light, most birds have a fourth cone that allows them to more acutely detect short wavelength colors near the ultraviolet range.     ���The ability to simply detect UV isn���t enough though (in fact humans��are sensitive to UV light), you must also have the ability to transmit that part of the spectrum. While our eyes filter it out, rendering it invisible to us, birds have special oil droplets in their cones that allow for the passage of UV light, while limiting its damage. This allows for greater contrast of the environment, rendering what may look to our eyes as a flat wall of green vegetation, as a much more dynamic plane, enhancing a bird���s ability to fly through dense foliage.” UV sensitivity is also important among many types of nectarivorous (nectar drinking) and frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds. Many fruits, for example, are coated in a UV-reflecting waxy substance that advertise their availability to seed dispersing birds. Descriptive UV patterns in feathers opens an entire world of visual signaling that is otherwise hidden from us. Given the ways we might imagine crows would benefit from exploiting any one of these possibilities, it makes sense that they’d possess the same rich UV experience like other birds. ���While it���s true that most passerines are what we call UVS birds, corvids, like flycatchers and most raptors, are VS birds, meaning their visual system is biased toward the violet-spectrum and they are not considered especially sensitive to UV light.��The low UV-detection abilities of corvids and many raptors, appears to offer a lifeline to smaller passerines, which exploit these visual differences in their plumage, allowing them to remain conspicuous to potential mates, while staying inconspicuous to their potential predators.��� Science hasn���t fully cracked the code of corvids yet. There���s still so much we don���t understand about their lives. What we do know is, CROWS possess two fully functional eyes, but they only use one eye at a time because their monocular vision is more powerful than their binocular vision. They also don���t see well at night. During the day, crows can see up to 1.5 miles away! EAGLES��have the best eyesight in the Animal Kingdom. A bald eagle can spot and focus on prey up to 2 miles away. Though eagles weigh around 10 pounds, eagle eyes are roughly the same size as humans. Healthy human vision is 20/20, but HAWKS have 20/4 or 20/5. Meaning, they have a field of vision of about 278 degrees, compared to our 180 degrees. WOODCOCKS��can see 60 degrees in the horizontal plane and 180 degrees in the vertical plane. This helps them spot predators while their beaks are underground searching for worms. Woodcock eyes are set farther back than any other bird, and their ears are below rather than behind the eye socket. Evolution pushed their large eyes farther and farther back, which caused the ears to shift positions. PEREGRINE FALCONS��have binocular vision eight times superior to that of humans. They can spot small prey more than a mile away (like crows; just sayin���). They���re able to maintain sharp vision even while diving at 180 miles per hour! A third eyelid protects their eyes during these plunges. HUMMINGBIRDS��can see colors beyond our comprehension, including ultraviolet. They can also see farther than humans and have a nearly panoramic field of vision. Vultures have keen eyesight. It���s believed they can spot a 3-foot carcass from upwards of four miles away! Okay, owl lovers, this one���s for you��� OWL eyes contain a combination of rods and cones. Rods interpret light. Cones interpret color. The more rods an eye has, the better it sees in the dark. Owls have one million rods per square millimeter of the eyes, a density of five times the amount we do. Their extraordinary ability to spot prey in the dark is the equivalent of a human trying to spot a mouse a mile away with only the light of a matchstick. There���s so much I...

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Impress your holiday guests with these fun facts about turkeys and Thanksgiving. I had a blast compiling these. Hope you enjoy them! 15: Only Male Turkeys Gobble Male turkeys are called ���gobblers��� because of their famous call ��� their version of a rooster���s crow ��� a loud shrill, descending, throaty jumble of sound that lasts about one second. Males often gobble from treetop roosts, where the sound carries better than on the ground. They gobble to attract females and to respond to other males. Sometimes one male���s call can lead to a group joining in, much like wolves howl in unison. Both male and female turkeys cackle as they fly down from roosts. They give short, soft purrs while traveling on foot and use a long series of yelps to reassemble a flock after turkeys startle and scatter. Young turkeys whistle three or four times to flock-mates when they���re lost. A strutting male uses a chump sound followed by a low hum, neither of which are well understood by the scientific community yet. 14: Wild Turkeys Can Fly I learned this fascinating fact when my husband flapped a towel to shoo a large group from our yard (we get bombarded by wild turkeys, sometimes 50 or more at a time). Yes, I love all animals, but 50+ turkeys leave landmines of poo and devour all the food for my crows, chippies, squirrels, woodchucks, jays, and numerous other birds. The rule in my yard is: ���Everybody eats at the pleasure of the Poe.��� Meaning, as long as my crows are happy, you can stay. If Poe tells me you’ve stepped out of line, you’re gone. And everyone understands this, except the turkeys. Although, all summer I had a single hen ��� affectionally named Miss Lonelyhearts ��� who was an absolute doll. She visits less often now. Poor baby’s probably hiding from hunters. Back to my point… Dozens of wild turkeys in flight can only be described as hilarious. They���re not graceful fliers by any means. LOL Shockingly, they can reach speeds of up to 55 mph in short bursts! 13: Eating Turkeys Won’t Make You Sleepy While everyone blames the amino acid tryptophan for knocking us out after a Thanksgiving feast, the truth is turkey doesn���t contain all that much tryptophan. The sleepy or sluggishness we feel has more to do with piggin’ out on all the appetizers, side dishes, main meal, and desserts. 12: No One Ate Turkey At The First Thanksgiving The modern Thanksgiving holiday is based off a three-day festival shared by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe at Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, in 1621. The feast celebrated the colonists��� first successful harvest in the New World. While modern Thanksgiving always lands on the fourth Thursday in November, the original feast happened earlier in fall, closer to harvest time in mid-October, when Canadians celebrate. And no one ate turkey. Two firsthand accounts describe a feast of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, a bounty of cod and bass, and flint, a native corn harvested by the Wampanoag and eaten as corn bread or porridge. We can only speculate about other foods they feasted on over the course of three days. Wildfowl ��� most likely duck or geese, pigeons or swans ��� stuffed with onions and nuts. Lobster, mussels, and eel also make sense for that period in Massachusetts. Native crops such as peas, beans, squash, and flint corn probably also made an appearance on the table, along with vegetables brought over from England, such as cabbage and carrots. Cranberries may have been incorporated into Wampanoag dishes to add tartness, but it���d be another 50 years before someone first wrote about adding sugar to make a ���sauce to eat with��� meat.��� And no gravy (flour wasn���t invented yet) or pie! 11: For The Last 40 Years, We���ve Had A Turkey Hotline Did you know this? Professionally trained turkey experts at Butterball field over 100,000 emergency calls during the holiday season. Throughout the years they’ve expanded to meet the modern holiday household. If you can’t get through the old-fashioned way by dialing 1-800-BUTTERBALL, connect through social media, live chat, texting ��� or even through Amazon’s Alexa! 10: A Raccoon Received A Presidential Pardon For Thanksgiving In November 1926, a Mississippi man gifted President Calvin Coolidge a raccoon for his Thanksgiving dinner. Since he and the First Lady were animal lovers, he didn���t have the heart to kill the little cutie pie. Instead, he named her Rebecca and added her to the collection of First Family pets, which included a bear, hippo, hordes of dogs, and two lion cubs. 9: The Bird Name ���Turkey��� Stems From A Case Of Mistaken Identity During the Ottoman Empire, guinea fowl were exported from East Africa via Turkey to Europe. Europeans called the birds “turkey-cocks” or “turkey-hens” due to the trade route. So, when Europeans first sailed to North America and discovered birds that looked like guinea fowl, they called them turkeys. To be clear, turkeys and guinea fowl are two different animals. 8. The Creation Of TV Dinners Stem From A Thanksgiving Mishap In 1953, a Swanson employee accidentally over-ordered 260 tons of turkey. The frozen turkeys took up space in ten refrigerated train cars, when a company salesman suggested preparing and packaging the turkey with sides in compartmentalized aluminum trays. Swanson sold 5,000 TV dinners that year. That number grew to 10 million following year. 7: Cranberries Aren���t Just Tasty ��� They���re Medicine Readers of Unnatural Mayhem and Restless Mayhem should remember this. ���� Native Americans have used cranberries to treat wounds and dye arrows. Much like holly, dried cranberries also adorn table centerpieces, wreaths, and garlands. 6: The Term “Black Friday” Backfired�� Even though Black Friday now signals the biggest shopping day of the year, in 1966, the Philadelphia Police Department used ���Black Friday��� in the hopes that it would deter shoppers from leaving the house and adding to the traffic and commotion of the Army-Navy football game. 5: You Can Sex Turkeys By Their Poo Strangely, a male turkey’s poop is J-shaped, while a female���s looks more like a spiral. 4: Turkeys Can See Better Than Us One of the more surprising facts I found is turkeys have three-times better vision than humans. They can also see color, and their eyesight covers 270 degrees. 3: A Native American Interpreted For Pilgrims Squanto, also known as Tisquantum, was a Native American from the Patuxet tribe, who was a key figure to the Pilgrims during their first winter in the New World. He acted as both an interpreter and guide as Pilgrims learned to adjust to their new way of life at Plymouth. Born circa 1580 near Plymouth, Massachusetts, little is known about his early life. As a young man, Squanto was kidnapped along the Maine coast in 1605 by Captain George Weymouth, who���d been commissioned by Plymouth Company owner, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, to explore the coast of Maine and Massachusetts and capture Squanto and four unnamed Penobscots, because he thought his financial backers in Britain might want to see some [American] Indians. Weymouth brought Squanto and the Penobscots to England, where Squanto lived with Ferdinando Gorges, who taught him English. Side notes before I continue: Make no mistake, none of these so-called men gave Squanto or the unnamed Penobscots a choice. They were torn away from their land, from their families, and forced to learn English, to assimilate into an unfamiliar culture. Many of these stories make it seem like the Europeans helped Native Americans, rather than the stark reality of kidnapping, rape, slavery, and unmerciful torture that led to genocide. Now fluent in English, Squanto returned to his homeland in 1614, where he was kidnapped again. This time, by an English explorer, Thomas Hunt, who took him to Spain and sold him into slavery. Squanto escaped, lived with monks for a few years, and eventually found his way back to North America in 1619, only to find his entire Patuxet tribe dead from smallpox. He went to live with the nearby Wampanoags. In 1621, Squanto met the Pilgrims at Plymouth, where he acted as an interpreter between Pilgrim representatives and Wampanoag Chief Massasoit. Later that fall, they celebrated the first Thanksgiving. 2: The Fourth Day of November Is Also The ���National Day of Mourning.��� Before you celebrate the holiday with loved ones, take a moment to remember the events leading up to the first Thanksgiving. Years of conflict took place between the Europeans and Wampanoag People. Millions of Native People died. MILLIONS! The only reason the Pilgrims could even settle in Plymouth was because the Wampanoag population had been devastated by disease, virtually wiped out by a plague Europeans brought with them years before. Since 1970, many gather on the last Thursday of November at the top of Cole���s Hill, overlooking Plymouth Rock, to commemorate a ���National Day of Mourning.��� 1: Turkey Feathers   This is such a fun fact. The American Plume & Fancy Feather Co. dyed 4,000 turkey feathers bright yellow to create the perfect look for Big Bird. No wonder he looks so fluffy. Who knew? Also, turkey feathers are used for smudging. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate. How many of these did you know? Do you have a favorite?

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If you write in the same genre for years, making the switch into a new genre isn’t easy. I could’ve played it safe and continued to write psychological thrillers, but I reached a point in life where I wanted… more. Before I get into the reasons why, I’ll explain what prompted this post. After Tracking Mayhem released, one of my long-time readers asked me a question that many of you might also wonder about. So, to celebrate the release of Merciless Mayhem, I’ll share my response. First, here’s what she asked: ���I am curious about how you got so involved in the eco part and why it became the crux of your Mayhem novels. Was that the intent from the beginning or what Mayhem morphed into?��� ��� Sherry Fundin, Fundinmental.com The short answer is no, it was not my intent from the beginning. When I created Mr. Mayhem, I knew he was special. Yes, he���s a killer, but he���s no ordinary killer. From the first time he walked onstage in Blessed Mayhem, I hinted for readers to hold their judgment until they got to know him better. I wanted them to think big picture, even though I hadn���t unraveled all his layers yet. Little by little, as I finished writing that book, I began to understand him on a deeper level. It Took Years to Veer Into a New Genre In that same year (2015), a wealthy, entitled Caucasian trophy hunter shot Cecil the lion with a crossbow and let him suffer for hours before death while he posed for photos beside him. To help illustrate my rage and devastation, I need to rewind to my childhood. I grew up with a houseful of animals. My mother rescued injured wildlife and pet-sat for anyone who needed a haven for their furred and feathered babies. At one point, she even cared for an opossum for a solid year while his human traveled. Throughout my childhood, Mom shared stories about Ruthie, the blue-eyed elephant. For years, every time the circus came to town, Mom spent her days with Ruthie, tortured by the mistreatment by Barnum & Bailey. There came a time when Mom couldn���t bring herself to say goodbye to Ruthie. So, she followed Ruthie to her next stop. And the next. And the next. The bond they shared reached deep, their souls entwining as one. Ruthie knew her heart; she knew Ruthie���s. Mom tried everything to save her. The circus even offered her job riding Ruthie while she performed, but Mom turned them down. She refused to be part of the slow destruction of her best friend. After years of sleepless nights and sick with worry, one morning Ruthie���s pen sat empty. She’d died during the night. In hindsight, Mom recalled Ruthie stroking her cheek more than usual the day before ��� one final goodbye to last a lifetime. The story still kills me. At a young age, these stories taught me how some unlucky animals endured horrendous treatment by humans. My brother and I learned to respect the Natural World and to cherish every being in the Animal Kingdom. So, you can see how protection of animals is imbedded in soul, perhaps even in my DNA. More Years Rolled By Before I Veered into the Eco-Thriller Genre While writing��Silent Mayhem��in 2017, I left a few breadcrumbs to explore later. Around this same time, I also tossed around ideas for a new series set in Kenya about a conservationist who murders poachers. Also in 2017, I learned about a three-year-old Orca named Tokitae aka “Lolita”, who was ripped away from her family pod in 1970, transported to Miami Seaquarium, and forced to perform for food. Or starve. For over 53 years, Toki was imprisoned in a tank the size of a hotel pool, isolated and depressed, withering away until she died or committed suicide, which many cetaceans do in captivity. Because I could never shake the details of Toki’s story, I included it in Merciless Mayhem. How can anyone think imprisoning an animal is okay? In 2018, news hit about the death of Sudan, the last male white rhino on earth. I���d been watching Sudan���s live feed for months. His death shattered me. There were still two living female white rhinos and Sudan���s protectors saved his sperm but come on! How did we, as a society, let this happen? For the first time, I witnessed firsthand how human greed and selfishness wiped out an entire species. And that changed me in such a profound way. No longer could I look away or pretend this crisis didn���t exist. I had to do something, anything, to stop this. But what could I do? I wasn���t a celebrity, nor did I have a massive worldwide platform. The audience I���d amassed expected pure psychological thrillers from me. How could I lead them into a new genre with a strong focus on wildlife conservation? This passage from��Unnatural Mayhem��explains how I���d been feeling for years��� Imagine a world without animals. No pattering of paws, no wingbeats, no singing in the treetops, no howls at the moon, no buzzing in flower blossoms, no slithering through garden beds, no sympathetic eyes begging for a treat, no unconditional love and companionship, and the oceans, ponds, and lakes devoid of life. The Natural World as we know it would forever be silenced. For eternity. All trees and plants would also disappear���they depend on animals to reproduce���a dead empty landscape left in the wake. Does that sound like a world you want to live in? I sure don���t. With passion driving my every step while writing��I AM MAYHEM, I pulled that thread from��Silent Mayhem��and introduced Jacy Lee, a Din�� Medicine Man. I fell in love with his purity and kindness. Sparks flew between Shawnee, Mayhem, and Jacy Lee. On their own, they���re strong and well-developed enough to take the lead. What I didn���t expect was how well they worked as a team. The Revelation That Shoved Me Into a New Genre Once Jacy Lee hit the page, it dawned on me ��� I didn���t need to create a new series; I already had the perfect characters primed and ready. Though readers loved my Mayhem Series, did they love the cast enough to transition into a new genre of eco-thrillers imbued with metaphysical elements of Native American spirituality and culture? To my surprise, everyone loved Jacy Lee as much as I did. Then Covid hit in 2020. Friends from LA told me they���d never seen stars before the lockdown. Imagine the amount of pollution it takes to block stars in the night sky? Without humans, wildlife thrived. I could see it unfold out my window. Moose, black bear, wolf, fox all visited my yard. They could finally roam free. What did that say about us? Well, it spoke volumes to me. So, when I wrote Unnatural Mayhem, I figured it was now or never. Silence was no longer an option. So, I went for it, willing to risk losing some readers for the greater good. To my surprise, my audience loved it. The feedback and emails I received brought me to tears. Apparently, I wasn���t the only one who felt strongly about saving the voiceless. From a career standpoint, I���m finally living my truth, fulfilled by a lifelong passion for animal protection, and content in the eco-thriller genre. Along the way, I kill a ton of poachers, animal traffickers, and trophy hunters. There���s something so deeply satisfying about erasing the worst of society. If I can include a karmic twist like endangered animals feeding on the meat of their would-be killers, all the better. The Mayhem Series means a lot to me. They educate and entertain while still delivering an action-packed plot. That doesn���t mean I didn���t enjoy writing any of my previous books. I did. I just reached an age where I wanted ��� needed ��� more. And that passion drives me to the keyboard every single morning. My goal from the very beginning was to help fight animal trafficking through donations from the proceeds. Equally strong is my hunger to touch lives through Native spirituality, culture, and a beautiful connection to Mother Earth. I hope this helps explain why I took the Mayhem Series to where it is today. Thank you, Sherry, for posing the question. Merciless Mayhem Giveaway Shawnee and Mayhem continue to wreak havoc on the Killzme Corporation ��� the largest animal trafficking ring in the country ��� by killing one poacher at a time. The stakes grow increasingly higher when the nefarious group retaliates by putting a bounty on their heads. Meanwhile, the traffickers set their sights on capturing Orca for profit and pleasure. With a ticking clock and no place left to hide, Shawnee and Mayhem alternate between undercover surveillance and clandestine battles to save their loved ones and the Innocent Ones from Killzme���s evil plans. Skills are tested. Tenuous alliances are formed. Not everyone will make it out alive. Set in a world of cultural wonder, environmental threats, and looming danger, this heart-stopping eco-thriller will have you glued to the page from the first sentence to the last. Ebook and paperback��available now!   This month, I’m adding another giveaway — a signed paperback of Merciless Mayhem! One lucky reader from my newsletter list will win on October 24, 2023. If you don’t receive my newsletter, you can join below… Along with the welcome email, I’ll send you the newsletter that went out yesterday with all the details for this giveaway and the monthly drawing for the Poe Pen. Good luck!

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When we write in a certain genre, we assume readers will know what we���re talking about. With so many genres and sub-genres these days, it���s an unfair assumption and one I���ve continued to make since 2020, when I wrote Unnatural Mayhem. All this time, it never occurred to me that I might be confusing readers. Then I opened an email from one of my readers who asked me to define the eco-thriller genre. Talk about a wake-up call. But y’know what? They’re right. I’ve never defined the genre. So, let’s change that. Elements of an Eco-Thriller The term ���eco-thriller��� means the protagonist is protecting and/or defending some aspect of the Natural World, environment, and the health of ecosystems for the betterment of all who live there, animals and humans alike. All eco-thrillers feature villains, often corporations, that put profit over the environment and human health, and include the following elements:   High stakes Fast pace Action & adventure Driven and passionate main characters Twisty plotlines Lots of suspense and drama At least one central goal/cause An eco-thriller focuses on an environmental calamity that may be worldwide in scope or will significantly change some aspect of Mother Earth. Often, the antagonists are greedy corporations. In my Mayhem Series, Killzme Corp is the largest animal trafficking ring in the country, with its members and clients engaged in despicable acts of poaching, trophy hunting, and trafficking. And I’ve had a blast killing them off one by one. I mean, um, my characters did, not me. ���� In the past, a so-called ���eco-thriller��� dealt with catastrophic, worldwide, or science fiction/horror type calamities that revolved around the What if? question. What if animals fought back? James Patterson���s ZOO What if dinosaurs roamed the Earth again? Jurassic Park That���s not at all what the genre is today. Eco-thrillers have evolved in the last few decades. Eco-thrillers are deeply meaningful, emotional, and insightful. With issues like climate change at the forefront and the public more aware of atrocities committed against animals and ecosystems ��� and how those things affect human life ��� the modern eco-thriller is here to stay. Some use the category of ���environmental thriller��� as its own sub-genre, but many (including me) say environmental thriller and eco-thriller are the same genre. If we were to separate the two, we’d push the eco-thriller back decades, with the sci-fi, horror, or speculative What if? questions attached. It’s unfair to separate the two. Today, if an author classifies their books as environmental thrillers, you can safely assume they’re eco-thrillers. Because honestly, the old definition doesn’t fit the genre anymore. Which might be responsible for the confusion among readers. An Eco-Thriller May Include Sub-Genres At their core, the fast-paced action of an eco-thriller revolves around stopping an environmental or biological disaster, most often man-made and globally significant. The genre reflects important connections, dependencies, and interactions between humans and our Natural World. In my eco-thrillers, Shawnee and Mayhem set out to stop a hunt of some kind while being hunted themselves by the notorious Killzme Corporation. In Unnatural Mayhem, they found out about a crow hunt (gasp!). They discovered an enclosure of wolves and wolfdogs in Restless Mayhem. In Tracking Mayhem, they raced across the country to the Arctic to stop a polar bear hunt. And in Merciless Mayhem (more on that below) they try to prevent the capture of cetaceans (Orca, dolphins, and Beluga whales). Sub-genres include: Mystery & Suspense Psychological Thriller Legal Thriller Vigilante Justice Metaphysical Thriller Sci-fi or Speculative Thriller Romantic Suspense Savvy authors include these sub-genres in their marketing i.e. environmental legal thriller, psychological eco-thriller, or metaphysical eco-thriller. The fascinating part about this genre is it evolves with the times. As new scientific findings about the climate and/or the extinction of species become more prevalent, eco-thriller authors cast wider nets. Meaning, environmental obstacles allow us to make broader points about the relationship between humanity and the planet within a fictional, entertainment-driven framework. The mystery element allows us to express environmental misdeeds through the familiar format of crime, suspect, and investigation. Readers have the opportunity to learn about ecology as the characters do, without sacrificing the pace. What we should never do is preach. While eco-thriller authors are passionate about the subject(s) in each book, our opinions are irrelevant. The fast-paced plot must stay at the forefront. If an author wants to stand on a soapbox, they should write a nonfiction book instead. Just sayin���. The eco-thriller acknowledges society���s influence over and responsibility for the Natural World without relinquishing a basic caution toward destructive forces unleashed by humanity���s meddling. With real or projected ecological issues, the genre often embraces sophisticated scientific exposition wrapped up within the framework of the story. In its modern incarnation the eco-thriller is also deeply ideological, sitting atop profound concern for the welfare of the planet. The hook is a disaster of some sort, human-inspired or natural, with which the protagonists must grapple. Complicating simple survival is the catch, a human factor which provides both the real conflict and moral culpability, be it in opportunistic greed or corporate malfeasance. At their core, eco-thrillers set out to change readers’ perception of the world around them, to change our accepted Standard Operating Procedures, to make us hunger to strive toward an improved world, with plenty of wild spaces for animals and ecosystems to thrive, which in turn will also help humanity. New Eco-Thriller Alert!   Shawnee and Mayhem continue to wreak havoc on the Killzme Corporation ��� the largest animal trafficking ring in the country ��� by killing one poacher at a time. The stakes grow increasingly higher when the nefarious group retaliates by putting a bounty on their heads. Meanwhile, the traffickers set their sights on capturing Orca for profit and pleasure. With a ticking clock and no place left to hide, Shawnee and Mayhem alternate between undercover surveillance and clandestine battles to save their loved ones and the Innocent Ones from Killzme���s evil plans. Skills are tested. Tenuous alliances are formed. Not everyone will make it out alive. Set in a world of cultural wonder, environmental threats, and looming danger, this heart-stopping eco-thriller will have you glued to the page from the first sentence to the last. Now available for preorder! Steal it for the special preorder price of 99c. Though this is book 8 in the Mayhem Series, you can read it as a standalone and not feel lost. Shawnee does a good job of filling in the gaps. Merciless Mayhem releases on October 17, 2023, in paperback and digital formats. Did you know the definition of eco-thriller?

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Have you ever wondered how birds follow their migration route or how sea turtles find their way back to their birthplace? After all, sea turtles spend twelve years at sea before they return to dry land. Why don���t they get lost? What do they perceive that we miss? A lot, as it turns out. We know the molten material inside Mother Earth rotates, right? Otherwise, life on Earth wouldn���t have any protection from harmful radiation generated by the sun. This rotation produces a massive magnetic field that extends into space and provides reliable navigation for animals to orient themselves. Many species use this magnetic field���bees, whales, bears, worms, crows (all birds, but Poe wouldn���t be pleased if I lumped his People together with the others), sea turtles, lobsters, mole rats, butterflies, dolphins, elephants, salmon, and wolves, to name a few���any animal that needs to navigate through their environment. The intensity of Earth���s magnetic field varies. It’s weakest at the equator and strongest at the poles. Also, the angle between the field lines and the Earth changes with latitude. An animal migrating northwards from the equator will encounter steeper and steeper inclination angles on its route. The list of animals with a magnetic sense���called magnetoreception���has grown to include species in every vertebrate category, as well as certain insects and crustaceans. Some may use it for orientation, such as blind mole rats. Others like salmon, spiny lobsters, and thrush nightingales may use it for migration and homing, in combination with other sensory cues. Humans rely heavily on our senses to tell us about our environment. In Restless Mayhem, Shawnee learned humans possess more than the usual five senses���touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight���after a nasty run-in with a cougar. Proprioception is the sense that tells us where, say, our left leg is in space and time. Our vestibular sense alerts us to the direction our bodies are moving in relation to gravity. Thermoception is our sense of temperature. Though it���s often linked to touch, it���s distinctive with its own set of receptors. Pain is the fourth additional sense. On the surface, it may appear as an extension to touch, but our sense of pain is far more complex. The human body has three different types of pain receptors: Mechanical receptors alert us to physical pain Temperature pain receptors alert us to extreme heat and cold The body triggers chemical receptors like inflammation, which causes tooth-achy type pain What we don���t have is magnetoreception, the ability to sense Earth���s magnetic field. Or do we? Hold that thought. The answer may surprise you. Magnetic Field Alignment If you gaze into an open field, you may notice most cows or deer face the same direction when they feed. Scientists determined that cows and deer tend to face north when they eat or rest. Over time, scientists conducted this research by using field observations, measuring deer beds in snow, and through satellite images from Google Earth. These animals have a compass in their brain. The behavior is called magnetic alignment, the spontaneous orientation of the main axis of an organism with respect to the lines of Earth���s magnetic field. Factors like wind and the angle of the sun had little significance on how the animals stood, according to research publishing in the National Academy of Sciences. Instead, their heads rotated to the north like the needles of a compass. Though these animals may not be aware of what north means, some part of their brain tells them this is the direction they should face. Animals don���t quite point toward the north pole. Instead, they face slightly off in the direction of magnetic north, as this position ��� known as magnetic declination ��� changes across the face of the planet. In turn, so do the wildlife. The first reports of magnetic field alignment were found in the 1960s, but it wasn���t until 2008 that we discovered mammals do this as well. For example, researchers studied red foxes, who hunt small animals like rodents, show a behavior known as ���mousing.��� Anyone who watches nature documentaries has seen this many times. The fox listens for a mouse as they prowl closer. Once they narrow in, the fox jumps high in the air then nosedives into the soil, and usually comes out with prey in its mouth. The fox is using magnetoreception! Interestingly, foxes prefer to jump in a northeastern direction. Why? No idea. LOL It’s one of the mysteries of nature. Researchers theorize the magnetic field alignment in foxes help them estimate distance to their prey. Foxes also have what���s called radical pair-forming photopigments in their eyes. Stayed tuned for a future post about different types of animal eyes���I���m fascinated by them! Anyway, radical pair-forming photopigments allow foxes to see the magnetic field as a pattern on top of what they���re already viewing. So, picture like a laser grid superimposed over another image. Pretty cool, right? Wolves use Earth���s magnetic field like a compass to help remember vital places and territories. By measuring the strength of the magnetic field, they can pinpoint where they are. Lost wolves also use it to find their way back to the den. This detection ability is so dead-on accurate, it���s as reliable as a compass. Using the magnetic field like a compass answers another question I had, but not enough to satisfy me. A country murder���s territory can span multiple acres. How do they know where one territory ends, and another begins? Also, how do migrating birds find their way home? Since I wasn���t happy with the wolf explanation, I dug deeper. All birds use Earth���s magnetic field for navigation, but don���t merely sense it���they can see it! The shadows they visualize indicate north, south, east, west, giving them a built-in compass. Amazing, right? Can humans sense the magnetic field? Research published in Nature��(2022) found that we share similar abilities with our mammalian cousins. We just don���t know how to use it��� yet. In Other News… Exciting surprise for my newsletter subscribers. My friend and Kill Zone blogmate, Steve Hooley MD, is a master woodworker (he’s also an author who writes YA). Steve created the first ever “Poe Pen” for me to pass on to one lucky reader each month. The giveaways were supposed to start at the end of July, but I have so much fun writing my Mayhem Series that time slips away. Now that I’ve finished my next eco-thriller, the first giveaway will have three lucky winners! Every month thereafter will have one. The wood dates back to 1850 (“1850 Antebellum Cherry”) and the rings are burned into the pen by wrapping copper wire halfway around the pen while the pen is turning, creating friction, and thus heat. They represent crow talons (Crow Talons Publishing), as though a crow picked up the pen. Love it! The crow “Poe” he branded into the wood, so it’ll never come off. Not only do these pens write like a dream ��� nice and smooth, with black ink ��� but the weight and shape of it in your hand is sheer perfection. Those with arthritic fingers like me will notice its genius design right away. I can honestly say it’s the best pen I’ve ever owned. If you want to join the giveaway, you can do so here. *By joining the giveaway, you’ll be subscribing to my newsletter.

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Polar bears are fascinating animals that roam across the Arctic, but they’re a lot more faceted than the adorable faces portrayed in children’s books and on Coke commercials. While researching these amazing animals, I discovered so many cool things. Too many to include in one article, but here are the highlights. How Big are Polar Bears? Polar bears are enormous, weighing more than 1300 lbs and span more than 8���6��� from nose to tail, crowning them as the largest carnivore on Mother Earth. Though other bears can grow even bigger���Alaska���s 10��� long Kodiak bears beat them in size but they’re omnivores���polar bears prefer meat. Males outweigh females, who weigh between 330-650 pounds. Their weight fluctuates throughout the year, with some bears packing on 50% more body weight over the course of a successful hunting season, then losing it during their long fasting months. When polar bears aren’t out on ice hunting seals, they fast longer than any other mammal. A pregnant polar bear can fast up to 240 days (eight months!). Non-pregnant bears spend 120 days fasting between hunts. Sadly, as we lose more and more sea ice, researchers now believe polar bears will go longer and longer without food, fasting as long as 180 days at a time. Can you imagine not eating for five months? Huge Feet To balance on ice, polar bears boast ginormous feet. Paws can measure up to 12��� in diameter, which act as snowshoes to support their weight and to spread that weight over deep snow and on thin ice to avoid falling through. The bumpy papillae (like on our tongues) on their footpads help grip the ice, along with long, curved claws that can measure almost 4 inches. Fur coats the bottom of their massive paws, which helps to protect their feet from the cold and offers them better traction on the ice. Those impressive paws hold fascinating secrets. Like brown bears, polar bear footprints are chockfull of information���height, weight, bulk, sex, and reproductive status���and DNA. When a male is ���in the mood��� he follows a female���s footprints for miles, if necessary. Once he finds her, she puts him through a series of tests. If he does well and she accepts him, the couple stays together for at least one full week. Male polar bears are surprisingly gentle and attentive lovers. Because of melting sea ice, males are forced farther and farther in search of mates, and into grizzly territory. In some places, the two species are getting more amorous with each other. In Alaska and western Canada, grizzlies and polar bears are crossbreeding, creating an enormous hybrid species. Polar Bear Adaptability Polar Bears thrive in the Arctic���s harsh climate. A protective layer of outer fur combined with a dense undercoat help the bears stay warm in temperatures that can plunge to -50��F. A dense layer of fat up to 4.5��� thick helps insulate the bears from freezing Arctic waters, and helps them stay buoyant while they swim. A Sleuth of Polar Bears Polar bears play nice with one another if there���s a big enough meal for multiple individuals. When they do gather in large groups���called a sleuth���male bears play-fight, wrestling and swatting at each other without doing any real harm. Polar bears have such a good memory they can recognize friends even if they haven���t seen each other for many years. Mobility Polar bears can��sprint up to 30 miles per hour, if necessary, but they don���t run for long. Much like we wouldn’t want to race in a heavy ski jacket, polar bears overheat. Hot blooded, a bear’s temperature can rise to feverish temps if they chase prey for too long. On land, they walk at speeds of 3 mph. A polar bear���s main hunting technique involves staying still for hours or days at a time, waiting for seals to poke their noses through a breathing hole in the ice. Polar bears are also savvy swimmers, paddling at an average speed of 6 mph. Good thing, too. With all that melting ice, polar bears are forced to swim farther and farther in search of food. In a 2011 study, researchers found a tagged female polar bear swam a total of 426 miles in one continual nine-day stretch, losing 22% of her body weight and her cub in the process. Another bear in the study swam for 12 days, though she at least rested along the way. “So the sort of conditions that contribute to long-distance swimming are likely going to persist in the future, and if cub mortality is directly related to this, then it would have a negative impact on the population,” said one research named Durner. It’s unknown whether the cubs are drowning at sea or whether the metabolically costly act of swimming long distances in nearly freezing water kills them after they reach land. Heartbreaking. Polar Bear Communication�� Polar bears often communicate with their noses. If one bear wants food from another, they will slowly approach, circle around the food source, then ever-so-gently touch the other bear���s nose with their own. This is considered respectful, non-aggressive behavior that often leads to a free meal. Like with crows, context matters when deciphering polar bear language. They use a number of different sounds. When a bear is angry or feels threatened, a low growl is a warning to stay back. This low growl sounds more like a trumpeting elephant than, say, a wolf. A polar bear will also hiss and snort when challenged. If the bear is in distress, they chuff. Sleeping Behavior Like humans, polar bears sleep an average of 7-8 hours per day. They also frequently nap to conserve energy by curling up in a shallow pit they���ve dug, with their back to the wind. An outstretched paw acts as a pillow. When snow piles up around the bear, it provides extra warmth and insulation. Polar Bears are Not White Although polar bear fur appears white, it���s actually transparent. Long hollow hair shafts reflect light much like ice does, making polar bears appear white or yellow. Beneath their thick coats, polar bears have black skin that absorbs the sun���s warmth. They’re higher on the food chain than you (and me). Polar bears don’t have any natural predators. Their carnivorous diet plants them at the top of the food chain with species like Orca,��while humans fall somewhere closer to the middle. Don’t worry too much about getting eaten, though. A 2017��study found that during the past 144 years, there have only been 20 fatal polar bear attacks in all of the five countries with polar bear populations (Norway, Russia, Canada, Greenland, and Alaska, U.S.). That said, as food becomes scarcer for these incredible animals, humans living in polar bear territory may soon face greater risk. In fact, the study showed almost all the fatal attacks stemmed from starving young adult bears. Not to get too treehugger-y on you, but Polar Bears need help Since 1979, the Arctic has lost 30% of its sea ice cover. Polar bears are being pushed ashore���farther and farther away from their prey���for longer periods of time. Some polar bears have to walk almost 900 miles in search of smaller food items like berries and kelp that don���t fully meet their nutritional needs. Less food means more strain on the bears, especially young cubs. With their habitat melting beneath their feet, the U.S. Geological Survey predicts we���ll lose two-thirds of all polar bears on earth by 2050, if nothing changes. The mere thought of any animal starving to death due to human destruction wrecks me on such a deep, personal level. Hence why I changed the trajectory of my Mayhem Series into eco-adventure thrillers/Native American metaphysical thrillers. And in Tracking Mayhem, my eco-warriors/antiheroes are in the fight of their lives to stop an impending polar bear hunt���no matter the cost.�� Three unconventional eco-warriors are on a mission to save polar bears from the nation’s largest animal trafficking organization���one dead poacher at a time. When eco-warriors, Shawnee, Mayhem, and Jacy Lee race across the country, dodging bullets and fighting their way through a gauntlet of danger, they soon realize they must risk everything to protect the bears before it’s too late. With courage, conviction, Native spirituality, and an innate connection to Mother Earth, the trio faces off against the notorious Killzme Corporation to stop the killing of Innocent Ones, the voiceless who can���t fight for themselves. But the stakes are high���blood will spill. The war to save polar bears begins now. Can the eco-warriors evade Killzme���s relentless pursuit in time to make a difference? If you enjoy pulse-pounding eco-adventures where poachers meet karmic justice, you will love Tracking Mayhem. I killed so many poachers, I lost track of the body count. ���� LOL Now available for preorder! Note: The $1.99 preorder sale is only on Amazon. ��Tracking Mayhem releases in ebook and paperback on June 26, 2023. ��Have you ever seen a polar bear in person? Tell me about it in the comments!

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While I obsess over every tiny detail of the next Mayhem book (releases within two weeks), I’ve got a special treat for you. My guest needs no formal introduction. The amazing Sally Cronin is here! Grab your favorite beverage, and enjoy. Welcome, Sally! Thank you so much Sue for inviting me over to share this short story and I hope your readers enjoy it.�� The Neighbourhood Watch The marmalade cat with golden eyes leapt with ease from the wooden fence separating her home from the neighbour���s garden. She had enjoyed a salmon supper and, with a full stomach, looked forward to a night of exploration in the immaculate gardens of the wealthy estate where she lived. Unlike other cats who roamed this upmarket area of the city, this cat was not interested in loitering in the daytime beneath bird feeders, or tucked into the bottom of a privet hedge waiting for the unwary sparrows and starlings to offer an unexpected snack. She was far more interested in the human inhabitants behind the walls of the houses. They were clearly visible through the windows of the brightly lit rooms overlooking their manicured lawns and landscaped borders. They assumed they could not be seen by humans at the rear of their large houses; rarely drawing the expensive blinds and drapes to hide their activities from the world. Little did they realise human eyes were not the only ones interested in their private lives. The feline voyeur worked her way across the first five gardens with athletic ease, using conveniently placed furniture or compost bins to leap up and over walls and fences. One or two houses were occupied by dogs, patrolling the gardens and going about their business, but they had respect for this marmalade cat who had an impressive left hook with claws at the business end. When they saw the flash of golden eyes on a moonlit night they high-tailed it back to their houses with urgent requests for re-entry into the safety of the brightly lit kitchens. Her destination was the last house in the row on this side of the avenue, and it held a special fascination within. She leapt onto the outside windowsill of the conservatory at the back of the house, searching the interior for the reason for her visit. Over the last few months she had made friends with the older cat who lived here. He would let himself out of the cat flap in the bottom of the conservatory door to greet her. They had taken to sitting under a rose bush at the bottom of the garden in companionable silence except for an occasional contented purr. Tonight she could hear loud voices coming from the kitchen, visible through double glass doors at the back of the conservatory. It was the man and woman who lived here, and as she pressed her ear to the window in front of her, she caught some of the words being shouted by the man. ���I told you to get rid of this mangy cat, it makes me sneeze and it���s a filthy animal. It shouldn���t be allowed to be in the kitchen and on the counters. It has to go��� and if you don���t get rid of it, I will.��� ���Please put Jasper down Nigel, he���s frightened. I promise to keep him out of the kitchen in future but don���t hurt him.��� The marmalade cat could tell there was fear in the woman���s voice. Having spied on this couple for several months, whilst waiting for her friend, she knew the shouting sometimes led to a more physical outcome. The man appeared at the door to the conservatory with a black and white cat held up by the scruff of its neck. He threw the cat into the room and shut the double doors together angrily. His victim skittered across the tiled floor and smashed into one of the sofas in the middle of the room with a loud cry of pain. The marmalade cat stood up and pressed her nose to the window pane, staring through the glass. She caught sight of her friend lying on his side on the cold tile floor, trembling with shock. There was more shouting inside the house and the sound of the front door slamming. The woman flung the conservatory doors open and rushed into the room calling out to her cat who tried to crawl towards her. She gently picked him up in her arms, ran back into the kitchen, gathering up her handbag from one of the countertops and raced from the room. Their unseen watcher heard an engine start up, and with a sad heart she jumped down from her perch and headed back across the gardens to her own home. She rapidly scaled the fences and walls between the houses, growling angrily at any creature that crossed her path. The next evening, in the local pub, a group of men were enjoying a game of darts and getting louder and more rowdy as the night wore on. The other patrons gave them a wide berth and drifted away long before closing time. One of the men was holding centre-court, regaling his friends with his exploits. ���I���ve told my wife it���s either the cat or me and it���s not coming back from the vets when his leg is fixed. All she could do was snivel and beg me to let her keep it. Not going to happen.��� He laughed and one of his friends slapped him on the back. A few minutes later he walked across the bar and out the back of the pub where some steep steps led down to the men���s toilets. The landlord, who was getting tired of these rich but loud mouthed customers disrupting Friday nights, began to collect the glasses from the now vacant tables and looked forward to closing time. As he headed back behind the bar he heard a scream and the sound of a body falling. He raced out the back and down the stairs to find the man in a crumpled heap. He didn���t want to touch him in case he did any more damage and raced back up the stairs to call for an ambulance. He shouted to the other men in the group that their friend was hurt and they all hurried over to stand at the top of the stairs, looking at each other in horror. At the inquest it was ruled as an accidental death. The alcohol consumption and the steepness of the stairs had contributed to the fall, but the pub was not found at fault, as adequate notices had been posted in the area warning customers to be careful. The police had investigated and had viewed the CCTV, both in the lounge area and the back of the premises which included the back door of the pub. It was noted that it was slightly ajar, which was not uncommon, as staff were in and out with empty crates and barrels and to have a crafty cigarette. The only movement during the time of the accident was a large marmalade cat which left a few minutes afterwards and disappeared into the shadows of the beer garden. Following the funeral, the neighbours who had never really socialised with the couple before, popped around with meals and sympathy. The young widow greeted them solemnly with her cat, sporting a cast on one of his front legs, clasped safely in her arms. One of the visitors, an elegant middle-aged woman with auburn hair and golden eyes held out her arms and asked if she could hold Jasper. Surprised the widow handed him over gently; careful to make sure his broken leg was supported. The cat looked up in to the golden eyes and began to purr. Aware other visitors were looking for refills for tea and glasses of wine, his owner turned away but paused as she heard her guest whisper to her cat cradled lovingly in her arms. ���Don���t worry my friend; he won���t hurt either of you again.���   ��Sally Cronin 2023   About Sally Cronin Sally Cronin is the author of sixteen books including her memoir Size Matters: Especially when you weigh 330lb first published in 2001. This has been followed by another fifteen books both fiction and non-fiction including multi-genre collections of short stories and poetry. As an author she understands how important it is to have support in marketing books and offers a number of FREE promotional opportunities on her blog and across her social media. The Smorgasbord Bookshelf Her podcast shares book reviews, poetry and short stories Sally Cronin Soundcloud After leading a nomadic existence exploring the world, she now lives with her husband on the coast of Southern Ireland enjoying the seasonal fluctuations in the temperature of the rain.   Links Amazon US Amazon UK Goodreads�� Blog Soundcloud Twitter Linkedin  

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