Man who rediscovered the takahe, nonagenarian

The man who refused to believe the takahe was extinct died in Dunedin on Tuesday at the age of 98.

• http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200708161327/death_of_man_who_rediscovered_the_tahake

It was assumed, when Dr. Geoffrey Orbell rediscovered the takahe in Fiordland’s Murchison Mountains in 1948, that the bird had been extinct for over 50 years. Dr. Orbell described the magical moment this way: “Suddenly I saw in a clearing in the snow grass a bird with a bright red beak and a blue and green colouring. And there, no more than twenty metres away from us stood a living Notornis, the bird that was supposed to be extinct.”

• http://www.mtbruce.org.nz/takahe.htm

I saw takahe at Mt Bruce. It is a wonderful place to visit. The birds are about a large chicken in size.
click to enlarge

The Associated Press, Published: August 15, 2007

• New Zealand doctor who rediscovered rare flightless bird dies aged 98
  http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/asia/AS-GEN-New-Zealand-Obit-Orbell.php

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand doctor Geoffrey Orbell, who rediscovered a flightless bird that was believed extinct almost 60 years ago, has died in the southern city of Dunedin, his family said Wednesday. He was 98.

No one had seen a live takahe — a unique blue-green, hen-like bird with a bright red bill — since the late 1890s, when Orbell and three companions found a small colony in Fiordland on South Island in November 1948. The discovery stunned the world of ornithology and made front-page news across the globe.
…
Geoffrey Buckland Orbell was born Oct. 7, 1908, at Pukeuri on South Island… He graduated in medicine and chemistry in 1934, then went to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London where he received a Diploma in Ophthalmic Medicine and Surgery… Orbell didn’t retire from medicine until he was 70….

Almost 300 takahe (Notornis mantelli) now live in Fiordland and other sanctuaries thanks to careful husbandry and breeding programs…. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II made him a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1953

Regnum: Animalia • Phylum: Chordata • Classis: Aves • Ordo: Gruiformes • Familia: Rallidae • Genus: Porphyrio

Geoffrey Orbell, a doctor who was happiest in the outdoors where he found the “extinct” takahe in 1948, has died in Dunedin just a few weeks short of his 99th birthday. Orbell was a man of many talents – ophthalmologist, cabinet maker, boat and house builder, skilled shot (founder of the NZ Deerstalkers Association), tramper, fisherman and local body politician. But above all he will be remembered for his rediscovery of the takahe, the unique and flightless blue-green, hen-like bird with the bright red bill in the depths of Fiordland. [...]

• http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4166852a7693.html

O’Folks off their rocker Add this to Bookmarks:

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older dog care

Pets can be a significant assistance to older people, not only as trained assistants but, through friendship, actually improve or maintain health and activity (who wants to walk alone and cleaning the litter pan is daily exercise.) But, too frequently, as the story below discusses, people don’t know how to care for the oldest pets. Many people worry about care for their pets after their death or a lengthy illness or if an assisted living residence is needed.

• http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/49699.html

Every dog, horse and bird at the elder-care animal sanctuary and hospice south of Santa Fe has a story, and most stories belie the wagging tails and the contented neighs heard here. …

Most of the animals at Kindred Spirits have ended up at the sanctuary under dire circumstances. Many were abandoned at animal shelters because they were old or ill, or their human companions had died or could no longer take care of them. The sanctuary rarely takes animals from private individuals; they are generally referred by veterinarians, shelters or other animal-welfare organizations.

On-site workshops on death and dying, first-aid and caring for elderly animals help people grow, but changing attitudes toward senior companions is an uphill battle.

“It’s about making a lifelong commitment,” Schildkraut says. “Animals aren’t disposable. I don’t think people realize what they’re saying to their children by doing things like that. There’s a value — across the spectrum of life, (aging) is just another phase. You can teach your children to ignore it or be fearful of it, and that’s a disservice. They really need to embrace this phase of their life just like any other.”

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Pets and Katrina

There has been a lot of discussion since Katrina about the role of companion animals in disaster preparation and evacuation. Animals have demonstrated advantages for the health of older people, even the very old and frail (and even as visitors than live-in companions).

Here is another aspect to the discussion.

Lost in Katrina and in new homes – whose pet now? By Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor

…The lawsuits are efforts to reunite family members – even fuzzy ones – who have been separated by Katrina. They also raise troubling questions about whether animals should be treated as property or as members of the family – and which homes they belong in.

“We’re trying to distinguish between dog-nappers and good-faith finders, and that’s a huge gray area right now from hurricane Katrina,” says David Favre, a law professor at Michigan State University in Lansing and an animal law expert….

In many cases, overwhelmed shelters were forced to find new homes for pets that had not been claimed even after pictures were posted on the Internet….

State laws, so far, are on the side of the original owners because pets are considered property, not family, law experts say. “Finders, keepers” laws state that property must be abandoned for at least a year before original owners lose their rights to it unless the finders can prove they made a good-faith effort to find the owner. In Louisiana, the requirement is three years. In January, a New Jersey judge ordered a family to return a dog adopted after Katrina to its owner in New Orleans….

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0721/p01s03-ussc.html?s=hns

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Snuggle-sacks for the older hypoglycaemia alarm

Experienced model shows off the first snuggle-sack in the 49th State.

Snow drifts over the tundra. And with sub-zero (minus 25 F degrees) temps and 25-40 mph winds, it’s a three-cat night but you have only the one.

A hard-working novel, fully biocompatible and patient friendly hypoglycaemia alarm system needs some comfort. The snuggle-sacks are excellently handmade and fitted. They come in a variety of colors. See www.snuggle-sacks.com

off-duty, snug as a dog in a sack

Technorati Tags: dog, elderly, snuggle-sack.com, Alaska, bed
cat, companion animal

Old age ‘is no bar to sharp mind’

read here BBC NEWS | Health |

Research suggests the elderly store memories differently
Being older is no bar to having a razor sharp mind – but it may well work in a different way, US scientists suggest.

A Johns Hopkins University team, who studied rats, found older animals stored memories in a different way than younger ones.
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Why are some people mentally productive until late old age – such as the philosopher Bertrand Russell, and why do others not show this resilience – such as the writer Iris Murdoch?
Professor Shane O’Mara, Trinity College Dublin