Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Friyay Good News

~ John W. Howell

It is another glorious Friday pointing to the weekend. Today’s good news is about animals. As we know, animal stories tend to put a positive spin on our daily life. Hopefully, this will be the result of these two.

Our first story is about the rebound of the Monarch butterfly population in the Western United States.

photo courtesy of Steve Corey, CC license

The Thanksgiving count of Monarchs has not begun, but an early count on October 16th, 2021 of the overwintering sites on the California coast is encouraging. The Pacific Grove count of 1300 butterflies this year is compared to zero in 2020. The Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove found about 8,000 monarchs compared to 300 last year. All in all, about 10,000 Monarchs have been counted this year which is a substantial increase. The good news here is that the signs are suitable for a Monarch recovery.

This is good news, but the Monarch is not out of the woods yet. How can you help? You can by planting nectar-bearing plants in the spring and the fall and buy not using insecticides.

Bear The Koala Dog – Instagram, USC/IFAW

In 2019 and 2020, six-year-old Australian Koole named Bear was instrumental in finding over 100 Koala bears who were injured and lost in the ashes due to the horrible bush fires there.

Bear has been named a hero, winning an award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Bear was trained in Australia at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Their Detection Dogs for Conservation team taught the former rescue dog to use his heightened sense of smell to hunt out the injured koalas among the ashes.

Bear is a rescue from an animal shelter after his former owners gave him up due to behavior issues caused by his “boundless energy and obsessive enthusiasm for play.”

The very reasons Bear was given up are the strengths he brings to his work which continues today.

Today’s JohnKu talks about Bear and his life. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Destiny by John W. Howell © 2021

Sent to a shelter,

By those not seeing his worth . . .

Destined to be great.

 

 

 

70 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Friyay Good News”

  2. Thanks for the wonderful shares, John. Your insightful haiku underscored for me that we’re all destined to be great, but the “shelters” in life sometimes cloud that reality. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

  3. The uptick in Monarchs makes my heart sing, John. Lord, but it is refreshing to hear some *good* news related to our natural world for a change! And Bear is a hero…love his story! Happy Friday to you, the Producer, and your furry family.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I have this thing about owner surrenders. A pup puts its whole soul into the love of a human and then is cast away. I so dislike that. Bear looks like he is the happest dog on the planet which he deserves. Thanks, Staci.

      Liked by 2 people

  5. I hadn’t heard that Monarchr report. That certainly is good news. They’ve been on the move through our area for a couple of weeks; last year I read of a an area around Palacios where people found trees covered with them.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. You have made this a wonderful Friday, indeed. What grand news about the Monarchs.
    Bear. Oh my goodness. How wonderful others saw his strengths where the first did not. he definitely is a hero.
    Happy Friday to you and your gang!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Loved both stories, John 🙂 I have a special fondness for the Monarchs and happy to hear of their rebound. I used to walk to school through a big patch of milkweed and always stopped to enjoy their presence. Happy Friday!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. So glad to hear those Monarch numbers! Strangely, I see very few butterflies on Vancouver Island- not sure why.
    Bear is beautiful! Thanks for sharing these wonderful stories, John. Good news is a nice change 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Thanks, John, the Monarchs and ‘Brear’ make my day… Were I younger, ‘Bear’ would have a home with me… Hi to the girls…

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I was listening to a story about the butterflies return, which is great news. And I love your last line about the very things Bear was given up for, are the strengths that shine now. Beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Two great stories. My brother is the vice-president of the North American Butterfly Association, and he has told me that butterfly numbers are generally decreasing.

    Liked by 1 person

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