To me, Nature is God. Without it, we simply would not exist. Conserving the world’s natural spaces and the creatures that live there is paramount to the survival of humans as a species, and I have therefore dedicated my life to studying environmentalism in order to help people co-exist more successfully and sustainably with the natural world.
All natural materials I use in my creations are either sourced from roadkill, Fish and Game, secondhand sources such as fellow artists and estate sales, or are antique. In this way, I'm ensuring that no animals were needlessly killed for the sake of the artwork I produce. I fully believe that no part of any creature should go to waste if a purpose can be found for it, but I do NOT support trophy hunters or overseas fur farms by buying 'byproducts' like bones, skulls, or claws directly from them. The only exception I make for this rule is for parts from animals legally culled for population control programs approved by Fish and Wildlife.
As a photographer and wildlife enthusiast, I've been involved with many fantastic organizations such as Images4Life and Wild Tiger, as well as the Sierra Club and many smaller, local groups.
I've been published, interviewed, and even featured on Rainn Wilson (Dwight from “The Office”)'s personal networking website, SoulPancake.com.
I’ve also been blessed with the opportunity to visit many of the world’s most amazing wild places, like Komodo Island, Bali, Lombok, Malaysia, and the Cayman Islands, and have even documented entirely new species previously unknown to science.
Other interests include: Wilderness survival, primitive skills, backpacking, fishing, kayaking, boffing, airsoft, snowboarding, meandering around town, and caving.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Today in the United States, there are more ‘pet’ tigers in private hands than there are in the wild. According to the Humane Society of the United States, captive populations range between an estimated 10,000 and 20,000 individuals, a stunning 5,000 of which are believed to be living in the state of Texas alone.
This is due mainly to lax exotic ownership laws throughout the country. These laws vary by state, and each state has a radically different stance on the topic. According to a 2009 report released by Big Cat Rescue, the largest exotic cat advocacy and rescue center in the USA, “just eighteen states ban big cats as pets; ten states have instituted a partial ban; and two have no laws regarding exotic animal ownership whatsoever”. The rest either require their residents to obtain a permit in order to keep a large-breed cat, or require the owner to have nothing more than a veterinary certificate.
Due to these lax laws, tigers in private hands are a risk to humans, subject to abuse and illegal trade, and have suffered from improper breeding that may have longstanding affects on the genetic integrity of all captive tigers worldwide.
Click the image to follow the link and learn more about the pet tiger issue…
finally. someone who understands this.
I’m a terrible person. I got a hilarious mental image of a southern type family using a tiger named Bubbuh as a guard...
this makes me so sad
im really dumb all i could think was ‘well duh there are no wild tigers in america theyre not native’