The following story was submitted in the Pawsitively Picture Perfect photo contest. The top three finishers received $500 in cash, as well as $2,000 in cash and supplies for their favorite shelter.
Everyone, this is Maui! His nickname is Maui Miyagi or Old Blind Brown Cat. My grandson and I rescued him after someone posted his picture on Craigslist, looking for the owner. I always browse the lost and found pets on there, and when I saw his picture, my heart sank that he was lost.
I also noticed that he looked like he needed medical attention. I’ve always rescued/adopted kitties from Haven Humane but never off Craigslist. I emailed the person and asked if they found the owner.
They said no. I told her that it looked like he needed medical attention. She asked, “Do you want him?” She said that someone drove by and threw him out of their moving vehicle. He almost got hit three times! I said I’d take him! We drove 30 minutes to get him and took him straight to the vet.
He had worms and was completely blind and missing most of his teeth! They said he was approximately 16-years-old. We got him the necessary medical attention and took him home. I called every vet within 60 miles to see if he was a patient there but nobody claimed him. I noticed that his fur was a yellowish-orange color as if he had laid in bleach or antifreeze. That eventually went away with baths and brushing.
We already had a Siamese and Maui tried to interact with him, but sometimes it didn’t go well. Both would fight over who got to sleep on my lap, lol! We loved on him and gave him the BEST care and love for six months, but then his health declined. He was bleeding and then started to have seizures. We took him to the vet and found out he had a cancerous lump in his chest.
They said he was too old to be able to get through the surgery and chemo. Broke my heart. He was one of the best kitties we have ever had! I feel that he had the BEST six months of his life when we rescued him. One of the pictures was just before he passed away. R.I.P. Mr. Maui Miyagi. You are loved more than you know.
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
