Whether you’re an educator, resident, scientist or wildlife officer, as someone who cares about bears, it’s your responsibility to spread the bear smart word – choosing your words carefully.
Words are powerful. They can find their way deep into the very fabric of our being and belief systems, shaping our thoughts and actions.
Words influence our perceptions and affect attitudes. They can inspire and encourage the right behaviour; or hinder and create apathy and inaction.
In Yosemite: The Embattled Wilderness, historian Alfred Raunte notes that even well-meaning bear advocates use terms like “marauding,” “offending,” and “trouble-some” to describe the very bears they are protecting.
Some words may be appropriate when used correctly, but harmful when misused. Consider the sentence; “Grizzly bears are dangerous, aggressive animals.” Without any context to this sentence, it misrepresents the grizzly’s character and behavioural traits. Grizzly bears are not dangerous and aggressive in all situations at…
View original post 1,903 more words
Exposing the Big Game 
I.
Love.
This
♥♥
..the (retired) English teacher in me jumps for joy..
people misuse the connotation and denotation of words BEYOND incorrectly..
..makes me *crazy*..
..’course too many humans don’t even know what those two words mean..
and have the vocabulary of a 2-month old..
..(forgive me, sweet little babies. ☺☺)
..and if I hear one more person start a sentence with “me”..
well..
..never mind..
☺☺
I sent an email to a F&W person in Wisconsin recently, who is involved in bringing back massasauga snakes there, and counting them. Which, good news, their numbers are increasing due to their efforts. However in an audio program interview, she and the interviewer both referred to snakes as creepy, crawly, and slimy, bats too. So I sent her an email saying how as a spokeperson for wildlife, she should not use disparaging terms like creepy/crawly and she was nice and replied that she will take that into consideration. The whole podcast Wild Wisconsin, is mainly devoted to hunters, but that is a whole other story. Here is the snake podcast. https://share.transistor.fm/s/42a9b253