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Post by yukarana on Jan 28, 2010 11:47:57 GMT -5
Hi everyone... um, I'm Yukarana, but you may call me Yuka. I'm looking forward to making some new friends around here, maybe. What're you guys into?... The main thing about me is, I love animals. I'm a student of animal behaviour, currently studying the effect of enrichment on the lives of the rescue primates at my college. There isn't any animal that doesn't fascinate me to some degree... yes, including spiders, snakes, slugs, snails, frogs and cockroaches. Since last year, I'm also a vegan (no animal products) and loving it! My other passion is to be creative. I adore roleplay, writing, drawing, model-making, etc., and love to work with others on creative projects. Who else here is creative?
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Post by AnCafe on Jan 28, 2010 12:12:29 GMT -5
Creativity is my life source. I would die from boredom without it. xD
Meh I'm currently I'm trying to improve my art skills. :B It's just a matter of getting Corel to stop freezing. And I love animals too, but I take a major interest in the scaly ones like reptiles, dinosaurs and dragons. :3
... So you're Vegan huh? I honestly don't know how I could stop eating meat. o.o
But welcome to Mugurar! :3 It's great to see new members!
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Post by yukarana on Jan 28, 2010 12:35:03 GMT -5
Hi AnCafe! Ooh, have you posted any art here? :3 I'll have to check that out. If not, hop to it. What sort of thing do you draw, then? I wanted to draw a comic, but my stupid foundation degree is sucking my time away. ;-; (JK, I love my course really. But it is time-eating...) Speaking of which, I might post some of my art here. We could help each other. Yeah, I'm vegan. If you'd said that to me a year ago... well, my reaction would have been like yours. Probably not in those words, though. But working around animals, and doing research into farming practices and the environment, etc., opened my eyes to the fact that I was a part of so much suffering. It's a very humbling realisation. It was also stupidly easy to change once I'd made the choice to (I don't even miss CHOCOLATE, for crissake, one of my former four food groups!). I love dragons. One of my created worlds has a religion based around a massive silver space-dragon thingy. :3 Do you have any favourite reptile species? I love little leopard geckos. <3
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Post by grace on Jan 28, 2010 14:10:10 GMT -5
I'm a kind of vegan. A very strict lacto-vegetarian actually. D: I don't love animals, but I think cats, dogs and wolves (I saw them at a zoo) are cool. ^^ I don't think animals suffer, they're supposed to be living in a farm then be turned into meat... it's humane now. No offence, though. I'm not very creative... I'm boring. XD I like daydreaming, drawing and making characters of my neopets but I'm not really good at drawing. ;-; Anyway, welcome to mugurar. ^^
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Post by yukarana on Jan 28, 2010 14:29:57 GMT -5
I'm a kind of vegan. A very strict lacto-vegetarian actually. D: Aw, cool. Nice to meet you, Grace! None taken. Although I have to disagree... no animal was 'made' to be turned into meat. They were made with all the same senses and feelings as dogs, cats, wolves and us. In evolutionary terms a chicken is still a junglefowl and a pig is a wild boar. They still have the same instincts, all of which are thoroughly frustrated, ending with the final indignity of an often lingering death. Animals are sentient. Their lives matter to them, more than taste matters to us. See this link for more about the humane myth: peacefulprairie.blogspot.com/2008/05/letter-from-vegan-world.htmlSorry, got carried away. ^^; if you (or anyone) would like to politely discuss this further, please PM me. You don't sound boring to me. And I bet you're better than you think you are! Post some art, and share some criticism. We can help each other. Thanks!
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Post by grace on Jan 28, 2010 14:45:03 GMT -5
I looked at the images and the cow looked ill... :/ I don't know if it was just its fur... I don't believe in evolution, though, I'm a Christian. ^^ Are there any studies that say animals have emotions? I'd be interested in reading them. I posted some wolves on the topic... or rather they're lupes.
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Post by yukarana on Jan 28, 2010 15:07:55 GMT -5
I looked at the images and the cow looked ill... :/ I don't know if it was just its fur... I don't believe in evolution, though, I'm a Christian. ^^ Are there any studies that say animals have emotions? I'd be interested in reading them. I posted some wolves on the topic... or rather they're lupes. Ah, cool. I'm religious myself, not strictly Christian though I have a lot of respect for Christianity. I believe in both evolution and God, and that the two are not mutually exclusive. The limbic system is the part of the brain which regulates emotions. It is found in vertebrate species all the way down to amphibians, and pain is even older. The truth is, there is no way to say, 'for certain', that anyone or anything feels anything. As animals cannot speak our language and do not have many of the 'intelligent' skills we have, they are often overlooked. But one does not need intelligence to feel, and there is far more evidence that they do feel, albeit circumstantial/anecdotal. Marc Bekoff, an ethologist (animal behaviour scientist), published a book entitled 'The Emotional Lives of Animals'. So there are scientists who subscribe to animal emotions. To be truly scientific, there is a 50% chance of the animal feeling or not feeling, because we just don't know one way or the other. But I believe that kindness is an imperative. If animals do feel, then the costs of being cruel are very real to that animal. However, if we avoid cruelty and animals do not feel subjectively, we have lost comparatively little. Hehe, sorry... I do get lost in things, don't I?
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Post by grace on Jan 28, 2010 15:32:20 GMT -5
I never knew that, about the 50% chance. So, can animals feel sad, happy or think about things? I guess dogs can, but I'm not sure about cows/sheep/chickens/pigs... :/
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Post by yukarana on Jan 28, 2010 15:57:39 GMT -5
I never knew that, about the 50% chance. So, can animals feel sad, happy or think about things? I guess dogs can, but I'm not sure about cows/sheep/chickens/pigs... :/ Why not? The idea of farm animals as 'dumb' is perpetuated by our culture, which finds this convenient... but to those who know them, farmed animals can be friends, every bit as much as a cat or a dog. They have the same structures that control emotions as dogs and cats do, so whilst differences in intelligence may exist, emotionality is probably very similar. (In fact, pigs are much smarter than dogs, and chickens make outstanding companion animals ). It's just that they feel differently about different situations, but they are all social animals, and all form bonds with others in their social group.
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Post by Armagare on Jan 28, 2010 16:31:33 GMT -5
omg a vegan thats not a snob! there is a god (sorry i kid around ALOT, ALOT.) But no really every vegan i come across is always like "omg you eat meat ah you hate animals then augh!" no i dont hate animals, if i did then i wouldnet think there so tasty XD hehe
nah im kidding again.... thats your life style you do what you want also i love animals with a passion! ok except bugs i only like a few of them really, frogs and lizards are top on my list!
you should show me some of the art you've done, I'll show you mine if you want
glad we got a nice new member ^_^ for joining want me to make you a free avatar?
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Post by DragonMossstar on Jan 28, 2010 17:44:16 GMT -5
Welcome to Mugurar (am I the first one to actually say this? ._.), Yuka!!
I'm a big-time animal lover myself, though I'm no kind of vegetarian. xP I'd LIKE to be some day, but my favorite dish is Chicken Parm and I love cheese, so I probably never will be. Plus, I don't like beans and that's like, how you're supposed to get protein and stuff, right? I used to want to do stuff with animals when I was a kid, but now my goal is to be an author. Freaky. Anyway, I think you'll like it here. ^_^ No one really knows this yet (except Mia and I if she hasn't forgotten...!!), but there's going to be a Wildlife Protection thing on Mugurar at some point in time all about the wildlife and stuff.
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Post by _paper_clip_ on Jan 28, 2010 19:16:14 GMT -5
Welcome, Yuka! ^_^
I'm proud of your self-discipline...I couldn't live without chocolate.
---
Uhmmm...Christianity does not go against the theory of evolution. The stories of creation in the bible point to a religious truth (deeper meaning that God wants to communicate to mankind) and are not actually telling us how we were created. In fact, there are two creation stories with many differences between them, pointing even more towards the fact that the story is not supposed to be taken as scientifically what happened =]
hehe, sorry I'm kinda learning this in religion right now x3 we are going "deeper" into the Old Testement. Yay...
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Post by Latei on Jan 28, 2010 20:41:04 GMT -5
Welcome ^_^ I know a few people who are vegeatarian (my mum is one, although not a very good one as sometimes she forgets and eats meat), and mums guitar teacher was a vegan, but recently became a vegetarian instead. I'm not however. ;D Reading over this I thought about the Peaceful Praire Blog too. I only just heard about it last night The stories are so saddening, and they write so beautifully. And yes, I remember hearing about animals having feelings. What I remember is that they were teaching lab rats to push a button to get food, but whenever they got the food they would shock rats in a nearby cage. As soon as the rats realized this they stopped pushing the button, even if it meant they starved to death. Animals know a lot more than we give them credit for.
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Post by AnCafe on Jan 28, 2010 20:54:05 GMT -5
I'm planning on posting some art soon. BUT I HAS TO MAKE IT FIRST. xD
I'm thinking of drawing something tonight though. :B
Chocolate is bad for the enviroment? o.o;
But that's pretty interesting.... Maybe when I get older I'll see about trying a vegan diet. I can't right now cause my mom would probably kill me for not getting enough protein or whatever. :B
Eh, My favorite snakes would have to be constrictors. When I go to zoos or places having any special events that allow you to hold some of the animals, I always loved holding the Boas. <3
I really love Caimans too. Mini crocodiles/alligators FTW! And as for Lizards, Basilisks are Epic. o.o
I have a pet Leopard gecko. She's a girl and I named her Shukaku. x3 I've had her for about four years now, but since last year she's been a bit ill. She kept hiding in this round log I gave her, and her front feet are deformed. ._. It looks like she crawls around on her elbows when she walks. It's also made it really hard for her to shed properly. D:
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Post by yukarana on Jan 29, 2010 4:29:50 GMT -5
AnCafe: Chocolate itself? No, but dairy is. If you ever want advice at all, please don't hesitate to contact me. My college has a massive Boa constrictor in the exotics house! I luvs her. (But due to her size, it takes three people to carry her.) Your gecko sounds ill... has she seen a vet? o.o' Oops.... I pressed modify rather then qoute without realizing it. *facepalm*
Sorry about that. D:
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