National News May Add To Bear Troubles

Well, our bears made it to the national morning news shows this morning. Good Morning America or the Today Show. Maybe both. Quote: "The bears are wandering into places they don't belong." I laughed loudly at that statement but underneath I was quite irritated and disgusted. What a fantastic way to compound fears into the public. And how misinformed the public is about the nature and history of bears. I feel I have no choice but to write a compelling arguement to U. S. Fish, Wildlife, & Parks bear management experts and to leeader of these "bear ridden" towns to propose some changes to current bear management practices. Obviously, what we are doing now is not working. It is time comsuming and expensive to tranquilize and transport or euthanize bears every time they roam into "human" terrritory. It is traumatic to bears and to humans who have encounters with the bears. The money may be better spent elsewhere. I have certain things in mind but I will not discuss them at this time. I need to get my head straight and get it all down on paper in a professional manner.

Up A Tree With A Small Solution

Of all the bears in Kalispell lately, only 2 of them came into town attracted by grease spills (the food kind, not the auto kind). The rest of the "problem" bears were attracted to plum and apple trees in peoples' yards. After becoming awarw of this information, I though, "This problem can be addressed differently now to sharply limit these incidences." What I propose is to pass a city ordinance forbidding the planting of fruit trees within the city limits (or wherever necessary). Of course, this will not be well accepted because people want to do what they want to do, and they do enjoy a fruit tree in the yard, but it has the potential to decrease human/bear interactions especially when bears are hungriest and roaming more in search of food.

Alaska's Wolf Massacre Must End!

© Defenders of Wildlife

PLEASE HELP THESE WOLVES:

DEFENDER'S ALASKAN WOLVES INFORMATION & ACTION LINK

Then scroll down below the map to read about more bear happenings.

Even More Bear Woes!

Here's another post about bears. Getting sick of hearing about them? Well, I am tired of being bombarded with news of "problem" bears causing problems for people. Today I came home in time to watch the news. Kalispell, Montana has bear problems. One black bear was shot dead because it was in a yard and trying to get in the house for food. The life of one old grizzly is now at stake because it has been going around doing the same thing. DNA was used on fur samples to incriminate this old guy. No doubt about it, he will be dead when they find him. 10 more grizzlies are being relocated for being "troublesome". Take a good look at the map. Where is Kalispell located? Far from bear country? No, right in the middle of it-surrounded by 3 national forests, a Native Reservation, and Glacier National Park! Indeed, these bears are trying to adapt to human encroachment on their natural turf. They are trying to get whatever food is easily available-who wouldn't?

Somewhere, somehow, someway, somebody (of power and influence or the weaker masses banded together) must do something! Surely I am not the only one that sees the large picture of what is happening to these bears (also many other animals). What I am talking about is a complete overhaul on the way these so-called "problem" animals are looked at in the first place. The problem animals are us. We are the only animals that have the power to change the world for ourselves and all other species. We are moving more and more into the only homes animals have left then we claim it as our own but we don't want to deal with the problems we have created. Then animals die. Animals are being mismanaged to death at the whims of our society that refuses to take responsiblity for the whole mess we are soley responsible for. I am sick of it. (If ever I wanted to post curse words, this is it!)

Yes, I do toss and turn in bed at night thinking about this kind of stuff. And yes, tears do come to my eyes when I see little or no hope for these situations. I've said it before and I will say it again-shame on us! I believe God is not happy with what we are doing to this Earth.

Recent Bear Attacks

Photo: Note how I am far away from these mom & cub grizzly bears!

Within the last couple of weeks, 2 or 3 hunters have been attacked by grizzly moms with cubs. After being attacked, one hunter shot at a griz mom in self-defense. The bear and cubs took off and have not been located since. The hunter is not sure if the bear was hit so it may be running around wounded, dead, or hopefully doing fine.

The worst thing I could imagine is getting mauled by a grizzly. I have a huge fear of it myself. However,when you are out in bear habitat in the fall bears will be out preparing for winter. Not a good time to disturb them. And certainly a worse time to disturb a mom with cubs. For the safety of bears and humans maybe hunting season should be scheduled at a different time. Of course, I prefer never but that is unrealistic. A wounded bear may not be able to survive the winter. A dead bear with cubs left behind is just as bad. A wounded bear with cubs makes it harder for the whole family's survival. Accidents will always happen, but sneaking around the woods when bears are very active just heightens the chances of an attack. This is as bad on the bears as it is on the person. If a bear feels threatened it will attack-no maybe about it. If a bear smells an elk carcass left by a hunter, it will be attracted to it for a good meal. That's just what bears do. Even hikers need to be more aware and respect bears natural instincts at this time.

What really worries me is that all this publicity about bears attacking will put even more bear fears into people. The Yellowstone grizzly population had been removed from the Threatened and Endangered Species List this past spring. Perhaps with all these tales of bear attacks lately, there will be great pressure to permit a hunt on these great animals earlier than planned. From my understanding, it is still supposed to be a few years before grizzly hunting becomes an issue but trigger-happy hunters will be itching to get rid of these "problem" bears now.

Good News For Southwestern Wolves

(Mexican Wolf photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Image Library)

Indeed, the following is great news!

As reported by Defenders of Wildlife:

On June 26, 2007, The U.S. House of Representatives rejected an amendment to the Interior Department's spending bill that would have ended funding for southwest wolf recovery efforts. The proposal was defeated on a vote of 258-172.

In just over 24 hours, more than 31,000 wildlife supporters wrote their U.S. Representatives in support of federal efforts to save the 59 remaining southwest wolves and ensure this amazing animal's future in the Southwest, urging their Members of Congress to reject the amendment offered by New Mexico Representative Steve Pearce.

A big thanks to all who wrote in to support these animals.

Alaska's Polar Bears Disappearing

As we've been hearing for some time now, polar bears are in big trouble due to global warming. Scientists report that these bears will be completely gone from Alaska by 2020 the ways things are going now. The Earth naturally falls into and out of warming and freezing cycles even if today's trend is mostly human-caused, hence we have periods of ice ages that come and go. Inevitably, the environment will change for polar bears (and everything else) naturally but since we are adding so much to this warming trend, we have the responsibility to repair what we can to keep these bears around in the wild.

National Geographic Polar Bear Information


Photo: www.komar.org/faq/churchill_polar_bear_tours/

A New Tag Game

This is a blogging tip game. It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers.

Try to make your tip general. After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

Just think– if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn.
http://www.neonscent.com****

2. Be EXCELLENT to each other.
http://www.bushmackel.com*****

3. Don’t let money change ya!
http://www.therandomforest.info****

4. Always reply to your comments
http://chattiekat.com***

5. Blog about what you know & love.
http://sugar-queens-dream.blogspot.com****

6. Don't use filthy language-buy a dictionary.
http://shinade.blogspot.com***

7. Whenever possible, spread some positive thoughts and love. The world needs more of them.
http://ailema4ever.blogspot.com***

8. Write down from your heart or head. Either way asks yourself why you ever get started.*
http://chocmintgirl.blogspot.com

9. Be honest, be tactful but honest.*
http://angelofdelusion.blogspot.com

10. Adding photos can help bring others into a more personal realm with you.
http://wildlifealive.blogspot.com

OK, I will not be able to tag 10 people but I will list some:
1. Creation on the Blade/ Life on the Blade
2. Astrogalaxy

A Day In The Mountains

Part of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.

Enjoyed a nice day hike here. The trail I was on just stayed along the valley - very little elevation change. No large wildlife was around. Although, as I was getting a meal after the trip, locals were anxiously discussing the start of hunting season. A sign was posted about a non-human fearing adult black bear in the area but the Ranger said there had been no sightings or signs of bears reported in some time. On my way back home, a large buck deer jumped out across the road but I was lucky enough to see him in time to stop.


A squirrel eating pinecones along the trail.

Finally Some Peace

I am back after a long needed mental break. I still miss my Tidy and Kitty but I find great comfort knowing that they are together and were never apart for very long. Actually I am surprisingly calmed by this fact. Now in addition to the newest cat Alice, I have a guinea pig that I picked up from the city animal shelter. This guinea looks just like a raisin with legs, hence it new name Raisin. Change is sometimes hard but that doesn't mean it's not positive.

On a sad note, there are 500 deer living in Helena. Montana. They are proposing to kill 350 of them to keep the population down. I know this is a lot of deer to be running around a city but when we are in their natural habitat what do we expect? I feel bad for these deer. They are just trying to co-exist with us. I guess a few more mountain homes can be decorated with dead animal heads this fall. Guaranteed mine will not be one of them!


I spent a couple days camping in Yellowstone last week to see what was happening at the Hayden Pack's den. I never saw the white wolf or the pups this time. One evening another wolf came out (gray colored). The herd of buffalo in the picture is standing directly in front of the den area. The huge male had a pretty much useless right hind leg but he was still the obvious leader of the herd. That buffalo had the loudest snorting I've ever heard-even clear across the river from him. He had a hard time getting back out of the river but on land not much trouble. The herd quickly ran up the hill behind the den. What happened to the big buffalo - did a wolf or bite its hamstring to bring it down? Did a grizzly get sick of it following too close and decide to tell it to back off (I have watched buffalo several times closely following bears)? Did it trip on a rock and hurt the leg? I'll never know but does make me think about the possiblities of nature. Heck, it could have tangled it's leg up on a camp chair put out roadside by crazy tourists.

I got to watch a wolf pup one afternoon in the Dunraven area. Just frolicking by a tiny stream and pouncing at voles and gophers. Another evening, I watched a black wolf and a gray wolf doing the same thing in the same area. Wolves doing wolf business on a late summer's day-how cool! Several coyotes were doing the same thing throughout the Park. A mom and cub black bear made there way down a hill close to the road. A grizzly made its way across the road as I was driving by. It was grazing. Another grizzly was camped out in a treed patch on Mt. Washburn. The buffalo calves are not orange any more. Saw 3 moose this time-one pair was a mom and baby. A pair of deer wandered the campsite as I set up the tent. Only saw one elk herd. No shortage of wildlife for sure.

So where are the pictures of all these great animals? My luck-the batteries in the camera ran out. Oh, I did take 2 sets of rechargeable back-ups but they did not work in my camera for some odd reason - they are exactly the same as the old batteries. Also my memory card was full since I forgot to take my last pictures off of the camera. The wolves were too far away anyway for pictures. I had the trusty spotting scope out for those guys. At least I still have a picture perfect memory (for this type of thing anyway).


Yellowstone Lake: The largest alpine lake in North America. The waves are as big as the oceans' at times.

Now I have one more day hike tomorrow in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness before settling into the daily grind.

Good-bye To Another Beloved Friend

Kitty: March ?, 1990 - August 3, 2006

Picture: Kitty (black cat) and sister Tidy. Kitty always blinked for every picture I ever took of her! She is a really cute cat with yellow eyes and medium length fur that was always extra smooth.

Kitty died today. I had an appointment to have Kitty checked out since I have been concerned about her. Right as I set her on the examining table, she died. I will never know what ailed her but I am positive she is glad to be with Tidy now.

As a kitten, Kitty picked me out. My roommate got her and her real sister (not Tidy-another all black cat) from somebody she knew. I went with her to pick up the 2 kittens all those years ago. Well, Kitty never bonded with my friend, her real owner. Kitty followed me around all the time and slept on me every night. When I moved out of my friend's house she gave me Kitty and her sister.

About a year later, the young cats were outside playing. When I went out to check on them I saw Kitty's sister sitting in the window of some old lady's house. I already had 5 cats at that time (Little Cat, Tidy, Kitty, Kitty's real sisiter, and a young Siamese boy mamed Puff) so I just let the lady keep Kitty's sister since it was a good home. Kitty stayed with me.

I am in some shock and disbelief from losing 2 great animal friends in one month (and the hamster). It's very depressing and there's a big hole in my heart as well as a big empty apartment filled with their stuff. I know I will see them on the other side when my time comes but it's still heart-breaking. The newly adopted Alice will be an only cat from now on.

Feeling Small In This Huge World

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately or responded to others or visited others sites even. I am overwhelmed with stuff to do-school, homework, having to work a lot more cuz I'm broke, bills, the usual buildup of life.

Also adding to the problem is my other cat, Kitty who is 17. First I thought she was depressed because Tidy is gone. She is getting VERY thin fairly quickly and not coming out as she usually does. She used to be perky and vocal. Today I noticed a slimy drip from her mouth and a terrible odor. It very well could be cancer in her mouth. I have experience with this since my Mom's cat died of this not too long before Tidy passed on. I will have to take her to the vet, work more to pay those bills, and go from there. I really can't bear to lose another animal family member again this summer.

So, I will leave saying that I will most likely not be doing any computer activities until I finish up this class in a few weeks. But while I am gone, don't forget the animals- send your comments in on wolves and especially send comments to the NFL to get Vick out of there for his sick, immoral animal cruelty to his fighting dogs (Humane Society is doing the most work on this). Don't forget to take the time to watch animals and appreciate them.

Picture: This chipmunk lives near the pond where I saw the otter by Yellowstone Lake. He/she was running around busily that day like I have been lately.

Welcoming A New Pet

Yesterday I picked up a new cat to share my home with. Her name is Alice aka "Alli" and she is 11 years old. The people at the shelter said people always take the kittens but rarely does anyone want a senior cat. I was not looking to get another cat at this time but I didn't want my last Kitty to be lonely anymore. Plus, I feel I have to help out animals if I can. My intentions were to go get 2 parakeets that were in there but I came out with the cat. She was free; they just wanted a home for her and I have room. She is a tabby/calico mix, a multi-colored brown striped cat that is very friendly. Right now she is not too sure about my other cat but surprisingly, Kitty is fine with her. It's odd to have a different cat around. I hope she stays healthy for a long time.


Another animal visitor lately is a young rabbit that stops by to chew up the grass. I left it some greens one day but I think they wilted in the 100+ heat before the bunny came by. I am sick of sweating. It's been 100+ for about 2 weeks now. I can't imagine being a furred animal in the summer! Use my air conditioning? Come on now, I am an environmental graduate. It's bad enough I am wasting electricity to run a fan. Plus, if we are truly in a global warming cycle, I had better find ways to adapt to heat that I can afford.

Excitement Of The Day

(This incident happened before I went on my trip.)
I was out on my patio talking to a visitor when she told me that a prairie dog just ran behind a plant stand (actually a TV cart that I moved outside). I opened up a door. A wide-eyed prairie dog stared at frantically stared at me-also wide-eyed from surprise! I shut the door and left it alone then I left the house for about a 1/2 hour. When I came back and walked up to the patio, a sparrow was lying there partially chewed up. I figured the prairie dog must be having lunch. Sure enough, the little critter was still running around my patio and went back into the plant stand. Then it ran off as I was trying to get a good picture of it.

It has been coming around every day now for a while and as you can see it leaves quite a mess.

Guess Where I've Been Lately?

Besides working a lot extra, I went to Yellowstone of course. I went down to the Tetons for a few hours one day as well (that's the first photo). I love these places. They remain relatively still on the grand scale but yet are always in a state of constant transformation.

Here are the wildlife tales from this mini-trip:

Lots of pelicans. Usually I see them swimming or resting on-shore. This time most were flying around.

Saw 1 river otter swimming in a nice calm pond near Yellowstone Lake one evening.

One bald eagle was flying only about 10 feet above the car as I drove. I followed it for a bit then I passed it. I looked up when it was directly overhead - it's not often one gets to see the bottom of an eagle flying close. Then it follwed me along the road for a ways before veering off. Don't worry, no other cars were around so I was not creating a hazard. Two more bald eagles were perched together on a fallen tree in Hayden Valley one afternoon (where the bears were, which I will tell about later).

Lots of buffalo (I told them not to go out of the Park or they would be meat-sausage and Great Plains burgers at Canyon Village!), elk, deer, and antelope. The buffalo calves are not as bright orange anymore. Two of them were fighting for a bit on a hill. Then 2 adults started at it. Dust flying everywhere. Didn't last long though and they all went back to being friends.

Now for the big winners!

One of the top prizes: A grizzly mom with one cub in souhtern Hayden Valley one evening. Close to where the last bear I saw was. I had to set up the scope for this. The cub was chewing on a carcass and would pop its head up every once in a while. The mom was nearby digging and grazing. The cub got up to keep up with the mom as she wandered farther away. Frisky little cub! The mom kept grazing around and the cub would stop then run and play. Later, a buffalo saw the bears and went down a hill towards them. The cub(which was closer to the buffalo than the mom) then stood up and was smelling the air, looking for the buffalo. The cub did this a few times finally, the mom and cub were together standing up together looking and smelling. The buffalo follwed them for a long time then finally decided to swim across the river. The bears stayed there. Of course, at this point a heavy rain started and I packed up.

The other top prize: The white wolf (540F-the alpha female) of the Hayden Pack and a pup! Right at their den! The pup was a black or dark grey one. She is supposed to have 5 pups (1 dark, 4 lighter) but I only saw the one. Started off with 6 pups total but one did not make it. The den is right out where people can see it from across the river at a picnic area. When I first arrived on the scene, I thought somebody said it was a moose so when I looked over and saw a white canine head popping up over some sagebrush I was pleasantly surprised. A bit faint of breath once again at this great sight. Then she stood up and went playfully towards the trees. The dark pup followed from out of the brush as my eyes and smile grew larger with disbelief. I never would have thought I would see them that easily. She is a brave mom having her den right out where millions of people come to watch her family. I know those tourists were not around when she picked that den but I get the feeling she is a proud mom type-wanting to show off the pups and knowing people are fighting to looking at them. She had all summer to move the den but hasn't. Wolves do have feelings. The white wolf is collared; the grizzly is not. These wolves were causing a major wolf jam and it was hard to even get in to see them. I'll go again in the fall to see the wolves when less people are hogging the place up. Naturally, I have no photos of the wolves because of a certain "commotion" around me created by a smallish child (who shall remain nameless at this time) as I was trying to watch the wolves. The bears were pretty far away so I don't think I'll be able to have decent picture to post. I only have a digital camera.

In the Favorite Sight Links at right, the Ralph Maughan site has pictures of the pups in the post: The Hayden pups, their first big (5) litter
or use this link and scroll down to the post: Hayden Pack pups 2007

To see photos of the white wolf use this link: Walking Shadow Ecology
(choose photography then Yellowstone Wolves and you should get the March 2007 Hayden Pack)



Now the crazy tourist stories:

One herd of buffalo with calves was coming up a hill. The hill happened to have a pull-out on top for cars. Well, the tourists were putting out their camp chairs to sit down and watch the trotting buffalo come up the hill. I imagine the chairs did not last long. I would have watched but it was obviously not a safe time and place to watch that herd.

One day, a lone buffalo was grazing the side of the road. A lady was walking towards the buffalo looking through binoculars the entire time. The buffalo was no more than 20 feet way from her so she really didn't need the binoculars. She was probably a bit surprised when she finally put them down.

The day after the grizzly and cub sighting, people were parked in the same area waiting to see them again. A huge, top of the line motor home was hogging up most of the parking area. The high priced RVs' kitchen apparently sucks because the people had set up a BBQ grill ouside. Or they were purposely trying to attract bears.

Tagged Again

I have been tagged by My Journey To Eliminate Debt. This project calls for sharing 8 personal facts about myself, then tagging 8 other bloggers to do the same. Here are the rules, which were passed to me:

-Each player must post these rules first.
-Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
-At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
-Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Now the 8 things:
1. Obviously, I love animals.
2. I can't stand country music or rap.
3. Once I threw out my Valentines because I was too shy and afraid to pass them out in school.
4. If I could be anyone, I would chooose to be Luke Skywalker from Star Wars.
5. I wish I could go on a permanent camping trip in Yellowstone.
6. As a junior high student, I sent away to NASA asking for an astronaut application (Not as a joke. I wanted to see what "the right stuff" is.). They sent it too.
7. "Plain" old rocks make me very happy. Each one tells a fantastic story.
8. Red is kind of a disturbing color for me.

OK, here's 6 of the next 8 to be tagged. I will tag some people I have not tagged previously.

Here's a start:
1. Astro Galaxy
2. Self Delusions of Angela May
3. Rigor Vitae
4. Life on the Blade
5. Bent Objects
6. Views From My Tent

Another Pet Lost

I just came in the door from working tonight. My hamster C. C. Mouser is dying as I type this. I don't know what happened to him. He was fine last night. Running around doing mouse business-running his wheel and eating. Now he is dying. Since my cat just passed away I was trying to introduce C. C. Mouser to my other cat Kitty (with the hamster staying in the cage of course), so Kitty wouldn't be so lonely. Kitty has been with Tidy since she was a kitten, 17 years, so I'm sure Kitty is lonely without Tidy. So much for that plan. I just don't know how much more of this I can take.

I will try to post a picture of C. C. when I find one. And for some reason I am not able to put a title one my post. Just not a good week for me.

Also, I have just been tagged to reveal 8 things about myself. When I get into the mindset, I will put that post together and tag the next bloggers.

Just Remember There Is A Heaven

Tidy: June ?, 1988 - July 5, 2007

I will miss her but now she will not suffer anymore.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your pet stories and support.

Thanks For Your Thoughts

I received this post today:

Anonymous said...
Hi,
I just stumbled upon your site and respect your view on your ailing, aged kitty. However, many years ago one of our kitties (who had had kidney problems early on and then for many years - primarily because this was in the 1970s before it was well known that male cats can have blockage issues, which he did at one point when young) that I wish we had taken that step to end his misery at the end. It was at the point that he had absolutely no quality of life. His last night on earth was horrendous. I guess we were in denial and kept hoping he would rebound. The kindest thing we could have done was to intervene and take him to the vets to end his misery that night. Even after that, it was still hard to make that decision with any pet and we rarely did (at least when it should have been done). But that is one gift we can give our beloved pets: to be there at their side when we say good bye for the last time (by the choice to euthanize). We make that choice when no other humane option is really left. I truly believe that they know that our actions are out of love. But it is hard to let go and that is a curse that humans carry it seems. It is in retrospect that I now wish I had made that decision for the sake of my beloved pets more often than I did. But again I do respect your view. Just wanted to add a different perspective which is more reflective than anything.

I would like to thank you for your reflections. I have been struggling lately, trying to decide when is the right time to take Tidy to the vet one final time. It is good to hear from others. It's a hard decision to make when feelings get in the way. I went through the same thing with my first cat but that was more of a cut & dried situation-in the middle of the night she lost her ability to use her back legs after prolonged hyperthyroidism and was trying to drag herself around. There was no question then. Now it is just not as clear but I know what I need to do soon. I have never hoped or thought she would get better-that was made clear from the start.

American Symbols

The bald eagle can finally come off the endangered species list. This is great news. And very fitting for the Fourth of July holiday.

Then I heard this on the news: "The Bald eagle is as American as..."

It is sad that a great American symbol was on the brink of extinction in the first place. So "American" was this species that it was killed off in mass numbers until almost was wiped off the face of the Earth. It's not sad because it is a symbol, but because eagles are living creatures that also call this world home.

The "threatened and endangered list" is a symbol to me. It is a symbol of all that is wrong with our interactions with animals (by "animals" I include fish and birds-it's my personal generalized term of non-plant, non-human species even though I know it's not proper). It is a symbol of our past stupidity and ignorance. Many endangered animals are symbols of some sort (not just in the U. S.)- grizzlies, wolves, tigers, pandas, etc. I think some of these animals wouldn't be as much of a symbol if they were not on the list. Wolves were never a symbol before-they were (and still are) hated and killed off. Now with their "recovery", they are a symbol of all that is wild.

Also on the subject of American sybmols, I had to laugh when a buffalo statue was unvieled in West Yellowstone a few weeks ago. A mighty, magnificant buffalo statue. A symbol of the Great Plains and Yellowstone. Yet in reality buffalo are slaughtered by the hundreds every year. I enjoy seeing a nice animal statue as much as the next guy but what's wrong with that picture?! Even in the days of colonial expansion,(European descended) people loved the buffalo so much that they annihilated them.

Animals coming off the list will never be truly "recovered." The recovered populations are simply at more manageable numbers to humans, at lower than natural population levels. What the ecosystem can sustain and what humans want to tolerate are completely different things. Animal populations just cannot compete with the human need to alter natural landscapes and control everything.