In Australia, a three-year-old beagle was taken to the emergency room after eating 2.4 pounds of gummy worms and showing “no regrets,” according to a nurse.
David Waltner-Toews
@doft.bsky.social
Founding Pres, Vets without Borders-Canada; Veterinary epidemiologist. Writer >20 books poetry fiction nonfiction On Pandemics,The Origin of Feces. Officer, Order of Canada. https://davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/
This Pacific Island Disappeared Under Rising Seas. A New Sculpture Marking the Spot Will Morph Into a Home for Seabirds, Coral and Marine Life www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...
This Pacific Island Disappeared Under Rising Seas. A New Sculpture Marking the Spot Will Morph Into a Home for Seabirds, Coral and Marine Life
"The Solomon Siren" remembers Kale Island, submerged a decade ago in the Solomon Islands
smithsonianmag.com
Remembering Troy David Waltner-Toews Tell yourself this boys: she was so beautiful that all the armpit sweat in the galleys the stench of horse shit wood-rot and tar, even the sea dragons- it was worth it, was it not? Just to see her in our dreams? ...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel... Plus, the added benefit of attracting cats!
Catnip lotion as effective as Deet at repelling mosquitoes, study finds
Researchers testing a cheap, homegrown oil in Uganda found what cats knew all along – it worked as well as the artificial chemical used globally
theguardian.com
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/06/24/w...
William Carlos Williams for the Animals (Also: Cute?)
A review of my New & Selected Collection (CMU Press, 2025) Born in 1948, Waltner-Toews followed a 1960s-young-white-man’s trajectory to hitchhiking in Europe, having diarrhea in India, and achi…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
The Beauty of Cruise Ship Outbreaks! davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/06/08/c...
Cruise Ship Epidemiology!
I taught epidemiology of zoonoses and foodborne disease for 25 years. CDC used to have a special section for cruise ships with, if I recall, all the data; they still have some publications on outbr…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
I'm sure that Louise Arbour is the right Governor General for this time, as Mary Simon was before her. On the other hand, Mary Simon gave me a hug (off camera) when I was appointed an Officer in the Order of Canada, which I am pretty sure Arbour would not deign to do. Just sayin’.
Where can I find information on anabaptist-Friesians who joined the 1534-35 rebellion in Muenster & left for the British Isles before it was destroyed, or who went directly to Britain, avoiding Muenster altogether?
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/05/06/h...
Hantavirus (from my book On Pandemics, Greystone Press, 2020; see https://greystonebooks.com/products/on-pandemics) Splashing Through Rat piss, which talks about leptospirosis and diseases caused by h...
This family of viruses is spread from small, wild rodents to people when the animals’ saliva, feces, and urine are aerosolized, and people breathe it in with dust. Not a pretty thought. The Four Co…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
@atriabooks.bsky.social Another day, another flattering scam. "My name is Yaniv Soha, Executive Editor at Atria Books, Simon & Schuster. I’d be very interested in learning more about your projects. I’d welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation. Warm regards, Yaniv Soha, Atria Books.”
@ramonanegron.bsky.social When I’m asked for a land acknowledgment I say my Frisian ancestors used/& were used by various governments to settle on & "pacify" traditional lands in northern Europe, the Russian Empire, the British Commonwealth & my Home on Native Land.
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/04/23/d...
David Malouf, Laura Kroetsch, and Adelaide
In 2014, I was invited to several events at the Adelaide Writers Festival, where I was promoting my book, The Origin of Feces (ECW, 2013). The Director that year was Laura Kroetsch, daughter of Ca…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
Meanwhile, away from the headlines, from the journal Nature Africa “She returned home to find a baboon in her kitchen with her dog. The two were sitting calmly, the baboon feeding fruit to her pet.”
Who belongs in the city? Baboons, and the boundaries of urban life in Cape Town www.nature.com/articles/d44...
Who belongs in the city? Baboons, and the boundaries of urban life in Cape Town
Urban sustainability researcher Johan Enqvist uses human-baboon interactions in Cape Town to explore broader tensions between people and nature.
nature.com
Some say they’re proud to be Canadians. I’m not proud, just happy, and with that happiness comes responsibility. I just need to figure out what that responsibility is.
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/04/06/w...
We are all Spectators. What do we do?
Small Boat by Vincent Delacroix, translated by Helen Stevenson. (Small Axes, HopeRoad Publishing, 2025, 120 pp) In November, 2021, a dingy overloaded with refugees left France at night and sank, so…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
My Favourite Music: Rachmaninoff’s Russian Easter played by Vronsky & Babin. Mine is an old crackly LP. Perfect.
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/04/04/h...
Honeybees and Distant Thunder
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda (Penguin Random House, 2023. Translated by Philip Gabriel, who has apparently also translated a lot of Huruki Murakami) What a wonder-filled book that cap…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/03/22/j...
Japanese Review of On Pandemics
（短評）『⼈類と感染症、共存の世紀』デイビッド・ウォルトナー=テーブズ著■『⼈類と感染症、共存の世紀』デイビッド・ウォルトナー=テーブズ著世界で猛威をふるう新型コロナウイルスは、コウモリからセンザンコウを介して⼈間に感染したと考えられている。同じように⼈と動物の間を⾏き来するウイルスや細菌によってもたらされる「⼈獣共通感染症」がいかに多いことか、本書を⾒れば⼀⽬瞭然だ。⾝近なペットも安⼼でき…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
As a Canadian, I am celebrating Family Day, Louis Riel Day the only non-imperialist among our parents of Confederation), TET & Chinese New Year. Also this week I co-celebrate Ramadan & Lent (does one celebrate ashes and giving things up?). I raise a glass of clean water to you all.
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/n...
Nipah Virus January 2026
Jan 28, 2026: Nipah Virus In India: What Is Actually Going On? Timeline Explained India has confirmed two Nipah virus cases in West Bengal since December, with health authorities containing the sit…
davidwaltnertoews.wordpress.com
A little good news www.reuters.com/business/hea...
California joins UN health network following US departure from WHO
California said on Friday it will become the first U.S. state to join the World Health Organization's global outbreak response network following the Trump administration's decision to pull Washington ...
reuters.com