Julie Majid, Author at petsnpals.co

10 Brutal Outcomes of Putting Owls in Places They Were Never Meant to Be

June 10, 2025 by Julie Majid

Well-meaning humans keep moving owls, but the side effects are hitting entire ecosystems hard.

Owls show up in all kinds of unexpected places these days. Some are moved on purpose to control pests. Some hitch a ride on climate shifts. Others escape from captivity and quietly stake out new territories. It all sounds harmless until the ripple effects start showing up. Native species lose ground fast. Hybrid owls complicate conservation. And entire food webs shift in ways no one predicted.

This is not a theoretical problem anymore. The barred owl’s expansion into the Pacific Northwest is one of the most studied examples, but other cases are popping up across Europe and North America. Little owls introduced to Britain, barn owls released to vineyards, eagle owls reintroduced to parts of Europe — the list keeps growing. The trouble is, owls are highly efficient predators. When they land in ecosystems that were not designed to handle them, things can unravel fast. Here is what tends to happen next.

How 10 Subtle Cat Cues Reveal Their True Mood, So Pay Attention

June 9, 2025 by Julie Majid

Your cat is giving you more emotional updates than your group chat. You just have to know how to read them.

Cats are basically experts in soft signals. They are not going to broadcast their emotions like a dog running laps around the house. Instead, their moods play out in tiny shifts and micro-movements that can be easy to miss. It is a whole vibe, and if you start paying attention, you will feel like you have unlocked a hidden language.

Most of the time we only catch the loud cues, like tail swishing or vocal meows, but that is barely scratching the surface. The really interesting stuff is quieter. The way they hold their ears, the way they blink, the position of their whiskers. Each tiny gesture tells a story about what is going on in their furry little heads.

Once you tune in, your entire relationship with your cat changes. You will notice things you used to overlook, respond in ways that actually make sense to them, and honestly your cat will clock that you are not just another clueless human. Let’s start with a few of the most underrated ones.

Virginia Man Kills 20+ Bald Eagles and Hawks: 10 Ways His Sentence Outraged the Public

June 9, 2025 by Julie Majid

The crime shocked conservationists, but the sentence that followed sent a different kind of message.

News travels fast when it involves bald eagles. They are one of the most recognizable wildlife symbols in the country. So when it became public that a man in Virginia had killed more than 20 protected raptors, including eagles, the reaction was swift. The killings, which took place on a farm in Accomack County, were deliberate.

William Custis Smith had built a waterfowl impoundment on his property to attract wild ducks for hunting. According to officials at Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, Smith was trapping and poisoning raptors because they were killing ducks on his land. And the sentence? Just one day in jail, some community service, and a fine that many saw as little more than symbolic.

This case is now being held up as an example of how outdated laws and uneven enforcement are failing to protect some of our country’s most iconic species. Here is why people are still talking about it.

12 Garden Secrets To Keep Snails and Caterpillars Off Your Plants

June 6, 2025 by Julie Majid

Getting rid of snails and caterpillars does not have to be a full time job if you know a few tricks.

There is nothing worse than walking outside to check your garden and seeing leaves that look like Swiss cheese. Snails, caterpillars, and other leaf-munchers can turn a thriving vegetable bed into a sad, half-eaten mess fast. Sure, you can try chemical sprays, but a lot of us want ways to cut down on pests without coating everything in stuff we cannot even pronounce.

The good news is there are smarter, low-key ways to handle the problem. Some are simple shifts in how you plant or water. Others are ways to trick pests or set up your garden so they just do not want to stick around. These twelve garden secrets will not make your space 100 percent pest-free, but they will make it a lot less appealing to the most annoying visitors.

12 Best Things About Dogs That Everyone Can Agree On

June 6, 2025 by Julie Majid

Some bonds change how you move through the world, and life with a dog is one of them.

You can be the most independent person, the most introverted, the busiest, the least likely to ever cry at a commercial. Then a dog walks into your life and all of that shifts. It is not just about having a pet. It is about the way this animal mirrors you, depends on you, and teaches you things about connection and care that hit on a deeper level than most people expect.

Every dog is different, and so is every relationship with one. But some experiences seem to cut across all of that. They are the small, steady parts of life with dogs that most people agree are just good. You will hear it from the lifelong dog owners, from people who just adopted their first rescue, and even from folks who do not have a dog but still light up when they talk about them.