Digging up Positivity - Furry charity and good news - April 2021

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Welcome to another episode of Digging Up Positivity. April was a busy month, from Easter Bunnys filling up their cars with gas(?) to the fandom doing amazing things for charity, especially Mark Barks. There is plenty of fun news to wolf down, plus our special guest is Rick Griffin, the mastermind behind the very popular 10 times Ursa Major award winning webcomic Housepets. So without further Adler, I mean, Ado, lets be like a meerkat and dig in!

Fur Out West

We start with our friends from down under: Fur Out West managed to raise $9,762 for the Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

Texas Furry Fiesta

Texas Furry Fiesta managed to raise $6,411 for the center for animal research and education, also known as CARE. An organization devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation, and holistic nurturing of sick, injured and abused exotic animals.

Papa Barks

Mark Barks, together with several big names in the furry community managed to raise $69,420 (a very nice amouont) for the ALS Association North Caroline Chapter, and the amount is still rising! They streamed over a month and broke all expectations, and the ALS North Caroline chapter responded with a lovely video!

[In the video each member of the ALS chapter pop in saying "No, I wanted to say thank you"]

Adler The Eagle

Our big blue bird started out the year with a big bang, but last month he could be seen helping a local charity: Community Happens Here.

During the first Teen Barista Happy Hour he rode the bike that powered the popcorn machine and snowcone maker. And the kids loved those eagle-powered nom noms!

Phantom of the Opera

If there is one thing I love it is music. From the time I worked in the music industry, I have been introduced to a wide variety of music. And within the fandom it is no different. But it is not often when I hear one of my favourite songs from a rock opera being performed on a furry convention! SnOwOflakes sure made their rendition a big spectacle. Oh...really, that voice...*sighs happily*

[Scene piece w/ phantom of the opera song]

Dalek Omega

In the UK, furry and Whovian, Conner, got to demonstrate his brand-new Dalek Omega for the BBC. He often can be seen working on fundraisers in his home town and beyond.

In total he has raised £25.000 pounds (about $34,500 dollar for our American Friends) for various charitable goals. I can’t wait to see more of Dalek Omega! Even if I will be...

Exterminate

A Helping Wing - Turtledoves

For over four years a couple of Turkish turtle doves are trying to build their nest on top of a traffic light in my hometown of Hilversum in the Netherlands. Unfortunately traffic lights are not the most stable surface, and each time their eggs smashed into the ground. And unfortunately Turkish turtle doves are very persistent birds, once
they have chosen a spot, they will keep on trying to build their nest there.

Fee Romunde, as seen here helping out a local meerkat, just had to take action, and together with her dad, she devised a plan! They made a wooden construction for the birds on top of the traffic light, and now they can hatch their eggs without having to fear them falling onto the pavement below.

Doctor Peyo

Every year we have wonderful, confronting, or stunning photos nominated for the World Press Photo contest. But one of those photos, nominated in the category ‘Contemporary Issues’ caught my attention: Peyo touching the hand of a 24 year old women with cancer while she hugs her son.

Peyo is a horse, often seen at the Centre Hospitalier de Calais in the North of France. Every day he visits about 20 people in that hospital as a therapeutic animal. Usually that role is reserved for dogs, but Peyo has something special!

Before Peyo started working in hospitals, he was seen on horse-shows. His ‘human’ Hassan Bouchakou says that when volunteers from the crowd were chosen, he always chose those who were physically or mentally unwell. Peyo was able to tell who needed him the most and was ready to support them till the very end.

I hope his photo will win the World Press Photo award, but most of all, may he help many more in the future!

Wolf spotted in Twente (NL)

We have covered the wolves of the Netherlands before, but each sighting still is very exciting. Silvia Moleman captured them on camera when her son yelled out he saw a dog. She was in shock for a brief moment when she saw the wolf. Wolf expert Roel Korbee from the Dutch forestry commission was sceptical at first, but the released video took all his doubts away. The question remains if the wolf is just passing through towards Germany, but only time will tell.

Gasbunnies

April has passed, and with April, we of course had Easter, with bunnies and chickens and eggs. A gas station in the Dutch city of Nijverdal had a special easter sale: You could tank for free if you were dressed up as an Easter bunny, an egg or a chicken!

Unfortunately just for a very limited time, but the result was fun to watch nonetheless! For 30 minutes that gas station was filled with all sorts of easter critters and laughter and of course many funny videos were taken.

Big Switch

I love my Nintendo Switch. It is a fun and versatile console for both on the go and at home. But sometimes I wonder, could it be a bit bigger? Yeah, I know, I am a sucker for anything big. But Michael Pick thought the same, and started working on this huuuuge switch that actually works. How much I would have loved to have it, but he did
donate his to a Children’s hospital, which is awesome! But still, a meerkat can dream, can he?

Timon and Pumbaa in space

These are exciting times for space enthousiasts. We got the SpaceX program, and NASA is hard at work as well. In South-Korea, at the Yonsei University, they designed a 1U Cubesat, equipped with a camera to process visible light, and a 2U Cubestat equipped with an occulter to block the sun’s light.

The 1U Cubesat is named Timon, and the larger 2U satellite is named Pumbaa, named after the iconic due from the Lion King. They will be part of the Soyuz-2 launch.

Fursuit Search and Rescue

For many, it can be a nightmare. Your much beloved fursuit gets misplaced, lost, or even stolen! But it happens more than you think. There is a twitter account that devotes itself to find lost fursuits: Fursuits Search and Rescue. So if your fluffy side gets lost, this place might be a good start.

Featurette

And now we go over to Score Chaser for the April Featurette (with Rick Griffen)!

[Interview with Scorechaser and Rick Griffen]

Outtro

Thank you so much for being with us on the show Rick! And with that, we have arrived at the end of the video. If you liked it, please do subscribe. I update the channel at least once a month. I would like to thank the following amazing people, sponsors of this channel:

Cosmik with a K
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Tantroo McNalley
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Score Chaser

We will return on the 29th of May with a special guest from the East. Thank you so much, and of course, all the hugs!