10

 Mountain Views NewsSaturday, August 31, 2024


GEORDI & DOTTI

• Siblings, age 5 months 
• Geordi, DSH, male, black & ` 
white
• Dotti, DSH, female, mostly 
white with some black
• Neutered, spayed, vaxxed, 
chipped


When Lifeline for Pets found these 
adorable babies from a feral colony, they were so irresistably sweet that 
we just couldn’t put them back.

This is such a supersweet pair. Dotti, with her charming spots and 
playful demeanor, is a bundle of joy and curiosity with an affectionate 
nature .

Geordi, with his striking coat and gentle, soulful eyes, is the definition of a snuggle bug. This “masked 
man” enjoys purring in your lap, with his calm and loving personality.

We’ve had them since babies, but no one has applied for them. We know they will win your heart if 
you meet them.

We prefer our kittens to be adopted in pairs, unless there is a friendly young feline at home already. 

See more pictures of them and apply to adopt at https://www.lifelineforpets.org/dotti--geordi.html.


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges 

[Nyerges is the author of several books including “Self-Sufficient Home” and 
“How to Survive Anywhere.” He also leads wilderness classes every weekend. 
He can be reached at School of Self-Reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 
90041, or www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com]


TOM BROWN JR.: 

JANUARY 29, 1950-AUGUST 16, 2024

Those of us in the field of outdoor education are familiar with the famous 
New Jersey tracker, Tom Brown Jr., who died last week. Brown was somewhat 
controversial, and highly revered by his many students.

Brown gained popular attention in the late 1970s after the publication of his first book, 
“The Tracker,” and his school that he founded in New Jer-sey’s Pine Barrens where he grew 
up. Tom describes his early days in his first two books, where he thought about what he 
would do with his life. He and his childhood friend were already good naturalists in their 
teens, having learned and honed many of the outdoor skills right in his own expanded back 
yard.

I began to hear about Brown around the late 1980s, and I often read an article about 
Brown to my students which described Brown’s year that he spent living primitively in the 
wilderness. Brown’s story is very inspiring, and best told in his “Tracker” book. I found it 
very invigorating and it re-vived my interest in outdoor education, and often shared some 
of those details with my own students. Brown was fascinated with the art of track-ing, the 
art of reading animal and human footprints, and inspired a gen-eration of students to do 
likewise.

I knew a man who lived as a camp host in the Angeles National Forest for 10 years, and he 
told me how he spent some time with Tom Brown Jr. in his early days of teaching. My friend, 
Bear, told me that time with Brown involved primarily being cold and hungry in the woods, 
and doing everything you could to overcome those. Indeed! And in order to cater to the 
growing number of students who came to him, Brown developed a detailed curiculum and 
a talented staff who took the students well be-yond the basics of fighting cold and hunger. 
They learned to make fire with the bow and drill, build primitive shelters, make eating 
implements, purify water, and of course, how to track animals.

I never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Brown, though we’d both been writing for Mother 
Earth News and other magazines. 

Brown was the son of a preacher, and was often accused of being like a preacher himself, 
and has even been compared to a Marine drill ser-geant! His personality was intense, and 
he must have really loved the fact that he was able to spend his life pursuing those simple 
skills that he loved as a child. He once wrote that he wanted to pass along to his stu-dents 
those skills that he was privileged to learn in his childhood. He la-mented the fact that 
modern development in the Pine Barrens was slow-ly eating up the very wilderness where 
he loved to camp and to teach, so it was harder and harder to replicate his early experiences.

His school was very popular, with typically 80 students crammed into his barn for all day 
instruction. The courses he offered were five day clas-ses where you camped on-site and 
learned the skills by living them, rain or shine. Perhaps the best description I’ve read of a 
week with Tom Brown Jr. was described by Neil Strauss in his “Emergency” book.

Tom Elpel, author of “Botany of a Day” and other outdoor books, writes about Tom Brown 
Jr.: “As a story teller, it wasn't always obvious where truth left off and story began, but it 
didn't matter. It was a form of mass coyote mentoring. Myself and millions of other people 
were inspired to seek a deeper nature connection through wilderness survival and track-ing 
from Tom Brown's stories. I had a tracking box in my bedroom as a teenager. I spent much 
of my teenage and young adult years trying to learn how to live in the wilderness with only 
a knife. My grandmother and I flew out to New Jersey to attend the Standard Course at the 
Tracker School in 1985 when I was 17. The intro class seemed a little too basic for me by 
then, but I've always been glad we went. Thank you Tom Brown Jr. for all you contributed 
to the world.”

Tom wrote 11 articles for Mother Earth News, and 19 books. The books could be divided 
into two categories: guide books, and autobiographical books. The guidebooks are enjoyed 
by many, and are without contro-versy. Of the autobiographical books, “The Tracker” is 
the best, and I highly recommend it. 

The controversy about Brown 
has to do with his legendary 
mentor, an Apache named 
Stalking Wolf, grandfather 
of Tom’s best friend Rick. 
Stalking Wolf is said to have 
died when Tom was 17, and 
Rick was said to have died 
in Europe shortly thereafter. 
Detractors of Tom Brown Jr. 
have doubted the existence of 
Stalking Wolf and sometimes 
of Rick. However, Brown’s 
many students and followers 
have focused on the ac-tual 
practical teachings from 
Brown, and overlooked most of the contro-versies. [You can read more about Tom Brown 
Jr. at Wikipedia]

Pet of the Week

 


 One-year-old Trina has been getting rave 
reviews from the volunteers at Pasadena 
Humane. They’ve said that she is such a loving 
and wonderful girl who loves cuddling on the 
couch or bed and playing fetch or chewing 
on her toys. Her favorites were squeaky toys, 
though she happily chews on any the toys 
given to her.

 Trina recently went on an overnight field 
trip and was exceptionally well-behaved in 
the foster family’s apartment. She was clearly 
house-trained, never had any accidents, and 
knew how to sit on command (especially if 
you had treats handy). She rarely barked and 
showed no signs of anxiousness when left 
alone for short periods. 

 This sweet girl was also a wonderful work-
from-home companion; During several work Zoom meetings, Trina was left alone in the 
bedroom with the door closed, and she was perfectly content, either sleeping or playing 
with her toys. She also enjoyed car rides, happily sitting in the back seat without any issues. 

Trina is ready to be your plug-and-play dog! Come see for yourself and meet Trina today!

 The adoption fee for dogs is $150. All dog adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, 
and age-appropriate vaccines. 

Walk-in adoptions are available every day from 2:00 – 5:00. For those who prefer, adoption 
appointments are available daily from 10:30 – 1:30 and can be scheduled online. View 
photos of adoptable pets at pasadenahumane.org.

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA Animal 
Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for your pet. 

 Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by 
phone calls or email.


HOT TEMPERATURES CAN MAKE CONCRETE AND ASPHALT 
TOO HOT FOR YOUR DOG’S PAWS. 

Asphalt and concrete temperatures can usually be 20-40 degrees hotter 
than the ambient temperature. If the back of your hand can’t stand the 
heat on the concrete or asphalt for 7 seconds, it’s too hot for a walk.

When it's above 90 degrees outside, bring dogs and cats indoors.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com