Another fascinating week! As the Family Trail worries over the mysterious rash on their young dog (and the other pets in the area), Mark gets the usual inopportune call from Bill Ellis, this time with a choice of assignments that will require him to abandon his rash research:  Cover a rogue elephant that escaped from a rich dude’s private zoo and is rampaging across several states (!); or investigate a supposedly new-age recovery center for animals. The latter is presented as a “puff piece” of reporting. Neither assignment seems, on the surface, to have a lot of depth to it.  

Wanting something safe and easy while recovering from his vacation, Mark fell for Ellis’s trap and took the supposedly safe assignment, only to learn from Amy Lee, his recurring assignment editor, that this new-age treatment center is actually a dangerous road-side zoo. Yes, I thought that sounded whacko, only to learn from fan DownPuppy that road-side animal attractions were once popular along the old highways of America, before the Interstate system turned those highways and attractions into “Remember when” articles in nostalgia magazines. But before you forget, check out the Sunday nature chat:

I’m not sure that turtle eggs floating in the ocean is one of the better title panels that Rivera has come up with. But it may be the best that can be done with the subject matter. This PSA might go better if Rivera explained how/why such things as light pollution and carbon footprints affect sea turtles. Maybe by focusing on just one practical step we can take, rather than just present an ill-defined list, this kind of presentation could better create a measurable response in readers.