Smoky Mountains Around Town / November 2018

Around Town Page 8
I love Gatlinburg!
Happy it's still fall y'all
By Jim Yonan PER
My first picture is a great one of the Gatlinburg sign at the
convention center. Lots of pictures get taken there.
This is Jimbo, Chad and Vern Walters from Ohio and
Delaine and Mark Wright from Rhode Island. We had a
great visit and lots of fun. Chad and Erin are Elks.
Next picture are of dear friends from Palatine, Illinois,
Lori, Todd and Nicolette Lindberg and Justin by Salt &
Pepper Shaker museum by Winery Square.
Nicky and Justin are getting married here next year with
Above The Mist Wedding taking care of everything for
them and wedding is at The Event Center. Support our
locals!
The last picture is Jimbo and Megan passing out shoes at
Pittman Center School. The Gatlinburg Elks Lodge 1925
has a charity fundraiser so we can provide shoes to grade
school children in all of Sevier County. This fundraiser
supports our charity programs also. The dinner is
November 2nd.
Please see me or an Elk if you can help. I love The Elks
and what we do for OUR community. I just got back from
Elks State Convention in Jackson Tennessee.
I will see you Around Town
Love Kahuna
KEN WAYNE
Photography / Gallery & Studio / Workshop
The Original Best Italian
Located in back of Elks Plaza, across
Parkway from Hampton Inn & Friday’s
in Gatlinburg (865) 430-4090
Best Italian on the Parkway
Between Aunt Mahalia’s Candy & World of
Illusions traffic lights 6 & 8 (865) 436-4345
www.bestitalian.com
Sorry, Your Dog Actually Isn't The Cleverest, According to Science
by Michelle Starr
Not smarter than a cat.
Every time your dog does that thing you've trained her to do, you
pet her and praise her. "Clever girl," you say. "Who's the goodest
and cleverest girl of all?"
Well - it's probably not your dog. According to the latest
research, the much-vaunted canine intelligence may not actually
exist. Dog smarts, they have concluded, are simply
"unexceptional".
Recent research has found that when it comes to neuronal
density, dogs have cats beat hand over fist. But that neuronal
density doesn't seem to translate into intelligence, according to
the findings of psychologists from the University of Exeter and
Canterbury Christ Church University.
They conducted a meta-analysis of more than 300 studies on
animal intelligence, and found what they describe as several
It's October right now, so your doctor has prescribed that
you step outside and appreciate a cloud.
Or maybe you could write a worry onto a stone and throw it
into the sea. And then perhaps try to find 10 different species
of fungus (hopefully outside your home, not in it).
All the above are suggestions from a new 'Nature
Prescriptions' program being rolled out to GPs in Scotland's
Shetland Islands this week.
After a successful pilot at a surgery in Scalloway, all of
Shetland's doctors can now literally prescribe 'nature' to
their patients as part of their overall treatment strategy.
The project, jointly run by NHS Shetland and RSPB
Scotland, is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, and
those behind it expect the scheme to improve patients'
blood pressure, reduce their risk of heart disease and
cases of "over interpretation" in favour of dogs, compared to
other animals such as wolves, cats, chimpanzees, pigeons,
hyenas, horses and dolphins.
"During our work it seemed to us that many studies in dog
cognition research set out to 'prove' how clever dogs are," said
psychologist Stephen Lea of the University of Exeter.
"They are often compared to chimpanzees and whenever dogs
‘win', this gets added to their reputation as something
exceptional. Yet in each and every case we found other valid
comparison species that do at least as well as dogs do in those
tasks."
The team looked at five key areas: sensory cognition, physical
cognition, spatial cognition, social cognition, and selfawareness,
comparing dogs to three other groups of animals to
which dogs also belong: carnivorans (belonging to the order
Carnivora), domesticated animals, and social hunters.
The meta-analysis does have gaps in it - mainly because for
some aspects, there were no relevant comparison studies to be
found.
For example, there were no comparable tests of olfactory ability
in other carnivorans or social hunters - but other carnivorans and
domesticated animals such as cats do have similar abilities, they
noted.
But where they could find comparable tests, "dog cognition does
strokes, plus give their happiness and mental health a boost.
"There is overwhelming evidence that nature has health
benefits for body and mind," says RSPB community
engagement officer Karen MacKelvie.
"So, we saw an opportunity to design a leaflet that helps
doctors describe the health benefits of nature and provides
plenty of local ideas to help doctors fire-up their patients'
imaginations and get them outdoors."
When doctors sees a patient whose health could benefit
from a nature prescription, they can give them the leaflet –
which explains ways in which spending time in nature is
good for the human body – along with a calendar that gives
ideas about what to see and do in Shetland's great outdoors.
In January, for example, you may wish to look at lichen. In
February, you could plant some bulbs in your garden. And
in March, why not borrow a dog and take it for a walk?
(Your neighbour will thank you.)
While the examples given are all delightfully twee, it's a
serious scheme designed to deliver important health
outcomes, helping people manage everything from
diabetes to depression to cancer.
"I want to take part because the project provides a
structured way for patients to access nature as part of a nondrug
approach to health problems," explains GP Chloe
Evans from Scalloway Health Centre, who oversaw the
pilot program that led to this.
not look exceptional," the researchers wrote in their paper.
"Taking all three groups (domestic animals, social hunters and
carnivorans) into account, dog cognition does not look
exceptional," said psychologist Britta Osthaus of Canterbury
Christ Church University.
"We are doing dogs no favor by expecting too much of them.
Dogs are dogs, and we need to take their needs and true abilities
into account when considering how we treat them."
This doesn't necessarily mean dogs are dumb, mind you.
Chimpanzees and dolphins, for instance, are regularly ranked
among the smartest animals on Earth. You could do a lot worse
than being compared to those two.
But it's clear that other animals, including cats, are smarter than
we've given them credit for, at least when compared to dogs.
For instance, a paper published in 2013 revealed that your cat
absolutely knows when you're calling it; it might just choose to
ignore you if it's enjoying the current situation more than what
you have to offer.
And we know wolves are probably smarter than dogs, too - not to
mention that some dog breeds are definitely smarter than others.
So, the science is not there to upset you. While your dog may not
be the sharpest knife in the animal world's drawer, she is still the
absolute specialist at loving you.
Doctors in Scotland are Literally Prescribing Nature to Their Patients
by Peter Dockrill
"The benefits to patients are that it is free, easily accessible,
allows increased connection with surroundings which
hopefully leads to improved physical and mental health for
individuals."
The new rollout enables doctors from all 10 surgeries across
Shetland to prescribe nature to their patients, but with time
it's possible more areas and health boards in the UK will
adopt the scheme.
Already, some are saying it's a good idea to think about.
"The physical and mental benefits of connecting with
nature have been very well evidenced by numerous
studies," Makena Lohr, a spokeswoman for the Centre for
Sustainable Healthcare in Oxford, told The Guardian.
“It's high time that the healthcare sector became aware of
that."
Those who don't live in Shetland don't have to miss out on
the benefits, either.
While some of the suggestions on the Nature Prescriptions
calendar are region-specific, lots of them could be done by
people living anywhere.
So why not tend to some plants? Turn over a rock and see
what's underneath. Go camping in the wild. Listen to some
birdsong. Feel the wind in your face.
And then look back on your year and see how far you've
come.