Known as “wolf girl” at her West Warwick, R.I., school, Alyssa Grayson has spent much of her young life teaching others to protect and respect animals. After starting a wolf club in second grade, Alyssa learned all she could about her favorite animals. Today, she gives presentations about protecting wolves at libraries and schools — she’s even spoken at a university. In fact, she’s become such a wolf expert that she was appointed as the first junior advisor to the National Wolfwatcher Coalition.

When she’s not teaching others about wolves, Alyssa can be found volunteering at her local animal shelter, taking care of dogs and cats. She’s also trained as a citizen scientist for Frog Watch USA. In short, Alyssa Grayson proves that you are never too young to make a difference for animals.

When asked how she got interested in saving wolves, Alyssa says, “I’ve loved wolves since I saw them in a movie when I was 2 or 3 years old. Then one day I saw a commercial about wolf hunting. I asked my mother why people do this, and she told me because people don’t like wolves. I decided from then that I wanted to save wolves.”

Today, wolves are hunted, trapped, or poisoned. Hunters chase wolves for miles in an airplane until the wolves are too exhausted to run any more. Then they shoot them. The animal doesn’t have a chance to escape. Animals are also trapped for their fur. They are left to suffer in a trap with no food, water, or shelter. Alyssa thinks the fur looks better on the animal in the wild, where it’s meant to be, than on a human.

Alyssa believes wolves are important to our worlds. She says, “Wolves are an apex predator, which means they are at the top of the food chain. Removing them from the ecosystem is a big mistake. The ecosystem is like a chain of dominoes (多米诺骨牌) — with the apex predator as the one in front. If you were to knock down that domino, the rest of the chain would go down too.”

People usually think of “the Big Bad Wolf” when they hear about wolves. However, Alyssa says, “If they would base their thoughts on facts, not fairy tales, we wouldn’t have people wanting to kill wolves.”

A wolf slinks out of a park in Sesto Fiorentino, an industrial centre near Florence. Goslings waddle behind their mothers along deserted thoroughfares in Treviso. Fallow deer invade a golf course on Sardinia and take a dip in the clubhouse swimming pool.

As Italians entered the sixth week of Europe’s longest COVID-19 lockdown on April 13th, one thing they had to cheer them up was the sight of animals in spaces that humankind had temporarily abandoned.

At Cagliari on Sardinia, bottlenose dolphins have been known to wait at the mouth of the port to play in the wake (跟随……后) of departing motor vessels for long. But since the lockdown some have entered right into the port, where they have been filmed swimming up and down under a quay (码头), looking at the humans above. A similar phenomenon has been observed at Trieste. “A non-scientist might speculate that the dolphins are thinking: ‘Why aren’t you moving around in your boats any longer?’” says Giuseppe Bogliani, formerly a University of Pavia professor.

Mr Bogliani cautions against assuming that nature is reclaiming its own. Some mammals, like foxes, may have been in the cities already, prowling undetected at night. A golden eagle spotted gliding above a main road in Milan posed a different question: “Is it there because of the lockdown or did we just see it because of the lockdown?”

Not all reappearances have been welcomed. Residents in Alpine areas of the province of Trento have been advised not only to stay at home, but to refrain from leaving out rubbish that might attract Italy’s most wanted animal, a brown bear known to scientists as M49 and to the public as “Papillon” (because of his escape last year over three electrified fences). Papillon is nicknamed after Henri Charriere, the only man to escape from the French penal colony on Devil’s Island. Like the late Mr Charriere, the bear has a substantial criminal record. It includes breaking and entering (Alpine cottages and refuges) and attacks on cattle. A pilfering bear named after a convict isn’t welcome, though. Last year the government of Trento issued an order for Papillon’s capture. He has now been spotted heading for Veneto, which has not (yet) issued a warrant. Smart bear.

One great way to spend time outdoors is to garden. Here are some benefits you can get from gardening.

【小题1】

Studies have found evidence that being in nature is linked with less anxiety, less depression and many other positive effects. The nice thing about a garden is that it can be right in your yard. 【小题2】, you’re much more likely to be outside when the work of a garden requires it.

Eat healthfully

A garden can make the freshest and healthiest foods available. And the types of foods can have a great impact on your mental health. 【小题3】.

Practice acceptance

Most suffering comes from trying to control things that you can’t. The more you can accept the limits of your control in your life, the more peace of mind you can find — and gardening is a great way to practice. 【小题4】. You just bring your best efforts to what you can control, and let go of the rest.

Develop a growth mindset (思维模式)

Psychologist Carol Dweck developed the difference between “fixed” and “growth” mindsets, and gardening is a great opportunity to develop the latter. 【小题5】. When something doesn’t work out the way you hoped, you view it as a learning opportunity rather than as a failure.