Results tagged “Animals”

I always love to hear good news in the animal kingdom. There are two stories so far this week that I thought I would share.

1. A picture of a Jaguar in the U.S.

2. a picture of a giant stingray

Katrina has been asking for another hamster for awhile. We have a spare cage, so I told her that if she started cleaning the cage for Hans Solo, that I would let her use her money to purchase another hamster. Well, she is doing a great job with Hamster care, so today we went to get a long-haired hamster.

On the cage, it says they grow to be 6-7 inches as an adult. The ones they had looked to be about that long already. They were so cute and fluffy. When we asked the sales clerk, she said they had been there about 7 or 8 months. Poor little guys. Katrina picked out the caramel colored one, but the white one looked so sad.... so being the soft-hearted wuss that I am, we brought home both hamsters. Well, they have been together all this time, we didn't want to leave the one in there by himself.

So without further ado...meet Fluffy (tan) and Puffy (white).

Ain't they cute....

I am fascinated by unusual animals. The American Bison which was brought back from the brink of extinction.
The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird that flies hundreds of miles across the Gulf each year to its breeding grounds. And my favorite...the Komodo Dragon. I find this magnificent reptile absolutely amazing!

The Okapi is another animal that captured my attention when I was pursuing writing non-fiction books on unusual animals.

Just recently, the first ever photo of a wild Okapi was caught last week by trip cameras in Virunga National Park. This elusive creature which resembles a giraffe and resembles a zebra is on the brink of extinction. We can only hope that its elusiveness serves to protect it.

National Geographic has the best photos! And they have had them for a long, long time. Here are some that caught my eye this week.

The last several mornings, we have gone out and found this lovely 4 point buck grazing in our yard. See the velvet on his antlers? He looked up once at me before I got my camera out, but then I couldn't get him to look up again. Perhaps I will get a better picture later this week.

He lets us get really close. I was standing less than 50 feet away when I took this photo.

Okay...you may be asking what these two things have in common. Well, today, two articles came to my attention that were very interesting and I thought I would share them with you.

First of all, as I was perusing the Drudge Report and ran across this title: Brrr! Farmers' Almanac says cold winter ahead. Well, for those of you who know me, you are probably aware that I love snow and the winter and cold weather when I can wear sweaters and sweatshirts. Last winter, Bruce, who worked for a local news station at the time, said that the meterologist there was predicting that the winter of 2008-2009 would be a doozy. He said he was basing this on last summer and last winter. I thought that was interesting and filed it away...hoping that he was right. Well, The Farmer's Almanac, which is accurate 80-85% of the time has predictions for cold, wet and snowy for much of the U.S. this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Second, my friend, Jen, sent me an email about the Colossal Squid being a Colossal Wuss . She knows I love animal stories (and she knows this because she is a faithful reader of my blog). So she sent me an article that she thought I would be interested in. And indeed I was. Turns out there are theories that the bigger the Colossal Squid grows, the less agressive it is because it is too big to be fast and aggressive. Thanks, Jen, for thinking of me! I haven't posted any animal news for awhile. I've been too busy with travel posts, but I hope to get back to animal news this fall.

Last week, I told you all about our Bald Faced Hornets Nest. Well here are the photos. Our Orkin guy is going to help this week. Ain't it amazing!!!???

You can even see the hornets on the outside of the nest.

Watch this lovely video from National Geographic. After being rejected by its mother, this red panda has found a haven and survival with the zookeeper's tabby cat. Unfortunately, its sibling was too weak, and did not survive, but hopefully this little guy, with the help of a feline mommy, will make it.

This morning I woke up to an invitation to include my Malayan Sun Bear photos in an article on the Serious Underestimation of Wildlife Extinction Rates.

A wonderful way to start my day!

First a couple of moments I forgot to mention yesterday. We ordered Deep Dish Chicago pizza for supper! They sure make it different here...and one piece is a meal! I would never say that back home. A corn meal deep dish crust. Then comes a layer of cheese, then veggies or whatever toppings, then the sauce. It was about an inch thick and it was awesome!!!! Also, as it was our first night here at the Sofitel, we were surprised with trays of milk, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries and bottles of water from Norway. Very neat!

Last night Katrina, Jack and I watched the fireworks from our bedroom windows. It was cool, even though we couldn't see them completely for buildings. Tonight we are walking to Navy Pier to see the big firework show.

Today we got up a bit earlier than planned. I told Jack that we would try and leave by 9. Well, at 7, I was still in bed, thinking about getting up when a knock came at our door. Jack couldn't believe we were still in bed. He thought it was 9! He had just woke up, looked at the clock on his computer (which said 8 a.m. because it is on East Coast time). Instead of subtracting an hour, he added an hour and viola...it was 9!!!! He got up and dressed quickly, let me tell you.

We spent about an hour waking up, then headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

Yesterday we didn't do much except watch movies in the hotel room and recouperate from our previous two days of adventures. We did try to go swimming at the hotel pool, but unfortunately it was closed. That did not go over well. We did watch three good movies on the Pay Per View Channel though. The Golden Compass, Spiderwick Chronicles and The WaterHorse. Jack liked The Golden Compass best. Katrina and I liked Spiderwick Chronicles the best.

Today we packed up, checked out and spent a few hours at Six Flags St. Louis. It is not a very large park and seems to be heavy on the rollercoaster and dare devil type rides.

We walked around looking for a ride to enjoy.

First we rode the Ferris Wheel, a nice easy ride (though for a son that doesn't like heights, even the Ferris Wheel has its problems). From there we spotted a couple of other interesting looking rides.

The second one we tried was Thunder River. Daniel had his cell phone. I had mine and my camera in a bag. The signs warned that we may get soaked. Daniel was saying...oh, it won't be that bad....

When I left you yesterday, faithful reader, I was on my way out the door to run some errands.

First stop was the Krispy Kream Donut Shoppe I had been eyeing since our arrival...you know the ones...they have the little sign that when it is lit up means hot donuts being made inside? Well, it was everything my tastebuds had dreamed it would be. Those were some of the best tasting donuts I have ever had. Then we went to the Casual Male to pick up some shorts and a swimsuit for Daniel. But the store was closed and I couldn't see a time card for when they would open.

So we went next door to the Dollar Tree. Father's Day is coming up and that is the best place to buy cards (.50 each). So we bought Father's Day cards and birthday cards for three upcoming birthdays. We wandered around a bit, figuring the Casual Male would be open by 10:00. When we got there, I pulled on the door while also finally seeing the sign which said 11 was the opening time. At the same time the door came open. The shopkeeper invited us to come on in. Boy, was I glad because I had a lot to do. So we made our purchases and then headed towards the library to return books...but first we made a pitstop.

I did something that I rarely ever do, I made a big impulse buy. I think I have mentioned that I have been wanting a new camera for my birthday. Well, my birthday is coming up the end of July (me and Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling will all be having a party together). And I kept thinking about how many need photo possiblities would be coming up between now and then, so I decided to get my birthday present early.

We swung into Best Buy and I picked out a lovely Panasonic Luminix (that I am in love with), a case for it and some memory. The camera was 1/3 off because it was the display model! Katrina pointed out the video camera next to it (which was also 1/3 off). We haven't had a video camera (DVD) in years and I have missed it. So I did something else I never do, I bought something big without consulting Daniel. Usually he is in charge of the photographic equipment, but the price was excellent and I have missed being able to record things like recitals.

Check out this Javan Rhino mom as she decides that the camera taking a picture of her and her baby might not be safe! The Javan Rhino is on the critically endangered species list.

Check out this artist's rendering of a prehistoric bird that is believed to forage on the ground like many modern day birds. While the bird is thought to have stood 16 feet tall (which is scary enough - I mean I don't want to meet a 16 foot tall carnivorous bird, do you?), the artist may have been a bit overzealous...see the hills behind the birds? Anyway, it's interesting stuff!

Cambodia has been a war ravaged country, but now that peace has taken firm hold, the country is reaping benefits other than those of no longer being at war. The wildlife is returning.

Once dubbed the "Serengeti of Asia," almost all of Mondulkiri's wildlife was wiped out by poachers during decades of conflict, which began with the war in neighboring Vietnam.

Now, people who used to be poachers and estimate they killed thousands of animals are protecting them. But the task is not an easy one due to a rise in tourism in Cambodia, a resurgence of poaching activities, and the growing population of people (which need money and food to live).

The Cambodian goverment is working to create an environment that will protect the endangered wildlife and provide much needed income to the country.

Well done!

I watched this video with great interest. I didn't realize people lived on the Galapagos islands. I thought those islands were kept pristine because of their uniqueness.

Hopefully, the people have realized the issue early enough to make a difference and protect the unique wildlife there.

I have been following the story of the Tasmanian Devil for awhile. In the last 10 years, the Tasmanian Devil has suffered a tremendous loss of life due to a contagious facial cancer. Losses are estimated to be somewhere around 100,000-130,000 in the last decade. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the cancer and scientist aren't sure what the cause is. They do know that the disease isn't running its course and then disappearing.

The cancer is spread when one Tasmanian Devil bites another. Tumors arise on the face and make it so that the Tasmanian Devil can't eat. It then starveds to death. There is an unaffected population in NW Tasmania and it is hoped that they will be able to protect this group unil the infected die out, then maybe a colongy can grown again.

Check out the video provided at National Geographic that shows a flying fish staying completely airborne for a record 45 seconds. The longest previously recorded flight was for 42 seconds in the 1920s. The reason flying fish take to the air is to escape water bound predators. There must have been something really big and mean after this one!

This very colorful shrimp can see 11 or 12 primary colors compared to the measly three that we can see. Perhaps that explains why the mantis shrimp is so colorful himself. Now a study shows that the mantis shrimp can also see rare forms of polarization (directions in which light vibrates). As Spock would say....Fascinating.

I think one of these would be lovely in an aquarium. I just can't get over how beautiful this shrimp is.

A red-neck phalarope feeds in a lake. New research has found that the birds take advantage of water's surface tension to direct drops loaded with food up their long beaks and into their mouths.

Be sure to read the interesting story about the red-neck phalarope and how it eats. It's fascinating!