Funny Stuff is all around
If It’s not funny, then it may be useful
Marmots
Saturday, June 28th, 2008There are 14 species of marmots worldwide (genus Marmota ) of stout-bodied, diurnal, terrestrial found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Marmots are 12–24 in. long upright and emit a whistling alarm call. People who study woodchucks and other marmots are called “marmoteers” or “marmotologists”. There is a big international meeting of marmotologists every three of years.
If history has proven anything about the marmot’s star qualities, it’s that it isn’t the type to give up without a fight—after all, it has thousands of years of survival under its belt already, much of it through dramatic geologic and climatic change. When scientists began intensely studying the animal in the 1970s, they discovered Marmota vancouverensis—with its unique chestnut and white coloring—to be distinct from the 14 other nonthreatened marmot species. It was separated from its closest cousins—the hoary and Olympic marmots—when an ice bridge that linked Vancouver Island with Canada’s mainland melted about 10,000 years ago. Over time this marmot has survived periods of cold so intense that much of the land was encased in ice, driving other island animals, such as mountain goats, to extinction.
The Vancouver Island marmot is found only on Vancouver Island, just off the coast of B.C. (a Canadian province). They can be found on the edges of mountain meadows, rocky slopes, logged sites, and thick clumps of alder trees. Boulders play an integral role in their habitat as they provide lookout towers for predators as well as control the marmot’s internal body temperature. As of 1972, Vancouver Island marmots inhabited 15 mountains, but today inhabit fewer. The reason for this is unknown, as the abandoned mountains still seem to be habitable for marmots.
There are three kinds of marmot in Alaska. The cat-size hoary marmot and the Alaska marmot weigh about ten pounds, and the smaller woodchuck is about half that size. The hoary marmot is most familiar - it lives in rocky talus slopes in the mountains of central, southwest and southeast Alaska, where it can be found right down to sea level. The darker Alaska marmot lives further north, on rocky slopes throughout much of the Brooks Range.
While marmots often are an important source of summer food for foxes, coyotes, wolves, bears, snow leopards, and eagles, marmots themselves, prefer vegetables. Marmots are 99% vegetarian; they have food preferences and some species and individuals prefer certain types of vegetation. They may eat the occasional insect or the occasional piece of road kill.
—————
The Truth About Pet Food Nutrition - An informative story of the pet food industry and what to look for when choosing a pet food.
If you like this post, buy me a coffee. Sphere: Related ContentIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The Wolverine
Friday, June 27th, 2008The wolverine is a magical animal. It is the super weasel, the king of the family Mustelidae. It is the species in which weasel stamina, ferocity, implacability, and bad attitude reach apogee. At forty pounds, tops, the wolverine displaces wolves from their kills and faces down half-ton grizzlies. Eskimos trim their parka hoods with wolverine fur, because frozen breath is easily brushed from the hairs.
Within its range, the wolverine occupies many different kinds of habitats. Wolverines generally prefer remote areas, far away from humans and their developments. However, the specific characteristics of the wilderness that the wolverine depends upon are not yet known. This lack of knowledge about wolverine habitat makes it difficult for wildlife managers to manage the species and protect its habitat.
Wolverines are highly territorial animals, patrolling home ranges on the order of 400 to 1500 square kilometers. As a result of their huge home ranges, wolverine densities, even in optimal habitats, are quite low, making them susceptible to extirpation. The size of the home range is supposedly negatively correlated to prey abundance, and some scattered evidence supports this contention. Also, the home range size and position for males is directly related to the home ranges of females of reproductive age.
Because of its reputation and conflicts with trappers, the wolverine was considered a pest by European North Americans, an attitude that persisted into the 1960s. Today, wolverines’ numbers are greatly reduced in some areas, and conservation biologists and wildlife managers consider wolverines to be animals in need of protection. Given the very low densities and large home ranges of wolverines, the species is one at considerable risk of extinction by humans. Not only habitat destruction but also habitat fragmentation has resulted in extirpation of local populations. Not only do wolverines need considerable areas to survive, but these areas must also be uninterrupted by human influences. Forestry and mining in northern reaches negatively influence wolverines in three ways. First, they perturb the habitat, removing forest stands and low-lying vegetation preferred by wolverines. Second, their presence reduces the density of ungulates, meaning there is fewer prey for the wolverines. Third, the construction of access roads significantly modifies the movement patterns of wolverines, thus reducing their ability to find one another, mate and forage for food.
—————
Discover the high-powered lead-source strategies that attract prospects and cash to your home based business.
If you like this post, buy me a coffee. Sphere: Related ContentHummingbirds
Saturday, June 14th, 2008Hummingbirds are very small birds with a high metabolism. A great deal of energy is spent flying, so they must feed almost constantly. Hummingbirds can consume up to 50% of their weight in sugar (nectar solution) each day. They usually feed on nectar and insects. Hummingbirds actually lap up the nectar with their tongues. A lot of people think that hummingbirds have a hollow tongue like a straw. Their tongues do have grooves on the sides that collect nectar. When the bill constricts, the hummingbird can swallow the nectar from flowers and feeders.
The greatest diversity of hummingbird species is the neotropics (New World tropics) but many species live in or migrate to temperate zones in the United States and Canada to breed. Sometimes, for reasons that are not entirely clear, individual birds remain behind for the winter, and sometimes, they survive. Thus, as average seasonal temperatures increase, hummingbirds are increasingly becoming established as year-round residents outside of their traditional ranges. Anna’s Hummingbird is one species whose range has expanded steadily northward as seasonal temperatures have become milder. Thus, this bird is now a common year-round resident along the northwestern coast of the United States and even into some parts of Canada.
At least 53 species of North American birds drink nectar—the naturally occurring sweet liquid produced by plants. Hummingbirds and orioles are the main nectar drinkers, but mockingbirds, grosbeaks, tanagers, and several warblers also enjoy sweet drinks from flowers and tree sap. Nectar tempts birds to poke their beaks into flowers where they inadvertently pick up pollen and carry it to neighboring flowers. This cross-pollination keeps plants vital by preventing inbreeding. Nectar drinkers also benefit from eating protein-rich insects and drinking the high calorie nectar.
Hummingbird feeding for most North Americans is purely a summertime activity. The first hummingbirds generally arrive in the north just as the flowers begin to bloom in late spring. And these energetic little gems generally disappear long before the last of the leaves drop, seeking warmer climates with year-round nectar supplies. But many Feeder Watchers, particularly in the southeast, may want to resist the urge to pack away their nectar feeders when the pumpkins arrive.
—————
The Truth About Dog Food - An informative story of the pet food industry and what to look for when choosing a pet food.
If you like this post, buy me a coffee. Sphere: Related ContentAdvice On Pet Information
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008There is more cost to having a pet than just food. The one cost you hope not to pay is for health care. Yes health care for your dog or pet is part of owning an animal. Your pet needs care just like people and veterinary care is costing more and more. Do you know that there is even health insurance for animals? This might be something you should look into before buying a pet.
Pet Information
Although the number of pet owners in the States is on the rise, most of those owners will not obtain pet insurance; when they are treated with such adoration generally, this is a peculiar situation. Generally speaking, health insurance is not something that people neglect; if we really cared out our pet’s health we would not neglect them would we?
This is an often overlooked area and thought to be superfluous by some; this attitude quickly changes when these pet owners are presented with the bills for treatment. The cost of taking an animal to the vets has increased enormously during the last decade; what this means is pet insurance companies have been forced to pass on this additional cost.
The rising cost of protection is one point to consider but are there any others? Anyone who owns a domestic animal needs to be prepared for health problems occasionally; when this happens, the cost of treatment may even cause financial strain.
If this situation should occur, sometimes choices have to be made; Really, you should never have to think about how much it is going to cost.
Pet and Dog Care and here for more on Picking a Dog or Pet.
This situation happened to me a couple of years ago when I was looking at spending one thousand dollars to save my dog; what choice did I have, and although I regret it now, I did wonder if we could afford it? Especially when you know that even with the surgery and treatments, your pet could still die; operations on animals can go wrong sometimes.
The financial strain of keeping your pet healthy can be overwhelming; no-one wants this to cause them financial problems. Raising (sometimes) large sums of money can be prove to be financially embarrassing especially when you are have money problems; which could mean contacting a relative or friend for the money.
If you love your pet, it should have the best treatment you can afford; setting up a pet insurance plan, will provide peace of mind, as this will never be a problem again. The choice is yours, large vet bills or a pet healthcare insurance policy; these plans can be purchased from anywhere between twenty to forty dollars a month which could save a fortune in the long term.
Various options exist with this type of pet healthcare policy; this can even extend to offering multi-pet discounts. A loving pet owner should really be thinking about the level of healthcare in place for their pet; you may already be giving this subject some serious consideration.
If you like this post, buy me a coffee. Sphere: Related ContentBeware! - The Hated Bed Bugs Are Here Again
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008Though bed bugs were nearly wiped out in the 1950’s, they have been making a comeback in the last few years. The main reason for the revival in the bed bug population is the ban against the utilization of the pesticide DDT used to control bed bugs. This is the pesticide that wiped out most of the bed bugs in the 1950’s.
Bed bugs live on the blood of humans at night at the same time as they are asleep. Their bites bring about a trail of itchy bumps to appear on the skin, or in certain cases just swelling.
Thesebugs are very small, only 4-5 mm long. They have flat bodies, which makes it easy for them to bury in cracks and crevices in the household. Most often, they bury in and around the bed. Bed pests can exist for up to a year and a half starved of food, but they regularly eat every five to ten days provided that food is effortless accessible.
When a bed bug enlarged with the blood it has devoured from its host. This brings about an extreme alteration in the bug’s look, from a small brown insect to a much larger reddish-colored insect that seems more round than flat.
Bed bugs can be brought into the home by means of suitcases or any other item that is transported from one home or hotel room to a new one. Given that they prefer to take cover in furniture, buying furniture from a rummage-sale store may put you at a chance of bed bug bites. Bed bugs procreate rapidly, so get rid of them.
Female bed bugs lay as many as 500 eggs during their life span. They deposit 10-50 pear-shaped eggs every day. The eggs are a whitish pigment and are about 1 mm long. It takes roughly 1-2 weeks for the eggs to emerge. As soon as the nymphs have produced, they start feasting on human blood right away.
Bed bugs are not considered to be able to transfer illnesses to their hosts, so they do not present a health threat in this regard. However, they bring about severe irritation to their hosts as a result of the itching, so they bring about a significant amount of irritation for those whose houses are infected with them.
The minute these bed bug treatment have arrived in your home, it can be huge duty to get rid of of them. They can take cover anywhere in your household: in cracks, in furniture or even in the walls. So only rinsing your sheets and blankets is not sufficient to get rid of them. You must treat the entire household.
Initially, the household must be sanitized completely. That means that every crack and crevice must be sanitized to get rid of any eggs that might have been produced there. Then, you must caulk every crack in your home to keep thepests that emerge from any eggs you have missed from moving into your home.
After you have done this, you should to get zippered mattress and pillow cases to avoid any bed bugs that may have been existing in your pillows and mattresses from contaminating to you. This will also avoid any new pests that manage to get into your household from using your mattress and pillows as sanctuary.
If you like this post, buy me a coffee. Sphere: Related ContentWhat Chefs do when they are bored…
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
links for 2008-01-07
Monday, January 7th, 2008-
Origami Resource Center: free diagrams, origami history, Sadako, book reviews
-
Letterfu - Letter-writing without envelopes, cutting or glue
-
» How to Fold the Best Paper Airplane in the World - LearnShit.info
-
Paper Toys - Paper Cut-Outs - Custom Paper Models at PaperToys.com
-
Very Bored - Great place to be when you are bored - Star Wars Origami
-
Origami Dream Stars - Instructables - DIY, How To, art, craft
-
Los Cuatro Ojos » Can You Fold A Dollar Bill To Look Like This?
-
Hello Kitty, Dear Daniel, Chococat, and all the gang!
-
Ubermale.com- Testosterone Charged » Blog Archive » Amazing money art
links for 2007-12-26
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007Squirrel on a Impossible Reggae Mission
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007Suicide Rabbit
Friday, October 19th, 2007Rabbits are killing themselves in a creative way. You will feel more comfortable if you treat them as chocolate Easter bunnies. Anyway, just for fun!
Click the picture below to view the whole series.
-
-
-
Google Search
Custom Search