 |
|
|
|
Facts Archive 2
Archives in alphabetical order by subject. Subjects include: birds, early naturalists, domestics, fish, fossils, frogs, habitats, hybrids, insects/inverts, mammals, orchids, other plants, reptiles, and salamanders.
BIRDS:
July 16, 2008: Leave baby birds and animals be! Many of them, such as this fledgling MOURNING DOVE, normally leave their nests before they are able to care for themselves completely. Birds like the mourning dove leave before they are completely able to fly and the parents continue to care for them for awhile. If you approach the baby, parents will leave and it will appear that the bird is orphaned. However, parents will return when you leave. They are much better equipped to care for their young than even the most qualified animal rehabilitator. The mourning dove fledglings are more likely to be found than many other species, since they may nest during every month of the year in the southern U.S. part of their range.
Nesting info from "The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds" by John Terres.
EARLY NATURALISTS:
DOMESTICS:
FISH:
FOSSILS:
April 6, 2009: TRILOBITES first appeared about 500 million years ago, according to the fossil record. They developed one of the first sophisticated visual systems in the animal kingdom. The majority of trilobites had a pair of compound eyes and crystalline calcite lenses, although some had no eyes at all. Not only did dead trilobites besome fossilized, but so did their shed skins.
Info from "The Fossil World" by Richard Moody and "Trilobite!:Eyewitness to Evolution" by Richard Fortey.
FROGS:
HABITATS:
Sept. 10, 2008: The Olympic Peninsula's rainforest is so cool and wet that the only reptiles found on the coastal side of the Peninsula are the common and northwest gartersnakes.
Info from "Reptiles of the Northwest" by Alan St. John.
August 26, 2008: Several places in the world have temperate rainforests, characterized by as much rain as the tropical rainforests, but a more temperate climate. The rainforests in Washington State, such as this one near Quinault, can have up to 130 inches of rainfall per year and be more productive than tropical rainforests.
Information from "Olympic: A Visitor's Companion" by George Wuerthner.
August 3, 2008: Tropical rainforests are characterized by at least 80 inches of annual rainfall, location near the equator, and warm temperatures year around. They cover 1/12 of the earth's surface, comprise 50% of its forests, and are estimated to hold greater than one half of the world's animal and plant species.
From: "The Life and Mysteries of the Jungle" Ed. by Edward S. Ayensu
HYBRIDS:
INSECTS/INVERTS:
Jan. 20, 2009: Silkworms manufacture 3000 feet of silken thread to make just one cocoon. The silk from ten of these cocoons would reach to the top of Mount Everest. 2000 cocoons are required for one kimono. Silkworms have been domesticated for thousands of years and fail to survive on their own.
From "The Book of Animal Ignorance" by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson.
MAMMALS:
Dec. 11, 2008: The nine-banded armadillo made its way across the U.S. Border several years ago. There are estimated to now be up to 50 million of the creatures in the southern U.S. It is one of the few animals that can get leprosy, always has quadruplets, and was known as the "turtle rabbit" to the Aztecs. Texans call them "Texas speedbumps" for obvious reasons. I recall a fellow student in college who was attempting to research whether or not armadillos could communicate with each other psychically when they were in different rooms.
Info from "The Book of Animal Ignorance" by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson.
ORCHIDS:
OTHER PLANTS:
May 12, 2009: Due to heavy pressure on elephant populations for their tusks, an attempt has been made to find a source of carvable imitation ivory. One candidate is the tagua nut produced by a palm tree. While the nuts are relatively small (maybe the size of a black walnut), they can be combined to make carvings somewhat larger
REPTILES:
June 26, 2009: The Lake Erie Water Snake has one of the smallest ranges of any vertebrate world wide. It is endemic to the Lake Erie islands. While common on some of these small islands like Middle Bass and South Bass, the very limited range has resulted in a Federal designation of threatened and a state designation of endangered. Researchers from Northern Illinois University have been studying the snakes to help their population recover and suggest future management options.
(Info from "Lake Erie Watersnakes: Unique Residents of The Lake Erie Islands," prepared by R. King and K. Stanford).
Nov. 2, 2008: BOAS and PYTHONS are both considered primitive snakes, with equally developed right and left lungs and remnants of a pelvic girdle. In general boas are New World and pythons Old World, although boas are also found in Indonesia, Asia, and Africa. Calabaria reinhardti, one of the snakes using its tail as a head decoy (the tail even has a groove where the mouth would be), has in recent years been reclassified from a python to a boa, although it is Old World and an egg layer, not usual boa characteristics.
Info from "Snakes" by Chris Mattison, "Encyclopedia of Snakes" (same author), "Boas Rosy and Ground" by Jerry Walls, and "Rosy, Rubber, and Sand Boas" by R.S. Bartlett.
Sept. 30, 2008: The American alligator holds the record for oldest crocodilian (a female at the Adelaide, Australia Zoo who died in 1978 at the age of 66 years).
Info from, "Reptiles" DK Pocket books, 2003.
June 24, 2008: The rubber boa is fascinating for a number of reasons. It is one of two boas native to the U.S., being found in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming. One of the smallest boas (usually 20-26 inches long), the rubber is also one of the most northerly occurring boas. I have never found an observation of a rubber boa biting anyone, they seem to have very slow metabolisms, and the tail tip mimics a head in appearance and behavior.
Info from "Boas, Rosy and Ground" by Jerry G. Walls.
SALAMANDERS:
February 18, 2009: Although probably not very conducive to human lovemaking, water temperatures in the 40's and 50's Fahrenheit are just the thing for many "mole" salamanders of the genus Ambystoma. These animals spend most of their lives underground, emerging in the late winter and very early spring to lay their eggs in ponds (some species use streams or damp areas), often when the water is still partly ice covered.
Find more info in "Salamanders of Ohio" by Pfingsten and Downs.
July 5, 2008: The hellbender is the heaviest salamander in the U.S., reaching a length of close to 30 inches. It is exceeded in length only by the greater Siren and the Amphiuma, both long narrow snakelike salamanders with tiny or missing limbs. Hellbenders inhabit fast flowing streams in the eastern and midwest U.S. and are related to the Japanese and Chinese Giant Salamanders. They are currently under study due to a reduction in range. They feed upon crayfish and other aquatic creatures and males defned the eggs. The aquatic, nocturnal hellbender is sometimes caught by surprised fishermen.
Info from "Salamanders of the United States and Canada," by James W. Petranka.
|
|
|
|
