(E.B.W.) Critter Corner
Feature:
11 Facts to Beef Up Your Beaver Knowledge
“...Physiology & behavior
- Beavers... are second to humans for their ability to change habitats.
- Beaver’s footprints are rarely seen...due to the tail that drags behind, covering their tracks.- Beavers can hold their breath up to 15 minutes underwater, due to specialized lungs & a lowered metabolism.
- ...Beavers’ enamel is iron-rich... which gives beavers the gnaw power they need for cutting wood.
- Both a rudder & a gait stabilizer, the paddle-shaped tail of a beaver helps it navigate water & land.
A damming construction
- Dome-shaped & underwater entrances are 2 basic features of a beaver lodge.
- Beaver dams function as speed bumps for streams. By slowing down the speed of moving water they create deeper water.
- At 850 meters long, the beaver dam in Wood Buffalo National Park that straddles AB & the NWT can be seen from space!
- A beaver’s dam... helps to maintain stream flows, especially during droughts & helps store water during floods.
- Beavers are native to Canada & have been considered Canada’s national icon for 300 years.
- Beavers have bounced back from historic over-hunting for fur & meat, thanks to rehabilitation & conservation of wetlands, forests, & floodplain habitats.
...Beavers work hard at making ponds & wetlands, which are really important for waterfowl...& many types of fishes... The beaver pond not only creates open water/wetland habitat for the ducks, but the flooding often kills large trees in which the wood ducks (cavity dwellers) nest. For fish, sometimes the pond is the only deep water that remains during low water levels...”
Wendy Ho (The Nature Conservancy of Canada)
April 23/ 2016
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(E.B.W.) Critter Corner
Feature:
Comfort Dogs Provide Furry Solace to People in Orlando
“...comfort dogs have made their way from around the U.S. to Orlando, Fla., to comfort those affected by...the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history that occurred on June 12 at the Pulse, an LGBT nightclub.
The dogs are available for anyone who needs a hug or a furry neck to absorb their tears...
‘We are reaching out to anyone that has been affected by this directly or indirectly,’ Tim Hetzner, president of Lutheran Church Charities (LCC) K-9 Comfort Dogs, told WLS.
About a dozen dogs & 20 handlers from the nonprofit are currently in Orlando.
‘Your blood pressure goes down when you pet a dog, you feel more comfortable & people end up talking,’ Hetzner said. ‘They’re good listeners, they’re non-judgmental, they’re confidential.’...
LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs, based in Northbrook, Ill., deploys trained therapy dogs from around the country to areas where tragedies & disasters have occurred, as well as to local churches, hospitals, & nursing homes...
When it started out, the nonprofit had 4 comfort dogs. 8 years later, it has more than 100 dogs in 23 states. The dogs are all golden retrievers...this is because they’re a lovable breed by nature...
One of the LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs who was flown to Orlando is 5-year-old Gracie of Davenport, Iowa. She’s a comfort-providing veteran, having previously consoled people after the Sandy Hook massacre & in the aftermath of devastating tornadoes in Illinois & Oklahoma.
Gracie is known as one of the sweetest of all the LCC comfort dogs, Jane Marsh-Johnson, one of her handlers, told BuzzFeed News. “She’s always got a big smile.”...
‘We encourage those [in Orlando] who are grieving to sit down on the floor & pet dogs like Gracie,” Marsh-Johnson said. ‘The dogs do more for those suffering than human beings can do.’...”
Laura Goldman
June 14, 2016
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(E.B.W.) Critter Corner
Feature:
World’s Oldest Known Wild Bird, is a Mother Again!
“Wisdom, a Laysan albatross who is now the oldest known banded bird in the world, has continued to surprise wildlife officials & her fans by reappearing every year at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific...
Now believed to be at least 65 years old, Wisdom returned again earlier this year with her mate who has been dubbed Goo or Mr. Goo by refuge staff... Wisdom was spotted earlier this winter incubating yet another egg.
Earlier this month, to the delight of her fans, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that her newest chick was spotted & was named Kūkini, which is Hawaiian for messenger.
Wisdom was first banded back in 1956 when she was believed to be just 5-years-old & has managed to survive decades, outliving many of her relatives whose lifespans are estimated to be between 12 & 40 years in the wild. She’s also believed to have flown an incredible 6 million ocean miles since she was first tagged.
Laysan albatrosses mate for life , after engaging in an elaborate courtship ritual, & lay only one egg every year... Wisdom has raised at least 8 chicks since 2006, & as many as 40 throughout her life.
‘Wisdom is an iconic symbol of inspiration & hope,’ said Robert Peyton, Refuge Manager. ‘...In the case of Wisdom, she is breaking longevity records of previously banded birds by at least a decade...’
...In December, the agency counted 470,000 active nests across the entire atoll, which is now the largest albatross nesting colony in the world...
The Audubon Society is pushing for legislation in the form of the Albatross & Petrel Conservation Act of 2016... which will bring the U.S. in line with other countries that are working to protect these seabirds under the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses & Petrels..."
Alicia Graef
February 15/2016
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(E.B.W.) Critter Corner
This week's Critter Corner celebrates World Oceans Day (June 7th).
Feature
10 facts you probably didn't know about whales
“1. Diving deep into a mystery
Narwhals regularly dive down to a depth of 1,500 metres... in Baffin Bay in winter under almost complete sea-ice cover to feed on Greenland Halibut, their main prey...
2. Pushing out daises
...sperm whales will encircle the young & old & aim their most powerful weapons, their tails, out towards potential predators. This formation is called a marguerite formation...
3. Bite me
...their teeth can range from similar to human-sized to massive fangs that can weigh up to 1kg...
4. Shrimpin’ ain’t easy
Most whale species have their own whale louse species (really shrimp species, not lice). They live in openings & any wounds or scars on the whale...
5. Snoop dogs use poo to tail whales
Scientists have been using dogs to aid in the collection of whale poop. Pooches trained to find the poop of specific species of whale are part of at-sea teams...This enables scientists to collect valuable samples used to assess stress, health, & reproductive hormones.
6. A whale is a terrible thing to waste
Beluga Whales in the St Lawrence Estuary & Gulf were classified as toxic waste in recent decades due to the massive concentrations of man-made chemicals that had accumulated in their bodies via the food chain...
7. You smell like whale barf
Some of the most coveted perfume on the planet contains... ambergris, which is more commonly known as sperm whale vomit...
8. Don’t hold your breath
...The Cuvier’s beaked whale...(can) hold its breath for more than 2 hours & more than 3km...beneath the water's surface.
9. On the catwalk
Bowhead Whales have hundreds of baleen plates in their mouths, which help filter food from the water. At 4m long... these baleen plates are the longest in the whale world. During the commercial whaling era...fashion-conscious ladies sought out Bowhead baleen plates as Victorian-era corset stays.
10. Family ties & beluga bromance
Belugas show a strong loyalty to specific small places within their habitat...Female belugas are also known for “alloparenting,” which involves mothers sharing parenting duties, sometimes for unrelated calves...”
WWF-Canada
Feb. 13/2016
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(E.B.W.) Critter Corner
Feature:
Team of Super Vultures Deployed in Peru to Battle Polluters
“Outfitted with GoPros & solar-powered GPS trackers, the crew of carrion-loving vigilantes is sniffing out illegal dumps in Lima.
They may be the unlikeliest heroes put to work in the name of the environment, but there they are. Captain Huggin, Captain Phoenix, Captain Aella & a crew of 7 more trained black vultures (Coragyps atratus) that have been tasked with doing what they do best: sniffing out rubbage.
... this high-tech team patrols the skies of Lima, Peru on the lookout for illegal trash disposal.
...Dan Collyns explains in The Guardian that the city of 10 million people has just 4 landfills…& countless illegal dumps... ‘Run-off from the waste contaminates Lima’s main water source, the Rimac river, as well as with the Chillon & Lurin rivers, which flow into the bay of Lima.’ With 8,000 tons of trash created a day, it’s really quite a mess.
So what to do? Send in the vultures. The project is called “Gallinazo Avisa” (Vultures Warn) & is a joint collaboration between the U.S. Agency for International Development & Peru’s Ministry of Environment...While vultures may have a notoriously creepy reputation, they are nonetheless an important part of ecosystems across the planet – their ability to handle bacteria & their taste for decay makes them great comrades in helping get rid of waste & to help stop the spread of disease...
So armed with GoPros & solar-powered GPS trackers... the Peruvian kettle* of vultures soars above the city; the images they capture are streamed back to headquarters & any illegal dumps they discover are logged, explains Smithsonian Magazine...
...The whole project has a great PR component to it – people can even track the vultures’ flights with an online map... It brings great awareness to the problems of waste disposal, & ...helps advance the cause of an otherwise maligned bird that could really use some respect...
*...The
term kettle means a groups of vultures in flight. Committee, volt, or
venue refer to vultures resting in trees. Wake is used for a group of
vultures that are feeding.
Melissa Breyer
Feb.8/2016
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