March 30/2022

The Perks of Pigs: Fun Facts About Pigs    

"Pigs are smart, social, & often misunderstood...

Agriculture itself could scarcely have evolved eons ago without the recycling abilities of the pig...

Amazing Facts About Pigs

Pigs are highly intelligent. They consistently rank between the top 4 & top 7 of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Pigs have a good memory & learn quickly. They are considered by animal experts to be at least as trainable as dogs or cats. Pigs can be house-broken & can be taught to use a litter box, much like a cat. Their ability to solve problems is well-documented. During a study in the 1990’s, pigs were trained to move a cursor on a video screen with their snouts & used the cursor to distinguish between scribbles they knew & those they were seeing for the first time. They learned the task as quickly as chimpanzees.

No barnyard animal has a better sense of smell. The large round disk of cartilage at the tip of the snout is connected to muscle that gives it extra flexibility & strength for rooting in the ground. By rooting, & thus disturbing the soil, pigs disperse plant seeds & play an important role in managing ecosystems. Pigs’ sense of smell is so keen that they can smell something that is 25 feet underground! Their sense of smell can also help humans. Some pigs are trained to law enforcement. They can sniff out drugs, just like dogs.

Pigs are one of the cleanest animals. Huh? They have the reputation for being slovenly because they wallow in mud. However, pigs lack sweat glands. They roll around in the mud to stay cool in hot weather. Caking mud on their bodies also prevents sunburn & deters insect infestation. Without mud, pigs could get second-degree burns all over their body.

But why do pig seem to smell so much? A bare pig is odor-free; the odor comes from their living style. If pigs have enough room, they keep their toilet area far away from where they live & muck about. Even newborn piglets will leave the nest to go to the toilet within hours of birth. However, as pigs are often confined or their living area isn’t cleaned frequently enough, the mud, fecal matter, & food waste create various odoriferous gases. Some of these odor-causing chemicals aren’t that different from our own human latrines; it doesn’t matter if it’s of livestock or human origin. 

Ever heard the expressing 'pigging out'? Pigs do have a reputation for being gluttonous, messy eaters. They making snorting & smacking sounds, & just delight in eating... Pigs primarily like to dine on roots & vegetables; this is what they eat in the wild. However, they will eat just about anything you give them... Interestingly, the stomach of a pig is proportionately much smaller than that of a sheep or a cow. They are naturally lean, too, unless they are overfed by humans.

The pig is the friendliest animal on the farm by far: always available for a scratch behind the ears, hardly ever moody, & quick with a grunt of delight. They love to play & engage in mock fighting with each other, similar to play in dogs & other mammals. They form close bonds with other animals & love to cuddle & lie down against each other.

Pigs are social. They live in complex social communities where they keep track of individuals & learn from one another. They cooperate with one another, & prefer living in groups, just as a dog likes to be part of a pack. Also, like dogs, they respond to the 'top pig,' & will not necessarily think you are the 'boss' if you don’t act like one. Winston Churchill famously said that 'Dogs look up to man. Cats look down to man. Pigs look us straight in the eye & see an equal.'

Pigs are very peaceful animals & rarely show aggression, even though some pigs are very large & sometimes have tusks. They’ll only show aggression if they or their young are threatened. Pigs are athletic, too; the fastest member of the pig family is the warthog, which can reach speeds of 35 MPH. Interestingly, the pig has cloven hooves—an adaptation shared with more timid prey animals like the sheep, deer, & antelope; pigs, however, are neither timid nor afraid. 

Looking for how to find out how much your pig weighs? Measure its girth (in inches) by wrapping a tape measure around the animal just behind the front legs. Then measure the length from the ears to the base of the tail. The pig’s weight (in pounds) will be equal to the square of the girth, times the length, divided by 400. If math isn’t your thing, buy a hog tape at the feed store; the calculations are built in..."

Chuck Wooster

March 21/2022

almanac.com 

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March 23/2022

Surprise! King cobra is actually a royal lineage of 4 species

"The imposing king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), instantly recognizable by its flaring hood, is the world's biggest venomous snake & can grow to reach nearly 13 feet (4 meters) long. It inhabits a sizable kingdom across the Asian tropics, stretching from Indonesia to India. However, new research reveals that the king cobra’s massive domain is not ruled by just one species; rather, there are 4 distinct species of king cobra.

The 4 proposed species (which are yet to be officially named) are the Western Ghats lineage in southwestern India; the Indo-Chinese lineage in Indonesia & western China; the Indo-Malayan lineage spanning India & Malaysia; & the Luzon Island lineage, found in the Philippines.

'The existence of multiple species of the king cobra is surprising because they look similar, share similar habitats, display similar behavior,' Kartik Shanker, co-author of the new study & an evolutionary ecologist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, told Telegraph India. Despite their similarities, the cobras found in this vast geographic range have some physical differences. For example, adult cobras in Thailand have roughly 70 bright, off-white ring markings on their bodies, while cobras in the Philippines only have a few dull rings. 

The snakes demonstrate regional differences in their behaviors, too. The king cobra is the only snake species to gather material & build nests for its eggs, but the eggs in that nest might be treated differently depending on the region. In some regions, the mother slithers off after laying the eggs, while in other places, she might incubate them in the same way a bird would.

But it’s not just physical & behavioral differences that separate these 4 cobra lineages; the researchers also needed to know if the king cobra populations were genetically different...Biologist P. Gowri Shankar, lead study author & a king cobra expert at the Kālinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology in Karnataka, India,  spent years tromping through tropical jungles in search of snakes that could be trapped & studied...

Eventually, his team was able to gather enough genetic material to analyze DNA from 62 king cobra specimens found throughout the ranges of the population variants. The researchers gathered scales from live snakes & collected muscle tissue from dead snakes that were discovered as roadkill. The scientists even recovered DNA from long-dead museum specimens. 

Initially, the study authors looked at mitochondrial genes, which are passed from mother to offspring, & they identified 4 distinct lineages. They then looked at differences in nuclear DNA — the DNA contained in each cell nucleus — between the 4 candidate lineages. The researchers found that the 4 lineages were not regional variants of one species, but were instead genetically separate from one another.

'The overlap of genetic diversity with separate geographic regions suggests the species have been evolving separately without any gene flow between them,' Shankar told Telegraph India...

The king cobra is currently listed as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but dividing the group into multiple species will likely force a reexamination of this status, the authors said. 

This research was published September 2021 in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution."

Cameron Duke

livescience.com 

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March 16/2022

Affection from a dog really is medicinal, according to a new study

"(CNN) Dogs may also be a doctor's best friend.

For patients suffering from pain in the emergency room, just 10 minutes with a 4-legged friend may help reduce pain, according to a study...

The results support what dog lovers everywhere have long suspected -- canine affection cures all ills -- as well as provides a bit of optimism for patients & health care providers frequently grappling with strapped hospital resources in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

'There is research showing that pets are an important part of our health in different ways. They motivate us, they get us up, (give us) routines, the human-animal bond,' said lead study author Colleen Dell, the research chair in One Health & Wellness & professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

The study, published in the journal PLOS One, asked more than 200 patients in the emergency room to report their level of pain on a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 as the highest level of pain). A control group had no intervention for their pain, while participants in the other group were given 10 minutes of time with a therapy dog, & patients rated their pain levels again, according to the study.

Those who got the visit from the dogs reported less pain.

The study has a strong methodology, said Jessica Chubak, senior investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute. Chubak, who was not involved with the study, noted that there is still a lot to learn about therapy dogs.

'The results of the study are promising,' she said in an email. 'Our current understanding of the effects of therapy dog visits in emergency department settings is fairly limited. So, it is particularly important to have more research in this area.'

Dell hopes that research like this study means we can stop asking if therapy dogs are helpful in a medical context & start asking how they help & how to integrate them better with health care teams.

In the hospital

The emergency room experience might actually contribute to patients' pain.

The bright lights, long waits, anxiety & focus on immediate, acute conditions can make the feeling worse, said Erin Beckwell, a dog owner who has experienced chronic pain for much of her life.

'It's not a place that you usually get escorted to a comfy room that's quiet & gives us any sort of specific interventions,' she said. 'It's often suggestions of things you've already tried, & then they send you home after a long time of distressing & anxiety-provoking, pain-filled waiting.

'You may not come out feeling like you were even really heard.'

Some people have a misperception that utilizing therapy dogs can transmit disease & risk hygiene in a hospital setting, but Dell said there are ways health care providers can utilize them in sanitary ways to make the whole system operate better.

Mike MacFadden, a nurse practitioner based in Canada, said he sees a lot of potential in incorporating therapy dogs as part of a holistic approach to pain treatment in the emergency room, & that it could help everyone involved.

'Emergency service teams can feel conflicted & experience moral distress resulting from their inability to meet their own expectations for optimal care. With people's experience of pain being multifaceted, we know that a multifaceted approach is most beneficial to meet the needs of patients,' McFadden said. 'The presence of a therapy dog not only has the benefits of supporting the patient's experience, but I think it also serves as a comfort to the care providers.'

In the home

Pain can be thought of as both a physical & social experience, said Michelle Gagnon, assistant professor of psychology & health studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Gagnon was not involved with the study.

Anxiety, depression, having support or being dismissed can all have an impact on how we experience pain, she said. It makes sense that spending time with a creature that brings you joy & doesn't invalidate your feelings can help you feel better.

'The things that you can gain from pets & some of the positive emotions that could be elicited from having the pet around you I think could have an impact on the pain experience itself,' she said.

Beckwell said she has experienced it personally with her 10-year-old cocker spaniel, Reilly, as she has experienced arthritis & autoimmune disorders.

'I feel more in control of the situation & less panicked or anxious about the severity of my pain, the duration of my pain, those sorts of things when I have that unconditional support from my dog,' Beckwell said. 'She will come in, & she has learned over the years when I'm in pain she can't sit on my lap.'

'I don't need to tell her -- she knows,' Beckwell said."

Madeline Holcombe

March 9, 2022

CNN.com

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March 9/2022

Fascinating Facts About Owls

"Henry David Thoreau once observed, 'I rejoice that there are owls”—& we have to agree. Read on to learn all about a fascinating & formidable bird of prey: the owl!

The Alluring Owl

Most people become attracted to owls at an early age, & they are often the first bird recognized by young children...

Our interest in owls goes back thousands of years to caves in France—then Arctic tundra—where an Ice Age artist drew a snowy owl on a cave wall. Owls can also be found on Greek coins & Roman vases, & the oldest owl picture in the United States was painted by native artists 1,000 years ago.

Canadians seem to have a particular affinity for owls—the Provincial Bird of Alberta is the great horned owl & the Provincial Bird of Manitoba is the great gray owl.

Fascinating Facts About Owls

Owls are highly evolved predators. Here are some of their most incredible features:

Vision

- Some owl species’ eyes are as large as human eyes, despite their heads being just a fraction of the size of ours. 

- Owl eyes are not perfectly spherical; instead, they are shaped more like a rounded tube. This gives them enhanced vision, but also leaves them incapable of moving their eyes. To compensate, the owl has a very flexible neck, & can turn its head 270 degrees left or right & 90 degrees up!

- While an owl’s vision is 2 to 3 times better than a human’s, a cat can see twice as well as an owl at night!

- Owls can admit 2.7 times more light than our eyes.

- Owls can focus their eyes 10 times faster than we can, which allows them to make quick flight adjustments to avoid collisions with trees or to catch small prey.

- To protect their eyes while hunting, owls have something called a nictitating membrane or 'third eyelid'—a transparent membrane that can be drawn over the eye, but still seen through.

Hearing & Hunting

- Owls have a very well-developed sense of hearing. They have asymmetrical ear openings, which permit sounds to be perceived in only a fraction of a second—as little as 3/100,000ths of a second. This incredible ability allows them to hear mice under the snow in winter.

- Large feathered facial discs gather & concentrate sound waves like parabolic antennas.

- Owls have a large wing surface relative to body weight, which allows them to glide noiselessly. A comb-like fringe on the front & trailing edges of their wing feathers & a downy layer of fibers both work to muffle noise effectively. Scientists are using this knowledge to apply owl physiology to wind turbines, fans, cars, & eventually planes.

- Owls hunt at night & prefer to prey on nocturnal animals such as mice, rabbits, voles, & skunks. They also hunt grouse & pheasants.

Nesting

- The great-horned owl male hoots to his mate on the nest & she returns the hoot in what is called 'duetting'.

- Female owls are larger & 40% heavier than male owls; this allows for the production of eggs & the generation of heat energy to incubate eggs.

- Many owls nest in February & March in northern latitudes. Some use old nests of hawks & crows, while others nest in hollow trees or bird houses. The male often brings prey for the female as she cannot leave the eggs on a cold, snowy night.

- In areas where there are few or no trees, owls may nest on mounds of grasses & feathers or in underground burrows.

- Owls’ feathers allow them to be highly camouflaged in the environments they frequent. The snowy owl’s white & black-speckled plumage blends in perfectly with the frozen tundra, while the burrowing owl’s tawny-brown feathers match its grassy, sandy home.

- 2-3 eggs are the usual clutch for larger owls. They hatch in 30 days & the young fledge in about 10 to 12 weeks. In years with abundant prey, snowy owls may lay 12 eggs, but in lean years, they may not nest at all. 

- Owls are very curious & imitating their calls or squeaking on the back of your hand in the evening will often bring them near you for a closer view. 'Owl Prowls' with birding guides are one of most entertaining of all bird walks..."

Tom Warren

Oct. 11/2021

almanac.com 

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