Nature Fact File

Wordless Wednesday - The World's Oldest Flower

2011-04-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

In 2002 scientists in north-east China discovered a fossilised flower that blossomed about 125 million years ago. Called "the mother of all flowers", Archaefructus sinensis resembles the modern water lily

Happy Wordless Wednesday, folks!

Thursday Thirteen - Tomato Facts

2011-04-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

1. The smallest species of tomatoes are less than three-quarters of an inch in diameter. There are both red and yellow varieties.

2. The South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato is Arkansas' official state vegetable.

3. Tomato juice is the official state beverage of Ohio.

4. There are at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes.

5. China is the largest producer of tomatoes in the world, producing over 16% of all tomatoes.

6. The highest concentration of vitamin C in tomatoes is in the jelly-like substance around the seeds.

7. The first tomato plants were planted in Greece by a Friar Francis in 1818, in the gardens of a Capuchin monastery at the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates (built in 335 B.C.) in Athens.

8. Just like the brinjal and the pumpkin, botanically speaking it is a fruit, not a vegetable.

9. The tomato is the world's most popular fruit.

10. The French called it "the apple of love"

11. The Germans "the apple of paradise"

12. Tomatoes range from the small, marble-size cherry tomato to the giant Ponderosa that can weigh more than 3 pounds.

13. Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C and are a major source of lycopene - a compound that researchers think may help the body to combat cancer.

Happy tt!

Wordless Wednesday - World's Smallest Flower

2011-04-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

A bouquet of a dozen Wolffia blooms would comfortably fit on the head of a pin.

A type of duckweed, Wolffia grows on the surface of ponds and slow moving streams.
This very minute flowering plant is native to Australia and Malaysia. The plant body is 0.6-0.9 mm long and only 0.2-0.5 mm wide. Not only is it one of the smallest flowering plants on earth, but it also produces one of the smallest fruits.

World's Largest Bouquet

2011-04-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

70, 000 roses went into the making of the world's largest flower bouquet.
The 23.4 metre arrangement was the work of Ashrita Furman

Thursday Thirteen - Tiger Facts

2011-04-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

1. A group of tigers is called a streak.

2. Tigers have been classified by scientists into eight subspecies: Indian (or Bengal), Indo-Chinese, Sumatran, Amur (or Siberian), South China, Caspian (extinct), Java (extinct), and Bali (extinct).

3. There are probably fewer than 500 Sumatran tigers on the island of Sumatra.

4. The roar of a tiger can be heard more than a mile away.

5. Tigers keep their claws sharp for hunting by pulling in their retractable claws into a protective sheath.

6. Most tigers have more than 100 stripes, and no two tigers have identical stripes

7. Fully grown they reach the length of 13 feet

8. An adult male weighs up to 700 lb

9. The World's Tiger Species:

- Balinese: Extinct. Last reported sighting 1937

- Caspian: Probably extinct. Last seen 1970's

- Javan: Probably extinct. Last seen 1970's

- South-Chinese: Near extinction 30-35 remain

- Siberian: 500 remain in Amur river area

- Sumatran: 300-500 remain in Sumatra

- Indo-Chinese: 1000-1500 remain in Burma to Malaysia

- Bengal: 3000-4000 remain in India and surrounding areas

10. Webbing between their toes enables the Sumatran tiger to be very efficient and fast swimmer. If given the chance the tiger will run hoofed prey into the water where the animal is at a much greater disadvantage because they cannot swim well with their long thin legs.

11. Tigers fail at least 90% of the time in catching prey during hunts!

12. Tigers are excellent swimmers and can easily cross rivers and lakes 3.7-5 miles (6-8 km) wide!

13. Tigers are an endangered species. Wild tigers in Asia -- their natural habitat -- may soon disappear. As conservationist, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, has been paraphrased: Saving the tiger is a test. If we pass, we get to keep the planet.

Happy TT everybody!

Thursday Thirteen - Apple Trivia

2011-04-12T03:50:00.000-07:00

1. Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie
2. Apples are the most varied food on Earth. 7500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world!
3. 60% apples are eaten out-of-hand; the remainder are processed
4. The science of apple growing is called pomology
5. The largest apple ever picked weighed three pounds
6. It takes energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple
7. China is the largest producer of apples. The US, Turkey, Poland and Italy round out the top 5. 8. Apples ripen six to ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated
9. Just one apple provides as much dietary fiber as a serving of bran cereal. (That's about one-fifth of the recommended daily intake of fiber.)
10/ Apple juice was one of the earliest prescribed antidepressants.
11. Johnny Appleseed was a real person. His name was John Chapman. He was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, September 26, 1774.
12. Apples may help you loose weight. A Brazilian study showed that 300 overweight women who ate 3 apples per day lost more weight than a similar group who didn't add fruit to their diet. Researchers believe that adding fruit to the diet of the overweight women changed their metabolic profiles.
13. Apples bruise easier than eggs break

World's Biggest Dog - Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hercules: The World's Biggest Dog Ever According to Guinness World Records

WW

2011-03-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

This picture was taken by F Izquierdo ...guess which bird it is!

Check the answer HERE

WW

2011-03-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken by bill1608 ...guess which bird it is!

Check the answer HERE

Leopard Facts

2011-03-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

*Pound for pound the Leopard is probably the most evolved predator cat on earth

*Some say they are the most aggressive and feared animal in the world

*They are extremely secretive and solitary animals, only coming together to mate

*They are supreme tree climbers

*They prefer to remain hidden during daylight hours

*They live throughout Asia and Africa

*The leopard is the 4th largest of the "big cats" in the world (only jaguars, lions and tigers are larger)

*For it's size the leopard is the most powerful feline in the world

*Leopards are infamous for their ability to go undetected

*Although most leopards will tend to avoid humans, people are occasionally targeted as prey

WW

2011-03-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

Found this on flickr...

Yellow Warbler males announce their arrival and readiness for the breeding season with a lot of early morning singing.

WW - Which bird is it???

2011-02-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

I found it here on flickr (First Guess, then check your answer!)

WW - Dolphin Against the Sun

2011-02-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - World's Largest Pumpkin

2011-02-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

Steve Daletas stands behind his giant pumpkin at the October 4, 2003, weigh-off in Canby, Oregon. The pumpkin holds the record as world's largest.

WW

2011-02-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

I found this picture on Flickr too! Which Bird is it??

WW - Polar Bear Family

2011-01-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

WW - Which bird is it???

2011-01-23T07:46:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

WW - Which bird is it???

2011-01-16T07:46:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

TT - Cat Facts

2011-01-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

Ailurophilia is the "love of cats."

The nose pad of a cat is ridged in a pattern that is unique, just like the fingerprint of a human.

There are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, with 33 different breeds.

The American cat population reached nearly 68 million in 1996. American Demographics magazine estimates that's about 200 million kitty yawns per hour and a whopping 425 million catnaps each day!

A cat's heart beats twice as fast as a human heart, at 110 to 140 beats per minute.

25% of cat owners blow dry their cats hair after a bath.

The largest cat breed is the Ragdoll. Males weigh twelve to twenty pounds, with females weighing ten to fifteen pounds. The smallest cat breed is the Singapura. Males weigh about six pounds while females weigh about four pounds.

If your cat is near you, and her tail is quivering, this is the greatest expression of love your cat can give you. If her tail starts thrashing, her mood has changed --- Time to distance yourself from her.

Cats wag their tails when it is in a stage of conflict. The cat wants to do two things at once, but each impulse blocks the other. For example: If your cat is in the doorway wanting to go outside, and you open the door to find it raining, the cat's tail will wag because of internal conflict. The cat wants to go outside, but doesn't want to go into the rain. Once the cat makes a decision and either returns to the house or leaves into the rain, the tail will immediately stop wagging.

Don't pick a kitten or a cat up by the scruff of its neck; only mother cats can do this safely, and only with their kittens.

Cats knead with their paws when they're happy.

Your cat loves you and can "read" your moods. If you're sad or under stress, you may also notice a difference in your cat's behavior.

The domestic cat is the only cat species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. All wild cats hold their tails horizontally or tucked between their legs while walking.

WW - Which bird is it???

2011-01-09T07:42:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

Thursday Thirteen - Thirteen Blue Flowers

2011-01-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

1.Conitum
2.Agapanthuses
3.Allium
4.Anemone
5.Delphinium
6.Echinops
7.Cornflower
8.Forget-Me-Not
9.Gentiana
10.Hyacinth
11.Vanda
12.Veronica
13.Muscari

Happy Thursday Thirteen

WW - Which bird is it???

2011-01-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer).

WW - Which bird is it???

2010-12-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

Bobcat Facts

2010-12-20T08:15:00.000-08:00

*Bobcats live primarily is broken forests and scrubby country, but adapt to swamps, farmlands and arid lands if they are rocky or brushy

*They are native to North America

*They have prominent, pointed ears with short tufts of black hair at the tip

*The adult male weighs from 16-45 pounds

*They hunt anything from insects and small rodents to large deer, but often prefer rabbits and hares

*They have a stubby 6 inch tail which has a "bobbed" appearance--this gives the species its name

*They will swim if they have to, but they usually avoid water

*Bobcats are generally most active during twilight

*Man is the bobcat's only major predator

WW - Which bird is it???

2010-12-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

TT - 13 Interesting Facts about Polar Bears

2010-12-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Polar bears are the largest land predator in the world.

A polar bear’s fur is not white; it is colorless. A reflection off the bear’s fur shatters light and makes the fur look white.

If you plucked out a polar bear’s fur (which I don’t recommend) you would find that its skin is black. The black skin absorbs the light from the sun and keeps the polar bear warm when temperatures plummet to -50 degrees Fahrenheit

Almost five inches of blubber provides polar bears with an insulating blanket.

If temperatures plummet, polar bears dig a snow cave, curl up into a ball and cover their nose with a paw. Why? Because the bear’s muzzle radiates heat and helps it to keep warm.

A polar bear has small ears and a small tail in proportion to the rest of its body. Being so compact heat cannot be lost through these areas.

Polar bears can communicate with others of their species through body language and vocal sounds.

Adult polar bears love mock battles and fighting. It’s their form of entertainment.

Submissive polar bears always travel down wind of dominant polar bears in order to avoid confrontation.

Polar bears signal aggression by lowering their head, hissing and snorting. If a polar bear is planning to attack, its head will be down and its ears will be laid flat on its head.

Male polar bears, called boars, can weigh 770 to over 1,400 pounds. Female polar bears, called sows, weigh about 330 to 550 pounds. But the biggest polar bear ever known was a male weighing 2,209 pounds and measuring twelve feet long.

Their nostrils actually close up under the water and they can easily swim for many hours at a time.

A polar bear's tongue is black

WW - Which bird is it???

2010-12-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

TT - Siberian Lynx Facts

2010-12-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

*Lynxes are solitary animals who hunt at night using their sense of smell and keen eyesight

*They are tireless walkers, although they rarely ever run

*They swim well and their broad feet are excellent snow shoes in the winter

*The name Lynx comes from the Greek word "to shine", possibly in reference to the reflective ability of the cat's eyes

*They are often confused with their smaller cousins, the Bobcat

*The tips of their tails look like they've been dipped into ink

*Lynxes live in Asia, Europe and former USSR

*They live up to around 17 years in the wild and 24 years in captivity

*They can reach up to 80 pounds

TT - Tuna Facts

2010-11-29T08:09:00.000-08:00

Unlike most fish, tuna has pink meat, due to the fact that their blood has a higher oxygen content.

The Bluefin Tuna can weigh up to approximately 1,500 pounds.

A picture of the Northern Bluefin Tuna has been on stamps from Maldives, Cuba, Western Sahara, and Canada.

The body of the Northern Bluefin Tuna is shaped like a cigar and is stout. The head is narrowed and the mouth large. It is dark blue on top and gray on the bottom.

The Northern Bluefin is a delicacy in Japan and a large tuna can get a price of over $100,000 on the Tokyo fish market.

The Yellowfin Tuna is the type of tuna you buy in a can.

The Yellowfin can grow up to approximately 440 pounds. It has a yellow anal and dorsal fin and fishermen catch them with encircling nets or with a rod and reel.

The level of Mercury in tuna fish can be high, so the United States Food and Drug Administration issued a warning for pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children to watch their intake of tuna fish.

The Albacore Tuna is also used for canned tuna fish and can weigh up to approximately 85 pounds. They are caught by either a rod and reel or nets.

Southern Bluefin are one of the most sought after as they are a delicacy in Japan and are very hard to catch. The average size is approximately 15 pounds.

The Skipjack Tuna is another small fish weighing approximately 7-9 pounds. It is also good for canned tuna, however, some claim it has a “fishier” taste.

Fishing for tuna is very heavily regulated as the tuna species has dwindled.

TT - Fun Fish Facts

2010-11-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

The Great Barrier Reef Aquarium is the world’s largest living reef aquarium with 2.5 million liters of water! It is located in Queenshead, Australia.

For the largest window in an aquarium you’ll have to visit Monterey Bay Aquarium in California.

The world’s largest aquarium is The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Today, fresh and saltwater aquarium fish are the most popular pet in the United States. Approximately 12 million households own aquariums.

The world’s tiniest fish is the Stout Infant which is about a quarter-of-an-inch long. The largest fish in the world is the whale shark which grows to about 39-feet long.

In Thailand in July, 2005, fisherman caught a 646-pound giant Mekong catfish! It was as big as a grizzly bear.

Why do dental offices often have aquariums? Studies have shown that aquariums in medical offices reduce stress among patients who are waiting to undergo procedures.

The largest fish fossil found to date is from the Leedsichthys problematicus which lived 150 million years ago. It was found in England in 2003 and measured 72-feet long.
Cavefish have no sight, but have an advantage in detecting movement and odor.
Baby seahorses are called Fry.

Goldfish have longer life spans than both cats and dogs, living over 20 years.
That is the same life span of a lobster.

A person who studies fish for a living is called an ichthyologist.

Fish, with nearly 27,000 living species, are the largest population of Vertebrate (backbone) animals. In fact, if you combined all the other Vertebrates, fish would still outnumber them.

TT - Puffer Fish Facts

2010-11-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

· Puffer fish get their name from a natural ability. When they feel threatened, they puff up to as much as twice their normal size.

· Other names for puffer fish include fugu, blowfish, globefish and balloon fish.

· There are over 100 species of puffer fish. They live in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

· The poison from the puffer fish is 1,000 times stronger than cyanide. It is called tetrodoxin. One puffer fish has enough of the chemical to kill 30 adults.

· People in Japan eat puffer fish even though they know they can die if it isn’t prepared properly.

· Puffer fish are carnivores. They eat only meat.

· Puffer fish have fused teeth which they use to crush their prey and grind it. They eat sea urchins, coral, sponges and small crustaceans.

· Puffer fish have small mouths and fins in proportion to the rest of their body.

· Modified scales come in the form of spines.

· These fish have elasticized skin which enables them to puff up.

· The size of puffer fish is between six and twenty four inches long.

· Puffer fish can blink and close their eyes, which is very unusual. There are few fish that can accomplish this.

TT - Turtle Facts

2010-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

Turtles, as opposed to tortoises, live in or around water. Some varieties only leave the water to lay eggs.

A turtle’s shell is made of bone, made of keratin, a substance rather like a human fingernail. The shell consists of sections. As the turtle grows, new layers of keratin are formed between the sections.

Turtle fossils have been found linking them to the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago.

Turtle are present in the mythology of many civilizations. The Chinese, for instance, around 2500 B.C. favored a symbol of a snake entwined with a turtle to ward off evil spirits.

In ancient Japan, turtles were considered a symbol of happiness and good fortune.

In the year 456 B.C., the Greek playwright, Aeschylus was killed when a turtle was dropped on his head by an eagle. Generally, however, turtles are quiet, docile companions.

Turtles are cold-blooded. They need an external heat source. If they get too cool, they can’t digest their food and may hibernate.

Some types of turtles, such as the leatherback turtle can swim at speeds up to 23 miles per hour.

Turtles can be herbivores (vegetable eaters), carnivores (meat-eaters), or insectivores (insect eaters).

WW - Which bird is it???

2010-11-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

I found it on flickr here (First Guess, then see the answer)

TT - Tiger Facts

2010-11-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

*Tigers are the largest of all wild cats and are renowned for their power and strength

*There are 5 remaining subspecies of tigers and all are endangered

*Tigers are hunted as trophies and also for body parts that are used in traditional Chinese medicine

*Tigers live alone

*They are powerful hunters and travel many miles to find their prey, such as wild boar and elk

*Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male

*Despite their fearsome reputation, most tigers avoid humans

*Stripes identify the tiger like a fingerprint identifies a human, and they are all different

*In low light a tiger can see 6 times more clearly that a human can see

*Soft pads on the bottom of a tiger's paws muffle the sound of it's feet when it walks

*The tiger has the largest upper canine teeth of all the big cats and are generally about
3 inches long (around the same size of the middle finger of an adult person)

*A tiger can eat as much as 75 pounds of meat at one time

*A tiger's roar can be heard for up to 2 miles!

TT - All About Dolphins

2010-10-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Dolphins are very vocal and can make many sounds. They use certain sounds, such as the click, for sonar. They can tell through the echoes, how far they are away from something.

Dolphins sleep by resting one half of their brain at a time so that one eye is always open. This allows them to rise to the surface to breathe and to protect themselves from predators.

Male dolphins are called Bulls and female dolphins are called Cows.

A baby dolphin is called a calf. Baby dolphins are born tail first and suckle from their mother for up to 4 years. Mother dolphins produce milk that is extremely rich in fat, often up to 50 percent.

Each dolphin has its own signature whistle to identify itself.

Dolphins have excellent vision and well-developed eyes.

Most dolphins are about 6 feet long, but the bottle-nose dolphin can be over 9 feet long. The smallest dolphin is a bufeo, which is about 3 feet 9 inches.

Dolphins can hold their breath and dive over 1,000 feet deep.

On the average, a dolphin can eat over 50 pounds of food per day. Dolphins are carnivores eating mostly fish and squid and sometimes crustaceans. Wild dolphins eat live fish, while most captive dolphins eat them prepared.

A female dolphin’s pregnancy lasts between 11 and 12 months. She will nurse her baby for over a year.

Some dolphins travel in groups of over 1,000. Dolphins are found all over the world.

Dolphins have a thick layer of fat under their skin called blubber, which helps them to keep warm.

Dolphins are highly social, playful, curious and intelligent. They live in groups or families called Pods.

Wordless Wednesday - Angel Falls, Venezuela

2010-10-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

This is the world's highest waterfall...

Why bananas are good for you

2010-10-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

1. Smoking: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

2. Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

3. Depression: According to a recent survey amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

4. PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

5. Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

6. Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat high blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

7. Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

8. Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

9. Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

10. Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

11. Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

12. Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

13. Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Thursday Thirteen - Banana Facts II

2010-10-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

1. Each banana plant bears only one stem of fruit. To produce a new stem, only two shoots - known as the daughter and the granddaughter - are allowed to grow and be cultivated from the main plant.

2. In 1516, Friar Tomas sailed to the Caribbean bringing banana roots with him; and planted bananas in the rich, fertile soil of the tropics, thus beginning the banana's future in American life.

3. In 2001, there were more than 300 banana-related accidents in Britain, most involving people slipping on skins.

4. In Eastern Africa you can buy banana beer. This beer is brewed from bananas.

6. In some lands bananas were considered the principal food. Early travelers and settlers would carry the roots of the plant as they migrated to the Middle East and Africa. From there Portuguese traders carried banana roots to the Canary Islands, where bananas are still grown commercially.

7. In South East Asia, the banana leaf is used to wrap food (in the place of plastic bags and cling wraps), providing a unique flavor and aroma to nasi lemak and the Indian banana leaf rice.

8. India is by far the largest world producer of bananas, growing 16.5 million tonnes in 2002, followed by Brazil which produced 6.5 million tonnes of bananas in 2002. To the Indians, the flower from the banana tree is sacred. During religious and important ceremonies such as weddings, banana flowers are tied around the head, for they believe this will bring good luck.

9. Some horticulturists suspect that the banana was the earth's first fruit. Banana plants have been in cultivation since the time of recorded history. One of the first records of bananas dates back to Alexander the Great's conquest of India where he first discovered bananas in 327 B.C.

10. The word 'banan' is Arabic for finger.

11. The banana plant reaches its full height of 15 to 30 feet in about one year. The trunk of a banana plant is made of sheaths of overlapping leaves, tightly wrapped around each other like celery stalks.

12. The origin of bananas is traced back to the Malaysian jungles of Southeast Asia, where so many varieties and names for the banana are in that area.

13. The phrase 'going bananas' was first recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary, and is linked to the fruit's 'comic' connections with monkeys.

WW

2010-10-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

I found this picture on Flickr too! Which Bird is it?

Thursday Thirteen - Grass Facts

2010-10-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

1. Front lawns of just eight average houses have the cooling effect of about 70 tons of air conditioning.

2. The average homesize central air unit has only a 3 to 4 ton capacity

3. Turfgrasses trap much of an estimated 12 million tons of dust and dirt released annually into the atomosphere of the United States.

4. Playing fields covered with dense turf have proven safer as demonstrated by a simple egg drop test.When a dozen raw eggs were dropped from a height of 11 feet onto a two-inch piece of dense turf, none broke.On thin turf,8 eggs broke.From just an 18 inch drop, all 12 eggs broke on an all-weather track.

5. Heathly, dense lawns absorb rainfall six times more effectively than a wheat field; fours times more effectively than an hay field.Sodded lawns can absorb 10 to 12 times more water than seeded lawnsThis continues even after 2 years of growth.

6. Recovery rates among hospitalized are often quicker when their rooms view a landscaped area when compared to patients with non-landscaped views.Where vegetation grows, suicide and child mortality are less, than in places where there are no plants or lawns.

7. With up to 90% of the weight of a grass plant in its roots, a good lawn provides a very efficent erosion prevention device.It also removes soil particles from silly water.

8. Turfgrasses help purify water which is entering underground aquifers. The root mass and soil microbes act as a filter to capture and break down many types of pollutants.Run-off is alleviated or prevented.

9. A Gallup Survey reported that 62% of all homeowners in the United States felt that investments in lawn and landscaping were as good, or better, than other home improvements.Proper and well-maintained landscaping and lawns add 15% to a home's value according to buyers.

10. The investment recovery rate is 100% to 200% for a landscape improvement. Compared to a deck or patio, these will recover 40% to 70% their cost.

11. Beautifully grasses areas quickly affect people's moods. Feelings of serenity, privacy, thoughtfulness, and happiness are enhanced.A lawn's yearly cycles of growth and color change lift human spiritsWe are thus linked to our countryside heritage.

12. A turf area just 50 feet by 50 feet absorb carbonddioxide, ozone, hydrogen fluoride, and perosyacetyle nitrate. This same areas releases enough oxygen to meet the breathing needs of a family of four.The grass and trees along the United States Interstate Highways System release enough oxygen to support 22 million people

13. All grasses therefore grow from the base of the stem and leaves.

WW

2010-10-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

I found this picture on Flickr too! Which bird is it?

Thursday Thirteen - Kangaroo Facts

2010-09-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

A male kangaroo is called a boomer...

A female kangaroo is called a flyer...

A baby kangaroo is called a joey...

A Kangaroo is a marsupial mammal.

It is a macropod which means "big foot".

There are 47 different types (species) of Kangaroo. The smaller ones are usually called Wallabies. The largest is the Red Kangaroo.

It stands taller than a man and can weigh 85 kg's. It is the largest marsupial in the world.

How the kangaroo got its name: When European explorers first saw these strange hopping animals they asked a native Australian (aborigine) what they were called. He replied "kangaroo" meaning "I don't understand" your question. The explorers thought this was the animal's name.

On the Australian coat of arms the Emu and the Kangaroo were selected as symbols of Australia to represent the country progress because they are always moving forward and never move backwards.

Kangaroos usually have one young annually. The young kangaroo, or joey, is born alive at a very immature stage, when it is only about 2 cm long and weighs less than a gram. Immediately after birth it crawls up the mother's body and enters the pouch. The baby attaches its mouth to one of four teats, which then enlarges to hold the young animal in place. After several weeks, the joey becomes more active and gradually spends more and more time outside the pouch, which it leaves completely between 7 and 10 months of age.

Female kangaroos enter into heat within a few days after giving birth they mate and conceive, but after only one week's development the microscopic embryo enters a dormant state that lasts until the previous young leaves the pouch.
The development of the second embryo then resumes and proceeds to birth after a gestation period of about 30 days.

The Kangaroo moves by hopping on its powerful hind legs. It uses its thick long tail to balance its body while hopping. A kangaroo can hop at up to 60kmh (40mph). It can also leap over obstacles up to 3m (10ft) high. Because of the unusual shape of its legs and its bulky tail a kangaroo can't walk or move backwards very easily. Kangaroos are found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.

They are grazing animals that eat grass, young shoots and leaves of heath plants and grass trees. Kangaroos need very little water to survive and are capable of going for months without drinking at all. The kangaroo usually rests in the shade during the day and comes out to eat in the late afternoon and night when its much cooler. It eats mostly grass. It needs very little water to survive. It can survive without drinking for months.

Kangaroos have good eyesight but only respond to moving objects. They have excellent hearing and can swivel their large ears in all directions to pick up sounds.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

This is the world's largest Man-Made waterfall - at the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore

Thursday Thirteen - Banana Facts I

2010-09-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

1. 3 medium size bananas weigh approximately 1 pound.

2. A cluster of bananas is called a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas, which are known as fingers.

3. As bananas ripen, the starch in the fruit turns to sugar. Therefore, the riper the banana the sweeter it will taste.

4. Banana plants are the largest plants on earth without a woody stem. They are actually giant herbs of the same family as lilies, orchids and palms.

5. Bananas are a good source of vitamin C, potassium and dietary fiber.

6. Bananas are America's #1 fruit.

7. Bananas are available all year-round. They are harvested every day of the year.

8. Bananas are great for athletic and fitness activity because they replenish necessary carbohydrates, glycogen and body fluids burned during exercise.

9. Bananas are not grown commercially in the continental United States. They are grown in Latin and South America from countries like Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Panama and Guatemala.

10. Bananas are one of the few fruits that ripen best off the plant. If left on the plant, the fruit splits open and the pulp has a "cottony" texture and flavor. Even in tropical growing areas, bananas for domestic consumption are cut green and stored in moist shady places to ripen slowly.

11. Bananas are perennial crops that are grown and harvested year-round. The banana plant does not grow from a seed but rather from a rhizome or bulb. Each fleshy bulb will sprout new shoots year after year.

12. Bananas have no fat, cholesterol or sodium.

13. Bananas were officially introduced to the American public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Each banana was wrapped in foil and sold for 10 cents. Before that time, bananas came to America on the decks of sailing ships as sailors took a few stems home after traveling in the Caribbean.

Thursday Thirteen - Insect Trivia

2010-09-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

1. A cockroach can live for about nine days without its head. It could live for its lifetime without head, cockroach actually dies because of not being able to drink water.

2. Dragonflies can fly at speeds up to 30 miles per hour.

3. The color a head louse will be as an adult can depend on the color of the person's hair in which it lives.

4. The cochineal insect, which lives on the prickly pear cactus in the southwestern United States, is an excellent source of natural red dye. The insects are dried and ground into a powder that is cooked to release the maximum amount of color. The powder is then used as a dye for fiber, fabric, and basketry materials. It has also been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in food and cosmetics. Most brands of lipstick and some kinds of fruit drinks are tinted with cochineal extract.

5. In the 1960s, animal behavior researchers studied the effects of various substances on spiders. When spiders were fed flies that had been injected with caffeine, they spun very "nervous" webs. When spiders ate flies injected with LSD, they spun webs with wild, abstract patterns. Spiders that were given sedatives fell asleep before completing their webs.

6. The bombadier beetle defends itself by firing a boiling hot spray from the rear of its abdomen. The spray is formed at the moment of firing by mixing chemicals from two glands in the beetle's abdomen. The spray changes instantly into a gas and is directed away from the beetle. The gas irritates the eyes of the enemy and forms a smoke screen which helps the beetle to escape while the enemy is confused.

7. Termites can’t digest wood, the protozoa in their stomach (they eat them when they are younger) actually are the devourers of the wood.

8. Slugs have 4 noses.

9. A dragonfly’s first six months of life are spent underwater. After this time, it comes out of the water, sheds its outer skin, and starts flying, but if it falls in the water after it has shed its skin, it drowns.

10. A leech can drink up to eight time its weight in blood at one sitting.

11. There are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on the entire earth.

12. There are more than 900,000 known species of insects in the world.

13. More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!!

2010-09-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Another Flickr Picture...

..these pelican rode the rapids that were flowing very fast at Lockport. The dam was open fully, to allow the Red River to flow without obstruction. The last few weeks of heavy rainfall has created significantly high river levels across the prairie lands.

Thursday Thirteen - Insect Trivia

2010-09-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.
Some worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food!
Bees must collect the nectar from two thousand flowers to make one tablespoonful of honey. In its entire lifetime, the average worker bee produces 1/12th teaspoon of honey.
Tapeworms range in size from about 0.04 inch to more than 50 feet in length.
A dragonfly has a lifespan of exactly 24 hours.
In Africa swarms of Locusts may contain as many as 28,000,000,000 individuals. A large swarm may eat up to 80,000 tons of grain and other vegetation in a day.
Amazon ants (red ants found in the western U.S.) steal the larvae of other ants to keep as slaves. The slave ants build homes for and feed the Amazon ants, who cannot do anything but fight.
Each year, insects eat 1/3 of the Earth’s food crop.
Dragonflies can fly 36 miles (58k) an hour. 2. A click beetle plays dead by lying on its back, then snaps a hinge, [licks his body up in the air, and scuttles away to live another day.
For more than 3,000 years, Carpenter ants have been used to close wounds in India, Asia and South America.
The longest insect is a walking stick that can reach a length of 33 centimeters.
The eggs of walking stick insects are among the largest in the insect world. Some eggs are more than eight millimeters long.
Ants can lift 50 times their own weight. But that's nothing compared with the honey bee, which can lift 300 times its own weight - roughly the equivalent of a person lifting 15 tons.

TT - Cow Facts

2010-08-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

The average cow's temperature is 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
A cow can't vomit.
Her intestines can get up to 170 feet.
Her liver weighs 10 to 12 pounds, and the kidney's average 20 pounds each.
From a cow's gelatin, we get photographic film.
On the top front of their mouths, cows have a tough pad of skin instead of teeth.
Cows have a total of 32 teeth, 8 incisors on the bottom front and 6 strong molars on the top and bottom back.
No two cows have exactly the same pattern of spots.
A cow has one stomach with four sections.
Cows regurgitate their food and rechew the cud to help digestion.
A cow spends up to 8 hours a day eating.
The oldest cow ever recorded was a Dremon cow named "Big Bertha" that died 3 months short of her 49th birthday on New Years Eve, 1993.
The greatest amount of milk produced during a single day was 241 lbs by a cow named Urbe Blanca.

WW

2010-08-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

I found this one on Flickr too!

Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) , Hilton Head Island.

TT - More Insect Trivia

2010-08-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

In a survey conducted on mosquitoes it was noticed that mosquitoes prefer children to adults, and blondes to brunettes.
Only the female mosquitoes bite because they need the protein from blood to produce their eggs and she can triple her body weight with just one meal of blood.
Only full-grown male crickets can chirp.
Dragonflies have as many as 30,000 lenses in each eye.
The average mosquito has 47 teeth - but it's the mosquito's sharp proboscis that'll make you itch.
The proboscis, which looks like a really long, pointy nose, is the female mosquito's rather effective tool for sharing your blood supply.
There are grasshoppers that can draw blood with a kick.
Fleas that can leap eight hundred times farther than their body length.
Did you know that the Deer Bot Fly, Cephenemyia jellisoni Townsend (the infamous supersonic fly) was reputed by C.H.T. Townsend, that father of "Myiology" in 1926, to zoom from hilltop to hilltop in New Mexico at speeds of up to 818 miles per hour!
Courtship among Balloon Flies is dangerous because the female, when given a chance, will eat the male. To keep his head and get the girl, the male fly resorts to gift-giving, presenting the female with a small, balloon-shaped cocoon. Unwrapping the present keeps the female distracted, giving the male time to love her and then leave her.
A scorpion can have up to 12 eyes.
A caterpillar grows roughly 27,000 times its size when it first emerges as an egg.
Locusts can eat their own weight in food in a day. A person eats his own body weight in about half a year.

WW

2010-08-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Another flickr favorite of mine...

a black Vulture...alert but not scared...with a beak made for tearing

WW - Fox

2010-08-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

A FOX

Thursday Thirteen - Insect Trivia

2010-08-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Monarch caterpillars shed their skin four times before they become a chrysalis, growing over 2700 times their original size.
The common garden worm has five pairs of hearts.
About 80% of the Earth’s animals are insects!
There is only one insect that can turn its head -- the praying mantis.
A flea can jump 130 times its own height.
The fiddler crab can grow a new claw when it loses one of its own.
The Jungle Nymph Stick is one of the heaviest insects. In Malaysia they are often kept by people who feed them guava leaves and use the droppings to make tea.
Some caterpillars store poisonous chemicals in their brightly-colored bodies that make birds sick.
Glowworms have a blue light that shines from their abdomens in attracts smaller insects for food.
Queen bees lay over 1,000 eggs a day; queen termites lay over 30,000 eggs a day.
A tabanid fly, related to horse flies, has been clocked at 90 miles per hour.
The fastest runners are cockroaches, which can move almost a foot per second. However this only translates to a little over 1 mph.
The queen of a termite colony may lay 6,000 to 7,000 eggs per day, and may live 15 to 50 years.

Wordless Wednesday - World's Largest Thing

2010-08-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

General Sherman is the name of a Giant Sequoia. It is the largest tree in the world, and generally considered the largest organism, calculated according to its volume

TT - Insect Trivia

2010-08-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

Worker ants may live seven years and the queen may live as long as 15 years.
Mosquitoes dislike citronella because it irritates their feet.
The total distance of the many trips honey bees travel to produce a pound of honey is about equal to twice the distance around the world.
There are more than 200 million insects for each human on the planet.
If you weighed all the earthworms in the US, they’d be about 55 times heavier than the combined weight of all Americans.
The male gypsy moth can “smell” the virgin female gypsy moth from 1.8 miles away.
Some dragonflies can fly at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.
The average garden variety caterpillar has 248 muscles in its head.
Cockroaches can survive underwater for up to 15 minutes.
Since the successful launch of space shuttle Columbia on mission STS-90 there have been more crickets in space than humans.
The average caterpillar has 2000 muscles. The average human has 700.
After eating, a housefly regurgitates its food and then eats it again!
Only the female mosquito bites, the male does not.

13 Famous Varieties of Indian Mangoes

2010-07-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

Bombai
Langra
Kishen Bhog
Alphonso
Kesar
Dashehari
Chausa
Bombay Green
Banganpalli
Bangalora
Safeda
Lucknow
Mankurad

Wordless Wednesday - World's Largest Animal

2010-07-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

the largest mammal in the world is the blue whale which can grow up to a total of 100 feet or more (on average they are about 80 feet long) These animals hearts alone way about 1,000 pounds. The newborn whales themselves can get up to about 25 feet. They also weigh about 6-8 tons at birth.

TT - Insect Trivia

2010-07-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

1. Mosquitos have teeth.
2. Female mosquitoes flap their wings nearly 500 times per second.
3. If you take one pound of cob webs and spread them out in one straight line, it will go around the earth 2 times.
4. Did you know that you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a by a poisonous spider?
5. A cockroach will live nine days without it’s head before it starves to death.
6. Butterflies use their feet to taste things.
7. The female preying mantis initiates sex by ripping the males head off.
8. Earthworms have 5 hearts.
9. Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food.
10. The honey bee is the only bee that dies after stinging.
11. The flea can jump 350 times its body length, that is like human jumping the length of about 7 football fields.
12. The world’s termites outweigh the world’s humans 10 to 1!
13. The katydid bug hears through holes in its hind legs!

WW - Baby Turtle with Two Heads!

2010-07-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

Happy WW!!!!!!!!!!

The Jaguar

2010-06-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

The largest cat of the Americas, the jaguar is a formidable beast. The Yanomami Indians call it the 'Eater of Souls', due to the belief that it consumes the spirits of the dead.

(My First Post - My Wordless Wednesday!!)