Survival

ACTUALLY HARMLESS AND HELPFUL!!

If you live in certain regions of the Eastern united states, you will encounter the Brood V cicada onslaught late May 2016.
Brood V (5) 17-year cicadas will emerge in parts of Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

It will start with holes in the soil. Holes that are a quarter of an inch wide, pushed out toward the sky. The noise will arrive soon after.

Brood V cicadas last appeared in 1999, and they're on their way back to complete a 17-year life cycle.

When the soil is warmed to a sound 64 degrees 8 inches below the surface, the bugs will emerge and pursue breeding.

Much of West Virginia and Ohio, as well as sections of Pennsylvania and Virginia, will host this ancient ritual throughout May and June, and while the bugs mean no harm to people, they will undoubtedly present a major inconvenience because of sheer numbers.

Trillions of cicadas are expected, consisting of three species: magicicada septendecim, magicicada cassini and magicicada septendecula. They leave the soil, where they've spent most of their lives sucking nutrients from tree roots, in a shelled, unwinged nymph form and mount themselves in trees until they molt into full-fledged cicadas.

Males then begin singing a long, droning chirp. This persuades females to mate, who then cut small slits in tree branches to lay their eggs. Hatched, new nymphs burrow underground, and the cycle begins again.

Cicadas do this in two to six weeks, and then they die.

While it's a mess because these insects will be inescapable for about two months, their emergence will benefit various species of animals by providing a nearly endless food source. These animals include opossums, moles turkeys in particular, but most birds, rodents, mammals, reptiles and some fish will eat cicadas.

It's believed periodic broods stick to their emergence cycles as a survival strategy because such long absences deter predator populations from exploding. Brood V is one of 12 17-year cycle broods. Another three broods operate on a 13-year clock.

A natural enemy of the cicada is the cicada killer wasp, which can reach two inches in length. But this insect is only common in late summer and early fall, so they will not coincide with Brood V.

The wasps make an annual appearance and feed on regular cicadas that are found every year.

Humans have also taken to eating cicadas. It's been a trending subject of several magazine features in the last few years. National Geographic labeled them "gluten free" in a 2013 article, while the University of Maryland published a cicada recipe book in 2004.

Although the verdict is still out because cicadas spend time underground absorbing pesticides and other lawn treatment chemicals, a common argument is that they are high in protein and readily available.

Another benefit of a mass cicada emergence is that the holes they burrow aerate the soil and allow in additional moisture. This is believed important for general soil ecology and tree growth.

Also, the slits females cut in tree branches for eggs offer a natural means of pruning, enabling further growth later in a tree's life.

So enjoy nature's show and remember you won't have another opportunity(???!!!) for 17 years.
If you want to track various annual waves or want more information I suggest you go to www.cadadamania.com .

https://vimeo.com/17507527

parts of this article is credited to:

http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/659583/Return-of-the-Cicadas.html

Everyone Loves to Dance

In March of 2008, I had the privilege to join my father and sister on a trip to Hawaii's northernmost island of Kauai. We spent 5 days exploring the lush countryside and experiencing a completely exotic land. Along our travels, we encountered so many chickens roaming around everywhere, that I wondered how and why this came about. In one instance I was relaxing on a beautiful sandy beach near the Kauai Marriot Resort, and a rooster, hen and their two or three chicks (a whole family) came pecking towards me threatening to tickle my toes. Some people there told me that hurricanes in the past let chicken coops loose, and others said that since there are no natural predators there, chickens had no enemies (other than humans) who would eat them. It all made sense, but I wanted to know more about the wild chicken invasion of Kaui (and the rest of Hawaii) that have made this in itself a tourist attraction.

Here's an interesting article from the New York Times, written on April 6, 2015, that sheds some light on the wild chickens of Kauai:

In Hawaii, Chickens Gone Wild

The pictures you see here I shot myself (or my sister did) on this trip. I'm also in a few of the photos as you can see. Guess if you're ever homeless and hungry, this is the island to be on! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Pink tusks aren't real, but still help combat hunting of elephants for ivory

By Gary Lindner
Director Planet Sanctuary

Some times all you need to do is out think your opponent. In this case of poaching and specifically illegal ivory poachers is to destroy there merchandise without hurting the animal. Who knows how many animals can and will be saved by this practice of discoloring the ivory and ultimately ruining the product. This is far from a solution to the poaching problem in Kruger national park but it can be a deterent. The only long term solution to eradicating poaching is to educate the people of the region so they understand that protecting the wildlife of Africa is more valuable to them then the benefit that a few ivory poachers gain destroying what makes Africa so amazing. Here is an article that goes into more detail on what is involved in combating the poachers. PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEOS. IF SOMETHING IS NOT DONE THIS WILL BE THE END TO THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT AND RHINO! AND SOONER NOT LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This pink elephant can’t be blamed on a drunken hallucination, though wildlife conservationists might suggest a certain level of intoxication to those who think their pink tusks could be real.
Reports abound online regarding elephant tusks being painted pink in an effort to devalue the ivory for poachers. A Facebook post, Stain Tusks to Stop Elephant Poaching, includes a photo of an elephant with pink tusks, but goes on to explain that the photo has been altered. The author then suggests that even though the photo is a fake, the notion of staining tusks should be explored in an effort to stop the killing of innocent elephants in Africa.
But wildlife conservationists say painting elephant tusks is hardly feasible for animals in the wild.
“The idea is impractical to impossible on a field-level scale because of the sheer logistics and cost to implement,” says Anne Lambert of the International Conservation Fund of Canada, a charity that focuses on global conservation work. “Darting and applying dye to elephants would involve a huge cost and stress and risk to elephants. And even if achievable on a small, enclosed population, poaching pressure would just be diverted elsewhere.”

While painting elephant tusks is highly improbable, Hern applauds people for inventing ways to think about poaching more actively and creatively.
“Poaching syndicates are extremely innovative in how they market their illegal products,” she says. “We need to start employing the same tactics in our attempts to counter their efforts. Even a seemingly impractical idea may just be the spark someone needs to come up with something that does work. The problem is out of control, which means the solution can probably only be found outside the box.”
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an international NGO that focuses on conservation and the environment, elephant herds have shrunken by 50 per cent since 1979 due to unmonitored domestic ivory markets that fuel the illegal international trade. It is reported that as many as 35,000 elephants are killed each year in Africa.
The biggest threat facing African rhinos is poaching for the illegal trade in their horns. Used for everything from cures for hangovers to cancer, rhino horn is a common ingredient in traditional Asian medicines. Fueled largely by Vietnamese demand, rhino horn is also considered a symbol of wealth. The number of rhinos poached in South Africa has increased by 9,000 per cent since 2007, from 13 to a record 1,215 in 2014.
The WWF doesn’t endorse horn infusion due to its impracticality, says Dr. Colman O’Criodain, a wildlife trade specialist with WWF.
“The reason we didn’t endorse this method is because simply in order to do that you have to dart and anesthetize the rhino,” he says. “Most of the poaching is happening in Kruger National Park and that’s the size of Wales and it’s just not practical. Not to mention the fact that in a matter of time they would have babies and you’d have to do it again.”
Fighting the illegal trade of ivory and rhino horn involves tactics that include stepping up enforcement on poachers and smugglers as well as educating consumers about the disadvantages of purchasing these products. The WWF is also working toward a fourth pillar that raises the profile of wildlife crime.
“Any other kind of organized crime involving the amounts of money that are at stake in ivory and rhino smuggling would be a national concern for security reasons,” says O’Criodain. “So we’re not asking people necessarily to up the effort simply because we love rhinos and elephants, which we do and because they contribute to biodiversity and to eco-system health, we’re doing this also because we believe it’s a security issue.”

Sandwich Monkey

Don't turn your back or it will be gone

Ape Conservation in Africa

Caring for a Baby Gorilla at Ape Action Africa

Wild gorillas and chimpanzees are on the brink of extinction. Habitat loss and poaching threaten these magnificent animals like never before.
Ape Action Africa is committed to ape conservation in Africa - protecting Cameroon’s great apes through direct action, including rescuing orphaned gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys, giving them a safe forest sanctuary home where they can live with their own kind.
Ape Action Africa is passionate about great ape conservation in Cameroon. Our goals are to address the immediate threats faced by gorillas and chimps in Africa, and to work with communities to develop long-term solutions to ensure their survival in the wild.
We rescue orphaned and injured gorillas and chimpanzees, some only days old, hours from death. Once they are in our care, we work around the clock in Cameroon’s Mefou Primate Park to give them urgent veterinary care and nourishment.
In the protected zone at Mefou, safe from poachers, the animals are cared for by our trained experts, many of them local community members who have joined our team. Eventually, when the young orphans are strong enough, we reintroduce them to groups of their own kind in safe and controlled environments.
We operate a thriving education programme for local school children, who are encouraged to visit Mefou to see Cameroon's wildlife in its natural environment.
We are committed to identifying areas that can be set aside as protected habitat for rescued gorillas and chimpanzees. It is our hope that one day the great apes and monkeys in our care will be released back into the wild, where they belong.

FISHING THE TRIBUTARIES IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.
PROTECT OUR NATURAL RESOURCES

GARY LINDNER

DIRECTOR PLANET SANCTUARY
ONE WORLD BLUE

Typically when most people think of New York, the first thought they have is of the City. Rarely if ever do people stop to consider what else lies outside the deep walls of the office towers. In my opinion the opportunity to enjoy the fantastic tributaries like Oak Orchard in up state New York is priceless. These waterways represent how important it is to protect the water quality in the Great lakes and the streams that feed into them. Here are some pictures a fishing trip my friend Tony and I enjoyed last fall. These salmon and trout rely on these streams and the health of the streams to continue the cycle of life that the king salmon and large species of trout need to continue that cycle.
All the fish in these pictures were caught and released. These fish are stocked by the state of New York and are a very important part of the economy of the small towns that surround these tribs. If the steams or Great lakes are compromised in any way there would be a major economic affect on those economies. If you have never visited the amazing beauty of northern New York plan a trip, you will not be disappointed. Some of these streams often lie within a series of glacial gorges and require rigorous hiking in order to locate the fishing opportunities. These upstream gorges support very tiny, delicate fisheries which do not tolerate large amounts of fishing pressure or any pollutants. While the fish caught in these gorges may only be 8-9", catching trout below a spectacular waterfall and hiking to dramatic vistas with 200 foot drops more than makes up for any lack of size. The experience of wonderful surroundings, hiking and fly fishing provides a combined recreational opportunity unparalleled in the Northeast.

Tigers at an exotic cat refuge in Texas have been stricken with canine distemper virus (CDV), a contagious and often deadly disease for which there is no cure in felines. This infection has been attacking all large cats all over the world from puma in the western USA to the bengal tigers in Russia.

In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center in Wylie, Texas, has reported a number of their big cats dying from CDV and more than a dozen big cats at the refuge have contracted it.

Reports of tigers and lions contracting CDV have been trickling in for a number of years. It has been know for at least 30 years that CDV can affect big cats. About 1,000 lions were killed by CDV in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park in 1994, the AP reported.
A recent study of Amur (also known as Siberian) tigers suggested that at least one percent of the Amur population has been killed by the virus since 2009.
Tigers and lions infected with CDV appear sluggish and disoriented. CDV targets the respiratory and digestive systems of animals, but the deadliest aspect of the disease targets the central nervous system -- causing the animals to be come disoriented and to not exhibit fear in situations where they normally would. One online video shows an infected tiger wandering openly along a crowded road in Russia.

In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Education Center reports that felines in the Panthera genus, which includes lions, tigers, jaguars and leopards, can become infected by CDV, but other big cats such as cheetahs, bobcats, lynx and servals cannot. The virus can be contracted by ferrets, racoons and, of course, dogs as well.
"We believe that wild raccoons brought the virus onto our property. Animal control has been trapping and testing many raccoons in North Texas, and the majority of them are testing positive for CDV," the refuge wrote on its website. "We are near a lake, and our property is heavily treed, so we do have a large number of raccoons in the immediate area."
A disease called feline distemper virus also exists and there is a vaccination for it, which the big cat refuge says it administers to its felines. But there is no approved vaccine for canine distemper in big cats, the refuge stated.
"They cannot receive the dog version of the vaccine, as it is a live virus vaccine and has been known to cause extremely serious problems in big cats. We have administered the ferret version of the vaccine, which isn't thought to cause serious problems, but it also isn't known whether or not it actually provides them any protection. 24 of our cats received this vaccine, including the 4 that we lost," the refuge wrote online.
The outbreak at the big cat refuge is being studied by scientists at Tufts University and Boston University, the AP reported.