Vigilance of Nature's World

 Turtle Patrol Finds 2-Headed Hatchling

Reported from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, “A group that monitors sea turtles has found a two-headed Loggerhead hatchling. The hatching was found alive and released into the ocean.

The animal, named Crush and Squirt couldn't really swim as the heads controlled separate flippers and weren't working together.”

The Beauty of Insects ~ and How to Help Them Survive

Reported to The Washington Post by Adrian Higgins: “I remember when people casually referred to all striped invertebrates as bees, when all insects were bugs and any such thing that buzzed in their vicinity required hosing with lethal poison.

Today, I suspect the mass consciousness has shifted to a kinder feeling toward these creatures ~ and with it an understanding that most insects enrich the gardening experience.

“You will find fewer than 100 types of frogs in North America...fewer than1,000 bird species...but more than 90,000 specific insects. People today speak of wildflower gardens for the pollinators ~ attracting monarchs and honeybees...even long-flowering perennials.

There are insects none of us want: mosquitoes, biting flies and those that want to snack on our beloved plants.

As a class of organisms, insects are obviously successful ~ they were flying, crawling and swimming around this planet long before we showed up. But for years, reports have argued that many species are disappearing ~ and more recently there has been much talk of a dire collapse of the insect world.

A 2017 study in Germany recorded a a 75 percent reduction in the collection of insects by weight, in 63 nature preserves in less than 3 decades.

This year, a review of 73 scientific papers spoke of a decline so rapid that if it went unabated, insects would suffer a mass extinction.

A conservation figure is 5.5 million.

In North America, 28% of the bumble species are considered 'threatened', and 19% of butterfly species are at 'risk of extinction.' Climate change...habitat loss...and pollution are harming animals and plants ~ and it is logical to assume that the mostly uncharted world of insects, is imperilled too ~ when you consider that pesticide use on the planet has never been higher.

Matthew Forister, an ecologist at the University of Nevada stated:

It is in the power of virtually everyone to help them and the results are almost immediate. Plant a zinnia in a balcony container ~ and a butterfly will show up. Convert part of your lawn into perennial beds and pollinators will appear. Your garden will be more interesting and beautiful.

We're not saying 'we don't need more science' ~ we have enough to make decisions and take action.

A Night at the Movies with 72 Goats

In a colour photo, a goat stands on a set of stairs next to Geoffrey Crow inside a Quonset hut for a 'screening of Uncle Buck'...starring John Candy at Triple C Farm.

Katrina Clarke reported to The Hamilton Spectator, “My cheeks are hurting because we're smiling so much,” when attending this movie at an Ancaster event.

“What's better than baby goats? said movie-goer Christine Jones. The cuteness factor is off the charts.

They're cute and they know how to get attention. Goats of all sizes swarmed people of all ages, rubbing furry bodies against legs...chewing sleeves ...and head-butting purses. “No, that's not my finger. Don't bite my finger, another woman scolded a goat.

Adam and Eve's Pets ~ A Bible Story

Adam and Eve said, Lord, when we were in the garden, You walked with us every day. Now, we do not see You anymore. We're lonesome here ~ and it is difficult for us to remember how much You love us.”

And God said, “I will create a companion for you that will be with you ~ and will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me when you cannot see me. Regardless how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are ~ and will love you as I do, in spite of yourselves.”

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve.

And it was a good animal ~ and God was pleased.

And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve and wagged his tail.

And Adam said, “Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom, and I cannot think of a name for this new animal.

And God replied, “I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you: his name will be a reflection of my own name ~ and you will call him DOG.

And Dog lived with Adam and Eve ~ and was a companion to them and loved them.

And they were comforted. And God was pleased.

And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After awhile, it came to pass that an angel come to the Lord and said, “Lord, Adam and Eve have become filled with pride. They strut and preen like peacocks and they believe they are worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught them that they are loved, but perhaps too well.”

And God said, “I will create for them a companion who will be with them ~ and see them as they are. The companion will remind them of their limitations, so they will know that they are not always worthy of adoration. And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam and Eve.

And Cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed into Cat's eyes, they were reminded that they were not the supreme beings.

And Adam and Eve learned humility.
And they were greatly improved.
And God was pleased.
And Dog was happy.
And the Cat...

Couldn't care less one way or the other!

Writer: MBK...August 31, 2019
Comments welcome

Cats' Wisdom

In the past, I’ve written about cats that I love...whether tabby
or those who live in the wild.

Displayed on a recent calendar, is their wisdom, so incredible.
Style is a reflection of your attitude and your personality,
(a quote by Shawn Ashmore).

A white Persian declares:
Act as if you don’t know me
and I will make it seem as though you don’t exist.
(Michael Bassey Johnson)

Playfully, a dark brown cat says,
If love is the answer,
could you please rephrase the question?
(Lily Tomlin)

If at first, you don’t succeed,
find out if the loser gets anything,
advised William Lyon Phelp’s tabby.

May West’s cat stated:
I used to be Snow White, but I drifted!

Yowling, tabby stated:
Medically speaking, there is no such thing as a nervous breakdown.
Which is very annoying to discover when you’re right in the middle of one!
(Marian Keyes)

If you’re nice to me, I’ll never write anything bad about you.
(Amy Winehouse)

One thing I know about the rich, being rich is that you can take money
from me...and tomorrow ~I’m still going to be rich, stated Lewis Black.

Long-tan-haired cat states: If I go on a diet and work out,
I’m always in a bad mood. Rather be a little heavier, but nice.
{Salma Hayek)

Will Roger’s cat states: Everything is funny,
as long as it’s happening to somebody else.

Ediith Pial’s cat declares: All I’ve done all my life is disobey!

I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake,
(said Lewis Black.)

Mischievously cat declares: The most beautiful words
in the English dictionary are: Not Guilty, stated Maxim Gorky.

I never had any problem, stated Tituss Burgess,
Myself was a problem for a lot of people.
But I didn’t have a problem, observed
her black cat relaxing in the soap dish.

Groucho Marx,observing his cat, stated: Politics is the art
of looking for trouble. Finding it everywhere...diagnosing it
incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

An angry black cat declares: I have a big mouth..and I have a temper,
so that’s not good for people That’s not good for executives,
(observed Leah Remini)

Resting his head sleepily on the bookshelf...
Marcia Cross stated” What I lack in energy, I have in wisdom.

A dark-haired tabby confided to Meg Rosoff:
I’ve been fired five times for having a bad attitude!

Looking at Betty White, her cat confesses:
I may be a senior, but so what: I’m still hot!

Akin to Albert Einstein, It’s not that I’m so smart:
it’s just stay with the problems longer.

Intelligently, cat pronounced: The first human
who hurled an insult instead of a stone
was the founder of civilization.

Sprawled on the chair seat,
golden haired cat observed from experience:
Nobody’s gonna care about your stuff the way I do!

Startled white cat with eyes of green, quoted Oscar Levant
who said “Roses are red, violets are blue;
I’m schizophrenic and so am I.

Grey cat with green eyes and paws stretched forward, concludes:
“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford.
Then I want to move in with them.”

Compiled by MBK...February 13, 2021
Comments most welcome.

Greenland is Fast Melting

In a report by Seth Borenstein to The Associated Press, Earth's future is being written in fast-melting Greenland.

Summer is hitting the Arctic island hard with record-breaking heat and extreme melt this year.

Helheim Glacier is where Earth's refrigerator door is left open where glaciers dwindle ~ and seas begin to rise.

New York University air and ocean scientist David Holland, who is tracking what's happening in Greenland from both above and below, calls it the end of the planet.

He is referring to geography more than the future. In many ways where the planet is warmer and its watery future is being written. It's so warm inside the Arctic Circle, that on an August day, coats are left on the ground Holland and colleagues work on the watery melting ice without gloves. In one of the closest towns, Kulusk, the morning temperature reached 10.7 C.

The ice Holland is standing on is thousands of years old. It will be gone within a year or two ~ adding more water to rising seas worldwide. By the end of the summer, Greenland's record shattering heat and extreme melt, about 440 billion tons of ice...maybe more...will have melted or calved off Greenland's giant ice sheet, scientists estimate. That's enough water to flood Pennsylvania or the country of Greece and and to a depth of 35 centres. One of the places hit hardest, this 'hot Greenland summer' is on the south-eastern edge of the giant frozen island: Helheim, one of Greenland's fastest-retreating-glaciers.has shrunk about 10 kilometres since scientists came here iin 2005.

Several scientists such as NASA oceanographer Josh Wllis, who is also in Greenland studying melting ice from above said what's happening is a combination of man-made climate change ~ and natural, but weird weather patterns.

Glaciers in Greenland do shrink in the summer and grow in the winter, but nothing this year.

Summit Station, a research camp nearly 3,200 metres high and far north, warmed to above freezing twice this year for a record total of 16.5 hours in 2012,,.once in 1889...and also in the Middle Ages.

At Helheim, the ice, snow and water seemed to on and on, sandwiched by bare dirt mountains that now show no signs of ice, but get covered in the winter The only thing that gives a sense of scale is the helicopter, an almost imperceptible red speck against the ice cliffs where Helheim stops and its remnants remains..Those cliffs are somewhere between 70 metres and 100 metres high. Just next to them are Helheim's renbabts ~ sea ice, snow and icebergs ~ forming a most white expanse, with a mishmash of shapes and textures.

As pilot, Martin Norregaard tries to land his helicopter, on the broken up part of what used to be glacier...now a mush called melange...he looks for ice speckled with dirt...a sign that it's firm enough for the chopper to set down on. Pure white ice could possibly conceal a deep crevasse that leads to a cold and deadly plunge

Holland states that it takes a really long time to grow and ice sheet...thousands and thousands...but they can be broken up or or destroyed quite rapidly.

Along with NASA's Willis, he suspects that warm salty water that comes in part by the Gulf Stream in North America is playing a bigger role than previously thought in melting Greenland's ice.

In tiny Kulusuk, about a 40-minute, Mugu Utuaq says the winter that used to last as much as 10 months when he was a boy, can now be as short as 5 months. That matters to him because as the fourth-ranked-dogsledder in Greenland, he has 23 dogs and needs to race them.

“People are getting rid of their dogs because there's no season,” said Yewlin who used to run a sled dog team for visiting tourists at a hotel in neighbouring town Tasillaq ~ but no longer can do.

* * * * * * * *

“Greenland is not for sale ~ and the idea of selling it to United States is absurd,” stated Denmark's Prime Minister.

Greenland is actually the world's biggest island ~ by area ~ that it is not a continent.

About 836,330 square miles including other offshore islands.

Almost 80% of the land mass is covered in ice cap.

Its main point of interest is Northeast Greenland National Park.

In reading the foregoing report to The Associated Press, I concluded that this Arctic island is appropriately named GREENland! So sad! Yet today true, due the effects of Climate Change.

Written by MBK...August 25, 2019
Comments appreciated

Fast Food

Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

It can lead to over-eating...weight gain...and a host of psychological consequences.

Dieting can bring out the worst in us. Research suggests that the low calerie and restrictive diets make us anxious, irritable, frustrated and depressed. The key to success is to make healthier choices without starving or eliminating the foods you love.

Robert Collier states, “Success is the sum of small efforts ~ repeated day-in' and day-out.'

Sometimes the obvious answer is the right answer:

Eat Less! Make Healthy Choices! Move More!

Victor Klam, in humour states, “Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward.”

Mayo Clinic News Network

“An occasional stop for fast food can fit into a healthy diet if you're careful about what you order.

Keep portion sizes small. If the fast food restaurant offers several sandwiches, pick the smallest.
Bypass hamburgers with 2 or 3 patties, which can be close to 800 calories. Choose instead a regular or children's-sized hamburger, which has about 250 calories.

Skip the large serving of French fries. Ask for a small serving instead.

This switch alone, can save 200 calories.

Choose healthier side-dishes. Take advantage of the healthy side-dishes offered at many fast-food restaurants. Instead of French fries, choose a side salad with low-fat dressing or a baked potato. Or add a fruit bowl or a fruit and yogourt option to your meal. Other healthy choices include apple or orange slices, corn on the cob, steamed rice or baked potato chips.

Go green: Choose an entire salad with grilled chicken, shrimp or vegetables. Choose a dressing you like, but use half the package or keep the salad dressing on the side to control the number of calories.

Watch out for high-calorie salads, such as those with fried toppings. Also, skip extras such as cheese and croutons, which quickly increase calorie count.

Opt for the grilled items. Fried and breaded foods are high in fat and calories. Select grilled or roasted meats ~ such as turkey or chicken breast, lean ham or roast beef.

Watch what you drink. Many beverages are high in calories: a large regular soda (30 ounces) has more than 300 calories. Instead, order diet soda, water, unsweetened iced tea, sparkling water or mineral water. Also skip the shakes and other ice cream drinks. Large shakes can contain more than 800 calories.

Have it Your Way

Remember, you don't have to settle for what comes with your sandwich or meal ~ not even at fast-food restaurants.

Ask for healthier options and substitutions. And keep your eye on portion size.”

Compiled by MBK...August 27, 2019
Comments welcome