The coldest months of the year can be a challenging time for birds, hedgehogs, squirrels and other wildlife.
Every winter between one and two thousand wild animals are brought into RSPCA wildlife centres suffering from dehydration, hunger and cold. As a result, the charity is giving nature lovers some great tips on how to help. Here are seven simple things you can do…
According to Wikipedia:
"Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones."
In Switzerland, some serious sexting is going on.
Cows are sending these "come hither" text messages to their farmers.
Yes, you read that right.
The farmers are getting text messages from their cows.
Apparently, it's not that easy to tell when a cow is in heat.
Sexting from . . . . Cows
Re-blogged from Shairchair - prepare for a good laugh!
Snow on gum trees – an unusual sight!
It does snow in some parts of Australia, but only in limited areas compared to the entire area of the continent, and there are Ski Resorts catering for those who love to ski.
Winter time sees excellent snowfalls for skiing in the Snowy Mountains region of south eastern New South Wales and north eastern Victoria. Several of Australia’s main snow resorts include the Kosciuszko National Park in NSW (Charlotte’s Pass, Thredbo), and Victoria (Mt Bogong, Fall’s Creek, Mt Hotham).
The Bureau of Meteorology says snow falls have occurred right along the Great Dividing Range and as far north as Queensland’s Granite Belt. It’s fairly unusual to get snow this time of year around the southern parts of Queensland.
Puzzled kangaroo in snowy Australia – “What’s all this white stuff?
It must have given our native wildlife a bit of a shock!
Click here to watch a video clip from the ABC News and see the kangaroo puzzled by the whole event.
The Rescue
Please watch this random act of kindness clip of a South African motorcyclist who stopped in the middle of an endurance race to rescue a calf drowning in a canal.
How amazing that this man, Johan Gray should stop in the middle of an endurance race, to help this poor little calf.
What a wonderful man he is – with a big heart!
A few days ago I noticed a commotion in the creek out back which I've come to recognize as a manatee visit. I got Jim and we went out back to take a look. We could tell that it was several manatees. Normally they graze on the mangroves by the creek banks, but on this day it was different.
They were away from the bank, constantly rolling and breaking the surface of the water.
To have been able to witness a rare sight such as this, as Donna did, is truly amazing!
The frilled-neck lizard is quite an unusual looking lizard – but I think he is quite pretty in his own way.
He’s quite a looker!
These little guys can be found in tropical rainforests from the Kimberley region in Western Australia across the Northern Territory to Cape York in north eastern Queensland. They are also found in southern Papua New Guinea.
The “frill” lies folded against the neck and is used in a spectacular display to deter rival males and would-be attackers – but it’s mostly bluff, using it to look bigger and scarier!
Can’t catch me!
He makes a hissing sound with his mouth whilst running upright on his two back legs towards his predator – it’s quite a funny sight to see!
Watch this frilly-neck display
If his scare tactics don’t work, they usually run away, heading for the nearest tree to bolt up, but in spite of their ferocious appearance, they are quite harmless, eating mainly insects and spiders.
They range in colour from olive through greyish brown to almost black and the frill has a variety of colours from yellow to jet back, with bright orange and red scales.
Adults weigh about 500grams (17.6oz), reaching 70-95cm (27-37 inches) overall.
Hatchlings are 5-6cm (just over 2 inches) long.
Mating occurs around September and the female can lay up to three clutches of 8-20 eggs in a season.
The eggs are laid in November, in a hole in the ground and the tiny hatchlings start appearing early February. The temperature at which the eggs are incubated determines the sex of the baby frilled-neck lizard, but it does much more than that – the temperature affects things like the size, shape, behaviour and the running speed of the hatchling.
Once the eggs are buried, maternal instincts run out and the shallow nest is abandoned to incubate for 8-12 weeks. As soon as they hatch, the youngsters fend for themselves immediately.
They have quite a few predators – hawks, eagles and owls; also pythons, large snakes and goannas, dingoes and quolls – and sadly, humans (many being killed on the roads). However, if they survive into adulthood, their lifespan can be anything from 6 to 20 years.
He is such a unique, interesting little lizard, and quite the character -
and I’m happy to say that he is not on the endangered list.
Consider, if you will, the sartorial importance of tail attire. To bare, or not to bare… that is the question. The answer might seem to be of little consequence, but for marsupials living in cities and suburbs some strategically placed fur can make all the difference.
That’s because naked tails make people nervous. I blame this bias on the Black Death.
This extraordinary scene was captured by photography student Casey Gutteridge at the Santago Rare Leopard Project in Hertfordshire. The 19-year-old, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, who was photographing the leopard for a course project, was astounded by the mouse’s behaviour.
He said: “I have no idea where the mouse came from – he just appeared in the enclosure after the keeper had dropped in the meat for the leopard. He didn’t take any notice of the leopard, just went straight over to the meat and started feeding himself.
The leopard was pretty surprised – she bent down and sniffed the mouse and flinched a bit like she was scared. In the meantime the mouse just carried on eating like nothing had happened.”
Even a gentle shove doesn't deter the little creature from getting his fill!
“It was amazing, even the keeper who had thrown the meat into the enclosure was shocked – he said he’d never seen anything like it before.”
Project owner Jackie James added: “It was so funny to see – Sheena batted the mouse a couple of times to try to get it away from her food, but the determined little thing took no notice and just carried on.”
Sheena was brought in to the Santago Rare Leopard Project from a UK zoo when she was just four months old. She is one of 14 big cats in the private collection started by Jackie’s late husband Peter in 1989. The African Leopard can be found in the continent’s forests, grasslands, savannas, and rainforests.
....so the little brave mouse continued to eat the leopard's lunch and show the leopard who was boss!
From Poppy & her Little Elf
This post is especially forStacey at Walk a Mile in My Shoes,
one of my blogging buddies who has a “very fond affection for shoes”!
If you also have a “thing” for shoes, enjoy!
These shoes are wild and wonderful, and I just had to share.
Hope they brought a smile to your face, they did to mine!
Are these things actually wearable?
Seriously, where did they get those shoes from?
