Animal News n’ Things

On April 6th 2007 it was reported from correspondents in Costa Rica that eleven rare leatherback turtles were are swimming across the Pacific Ocean to the Galapagos Islands in a race that will be tracked online.

They are tracking the race online to draw attention to the plight of these fantastic endangered creatures.

They will tag the turtles with satelitte communication devices that will track their positions as they head south from their nesting sites on Costa Rica’s Grande beach. They aim to keep tracking them until they reach their feeding grounds near Galapogas, which is about 1500km away.

 If you want to track their course, you can participate online by choosing a turtle to track - the website to participate in this amazing event is found at http://www.greatturtlerace.com - and you can do this from April 16th 2007.

All the information regarding this race can be found on this page. Or you can read more at the Couriermail.com.au

Very late spring we bring out the hummingbird feeders, fill them with sweet nectar and hang them outside of our windows, for early summer brings the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds of which we all find such delight in watching! We have been feeding them for several years and they instinctively know which windows to come to! They are called “Nature’s Tiny Jewels” and how right they are! Beautiful greens and that ruby throat in the sun is brilliant!I love to watch the tiny hummers dart to the feeder, then back to the fir trees, where they are tending their young. They are fiesty little birds too! How they fight amongst each other for the feeders, no matter how many we hang out for them. We use only homemade nectar as opposed to the store bought variety, as we can control the sweetness, which seems to attract more and more hummers each year.

It is always important to keep the hummingbird food fresh and the feeders free from mould, which can form if the nectar sours. Using one part sugar to one part water ratio, we boil the nectar for five minutes, then leave it to cool before re-filling the feeders. Store the remaining nectar in a sterile jar in the refrigerator.

In very early autumn, the hummingbirds begin to feed more than usual, as they need to get their weight up for the long journey south as they begin their migration mid fall. We take much delight in feeding these tiny jewels and it’s always such a sad time for us to see them leave for the season. But, with the spring comes the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and the joy we have of helping mother nature take care of nature’s tiny jewels!

Freda…

Picture with thanks from Freda Luke

I watched a show the other week about the rare whooping crane. It was amazing to watch the men dressed in their white material costumes with the arm the design of the crane’s long neck and beak… those men taught the birds how to feed, how to run, how to work their wings and eventually they taught them how to fly.

Some of the rare whooping cranes weren’t strong enough to make the long trip, some hadn’t developed well and it was a close community with all the cranes having names. When one crane was lost or it died, it was like losing a member of their family.

It was interesting watching the cranes take to the sky behind the ultralight aircraft to their destination.

It was sad to read on the ABC news page that 18 of the Rare Whooping Cranes died in the wild storms that swept through western Florida USA. The young birds had been guided to the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in mid-January. On Thursday when the birds were checked they were fine but after the devastating storm swept through early Friday the project workers were saddened to find the birds dead.

After seeing the project workers working extremely hard and they were focused and dedicated it was sad to find that 18 young birds had died. But from what I read, they project workers are dedicated to pushing on with this project.

Operation Migration is the name of the project and the operation depicts the 1996 film Fly Away Home.

I hope the project workers continue their wonderful work to help build the number of Rare Whooping Cranes in existence.

On Friday 2nd February 2007 a man who was evading police was finally taken into custody after a crocodile did its duty and left his painful mark on the man.

The police now want to hire the crocodile. The incident took place at Daly River about 150 kilometres from Darwin.

While some of us would turn and run at the sight of a snake, venomous or not, an Israeli Health and beauty spa has introduces a new treatment where snakes massage their clients.

The fee is quite reasonable when you think that this treatment involves the use of 6 non-venomous snakes slithering and hissing across aching muscles and stiff joints.

I’m not sure that I could do that… could you?

Ms Barak uses Californian and Florida king snakes, corn snakes and milk snakes… Some see this as being therapeutic… I wonder…

It’s good to see that not only is this a new treatment for aching muscles and stiff joints but it may also help people overcome their fear of snakes…

- Info from Reuters