Wise Ol' Owl, the Silent Hunter

Owls are always related to superstitions, myth, and legend. Owls are known as the Wise One. And owls also mean harbinger of death in some region, while others take it as a sign of victory!

Nevertheless, the cries of owl is kinda spooky too!! >.> Hoo hoo~

Their signature appearance - Big round eyes '(O.O)', they can see clearly even in the darkness. Only the cats eyes are capable of doing the same as the owls'. The owls have binocular vision (both eyes facing the same direction, parallel vision), like human. So unlike other birds, the owls need to turn their head to scout around. They can turn their head 135° each side, which is a 270° "lock-to-lock" range! That's gonna hurt the neck!

The serrations on the leading edge of an owl's flight feathers reduce noise.

Another distinguishable feature of the owls, their feathers! As we know, much of the owls' hunting strategy depends on stealth and surprise. (Ninjas! ..with wings O.O) Serrated edges on the leading edge owls' remiges (flight feathers, the wings' feathers), silencing the owls wings' beats when they flap their wings. This allow its flight to be practically silent.

Therefore the owls can be classified as the greatest nocturnal hunters. With their characteristics, they are the perfect silent assassins! Yet, not all the owls hunt in the night. Owls like the Northern Hawk Owl, the Burrowing Owl, they hunt in the day (or dawn/dusk) rather than night.

Hawk Owl~

Immature Burrowing Owl

Much about owls haven't been discovered yet. Or maybe the myths are true? Real existence of the mystical owl, the wise ol' owl? Hoo hoOooo hoooOOoo~

Short and simple. :P

Credits:-

Google image

The way of Life

This is a world, filled up with countless miracles of life. Combination of plants and animals, and of course humans. Humans are the leader of the world, therefore responsible of contributing to this world, rather than just destroying it.


The clock is ticking and it's not going on a time lapse. Humans' increasing amount causes habitats of wildlife to shrink. Places like India, South Africa, South America have their unique species of plants and animals, which can't be seen in other places. They too, are losing their the wildlife habitats, bit by bit.

There is always a responsibility in every man. We have to protect this planet!

What concern us now is the rising temperature of earth, which eventually would melt the ice of the poles. Lower area would be covered by the flood at first and slowly the great sea would devour the whole planet.


Researches and researches have been done, and yet unable to conclude a solution on "How da save the Earth!!". But aren't we just a puny little species, compare to all the other living things on the planet? We are just one species, comparing it to ehh, 2 millions other KNOWN species. And estimated 100 millions other species still aren't identified. (correct me if I'm wrong)

“We’ve only touched the surface of understanding animal life,” said entomologist Brian Fisher of the California Academy of Sciences. “We’ve discovered just 10 percent of all living things on this planet.”


This is not the way of life. We as the leader, must do something, and I mean REALLY do something. Going green, not using plastic bags, growing a tree (at least one). Big or small, it all counts. We play a big part in this world, we can make a lot of changes. Ya, and those changes might as well be the bad one!

Remember, every single life counts!


This is where we stand. We are one part of the big family. We are the world, we are the One.


Credits:-
Chrono Cross musics - for the inspiration.
Google image - awesome pictures.

Biggest of All - Land's Titan, the Elephant!

It's Big! It's Intelligent! It's Strong!! It's the Giant, the Elephant!

Domestication of Asian elephants had started since 5000 years ago, that's 3000 B.C.!!
While for the African elephants, they stay in the wild and are never domesticated (yet), as far as I know. >.>



So, what's the difference between Asian and African elephants?

Alright, for Asian elephants (or Indian elephants), they are much smaller compare to the African. They have smaller size, in general. Smaller ears, smaller body size, smaller... everything!
As for the tusks, in the African elephants both male and female have the tusks.
For the Asian cousin, only the male has the tusks. Yet some of the male doesn't have any. >.> Weird~


The African Elephants! Big eh? O.O

Asian Elephants! Cute. :O


Hrmm, what symbolizes the elephants? The tusks or the trunk? I'd say both. :O
Wait, the large ears! >.>


Elephants trunk is a very distinctive bio-mechanical structure, where it's a joint upper lip together with the nose. Over hundreds of muscles, controlling the trunk in any direction with strong yet flexible movement. They use it to grab vegetations on the ground, or up high on the trees and feed it. And it also acts as a suction device for elephants to suck water, up to 2 gallons per suction. That's 7 liters of waters! O.O!

Elephants are also used for labor works, for example carrying lumber. This culture is generally for the Asian elephants. In the past, wild elephants around the age of 5, were caught and trained to obey the commands of human. Tied to a rope, continuous beating on the elephants, are to break their spirit and become obedient to human. After that, an elephant would need 10 years or more to be trained. Yet some are not train to do chores. Some of them are trained for entertainment! Yup, those in the circus~


While for the large ears, what are they for? Well as you know (or u might not know), elephants don't sweat. They have a hard time dissipating their body heat under the scorched sun. Those large ears are not to flap to cool their body! The large ears containing great amount of blood vessels, that would allow heat to escape into the air by the flapping motion. Yes they dissipate heat through their EARS. O.O


The elephants play in the mud, not just to PLAY. It's for them to coat themselves with a layer of mud to protect their skin. Elephants calves learn this technique from their parents, which are then pass down generation to generation.


Oldest elephant ever recorded is 82 years old! (Believed to be an Asian elephant)


Population for elephants in the 1930's are recorded as over 10 million units! As for now less than 700 thousand seen across the land. That's a dramatic drop! This is all caused by the illegal trading of the ivory. Tusks obtained from the elephants are traded (through black market) and are carved and sold to the collectors!
WARNING: The amount of elephants are dropping 8% annually!


Love! Peace y'all!

P/S: Oh ya, elephants don't drink with their nose (trunk). They drink with their mouth, just like you! -.-


Credits:-
Google image.
Bing image.
National Geographic's picture.
And Fellow friends :)

Fear the Viper, Meet the King Cobra!

"I'm da Kinnggsssss~~~~"

The King Cobra, Ophiophagus hannah (girlish name x.x) is the world's longest venomous snake. It's commonly found throughout Southeast Asia and parts of India.
Despite their large size, King Cobras are fast and agile.

The King's genus name, Ophiophagus, literally means "snake-eater". Ya they eat snakes! They don't eat human. >.> But if they were alerted by your presence, they might strike as a form of defense.

One bite from a King Cobra can cause death within 15 minutes for a human!


When the Kings are on the hunt, they "smells" around to detect preys. Just like all the other snakes, the Kings "smells" with its tongue. Identifying chemical information in the air, the Kings detect meals and locate the direction of the preys.


Envenomation through the twin sharp fangs, prey like ratsnake will be down in just a few minutes. Then the Kings will swallow it whole.

King Cobras are able to hunt at all times of day, and it is rarely seen at nightfall.

The battle stance!!
When threatened, King Cobras raise up one-third of their body, flattening the neck, showing the distinctive hoods of the King!

Well, the Kings do retreat sometimes. >.> Neurotoxin immune animals such as mongoose, can make the Kings to "run" away. (running without legs) =]


That's all for the Kingsss!!~

P/S: Don't ever provoke a King Cobra when you see one. The King's distance strike can outreach your assumed safe range. 7 feet far, about 2 meters. O.O!! 1-Hit-KO!

Credits:-
Chee Hui- =] thanks for the idea~
Google image.

Rabies Prevention - Haiti

7.0 magnitude massive earthquake strikes on Haiti, followed by about 28 aftershocks. T.T
Building like the hospital collapsed and many were trapped underneath. Many are dead.

The Haitian Ministry of Agriculture partnered with the 43rd Medical Detachment (Veterinary Services) to give vaccination to pets in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.


As a translator shouted through a bull horn to “bring out your cats and dogs for a free rabies vaccination.” Almost immediately, a crowd formed and Operation Fast and Furious was underway.


Their mission is to vaccinate all (perhaps most of them) the pets, for the prevention of rabies disease. The veterinarians were working on a pretty strict time line where they need to finish their jobs in 22 days, the end of March, 2010.



“We were vaccinating the animals right there in the streets. People were coming out of houses and down the road with their animals. They brought their cats to us in bags. Even though it was hot out, with crowds of people surrounding us and sometimes we had very angry animals, it was worth it to know that we’re helping the Haitians out.” I'm so glad that even place like Haiti, after that disaster, they (Haitians) still love their pets too. :)






Black dog~





When the mission was complete, the vet teams had vaccinated nearly 10,000 animals and helped deliver vaccines which would protect nearly 540,000 more animals and countless people from rabies infection. Yay~ Good job vet teams!




Vaccinating the doggies~~







We'll make a better day~ Just you and me~ :)




♪We are the World 25 Haiti♪ [Youtube]
I like this song!! >.>