gracious/weblogs

Read Charlie's dog blog.

Taranaki Daily News photographer Mike Scott is focusing his camera on Antarctica during a 10-day stint in November, as part of Antarctica New Zealand's media program. While he's staying at Scott Base, his blog creates a picture of what makes this land of ice, penguins, scientists and ordinary Kiwis tick.

Which salamanders have four legs, a flat head, a paddle-like tail, beady little eyes and are called names like "snot otter" and "devil dog"?

Also known as Allegheny alligator, mollyhugger, and mud cat, the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is North America's largest salamander, reaching lengths of nearly 30 inches.

These strange, but interesting creatures once thrived in thousands of pristine streams throughout the eastern United States. Populations have drastically declined, mainly because of declining stream quality. Not only has the hellbender population dwindled by 80 per cent in the last 30 years, but those remaining have severe deformities - missing toes, limbs and open sores. There is a 95 per cent chance of extinction of this animal over the next 75 years.

The average age of Cryptobranchus in the wild is unknown, but in captivity, they have lived as long as twenty-nine years.

Hellbenders are not venomous, though their skin secretions are somewhat toxic. They will bite, but only if they are really provoked. A common myth is that hellbenders will 'ruin' good fishing streams by eating all the fish. This couldn't be farther from the truth! In fact, if you see hellbenders in a stream, this is an excellent indication that the water quality is still good -- and this is good for both hellbenders and game fish. The hellbender's voracious appetite for crayfish also means that they are very important for keeping a stream's food chain balanced, and this is good for fish and the entire ecosystem.


Photo #1: Kurt Buhlmann
Photo #2: Jeff Humphries

Afarensis defends the much maligned naked mole rats.

It's about time someone protests their continuously being labeled as ugly!

Not only are naked mole rats cute, but they are also quite amazing:

* They are not naked, they are not moles, and they are not rats - the naked mole rat is the only cold blooded mammal.

* Naked mole rats have the highest incest rate of all animals. A colony shows 80% genetic resemblance (in comparison: human siblings only show 50% resemblance).

* Unlike humans and most other mammals, nursing naked mole rats often have many more pups than mammary glands. Breeding female mole rats have an average of 12 mammae but can have as many as 28 pups at a time. Brookfield Zoo's original queen came to the zoo 1989, bore 45 litters in the course of her life, and produced more than 580 naked mole-rat pups!

* Naked mole rats are the only known mammals that operate a hive system, in the way that insects do, with one queen who does all the breeding and lots of workers who have no children of their own.

* Vicious fights-to-the-death periodically occur among mole rat females that are vying to become the colony's only breeding female, or "queen."

* Naked mole rats in the lab have reached up to 28 years of age.

* A mole rat's teeth grow from above and outside of its lips, allowing it to use its teeth for tunneling without getting its mouth full of soil. The animal can move its front teeth independently, spreading them apart and moving them together, like a pair of chopsticks.

* The teeth will grow 10 inches in one year, but by gnawing on hard things, they keep their teeth from getting too long. When naked mole rats are kept in captivity they are usually given a block of concrete to chew on.

* Naked mole rats in nature kidnap pups from other colonies and bring them back to serve as workers in their own tunnels; naked mole rats will invade neighboring colonies and fight for hostile takeover; and when naked mole rats disperse, or leave the colony to found a new one, they have often been found up to a mile away.

* Naked mole rats can run just as fast backwards as forwards.

* Naked mole rats produce at least 18 vocalizations -- more than any other rodent.

Here's a video from the Oregon Zoo.

Photo #1: "Eatin Celery" uploaded by knittingskwerlgurl

Photo #2: National Geographic

This is a Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar. Isn't he cute?


They are bright green with numerous blue spots with thin black outlines. Their eyespots are much bigger, with the black part being kind of shiny. They also have two other secondary fake eye spots that are yellow. The bottom half of their bodies are a sort of pinkish color. Viewed from certain angles they look like a small snake, to help scare off predators.

Here's a view of his cute little face.


Before they pupate, Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars turn a bright yellow color.


This is what the cute little catterpillar grows up to become:

Spicebush Swallowtail - Papilio troilus


The adults have a wingspan of 2.5 - 3.8 inches. Their range is most of the eastern half of the US, except extreme south Florida and Texas.

Source & photos: Butterfly Gardening & Conservation

Oh, Yummy, Yummy!

Freda's human companion found real, genuine, USA rawhide treats for her enjoyment!

Yup, they bought them from i-pets.com.

i-pets.com purchases all of their USA rawhide treats from Pet Factory. Pet Factory, located in Mundelein, Illinois, is one of the very few remaining rawhide manufacturers in the United States. They use all USA raised beef hides to make their treats - without chemicals or additives.

Because i-pets.com ships their USA rawhide treats right from the manufacturer, the treats are always absolutely the freshest. Because they're made 100% in the USA with USA materials, the treats are always absolutely the safest.

Bone apetit, Freda!

You obviously know a good thing when you see - - smell - - taste it!

Penny Adams at Webshots Blog shares her secrets for taking great shots like this one: