Shadow Void

Earthworm; Keeping Our Soil Healthy

Earthworms come in many sizes. Some earthworms range in size from 3/4 of an inch to 8 inches. Though there are many who range from 10 feet, 12 feet, and up to 22 feet. Why am I choosing to write up a piece on Earthworms? I think they are amazing animals. When one considering what they do. Earthworms are active at night. They feed on bits and pieces of dead organisms. Their castings help to fertilize the soil. Their burrows help air and water reach plant roots. These worms live in moist soil. Mucus along their body keeps them from drying out. Each segment on their body has it's muscles. Muscles that the worm uses to help pull itself along the soil. Each segment also has setae ( hairs ) that also helps move the worm along. These setae actually help the worm grip the soil. Some earthworms can live for 10 years. There are 700 earthworms in one square yard. One bucket of soil can contain 200 worms. Each worm contains male and female sex organs, however it takes to worms in order to mate. Mating takes place on the surface.

With so many invertebrates around us, it's no surprise that some are beneficial. Sure, I've just got done telling you about the earthworm and I've also told you about the honeybee, but there are still other invertebrates out there that help us out. Honeybees are not the only invertebrates that pollinate plants. There are multitude of other bees, beetles, and even moths that pollinate flowers. Invertebrates ability to help us out doesn't end there. There are still countless more that aid us. There are a hundreds that feed on other invertebrates that could harm us or our economy. In some countries, people eat invertebrates. They can serve as a source of inspiration for inventions. The chemical that allows mussels to hold fast to rocks led to the invention of super glue. The venom of invertebrates is being used to treat cancers. The venom of scorpions is being used to target certain brain tumors. Invertebrates also help us in the realm of criminal justice. Forensic scientist know how to tell the stages of fly maggots to determine how long a body has been dead. These examples are but just a few of the ways that invertebrates aid us. At any rate, I hope that maybe we have something to be thankful for.

StoneFish

Stonefish - ( Synanceja horrida )

Stonefish are one of the most venomous fish in the world. They can reach 12 to 23 1/2 inches long and weigh in at 4 1/2 lbs. They belong to the same family as the venomous scorpion fish. This fish has the largest venom glands found on fish. It has 13 spines on it's back. Each of these spines is hooked up to 2 venom sacs. Each sac takes about a week to recharge. Those spines can penetrate more than 1/2 inch into the skin. Swimmers who step on this fish are going to experience a painful sting. Symptoms of the sting are difficulty breathing, severe pain, nausea, vomiting, fever ( if infection sets in ), headaches, seizures, and paralysis. Death can and does happen. These fish bury into the sand and the mud on the ocean floor. They are almost invisible against the backdrop of rocks and coral. They sit waiting for a fish to swim by. When one does, they attack with lightning speed, an attack by a stonefish on a another fish lasts only 0.015 of a second. Even the warts on the body secrete a toxic fluid. Now in case stumble across a one of these fish on land, you may want to know that they can live for 10 hours on land. It's also important to know that even a dead fish can kill. All it takes is pressure applied to the spines for the dead fish to inject it's venom. It can be found living down to 131 feet. It makes its home among sandy seabed, rocky reefs, and coral reefs. Apart from fish, they will also feed on crustaceans.

It only takes one view of this fish to realize that this fish isn't pretty. Nature is sometimes beautiful but more often than not it's pretty brutal. Predators can be brutal. If you've ever seen a nature show, then you know what I'm about. Lions, tigers, polar bears, and sharks among with a host of other predators are all doing what nature compels them to do. We tend to judge animals based on their behaviors and appearance. The stonefish is both ugly and venomous but it doesn't deserve extinction. We need to remember that even the ugly, the beautiful, and the venomous all deserve a place on our planet. I mention this because this animal is on the endangered species list. Not all the animals that live on our planet attract the love and attention that leads to protection. Thanks for listening.

Leather Back Sea Turtle

Leather Back Sea Turtle - Dermochelyes corriacea

So what is a Leather Back? A leather back sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world. It can weigh in a range of 1,770 to 1,900 lbs. The flippers alone can measure 8 ft long. It's shell measures 5 ft. long. It is found in both the Atlantic ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It can be found as far north as Alaska. This reptile has some ability to generate it's own body heat. Something it needs to help it deal with both the cooler ocean waters as well as ocean depths. It can actually make dives as far as 1,300 to 3,300 feet. To help with those dives, it can hold it's breath for up to a half hour. Unlike other sea turtles the leather back lacks claws on the flippers and, it also lacks scales on the shell. It's known to cover great distances. It feeds on jellyfish, mollusks, echinoderms, and a crustaceans. Like all sea turtles, the females return to the same beaches where they were born to lay their eggs. A female may lay up to 200 eggs at a time. They always lay their eggs at night. This helps protect the nest from predators. Sadly like many other sea turtles, this species is critically endangered. There may be fewer than 5,000 turtles in our oceans now.

 

Why are sea turtles in such bad shape? It would be easy for me to say that mankind is the reason for their decline. I would be right in saying that we are the reason for the decline. Chemicals such as mercury build up in the tissues and can sicken them. Our garbage floating in the water can kill or injury sea turtles. Sea turtles can become entangled in old nets, stuck with fishing hooks, or choke on plastic bags. You might think, I'm joking about the bags, but I'm not. They mistake the bags floating through the water for jellyfish. We hunt sea turtles for their meat and for their shells. Even the unborn babies aren't safe, we build on the sites of egg laying beaches, harvest the eggs for both food and silly beliefs. People believe that eating the eggs will give sexual prowess. It is easy for me to see a day when these great turtles will be no more. Please, I urge you to click on the post below and help me take action to save them.

I'm Not A Know It All

Last week, a friend stopped by to drop some money off that he owed me. Now this friend happens to like my scorpions in fact he wants one someday. Anyway, he seems to have it in his head that I am some kind of expert when it comes to animals. I am constantly reminding him that I am not an authority on the subject. Usually after telling him this, he will ask me how much I know about the subject. Sometimes, I can answer his questions about animals. Other times, I have to be honest and tell him that I don't have a clue.

Either, I am humbled that would come to me with his questions. I find that on Gather.com that there are times also when I'm asked to help id a bug or a flower that I just can't figure it out. I end up hitting the books. I end up learning a little bit more from those situations, when I don't know the answer. Without the God given talent that's been granted to me, I wouldn't be able to do what I do. Having the talent has been a blessing, I love the animals and the plants that around me. It's truly a blessing in my life. It's also been a blessing to others. I give thanks to God for the love of nature, , the opportunities to share the love, and all the opportunities that I get to assist others.

How can I assist others? My favorite way to help others is to answer their questions. I love to try to help people change their views through presentations, emails, or their questions presented to me face to face. Now, it is a lot harder to id any plant or animal based on a description alone. I do much better when I can see that plant or animal either in person or in a picture. When I can't see the animal or plant, all I can do is guess. Like I said before though, I don't have all the answers. If I can't answer your question, I promise to find out the answer.

 

Common Cuckoo/Eurasian Cuckoo - Cuculus canorus

Common Cuckoo - Cuculus canorus

The Common cuckoo is 13 inches long. They are about the size of a jay. Did you know that it is the male that gives not only this particular family of bird's it's name but also this species of bird it's name. Common cuckoos feed on caterpillars and other invertebrates. Females are polyandrous meaning that the female may have more than one mate. Each female will lay somewhere between 12 to 20 eggs. The mother cuckoo will only lay one egg in each nest. Common Cuckoos don't build a nest. Instead, they lay their eggs in the nest of other song birds. The mother will only lay her eggs in the nests of the same species of bird. In fact her eggs, will only math the eggs of that same species of bird. The foster mother and foster father will incubate egg and feed the baby as if the baby were their own. Very often the foster parents are smaller than the cuckoo baby and still they will feed the baby. Common cuckoo chicks have a deadly secret for their step adoptive brothers and sisters. The cuckoo hatches first and when it comes in contact with an egg, it will push the egg or eggs out of the nest. Common Cuckoos can be found across Europe, Asia, and Africa. These birds are migratory and can be found across Africa. Cuckoos prefer woodland clearings and cultivated areas to live. Sadly, even this species is feeling pressure from humans. It is on the decline due to habitat loss and climate change. Well that is all I have to say about that for right.

 

Well I might be done with the animal, there is still something else that I want to talk about. I want to talk to you about brood parasites. Brood parasites use other species to raise their young. I personally think that the cuckoo and the cowbirds are the most famous of the avian brood parasites. However, they are not the only brood parasites out there. The brown-headed cowbird for example has large number of different bird species that it takes advantage of around 221 different species are known. It important to keep in mind that although this may seem very harsh to us, this behavior is perfectly normal to them. Back to the cowbird for a second, as species we are allowing this bird to move further east. As it does, it still utilizes brood parasitism. At any rate, you want to learn more feel free to search it out. Oh...one last thing, not all cuckoos are brood parasites. At any rate thanks for reading!

YouTube Video of the week

A Potential Poisonous Fish

I had a hard time selecting a fish for the last installment of my venom series. I had forgotten about the barracuda. It hit me a couple nights ago that eating barracuda does lead to a form of poisoning. We are now going to be jumping into the ocean. You are going to be facing the Barracuda on it's on turf.

Great barracuda ( Sphyraena barracuda )

This large predatory fish can be found from Massachusetts to Brazil. It can also be found in the Gulf of Mexico. The smaller sized fish can be found near the shore while larger speciemens can be found offshore. They have worldwide distrubtion as a species. There are a total of 8 species found worldwide. They feed on squid, fish, and shrimp. They can swim at speeds of 25 to 27 mphs. These fish are known to attack humans. In fact, these fish are even known kill humans. They've even been known sicken even more people. The large fish between the size of five to 8 feet are considered to be potentially dangerous. Unlike sharks, barracuda make one large bite that removes a large chunk of flesh. They hunt by sight so divers or swimmers should avoid murky water, wearing bright clothes, or wearing anything shiny. Barracuda will approach and follow humans. Though they aren't as dangerous as most people think. So I mentioned that they are poisonous.

Unlike other poisonous fish, the barracuda gets the poison from the animals that they eat. More precisely, it gets the poison from it's prey have eaten. In humans, the poisoning is called ciguatera poisoning. It's quite the nasty little poison too. The toxin is called ciguatoxin. It's commonly found in micro-organisms. In humans, the symptoms are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, muscle aches, parethesia, numbness, ataxia, and even hallucinations. It cannot be destroyed by heat, so cooking won't get rid of it. Oh...and on top of it, the poisoning leads to long term disability.

This biological technique is called bio-magnification. It's used in barracuda as well as many other animals. Bi -magnification is pretty hard to explain but I'm going to try. Basically, what happens is that little animal contains toxin. A small animal eats that micro-organism. Small animal gets eaten by larger animal until it ends up in the body of the last stage of food chain. There it builds up to the point where it becomes dangerous. Hence the reaon why only larger sized barracuda seem to cause the poisoning. Any way, I am going.

 

Join With Me

Hi there, I just took action to prevent the invasive species, Asian Carp, from entering Lake Michigan. This is incredibly urgent! Please help me protect our Great Lakes. Take action here: http://action.sierraclub.org/Carp_Invasion Thanks!

Poisonous Birds????

As promised, here is another one of my articles on venomous or poisonous animals. This animal that we are featuring today is called the Hooded Pitohui or Pitohui dichrous. In Papua New Guinea the natives call it the garbage bird. For good reasons, they can't use it. It's feathers, skin, and dander seem to contain batrachotoxin ( BTX ). It's another animal that makes use of neurtoxins. It's also not the only animal to use BTX. Arrow poison frogs also use BTX. However unlike many other poisonous or venomous animals, it is widely accepted that both the frog and Pitohui get the poison from the beetles that they eat. Luckily for us, the birds don't have the same concentration of the toxin in their feathers. It is thought the poison keeps them from being eaten. Anyway, that is it for today. Talk to you later!

Top Two Questions

Whenever I do a presentation or have the animals out at an activity, I'm amazed at the questions that I'm asked. Sometimes, I get asked a question that I haven't heard before but I almost always get one of these two questions. The first question that I get a lot is "Are they poisonous / venomous?". Well, the answer is actually yes. Almost all of my animals with the expectation of my hissing cockroaches are in fact venomous and only the millipedes are poisonous. I suppose the better question really is "Which animal poses a risk to humans?". Well, that is a hard question to ask, but without a doubt my gray tunneling spider and my Orange baboon spider are perhaps more toxic than any of my other creatures. Don't get me wrong, you don't want to get bit by any of my animals. The other question that I get a lot of is "Does that animal still have its venom?". My answer to that is yes. All my animals still have their original toxins. To take away the venom of a spider is too kill it. What benefit is gained by removing the venom from an animal? There is not any benefit to be gained. One just has to know what to do when working with the animals and what not to do. There is no second guessing the animals at all. I believe strongly that one must never be distracted when working around the animals. Anyway, I am going for now.