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HAVE A PARTY!
Enjoy gathering with women and doing girl stuff?
Make some money while you have fun! Check out
the new HomeSpa Party Plan. Make household
cleaners, deodorizers and bath and beauty products
with essential oils and have fun showing others too.

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A TOUCH OF NATURE
January 1, 2003 Issue

Search previous issues and subscribe

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DONNA'S COMMENTS
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Please help me protect our natural world! Have you seen the rain forest site where you can click once a day for free and provide funds from advertisers that help the rain forest? It did so well, they're doing a lot of other segments to protect our world.

They now have primates, oceans, and big cats. If you've never known about these Care2.com sites, visit and sign up to get reminders - you can choose how often you want to click for free. It takes me less than one minute to click all 4 every day. They will soon have one for abandoned pets also. Here's the links. Pick a favorite or do them all! Sign up to track your clicks and win prizes.

Primates     Oceans     Rain Forest     Big Cats

Thanks for helping!
Donna

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CRITTER FACTS
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WILDLIFE TRACKING BASICS

There's nothing more exciting than to be able to find out what wildlife has been visiting your yard by looking for tracks. It's like discovering a secret to me!! After a snow is a good time to look or after a good rain at other times of the year. The fun part is getting to find out who has been there and then to read about the behaviors of the animal. Sometimes following the tracks can give you some clues also.

There are field guides that help you to recognize the basic imprints of feet and also of scat [the end result of previous meals]. Read an informative and delightful article on this subject

ARMADILLOS - The Fire Ant Patrol!
Humane Society of the United States - Wildlife Division

Although armadillos have several unique characteristics that distinguish them from other mammals, the more than 2,000 bony scales that cover the head, legs, and back are their most notable features. The Spanish word armadillo means "little armored one." The "armor" of the armadillo is composed of bony plates covered by a leathery skin. While this hard shell offers some protection, it cannot really repel predator attacks. However, it may provide protection when the armadillo coils himself in his burrow and a predator cannot get enough of a grasp to do any damage.

Armadillos range throughout the south-central and southeastern United States and may now be found as far north as Oklahoma and Arkansas. This range expansion has been aided somewhat by humans, who have transported armadillos to other parts of the country.

Originally native to South America, armadillo colonization in the U.S. seems to have taken place only within the last 150 years. The armadillo found in the U.S. is called the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) because of the nine bands that run across the armor plating on the back, which allow for flexing. However, unlike some of his relatives, the nine-banded armadillo can't roll up into a ball. His defense from predators is to either dig or enter an existing burrow, or to press his unprotected belly against the ground with his legs tucked under his shields. The nine-banded is the only armadillo who can swim, though, and it's not a myth; these armadillos may even hold their breath and walk along the bottom when crossing streams.

Armadillos live in a variety of habitats, including thorn scrub, mixed grasslands, and wooded bottomlands. Their preferred habitat may be wetlands with dense shade and sandy soils that are easy to dig. River valleys and areas around creeks, stock ponds, and reservoirs are choice armadillo habitats. Usually nocturnal, armadillos dig numerous emergency and temporary burrows. These may range in depth from 20 inches to 20 feet. More permanent abodes may include a network of tunnels with three to four entrances.

The armadillo's diet consists mostly of insects and other invertebrates. Small animals, baby birds, eggs, and carrion may occasionally be eaten as well. Armadillos are almost constantly active when foraging-poking and probing into crevices and under litter for food. They continuously grunt while foraging and appear not to be particularly attentive to their surroundings. In fact, if you hold still it may be possible to have a foraging armadillo actually bump into you.

The armadillo mating season occurs during July and August, but implantation is delayed several months until about November. The normal litter size is four, all of the same sex and all genetically identical because the offspring are derived from a single egg. Armadillo kits are born fully developed, but it takes several weeks for the pink leathery skin to harden into its lifelong protective covering.

Problems and Solutions
Two types of problems generally occur with armadillos. While feeding, they may root around in a garden or landscaped area and disturb plantings. The second type of conflict occurs in the digging of semi permanent tunnel networks. The disturbance of gardens is generally temporary. The armadillo may simply move on after getting his fill.

In some cases, armadillos may even be providing a valuable service by feeding on destructive insects. Armadillos are one of the few animals who will take on fire ants and can be highly beneficial when these insects are present.

The damaging effects of tunneling and burrowing are also usually localized and may be addressed by a combination of habitat modification, exclusion, and elimination of cover. Removing brush or weed cover can encourage armadillos to move elsewhere, as can restricting access to sources of water..

Fencing can be used to successfully exclude armadillos from gardens, small yards, or water sources. They are able climbers and skilled diggers however, so any type of fencing must take these attributes into account. Bury the fence a foot or more down to deter tunneling, and prevent "climb-overs" by including a rigid overhang that extends outward for a foot or more at about a 45° angle. Alternatively, semi-rigid plastic fencing, of the sort used at construction sites, can also work with armadillos, since they do not like to climb an unstable fence.

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GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE- Restoring the Balance
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THE GARDENER'S COMPANION

Remember the Farmer's Almanac? You can find it online with a forum where you can ask questions and chat with other gardeners. What a great past time for the winter months to learn what to do in the spring!

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NATURE AND HEALTH
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HAPPY WITH NATURE

Intuitively, we know something in us responds to nature, even as most of us live our workaday lives further and further removed from flora and fauna. Learn why contact with animals, plants and nature may be a potent antidote to stress, distracting us from worrisome thoughts, reducing anxiety and lowering blood pressure. Read this article

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"GREEN" INFO- Making It a Way of Life!
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MAKE A LITTLE BIT OF DIFFERENCE!

Do you ever feel that environmental problems are so big and gnarly that you personally can't make much of a difference? After all, there you are using recycled toilet paper while cruise ships are dumping their used martini glasses overboard. If each of us does a little, it all adds up to a lot! Here's a site with some tips on how to make a difference every day.

THE GREEN SQUAD

Do you know any kids who go to school? Or maybe you're still a kid at heart yourself? Either way, you'll definitely want to check out "The Green Squad," National Resources Defense Council's newest website that helps kids find and fix environmental problems common in schools. Kids taking action for greener, healthier schools.

SHOULD BOTTLE DEPOSITS BECOME LAW?

Last summer, Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), head of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced a measure that would require the beverage industry to bear the cost of recycling 80% of its containers within two years of the bill's passage. The national bill, similar to many programs already existing in other states, would institute a refundable deposit on all cans and bottles; this one 10 cents.

Between 1992 and 1999, there was a 50 percent drop in recycling rates for cans and bottles. The addition of a national 10-cent deposit would almost certainly get that rate to rebound. Read more about this

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MUSINGS: POETRY & PROSE
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"Life is a garden,
good friends are the flowers,
And times spent together
life's happiest hours."
Helen Steiner Rice

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GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR PLANET
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SEND IN THE MARINE RESERVES

Australia has unveiled plans to create the world's largest marine reserve in 16 million acres of the Indian Ocean, 2,500 miles off the nation's southwest coast. The Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve will be twice the size of Switzerland and will protect one of the world's most pristine marine environments from exploitation, including fishing and oil and mineral extraction.

The Antarctic waters of the reserve-to-be are home to many important species, including the endangered southern elephant seal, the sub-Antarctic fur seal, and the Patagonian toothfish. Heard Island is home to Big Ben, Australia's highest mountain and only active volcano; McDonald Island has such a steep coastline that only two boats have landed there since it was discovered more than a century ago. Although there is no commercial fishing in the area, the Australian government estimates that poachers net 2,200 tons of fish in southern waters every month. [BBC News]

From: http://www.gristmagazine.com/forward.pl?forward_id=563

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DISCLAIMER:
The content, suggestions, and web links in this newsletter are for
informational purposes only and not necessarily endorsed by our sponsor "The
Herbs Place.com" This is a personal publication by Donna Watkins. The ideas
and information expressed in it have not been approved or authorized by
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"The Herbs Place.com" be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from
any action arising in connection with the use of this information or its
publication, including any action for infringement of copyright or
defamation.

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