A Touch of Nature

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NATURAL DOG FOOD AND SUPPLEMENTS
100% Complete & Balanced Nutrition

Your dog relies on you for its health, happiness and well-being. One of the most important decisions you can make for your dog or puppy is to feed it a high quality pet food, rich in the fundamental nutrients it needs to maintain vitality and good health. Life's Abundance is scientifically formulated by Dr. Jane Bicks, a veterinarian recognized notionally as a foremost authority in the natural treatment of animals.

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A TOUCH OF NATURE
September 1, 2003 Issue
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DONNA'S COMMENTS
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We'll soon be heading out for San Francisco! It's a Nature's Sunshine convention that we go to each year and this year is a city we haven't been to in a long time. The best part is that we're going to see our favorite son, Benjamin. He's our only son. :-)

We had free airline tickets so we invited him to join us at the end of convention. We're planning on visiting Muir Woods [John Muir started the Sierra Club] and Point Reyes National Seashore along the coast and then we'll go inland and spend time at Yosemite National Park. When we were in San Francisco 26 years ago I hadn't "discovered" the total wonder of nature so our itinerary didn't include these stops.

NATURAL HEROES

Natural Heroes is a new Public Television series featuring independently produced films from all over the country with a common theme: real people making a difference for the environment and enhancing the world around us. And it is a series whose content is still being compiled.

Visit the site to find out more about our call for entries. Perhaps you or someone you know has produced a short, documentary, or educational program that encourages people to think more readily about the role they play in the world around them. We're looking for stories of people challenging current environmental standards, and once we have them we're sure this series will set off some sparks in the viewers' experience. Send in an entry!

Autumn is Coming! Hope you're putting some hikes and visits to local parks on your September calendar! If you don't schedule it, you won't get there!

Blessings to each of you!
Donna

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CRITTER FACTS
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DRAGONFLIES...
HELPFUL & MYSTERIOUS

Did you know that dragonflies travel up to 40 miles an hour? This means they can eat pesky mosquitoes and flies in mid-air! Researchers have discovered some interesting things about these creatures, but there are many questions yet to be answered.

Discover why dragonflies are so mysterious...and so handy to have around.

SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYX REINTRODUCED TO THE WILD
by David Milner

The scimitar-horned oryx, which was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources a number of years ago, has been reintroduced in the newly created Ferlo National Park in Senegal.

" It's a dust bowl right now," said wildlife biologist Bill Clark, who is coordinating the reintroduction effort. "Decades of mismanagement, overgrazing, erosion and other problems have badly damaged the (area). But now we have a slice of that habitat - about a million acres - and we're working to restore that landscape to its natural integrity. This is where the oryxes have come home."

Eight of the animals are now living in the park. Five of them were born and raised at the Yotvata Wildlife Preserve in Israel, and the others came from the Paris Zoo in France.

" The oryx is a hardy and robust animal that endured a most challenging habitat for many thousands of years, and flourished," said International Fund for Animal Welfare President Fred O'Regan. "But it could not endure the introduction of modern firearms and human mismanagement of its habitats. There's a lesson for everyone in that." © 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.

View a picture of the oryx.

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THOSE AMAZING BIRDS!
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STOP THE PREDATORS AT YOUR FEEDERS

Squirrels, Raccoons, Hawks? No problem!
Read tips and articles about the pests at your feeders.

WOODPECKER: Red-Headed

Courtship involves them chasing each other noisily and then they dig the net in a dead snag or a utility pole. Four to five eggs are laid. Insects and fruit are their summer diet. In the winter they live on acorns from storehouse [a cavity or crevice in a tree trunk]. In the Fall, they will fill it and then plug the opening with bark.

WOODPECKER: Red-Bellied

This bird eats more vegetation than insects. Berries, corn, acorns are favorites. They've been seen eating the pulp of oranges in Florida. They begin courtship by drumming side by side on a tree. The male excavates the nest hole. Three to five eggs are laid and they hatch in two weeks.

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GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE- Restoring the Balance
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PLANTING A MEMORIAL TREE

The planting of memorial trees is an age-old tradition throughout the world. Trees have always been recognized as Nature's best gift to humankind. The planting of trees has always symbolized life, growth and hope for the future.

Trees are also planted in honor of a life well lived and as a symbol of everlasting affection. Trees can be planted in honor of a friendship, or an individual's invaluable service to the community, or to an organization or company.

Select a tree with special meaning to you and your family. If you are memorializing a person, their favorite tree might be the best candidate. If you are memorializing an event, you might consider trees that bloom around the anniversary of that events date each year.

Here's a site that gives you symbolic meanings of some trees and flowers.

This site includes flowers, trees and herbs.

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NATURE'S BOUNTY FOR US
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Nature offers essential oils with potent properties that can be used in many
areas around the home. For health, bath, beauty, and household cleaning
supplies. Here's our featured recipe for this issue:

HEADACHES, MUSCLE PAIN & ADHD

" I had used Lavender Oil to take away my chronic muscle pain and headaches, so I decided to try Focus Blend Essential Oils for our ADHD child. It has really made a difference in his concentration and schoolwork." D. Goodman

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" GREEN" INFO- Making It a Way of Life!
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GREEN HOME

People need clean, healthy habitats just like wildlife. Your yard isn't the only place where you can take action to decrease the pollution to our air, water and other resources. Look at your own household, for instance. The ways that you consume water and energy, the cleaning products you use, and even the items you purchase, use, and throw away can have a very significant health impact for you and wildlife.

In the sections below, you'll learn how easy it is to live a "greener," healthier lifestyle in and around your home. When you create a "green home" you do more than make the place where you live more livable. You do a service to your community, setting an example for your neighbors to follow.

You might want to experiment with one or two suggested actions.

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MUSINGS: POETRY & PROSE
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A PRAYER FOR THE WORLD

Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations.

Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect.

Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows.

Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly. So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color.

Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness. So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrows of our neighbors.

And let the light of the sun be so strong that we see all people as our neighbors.

Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us by beauty.

And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to Heaven.

by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner

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GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR PLANET
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LEGISLATORS CALL FOR USE OF WILDLIFE REHABILITATORS
by Sherry Morse

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has unanimously passed a resolution calling for the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) to use licensed wildlife rehabilitators to care for injured and/or orphaned wild animals.

" Pennsylvania‚s wildlife rehabilitators are licensed and trained in the proper handling, treatment and release protocols for any animals brought to them for care," said Fund for Animals Cruelty Caseworker P.J. McKosky. "It only makes sense for the PGC to utilize this important resource that is available to them."

The resolution, which gives the Commission until December 31, 2003 to investigate the use of rehabilitators and report back to the House Game and Fisheries Committee, was prompted by the recent leaking of a PGC internal memorandum indicating that members of the public should be instructed to leave orphaned animals alone and they should in some cases be killed in order to prevent suffering.

" The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has demonstrated its commitment to the humane treatment of orphaned and injured wildlife," said Fund for Animals National Director Heidi Prescott. "However, until the PGC adopts the new policy, we are still encouraging citizens who find orphaned wildlife to call a licensed wildlife rehabilitator directly to ensure that the animals are not unnecessarily killed."

Sources
The Fund for Animals
www.fund.org/library/documentViewer.asp?ID=980
Fund for Animals Praises Pennsylvania Legislators for Unanimously Passing Resolution to Protect Orphaned Wildlife - Pennsylvania General Assembly
www2.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2003/0/HR0211P1810.pdf
House Resolution No. 211

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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 anyone either explicitly or impliedly. In no event shall Donna Watkins or" 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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