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A TOUCH OF NATURE
October 15, 2003 Issue
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CRITTER FACTS
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FACT OR FICTION?  ARE YOU "BLIND AS A BAT?"

In fact, all bats can see, but most species augment their vision with
echo-location whee the sounds they emit bounce back to them, identifying
what lies ahead as they flit through the air. In experiments, bats have
been known to fly across rooms crisscrossed with string without becoming
entangled, even when their vision has been obscured.

SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY

We need forests to have critters and wildlife that we enjoy so much, but
nobody is willing to do without wood products. Getting educated on the
issue of managing our forests is the only way to look at timber harvesting
objectively. Americans are the biggest consumers in the world and also
generate the most waste. It's easy to feel hypocritical about protecting
forests from harvesting when we get over 5,000 products from trees.
Ken Manno defines it this way: "Basically sustainable forestry is
conserving the forest resource, not just talking timber, it is wildlife, air
quality and water quality, it is all encompassing. Essentially what we are
trying to do is ensure that future generations will have the same
opportunities that we are experiencing because of this forest resource."
Learning more about sustainable forestry gives you a balanced view about
forests and trees and the use of them. Find out what sustainable forestry
is and what it means.

Find resource links for certified forest products and places to buy them.

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THOSE AMAZING BIRDS!
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BLUEJAY

Most vocal in Autumn, the bluejay's curiosity may cause him to follow a man
into the woods shouting warnings. They're silent during the nesting season.
After courtship where the male feeds his mate while exchanging low whistles,
the pair collects twigs to find a site. Preferred habitat is coniferous
trees or thickets. They form a platform of twigs, bark, grass, and paper
and then make a bed of fine roots which sits on a base of mud cups. Four to
six eggs are laid which hatch in 17 days. They may peck on encroaching
humans.

Bluejays eat three times as much vegetable matter as animal matter. They
store acorns and nuts for winter and often bury them as squirrels do. Foods
eaten include spiders, snails, salamanders and tree frogs, hairy
caterpillars, and they even prey on mice. It's been observed that they may
devour eggs and young of songbirds, but they are not a major threat.

HOW-TO-DO-IT-YOURSELF FOR BIRDS

There's nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself. From building
your own feeders to favorite bird feeding recipes. Bird Watcher's Digest
has compiled various tips, articles, and how-to projects to help you make
birdwatching easier, and perhaps more fun.

Visit now.

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GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE- Restoring the Balance
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SPACE INVADERS

In any ecosystem, native species of plants and animals have evolved together
over thousands of years and are adapted to the climate, precipitation, soil
types, predators and parasites that exist there. As a result, healthy
ecosystems tend to have a balance, with no one species dominating over the
others.

Non-native species, also called "alien" species, are those that have been
introduced into new ecosystems through human action. Many become invasive in
their new ecosystem because they lack natural predators, pests or other
checks on their population. As a result, they out-compete native species,
spread rampantly and drastically reduce natural biological diversity.
Understand more about this widening problem.

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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:

CARPET CLEANING

" We used 10 drops of Lemon Essential Oil for each gallon as we cleaned our
carpets today. It was amazing how it brightened up the rug and helped pull
stains out....and what a fresh smell! We got daring and decided to use
Lavender Oil for the bedroom and it was great! I also noticed that by having
the Lemon in the solution, there was not a problem with foaming in the dirty
water." Happy Housekeeper in Georgia

Read more about the benefits of these oils and find other recipes.

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" GREEN" INFO- Making It a Way of Life!
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CLEANING UP THE DRY CLEANING BUSINESS

Walk into the Rhode Island Cleaners in Washington, D.C.‚s Tenleytown
neighborhood and the first thing you‚ll notice is the smell: There is none.
„ It shocks our customers,‰ says Joe Lothrop, who has owned the dry cleaning
shop since 1991. „Then they ask, ŒHave you moved the cleaning off-site?‚‰
The whiff they‚re missing is perchloroethylene, or „perc,‰ a sweet-smelling
solvent with a reputation for removing grease, blood and other tough stains
from garments for nearly 50 years.

But for the last decade or so, it‚s also topped the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency‚s (EPA) list of hazardous air pollutants. The
International Agency for Research on Cancer also lists it as a probable
human carcinogen, and it is cited as the number one contaminant of
groundwater in Southern California, which prompted Southern California air
quality officials to enact a phaseout of perc over the next 20 years.
Most of the nearly 40,000 dry cleaners nationwide are still using the
chemical, but since California often leads the nation on environmental
legislation, a nationwide ban may be on the horizon. Read more.

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MUSINGS: POETRY & PROSE
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" Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead
where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR PLANET
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GM CROPS OKAY FOR HUMANS, BUT THREAT TO WILDLIFE

A much-anticipated review by the British government of genetically modified
(GM) crops has found that they are safe to consume but pose a serious threat
to the environment.

The 300-page report, produced by a panel of 24 scientists and policy
advisors, is by far the most exhaustive study of GM crops to date. To the
relief of GM advocates, it found that transgenic food products do not
currently pose a significant threat to human health.

However, the report raised many environmental concerns, such as the
likelihood that GM crops will contaminate organic crops.

The most alarming environmental problem, according to the report, is the
threat posed to wildlife by the ultra-powerful weed-killers that GM crops
are bred to tolerate. Widespread use of GM crops could lead to more use of
such herbicides, which could wipe out plants and insects critical to the
habitat and diet of farmland birds and other wildlife.

More of the story here.

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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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