Recycle Your Pumpkin for Wildlife If possible, don’t dump your used pumpkin in the trash. If nothing else, pumpkins are easily composted, feeding worms and microbes. But they also can be turned into a variety of wildlife treats. In my experience, squirrels will be the first to lay claim to any pumpkin in your backyard. But this seems to vary by region and even by neighborhood. In some communities, I see lots of intact, carved pumpkins decorating yards. In others, it looks like the local pumpkins were subject to a chainsaw massacre, with parts strewn all over the lawn thanks…
Author: tipdive
The archeology of southern Brazil has been paying attention, since the 1960s, to a very special type of ancient human occuption found in many points of the plateau in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and, mainly, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, in addition to some similar finds near the coast, in the south of Santa Catarina. The archeology of southern Brazil has been paying attention, since the 1960s, to a very special type of ancient human occupation found in many points of the plateau in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and, mainly, Santa Catarina and Rio…
The Pacific Plate is migrating northwestward at a rate similar to that of your fingernails – several millimeters each year.This continuous plate movement over a local volcanic “hot spot,” or plume, has resulted in an assembly-line-style chain of volcanic islands.They are known (really) as Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands (also known as the Hawaiian archipelago) are made up of eight major islands and 124 islets that run 1,500 miles northwest from the Big Island of Hawaii to Japan and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, at the centre of the “Pacific Plate” on top of a “hot spot.”The islands have a combined…
In 1815, Henry Brown was born into slavery at the Hermitage Plantation in Louisa County, Virginia. Up until his teenage years, Henry Brown did work on the fields within the plantation. In 1830, Henry Brown was sent to work in Richmond, a year before the events of Nat Turner’s Rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia. In 1849, Henry Brown mailed himself, in a 3 foot long and 2 and a half foot tall box, onwards to freedom into the city of Philadelphia. Once out of the box, earned the nickname of Henry “Box” Brown and sung a bible verse to celebrate…
The legend of Kópakonan (the Seal Woman) is one of the best-known folktales in the Faroe Islands. Seals were believed to be former human beings who voluntarily sought death in the ocean. Once a year, on the Thirteenth night, they were allowed to come on land, strip off their skins and amuse themselves as human beings, dancing and enjoying themselves. A young farmer from the village of Mikladalur on the northern island of Kalsoy, wondering if this story was true, went and lay in wait on the beach one Thirteenth evening. He watched and saw the seals arriving in large…
Cymothoa exigua, or the tongue-eating louse, is a parasitic isopod of the family Cymothoidae. It enters fish through the gills. The female attaches to the tongue, while the male attaches to the gill arches beneath and behind the female. Females are 8–29 mm (0.3–1.1 in) long and 4–14 mm (0.16–0.55 in) wide. Males are about 7.5–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long and 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in) wide. The parasite severs the blood vessels in the fish’s tongue, causing the tongue to fall off. It then attaches itself to the remaining stub of tongue and the parasite itself effectively serves as the…
Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz, 1843) is the best-known-to-the-public shark, thanks to its gigantic serrated teeth and fantastic jaw recreations that appear in museums around the world. With a mouth over 6 1/2′ wide, laden with over 250 gigantic teeth (the largest known is over 7″ tall!) in 5 rows, this shark is deserving of its limelight! In paleontologic circles, there is some debate on which genus the teeth of Megalodon should be ascribed to. The similarity of their giant teeth to those of the Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) led researchers to ascribe Megalodon to the genus Carcharodon. (The giant teeth…
Watermelon, the most awaited fruit in summer, is traditionally known for its round and hefty shape. However, in Japan, there’s an intriguing innovation that transforms the appearance of watermelons into a square. How is this possible? The Origin of the Square Watermelon InnovationThe idea of growing watermelons in square boxes originated from the need for efficiency and convenience in logistics. Japanese farmers devised this new method to make watermelons not only delicious but also practical in terms of storage and transportation. In practice, farmers cultivate watermelons in specific square containers that shape the fruit into a square form. This process…
Belize’s Great Blue Hole is one of the country’s most famous attractions and is, without a doubt, one of the top diving sites in the world. Surrounded by the Lighthouse Reef atoll, the Great Blue Hole is a natural sinkhole that measures roughly 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. Seen from space, the center of the hole is a deep navy blue that stands out in a sea of aquamarine waters and white-sand beaches. The Great Blue Hole is believed to be the world’s largest feature of its kind and is part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System,…
Wildlife photography connects people to the systems of nature that exist outside of our human-centred world. It’s an essential tool to inspire the desire to protect wildlife and spark important change. A fox pictured in South London, after its family took up residence in a local cemetery. Photograph by Lewis James Newman A fox family took up residence in a local cemetery, and I got to know its routines. Spring was approaching, and the local council let the wild flowers grow. I could see the dandelions starting to grow and the vixen would choose a particular spot right in the…