Creature Feature: Bison

Bison are big. I mean, big news. Since 1782, the United States has called the bald eagle it's national bird. Its sharp beak and keen eyes can be seen on everything from the President's seal to post office trucks (even though I always thought it was just a letter traveling at light speed). Now, in 2016, the bison has been adopted as the national mammal. 

Cool Facts About Bison

• Males are called "bulls", and females are called "cows". Bulls can weigh over 2,000 pounds, making them the largest land mammals in North America. 
• The direct ancestor of the modern-day bison lived 400,000 years ago, and had horns like measured 9 feet from tip to tip! (Today's bison horns are 2 feet.)
• "Bison bison" is their scientific name, and "bison" is the correct common name. The term "buffalo", however, is widely used and accepted. 
• You can tell their mood by their tails. When their tails are raised straight up, it indicated their intention to charge. 
• There are two variants: the wood bison and the plains bison. 
• They can run up to 40 miles per hour and jump 6 feet!
• Just like us humans, they can be 6 feet tall, and they have a 9-month pregnancy. But unlike us, their babies weigh 30 pounds. 
• Bison help the soil. They graze on grass, turning up the soil with their hooves and fertlizing it with their feces. This gave farmers fertile land, once agriculture arrived to the Great Plains. 
• Bison also help other animals. They are food for wolves, and many scavengers eat their massive carcasses. Prairie dogs also prefer to live in areas where bison graze in order to see predators easier in the short grass.

Their Roots Run Deep
Native Americans have lived with the bison for many decades. In ceremonial bison drives, they would run a whole herd over a cliff to their deaths. This large hunt provided necessary supplies for harsh winters. Sometimes, hunters surrounded a herd, tightly packing them together and allowing archers a better shot. When Europeans came in the 1500's with horses, some Native Americans became nomadic, following bison herds on horseback. Native Americans were not a problem for the bison population. Although they hunted many, large herds could sustain themselves, and the tribes were frugal, using everything from the animals. They ate the bison meat, used the skin for clothing, and made tools from their bones and horns. Bison also served as a spiritual animal for the tribes that prospered from them. 

Genocide on the Great Plains
In the late 1800's, the expansion of the railroad into the Great Plains promoted the slaughter of the bison in more ways than one. Killing bison meant to clear the way for railroad tracks, and also to feed workers laying them. Commercial hunters shipped 1.5 million carcasses east to be sold for their meat and hides. In fact, that's how William Cody got the iconic nickname "Buffalo Bill"- he massacred 4,000 in just 2 years. In the 1870's, the elastic leather drive belts used in mills, which was made from bison hides, was in great demand. Because they were seen as pests, bison were shot for entertainment- some trains allowed passengers to shoot from their windows. There were even bison-killing contests. On a more cynical note, the slaughter was a means of easily moving Native Americans to reservations, as the loss of this beautiful animal disheartened many tribes. An estimated 30 to 200 million bison once roamed the plains from Mexico up to Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. By 1890, only 1,000 remained. 

Saving the Species
In 1894, the first federal legislation protecting these animals was enacted. Killing of bison was punishable by a $1000.00 fine or imprisonment. In 1905, the American Bison Society was founded in New York by wealthy aristrocrats, including Andrew Carnegie and Theodore Roosevelt. In 1907, they sent 15 bison from the Bronx Zoo in New York, by train, out to a reserve in Oklahoma. Today, there are approximately 500,000 bison in North America. Yellowstone National Park is home to 5,000 free-roaming bison but most bison are the property of private ranchers, raised for their meat. (55,000 bison belong to Ted Turner alone, the founder of CNN.) 

The Big Picture
I started off this blog saying bison are big. But what about even bigger things? What is in store for these animals, and many like it, in the future? There's no doubt that this attention brought to the bison will help shed light to the conservation of many American animals. When many people think about conservation, they envision habitat destruction in the Amazon rain forest, or poaching in Africa. But what this new symbol will- hopefully- promote is conservation right here at home. 

Want more info? Check out Defenders of Wildlife, National Geographic, the New Yorker, and the National Wildlife Federation. As always, thanks for reading everyone! 

Creature Feature: Pangolin

In my last blog, I reviewed The Jungle Book. One of the elements I liked in the movie (which I didn't mention in my review), was the little side characters that added comic relief. For example, there was a porcupine that acted like the seagulls from Finding Nemo, saying "This is mine, and this is mine,". The one I'd like to talk about now is the pangolin. 

It's really no wonder that this little animal was in the movie- they are practically born to do comedy just by their hilariously weird anatomy. They look like something out of a Pokedex. Twenty percent of a pangolin's body weight is from their scales, which are made of keratin like our fingernails and hair. Unfortunately, they are poached for these scales, as well as their meat. There are eight pangolin species in Africa and Asia, and all are anywhere from "Vulnerable" to "Critically Endangered". 

According to WWF, "They certainly are one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia and, increasingly, Africa. Pangolins are in high demand in countries like China and Vietnam. Their meat is considered a delicacy and pangolin scales are used in traditional medicine and folk remedies to treat a range of ailments from asthma to rheumatism and arthritis. All eight pangolin species are protected under national and international laws but that is not stopping the massive international illegal trade in pangolins, which has increased in recent years because of growing demand. Based on reported seizures between 2011 and 2013, an estimated 116,990-233,980 pangolins were killed, which represents only the tip of the trade. Experts believe that seizures represent as little as 10 percent of the actual volume in pangolins in illegal wildlife trade."

Oh and to add to that, they are threatened by habitat loss, too. I wish there was a happy way to end this post, but unfortunately, I don't think there is. If you'd like to help, you can always check out World Wildlife Fund and click "How You Can Help", and you can learn more here and here. Don't want to read? I've got a video for you then: 

As always, thanks for reading! 

Creature Feature: Giraffes

Today's tall topic: giraffes. An iconic part of Africa's megafauna, giraffes are a beloved animal in the eyes of many. And why? Let's look at a few reasons.

First off, their necks. The most distinguished feature of their anatomy makes them instantly recognizable by people of all ages and background. They can be up to 6 feet long and weigh over 500 pounds alone. That's like having a Siberian tiger hold up your head. Males will compete by swinging their necks against one another, in a display called necking. 

How about those patterns? Giraffe spots are unique to each individual, just like zebra stripes and human fingerprints. There are several subspecies of giraffes, nine to be exact, and they can be distinguished by the characteristics of their patterns.

Lastly, let's talk about their food. Using their insanely long necks, a giraffe is able to reach higher leaves than other animals. Not only does alleviate competition for food sources lower to the ground, it also allows the giraffes to have sole proprietorship over those high-up goodies. As if a giraffe didn't have enough length, they can also extend their 18-inch tongues, which are a blue/purple/black color to prevent sunburn.

Unfortunately, giraffes are being featured here not just because they are cool, but because they are also an animal we need to look at conserving. As of right now, the giraffe is species of least concern according to the IUCN Redlist, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned. Just like other animals in Africa, giraffes are not exempt from poaching. Poachers find a giraffe an easy target with their obvious silhouette and docile nature. They are killed for their hide, meat, tails that are used as bracelets, and brains that are used as a desperate and false cure for HIV. We tend to pay a lot of attention to elephants and rhinoceros when talking about poaching, but we cannot forget about other animals as well. They are also suffering from destruction of their habitat. Even if their immediate territory is not being destroyed, much of Africa's wildlife is hurting from habitat fragmentation, too. 

We're going to start seeing the results of all this in a very big way. Already, Rothschild's Giraffe is down to approximately 240 individuals. The overall population has seen a 40% decline in the past 15 years. To put that in perspective, 40% of the human population is 2.7 billion people. Take the number of people living in China and double it. Then poof all of those people off of the planet. Needless to say, this decline should not be taken lightly.

You can always check out the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to help! Thanks for reading everyone! 

Creature Feature: The Mighty Manta Ray

In today's blog, I'll be talking about these gorgeous animals: 

Manta rays are cartilaginous fish, just like sharks and sting rays. There are two main types: oceanic and reef mantas. The oceanic mantas are migratory animals, whereas the reef varieties tend to stay local. Some mantas can be 23 feet long and weigh over 4,0000 pounds! Despite their potentially massive size, they eat tiny zooplankton, arrow worms, copepods, and mysid shrimp. There is a lot of information we still need to discover about manta rays. For example, we don't even know their exact lifespan, although guesses are between 50 and 100 years old. 

A life-size model of an oceanic manta caught off of New Jersey in 1933. 

Their courtship rituals are very interesting: male mantas will follow a female in a train, copying her every move, until she determines which is most physically fit and persistent (see video below). Manta rays are ovoviviparous, meaning they reproduce with young in eggs that hatch inside the body of the mother. Although witnessed in captivity, there have been no wild manta births ever recorded.

Since March is Woman's History Month, let me take this opportunity to talk about a pioneering scientist. Leading the world in research on manta rays is Andrea Marshall. Known as "Queen of the Mantas", she is the first person in the world to complete a PhD on them, and has co-founded the Marine Megafauna Foundation. In the words of her website: "Aside from dramatically increasing the level of knowledge on manta rays themselves, Andrea’s discovery of a new giant species of manta ray in 2008 was one of the largest new species to have been described by any scientist in the last 50 years. She is currently working towards the description of a third Manta species. Using her extensive travels to uncover anthropogenic threats to manta rays and expose unsustainable fisheries for them, Andrea remains deeply committed to developing better management strategies for regional populations of these rays and their critical habitats." You go Andrea! 

It seems like I post a lot of pictures like this: a huge collection of body parts from a species of animal, taken by humans for their own selfish (and unnecessary) purpose.

Gill rakers, thin filaments in a manta ray's body, are used to filter food out of the water. But in recent years, they have been more harmful than helpful, since human's have decided they are valuable. Very similar to tiger bones or rhino horns, gill rakers can be used in traditional medicine, primarily in Southern China. They are also used as a substitute for shark cartilage in certain "medicines" (so we can only save one cartilaginous fish at a time I guess?). You can learn more from SharkSaver's website here. Some states and countries have banned the sale and trade of manta parts, but conservation efforts are nowhere near finished. A few blogs ago, I reviewed the show "Racing Extinction", and one of their feature stories was about a town in Indonesia. This village was responsible for the deaths of thousands of mantas, but after a decision by CITES, Indonesia became the world's largest manta ray sanctuary in January 2014. And what about the villagers you may ask? With help from organizations like WildAid, their town is becoming a thriving hub for ecotourism, and a shining example of how conservation efforts really can make a difference. 

There are lots of really awesome organizations out there that are promoting manta conservation. Here are just a few links you should check out: 
Manta Trust
Project Aware 
Manta Ray of Hope

You can also visit one of my favorite blogs, Voice for the Voiceless, for more information on the conservation of rays, sharks and whales. 

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Creature Feature: Rhinoceros

Good evening everyone! I have decided to write a blog on rhinoceros in a different fashion: with drawings!! Why? Well, unfortunately, there are millions of graphic pictures you can find on the internet involving rhino poaching, some of which I have used in earlier blog posts. Tonight, I want to give the subject a more read-able face. As a warning: I am a horrible artist, and as you scroll down you will be exposed to the horror of my attempted drawings, but I figured it would be less painful than images of slaughtered animals and their orphaned young. So here we go, let's talk a bit about rhinos: 

If you want to learn more or donate, I've included quite a few links below. And as I've said before, you can help simply by saving energy. Whether its recycling, saving water, or consuming less, saving energy saves resources and habitat, which helps animals out in the wild. (For example, all of my drawings on this post were done on the back of used paper!)

World Wildlife Fund

United for Wildlife

Tusk Trust

25 Things you Didn't Know

The last male Northern White rhino

Rangers Protecting Animals from Poachers

I hope you enjoyed reading, and thank you so much for checking out my blog!! 

Creature Feature: Saint Patrick's Snakes

Top of the mornin' to you all! Er, afternoon. I know I haven't posted much lately- my life has been a bit hectic- but I plan on writing much more in the next coming weeks! Today I'd like to focus a bit on a myth surrounding Saint Patrick's Day, and, no, it doesn't involve alcohol (sorry to disappoint!). 

I'll start by quoting National Geographic: 

"The St. Patrick mythology includes the claim that he banished snakes from Ireland.

It's true no snakes exist on the island today, Freeman said. But they never did.

Ireland, after all, is surrounded by icy ocean waters—much too cold to allow snakes to migrate from Britain or anywhere else.

But since snakes often represent evil in literature, "when Patrick drives the snakes out of Ireland, it is symbolically saying he drove the old, evil, pagan ways out of Ireland [and] brought in a new age," Freeman said.

The snakes myth and others—such as Patrick using three-leafed shamrocks to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost)—were likely spread by well-meaning monks centuries after St. Patrick's death, Freeman said."

There ya have it folks- Saint Patrick never drove the snakes out of Ireland. The country is one of only a few in the world that doesn't have snakes (such as Greenland and Antarctica). Since snake populations are fairly slow to colonize new areas, they never made it across from Britain before the melting glaciers from the Ice Age separated it from Ireland completely. In fact, the emerald isle only has one native reptile: the viviparous lizard. The snakes were merely a representation of evil. (You can read more here!)

Snakes have been used as a symbol of evil in a variety of contexts. For example, in the Bible, a serpent lures Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. And they were used to represent Jews in antisemetic propaganda (like the children's story The Poisonous Serpent). In Norse mythology, the god Jormungandr, who looks like a snake, is the arch enemy of Thor. 

But it's not all bad. The staff of Hermes with two entwined snakes, known as the "caduceus", is commonly used for North American medical organizations. And many groups throughout history saw snakes as representations of love, power, and other positive qualities so much so that they incorporated serpent images in their jewelry. 

How can you not love a face like that?

I know there are a lot of people out there who are afraid of snakes, and many who may even want them eradicated. But let me point out that snakes, like all animals (except mosquitoes) have a very important role in the ecosystem. Although they can be deadly, most want nothing to do with humans and are quite afraid of us. So don't get your facts from that Anaconda movie. If you see a snake, just don't touch it. And if anyone needs help remembering that, you have my permission to tie them to a chair and make them listen to this Steve Irwin-inspired song.  

As always, thank you for reading! I hope you come back soon to see my latest posts, and Happy Saint Patrick's Day! 

Creature Feature: Bee Thankful

A flower? For me?! Oh you shouldn't have! 

I know I'm a few days late for a true Thanksgiving theme, but I wanted to make a little post here about bees. A lot of people are afraid of them, but just because they can sting doesn't mean they are out to get you! In fact they are very important to us, and here's why we should thank them: 

We should thank bees for feeding us! Insects pollinate a third of the food we eat. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and more! Not to forget, a lot of these plants that are pollinated by bees are used to make other products besides food. 

We should thank bees for helping our economy. Their pollination is valued at $16 billion in the USA! In 2007, the export of honey alone was over $7,000,000, and, as mentioned before, bees help make a whole lot more than just honey. 

We should thank bees for helping the ecosystem! By pollinating, bees help floral growth and expansion, creating habitat for other insects and animals. Not to mention, they help keep our Earth looking pretty! 

Speaking of pretty....What? Do I have something on my face? 

I would also like to make a public apology to the entire bee population for maiming a bee yesterday. You see, what had happened was, a bee came a-sniffing my fruity-shampooed hair, very close to my ear, causing me to automatically swat it to the ground. So, I am sorry bees. To make it up, I will try to save more of you by promoting your conservation. 

I bet you're thinking- "bee conservation is an issue?" Yeah. Unfortunately, it is. 

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has caused, well, many colonies of bees to collapse. As bees die off in large numbers, the cost of products that require their pollination is driven up, meaning higher food costs. It very well may become an agricultural crisis in the near future. Less bees is also bad for the ecosystem. Research is ongoing, and there are several explanations as to what causes CCD, but no definite cause has been determined. 

But that's not all folks! The EPA has approved several pesticides in the chemical class called "neonicotinoids" (I think I spelled that right...) that have been known to kill bees, contributing to CCD. One of the most recent pesticides approved is sulfoxaflor, and it has many people buzzing about the harm it's caused. In my opinion, we need to be very, very careful with chemical pesticides, if we use them at all. Everyone knows how disastrous DDT was, and we don't want to repeat history. And don't forget, there are other alternatives for pest control, too. Read more about pesticides affecting bees here and here. Want to help stop the use of these pesticides? Send this message from Greenpeace. 

For more info, I will give you some fun links:

Check out Project Bumble Bee- and help with their citizen science project! 
The Honeybee Conservancy has some great tips on bringing bees to your garden. 
And last but not least, here's some simple ways you can help bees today! 

Of course, I will always "bee" thankful for my readers! You are all bee-autiful people (don't worry, that was the last one)!

Creature Feature: Gone Batty

Happy October everyone! In honor of Halloween coming up, this post is all about bats!

Why are Bats Cool? 
Two words: FLYING. MAMMALS. Bats are the only mammal capable of true flight. And no, I'm not counting those flying squirrels, because that's gliding (impostors!). Not only can bats fly, they also are capable of echolocation. By emitting a sound, and hearing what those sound waves bounce off of, a bat can determine the size and location of objects in their path, and even how fast they are flying! Sounds crazy right?

Remember this guy from Ferngully? Man I miss Robin Williams....

There are nearly 1,000 bat species worldwide, and they can be found everywhere except polar regions and extreme desserts. With such a wide range, it's no wonder they are so popular in movies and TV shows. Most famously, of course, is Batman.

I laughed harder at this than I care to admit

Why are Bats in Trouble?
Nine bat species in the USA are listed as Threatened or Endangered. The biggest problem for bats is White Nose Syndrome, and I know I've mentioned this before in an earlier post. Populations have declined an estimated 80% since the disease erupted in 2007, and, not to be Captain Obvious, but that's an alarming rate (notice the bold typeface). Research is still ongoing, but the current belief if that this white fungus infects the muzzle and nose of hibernating bats, causing them to wake up itching. When they wake up, they burn precious energy stored as fat, and once they do go back to hibernating, the remaining fat is not enough to get them through the season. Their reproductive biology doesn't help- most bats only give birth to one pup at a time, which is the slowest reproduction rate for a mammal of their size.

Poor Count won't have many bats left to count with (anyone else remember the "Batty Bat" song?)  

Why Should We Care? 
Bats make up one quarter of all mammal species on Earth! And although there is a lot of press about vampire bats drinking blood from other animals, most bats eat other things like nectar and fruit. More importantly though, are the bats that eat insects. In fact, 70% of bats consume insects, which is great for pest control!! One little brown bat can devour 1000 mosquitoes in just 1 hour! Are you looking for a new favorite animal? Cause anything that eats that many mosquitoes is pretty high on my list. Not only is that awesome for people like me who get eaten alive, it's great for our economy. Insect control provided by bats is estimated to value between 4 and 50 BILLION dollars to our country's agriculture. Besides eating insects, they spread seeds and pollen, help to fertilize soil with their guano, and are useful in medical research (i.e. vampire bats' anticoagulant comically named Draculin). 

Daaaawww look at the baby bats!!!! They're so cute!!!

What Can I Do to Help Bats? 
Get involved! I've said it before, you don't have to go out and do something gigantic to help animals, even a small action can help! Tweet about how cool bats are (use #savethebats), read up on White Nose Syndrome, or give your friend an Adopted Bat because that does a lot more than a thoughtless gift card. You can get a bat box and invite bats to your own backyard, or contact your local parks about setting some up! 

Here are some really useful links: 
Organization for Bat Conservation
Wildlife Defenders
Adopt a Bat 
Set Up a Bat House
Plant a Bat-Friendly Garden

He is toad-ally screwed! Ha! Get it? Ok, ok, stop throwing tomatoes, I'm ending the post now...

Thanks for reading guys!!