Shavetails, Bell Sharps, and Bellwethers.

  In military terms a Shavetail usually refers to a Second Lieutenant who is not very experienced in Army matters.  The saying comes from the practice in the army of shaving the tails of newly broken pack mules to distinguish them from seasoned ones. Good to know when you were picking an animal from the group. 

Bell Sharps is another grading system, 

and another whole fashion statement!

  As the mules were trained and passed muster for performing various duties, their achievements were noted by again altering their tails. When needed, the soldier knew which animal to chose for which specific task. 
  
One bell was a pack mule, two bells was pack and ride, three meant he'd pack, ride, and drive.

Looks like the one on the left is training the one on the right 

as to the proper etiquette of driving. 

               Bell Sharps is not to be confused with Bellwether, 

                                literally a whole different animal. 

                                                      

   A bellwether is one that leads or indicates trends. The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated buck or ram (a wether) leading his flock of goats or sheep.

          My Bellwether, Cowboy. Best Nubian goat in Weld county.

                                        Miss you sweetie

 

The Summer Solstice---with a Full Moon! 2016

Litha is upon us.  
The summer solstice.

The longest day of the year. 

The North American summer solstice happens on 
June 20, 2016 at 6:34 PM EDT. 
It has not occurred with a Full Moon in 70 years!

     The summer solstice happens exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the sun. And although but an instant in time, the term is used much like the word Midsummer to refer to the entire day on which it occurs.



     A Celtic quarter day (as opposed to a cross-quarter day) it is a direct barometer of what the future weather will hold. 

     This magical day has been celebrated from Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in England, 
to Chaco Canyon in 
New Mexico. 

           It is also touted in literature, most notably in Shakespeare's 
"Midsummer Night's Dream".

    


  Tonight, we ask blessings on our land and the animals that abide there, as we hope for a glimpse of the Tuatha DeDanan. 

  Bonfires were often lit on the Summer Solstice. If we jump the fire will the crops grow higher?    

  

      Languid from the heat of the day, and energized by the coolness of the evenings, we laugh at the memory of the cold dark days of Winter. But the fullness of Summer is transitory, and we must remember to give thanks for what this season brings. 

                           And so the wheel turns. 

                                           Have a magical day. 

Those Baby-faced Belugas

                                 
   In the movie Finding Dory, there appears to be a character named Bailey the Beluga whale. Finally, one of my favorite animals is getting a little press-time. I've been fascinated by them since childhood, in other words a dang long time. They almost look extraterrestrial, or carved of alabaster. And they blow bubbles, and seem to have a perpetual smile. 

                             

     "They're an evolutionary surprise - a warm-blooded mammal in a numbingly cold sea. Resembling curious ghosts, these intelligent mammals use one of the most complex sonars of any animal. 
Jean-Michel Cousteau 


The beluga whale gets its name from the Russian word for "white ones", its color and globular head make it easily recognizable. They are born dark gray, however, and can take up to eight years to turn completely white.

The beluga is closely related to the narwhal; and they are the only two members of the Monodontidae family.

   

The beluga is able to swim backwards, and can change the shape of its bulbous forehead, called a "melon",  by blowing air around its sinuses.The neck vertebrae is not fused together, giving it the unusual ability to turn its head up, down and side-to-side

 Belugas, like other arctic whales, do not have dorsal fins (a dorsal fin causes extra heat loss and would be a major hindrance in the arctic ice), but they do have a tough dorsal ridge. They also have a thick layer of blubber that insulates them from the icy arctic waters. Being quite social, it is possible to see pods numbering in the hundreds near Churchill, Canada. Their dives may last up to 25 minutes and can reach depths of 800 meters. (over 2000 feet!)

   Belugas are one of only three whales that spend all their lives in arctic waters. The other two are the Bowhead--a baleen whale, 

    and the Narwhal, a toothed whale like the beluga.

                           

Yikes, where'd that sweet smile go.....

    Threats to beluga whales include climate change, hunting, oil and gas development, and industrial and urban pollution. Polar bears and killer whales are known predators of belugas throughout their Arctic range.

                       

                                        Bye for now......

World Wildlife Org.

Earth Justice Org 

The Sad Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger

          

The Thylacine is a large carnivorous marsupial now believed to be extinct, or at least extant (hoping for the later). The only member of the family Thylacinidae to survive into modern times

     Although commonly called the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, the thylacine has more in common with its marsupial cousin the Tasmanian Devil. With a head like a wolf, striped body like a tiger and backward facing pouch like a wombat, the thylacine was as unbelievable as the platypus which had caused disbelief and uproar in Europe when it was first described.

The female produces up to four young who are dependent on the mother until at least half-grown. Interestingly, males also had a back-opening, partial pouch in which they keep  the "family jewels" safe from harm and temperature fluctuation.

 





Aboriginal rock-paintings of Thylacine-like animals have been found on walls or overhangs of exposed rock surfaces. At one time, they roamed freely in Australia, extending north to New Guinea and south to Tasmania. In recent times they were confined to Tasmania where their presence has not been established conclusively for more than seventy years. Introduction of sheep to Australia resulted in bounty hunting, and along with the introduction of dingoes and man, the entire population of Thylacines was tragically killed off. 

      Carnivores, and relentless hunters, they supposedly made a husky barking sound or a loud yap when anxious or excited. With their back legs slightly longer than their front legs, they had an awkward way of moving, trotting stiffly. They have no webbing between toes, and at times they stood upright with their front legs in the air, resting their hind legs on the ground using the tail as a support, exactly the way a kangaroo does.They were even known to hop for short distances in this position.  

On 7 September 1936, the last known Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity in the Hobart Zoo. Sightings since then have been proclaimed but not substantiated. Too bad they killed off the animal in their own coat of arms....

   Tasmanian coat of arms 

                                 

Nothing Ordinary about Okapis

                  

     Tongue like a giraffe, stripes like a zebra, antelope-like cloven hooves--that's the fascinating Okapi, which remained undiscovered outside it's natural habitat until 1901. 

The Pygmy peoples of central Africa had known of this animal’s existence for generations, and stories about it held an almost unicorn-like place in the popular imagination.

In 1890 it was described as a type of horse or donkey to Sir Henry Morton Stanley (of ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume’ fame). Far from an equine, the Okapi is a forest-living relative of the giraffe.


                                   


The man credited with the ‘discovery’ of the Okapi, is Sir Harry Johnston, the British explorer, and naturalist. He sent hides acquired from Natives back to the British Museum where Scientists prematurely declared a new species of Zebra. Further research resolved the confusion setting the animal apart from all others, now called Okapia johnstoni.



The Okapi's impressively long tongue, is not only black in color, but is prehensile allowing it to grab hold of leaves from the branches above. They have very thick skin (hides) to help protect them from injury.





 Long headed, with a dark muzzle, and large set-back ears, they  rely heavily on their hearing in the surrounding forest where they are not able to see very far. They are known to communicate with one another using quiet "chuff" sounds.



Active mostly during the day, they spend their time roaming the nearly impassible, dense, and swampy thickets, and enter the more open, higher, drier parts of the forest to feed at nightfall. 

They are rather solitary animals with the exception of the time mothers spend with their calves.

   The gestation period can last up to 16 months, usually resulting in a single calf able to stand within half an hour.                 They do not reach their full adult size until they are roughly three years old. 

                                                The Okapi, an herbivorous, is known to eat more than 100 different types of plant, many of which are poisonous to other animals and Humans. Their main predator is the leopard, the serval, hunting & poaching, and of course habitat loss due to deforestation.

Today, over 5,000 okapi inhabit the Okapi Wildlife Reserve which occupies much of the Ituri Forest once traveled by early explorers. Okapis have been protected by government decree since 1933.

 THE END

                         Do these stripes make my butt look big?

Moon Blindness

                                 

  I LOVE the moon, with all its mystery, romance, and powerful connection to our planet. And while love may be blind, Moon Blindness is not a good thing.

  This is the oldest disease, human or animal, ever recorded. It can effect many animals, including humans. In the pyramids at Giza, there are depictions of ocular problems in cavalry horses of that time, 4,500 years ago, indicating uveitis or a disease very similar. In the time of Alexander the Great, it was believed to be associated with changes of the lunar cycles, giving it the name, moon blindness, still used today. 


   My sweet little donkey Jackson was recently diagnosed with this condition. In horses and donkeys, the medical term used is ERU. 

    Equine Recurrent Uveitis is a disease which inflames the uvea which is the membrane surrounding the eye. This covering acts as an immunological barrier to protect the sensitive tissue, inner chambers, and surfaces of the eye from pathogens carried through the blood. Inflammation disrupts this barrier leading to internal damage and even blindness.

Jackson (a rescue donkey) is 22 years old, and has a history of one bout of laminits and, one terrible siege of pigeon fever, and an unknown cause of anemia requiring giving him Red Cell which helped, but boy he hated that stuff. Couldn't blame him, it smelled pretty bad. All of these conditions occurred years ago, and to my knowledge he never had any type of trauma to his eye. 

Causes vary from blunt or penetrating trauma to the eye, to corneal ulceration, and parasitic infiltration. Numerous systemic infection, whether viral or bacterial, while not the cause of the inflammation, can trigger the immune system to create antibodies which attack the eye. Leptospirosis, a disease picked up from soil usually contaminated by cows, is also a concern. 

As with laminitis, conditions for a return episode can vary from feed and seasonal change, weather conditions, and stress. One site I visited also stated that when the eye is inflamed the brain may also be affected, which makes me double sad to think Little Jack may be suffering with headaches. 

Symptoms can include membranes being red and swollen, the eye waters, the pupil constricts, and the horse holds the eye closed; it is painful and sensitive to light. The cornea (front cover of the eye) might become cloudy. Each episode further damages the eye, and can lead to blindness.
  These symptoms can also indicate other conditions or diseases, and a one time occurrences of Uveitis don't necessarily result in ERU, so always consult a Vet before initiating treatments. 

Treatments generally center around eye ointment with cortisone when first diagnosed, supplementing vitamin B2, which so far I cannot find in bulk for horses, and generally boosting the immune system. 

Rosie says, "Here's hoping my best friend Jack has a quick recovery, and we can keep it from coming back." 

Update: 5/6/19 Little Jack still has the condition. It has never gone into remission and is possibly progressing. We are trying another cortisone cream. He was checked to make sure he did not have any scratched to the cornea before beginning treatment. And we continue with the Vit.B2. Such a sweet donkey, and otherwise seems a pretty happy fellow. 

Medieval Rock and Roll

                         

     

Take a break from writing your next Medieval breakout novel and listen to a little inspirational Medieval music 21st century style!

Performed by a Belarusian medieval folk band Stary Olsa known for reworking modern songs in a Medieval style. Stary Olsa is one of the few Belarusian bands enjoying popularity outside Belarus. The band was founded in 1999 by Źmicier Sasnoŭski. The name Stary Olsa comes from a stream in east Belarus.

Pink Floyd Medieval style

Medieval Deep Purple