Sliding Panda Cubs

O.k., I know it's not exactly breaking news, and maybe it's not informational at all, but I couldn't resist posting one of the most adorable videos of pandas I've ever seen. Seriously, it's like they've been to cute-school. They each have a Ph.D. in Cute Studies. How is it possible for any creature to be so amazingly charming? Or have we evolved to find them cute? Hmmmm. . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGF6bOi1NfA&feature=player_embedded

Death of a Species

ANW regrets to announce the death of Lonesome George, the last of the Pinta Island giant tortoises and a conservation icon at more than 100 years old (which, nevertheless, is only middle-age for these Methuselahs). Weighing in at about 400 kgs, George was a remaining member of a type of tortoise that helped the great Charles Darwin to develop his brilliant theory of evolution; the odd shape of the Pinta Island giant tortoise's shell suggested to Darwin that creatures evolve to adapt to their specific environments.  George would never mate with other types of tortoises, perhaps because he was depressed from being alone on his island for so many years (scientists thought his species was extinct from over-hunting until they found him in 1972). He thereby gained the handle "Lonesome George." His passing leaves us a little more lonesome and woefully aware that our irresponsible treatment of the environment can very well have a permanent deleterious effect on nature.

RIP, dear George. We are sorry you didn't leave any progeny behind you. But, then, if you did, you wouldn't be Lonesome George.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2012/jun/25/lonesome-george-giant-galapagos-tortoise-in-pictures#/?picture=392129802&index=8

Dappled Things

This post is an homage to variety in nature. The links below will lead you to amazing stories about wonderful oddities in nature, such as a spotless cheetah in Kenya, a white killer whale off the coast of Russia, and a strawberry-coloured leopard in South Africa. Together, they remind me of one of my favourite poems (under the links), by Gerard Manley Hopkins, a Jesuit from the Victorian era in England, who, like me, loved the richness and diversity of nature.  It all makes one wonder: why are humans so conservative, so intolerant of difference, when nature teaches us that dissimilarity is the name of the game -- that it is the source of health and evolution?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/04/120412-strawberry-leopard-south-africa-animals-science/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/25/spotless-cheetah-pictures-wild

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/23/rare-white-killer-whale-spotted?INTCMP=SRCH

          Pied Beauty

GLORY be to God for dappled things—     

  For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;          

    For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

  Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;          5

    And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.      

           

All things counter, original, spare, strange;    

  Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)     

    With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;         

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:                   10

                  Praise him.

The Thinker

Never tell me they are dumb.  He certainly seems to be saying, "That's interesting! I've never thought of it that way!"  Just look at the little glint in his eye and you'll agree: he's philosophical.

Peregrine Falcon nest: LIVE!

O.k., I had to include this photo of a beautiful adult peregrine falcon in flight in order to get your attention, but I won't promise that you'll see just such an image in the following link.  What you WILL see is a peregrine falcon nest that is located on top of a hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The link will show you a live feed of the nest. You can see the babies huddling against the cold, the parents fighting over the proper way to feed them, and, in short, the quotidian concerns of raising babies that will grow up to be, well, magnificent -- as is clear from the above photo!

http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/features/falcon/

Floating Bear

Surreality: the bear is floating away from the scary men.

Reality: the tranquillized bear is falling from the tree he was hiding in.

Lego his home!

 

Meet Harry, the hermit crab who lives in a shell formed entirely from Lego bricks.  He lives in Atlantis Discovery Area at Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire in the UK.  Hermit crabs do not have their own shells and therefore move into other creatures' shells and other findings in the ocean, but Harry's shell was not so much found by him, as fashioned especially for him by his friends at the aquarium.  Imagine their delight when he decided to adopt their design! The best is to see how nimbly he gets around in the apparently clunky shell; he makes Lego look natural! Check it out in this video: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/02/hermit-crab-lego-shell-legoland