Houston Toads are all over the news this week after a recent release of 140 headstarted Houston Toads in Bastrop County and 220 in Austin County – check out the nice article in the Austin American Statesman:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/09/22/0922toads.html
and then catch both article and video on the Animal Planet Blog site:
http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2009/09/big-day-for-endangered-houston-toads.html
We ran this back in May 2009 but thought we would reprint for some of our newer blog visitors:
The Orangutan is a fascinating ape which is in serious decline on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo – the only two places on earth they can be found in the wild. “Orangutan” in the native language means “people (orang) of the forest (utan or hutan).” Their decline is mostly due to habitat loss, development and hunting pressures. It is believed that if this rate of decline and habitat fragmentation continues, we will lose the orangutan within the next 50 years.
A Malaysian tale: The Orang-utan
Long ago, human beings (or orangs in Malay) lived in the virgin jungles of Borneo. They stayed in groups, sharing their long houses, subsisting on plants and animals provided by Mother Nature. Within the different groups, this peaceful way of life was however troubled by all sorts of troubles and conflicts involving treacheries, malices, gossips and other problems that are specific to our species. A peace-loving minority of orangs decided to split from the major group in order to escape the clamors of the village life and went deep into the jungle. They established a new home and lived happily for years. More and more orangs from their former community decided to join this idyllic existence, up to a point that the newly created village became overcrowded and full with problems that follow humans at all times and places (pollution, noise, habitat destruction, cruelty and meanness). The original group decided to break up one more time and wandered far away from this place. They established themselves on the mountains where life was paradise. Of course they didn’t stay on their own for long: more and more people joined them and troubled this peaceful existence. Fed up beyond belief, the original orangs decided that enough was enough: because they wouldn’t be able to find peace below the trees, they decided to climb up to the treetop and to settle down in the forest canopy. They also decided to not have any kind of relations with ground-dwelling orangs any more. From this day, this group became the orang-utans, or “people of the forest” and today can only be found living among the trees.
Every fall thousands and thousands of amazingly beautiful winged invertebrates cross our massive state on their migration from Canada to Central Mexico. Some fly as far as 3,000 miles!
Monarchs- like some some birds and mammals travel far south in the fall to reach warmer climates with abundant food. Most come from Canada and the northern U.S. Somehow they find thier way to fir forests that grow high in the mountains of Central Mexico. Over winter, they roost together in large numbers among the branches. In the spring, they return to Texas and the southern U.S. lay eggs on milkweeds and die. The young then hatch and mature into adults butterflies, which continue northward. By September and October, great-grandchildren (and sometimes great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated the previous fall arrive back in Canada and the northern U.S. Then the cycle begins again!
Did you know?
Fun Fact: Scientists who study butterflies and moths are called lepidopterists.
National Public Lands Day Event Scheduled in Village Creek clean-up planned for September 26.
Saturday, September 26, is National Public Lands Day. Volunteers all across the country will be participating in projects to improve public lands. Big Thicket National Preserve and the National Parks Conservation Association are hosting a clean-up of Village Creek on that day. Join park staff to remove trash from several boat launch sites, or bring your own canoe or kayak and pick up trash along the creek.
For more information, contact NPCA event coordinator Suzanne Dixon at sdixon@npca.org or 214-383-5381, or Mary Kay Manning at Mary_Kay_Manning@nps.gov or 409-951-6720.
Computers, Monitors, T.V.’s
E-waste accounts for 70% of toxic waste in landfills. For example, each computer monitor contains between 4 to 8 pound of lead, a well as other toxic materials that are harmful to the earth. These toxins can contaminate soil and drinking water and affect human health, plant and animal health.
RECYCLE – GOOD IDEA
Most manufacturers have “take-back” programs and will recycle your computer at little or no cost.
REUSE- BETTER IDEA
Maintain and keep your computer as long as possible. Only replace parts when necessary. When upgrading a TV, donate your old one if it still works. If not, recycle it.
REDUCE – BEST IDEA
Think about what you really need when buying a computer. Do you need the whole system or just a new hard or memory?
For your closest e-waste recycling center please visit www.earth911.com
Information from the Houston-Galveston Regional Recycling & Conservation Guide
Texas Nature Trackers, associated with the Texas Master Naturalist Program, is a citizen science monitoring effort designed to involve volunteers of all ages and interest levels in gathering scientific data on species of concern in Texas through experiential learning. The goal of the program is to enable long-term conservation of these species and appreciation among Texas citizens.
Texas plant and animal diversity is in decline and Texans want to help. Now, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, along with other partners, offers Texans the opportunity to do just that.
The Texas Nature Trackers projects described here involve general skills of observation and note taking—you don’t have to be a scientist to participate. Through TNT projects, Texans learn how to gather data about various species found on public lands or on their own property. This data is sent to biologists who use the information to give us a better understanding about the trends and management needs of various species in the state.
The aim of Texas Nature Trackers is to ensure that native Texas species will be here for future generations to know and enjoy.
Learn how you can get invloved by tracking amphibians, box turtles, praire dogs, hummingbirds, butterflies, horned lizards and more! Check out the Texas Nature Tracker Brochure for details!
Fun Fact: Horned lizards use a wide variety of means to avoid predation. Their coloration generally serves as camouflage. When threatened, their first defense is to remain still and hope to avoid detection. If approached too closely, they generally run in short bursts and stop abruptly to confuse the predator’s visual acuity. If this fails, they puff up their body to cause it to look more horny, making it appear larger and more difficult to swallow. At least four species are also able to squirt an aimed stream of blood from the corners of the eyes for a distance of up to 5 feet!
Sadly, we have come to our third and final blog of the Wonderful World of Worms. Hopefully you are well on your way to making your own worm composting bin and will soon reap the benefits in your garden!A few more pointers…
■ Store food scraps in a sealed container to prevent flies or roaches from laying eggs in them.
Refrigerate them, if possible.
■ Add food scraps in small amounts, especially at first, or your bin may get smelly or heat up.
■ Keep your bin in a shaded and sheltered location where the bedding can stay below 90°F.
■ Don’t let the bedding become soaking wet. Add dry paper as needed to soak up excess water.
■ Keep the bedding damp. Old, dry bedding can harbor pests.
■ Handle the worms gently and with gloved hands or a garden fork (not a shovel).
■ Wash your hands thoroughly after you have handled fresh compost.
■ It’s easier to tear cardboard into strips for bedding if you soak it in water first.
■ If you cut or mash your food scraps and keep them damp while you store them, your worms will eat them faster.
■ Composting worms can thrive under a thick, moist layer of mulch in gardens or landscaping.
■ With plenty of food and a good environment, worms can double their populations every 90 days.
To order this and other publications about composting and yard care from the TCEQ, call 512/239-0028. For more information on composting, or to order additional composting publications, visit the TCEQ web site at www.tceq.state.tx.us. Go to the Subject Index and search for “composting.” Sources: The TCEQ; Jay Mertz, Rabbit Hill Farms, Corsicana, Texas; Larry Wilhelm,The Earthworm Institute (a program of the city of Grapevine, Texas); Mary Appelhof, Worms Eat My Garbage, Flower Press.
There are 4,400 species of worms – 2,700 different kinds of earthworms to be exact!
Mold and bacteria and higher level organisms like beetles, centipedes and, of course, earthworms are all busy recyclers. By breaking down organic matter — stuff like dead plants, poop, and decaying animals — they create valuable nutrients necessary for rich and fertile soil. Take it from me, a worm who knows, we are doing you a big favor. http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/pg000222.html
Without the help of worms, every plant and animal that died and fell to the ground would stay right where it fell. Trees, leaves, fruit, nuts, dead animals and food would just keep piling up (you’d be living underground like us!). http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/worm/pg000222.html
I know you have been waiting on the edge of your seat for the second installment of the “Wonderful World of Worms” blog series. Wait no more.
Earthworm Fun Fact: The Giant Gippsland Earthworm is one of the world’s largest earthworms and is restricted to a small area in the Bass River Valley of South Gippsland. It can grow up to 2 meters long! Despite wide publicity in the 100 years since its discovery, very little is known about the worm’s basic biology. It is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a ‘vulnerable’ species. This means that the species may be at risk of becoming extinct if there is continued pressure on the population through habitat destruction and disturbance.
CHECK OUT THIS GIGANTIC AFRICAN WORM being held by Houston Zoo Carnivore Supervisor, Sara Riger on her recent trip to Kenya and Rwanda!
THE WORMS:
Brown-nose worms or redworms work best in containers; don’t use night crawlers or other large, soil-burrowing
worms. Composting worms are available from various stores and catalogs that sell garden soils and supplies.
THE MATERIALS:
■ Paper: Paper serves as a “bedding” for the worms to live in. The worms consume it along with the other materials. You can use any kind of paper, but worms will consume newspapers, cardboard, paper towels, and other coarse papers faster than fine printing and writing papers. Avoid coated or “slick” paper.
■ Food Scraps: Almost any fruit, grain, or vegetable material other than oil is good for worm composting. Egg shells, coffee grounds, and tea bags are also fine.
■ Other Materials: Add a little soil or fine sand to provide grit. Leaves and other yard trimmings can be
used as part of the bedding. Livestock manure is excellent food for worms in outdoor containers.
MATERIALS TO AVOID:
■ Cat and dog droppings can spread disease.
■ Meat and other animal products, fish, and oil can produce odors and attract pests.
■ Some colored inks contain toxic metals.
THE CONTAINERS:
You can use wooden boxes, plastic bins, or holes in the ground. A 1-foot by 2-foot by 3-foot box or four 10-gallon
containers are big enough to compost the food scraps from a medium-sized family. Punch 1/8- inch holes in the upper sides for ventilation. Tight-fitting lids help keep pests out of outdoor wooden boxes, but don’t use a lid with a
plastic container unless the container is well ventilated (holes 1 inch apart, or two 2×4-inch holes covered with fine mesh screen). A poorly ventilated plastic container will not let enough air get in and will not let excess moisture get out.
GETTING STARTED:
■ Tear newspaper or cardboard into strips. Dip it in water, and let it drain.
■ Add this paper bedding to a bin until it is 1/3 full. Mix in a little soil or fine sand.Start with a pound of worms
for each pound of food scraps you plan to compost each week. For example, start with 2 pounds of worms if you will
compost 2 pounds of food scraps per week. Unless you start composting more food scraps, you should never need
to add any more worms.
■ Add a 1/2-inch or smaller layer of food scraps on top, mix it lightly into the top 2 inches of bedding, and cover
everything with at least 1 inch of shredded paper. Don’t leave any food scraps at the surface. Wait two days or longer, and then repeat these steps as materials are available.
HARVESTING:
■ When a worm bin is full, scoop out any undigested food scraps and the material that contains
the most worms – usually the top 3 to 4 inches of the material. Use the rest as compost. Put the worm-rich material back into the bin. Mix it with an equal amount of fresh bedding, and cover with 1 inch of shredded paper.
■ To recover more worms from the compost, spread it thinly on a tarp in sunlight, leaving a few small mounds. The worms will gather in mounds as the material dries. Be careful, because the heat and rapid drying can kill them. Another method is to sift the compost gently over a finemesh wire screen and save the worms that don’t go through it.
IN PART THREE OF THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WORMS, FIND OUT MORE HELPFUL TIPS ON WORM COMPOSTING AND HOW TO PREVENT PROBLEMS.
