Harvesting Honey from Giant Honeybees 2017. Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata).
Bees Unlimited, at it again!!... Out in the Rafter Beekeeping Community taking in a Sustainable Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) colony in NW Cambodia, not too far from Angkor Wat...
How sweet it is!!
Adorable pets: Little Ferrets. The little Feerets joking mutal on the glass box.
The ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is the domesticated form of the European polecat, a mammal belonging to the same genus as the weasel, Mustela of the family Mustelidae.
Several other Mustelids also have the word ferret in their common names, including an endangered species, the black-footed ferret.
Being so closely related to polecats, ferrets easily hybridize with them, and this has occasionally resulted in feral colonies of polecat-ferret hybrids that have caused damage to native fauna, especially in New Zealand. As a result, some parts of the world have imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets.
They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur. They have an average length of 51 cm (20 inches) including a 13 cm (5 inch) tail, weigh about 1.5–4 pounds (0.7–2 kg), and have a natural lifespan of 7 to 10 years. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females.
Ferrets spend 14–18 hours a day asleep and are most active around the hours of dawn and dusk, meaning they are crepuscular. Unlike their polecat ancestors, which are solitary animals, most ferrets will live happily in social groups.
Ferrets are obligate carnivores. The natural diet of their wild ancestors consisted of whole small prey, meat, organs, bones, skin, feathers, and fur... Ferrets have short digestive systems and quick metabolism, so they need to eat frequently. Prepared dry foods consisting almost entirely of meat (including high-grade cat food, although specialized ferret food is increasingly available and preferable) provide the most nutritional value and are the most convenient, though some ferret owners feed pre-killed or live prey (such as mice and rabbits) to their ferrets to more closely mimic their natural diet.[
The onager or Asiatic wild ass Equus (hemionus) is a large member of the genus Equus of the family Equidae (horse family) native to the deserts and other arid regions of Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia, including in cold regions of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It formerly had a wider range from southwest to central Asian countries, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Russia.
Onagers are a little larger than donkeys at about 290 kilograms (640 lb) and 2.1 metres (6.9 ft) (head-body length), and are a little more horse-like. They are short-legged compared to horses, and their coloring varies depending on the season. They are generally reddish-brown in color during the summer, becoming yellowish-brown in the winter months. They have a black stripe bordered in white that extends down the middle of the back.
The onagers eats grasses when available, but will browse on shrubs and trees at other times or in drier habitats. It has also been seen feeding on seed pods and breaking up woody vegetation with its hooves to get at more succulent herbs growing at the base of woody plants. During spring and summer in Mongolia, the succulent plants of the Zygophyllaceae family form an important component of the diet of the Mongolian wild ass. This subspecies is also known to eat snow in winter as a substitute for water. At other times when natural water points are unavailable, the Mongolian wild ass will dig holes in dry riverbeds to access sub-surface water. The water holes dug by the wild asses are often subsequently visited by domestic livestock, as well as other wild animals. Breeding is seasonal, the gestation period in this species is 11 months, and most births occur from April to September. Females with young tend to form groups of up to five females. Males have been observed holding harems of females, but in other studies they defend territories that attract females. It is likely that differences in behaviour and social structure are the result of changes in climate, vegetation cover, predation and hunting. In Mongolia alone, the onager seems to adopt harem type social groups in the southwest and territorial based social groups in the south and southeast.
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, lit. "black and white cat-foot". ) also known as panda bear or simply panda, is a bear native to south central China.
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in neighbouring provinces, namely Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.
The giant panda, a black-and-white bear, has a body typical of bears. It has black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white, some speculate that the bold coloring provides effective camouflage into their shade-dappled snowy and rocky surroundings. The panda's thick, wooly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. Giant pandas have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles for crushing tough bamboo. Many people find these chunky, lumbering animals to be cute, but giant pandas can be as dangerous as any other bear.
The giant panda has a black-and-white coat. Adults measure around 1.2 to 1.9 m (4 to 6 ft) long, including a tail of about 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in), and 60 to 90 cm (2.0 to 3.0 ft) tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 160 kg (350 lb).] Females (generally 10–20% smaller than males) can weigh as little as 70 kg (150 lb), but can also weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb). Average adult weight is 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb).
A wild giant panda’s diet is almost exclusively (99 percent) bamboo. The balance consists of other grasses and occasional small rodents or musk deer fawns. In zoos, giant pandas eat bamboo, sugar cane, rice gruel, a special high-fiber biscuit, carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes.
Scientists aren't sure how long giant pandas live in the wild, but they are sure it's shorter than lifespans in zoos. Chinese scientists have reported zoo pandas as old as 35. The National Zoo's Hsing-Hsing died at age 28 in 1999.
Red Squirrel On Island. Almost extinct in Southern England, the red squirrel is the most important pine feeding creature on Brownsea Island, where there are no competing grey squirrels.
The squirrels are most active in spring and autumn around sunrise and sunset. They can be found in all the wooded areas of the island. Look for stripped pine cones and hazel shells split neatly in half.
Red squirrel is very shy. Look up into the trees where squirrels spend most of their time. They usually construct several dreys in their home range.
However, they are very shy and can be difficult to spot, especially in the hot summer months. Partly-eaten cones may be the only clues. They feed on seeds in the cones all year round.
Red squirrel facts:
Red squirrels can tell by the weight of a hazelnut whether or not it contains a juicy kernel. They do not waste valuable time and energy opening dud nuts.
Red squirrels cannot live on acorns alone. It is believed that the tannins they contain cause digestive problems. They have to be eaten as part of a varied diet.
They need to eat daily and, if food intake is low because of poor weather or food shortage, they can quickly succumb to disease or starvation. Red squirrels need to gain at least 10 per cent of their body weight in fat if they are to survive the winter.
A red squirrel will usually have constructed several dreys in its home range.
Switching dreys helps to prevent a build-up of lice and fleas. Dreys are built in both deciduous trees and conifers.
Body fur is moulted in spring and autumn, but the tail and ear tufts are moulted only once a year in the summer.
Sexual maturity in the red squirrel is reached at approximately 11 months. Males are ready to mate at any time of the year, although some become sexually inactive between September and November. Females can produce two litters a year with an average of three youngsters in each litter. Gestation takes approximately 38 days.
Breeding is dependent on the availability of a good food supply. It will not take place if the red squirrels are hungry or in poor physical condition.
Red squirrels prefer a closed canopy, which provides cover and facilitates travel amongst the branches without touching the ground.
There are at present approximately 200 red squirrels on Brownsea Island, but numbers fluctuate from year to year.
World's Deadliest: Green Basilisk Lizard – The Jesus Christ Lizard. The Green Basilisk Lizard – also known as the plumed or double-crested basilisk – has evolved to be able to run across the surface of water without sinking.
Archerfish are appropriately named due to their ridiculous accuracy when hunting for prey. This type of fish is a sniper capable of nailing targets several feet above the surface with deadly jets of water.
Archerfish are appropriately named due to their ridiculous accuracy when hunting for prey. This type of fish is a sniper capable of nailing targets several feet above the surface with deadly jets of water.
Researchers discovered that Archerfish evolved highly-controlled mouths that are able to create enough power to squirt jets forceful enough to kill its prey. Their aiming system somehow tracks their target through even choppy water that refracts light.
The spitting cannon of the Archerfish is so accurate that it’s able to modify the waterjet to optimize the force delivered according to the distance of its target.
Tardigrades – Captain Indestructible: Nicknamed “Water Bears” because of their cuddly, non-threatening appearance, Tardigrades are the hardiest survivors of the animal kingdom, able to deal with deadly extremes that would kill the vast majority of life on Earth.
Tardigrades
Tardigrades can be exposed to temperatures close to absolute zero, extreme heat and pressure greater than what’s found at the bottom of the ocean. They survive by utilizing cryptobiosis, in which the animal ceases metabolic life processes and dehydrates to about 3 percent of its usual water content.
Through this process, Tardigrades have survived in the vacuum of space for 10 days before being revived. Researchers believe Tardigrades can endure dehydration for ten years and still survive.
Bees Unlimited, at it again!!... Out in the Rafter Beekeeping Community taking in a Sustainable Honey Harvest from a Giant Honeybee (Apis dorsata) colony in NW Cambodia, not too far from Angkor Wat...
How sweet it is!!
