A few nice animal pound images I found:
Pet of the Week: Kaiser, 7717666
Image by LollypopFarm
Kaiser is a 9-year-old male black Labrador retriever mix who weighs 50 pounds. He’s at Lollypop Farm for a second time because his owner was having personal problems.
This handsome fellow is a favorite of both staff and volunteers at the shelter. Kaiser is quite active for his age, so don't label him a couch potato! He would be happiest in a home without small animals, because he has a history of chasing them non-stop. He would also like a home with children over the age of 16 due to his age and the fact that he has no history of living with them.
Kaiser is available in the Seniors-for-Seniors program, so adopters age 60 and older can take him home free of charge.
Sweet Kaiser has been at Lollypop Farm since the beginning of November and is hoping to find a Home for the Holidays. No one wants to spend the holidays away from friends and family, and that includes all the pets at Lollypop Farm.
Kemp's ridley sea turtle
Image by krembo1
Montezuma, Costa Rica.
It was a lazy afternoon in the happy hippie village Montezuma. me and my friends were on the beach, coming in and out of the water, getting suntanning, reading books and just being lazy. i was in the water when suddenly my friend shouted my name and called me from out far to get out of the water, concerned i ran out and saw her (no mistake- her) . a female sea turtle making it way to the sandy beach. she was on daylight, totally not acording to books. after one hour of digging she laied her eggs, coverd them up and made her way back to the great endless pacific ocean- what an amazing hero she is.
trying to discover what species the sea turtle was- i ran into it (http://www.greatturtlerace.com/) and came in contact with the in the sea turtles institute in Michmoret (Israel) and they helped me to find out what she was.
In addition of her being out on the beach on daylight, she was off season and out of her usual Habitat - it was a miracle we saw her, once in a life experience.
Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is a Critically Endangered species(!) you can find here few details on it.
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
©Cynthia Rubio & NPS
Critically Endangered:
Kemp’s Ridley turtles are one of the most seriously endangered of all sea turtles today. In 1947, a single Kemp’s Ridley arribada was calculated as having 42,000 nests. Today, the total population of females is estimated to be around 2,500. They are listed as Critically Endangered (facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Nesting:
Like its sister species the Olive Ridley, the Kemp’s Ridley utilizes the arribada (mass-nesting) as a nesting strategy. They nest more frequently than other species, every 1 ½ years and 2 to 3 times a season. They deposit around 110 eggs in their nest, which hatch in about 55 days. According to NOAA, “Kemp's ridleys are the only sea turtle species that nests predominantly during daylight hours.”
Description:
The Kemp’s Ridley is the smallest of sea turtles. Adults grow to be about 2 feet long and can weigh about 100 pounds maximum. The carapace is oval and gray-green in color. The under part of the shell or plastron is yellowish-white. There are 5 costal scutes on the carapace and 4 inframarginal scutes, which join the carapace to the plastron. The head is medium sized and triangular in form. Hatchlings are black. Unlike other sea turtles whose name reflects their appearance, the Kemp’s Ridley is named after Richard M. Kemp, a fisherman in the Keys of Florida, who first submitted this species for classification.
Habitat, Range and Migration:
Unlike most other turtles, the Kemp Ridley spends most if its time in shallow seas and rarely swims in waters more than 160 feet. According to NOAA, “Adult Kemp's primarily occupy neritic habitats. Neritic zones typically contain muddy or sandy bottoms where prey can be found. Their diet consists mainly of swimming crabs, but may also include fish, jellyfish, and an array of mollusks.”
The range of the Kemp’s Ridley is narrow compared to other sea turtles. Adults primarily inhabit the coastal waters off of Mexico. Their most important nesting ground is a 12-½ stretch of beach in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. A few nest on Padre Island, off the coast of Texas and elsewhere along the Mexican gulf coast.
Hatchlings become caught up in the currents and eddies of the Gulf waters, and are re-distributed all along the Gulf and Atlantic as far north as Nova Scotia. Immature turtles can be found along the Atlantic coast as far north as Massachusetts and Canada.
Diet:
Adult Kemp’s Ridleys are carnivorous bottom-feeders, eating a variety of animal foods from shallow waters. While they eat mollusks, fish, jellyfish, echinoderms etc, they have a marked preference for crabs and frequent the waters occupied by this favored delicacy.
Threats:
The fact that the Kemp’s Ridley spends its sea going life in shallow coastal waters where much human sea harvesting takes place has likely contributed to its rapid historical decline. Shrimp trawls troll these shallow waters and many Kemp’s Ridley’s become the victims of incidental capture in their nets. Near shore fishing also exacts a toll.
Harvesting of eggs and slaughtering of nesting females during arribadas has also also played a significant role in bringing this animal to its current critically endangered status.
As with other sea turtles, habitat development and degradation hastens the decline of the species.
The enforced use of turtle exclusion devices by trawlers as well as the protection of nesting habitat during arribadas is required if this species is to recover from the edge of extinction.
