Nice Service Animal photos

Check out these service animal images:

Happy running

Image by Takashi(aes256)
It's only me who let Miruku run when we go out. And Miruku looks quite happy to run to her heart content.
By the way, I asked Nikon service centre to update firmware of my D4 and now it is much better on auto focusing. I feel much more fun to run with Miruku now :)

お散歩中にみるくちゃんと一緒に走るのは私だけなので、やたら楽しそうです。
ところで、ニコンサービスセンターにD4のセンサークリーニングのついでにファームウェアアップデートをお願いしたら、オートフォーカスが性能がかなり向上しました。みるくちゃんと一緒に走るのがさらに楽しくなったわけです。

[ Nikon D4, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G, f/2.0, 1/400sec, ISO180 ]

FWC Manatee Rescue Truck

Image by MyFWCmedia
The box containing the adult female manatee is lowered to the ground near the transport truck. She is going to Palm Bay with her calf.


Activities were conducted under the US Fish and Wildlife Service permit # MA770191.

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Cool Video Of Animals images

Check out these video of animals images:

_MG_2239

Image by burtonwood + holmes
Translations is a collaborative work by Tom Burtonwood and Jacob C. Hammes. It has been selected for the inaugural Art Loop Open an art competition in Chicago. Translations is exhibited in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel located at 230 N. Michigan. Members of the public are invited to view the piece from October 15th – 29th and vote on it. Translations was first presented at Three Walls as part of their “Chasing Two Rabbits” program in Winter 2010.

Art Loop Open: www.artloopopen.com/artists/tom-burtonwood-jacob-c-hammes
Translations on Vimeo: vimeo.com/10750465

About the video:

Contained within our unique animal identity is a strong desire to witness and experience symmetry, a desire informed by an overwhelming lack of its immediate presence in our waking lives. Symmetry and uniformity are present in the video collaboration between Burtonwood and Hammes, abstracted in terms of geometry and pure tones. Folding cubes and squares are accompanied by modulated, warbling sine waves and occasional bursts of distorted guttural voices, suggesting a human presence in a world of pure geometric and sonic abstraction.

Tom Burtonwood is an artist originally from the UK living and working in Oak Park, IL. He is interested in an array of subjects and issues relating to image making, ubiquitous technology and interactive objects. Currently he is working on a series of modular color studies relating to the video game Tetris. Recent exhibitions include The Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago; Three Walls, Chicago; Fountain, Brooklyn; Apex Art, New York. Burtonwood teaches at Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Jacob C Hammes is a Chicago based interdisciplinary artist whose range of projects investigate the strained relationships and sites of interaction between humans and the natural world. Hammes is primarily interested in emphasizing the disconnection between the desire to emulate nature and our ability to understand it. Primarily using sculpture, digital media, and hypnosis, Hammes attempts to reveal the struggle to connect with our own animal identity.
Hammes has exhibited and performed extensively throughout the midwest and internationally. Hammes' work and various projects have been reviewed in publications such as Art Papers, Proximity Magazine, and the Leonardo Music journal.

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Cool About Endangered Animals images

Check out these about endangered animals images:

Bryce Canyon National Park, southwestern Utah

Image by james_gordon_losangeles
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).

The Bryce Canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a National Park in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (55.99 sq mi; 145.02 km2) and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location.

Geography and climate
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of and 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than Zion National Park. The weather in Bryce Canyon is therefore cooler, and the park receives more precipitation: a total of 15 to 18 inches (38 to 46 cm) per year.
Yearly temperatures vary from an average minimum of 9 °F (−13 °C) in January to an average maximum of 83 °F (28 °C) in July, but extreme temperatures can range from −30 °F to 97 °F (−34 °C to 36 °C). The record high temperature in the park was 98 °F (37 °C) on July 14, 2002. The record low temperature was −28 °F (−33 °C) on December 10, 1972.

The national park lies within the Colorado Plateau geographic province of North America and straddles the southeastern edge of the Paunsagunt Plateau west of the Paunsagunt Fault (Paunsagunt is Paiute for "home of the beaver").[9] Park visitors arrive from the plateau part of the park and look over the plateau's edge toward a valley containing the fault and the Paria River just beyond it (Paria is Paiute for "muddy or elk water"). The edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau bounds the opposite side of the valley.

Bryce PointBryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon. Instead headward erosion has excavated large amphitheater-shaped features in the Cenozoic-aged rocks of the Paunsagunt Plateau. This erosion exposed delicate and colorful pinnacles called hoodoos that are up to 200 feet (61 m) high. A series of amphitheaters extends more than 20 miles (32 km) north-to-south within the park. The largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 12 miles (19 km) long, 3 miles (4.8 km) wide and 800 feet (240 m) deep. A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the same formation but at a higher elevation, is in Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is 25 miles (40 km) to the west on the Markagunt Plateau.

Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 9,105 feet (2,775 m), is at the end of the 18-mile (29 km) scenic drive. From there, Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs and the White Cliffs can be seen. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the north-east section, is the lowest part of the park at 6,620 feet (2,020 m).

[edit] Human history[edit] Native American habitationLittle is known about early human habitation in the Bryce Canyon area. Archaeological surveys of Bryce Canyon National Park and the Paunsaugunt Plateau show that people have been in the area for at least 10,000 years. Basketmaker Anasazi artifacts several thousand years old have been found south of the park. Other artifacts from the Pueblo-period Anasazi and the Fremont culture (up to the mid-12th century) have also been found.

The Paiute Indians moved into the surrounding valleys and plateaus in the area around the same time that the other cultures left. These Native Americans hunted and gathered for most of their food, but also supplemented their diet with some cultivated products. The Paiute in the area developed a mythology surrounding the hoodoos (pinnacles) in Bryce Canyon. They believed that hoodoos were the Legend People whom the trickster Coyote turned to stone. At least one older Paiute said his culture called the hoodoos Anka-ku-was-a-wits, which is Paiute for "red painted faces".

European American exploration and settlementIt was not until the late 18th and the early 19th century that the first European Americans explored the remote and hard-to-reach area. Mormon scouts visited the area in the 1850s to gauge its potential for agricultural development, use for grazing, and settlement.


Ebenezer Bryce and his family lived in Bryce Canyon, in this cabin, here photographed c. 1881.The first major scientific expedition to the area was led by U.S. Army Major John Wesley Powell in 1872. Powell, along with a team of mapmakers and geologists, surveyed the Sevier and Virgin River area as part of a larger survey of the Colorado Plateaus. His mapmakers kept many of the Paiute place names.

Small groups of Mormon pioneers followed and attempted to settle east of Bryce Canyon along the Paria River. In 1873, the Kanarra Cattle Company started to use the area for cattle grazing.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary to settle land in the Paria Valley because they thought his carpentry skills would be useful in the area. The Bryce family chose to live right below Bryce Canyon Amphitheater. Bryce grazed his cattle inside what are now park borders, and reputedly thought that the amphitheaters were a "helluva place to lose a cow." He also built a road to the plateau to retrieve firewood and timber, and a canal to irrigate his crops and water his animals. Other settlers soon started to call the unusual place "Bryce's canyon", which was later formalized into Bryce Canyon.

A combination of drought, overgrazing and flooding eventually drove the remaining Paiutes from the area and prompted the settlers to attempt construction of a water diversion channel from the Sevier River drainage. When that effort failed, most of the settlers, including the Bryce family, left the area.
Bryce moved his family to Arizona in 1880. The remaining settlers dug a 10 miles (16 km) ditch from the Sevier's east fork into Tropic Valley.

Creation of the park
Bryce Canyon Lodge was built between 1924 and 1925 from local materials.These scenic areas were first described for the public in magazine articles published by Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads in 1916. People like Forest Supervisor J. W. Humphrey promoted the scenic wonders of Bryce Canyon's amphitheaters, and by 1918 nationally distributed articles also helped to spark interest. However, poor access to the remote area and the lack of accommodations kept visitation to a bare minimum.

Ruby Syrett, Harold Bowman and the Perry brothers later built modest lodging, and set up "touring services" in the area. Syrett later served as the first postmaster of Bryce Canyon. Visitation steadily increased, and by the early 1920s the Union Pacific Railroad became interested in expanding rail service into southwestern Utah to accommodate more tourists.

In 1928 the canyon became a National Park. It now has this visitors' center.At the same time, conservationists became alarmed by the damage overgrazing and logging on the plateau, along with unregulated visitation, were having on the fragile features of Bryce Canyon. A movement to have the area protected was soon started, and National Park Service Director Stephen Mather responded by proposing that Bryce Canyon be made into a state park. The governor of Utah and the Utah Legislature, however, lobbied for national protection of the area. Mather relented and sent his recommendation to President Warren G. Harding, who on June 8, 1923 declared Bryce Canyon National Monument into existence.

A road was built the same year on the plateau to provide easy access to outlooks over the amphitheaters. From 1924 to 1925, Bryce Canyon Lodge was built from local timber and stone.

Members of U.S. Congress started work in 1924 on upgrading Bryce Canyon's protection status from a U.S. National Monument to a National Park in order to establish Utah National Park.
A process led by the Utah Parks Company for transferring ownership of private and state-held land in the monument to the federal government started in 1923. The last of the land in the proposed park's borders was sold to the federal government four years later, and on February 25, 1928, the renamed Bryce Canyon National Park was established.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover annexed an adjoining area south of the park, and in 1942 an additional 635 acres (2.57 km2) was added.[11] This brought the park's total area to the current figure of 35,835 acres (145.02 km2). Rim Road, the scenic drive that is still used today, was completed in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Administration of the park was conducted from neighboring Zion Canyon National Park until 1956, when Bryce Canyon's first superintendent started work.

More recent history
The USS Bryce Canyon was named for the park and served as a supply and repair ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet from September 15, 1950, to June 30, 1981.

Bryce Canyon Natural History Association (BCNHA) was established in 1961. It runs the bookstore inside the park visitor center and is a non-profit organization created to aid the interpretive, educational and scientific activities of the National Park Service at Bryce Canyon National Park. A portion of the profits from all bookstore sales are donated to public land units.

Responding to increased visitation and traffic congestion, the National Park Service implemented a voluntary, summer-only, in-park shuttle system in June 2000. In 2004, reconstruction began on the aging and inadequate road system in the park.

Geology of the Bryce Canyon area

Erosion of sedimentary rocks has created natural arches.
Thor's Hammer.The Bryce Canyon area shows a record of deposition that spans from the last part of the Cretaceous period and the first half of the Cenozoic era. The ancient depositional environment of the region around what is now the park varied. The Dakota Sandstone and the Tropic Shale were deposited in the warm, shallow waters of the advancing and retreating Cretaceous Seaway (outcrops of these rocks are found just outside park borders). The colorful Claron Formation, from which the park's delicate hoodoos are carved, was laid down as sediments in a system of cool streams and lakes that existed from 63 to about 40 million years ago (from the Paleocene to the Eocene epochs). Different sediment types were laid down as the lakes deepened and became shallow and as the shoreline and river deltas migrated.

Several other formations were also created but were mostly eroded away following two major periods of uplift. The Laramide orogeny affected the entire western part of what would become North America starting about 70 million to 50 million years ago. This event helped to build the Rocky Mountains and in the process closed the Cretaceous Seaway. The Straight Cliffs, Wahweap, and Kaiparowits formations were victims of this uplift. The Colorado Plateaus were uplifted 16 million years ago and were segmented into different plateaus, each separated from its neighbors by faults and each having its own uplift rate. The Boat Mesa Conglomerate and the Sevier River Formation were removed by erosion following this uplift.

Vertical joints were created by this uplift, which were eventually (and still are) preferentially eroded. The easily eroded Pink Cliffs of the Claron Formation responded by forming freestanding pinnacles in badlands called hoodoos, while the more resistant White Cliffs formed monoliths. The brown, pink and red colors are from hematite (iron oxide; Fe2O3); the yellows from limonite (FeO(OH)·nH2O); and the purples are from pyrolusite (MnO2). Also created were arches, natural bridges, walls, and windows. Hoodoos are composed of soft sedimentary rock and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily eroded stone that protects the column from the elements. Bryce Canyon has one of the highest concentrations of hoodoos of any place on Earth.

The formations exposed in the area of the park are part of the Grand Staircase. The oldest members of this supersequence of rock units are exposed in the Grand Canyon, the intermediate ones in Zion National Park, and its youngest parts are laid bare in Bryce Canyon area. A small amount of overlap occurs in and around each park.

Biology
Mule deer are the most common large animals found in the park.More than 400 native plant species live in the park. There are three life zones in the park based on elevation: The lowest areas of the park are dominated by dwarf forests of pinyon pine and juniper with manzanita, serviceberry, and antelope bitterbrush in between. Aspen, cottonwood, Water Birch, and Willow grow along streams. Ponderosa Pine forests cover the mid-elevations with Blue Spruce and Douglas-fir in water-rich areas and manzanita and bitterbrush as underbrush. Douglas-fir and White Fir, along with Aspen and Engelmann Spruce, make up the forests on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The harshest areas have Limber Pine and ancient Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, some more than 1,600 years old, holding on.


Bryce Canyon has extensive fir forests.The forests and meadows of Bryce Canyon provide the habitat to support diverse animal life, from birds and small mammals to foxes and occasional bobcats, mountain lions, and black bears. Mule deer are the most common large mammals in the park. Elk and pronghorn, which have been reintroduced nearby, sometimes venture into the park.

Bryce Canyon National Park forms part of the habitat of three wildlife species that are listed under the Endangered Species Act: the Utah Prairie Dog, the California Condor, and the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. The Utah Prairie Dog is a threatened species that was reintroduced to the park for conservation, and the largest protected population is found within the park's boundaries.

About 170 species of birds visit the park each year, including swifts and swallows. Most species migrate to warmer regions in winter, although jays, ravens, nuthatches, eagles, and owls stay. In winter, the mule deer, mountain lion, and coyotes migrate to lower elevations.
Ground squirrels and marmots pass the winter in hibernation.

Eleven species of reptiles and four species of amphibians have been found at in the park. Reptiles include the Great Basin Rattlesnake, Short-horned Lizard, Side-blotched Lizard, Striped Whipsnake, and the Tiger Salamander.

Also in the park are the black, lumpy, very slow-growing colonies of cryptobiotic soil, which are a mix of lichens, algae, fungi, and cyanobacteria. Together these organisms slow erosion, add nitrogen to soil, and help it to retain moisture.

While humans have greatly reduced the amount of habitat that is available to wildlife in most parts of the United States, the relative scarcity of water in southern Utah restricts human development and helps account for the region's greatly enhanced diversity of wildlife.

Activities
There are marked trails for hiking, for which snowshoes are required in winter.
Navajo Trail. Trees are Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus ponderosa.Most park visitors sightsee using the scenic drive, which provides access to 13 viewpoints over the amphitheaters. Bryce Canyon has eight marked and maintained hiking trails that can be hiked in less than a day (round trip time, trailhead): Mossy Cave (one hour, State Route 12 northwest of Tropic), Rim Trail (5–6 hours, anywhere on rim), Bristlecone Loop (one hour, Rainbow Point), and Queens Garden (1–2 hours, Sunrise Point) are easy to moderate hikes. Navajo Loop (1–2 hours, Sunset Point) and Tower Bridge (2–3 hours, north of Sunrise Point) are moderate hikes. Fairyland Loop (4–5 hours, Fairyland Point) and Peekaboo Loop (3–4 hours, Bryce Point) are strenuous hikes. Several of these trails intersect, allowing hikers to combine routes for more challenging hikes.

The park also has two trails designated for overnight hiking: the 9-mile (14 km) Riggs Spring Loop Trail and the 23-mile (37 km) Under-the-Rim Trail. Both require a backcountry camping permit. In total there are 50 miles (80 km) of trails in the park.


Horse riding is available in the park from April through October.More than 10 miles (16 km) of marked but ungroomed skiing trails are available off of Fairyland, Paria, and Rim trails in the park. Twenty miles (32 km) of connecting groomed ski trails are in nearby Dixie National Forest and Ruby's Inn.

The air in the area is so clear that on most days from Yovimpa and Rainbow points, Navajo Mountain and the Kaibab Plateau can be seen 90 miles (140 km) away in Arizona. On extremely clear days, the Black Mesas of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico can be seen some 160 miles (260 km) away.

The park also has a 7.4 magnitude night sky, making it one of the darkest in North America. Stargazers can therefore see 7,500 stars with the naked eye, while in most places fewer than 2,000 can be seen due to light pollution (in many large cities only a few dozen can be seen). Park rangers host public stargazing events and evening programs on astronomy, nocturnal animals, and night sky protection. The Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, typically held in June, attracts thousands of visitors. In honor of this astronomy festival, Asteroid 49272 was named after the national park.

There are two campgrounds in the park, North Campground and Sunset Campground. Loop A in North Campground is open year-round. Additional loops and Sunset Campground are open from late spring to early autumn. The 114-room Bryce Canyon Lodge is another way to overnight in the park.

A favorite activity of most visitors is landscape photography. With Bryce Canyon's high altitude and clean air, the sunrise and sunset photographs can be spectacular.

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Robin

A few nice animal shelter images I found:

Robin

Image by aeverett55

MrPete1

Image by aeverett55

Crying kitty

Image by aeverett55

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The pigs dug this pond for themselves

Check out these animal sanctuary images:

The pigs dug this pond for themselves

Image by ndh

Seasonal decorations

Image by ndh

Happiest gator ever!

Image by wispfox

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Nice Photo Of Animals photos

A few nice photo of animals images I found:

"Open Window" (Explore #332, September 16, 2012)

Image by Puzzler4879
***PLEASE!! NO MULTI-GROUP OR STRING INVITATIONS. ONLY ONE GROUP INVITATION PER COMMENTOR. MANY THANKS!!***

The completed 100 piece jigsaw puzzle "Open Window," from original artwork by Jane Maday, and manufactured by Karmin International. You can learn more about this very talented Colorado artist at www.janemadayart.com/about.htm.

Barn

Image by *Muhammad*
A farm in the Mennonite country of St. Jacobs county near Waterloo Ontario.

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Chernobyl, April 2009

A few nice animal plant images I found:

Chernobyl, April 2009

Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video
NASA image acquired April 28, 2009

On April 26,1986, Reactor Number Four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near the Ukraine-Belarus border exploded, and the reactor burned for days afterwards. It was the worst accident in the history of nuclear power, releasing radionuclides over parts of what today are Belarus, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation. The accident affected hundreds of thousands of people, including forcing the evacuation of 116,000 residents from a highly contaminated area, and causing some 4,000 confirmed cases of childhood thyroid cancer. The Soviet Union built a shelter, commonly referred to as a sarcophagus, around the reactor, and the Ukranian government permanently closed the site in 2000.

On April 28, 2009, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite took this true-color picture of the nuclear reactor. The large body of water in the right half of the image is the northwestern end of a 12-kilometer- (7.5-mile-) long cooling pond, and water channels run through the network of reactor-related buildings west of the pond. Reactor number four appears on the west end of a long building northeast of an L-shaped water channel.


Mixing with the network of abandoned buildings, water channels, and roads, areas of green appear—a testament to the vegetation that was growing around the site some 20 years after the accident. After the evacuation of the region affected by Chernobyl, satellite imagery revealed widespread abandonment of agricultural fields, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That did not, however, halt vegetation growth near the site. A wider view of the area acquired by Landsat in 2004 showed green fields around Chernobyl. In fact, plants and animals appeared to have made something of a comeback, according to some studies. Residents who defied evacuation orders and remained in the region described wildlife encounters in a 2007 article from The Washington Post, although experts debated the health of the wildlife in the region.

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 Team. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: EO-1 - ALI

Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Pollenators at Work

Image by timsackton
Taken Jun 16, 2012 in Concord, Massachusetts, United States
¹⁄₄₀₀ sec at f/9.0, ISO100, no flash.
Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM @ 85 mm

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Cool All About Animals images

Check out these all about animals images:

20101009 1718 - Museum Of Sex - Genital Morphology display - IMG_2287

Image by Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)
"Genital Morphology

There is no one 'right' shape for a penis or for a vulva--among people and [among] the animal kingdom. Few, if any, structures so more variation than the [genitals].

The great variation in the size, shape, and color of genitals makes them useful in taxonomy--the study of classification, which helps us to identify species.

However, genitalia is not always the best tool of differentiating males from females of the same species. For instance, male and female whales externally look almost identical, as the penis is protected by the genital slit when not being used, and the testes remain in the body cavity instead of descending.

In the spotted hyena, females have a full replica of the male external genital structure, and in some primate species, such as the wooly monkey, spider monkey, and bush babies, the clitoris of females is the same size or larger than the male penis.

Genitalia have both internal and external components. Biologists refer to the tubes and pipes for carrying and storing sperm and eggs found inside the body as 'internal genitals', and the tubes and pipes outside the body cavity as 'external genitals.'

These building blocks are rearranged in other mammal species, and in many people too, into what is called intersex. All in all, great variation occurs in the structure of external genitals among mammals, both within and cross species."

Genital Morphology display, argentine lake duck, banana slug, barnacle, genitals, longtailed duck, mallard duck, penis, vagina.

Museum Of Sex, museum, Manhattan, New York City, New York.

October 9, 2010.


... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com



BACKSTORY: We were only scheduled to be in town for about 26 hours. And that included *two* sleeps. Combined with the SubGenius devival we were going to later that day, we really didn't have much time to do anything. We woke up, walked around Chinatown, ate, and then headed to the Museum Of Sex to see what oddities it had to offer. Then we went straight to the SubGenius Devival in Astoria afterward.

Happy Tails: Lucy

Image by LollypopFarm
I adopted LaVern about a month ago. As promised, here are a few pictures of her :) She is doing very well and has transitioned quite successfully. We named her Lucy and I don't think she has stopped playing since she stepped out into our apartment. She is eating well, drinking lots of water, and enjoying the room to run around. She is very curious. She has attempted more than once to conquer the string that hangs from the ceiling fan. She loves our attention, which we love to give her, she is quite spoiled. We brought her along to NH to see my family for Christmas and she was surprisingly good the whole time. She didn't get sick and she loved meeting her aunts and uncles and grammy and grampy. (My mother calls Lucy her "grandcat".)

All in all, she's doing great! I love her very much and can't wait to come home to her every day. <3

Lydia

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Nice Animal Shelters photos

A few nice animal shelters images I found:

Black Kitty Ivy

Image by Smitten with Kittens

Salt Lake City Super Pet Adoption in Progress

Image by maplegirlie
Posted via email from SLCo Pit Crew

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Ruddy Quail-dove

Some cool animal research images:

Ruddy Quail-dove

Image by siwild

This Ruddy Quail-dove, Geotrygon montana, was photographed in Peru, as part of a research project utilizing motion-activated camera-traps.

You are invited to go WILD on Smithsonian's interactive website, Smithsonian WILD, to learn more about the research and browse photos like this from around the world.

siwild.si.edu/wild.cfm?fid=5493271829

Striated Ant Thrush

Image by siwild

This Striated Ant Thrush, Chamaeza nobilis, was photographed in Peru, as part of a research project utilizing motion-activated camera-traps.

You are invited to go WILD on Smithsonian's interactive website, Smithsonian WILD, to learn more about the research and browse photos like this from around the world.

siwild.si.edu/wild.cfm?fid=5493220101

Saphire Quail Dove

Image by siwild

This Saphire Quail Dove, Geotrygon saphirina, was photographed in Peru, as part of a research project utilizing motion-activated camera-traps.

You are invited to go WILD on Smithsonian's interactive website, Smithsonian WILD, to learn more about the research and browse photos like this from around the world.

siwild.si.edu/wild.cfm?fid=5493197729

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Cool Names For Animals images

Check out these names for animals images:

Who's a Good Puppy?

Image by e_monk
I'm pretty sure he wold bite me for saying that.

View large on black

~~~

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: C. lupus
Binomial name: Canis rufus
Subspecies: C. l. rufus
Trinomial name: Canis lupus rufus

London Zoo 11-03-2013

Image by Karen Roe
Two-Toed Sloth

Leander the two-toed sloth enjoys a tasty platter of his favourite foods at ZSL London Zoo.
Joining the Zoo's Rainforest Life exhibit, which is already home to a female sloth, Marilyn, Leander moved to ZSL London Zoo from Germany as part of a conservation breeding programme.

Leander’s name originates from the Greek word for ‘lion’, but keepers have noticed he’s a little shyer than his moniker would suggest.

Welcoming the new addition with a tasty dish, keeper Tegan McPhail has high hopes for his future at the Zoo: “We’re really hoping that Leander will hit it off with our female sloth Marilyn.

“Although he’s a bit shy at the moment, he’s a young and handsome chap, so we’re hoping she’ll fall for his charms and we’ll be celebrating some more new arrivals in the future.”

London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of 755 species of animals, with 16,802 individuals, making it one of the largest collections in the United Kingdom. The zoo is sometimes called Regent's Zoo.

It is managed under the aegis of the Zoological Society of London (established in 1826) and is situated at the northern edge of Regent's Park, on the boundary line between City of Westminster and Camden (the Regent's Canal runs through it). The Society also has a more spacious site at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants and rhinos have been moved. As well as being the first scientific zoo, ZSL London Zoo also opened the first Reptile house (1849), first public Aquarium (1853), first insect house (1881) and the first children's zoo (1938).

ZSL receives no state funding and relies on 'Fellows', 'Friends', 'Members', entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income.

Kaisa, 26

Image by pni
This is one image of six from a series about identities online and in real life, exhibited in 2003 under the name Personatus together with Minna Grönstrand at two locations in Helsinki companied by a website (not available anymore).

The animal figures used in this series are something I originally designed when I was a children's camp counsellor, in the mid 1990's, for the kids to print on t-shirts. The figures became popular also among grown-ups and I just republished them on Redbubble: ANIMAL t-shirts.

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Nice Photos Of Animals photos

A few nice photos of animals images I found:

Hold on tight

Image by EJP Photo

Early Bird

Image by EJP Photo
177/365

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Cool Stuffed Toy Animals images

Some cool stuffed toy animals images:

pink

Image by K. Yasuhara

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Dama Gazelles

Some cool animals names images:

Dama Gazelles

Image by Chris D 2006
Mixed small herds of animals. Guide told us their names but I had a lot of trouble naming them... might have mistakes!

Image by fatseth
Don't remember the name of this animal.

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20071225 - Christmas Day - 146-4638 - Beavis sleeping with Milhouse

Check out these video of animals images:

20071225 - Christmas Day - 146-4638 - Beavis sleeping with Milhouse

Image by Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)
Millhouse finally emerges triumphant over Beavis the cat.

sleeping.
Beavis the cat, Milhouse.
cartoon: The Simpsons.

Mom and Dad's house, Stafford, Virginia.

December 25, 2007.


... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... View videos of Beavis the cat at: www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ClintJCL&search_q...

Gainer Spring Head: Econfina Creek Clearwater Canoe Trail

Image by Phil's 1stPix
Water is expelled from the largest of one of several spring vents in Gainer Springs that sand, fossils and coral is forced up into the water like a geyser. A first magnitude spring, Gainer discharges over 65 million gallons of water every day.

I was able to also get a video of this vent with my Sealife DC1200 camera.

Giant anteater born at National Zoo: Interview with biologist Marie Magnuson

Image by Smithsonian's National Zoo
On March 12, a giant anteater was born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. This is only the second giant anteater to be born in the history of the Zoo. National Zoo animal care staff and veterinarians had been closely monitoring mother Maripi (ma-RIP-ee) for the past six months, performing weekly ultrasounds and other diagnostics. The National Zoo staff has yet to determine the baby’s gender or weight—and may not for some time, allowing time for mother and baby to bond.

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Nice Animal Species photos

Check out these animal species images:

Colêmbolo // Springtail (Seira dollfusi)

Image by Valter Jacinto | Portugal
Location: Europe > Portugal > Algarve

Date Photo Taken: January 15, 2011

Size: about 3 mm

Info: It's a NEW species for Portugal!

© Copyright. You cannot use! Only Encyclopedia of Life (EOL)

European Starling on Piling

Image by Mr. T in DC
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), an introduced species that has displaced countless indigenous North American birds, on a piling in Belle Haven Marina, Alexandria, Virginia.

Ours HDR

Image by ld_germain
The American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) is the most common bear species native to North America. It lives throughout much of the continent, from northern Canada and Alaska south into Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This includes 41 of the 50 U.S. states and all Canadian provinces except Prince Edward Island. Populations in the east-central and southern United States remain in the protected mountains and woodlands of parks and preserves, though bears will occasionally wander outside the parks' boundaries and have set up new territories, in some cases on the margins of urban environments in recent years as their populations increase. Although there were probably once as many as two million black bears in North America long before European colonization, the population declined to a low of 200,000 as a result of habitat destruction and unrestricted hunting. By current estimates, more than 800,000 are living today on the continent.

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Lithops 3529

A few nice animal plant images I found:

Lithops 3529

Image by yellowcloud
Re-potting the survivors:
After fighting spider mites with an out-of-soil quarantine I re-potted my plants. I chose more dense arrays of plants in the pot than before.
Here I put only Lithops aucampiae together.

Lithops are extremely succulent plants originating from the semi-deserts of southern Africa. Their plant body rests under ground, while on top they have transparent windows to let sunlight in for photosynthesis. A camouflage pattern on the windows lets them appear more or less like a pair of pebblestones, so hungry animals may hardly find them. I like them because they look like ornamented knobs or gemstones.

DO NOT MISS:
www.lithops.info/
www.lithops.de/
www.lithops.co.za/
www.lithop.supanet.com/
Be aware that sites from the southern hemisphere
have a six-month-shift in the description of the
annual lithops growing cycle.

Texas Peach , Prunus persica ....#2

Image by Vietnam Plants & The USA. plants
Chụp hình vào ngày 4-3-2012 lúc 4:21 buổi trưa tại thành phố Waco, thuộc bang Texas, nằm về phía Nam của nước Mỹ. Theo dõi cùng một cây từ khi ra hoa cho đến kết trái .

Taken on March 4 , 2012 at 4:21 pm, in Waco city, Texas state, southern of America.
Same plant, since it blossomed until it has developing fruits

Ở các tỉnh thuộc miền Bắc nước ta ( tiếp giáp vùng biên giới gần Trung Quốc ) như Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn có trồng rất nhiều cây Đào lông và thu hoạch rất tốt mỗi mùa vụ .

Vietnamese plants this Prunus persica in some provincals belongs to Northern of Vietnam , near the border between Viet Nam and China .

Vietnamese named : Đào lông ( có lớp lông măng trên trái Đào ).
Common names : Peach, Texas Peach
Scientist name : Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.
Synonyms :
Family : Rosaceae / Rose family
Kingdom Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass Rosidae
Order Rosales
Genus Prunus L. – plum
Species Prunus persica (L.) Batsch – peach

**** www.duoclieu.org/2012/02/cay-ao-prunus-persica-l-batch-ho...
**** www.vho.vn/wap/?module=1&id=12146
**** www.yhoccotruyen.htmedsoft.com/baocheduoc/htmdocs/DaoNhan...

**** www.lrc-hueuni.edu.vn/dongy/show_target.plx?url=/thuocdon...

Ðào - Prunus persica (L,) Batsch, thuộc họ Hoa hồng - Rosaceae.

Mô tả: Cây gỗ nhỏ, cao 8-10m, mọc lâu năm, thân nhẵn, phân cành nhiều, màu đo đỏ, chồi có lông mềm. Lá hình bầu dục ngọn giáo, dài 8-15cm, rộng 2-3cm, có mũi nhọn dài, nhăn nheo, có răng mịn, màu lục thẫm hay lục nhạt tuỳ giống; cuống lá có tuyến. Hoa hình chuông màu đo đỏ, có khi trắng, thường mọc đơn độc, có cuống ngắn. Quả hạch hình cầu, có một rãnh bên rõ, phủ lông tơ mịn, khi chín hơi có màu đỏ, vỏ quả trong hoá gỗ bao lấy hạt (nên người ta gọi là quả hạch).

Mùa hoa tháng 1-4, quả tháng 5-9.

Bộ phận dùng: Hạt - Semen Persicae, thường gọi là Ðào nhân. Lá và hoa cũng thường được dùng.

Nơi sống và thu hái: Cây của Bắc Trung Quốc và Mông Cổ, đã được trồng lâu đời ở nước ta. Ðào thích nghi với vùng khí hậu nhiệt đới núi cao các tỉnh Lào Cai, Hà Giang, Lạng Sơn. Ðào cũng được trồng ở những nơi có khí hậu mát và ấm ở miền Bắc nước ta. Người ta ăn quả lấy hạch. Ðập vỡ vỏ lấy hạt, ta thường gọi là nhân, nên mới có tên là Ðào nhân, thực ra đó mới là hạt Ðào, đem phơi hoặc sây khô. Lá thu hái quanh năm, dùng tươi.

Thành phần hoá học: Phần thịt của quả Ðào chứa chất màu (carotenoid, lycopen, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin), 15% đường, acid hữu cơ (acid citric, acid tariric), vitamin C, acid clorogenic, ít tinh dầu. Hạt chứa 50% dầu béo, 3,5% amygdalin. 0,40-0,70%, tinh dầu, ennulsin; còn có acid prussie, cholin, acetylcholin. Lá Ðào chứa amygdalin, tanin, coumarin. Hoa chớm nở chứa glucosid, trifolin. Nhựa Ðào chứa I-arabinose, d-xylose. I-rhamnose, acid d-glucuromic.

Tính vị, tác dụng: Ðào nhân có vị đắng, ngọt, tính bình, có tác dụng phá huyết, khử tích trệ, nhuận táo, hoạt trướng, lợi tiểu. Lá Ðào có vị đắng, tính bình, có tác dụng làm tan kết tụ và giảm đau, ngoài ra còn có tác dụng lợi tiểu mạnh. Người ta đã nghiên cứu về các tác dụng ức chế sự đông máu, tác dụng chống dị ứng, tác dụng chống viêm của nhân Ðào, tác dụng diệt khuẩn, tẩy và diệt giun của lá Ðào.

Công dụng, chỉ định và phối hợp: Ðào nhân, dùng sống trị kinh nguyệt bế tắc, sinh hòn cục, bụng dưới đầy, đau, vấp ngã ứ huyết; dùng chín thì hoạt huyết, chữa đại tiện khó đi do huyết táo, ngày dùng 6-12g dạng thuốc sắc. Ðào nhân còn dùng chữa ho như hạt mơ. Lá Ðào thường dùng sắc nước hoặc vò ra lấy nước tắm ghẻ, sưng ngứa, chốc lở, xát và ngâm chữa đau chân. Hoa Ðào có khi cũng được dùng làm thuốc thông tiểu tiện và tẩy dùng chữa thuỷ thũng, bí đại tiện. Ngày dùng 3-5g hãm uống. Nhựa Ðào dùng trị đái ra dưỡng trấp, đái đường.

Ðơn thuốc:

1. Chữa kinh nguyệt không đều, đau bụng máu: Ðào nhân, Hồng hoa, Ngưu tất, Tô mộc, Mần tưới, Nghệ vàng đều bằng nhau, mỗi vị 8-15g sắc uống.

2. Chữa bí đại tiện: Dùng Ðào nhân 40g luộc ăn vào lúc đói.

3. Chữa đại tiểu tiện không thông: Dùng lá Ðào một nắm to, giã vắt lấy nước cốt uống.

4. Chữa phù thũng: Dùng vỏ cây Ðào ngâm rượu uống.

5. Chữa đái dưỡng trấp: Dùng nhựa cây Ðào 12g tán nhỏ uống với nước sắc. Dây tơ hồng 30g làm thang.

6. Chữa đái dưỡng: Dùng nhựa Ðào 20g tán nhỏ uống với nước sắc. Ðịa cốt bì và Râu ngô mỗi vị 30g làm thang.

7. Chữa chốc lở, rôm sảy, sưng âm hộ: Giã lá Ðào tươi xoa xát.

8. Chữa phù, đại tiện táo bón: Dùng hoa Ðào 3-5g, sắc uống.

9. Chữa bại liệt nửa người: lấy 2000 nhân quả Ðào đã bóc vỏ cho vào một lít rưỡi rượu để ngâm 21 ngày, vớt nhân Ðào đem phơi khô sấy dòn, tán nhỏ mịn, trộn với nước cháo cho vừa dẻo làm viên to bằng hạt đậu đen, mỗi ngày uống 30 viên với một thìa rượu ngâm nước của nó.

10. Chữa đau vùng tim đột ngột: Lấy 30 g nhân hạt Ðào bóc vỏ giã nhừ, cho vào một chén nước đun kỹ để uống 3 lần.

Kiêng kỵ: Không có ứ trệ, đàn bà có thai không nên dùng.

________________________________________________________________

**** plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=prpe3

**** www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Prunus+persica
( Clickr on link to read more, please )

Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Flowers; Fruit; Oil; Oil; Seed.
Edible Uses: Gum; Oil; Oil; Tea.

Fruit - raw, cooked or dried for later use[1, 2, 34, 46]. The fruit is often used in ice creams, pies, jams etc[183]. When fully ripe, the fruit of the best forms are very juicy with a rich delicious flavour[K]. Wild trees in the Himalayas yield about 36.5kg of fruit a year[194]. The fruit of the wild form contains about 5.2% sugars, 2% protein, 1.6% ash. Vitamin C content is 2.3mg per 100g[194]. The fruit is a good source of vitamin A[201]. Fruits of the wild peach are richer in nutrients than the cultivated forms[194]. The size of fruit varies widely between cultivars and the wild form, it can be up to 7cm in diameter and contains one seed[200]. Flowers - raw or cooked. Added to salads or used as a garnish[183]. They can also be brewed into a tea[183]. The distilled flowers yield a white liquid which can be used to impart a flavour resembling the seed[183]. Seed - raw or cooked. Do not eat if it is too bitter, seed can contain high concentrations of hydrocyanic acid. See the notes above on toxicity. A semi-drying oil is obtained from the seed[57]. Although the report does not mention edibility it can be assumed that it is edible. The seed contains up to 45% oil[218]. A gum is obtained from the stem. It can be used for chewing[64].

Composition
Figures in grams (g) or miligrams (mg) per 100g of food.
Fruit (Dry weight)
350 Calories per 100g
Water : 0%
Protein: 5.5g; Fat: 1.4g; Carbohydrate: 90g; Fibre: 10g; Ash: 4g;
Minerals - Calcium: 60mg; Phosphorus: 135mg; Iron: 6.5mg; Magnesium: 0mg; Sodium: 30mg; Potassium: 1800mg; Zinc: 0mg;
Vitamins - A: 3000mg; Thiamine (B1): 0.15mg; Riboflavin (B2): 0.25mg; Niacin: 4.7mg; B6: 0mg; C: 70mg;
Reference: [ 218]
Notes: The figures given here are the median of a range quoted in the report.

**** en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peach
The peach tree, Prunus persica, is a deciduous tree, native to China, where it was first cultivated. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach. The species name persica refers to its widespread cultivation in Persia, whence it was transplanted to Europe. It is classified with the almond in the subgenus Amygdalus, distinguished from the other subgenera by the corrugated seed shell. It belongs to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae.

Description

Prunus persica grows to 4–10 m (13–33 ft) tall and 6 in. in diameter. The leaves are lanceolate, 7–16 cm (2.8–6.3 in) long, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) broad, pinnately veined. The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or paired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals.
The fruit has yellow or whitish flesh, a delicate aroma, and a skin that is either velvety (peaches) or smooth (nectarines) in different cultivars. The flesh is very delicate and easily bruised in some cultivars, but is fairly firm in some commercial varieties, especially when green. The single, large seed is red-brown, oval shaped, approximately 1.3–2 cm long, and is surrounded by a wood-like husk. Peaches, along with cherries, plums and apricots, are stone fruits (drupes). There are various heirloom varieties, including the Indian peach, which arrives in the latter part of the summer

Taxonomy

The scientific name persica, along with the word "peach" itself and its cognates in many European languages, derives from an early European belief that peaches were native to Persia (now Iran). The modern botanical consensus is that they originate in China, and were introduced to Persia and the Mediterranean region along the Silk Road before Christian times.[2] The botanical name is derived from the Greek word for the fruit after it was introduced into the Mediterranean through Persia and from China.
Cultivated peaches are divided into clingstones and freestones, depending on whether the flesh sticks to the stone or not; both can have either white or yellow flesh. Peaches with white flesh typically are very sweet with little acidity, while yellow-fleshed peaches typically have an acidic tang coupled with sweetness, though this also varies greatly. Both colours often have some red on their skin. Low-acid white-fleshed peaches are the most popular kinds in China, Japan, and neighbouring Asian countries, while Europeans and North Americans have historically favoured the acidic, yellow-fleshed kinds.

( Clickr on link to read more , please )

Planting
Most peach trees sold by nurseries are named cultivars budded or grafted onto a suitable rootstock. Trees can be grown from either a peach or nectarine seed, but the fruit quality of the resulting tree will be very unpredictable.
Peaches are recommended to be located in full sun, and to allow good air flow, to assist the cold air to flow away on frosty nights and to keep the area cool in summer. Peaches are recommended to be planted in early winter, as this allows time for the roots to establish and to sustain the new spring growth. When planting in rows, it is recommended to plant the rows north to south.[28]
For optimum growth, peach trees prefer a constant supply of water, which should be increased shortly before harvest. The best-tasting fruit is produced when the peach is watered throughout the season. Drip irrigation is ideal, with at least one dripper per tree. Although it is better to use multiple drippers around the tree, this is not necessary.[28] A quarter of the root being watered should be sufficient.
Peaches have a high nutrient requirement, needing more nitrogen than most other fruit trees. An NPK fertilizer should be applied regularly, and an additional mulch of poultry manure in autumn soon after the harvest could benefit the tree. If the leaves of the peach are yellow or small, this is a sign that the tree needs more nitrogen. Blood meal and bone meal, 3–5 kilograms (6.6–11 lb) per mature tree, or calcium ammonium nitrate, 0.5–1 kilogram (1.1–2.2 lb), are suitable fertilizers. This also applies if the tree is putting forth little growth.
If the full number of peaches are left on the branches, they will be under-sized and lacking in sugar and flavour. In dry conditions, extra watering is recommended. The fruit are normally thinned when they have reached 2 centimetres (0.79 in) in diameter, usually about two months after flowering. Fresh fruit are best consumed on the day of picking, and do not store well. They are best eaten when the fruit is slightly soft, having aroma, and heated by the sun.

Storage
Peaches should be stored at room temperature and refrigeration should be avoided as this can lessen the taste of the peach. Peaches are climacteric[29] [30] [31] and hence they will continue ripening after being picked from the tree

Cultural significance
Peaches are known in China, Japan, Korea, Laos, and Vietnam, not only as a popular fruit, but also for the many cultural traditions, such as the Peaches of Immortality, and folk tales associated with it.
Peach blossoms are highly prized in Chinese culture, and because they appear before leaves sprout. The ancient Chinese believed the peach to possess more vitality than any other tree. When early rulers of China visited their territories, they were preceded by sorcerers armed with peach rods to protect them from spectral evils. On New Year's Eve, local magistrates would cut peach wood branches and place them over their doors to protect against evil influences.[33] Peach kernels (桃仁 táo rén) are a common ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine to dispel blood stasis, counter inflammation and reduce allergies.[34]
It was in an orchard of flowering peach trees that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took an oath of brotherhood in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Another peach forest, the “Peach Blossom Spring” by poet Tao Yuanming is the setting of the favourite Chinese fable and a metaphor of utopias. A peach tree growing on a precipice was where the Taoist master Zhang Daoling tested his disciples.[35]
Momotaro, one of Japan's most noble and semihistorical heroes, was born from within an enormous peach floating down a stream. Momotaro or "Peach Boy" went on to fight evil oni and face many adventures.
In Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to Samguk Sagi, peach trees were planted during the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, and Sallim gyeongje also mentions cultivation skills of peach trees. Peach is seen as the fruit of happiness, riches, honours and longevity. It is one of the ten immortal plants and animals, so peaches appear in many minhwa (folk paintings). Peaches and peach trees are believed to chase away spirits, so peaches are not placed on tables for jesa (ancestor veneration), unlike other fruits.[36][37]
A Vietnamese mythic history states that, in the spring of 1789, after marching to Ngọc Hồi and then winning a great victory against invaders from the Qing Dynasty of China, the King Quang Trung ordered a messenger to gallop to Phú Xuân citadel (now Huế) and deliver a flowering peach branch to the Princess Ngọc Hân. This took place on the fifth day of the first lunar month, two days before the predicted end of the battle. The branch of peach flowers that was sent from the north to the centre of Vietnam was not only a message of victory from the King to his wife, but also the start of a new spring of peace and happiness for all the Vietnamese people. In addition, since the land of Nhật Tân had freely given that very branch of peach flowers to the King, it became the loyal garden of his dynasty.
It was a by peach tree that the protagonists of the Tale of Kieu fell in love. And in Vietnam, the blossoming peach flower is the signal of spring. Finally, peach bonsai trees are used as decoration during Vietnamese New Year (Tết) in northern Vietnam.

Nutrition and research
A medium peach is 75 g (2.6 oz). It should have 30 Cal, 7 g of carbohydrate (6 g sugars and 1 g fibre), 1 g of protein, 140 mg of potassium, and 8% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C.[38]
As with many other members of the rose family, peach seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides, including amygdalin (note the subgenus designation: Amygdalus). These substances are capable of decomposing into a sugar molecule and hydrogen cyanide gas. While peach seeds are not the most toxic within the rose family, that dubious honour going to the bitter almond, large doses of these chemicals from any source are hazardous to human health.
Peach allergy or intolerance is a relatively common form of hypersensitivity to proteins contained in peaches and related fruit (almonds). Symptoms range from local symptoms (e.g. oral allergy syndrome, contact urticaria) to systemic symptoms, including anaphylaxis (e.g. urticaria, angioedema, gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms).[39] Adverse reactions are related to the "freshness" of the fruit: peeled or canned fruit may be tolerated.

Zwartbles Ewe

Image by Ambersky235

Please visit my website www.think-differently-about-sheep.com

In the photograph gallery of my website you will find more photographs not only of sheep but other animals. Also photographs sized for desktop wallpaper of a variety of subjects including sheep, cattle, horses, birds , fish, plants, architecture and scenery

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Bryce Canyon National Park, southwestern Utah

Check out these about endangered animals images:

Bryce Canyon National Park, southwestern Utah

Image by james_gordon_losangeles
Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,400 to 2,700 m).

The Bryce Canyon area was settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and was named after Ebenezer Bryce, who homesteaded in the area in 1874. The area around Bryce Canyon became a National Monument in 1923 and was designated as a National Park in 1928. The park covers 35,835 acres (55.99 sq mi; 145.02 km2) and receives relatively few visitors compared to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon, largely due to its remote location.

Geography and climate
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of and 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than Zion National Park. The weather in Bryce Canyon is therefore cooler, and the park receives more precipitation: a total of 15 to 18 inches (38 to 46 cm) per year.
Yearly temperatures vary from an average minimum of 9 °F (−13 °C) in January to an average maximum of 83 °F (28 °C) in July, but extreme temperatures can range from −30 °F to 97 °F (−34 °C to 36 °C). The record high temperature in the park was 98 °F (37 °C) on July 14, 2002. The record low temperature was −28 °F (−33 °C) on December 10, 1972.

The national park lies within the Colorado Plateau geographic province of North America and straddles the southeastern edge of the Paunsagunt Plateau west of the Paunsagunt Fault (Paunsagunt is Paiute for "home of the beaver").[9] Park visitors arrive from the plateau part of the park and look over the plateau's edge toward a valley containing the fault and the Paria River just beyond it (Paria is Paiute for "muddy or elk water"). The edge of the Kaiparowits Plateau bounds the opposite side of the valley.

Bryce PointBryce Canyon was not formed from erosion initiated from a central stream, meaning it technically is not a canyon. Instead headward erosion has excavated large amphitheater-shaped features in the Cenozoic-aged rocks of the Paunsagunt Plateau. This erosion exposed delicate and colorful pinnacles called hoodoos that are up to 200 feet (61 m) high. A series of amphitheaters extends more than 20 miles (32 km) north-to-south within the park. The largest is Bryce Amphitheater, which is 12 miles (19 km) long, 3 miles (4.8 km) wide and 800 feet (240 m) deep. A nearby example of amphitheaters with hoodoos in the same formation but at a higher elevation, is in Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is 25 miles (40 km) to the west on the Markagunt Plateau.

Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 9,105 feet (2,775 m), is at the end of the 18-mile (29 km) scenic drive. From there, Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, the Henry Mountains, the Vermilion Cliffs and the White Cliffs can be seen. Yellow Creek, where it exits the park in the north-east section, is the lowest part of the park at 6,620 feet (2,020 m).

[edit] Human history[edit] Native American habitationLittle is known about early human habitation in the Bryce Canyon area. Archaeological surveys of Bryce Canyon National Park and the Paunsaugunt Plateau show that people have been in the area for at least 10,000 years. Basketmaker Anasazi artifacts several thousand years old have been found south of the park. Other artifacts from the Pueblo-period Anasazi and the Fremont culture (up to the mid-12th century) have also been found.

The Paiute Indians moved into the surrounding valleys and plateaus in the area around the same time that the other cultures left. These Native Americans hunted and gathered for most of their food, but also supplemented their diet with some cultivated products. The Paiute in the area developed a mythology surrounding the hoodoos (pinnacles) in Bryce Canyon. They believed that hoodoos were the Legend People whom the trickster Coyote turned to stone. At least one older Paiute said his culture called the hoodoos Anka-ku-was-a-wits, which is Paiute for "red painted faces".

European American exploration and settlementIt was not until the late 18th and the early 19th century that the first European Americans explored the remote and hard-to-reach area. Mormon scouts visited the area in the 1850s to gauge its potential for agricultural development, use for grazing, and settlement.


Ebenezer Bryce and his family lived in Bryce Canyon, in this cabin, here photographed c. 1881.The first major scientific expedition to the area was led by U.S. Army Major John Wesley Powell in 1872. Powell, along with a team of mapmakers and geologists, surveyed the Sevier and Virgin River area as part of a larger survey of the Colorado Plateaus. His mapmakers kept many of the Paiute place names.

Small groups of Mormon pioneers followed and attempted to settle east of Bryce Canyon along the Paria River. In 1873, the Kanarra Cattle Company started to use the area for cattle grazing.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent Scottish immigrant Ebenezer Bryce and his wife Mary to settle land in the Paria Valley because they thought his carpentry skills would be useful in the area. The Bryce family chose to live right below Bryce Canyon Amphitheater. Bryce grazed his cattle inside what are now park borders, and reputedly thought that the amphitheaters were a "helluva place to lose a cow." He also built a road to the plateau to retrieve firewood and timber, and a canal to irrigate his crops and water his animals. Other settlers soon started to call the unusual place "Bryce's canyon", which was later formalized into Bryce Canyon.

A combination of drought, overgrazing and flooding eventually drove the remaining Paiutes from the area and prompted the settlers to attempt construction of a water diversion channel from the Sevier River drainage. When that effort failed, most of the settlers, including the Bryce family, left the area.
Bryce moved his family to Arizona in 1880. The remaining settlers dug a 10 miles (16 km) ditch from the Sevier's east fork into Tropic Valley.

Creation of the park
Bryce Canyon Lodge was built between 1924 and 1925 from local materials.These scenic areas were first described for the public in magazine articles published by Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroads in 1916. People like Forest Supervisor J. W. Humphrey promoted the scenic wonders of Bryce Canyon's amphitheaters, and by 1918 nationally distributed articles also helped to spark interest. However, poor access to the remote area and the lack of accommodations kept visitation to a bare minimum.

Ruby Syrett, Harold Bowman and the Perry brothers later built modest lodging, and set up "touring services" in the area. Syrett later served as the first postmaster of Bryce Canyon. Visitation steadily increased, and by the early 1920s the Union Pacific Railroad became interested in expanding rail service into southwestern Utah to accommodate more tourists.

In 1928 the canyon became a National Park. It now has this visitors' center.At the same time, conservationists became alarmed by the damage overgrazing and logging on the plateau, along with unregulated visitation, were having on the fragile features of Bryce Canyon. A movement to have the area protected was soon started, and National Park Service Director Stephen Mather responded by proposing that Bryce Canyon be made into a state park. The governor of Utah and the Utah Legislature, however, lobbied for national protection of the area. Mather relented and sent his recommendation to President Warren G. Harding, who on June 8, 1923 declared Bryce Canyon National Monument into existence.

A road was built the same year on the plateau to provide easy access to outlooks over the amphitheaters. From 1924 to 1925, Bryce Canyon Lodge was built from local timber and stone.

Members of U.S. Congress started work in 1924 on upgrading Bryce Canyon's protection status from a U.S. National Monument to a National Park in order to establish Utah National Park.
A process led by the Utah Parks Company for transferring ownership of private and state-held land in the monument to the federal government started in 1923. The last of the land in the proposed park's borders was sold to the federal government four years later, and on February 25, 1928, the renamed Bryce Canyon National Park was established.

In 1931, President Herbert Hoover annexed an adjoining area south of the park, and in 1942 an additional 635 acres (2.57 km2) was added.[11] This brought the park's total area to the current figure of 35,835 acres (145.02 km2). Rim Road, the scenic drive that is still used today, was completed in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Administration of the park was conducted from neighboring Zion Canyon National Park until 1956, when Bryce Canyon's first superintendent started work.

More recent history
The USS Bryce Canyon was named for the park and served as a supply and repair ship in the U.S. Pacific Fleet from September 15, 1950, to June 30, 1981.

Bryce Canyon Natural History Association (BCNHA) was established in 1961. It runs the bookstore inside the park visitor center and is a non-profit organization created to aid the interpretive, educational and scientific activities of the National Park Service at Bryce Canyon National Park. A portion of the profits from all bookstore sales are donated to public land units.

Responding to increased visitation and traffic congestion, the National Park Service implemented a voluntary, summer-only, in-park shuttle system in June 2000. In 2004, reconstruction began on the aging and inadequate road system in the park.

Geology of the Bryce Canyon area

Erosion of sedimentary rocks has created natural arches.
Thor's Hammer.The Bryce Canyon area shows a record of deposition that spans from the last part of the Cretaceous period and the first half of the Cenozoic era. The ancient depositional environment of the region around what is now the park varied. The Dakota Sandstone and the Tropic Shale were deposited in the warm, shallow waters of the advancing and retreating Cretaceous Seaway (outcrops of these rocks are found just outside park borders). The colorful Claron Formation, from which the park's delicate hoodoos are carved, was laid down as sediments in a system of cool streams and lakes that existed from 63 to about 40 million years ago (from the Paleocene to the Eocene epochs). Different sediment types were laid down as the lakes deepened and became shallow and as the shoreline and river deltas migrated.

Several other formations were also created but were mostly eroded away following two major periods of uplift. The Laramide orogeny affected the entire western part of what would become North America starting about 70 million to 50 million years ago. This event helped to build the Rocky Mountains and in the process closed the Cretaceous Seaway. The Straight Cliffs, Wahweap, and Kaiparowits formations were victims of this uplift. The Colorado Plateaus were uplifted 16 million years ago and were segmented into different plateaus, each separated from its neighbors by faults and each having its own uplift rate. The Boat Mesa Conglomerate and the Sevier River Formation were removed by erosion following this uplift.

Vertical joints were created by this uplift, which were eventually (and still are) preferentially eroded. The easily eroded Pink Cliffs of the Claron Formation responded by forming freestanding pinnacles in badlands called hoodoos, while the more resistant White Cliffs formed monoliths. The brown, pink and red colors are from hematite (iron oxide; Fe2O3); the yellows from limonite (FeO(OH)·nH2O); and the purples are from pyrolusite (MnO2). Also created were arches, natural bridges, walls, and windows. Hoodoos are composed of soft sedimentary rock and are topped by a piece of harder, less easily eroded stone that protects the column from the elements. Bryce Canyon has one of the highest concentrations of hoodoos of any place on Earth.

The formations exposed in the area of the park are part of the Grand Staircase. The oldest members of this supersequence of rock units are exposed in the Grand Canyon, the intermediate ones in Zion National Park, and its youngest parts are laid bare in Bryce Canyon area. A small amount of overlap occurs in and around each park.

Biology
Mule deer are the most common large animals found in the park.More than 400 native plant species live in the park. There are three life zones in the park based on elevation: The lowest areas of the park are dominated by dwarf forests of pinyon pine and juniper with manzanita, serviceberry, and antelope bitterbrush in between. Aspen, cottonwood, Water Birch, and Willow grow along streams. Ponderosa Pine forests cover the mid-elevations with Blue Spruce and Douglas-fir in water-rich areas and manzanita and bitterbrush as underbrush. Douglas-fir and White Fir, along with Aspen and Engelmann Spruce, make up the forests on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The harshest areas have Limber Pine and ancient Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, some more than 1,600 years old, holding on.


Bryce Canyon has extensive fir forests.The forests and meadows of Bryce Canyon provide the habitat to support diverse animal life, from birds and small mammals to foxes and occasional bobcats, mountain lions, and black bears. Mule deer are the most common large mammals in the park. Elk and pronghorn, which have been reintroduced nearby, sometimes venture into the park.

Bryce Canyon National Park forms part of the habitat of three wildlife species that are listed under the Endangered Species Act: the Utah Prairie Dog, the California Condor, and the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. The Utah Prairie Dog is a threatened species that was reintroduced to the park for conservation, and the largest protected population is found within the park's boundaries.

About 170 species of birds visit the park each year, including swifts and swallows. Most species migrate to warmer regions in winter, although jays, ravens, nuthatches, eagles, and owls stay. In winter, the mule deer, mountain lion, and coyotes migrate to lower elevations.
Ground squirrels and marmots pass the winter in hibernation.

Eleven species of reptiles and four species of amphibians have been found at in the park. Reptiles include the Great Basin Rattlesnake, Short-horned Lizard, Side-blotched Lizard, Striped Whipsnake, and the Tiger Salamander.

Also in the park are the black, lumpy, very slow-growing colonies of cryptobiotic soil, which are a mix of lichens, algae, fungi, and cyanobacteria. Together these organisms slow erosion, add nitrogen to soil, and help it to retain moisture.

While humans have greatly reduced the amount of habitat that is available to wildlife in most parts of the United States, the relative scarcity of water in southern Utah restricts human development and helps account for the region's greatly enhanced diversity of wildlife.

Activities
There are marked trails for hiking, for which snowshoes are required in winter.
Navajo Trail. Trees are Pseudotsuga menziesii and Pinus ponderosa.Most park visitors sightsee using the scenic drive, which provides access to 13 viewpoints over the amphitheaters. Bryce Canyon has eight marked and maintained hiking trails that can be hiked in less than a day (round trip time, trailhead): Mossy Cave (one hour, State Route 12 northwest of Tropic), Rim Trail (5–6 hours, anywhere on rim), Bristlecone Loop (one hour, Rainbow Point), and Queens Garden (1–2 hours, Sunrise Point) are easy to moderate hikes. Navajo Loop (1–2 hours, Sunset Point) and Tower Bridge (2–3 hours, north of Sunrise Point) are moderate hikes. Fairyland Loop (4–5 hours, Fairyland Point) and Peekaboo Loop (3–4 hours, Bryce Point) are strenuous hikes. Several of these trails intersect, allowing hikers to combine routes for more challenging hikes.

The park also has two trails designated for overnight hiking: the 9-mile (14 km) Riggs Spring Loop Trail and the 23-mile (37 km) Under-the-Rim Trail. Both require a backcountry camping permit. In total there are 50 miles (80 km) of trails in the park.


Horse riding is available in the park from April through October.More than 10 miles (16 km) of marked but ungroomed skiing trails are available off of Fairyland, Paria, and Rim trails in the park. Twenty miles (32 km) of connecting groomed ski trails are in nearby Dixie National Forest and Ruby's Inn.

The air in the area is so clear that on most days from Yovimpa and Rainbow points, Navajo Mountain and the Kaibab Plateau can be seen 90 miles (140 km) away in Arizona. On extremely clear days, the Black Mesas of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico can be seen some 160 miles (260 km) away.

The park also has a 7.4 magnitude night sky, making it one of the darkest in North America. Stargazers can therefore see 7,500 stars with the naked eye, while in most places fewer than 2,000 can be seen due to light pollution (in many large cities only a few dozen can be seen). Park rangers host public stargazing events and evening programs on astronomy, nocturnal animals, and night sky protection. The Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, typically held in June, attracts thousands of visitors. In honor of this astronomy festival, Asteroid 49272 was named after the national park.

There are two campgrounds in the park, North Campground and Sunset Campground. Loop A in North Campground is open year-round. Additional loops and Sunset Campground are open from late spring to early autumn. The 114-room Bryce Canyon Lodge is another way to overnight in the park.

A favorite activity of most visitors is landscape photography. With Bryce Canyon's high altitude and clean air, the sunrise and sunset photographs can be spectacular.

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Longleat Safari Park

Check out these endangered animal species images:

Longleat Safari Park

Image by Cyberslayer
at Longleat Safari park.

Longleat Safari Park

Image by Cyberslayer
at Longleat Safari park.

Longleat Safari Park

Image by Cyberslayer
at Longleat Safari park.

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Available at the Gordon County Animal Shelter. 706.629.3327

Check out these animal shelters images:

Available at the Gordon County Animal Shelter. 706.629.3327

Image by zane.hollingsworth
GCAS
Available Animals currently at the shelter
---------Shooting Data--------------
Date:September,20,2012
Time:02:47:32:PM
Camera:NIKON D7000
Lens:32
Lens(35mm eq.):48
ISO:200
SS:1/100 @ f/5.6

Available at the Gordon County Animal Shelter. 706.629.3327

Image by zane.hollingsworth
GCAS
Available Animals currently at the shelter

---------Shooting Data--------------
Date:July,16,2012
Time:10:04:37:AM
Camera:NIKON D7000
Lens:70
Lens(35mm eq.):105
ISO:200
SS:1/1600 @ f/6.3

Available at the Gordon County Animal Shelter. 706.629.3327.

Image by zane.hollingsworth
GCAS
Available Animals currently at the shelter
---------Shooting Data--------------
Date:December,14,2012
Time:05:24:21:PM
Camera:NIKON D800
Lens:85
Lens(35mm eq.):85
ISO:200
SS:1/200 @ f/5.6

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Nice Animals Names photos

Check out these animals names images:

Eliot

Image by Cloudtail
A picture from the male lynx at Zoo Landau. His name is Eliot

Dog

Image by Sundust_L
His name's Dick. My parents took him a few weeks ago. His mother was a half-wild hound dog. He's eating many things.

I miei hanno preso questo cucciolo qualche settimana fa e l'hanno chiamato Dick. E' figlio di una cagna da caccia mezza selvatica. Al momento rosicchia tutto, a presto qualche foto un po' più artistica.

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Fastest Pee In The North

Some cool animal rescue images:

Fastest Pee In The North

Image by Bruce McKay Yellow Snow Photography
Flickr demonstrating her pee and go into somewhere warm fast.

Black Dog

Image by Bruce McKay Yellow Snow Photography
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqE0gO3_BwY

Fetch...Walk This Way...

Image by Bruce McKay Yellow Snow Photography
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8A0rhVG91U
Buddy doesn't understand the concept of fetch. Come on Buddy walk this way...

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