Posts Tagged ‘Wildlife’
Voices for the North Fork Flathead Reaches 2010 Goal
“Friends of the North Fork Flathead” Reaches 2010 Goal
Just a brief announcement! We thought you’d like to know that Headwaters Montana has reached its goal of signing up 2010 “Friends of the North Fork” before the end of the year ~ ahead of schedule!
As of today’s date we have 2115 Friends of the North Fork. That’s a lot of voices speaking out to protect this special part of the world.
What You Helped Accomplish
Your voice has helped protect the North Fork by:
• Encouraging Governor Schweitzer to negotiate a ” Memorandum of Understanding” with British Columbia;
• Helping Senator Baucus convince oil and gas lease holder in the North Fork to give up of over 80 percent of their dormant oil and gas leases in the North Fork (working towards 100 percent!);
• Convincing senators Baucus and Tester to introduce legislation (S.3075) to withdraw all mineral and oil and gas rights in the North Fork (still pending in Congress);
• Convincing the Obama administration to negotiate an international agreement for the North Fork with Canadian federal government (in process); and
• Helping complete Waterton – Glacier International Peace Park by adding 100,000 acres in British Columbia (on-going).
The Work’s Not Done Yet
The North Fork of the Flathead River still needs your attention and help. While we accomplished much in 2010, the list above demonstrates that work remains to be finished, in addition to other conservation objectives on the U.S. side of the watershed.
Help Headwaters Meet the “Cinnabar Challenge”
You can keep this record of success moving forward by helping Headwaters Montana stay in the game. Headwaters Montana is the only locally-based NGO that focuses on the Transboundary Flathead on a daily basis. We’re local voices working to protect our back yard.
The Cinnabar Foundation will match your donation dollar-for-dollar. Please double your financial impact by making your donation here today.
Thank you!
Claim your free National Wildlife magazine subscription
Did you know that when you turn your yard or garden into an official Certified Wildlife Habitat™ site, hundreds of breathtaking wildlife images, informative articles and helpful earth-friendly ideas are all at your fingertips?
That’s because when you certify today, you’ll
also receive a full year of National Wildlife
Federation’s award-winning magazine,
National Wildlife® — absolutely free!
National Wildilfe Magazine and tan fleece blanketIt’s just one of the many benefits that await you when you provide wildlife with the food, water, shelter and places to raise young that they need for survival (see sidebar to right for complete list of benefits). As an added bonus, you’ll also receive our super soft fleece blanket — perfect for cuddling up with the latest issue of National Wildlife®.
And if you hurry and certify your garden by Thanksgiving, you’ll be eligible to receive our most popular issue of the year, featuring winners of our annual National Wildlife 40th Annual Photo Contest! Be sure to check out the “Backyard Habitats” category to see wildlife like the winning squirrels above.
In addition to the photo contest, you won’t want to miss these upcoming magazine topics:
* What are the best trees for fighting global warming?
* Wildlife-friendly travel destinations: Bed and breakfasts, botanical gardens and other venues that are Certified Wildlife Habitat™ sites
* How climate change is affecting grizzlies and other Yellowstone wildlife
You’ll be rewarded all year long for your dedication to wildlife — both by the magazines and other tangible benefits you’ll receive, and by the great feeling you’ll get from watching birds, butterflies and other animals enjoying your yard.
Don’t miss out, certify your garden today!
David MizejewskiSincerely,
David Mizejewski signature
David Mizejewski
NWF Naturalist, Media
Spokesperson, Author
*For new members only.
**While supplies last. Substitutions may apply. Please allow 6-8
weeks for delivery.
Wildlife Online – October 2010: Nature’s Vampires
Nature’s Real Vampires: From Leeches to Bats
Vampires are the stuff of legend, but blood-sucking creatures are a real part of nature
With Halloween drawing near, our thoughts turn to horror, and among the most popular creatures of horror is the vampire. Although nature has produced no undead beings with the ability to change into bats, it does offer several species that survive by feeding on blood. Here is a sample:
Four Real-Life Vampires
Vampire finches: You can find these sparrow-sized birds in the Galapagos, using their sharp beaks to open wounds in larger birds, such as boobies, and feeding on their blood; however, they don’t live exclusively on blood.
Leeches: Leeches belong to a group called segmented worms (so does the earthworm), and there are about 650 different species of them. Some live on land, some in water, and many feed exclusively on blood. They swim or crawl up to their prey, latch on with sucking mouth parts and draw blood. Some aquatic leeches will swim into nasal cavities and stay there, feeding and growing. Capable of holding undigested blood in their stomachs, parasitic leeches can go months between feedings.
Vampire Bats: They are found only in Latin America, which is home to three species of vampire bat. Some species feed on fowl, others on mammals, scuttling around at night and crawling up on their prey (in the case of large mammals) or under it (in the case of birds). However, blood is mostly water, so even though vampire bats are adapted to feeding on it, their life is a wearisome pursuit of food: Two or three days without a good feed, and they starve to death. As the bats feed they have to get rid of the excess water they take in while absorbing the relatively small amount of protein they get from blood. So, vampire bats begin urinating while they are still feeding.
Candiru: This small South American catfish, which grows from an inch to 6 inches long, wears its eyes almost atop its head. Spines around its mouth allow it to latch onto the gills of larger fish. Once fixed in place, it wields its sharp teeth to open a wound and start feeding on blood.
The Stuff of Legends: Animals and Vampires
According to some folklore, as well as myriad motion pictures, vampires can turn into bats or wolves, but those aren’t the vampire’s only animal connections.
In Bulgaria and Serbia, people believed that animals had a role in making the dead into vampires. If a cat or dog jumped over a corpse—presto!—the dead became a vampire. The same thing might happen to a cadaver if a bird flew over.
But . . . there was also a role for animals in stopping vampires, according to Serbian belief. If you happened to have a plague of vampires in your neighborhood, all you had to do to find the vamps was put a virgin boy on a virgin black horse and lead the horse through a graveyard. When you came to a grave the horse wouldn’t cross, you had yourself a vampire. Then it was just a matter of digging up the grave, putting a stake through the corpse’s heart . . . and you were on your way to ending that plague of bloodsucking evil spirits. Just repeat the remedy as needed.
News from Yellowstone Association
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Edited by Gary Wockner, Gregory McNamee, and SueEllen Campbell. Forward by Congressman Mark Udall. Comeback Wolves is a forum where 50 authors, ecologists, journalists, poets, activists, and biologists gather their voices together in protest, praise, hope, and perseverance, all in order to raise awareness of the issues, past and present, surrounding wolves. Price $15.00 ($12.75 for members).Yellowstone Association
It’s not too late – Your gift will be doubled for sea turtles
There are few things in nature more captivating than watching tiny sea turtle babies digging out of their beachside nests and making their way to the sea. Tragically, in portions of the Gulf Coast region right now, sea turtle hatchlings are heading straight into waters that have been contaminated by toxic oil.
An entire generation of loggerhead sea turtles — a threatened species — could die when they encounter the oil.
National Wildlife Federation has teamed up with the Sea Turtle Conservancy to execute immediate and longer-term plans to make the Gulf safe again for sea turtle hatchlings. Right now, our team is relocating loggerhead sea turtle eggs in the Florida Panhandle to safer waters along the Atlantic Coast far from the spill site. Moving the eggs is risky, but leaving the baby sea turtles to die is simply not an option.
We’re working to ensure that should the maturing hatchlings find their way back to the Gulf, they’ll be greeted as thousands of generations of sea turtles have, with clean water, plenty of food, and safe habitats to breed the next generation of small wonders.
Your gift today will go directly to giving sea turtle hatchlings a fighting chance. Please give now.
Every dollar you give will be matched, up to $75,000, thanks to a generous challenge grant from a Florida sea turtle enthusiast.
The loggerhead eggs are beginning to hatch, so we’re running out of time. Please give your most generous gift before it’s too late. Every dollar will be DOUBLED and go directly to conserving sea turtles.
Sincerely,
Larry Schweiger
President & CEO
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