Looking for an ancient species

Looking for ancient species? You might find one here

By: Judi Stuart

Port Discover: Visitor Services Manager

 

As an adult, he weighs about 800 pounds, is 13 feet long, and has 75 teeth. It’s the teeth that worry me.

I have visions of one of the monster reptiles crawling up the bank of the canal in our backyard to look for a snack.

After reading that a 12 foot alligator was run over and killed by a minivan in Dare county in May, I figured that they are headed my way, too.

Th

e victim, “Cheeseburger,” was so nicknamed by the locals because he especially liked that delicacy fed to him by Dare residents. Apparently, he was just lying on the highway when he was struck and killed.

Because he had been fed by people, he saw no need to protect himself.

Previously, a 12-foot alligator killed an 80-pound Siberian husky near Jacksonville. It is illegal in North Carolina and many other states to feed alligators because it causes them to lose their fear of people. Generally, they prefer to stay away from humans.

Alligators survived an extinction that killed 75 percent of the life on Earth 65 million years ago and are sometimes described as living fossils. There are only two species of alligators.

The Chinese alligator lives in the Yangtze River and only ten to fifteen are known to be surviving. They are much smaller than the American alligator which lives in the south-eastern United States including Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and North Carolina.

In the spring, female alligator move into areas where decomposing vegetation creates more heat for the eggs. The sex of the offspring is determined by the temperature of the nest. Males are produced in the warmest areas and females are hatched in the cooler nests.

The mother looks after the young for a year, and they are considered mature when they are about six feet long.

Because their nests leave deep holes, they contribute to the ecology by providing habitats for other animals. They also help plant diversity in these areas, thus contributing to the ecological balance in the wetlands, rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, and marshes where they live.

Although they are known for their powerful bite, the jaw muscles are relatively weak. A human can hold the jaws shut with little effort. The reptile’s preferred meal includes small animals such as fish, birds, turtles and small deer.

How many alligators are there in North Carolina? A study sponsored by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has recently tried to estimate that number. The last study was done in 1980.

The results concluded that the highest concentrations were still around Wilmington, the Croatan National Forest, and south of the Albemarle Sound. In our area, alligators have been spotted in a pond near Morgan’s Corner, in Merchant’s Mill Pond, and other isolated areas.

Because North Carolina is cooler, the reptiles are more vulnerable to predators all year long.

Be aware, don’t feed them, and never let them see you smile.

(source:www.ccfriendsofwildlife.org)

Goat farming gaining in popularity

No kidding, goat farming is gaining popularity in the US

By: Judi Stuart

Port Discover: Visitor Services Manager

 

Down the road from my home lives a precious, small herd of goats. When our grandchildren come to see us, we usually take them to visit the goats and feed them crackers or carrots.  

Every day when I ride by, they bring a smile to my face. Sometimes, when one gets a horn stuck in the fence, we have to stop and perform a rescue. They are fascinating creatures.  

Goat farming is rapidly increasing worldwide, especially in the U.S. where it is the fastest growing segment of agriculture. The price for goat products is rising to meet the demand of the increasing population of Hispanics, Indians, and Muslims who each view goats as part of their cultural traditions.

In fact, American ranchers are having a difficult time filling the need. Farmers in some parts of the country have used government money to replace their tobacco growing with goat production.

Texas has the most goat farms, and North Carolina is among the top ten producers. Across the world, China and India lead in goat farming and goat meat is the most consumed meat per capita worldwide.   

Growers also cite the benefits of eating and showing goats in comparison to other animals. Many people believe goats have more personality than sheep. They require less land on which to live than cows do.  

Their main enemies are coyotes and foot-and-mouth disease. Goat meat has more protein than beef and is lower in fat than chicken.

Humans first tamed and herded goats 9,000 years ago. They can be taught their name and will then come when called.

A mother goat, called a doe, can recognize her kid’s scent and call from birth, and she usually has two babies a year.  Male goats are called bucks. Domestic goats are called a billy and a nanny.   

Contrary to popular belief, goats are very picky eaters and will refuse anything that they do not consider suitable.  Because they are foragers, not grazers, they are useful in land clearing, and in some areas, herds are rented out for that purpose.

Goats have four stomachs. Food first goes to the rumen from which it is regurgitated for “cud chewing” and then it moves to the reticulum, the omasum and finally to the abomasums. A mature goat can hold four or five gallons of chewed plant material, which then ferments causing loud burps to come from the animal.

There are six recognized dairy breeds in the U.S. which are the Alpine, LaMancha, Oberhasli, Nubian, Saanen, and Toggenburg.  Oberhasli gives the milk that tastes most like cow’s milk, but they each have a distinctive flavor.

Fainting goats only appear to faint.  When they are frightened and panic, a condition of their central nervous system temporarily paralyzes their legs, and they fall over.

Most goats are curious and take objects into their mouths to investigate them, but do not eat them. Legends of Ethiopia give the goat credit for discovering the coffee bean by chewing it and finding it eatable.

No kidding!

 

(Source: www.glenisk.com)

"In Nature Nothing Exists Alone" R. Carson

By: Judi Stuart

Port Discover: Visitor Services Manager

 

After dinner, she was having one of those terrible moments that five year olds have when they miss their mother.  I decided to whisk my granddaughter off to the pier for an “I spy nature” diversion. 

            We sat there quietly listening to birds singing as they looked for a place to spend the night and watching water bugs surface on the glassy river.  I told her about the dove’s call, the whippoorwill’s song, and the wren’s chirping.  Her mind was calm now, but the sight and buzz of a pesky yellow fly chased us back into the house.

What if the birds’ songs were silenced? 

            Last month, Rachel Louise Carson was the subject of a Google doodle.  Maybe you looked at it as I did and asked, “Who is that?”  The sketch was of a woman standing beside a body of water with a notebook, binoculars, and backpack as she observed the swarm of wildlife around her.

            The doodle commemorated the 107^th birthday of the eminent scientist, author, and activist.  Her book Silent Spring was published in 1962 and led to the global environmental movement and in 1972 the banning of the pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).  A global ban soon followed.

            Carson was born in 1907 on a small farm in Springdale, PA and grew-up as a keen observer of nature who developed an early talent for writing.  Among her favorite authors were Herman Melville and Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote novels about the sea.  She became a marine scientist and published a trilogy (Under the Sea, The Sea around US, and The Edge of the Sea,) of books about the sea. ‘

             Then she turned her attention to conservation and the widespread use of synthetic pesticides and their effects on birds and wildlife.  Silent Spring’s publication in 1962 caused a public outcry for control of all pesticides and chemicals.  

 She was viciously attacked by the chemical industry, and the New Yorker Magazine called her “an alarmist” and accused her of “overstepping her place as a woman.”  After a year, the protests from citizens overcame the detractors.  When the American Bald Eagle was found to be a victim of the chemicals, the tide turned.

            One million copies of the landmark book were sold before her death of cancer in 1964.    President John F. Kennedy was an avid supporter and had her claims investigated for further proof. 

            The furor that began in the sixties gave rise to the formation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1980.  President Jimmy Carter posthumously awarded Carson the Medal of Freedom.  Recently, TIME magazine named her one of the most influential people of the 20^th Century.  

            Protests of the ban continue today in third world countries where the mosquito population which carries malaria has continued to rise.  Today, researchers work to find ways to control the insect population without harming wildlife and people.

            As Carson said in her landmark work, “Chemical war is never won, and all life is caught in its crossfire.”

(Source: www.preserveamerica.noaa.gov)