Wildlife December into Spring 2008

[mark smyth]

Dave I wouldnt have thought Brent Gesse would be here already!?

[Slug Killer]

Hi Mark.

Correct, I meant Greylag goose. Don't know where Brent came from!!!!

David

[Armin]

Oh, I thought all green water frogs are edible. I don't know what species I have. Like them for their colour - not for their legs.

Gerd

Hallo Gerd,
your frogs are Pelophylax esculentus (Teichfrösche) as Anthony already described.

[Gerdk]

Armin,
Thank you for clarification - obviously I am weak in amphibians!

Gerd

[mark smyth]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to think of me and send me a funny 'card'

[Lvandelft]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to think of me and send me a funny 'card'

Don't know what you mean, but I like the card!
 

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks Mark. Thought you'd appreciate this one. Just about up with the crippled frog cartoon, a favourite of mine too Art.

[mark smyth]

Luit 5 people from the forums sent me this card

[mark smyth]

It's an Arkansas bird story that at first might be hard to swallow. A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly
muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for study and examination, Arkansas wildlife officials said Friday. If confirmed,
officials say it could prove to be an incredibly rare find _ a set of conjoined twins among birds.

"I can't even say it's one in a million it's probably more than that," said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. "There's just very little to no records of such a thing."

The birds, found by a landowner in White County earlier this week, fell out of a nest as a healthy sibling flew off to learn how to hunt with its
parents, Rowe said. The birds first appeared to have only three legs, but further examination found a fourth leg tucked up underneath the skin
connecting the pair.

Rowe said the landowner likely kept the birds for a day before calling wildlife officials. By the time officials arrived, the two birds refused to
eat. One of the birds died early Friday morning and a veterinarian later euthanized the other.

While conjoined twins have been documented in humans, other mammals and reptiles, finding conjoined birds is difficult, as they likely die before being discovered, Rowe said. X-rays of the pair found each bird was fully formed, Rowe said. Scientists at the Smithsonian will examine the birds to determine whether they were fraternal twins or identical twins.

Rowe said the birds would have had to come from a double-yolk egg.

Barn swallows hunt insects in flight and make mud nests. The typical bird can live for several years, though the conjoined twins might not have lived that long even if they had been successfully separated. Rowe said it would have been difficult to teach the birds to fly.

"It's just amazing to think they were attached and had two brains," Rowe said.

[Paul T]

Mark,

Fascinating!!  I'd be assuming that it is a very minor conjoining, not including blood supply.  If they'd shared blood supply I doubt the second sibling would have needed to be euthenaised, as it would have died from blood poisoning very quickly if my understanding of that is correct.  Either way, it's an amazing story and one that will be interesting to see if there is any followup once they've had a chance to study them properly.

Thanks for posting. 

[Lvandelft]

Today in my garden I met a good friend.
It's amazing to see how fast they are when they find nothing for dinner.
This was just made before she (or he?)  flew to another stem.

[Maggi Young]

Super photos, Luit. Great to enjoy the closeup of the Veratrum flowers and stalk also, thank you.

[Paddy Tobin]

A bear notice from British Columbia.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

last line is great

[Paul T]

Mark,

I must admit as I was reading through it I thought that the bells would function just like a dinner bell.... i.e "come and geeet it!".  The last line covers that nicely!!