Kungfu Cow

Kill Bill (Vagant edition 2010)

Reading: Wired, Journaal & Harper's Bazaar
Viewing: In the Valley of Elah
Listening to: Depeche Mode Live in A'pen
Thinking: wenst de Vlaamsche administratie een leuke werkweek toe en hoopt dat mijn aupair dossier rap in orde is
Travelling: Geneva, London, Washington-NYC-Philadelpia, Paris
Last picture: See above

Have a little faith in a banker

When the FT encourages you to read up on chicken behaviour

Roosters & Hens: we're in for some serious societal changes:

A roosters' job is to watch over the hens. Even if he has only one female, a rooster will stand near her through the day as she scratches in the dirt for morsels, and takes dirt baths. He will crow throughout the day, letting the world know, "I'm the man!"

Build your own coop! Give more freedom to your chickens (and design...)
More information: "Backyard Chickens"

Beaver Fever

Beaver Damming Alleviates Water Woes - and Combats Global Warming; a New DVD Shows How.

Beaver activity can alleviate serious water problems - and even help combat the climate crisis, according to a talk by Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife (BWW) biologist Sharon Brown at a recent environmental conference in China.

"Freshwater wetlands have been rated as the world's most beneficial land-based ecosystem," explained biologist Brown, "because they cleanse the water, host rich biodiversity and moderate the flow of streams, which in turn decreases droughts and erosion upstream as well as costly flood damage downstream. Beavers build leaky dams that enhance these functions. For example, up to 90 percent of the silt in a stream can be removed by a beaver dam."

More recently, scientists around the world have recognized that wetlands play a significant role in climate regulation because their lush plant life takes up carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas. "Since beavers work for free," Brown said, "promoting and protecting beaver wetlands can be a cost-effective way to alleviate global warming and other serious environmental problems, such as the quantity and quality of available water."

Beavers are native to North America, Europe and Asia, including China, where they are considered "vulnerable" with only an estimated 800 animals surviving in the far West. Beaver populations worldwide were hunted to near extinction in the past, because of the value of their fur. Today sixteen countries are actively working to restore healthy beaver populations due to growing awareness that this species' greatest value is not its lustrous pelt, but instead, its ability to restore vital wetlands.

"For decades beavers have been relocated to arid states in the U.S. West to restore wetlands, raise water tables and create fish habitat," Brown said. Because there are many dry areas in China too, she suggested studying that country's beaver population to see whether relocation of beaver pairs to huge areas reforested with hybrid poplar might be feasible to improve the local water quality and quantity. Beaver cutting of poplar is called sustainable harvesting as it stimulates new growth from the trees' roots.

The Invasion has Begun

Once every 17 year, these little critters emerge for a very short lifespan: their sole objective: procreation.

Question: Why do they stay underground for 17 years? (5/2004)Answer: There are a number of theories. Most likely they've developed this rhythm to avoid predators. Climate events -- perhaps the Ice Age -- are also factor.

More info here

Populations of the periodical cicada species are synchronized, so that almost all of them mature into adults in the same year. The fact that periodical cicadas remain locked together in time is made even more amazing by their extremely long life-cycles of 13 or 17 years.
Periodical cicadas are found in eastern North America and belong to the genus Magicicada. There are seven species -- four with 13-year life cycles (including one new species described in 2000), and three with 17-year cycles.

The Canary Database: animals as sentinels against biohazards

There was never a logo as beautiful as this, and an even prettier endeavour...

Can animals - like canaries in coal mines - warn humans about chemical, infectious, and physical environmental hazards? Find out more on the Canary Database - a joint undertaking by Yale and the USGS.