Organic Housekeeping: In Which the Non-Toxic Avenger Shows You How to Improve Your Health and That of Your Family, While You Save Time, Money, and, Perhaps, Your Sanity by Ed Sandbeck
Here is are a series of animal-themed submissions our readers have gleaned from the internet!- Editors.
A Concert By The Great Paw-derewski* *With apologies to, Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
According to her owner, Nora began sitting at the piano at about one-year-old. She's now four years old. She was not taught this as a trick, but started playing the piano on her own. Nora plays only when the mood strikes her, which is usually several time a times a day for short periods. She is also know to perform duets with her owner's piano students.
The golden cownose ray, hawkray, or pacific cownose ray (Rhinoptera steindachneri) is a species of fish in the Rhinopteridae family. It is found in waters off the American Gulf Coast, the coasts of Central and South America and in both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Measuring up to 7 feet across, from wing-tip to wing-tip, they are a versatile species. The Golden Ray's natural habitats include open and shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, estuarine waters, intertidal marshes, and coastal salt water lagoons.
The population in the Gulf of Mexico migrates biannually, in schools of as many as 10,000 individuals. They travel clockwise from western Florida to the Yucatan and around again.
These photos were captured by Sandra Critelli, an amateur photographer, off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in a trip she made last summer that was reported in the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph. (www.telegraph.co.uk)
Ms. Critelli said about her experience, "It was an unreal image, very difficult to describe. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind. It's hard to say exactly how many there were, but in the range of a few thousand." She added, "We were surrounded by them without seeing the edge of the school and we could see many under the water surface too. I feel very fortunate I was there in the right place at the right time to experience nature at its best."
For more of this wonderful photographers fine work, go to: http://www.pbase.com/worldphotos. She's very talented and we're certainly glad she was able to capture this beautiful spectacle for all of us to see! - Editors.
-----------------------
Having Printer Problems?
Now let's see, how would you explain this to tech support?
Oh dear, I'm worried that our cat was watching this a bit too closely... - Editors.
-----------------------
A Gathering Of Eagles
Imagine waking up to the sight of all these eagles right outside your window!
Apparently, the state of Wisconsin offers some of the best opportunities to view Bald Eagle during the winter. According to the Department of Natural Resources, the state hosts approximately 1,150 territorial pairs of eagles. This is nearly triple the amount found in Maine.
These majestic birds have a 7 foot wingspan and stand nearly three feet tall. Their preferred food is fish. Due to the availability of open water for fishing, the eagles gather in large numbers below the dam on the Wisconsin River. In fact, the state's communities of Sauk City and Prairie du Sac on the Wisconsin River and Prairie du Chien and Cassville on the Mississippi River all hold annual eagle watching events.
The photos that accompany this article were taken from the aptly named Eagle River area and have been circulated throughout the country by way of email.
