Giant African snail getting to be a menace in Florida

 

Giant African snail (a.k.a. Japanese snail)

For some reason they are called Japanese snails in our part of the globe.

It must have been brought to the Pacific Islands, including the Philippines, during WWII by the Japanese to be propagated as part of their source for food sustenance.

Thus, the history of the Japanese snails in the country is as long and akin to the dark days of the Japanese occupation before liberation from the Americans happened.

But, they are actually the same infestation that is causing havoc in yards and gardens in South Florida, especially when they start devouring plants and other greens – either newly planted or transplanted – that are in the way of their path.

They can also make look the outer walls of the house dirty when they start slowly climbing up and leaving in its wake not only their slime, but also their excrement that coat walls and pavement when it hardens up.

Only, South Florida calls them for what they really are – giant African snail (Achatina fulica) – which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster for the calcium content they need for their shells.

One way I have learned of effectively killing these pests, other than crushing them, is by pouring salt on them. They seem to shrink from oozing too much fluid and die.

They seem to be copulating all the time, which is the reason why they cannot be eradicated fast, with the female storing countless eggs inside her body.

In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which is said to be overrun with the creatures, the hard, matured snails’ shells blow out tires on the highway and turn into hurling projectiles from lawnmower blades

For an interesting and educational read about these giant African snails and the disease it carries with them that could be inflicted on people, let me invite you to open up this link: http://colintyner.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/giant-african-snails-an-ecology-of-an-aggressor/

China’s relentless poaching and snooping

Frozen, rolled-up pangolins found on board the Chinese vessel Ming Long Yu

It is one thing to commit a navigational error – an honest mistake – and without any hidden agenda, as in the case of the USS Guardian that got stuck at Tubbataha Reef, a protected marine sanctuary, but surely, it is another thing when a Chinese boat, renowned for its illegal and indiscriminate fishing activities in Philippine territorial waters, runs aground in the same wildlife conservation area.

Take for instance the discovery made by the Philippine coast guard when they boarded the Chinese vessel, Ming Long Yu, and found hundreds of frozen scaly anteaters, or pangolins, in the cargo hold.

A protected species, pangolins are widely hunted in parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales. In China, they are known as a delicacy and are purported to have medicinal qualities.

According to the International Union of Conservation of Nature, all eight species of the insect-eating mammals are protected by international laws around the world.

What is uncertain, however, is whether these endangered creatures have been caught in the Philippine wilds and sold by unscrupulous Filipinos, after having been paid exorbitantly, or purchased somewhere else.

Pangolins are said to be seen roaming in the mountains of Palawan, the nearest land area to Tubbataha Reef where the Chinese boat had been marooned.

One could only wonder what else could have the Chinese fishermen poached, if indeed they were fishermen in a real fishing boat, had they been left to plunder the treasures of Tubbataha Reef unmolested?

It was blessing in disguise that they got marooned or else we could never have apprehended them and would never have known how much they have depleted the population of pangolins, thinking that they were just after marine wildlife.

Now, there are speculations surfacing that the Chinese boat was not a fishing vessel at all and that the 12 Chinese nationals on board were, indeed, “Chinese soldiers who were sent on a mission.”

“As has been noted, the Chinese boat was not like the fishing vessels used by Chinese poachers who were arrested in Palawan. It was not carrying ice to preserve their catch. It did not have refrigerated storage,” said an officer who requested not to be identified.

It was also noted that the men had “flawless” complexions, not the dark-leathered skin of fishermen.

Hmmmmm! Snooping?

Prosecutors have already charged the 12 Chinese fishermen with illegal poaching and with corruption for attempting to bribe Filipinos officials, and if convicted they could face long jail terms.

In the light of these “speculations”, what is important is to establish the fact and erase doubts in the minds of Filipino authorities that these Chinese nationals are indeed fishermen and not intelligence operatives.

Beaver kills man taking close-up picture of animal

 

A man has been reported to have died after he was attacked by a beaver whose picture he wanted to take as close as possible.

Wait a minute now, a beaver? Well, yes, a beaver indeed.

You don’t hear very often beavers attacking people and killing them, but this one probably got annoyed or threatened and fatally bit him.

The man is said to have spotted the beaver while fishing with friends at Lake Shestakov, in Belarus, but as he approached closer to snap a picture, the beaver bit him on the thigh. His friends rushed to his rescue, but the disturbed animal managed to severe an artery that his friends could not stop the blood flow, thus, the victim ended up bleeding to death from the inflicted wound.

Beavers are nocturnal, semi-aquatic rodents known for using their powerful teeth to chomp through trees to build dams on rivers or streams.

Incidents like this serve a lesson to people not to be too trusting with these seemingly interesting, furry and hard working animals.

Caffeine in nectar is beneficial to bees

 

For coffee drinkers, there is just something in the coffee that makes you crave for it especially in the morning. You drink enough to have another cup early in the afternoon. To some it is taken as a nightcap.

Caffeine has extreme effects on people. It is stimulating as it is soporific, and either ways it is addictive.

Now a study has shown that coffee plant (Coffea) flowers contain low levels of caffeine in its nectar that is highly beneficial to honeybee pollinators.

It is beneficial in the sense that the coffee flower does not only attract the bees, but it also enhances their long-term memory about what this particular flower has, that is not found in other flowers, which is the reason why they keep on coming back.

Geraldine Wright, lead author of the study and a neuroscientist at Newcastle University in England, said that while bitter-tasting caffeine in nectars is a natural toxic defense against herbivores like garden slugs, the nectar is actually drugging secretly also the pollinator.

Wright’s team wanted to investigate what effect caffeine could have on the learning and memory of honeybees, so they measured the caffeine content in two types of plants, Citrus and Coffea. Both have elaborate flowers and strong scents that attract honeybees. The plants benefit from bee pollination by producing more fruits and seeds.

The researchers found that a memory association formed for the odor that came with the caffeine, made it all the more rewarding for the bees.

The greatest effect was seen in the long-term memory experiment, with three times as many bees remembering the scent and sticking out their tongues for the caffeine reward 24 hours later, and twice as many recalling it 72 hours later.

It may be true that the effects of caffeine on learning and memory in people are not as clear compared to what they have discovered caffeine can do to bees.

But according to Wright, she thinks there is overwhelming evidence that we return again and again to consume caffeine because of the way we feel after drinking it.

That is undeniably true!

 

 

 

The disposable penis of a sea slug

 

Red-and-white sea slug

Let me just divert your attention momentarily from serious international and national issues and join me in appreciating what this weird salt water animal has that could be entertaining to the male psyche in this world.

The sea animal referred to here is the red-and-white sea slug Chromodoris reticulate, which, according to Japanese researchers, gets rid of its penis after sex and then grows a new one within the following twenty-four hours.

The discovery of the sea slug’s disposable penis happened when the Japanese biologists studied copulation between sea slugs that they had captured during scuba dives and held in a tank.

They also found out that the sea creatures are hermaphrodite, meaning it has both male and female sexual organs.

The animals perform dual sexual roles during copulation. They give sperm to a mating partner while simultaneously receiving sperm, which they store for later insemination.

After each coupling, which lasted between dozens of seconds and a few minutes, every slug discarded its penis – a thread-like organ that it projects from its side into a partner’s vagina.

Part of the penis is stored in a spiral inside the body, and once the sea slugs discarded the used part of their members, the undifferentiated tissue in the spiral would develop into a usable organ again. About 24 hours after copulating, they’d be ready for another round.

The sea slugs appeared to have enough penis for at least three chances to inseminate a partner, the researchers observed.

When the researchers examined the detached penises, they found that the surface was covered in backwards-facing barbs, which seemed to have sperm clumps caught in them.

The researchers think that the spines might serve to remove a competitor’s sperm from the partner’s female reproductive organs. Since a sea slug’s female organs are able to store sperm from multiple partners at a time, this could be a way of clearing out the competition.

Also, since the spines are backward-pointing, it makes it difficult to withdraw the penis after copulation. This may explain the organ’s disposable nature.

How about that!

Named chromodoris reticulata in Latin, the human thumb-sized slug – technically a shell-less mollusc – inhabits warm waters in southeast Asia.

 

Largest crocodile in captivity now dead

Lolong now dead

Seventeen months after Lolong, a salt water crocodile, was hunted and captured for causing havoc in the sleepy town of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, Philippines, now comes the bad news that the giant reptile is dead.

For an animal giving the country fame, like being recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records last year as the largest crocodile of its kind in captivity, measuring 6.17 metres (20.24 feet), one would have wanted Lolong to live a little longer.

But, the only way that Lolong could have lived longer was if he was in his natural habitat or if it was an artificial environment, that it should have simulated, at least, the real one. Sad to say this never happened.

When I blogged about Lolong in 2011, http://quierosaber.wordpress.com/2011/09/15/freedom-or-captivity-for-world%E2%80%99s-largest-croc/, I felt strongly that the captive reptile’s end would come much sooner than later, if the decision was simply to keep him for tourist attraction.

While I favored Lolong’s captivity for tourist to come and see the world’s largest croc, which in so doing will also benefit the town of Bunawan, it was, however on the premise that town officials should not confine a giant of an animal in a very limited space.

I even suggested that Lolong be sent for adoption somewhere else if only he could be given the adequate care needed for his long term survival. Giving it up for experts to care for the animal should not have taken away the honor that Bunawan owns it and the Guinness world record.

But, with a myopic vision, the town officials invested on Lolong for whatever proceeds they can earn now from tourists and failed to look at the well-being of the crocodile to sustain the income for the town for a long, long time by giving the poor animal decent and competent care.

The townsfolk may claim that they have given Lolong the best place for him to stay and fed him alternately with meat and poultry ever since he was captured so he may live.

But just living by eating is not enough. What is important for animals like Lolong is the freedom of movement, whether in its natural habitat or in a simulated environment, but not in a cramp space.

If Lolong died because of old age, one could easily accept it.

But what happened to Lolong in his god-forsaken pen still speaks volumes of one’s ignorance and selfishness.

Chinese softshell turtle causing havoc in Phl fishponds

 

Chinese softshell turtle

The Chinese softshell turtle is said to be extensively farmed in China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam for food, and while this specie, with the scientific name of Pelodiscus sinensis, has been introduced in the Philippines in the early 1900s, lately it has been reported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that it has been causing havoc in Central Luzon’s local fish and other aquatic animals.

Maximo Dichoso, DENR executive director, expressed alarm over the increasing complaints received by his office from fishpond owners and operators about the turtle preying on local fish species, and bangus and tilapia fingerlings in fishponds.

They likened the turtle menace to the ‘golden kuhol’ that wreaked havoc on rice farms during the 1980s. But this specie of turtle that grows to be about a foot long is carnivorous and aggressive, “preferring to forage at night to feed on fish, crustaceans, mollusks and insects.”

This alarming report has prompted DENR to order a team of biologists and conservation experts to conduct a six-month study to determine the impact of the softshell turtle on the environment and the local fishing industry of the affected provinces, and to identify wildlife management interventions from the government.

“We want to determine the rate of reproduction of this turtle species and come up with a regional policy on the allowable quota for its collection either for food or export,” Dichoso explained, noting that some private individuals have expressed willingness to harvest the turtles for export.

Thus, Dichoso warned the public against propagating or raising the animal as pet, citing that the reptile is considered “a threat to local biodiversity and a pest in the multimillion-peso fishing industries of Pampanga, Bulacan and Bataan.”

There is no doubt that flooding caused by heavy rainfall during storms and/or typhoons has contributed to the proliferation of these invasive species of turtles in fishponds.

For more information about softshell turtles in the Philippines, please visit this link: http://www.academia.edu/796918/The_Chinese_softshell_turtle_established_in_the_Philippines.

 

Tubbataha Reef violated

USS Guardian stuck on Tubbataha Reef

Much has been said already and anger is mounting among Filipinos about the violation committed by an American minesweeper that run aground on the Philippines’ Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage-listed coral reef.

While the U.S. Navy has apologized already and the extraction of the stranded ship is only a matter of time, what really leaves a bad taste in the mouth is the utter display of insolence by the officers and crews of USS Guardian in ignoring and dismissing the warnings radioed to the ship by the authorities of the Tubbataha marine park that they were closing in on the preserved reef.

Whether or not the ship’s officers knew that the Tubbataha Reef, located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of the western island of Palawan, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Sulu Sea, and whether or not their nautical charts were faulty, as they claimed it to be, the fact, however, is that the warnings went unheeded and urging instead the park rangers to bring their complaints, if any, to the US embassy, smacks of nothing but arrogance and superiority complex.

One can’t help but wonder that with all the sophisticated navigational equipment the ship has on board, it has not been able to detect the shallow reef. Obviously it is the ship officer’s imperiousness that got them into this flagrant, if not shameful error of judgment.

The site is protected by Philippine law, and is off-limits to navigation except for research or tourism approved by the marine park superintendent.

More than fines for “damages to the reef” and “destroying resources”, which the government would surely try to settle for later, if only to appease the militants in the streets, what the government should do also is counsel military powers that when passing through ours or any country’s territorial waters, proper discretion and respect for the sovereign nation’s authority is of utmost importance and consideration.

Let us not allow distrust nor tension brought about by senseless attitude and unintelligent judgment by some people to mar our country’s and our people’s excellent relationship.

Court decides in favor of parrot’s union

 

This is my first weird blog I am sharing with you in 2013 and how I really wish I could satisfy my amusement by having a good look at the subjects as they are – live.

The court of law may be the natural venue for couples seeking refuge and desiring for divorce or separation, for one irreconcilable reason or another.

In Bangladesh, however, the same court of law was resorted to, to rule on a matter that would reunite, not a couple, but a pair of macaw parrots, after the lovesick female stopped eating in the wake of their separation.

It all started five years ago when Iqram Selim, the owner of Prince, a male macaw, was forced to hand over the parrot to a private zoo in Dhaka for temporary safekeeping because there was no space for the bird in the new rented place he was moving into.

The zoo owner, Abdul Wadud, accommodated Prince and in the process bought a female macaw from a dealer in Brazil, which he called Princess, as Prince’s companion.

The pair, according to Wadud, got on so well that Princess gave birth to three chicks in September 2011.

When it was time, however, for Selim to retrieve Prince, Wadud refused to return him and this prompted Selim to go to court, which ordered Wadud to return Prince to his rightful owner.

Being left alone not only devastated Princess, but she went on a hunger strike.

Sensing the precariousness of Princess’ situation, it was time for Wadud to go to court and appeal the order. This time the court ruled in his favor.

Wadud admitted he had not been able to sleep since the parrots were forced apart in the original court ruling.

“You cannot break a family, this is just not right,” Wadud said.

Wildlife experts said that Princess’s refusal to take food following the separation was quite normal as the species is generally monogamous once they have found a suitable mate.

The macaws, which are usually found in South American rainforests, can fetch up to $2,500 when bought individually but the price for breeding pairs can be several times higher.

 

 

Giant anaconda regurgitates whole cow

 

In case you haven’t seen this yet, I am sharing with you a footage of an incredible video of a giant anaconda, which after eating a literally big meal, decided it was not a sumptuous meal after all and regurgitated it in its entirety before it could start digesting it.  What is amazing is that, although snakes constrict their bigger prey before eating them, one could just imagine how far the anaconda’s jaws have to be dislocated to be able to swallow the whole cow.  This happened in the jungles of Brazil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LNSO75Mh9o