The Kings

            Pollution and hunting has been a major problem over the last few decades. Garbage is multiplying as human population grows, chemicals disposal is not being regulated in so many regions throughout the world, and poaching/hunting is running rampant. Animals are suffering big time from their habitats and sources of food being depleted, hunted, and polluted by us.

            Big and majestic predators around the world are taking the largest punch from us. Without predators keeping populations at a healthy level, ecosystems could collapse easily, read more here. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/science/when-predators-vanish-so-does-the-ecosystem.html). High-level predators are not monsters, as the wise Mufasa from Lion King says, “Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.”

            We cannot treat high-level predators as dangerous and scary animals that must be destroyed. They may be able to rip a humans face off, but they are beautiful, majestic, and important to nature. Humans have that mentality that “just because something is dangerous means it should be killed”. This might have helped ten thousand years ago when we were trying not to get killed daily by wild beasts. But today, we killed off so many species and creatures that we don’t need to be worried about being eaten alive. With this wrong attitude towards dangerous predators causes hunting of them “just for the thrills” and poaching for their rare and “exotic” hides and resources. These animals aren’t prizes to show off to your friends and they are not signs that you are tougher than nature.  They are magnificent creatures that should not be killed by humans, especially if their population is endangered.

            Pollution also hurts the big predators of the world. Biological magnification (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomagnification) is one way major predators are in a decline. Sharks, tuna, and bald eagles are examples of creatures that have taken hits from this phenomenon. We need to stop chemical pollution because even small amounts of bad chemicals can turn into serious problems for top-tiered carnivores due to Bio-magnification.

            Carnivores who are king of the land are the ones we make movies for, not the boring herbivores that roam the valley. Without these types of animals, our ecosystems will crash out of control and our children’s movies will become so boring.

Deep Dark

Our oceans are gigantic with 70% of the world being covered in water. There are so many species, ecosystems, and fish living out in the big blue.

            Although it takes up most of earth, we barely know anything about the vast, open oceans. The reefs close to home and land are being destroyed, and the vast open ocean is a mystery to us. As humans, we are losing our water-life, reefs are dying off at massive rates due to tourist, pollution, etc. and these reefs are home to the most amazing and colorful organisms in the world.

            We know more about the moon than we do about most areas of our oceans. Once you get far, far way from land, the ocean becomes like a desolate wasteland of nothing but seawater for 20,000 feet. No animals, no plants, just ocean, it sounds like a nightmare to me. A few years ago, I went snorkeling in the ocean off the coast of Belize (a small Central American country on the gulf side) and the reefs and fish were beautiful. It was amazing that everywhere you looked, a different colored fish, or piece of coral would appear. Sometimes fish would just surround you.  They were interested and curious about you.  One thing that always intrigued me about that trip was that although you were basically in paradise, a little ways out beyond the reef was the Drop Off. The Drop Off is not like what you see in Finding Nemo.  Its not just a few feet drop into the club where all the dangerous and less attractive fish live.  It is an abyss. The heaven turns into blackness; there is no life, no light, nothing. It just drops straight off into miles and miles of nothingness. It’s really creepy and off-putting.  Plus once you get low enough you run into these (http://list25.com/25-most-terrifying-deep-sea-creatures/) guardians of hell, like the one from Finding Nemo.

            I am glad we don’t explore the open ocean that much. It seems like more of a waste of time to explore that much space, when there really isn’t much their but a few squids. It’s creepy, desolate, and sounds like the last place I want to be. I really don’t want to know what is going on out there in the deep and mysterious land of blue. The moon or Mars sounds like a much cooler place to explore. Hopefully, there aren’t any demons roaming mars like there are roaming the deep waters, miles below our world.

Save the Polar Bears?

            Everyone’s heard of the crisis that is occurring to our albino bears.  Humans are causing the earth to warm up due to greenhouse gases and damaging the ozone layer. Read more about here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming ). So much attention has been raised about stopping this environmental crisis. Millions of people have rallied and protested oil companies, government spending, and other things that could really destroy our environment. Problems really are starting to arise because of global warming. Ice caps are at an all time low and our overall average temperature is rising slowly. It could be us humans or it could just be earth going through cycles of hot and cold. No matter what the cause of these events is, slowing down the use of fossil fuels will save humans a lot of hassle in the long run.

The world is starting to now respond to this threat against our earth. The use of fossil fuels is starting to decline.  Electrical cars and reusable energy are reasons to look forward to a future where we no longer hurt our planet and its inhabitants. Our Coca-Cola bears might have hope yet with advancing technology and raised awareness of our environment.

            Understanding all of this I still believe we should not as a country, rush to go green. Fossil fuels are still extremely efficient and have low cost (for now). We cannot rush into green energy or we will use up too much of our time and resources to the green project and not see the big picture. Technology and innovation for better and more efficient clean energy should be funded and researched which we see our world doing. Tesla, an electrical car company, is creating efficient, clean, and cheap cars that could soon leave dirty gas powered cars in the dust.

            Wind energy for example here in Iowa is making huge gains. By filling cornfields with endless amounts of wind turbines, clean energy is produced and polar bears are not losing their little ice homes. Solar energy is filling the desert.  Slowly but surely, it’s becoming a more and more efficient method to create clean energy. Extremely efficient ways of using our energy will also help the cause of creating a world without harmful energy sources.

            The polar bears should be smiling; within the next decade we could see fossil fuels becoming the past and new clean energy methods taking their place. Hopefully, if we can stop damaging our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, our planet then should drop back down to a normal average temperature. The ice caps will multiply and the artic ocean will freeze, leaving the bears to party again with a glass of Coke and a home full of ice.

            

Zoos

            Seeing all those animals, the camels, the lions and the geckos just gets me ready for an adventure to see more of these beautiful animals in the wild. Zoos are amazing, it is the only place to see the world of animals and learn about them without paying thousands of dollars traveling all over the world. The best field trips as a kid were going to the zoo, to see all the magnificent animals.

            Zoos have always been the place to take the kids. It is a great place to go. You learn about animals and biology while having fun looking at big cats, laughing dogs (hyenas), rhinos and insects. Even as an adult, sometimes you might be in the mood to go see the giraffes or something like that. You may get creepy looks from parents, but a protective moms feeling does nothing to keep you from riding that camel by yourself. Children are just an excuse to go to the zoo.

            Over the years, zoos have improved drastically. They have gone from tiny little concrete cages for animals to giant habitat-filled enclosures.  These ultra-deluxe enclosures are safe havens for the creatures. Food, medicine, etc. all being provided for and all the animals have to do is sit there and look good. Most people don’t like the concept of zoos. It does make sense to not like them with the animals locked up and trapped without the freedom they deserve. If humans were stuck in some enclosure, we would go insane within a week, bored out of our minds. Other animals I think are different, freedom is a term that varies based on whom you ask. Freedom for one person could be totally different to another. Most creatures on earth are not like us when it comes to being caged up.  Most creatures would be super happy just to have a little bit of space, food, and someone to talk too. While if we were without our freedom and breathing space, caged up in an “enclosure”, we change. Shawshank Redemption shows this unbelievably well. It shows that after being locked up, people are not what they used to be when they get out, even with people around to talk to, being locked up with no rights hurts people. Brooks, a character from the film was locked up most his life with no freedom, he could not take the pressure and ended his life. Animals aren’t like us, it does not hurt them, but I can’t prove that.

Masked Thief

                They lurk in the dark, hide in the shadows waiting for the right time to strike.  They are Raccoons - the unbelievable and annoyingly witty animals that survive in the real world, scavenging and stealing our food, causing chaos in your local suburban area.  ‘Coons have magic abilities making human traps and obstacles no problem for these masked thieves, they are untrapable and cannot be seen unless wanting too. They move in the dark, only coming out when the sun has gone down and the humans have long been asleep, leaving the opportunity to wreak havoc on suburbia.

                Raccoon's dominate the United States. They can be found in every state (excluding Alaska) terrorizing homeowners and their precious gardens and garbage cans. Raccoons are an iconic backyard occurrence in this country.  Every discussion at the monthly neighborhood meeting is how the coons’ destroyed the house or how they ate the cat. The hero and king of the wild frontier, Davy Crockett made coons’ famous by sporting the Raccoon hunter hat look, turning raccoon hats into a giant craze with every cool kid having one or wanting one.

                How have they had so much success in the world of humans, you ask?  Smarts is the key to their success. They adapt and learn different environments at an extremely fast pace, along with teaching their young all of their tips of annoying a human. They learn traps, doors, locks, and all the things you use to try and stop them.  They only get smarter and stronger. Their wits are like no other animal making them able to thrive so easily in the harsh environment we humans have created. They are also not very picky. Omnivores are what it is called when an animal eats vegetation and meat, but raccoons take it a step further by eating everything. The trash, the hamster, or anything else that it can fit in its garbage disposal of a mouth will be eaten if it’s hungry enough. 

                In conclusion, humans can’t stand raccoons because they finally found an animal that can outsmart and outwit them. We humans like to keep our pride, but those thieves keep stealing it, along with our garbage.

                

Bullet Ants

            Pain, although no one really likes it, it is extremely important in keeping us alive and keeping us from having bruises and cuts all over the place. Pain lets us know what parts of our body our injured along with keeping us away from things that hurt us. It may seem like it would be pretty awesome to not feel pain, but without it, sores, broken bones, etc would affect our body and we wouldn't even know about it. Pain is what keeps us alive, without it, we could kill ourselves without knowing it in a few days. Although it’s extremely important to us, pain in bucket-loads can make us immobile and lose track of everything but pain. Bullet Ants use pain to keep predators away.

             Bullet ants live in Rain forest low land areas such as Nicaragua, Honduras, and Paraguay. They’re mostly found beneath trees, gathering food for the hive and protecting the queen. As long as you don’t bother them, trust me you don’t want to, they won’t bother you. If you are completely absent-minded and decided hey, YOLO, I’m going annoy these ants, then prepare your body for the worst pain in the world. This is not an understatement either.  Based on the Schmidt sting pain index, the Bullet Ant sting is the most painful in the world, above even the tarantula hawk wasp. The sting is not deadly but it can cause paralysis and shaking for a few days following the sting.  Along with it being the worst pain in the world, it doesn't stop. Some people have experienced pain lasting up to a full day.  Victims have described it as “Waves of excruciating pain” or it feels like getting shot, which is why it’s called the bullet ant. Here is an example of some of the pain and torture of the sting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it0V7xv9qu0).

           

What makes it so much more painful than other stings is the way it just messes with your entire central nervous system. Sodium ion channels get blocked, causing our body just to go on full panic mode and send tons of pain signals to the brain, making the fury and torture that bullet ants use to defend themselves.

            Fun Fact: Today, members of the manly and kind of insane Satere-Mawe tribe like to use this pain to prove how tough they are. They put on the gloves of death (stingers inside a pouch) just to feel the worst feeling in the world. Sounds like a fun and entertaining initiation for a Frat house.  

Dart-Frogs

            They jump around, some being extremely dangerous and all have blindingly vibrant pigments in their skin. Poison Dart Frogs are tiny little frogs with the smallest being the size of a fingernail and largest about two inches long.  They are mostly found in Latin and South American jungles. Each different species of poison dart frog has its own vivid coloration, from midnight blue to bright yellow and everything in between.

            This week a new species of poison dart frog was found in Panama. It is tiny, really super tiny at about 12mm long. This is about the size of a nickel.  They also have bright electric orange skin. The poison of this creature is still being tested for its toxicity level in its venom due to the frog just being discovered. These creatures are remarkable and beyond attractive with their jet-black eyes and neon orange colored skin.

            The biology behind these types of frogs is complicated and interesting.  Poison on their skin is not lethal, but it can still pack a serious punch if you decide to prey on and swallow a poisonous dart frog. Terrible taste and/or a gut-wrenching stomachache are side effects of eating a Poison Dart Frogs skin. Sometimes though, the poison in poison dart frogs can be used for medicinal purposes. Painkillers are usually made from the same chemicals that are found in these frogs poison. The color of their skin also affects the way these tiny frogs can survive such a scary jungle. When an animal eats a PDF and survives these nasty side effects it will learn and interprets that the frog with a radiant colored skin should not be eaten. This is why frogs have such bright colored skin such as bright yellow or deep crimson red; animals learn to avoid these vivid pigments so they don’t end up sick.  Over time conditioning occurs and these frogs now have little to no predators.

Fun fact: Poison Dart Frogs get their cool name from actually being used to make darts poisonous. Natives extract the frog’s poison and put them onto darts used in blow-dart guns.  The poison usually gives excruciating pain to the victim and the darts can be only semi-dangerous. So Indian Jones is not going die if some Indian with a blow-dark gun hits him.