MONDAY MARVELS

I've been murmuring about too many things late so instead of bringing my thoughts to you (which by the way are quite confused at times with everything that has been going on) I found a few items which I found quite amazing so thought "why not share them instead?"  Hope your week has begun well and will continue that way.

I don't know about you, but the story about the baby elephant brought tears to my eyes.  I do hope he survived to have a good life.

SUNDRIES on SUNDAY

I haven't as yet decided if there is a theme I can run with in place of the A-Z of dogs so will for the moment pick different things whether they me animal, plant or mineral.  This is one I am certainly glad we don't have in Western Australia although I am sure there are some such other nasties out there somewhere.

CLASS: Insecta;  ORDER: Hymenoptera;  FAMILY: Formicidae;  GENUS: Myrmecia;
SPECIES gulosa

The RED BULL ANT (also known as the Giant Bull Ant) is one of the largest species of ants in the world.  They have a venomous sting that is capable of causing severe pain for a day or two.  Red bull ants have yellowish mandibles, a reddish-brown head, thorax and front part of the abdomen.  The rear half of the gaster (the bulbous part at the rear of the abdomen) is black.  The head is slightly broader than it is long and the mandibles are long and fairly straight with twelve teeth (the third, fifth, seventh and ninth teeth are longer and sharper than the others).  The queen is similar to the workers but larger and more robust.

The sizes of this ant are - Worker 14mm-26mm; queen 27mm-29mm.

The red bull ant is carnivorous and feeds on invertebrates including other species of ant, and prey larger than themselves such as bees.

Red bull ants build underground nests with extensive networks of tunnels and the nest entrance concealed by dirt and plant debris.  The entrance is often guarded by two or three ants.

These ants are found in south-east Queensland and eastern New South Wales.

Oh, perhaps not a good choice for a Sunday but I guess every creature has its place and this chap decided to pop in today.  Hope your weekend has been going well for you.

SATURDAY's WILD CATS

The AFRICAN GOLDEN CAT (Profelis aurata) is a shy, solidly built cat inhabiting the forests of equatorial Africa.  They are so shy that no dens with kittens have been studied in the wild and very few have been raised in captivity making them difficult to research.  This cat frequently occupies the same territories as the Leopard, hence their common name "The Leopard's Brothers".  They are arboreal and have been seen in field studies resting on lower branches of trees during the day.  This striking animal is usually found in the rainforests, but they also inhabit drier woodlands as long as they are near water.  They are known to inhabit high mountainous areas up to 3,600 metres living in alpine moorlands, sub-alpine and bamboo forests.

These cats are typically found in two different colours - red or gray which were once thought to be two different species.  Their cheeks, chin, and under parts are whitish in colour with their belly and inner sides of limbs marked with a variable amount of dark spotting.  Body colouring ranges from chestnut through fawn to silver, with varying marking: spotted all over, spots on the back and neck, no patterns except on flanks. and no pattern except for their belly.  The African Golden Cat's head is realtively small sporting a large muzzle, with beautiful eye colouration with irises from green to golden brown; their ears are rounded with black backsides.  Melanistic individuals have been known to occur.  They grow to approximately 31 inches in length with a 12 inch tail.  They generally weigh between 12 and 35 lbs.  The males are typically larger than the females.

Their prey consists of rodents, monkey, duiker, hyrax, other small ungulates and a variety of birds usually taken by stalking and rushing at ground level.    They are known to scavenge other predator's kills.  They are also the prey of leopards.  Fortunately, these cats adapt well to logged areas which provide a dense secondary undergrowth which they favour.  This type of man-made 'edge environments' contain a high density of rodents.  However, primary forests without human disturbance is their optimal habitat.  They rank high in the local religious beliefs of the Cameroon pygmy tribesmen who carry their tail as a talisman to protect them when hunting elephants.  It is said that their fur is so valued for tribal robes, it is not usually traded by the indigenous people.  In fact, these cats are so prized by the locals, these same tribesmen will not reveal their location to researchers.

In Uganda's Bwindi National Park eradiction of the Leopard has left the African Golden Cat the dominant carnivorous predator in that area.  Hunting is prohibited in only 12 of this cat's 26 range countries at present.

Conservation Status:  Present Status and Population unknown.  African golden cats are currently protected under Apppendix II of CITES, Endangered Species Act.  Their main predators are man and larger carnivores occupying the same territory.

The majority of this information was obtained from www.tigerhomes.org while photos came from various sources.

FLOWERY FRIDAY

I do hope you have enjoyed the flowers over the past few weeks.  I thought them beautiful enough to share and I hope they did bring smiles to your faces as you admired them and their lovely colours.  Maybe next week we will find some more funnies for you. I'll do my best anyway.

We had some daisies like this in our garden several years ago but they have now reverted to just ordinary daisy petals although the colours are still very pretty.

Did you recognise any, or perhaps all, of these flowers?  Hope your weekend goes well for you.  We are very happy here in Perth as we had RAIN, yes real rain.  About 2 inches (50mm) at our place which had smiles on our faces (and no thunderstorms which was even better for yours truly).

WHERE AM I?

I am here but getting nowhere fast.  Do you know that feeling perhaps?  Lots to do and not getting it done.  We should be having the carpet laid next week and it is the one of our choice too.  Not sure how the carpet firm managed it, but manage it they did.  So glad too as the one the insurance company chose was dreadful and one I doubt anyone would want unless it was for perhaps a verandah that was going to have constant traffic on it.  Really hard.   Now we have to pack up all the books and other items in the three bookcases but do you think we can find boxes.  Asked at several store but no luck.  Phil is off again to ask again.  Also have to move small furniture but that's not a problem.

Pest control here next Tuesday to do their annual inspection so had to work that in before new carpet as they do make a bit of a mess 'cos of the insulation bits that come down with them after they inspect the part between the ceilings and the roof.  We are fortunate that all the timber is jarrah which white ants aren't all that keen on and also the stumps under the house are capped.  $190 this year for the inspection and we are going to make sure they do everything on their list as sometimes I think they are a little careless and don't check everything, i.e. door frames, skirting boards etc.

I'm afraid my head is spinning and I have to try and sit still and gather my thoughts and get a hold of myself, and get on with everything.

I will be back with Telling it on Tuesday, hopefully next week, but need to find photographs and put them in some kind of order and that too will take time as the albums are among the things that also need to be moved out of the living room.  I may bring them out here where at least I can get to them.

Do I sound muddled up?  I guess it's because I feel that way.  Once when I was able to move around without a problem none of this would have got to me but these days five minutes and I have to sit down to ease my back and everything has to be done ever so slowly.  An hour's job can take me half a day which makes me feel ever so useless at times.  Thank goodness for Phil; he is ever so patient with me when I get in a tizz.

I am still popping in to check my favourite blogs even if not leaving comments each time but you can rest assured I am still round the place..somewhere.

SATURDAY CATS

ASIATIC CHEETAH:  Scientific name: Acinonyx fubalus venaticus.

The Asiatic cheetah is a Critically Endangered big cat.  Also known as the Iranian cheetah, it is estimated that there are less than 100 cats currently living in the wild.  It once lived in India, Afghanistan, Arabia and Pakistan.  Now there are only small groups in various Iranian reserves, with occasionally sightings in Pakistan.  It is one of only three wild cats that can be found in Iran.

The Asiatic cheetah is generally believed to have separated from African cheetahs somewhere between 32,000 and 67,000 years ago.  More recent research places the separation at 5,000 years ago.  Young cats were often captured in the wild, tamed and trained to hunt by Indian nobility.

This cat can grow (from head to body) up to 4.5 feet long with a tail almost 3.5 feet in length.  Their heads are smaller than African cheetahs.  The cat's fur is tan with black spots and they also have a stripe that runs from the corner of the eyes to the nose and mouth area.

They prefer open habitats, such as plains and deserts. although some Iranian cheetahs can be found in more rugged, mountain-like terrain.  Most of the remaining cats can be found in five sanctuaries:  Touran National Park; Daranjir Wildlife Reserve; Naybandan Wildlife Reserve; Kavir National Park and Bafq Protected Area.

Cheetahs will establish a territory.  Females will frequently travel, sometimes for very long distances.  They primarily prey on gazelle, but will also eat wild goats, sheep and hare.

Cheetah males will seek out females for mating at approximately one year of age and females begin to mate at two years of age.  The males have a low sperm count, resulting in a low number of cheetah births.  The gestation period is 90 to 100 days and female cheetahs can have up to 9 cubs, but most will end up dying due to predators.

The mother cheetah will take care of her cubs and travel with them until they reach 1 to 1.5 years of age. After the  mother leaves, the young females will go off on their own but the males will stay together or, in the case of only one or two males, join another group of males.

The Asiatic cheetah's near extinction is the result of hunting, loss of prey, human conflict and loss of habitat.

Information from bigcatwildcats.com;  pictures from Google.

MORE FRIDAY FUN

I needed something to smile about this morning and then I found these cats and hope they bring a smile to your face as well.  Once again, no descriptions required.

Once again, carry your smile into the weekend and have a happy one.