Chickens, Real Likable Birds

Posted on September 10, 2024September 10, 2024 by vlaw759

Dorothy L. Sayers introduced me to Buff Orpington chickens. In Busman’s Honeymoon, a character named Miss Twitterton was forever obsessing about her flock.

Decades later, that breed name was still with me when I wrote “Real Likable Birds” a fiction piece. Here’s a quote:

“But I’ve thought it over, and the majority of my flock is going to be Buff Orpingtons. … They lay the prettiest brown eggs you’d ever hope to see. … The Buff Orpingtons are good, heavy chickens. They lay really well and they stay put behind a fence. They got more feathers than most, so I won’t have to worry about how they’d take a long cold snap. They’re gentle as anything. And the supplier says that come warm weather, it’s a good bet they’ll set. He said he’d put ’em up against most breeds for broodiness, mothering, and foster-mothering. My Buff Orpingtons are just going to be real likable birds.”
from “Real Likable Birds” by Vivian Lawry

My personal experience with chickens is pretty minimal. My paternal grandparents had a hard-scrabble farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. Granny kept a flock of chickens, primarily for eggs for the table, but when old hens stopped laying well, there was chicken for dinner, too. One of my most vivid early childhood memories is from a time when Granny killed one of those old hens. She held it by the legs and put its head on her chopping block—a big old tree stump in the back yard—and cut its head off with an axe.

When it stopped flopping around on the grass, spraying blood everywhere, she again held it by the legs and dipped the carcass into a big cauldron of boiling water, also there in the back yard. The boiling water loosened the feathers for plucking. I helped with that, and the smell was awful—a combination of ammonia and poop. We put the feathers aside to wash later. They would be made into a feather tick for a warm bed in winter.

She singed the pinfeathers off the carcass over the wood burning stove in the kitchen and slit it open in the dry sink. Then she showed me a row of little yellow spheres like graduated pearls, the biggest about the size of my fingertip. She said those would have been eggs. Decades later, I learned that a hen is born with all the eggs she will ever lay.

Everyone Loves Chickens

It is estimated that there are more than 33 billion chickens worldwide! Outnumbering the human population, chickens are one of the most common farm animals.

For no particular reason, I decided to learn more about this bird that is so common and yet so unfamiliar today beyond the clichés in common parlance:

Flopping around like a chicken with its head cut off
Fly the coop
Pecking order
Scarce as hen’s teeth
Stuck in my craw
Put all your eggs in one basket
Walk on eggshells
Mother hen
No spring chicken
Rule the roost

So What’s to Know, Anyway? Just Read On!

Chickens are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs! Science has documented the shared common ancestry between chickens and the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Chickens were domesticated about 8000 years ago, and evolved from the Red or Gray junglefowl, which are tropical birds. These wild birds fly to escape predators and to roost high up in trees. Today’s domestic chickens still have the ability to fly, although not as effectively. Chickens can fly for short distances – enough to clear obstacles or reach a perch, say about 15′ of the ground.

Chickens are faster than you might think. They can run up to 9 mph in short bursts, but their real power is they can turn on a dime. This speed and agility helps keep them safe from predators.

Some research suggests that chickens are just as clever as human toddlers. Hens have exhibited mathematical reasoning, object permanence, self-control, and even structural engineering. Chickens also demonstrate empathy and a number of emotional responses! Chickens can learn to do tricks twice as quickly as a dog.

Sleepy Chickens

Research has shown that chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) while sleeping, which indicates dreaming in humans.

They also have a sleep phase that humans don’t experience called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, where one half of the brain is asleep and the other is awake. This means that chickens can sleep with one eye open, which is especially useful for looking out for predators.

The “alpha” hen sleeps in the middle while roosting and the others that are lower in the hierarchy sleep on the outside with the outer eye open to watch for predators. These chickens on the outsides switch sides throughout the night so they can rest the other eye.

Chicken Anatomy

Like humans, chickens have color vision, and are able to see red, green, and blue light. However, unlike humans, chickens are also able to see ultraviolet light, which are the colors we see when using a black light!

A chicken’s left eye is far-sighted, and their right eye is near-sighted. This has to do with the position of the embryo in the egg, and is very adaptive for finding food up close and spotting predators at a distance.

The position of a chicken’s eyes allow it to see in a 300 degree field. (Humans can only see 180 degrees.)

*Sometimes, pervy geese like to spy on chickens in the bath!*

While this may seem contradictory, chickens (like some other birds) bathe in dirt. They have an oil gland on their back that spreads oil over their feathers to make them waterproof. Over time, the oil goes stale, and chickens need to wash the old oil off through dust bathing.

Dust bathing is when chickens crouch on the ground and spread dirt or another dusty material over their body. The stale oil sticks onto the particles of dirt and falls off when the chicken shakes off the dirt. Chickens can then spread fresh oil onto their feathers.

Chickens don’t pee, they have a cloaca (just like dinosaurs) and their waste is a combination of poo and pee. That’s why their manure is considered “hot” and needs to break down before it is safe for plants: it’s full of concentrated chicken pee paste!

Chickens use their combs and wattles to help cool off in the summer. It’s kind of like mammals having big ears in desert environments. Blood cools off in the extremities and helps keep an animal from overheating.

Some claim that on a hot day, feeding chickens frozen veggies and fruits, which sit in their crop/craw, will cool chickens from the inside.

Chicken Feed

Some people think that chickens eat only plants and grains, but they actually eat (and enjoy) a much wider variety of foods, including bits of dairy or meat. Many owners use kitchen scraps to supplement their flock’s feed, which makes for an environmentally-friendly way to handle leftover food waste.

Chickens also like to peck around in the dirt and find bugs to eat, for example, beetles, larvae, slugs, grasshoppers, and even poisonous snakes.

In short, they’ll eat pretty much anything, but often have favorites—as reported by one chicken owner: “Mine LOVE papaya.” FYI, they can’t taste spice.

A chicken doesn’t have teeth but instead eats pebbles and store the grit in a pouch, known as its craw or crop, to crush food.

Chicken Behavior

Chickens live in groups called flocks. The social structure of these flocks depends on a hierarchy called a pecking order, i.e., an order of dominance. Each chicken knows its place in this order, which helps to maintain a stable, cohesive group.

Chickens are predators to anything smaller than themselves. They’ll pick on or even kill other chickens they think won’t make it.

Chickens have over 30 unique vocalizations that they use to communicate a wide variety of messages to other chickens, including mating calls, stress signals, warnings of danger, how they are feeling, and food discovery.

The noise a chicken makes when it sees a particular person is its name for that person.

To keep roosters from fighting and keep hens from being stressed, flocks need hens to outnumber roosters. Depending on the breed, recommended ratios range from 1:5 to 1:12. Too many roosters can cause fighting over hens that aren’t “their own.”

With more than one rooster, each rooster should have its own territory—again, to minimize fights over territory, hens, and resources. Hens can lose neck and tail feathers from being mounted too often. A hen can mate with a rooster and then change her mind at the last minute and reject his sperm if she deems another rooster to be superior—also not conducive to peace.

Roosters crow many hours of the day, not just at dawn. When a rooster in a flock dies, a dominant hen may develop male features such as spurs, long wattles, and combs, and attempt to crow and mate.

A chicken can be extremely aggressive at times, willing to beef up with things larger than herself. One mama hen named Lily chased an oblivious squirrel across the yard for existing. She also attacked a 100 lb Pitbull for getting close to her only chick.

Studies have shown that chickens are self-aware and can distinguish themselves from others. Chickens can also demonstrate complex problem-solving skills.

“Eggcellent!”

Hens can lay eggs all on their own- no rooster needed!!! Indeed, some flocks are hens only.

One hen may lay as many as 300 eggs per year! As hens age, the number (and quality) of eggs laid tends to decrease.

What is the difference between brown and white eggs? The color of the shell depends on the breed of the hen, but it’s not feather color that tells you what color the egg shell will be. Chickens actually have earlobes, and generally, hens with red earlobes will lay brown eggs, and hens with white earlobes lay white eggs.

Although the color of the shell differs, the nutritional content and flavor do not. Nevertheless, brown eggs can cost 10-20% more than white eggs. The hen’s diet determines the color of the yolk.

A chicken will only lay one color egg in her lifetime.

Unwashed eggs will keep at room temperature for up to two weeks because they are laid with a protective coating. Washing away this coating (as is common in commercial US egg farms) means the eggs must be refrigerated. Refrigerated, they’ll last 5-6 weeks.

What Color?

Although most eggs are either brown or white, a surprising number of breeds lay other colored eggs:

Blue – The Cream Legbar is the best layer of blue eggs. She is a cross between the Leghorn, Cambar, Barred Rock, and Araucana.
Chocolate Brown – Many people like the dark (chocolate) eggs of the Black Copper Maran. Although those deep-colored eggs are beautiful to look at, they do come at a price. Buying good quality stock is expensive.
Brown – Depending on the shade of brown you want, you have a vast selection of breeds. The Rhode Island Red is perfect if you are looking for a mid-brown egg.
Green – The Isbar is your best chance to get green-colored eggs. The depth of green coloration will depend on the quality and genetics of the bird. While some lay a deep moss green, others can lay anywhere from a light green to a khaki-colored egg.
Plum-Croad Langshans are the only breed known to lay plum-colored eggs on a relatively consistent basis (the quality of the color will depend upon the parentage).
Pink – Pink eggs can be a matter of perception. To some folks, the egg may appear to be a light tint. To others, it will appear a pale pink. Orpingtons are your best bet for consistently pink-colored eggs.

Baby Chickens

In nature, a hen selects a nest site and lays a clutch of eggs (6-13), one egg per day. Once her clutch is complete, she sits on the eggs full time, leaving only to eat and drink.

Chickens tend to their eggs carefully. A hen turns her eggs approximately 50 times a day to keep the embryo from sticking to the side of the shell.

*Buff Orpington and Speckled Sussex chicks*

In a fertilized egg, the white (albumin) becomes the “chick” and the yolk is a food source for the growing baby. After hatching, a chick can go up to 72 hours without food because it’s still digesting that yolk.

When chickens lay eggs, the mother hens make noises that chicks still incubating inside of their eggs can hear and respond to. The chicks even make tiny “peeps” back from inside of their eggs!

Chicks as young as 2 days old recognize object permanence, a skill acquired by humans about 6 months of age. This means they know an object still exists even when taken away or hidden.

Chicks learn from their mothers and others in the flock, such as which foods are good to eat and where to find water.

A male chicken less than a year old is a cockerel; over a year old is a cock. A female chicken less than a year old is a pullet; over a year old is a hen.

Chicken Breeds

People exhibit (show) chickens much like dog shows. There is a standard of perfection for each breed of chicken recognized by the American Poultry Association. There’s also an American Bantam Association, which regulates smaller bantam-sized poultry breeds.

The smallest breed of chicken, weighing only 8-15 ounces, is the Serama.

Silkie chickens have dark skin and bones as well as walnut-shaped combs for the males instead of your typical comb.

Ayam Cemani chickens, from Indonesia, have black feathers, faces, skin, and even organs. They lay pale pink eggs.

An American breed of chicken called the Buckeye was developed by Nettie Metcalf of Warren, Ohio, in the late 19th century. She bred a Buff Cochin male with Barred Plymouth Rock females, and named the new breed for Ohio, the Buckeye State. It is still the only American chicken breed developed by a woman. (The American Poultry Association recognizes 53 large chicken breeds, plus additional bantam chicken breeds.)

Bottom Line: Chickens are smart, complex, and all around interesting. They’re real likable birds!

Surprising Salvia

Posted on July 16, 2024July 15, 2024 by vlaw759

For the first time, I have three salvia (SAL-vee-uh) plants in my yard, chosen by another, planted for their blooms. I wanted to know more. And what I learned at KidsHealth and Australia’s Alcohol and Drug Foundation surprised me!

You may also know salvia as diviner’s sage, magic mint, maria pastora, sally-d, seer’s sage, and shepherdess’s herb.

Please note: what follows is readily available information. I’m absolutely not recommending any particular use of salvia.

Psychedelic Salvia

It’s an herb in the mint family that can cause brief, intense psychedelic experiences. Salvinorin A is the active ingredient in salvia divinorum. Native to the mountains of southern Mexico, salvia has a long history of use by Indigenous shamans there.

Salvinorin A affects opioid receptors in the brain. This differs from other hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and psychedelic mushrooms, which affect the brain’s levels of serotonin. As a psychedelic drug, it can affect all the senses, altering a person’s thinking, sense of time, and emotions. Psychedelics can cause a person to hallucinate, seeing or hearing things that do not exist or appear distorted.

As a drug, salvia comes as fresh green plant leaves, dried shredded leaves, or a liquid extract. Traditionally, users chewed the fresh salvia leaves or drank the extract, but now people take the drug in a variety of ways. A user can also smoke the dried leaves in a bong or mixed with tobacco as a cigarette. For sublingual absorption, a user holds the fresh leaves under the tongue.

Salvia’s effects come on quickly, sometimes in less than a minute. According to anecdotal user reports, when smoked the effects of salvia begin in 15 to 60 seconds and last for about 15 to 90 minutes. When placed under the tongue, the effects begin in around 10 to 20 minutes and last for about 30 to 120 minutes.

Savlia’s Side Effects

Psychoactive drugs affect a person’s mental state and can have varied effects depending on a person’s mood or mindset (often called the ‘set’) and/or the environment they are in (the ‘setting’). Salvia’s effects on the mind can range from mild to intense. They may be frightening, depending on how strong a dose of the drug someone takes.

(Factors affecting the effects of psychedelic drugs is too big a topic to include here, but info is readily available online.)

Common short-term effects include

Hallucinations and changes in visual perception
Uncontrolled laughter
Mood and emotional swings
Difficulty concentrating
Sense of detachment from self and reality (not being able to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s imaginary)
Dizziness and lightheadedness
Lack of coordination
Slurred speech
Amnesia
Loss of energy (higher doses can cause sedation)
Pain relief
Confusion
Delusion
Feelings of impending doom
Increased appreciation of music
Uncontrolled body movements
Anxiety
Restlessness
Increased body temperature
Time distortion

Some studies suggest that, over time, salvia use may contribute to dysphoria, which is characterized by feelings of depression, discontent, and restlessness.

Smoking salvia over a long period of time can lead to breathing trouble and other health problems.

Because the drug has such dramatic psychological effects, it can seriously impair coordination and perceptions of reality; people under its influence expose themselves to a substantial risk of injury or accidental death.

Salvia and the Law

In many areas, salvia is perfectly legal and widely available. Stores sell it as a tincture or tea in some countries, or even as commercially extracted products.

However, salvia is illegal in a number of foreign countries and in many American states. Salvia is a schedule 9 drug. Federal and state laws provide penalties for possessing, using, making, selling, importing or exporting, or driving under the influence of salvia. Possession or use of salvia in states where it is illegal is punishable by fines and jail time.

This last bit gave me an adrenaline rush. But common sense soon surfaced: a garden center wasn’t likely to be selling salvia divinorum. Nevertheless, I felt compelled to find out just what kind of salvia I have. As best I can determine, it is salvia coerulea.

Salvia’s Other Uses

Most salvias are considered non-toxic to people of any age. Many ornamental varieties have a noxious taste, but there are no known toxic qualities when consumed by humans. (In large quantities, salvia can be toxic to dogs, causing symptoms like vomiting, depression, and breathing difficulties.) So, although ornamental salvias are not poisonous, they’re nothing you’d want to put in soup.

The edible salvias are usually referred to as sage, like the Salvia officinalis used to flavor roasted chicken and turkey. In fact, there are several edible varieties that are used in everyday seasonings.

Sage’s leaves are very pungent when raw, which is why most chefs recommend cooking them before eating. However, the flowers are reputed to have a delicate taste that makes a nice garnish in salads or sauces. They are great for the pollinators too!

According to WebMD, sage might help with chemical imbalances in the brain that cause problems with memory and thinking skills. It might also change how the body uses insulin and sugar.

People commonly use sage for memory and thinking skills, high cholesterol, and symptoms of menopause. Some people also use it for pain after surgery or to treat lung cancer, sore throat, sunburn, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

Bottom Line: Know your salvia and use accordingly!

LEAVES TO LOVE; LEAVES TO LEAVE

Posted on June 4, 2024June 3, 2024 by vlaw759

When people think plants, they are likely thinking flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, flowering trees, shrubs, etc. But going forward, also consider the leaves!

**Leaves in Myth, Magic, & Medicine** by Alice Thoms Vitale

I picked up this Alice Thoms Vitale book years ago—because that’s the sort of thing I do—and I must admit that I set it aside for quite a while. Big mistake! It’s fascinating.

Here, for your entertainment and enlightenment, are samples and quotes from that book. All such are from Leaves unless otherwise noted.

Virginia Creeper

It’s native and ubiquitous and, besides creeping, it trails and climbs. I work hard to keep it from overpowering nearby plants in my back yard. Nevertheless, in late autumn, the leaves turn deep scarlet, one of the few spots of color then.

They played an important role in American folk medicine as an emetic, purgative, and sweat producer. Not surprisingly, they taste bad. According to Vitale, some people also considered them mildly stimulating. To cure a headache, people smelled the juice of the leaves, or took an infusion of the leaves and berries. It had other medicinal uses as well. And, “An old belief claimed that a strong tea of Virginia creeper leaves healed even the worst hangover.” Maybe it will come back!

Vitale saw vendors selling it in pots as “American Vine” under the Rialto Bridge in Venice. If I saw it there, I didn’t recognize it.

Ivy

Although Vitale discusses English Ivy, it grows robustly—some would say invasively—here, so read on.

This evergreen vine has been central to magic, mythology, and medicine at least as far back as the ancient Greeks. Looking only at medicinal uses, Vitale lists twenty such uses, everything from bad spleen and baldness to ulcers and wounds.

“It is now scientifically established that all parts of the ivy plant are poisonous if ingested …can cause … illness—even death.” On the other hand, researchers in Romania have recently established ivy’s effectiveness as an antibiotic and antifungal treatment.

Apple Trees

Most people know apple trees primarily for their beauty and fruit; the leaves, not so much. The Greek physician Dioscorides said, “The leaves and blossoms and sprigs of all sorts of apple trees are binding.” Centuries later, an English herbalist said, “The leaves of the tree do coole and binde, and also good for inflammations in the beginning.”

Vitale’s book says no more about apple leaf medicine, but online I read that apple leaves have cooling and astringent properties. Some people use them therapeutically for stomach acid issues – heart burn, reflux, and all the way down to soothing digestive issues of the bowel such as diarrhea.

Various parts of the apple tree have many applications, and are widely used in oriental medicine. For the leaves in particular:

In China, doctors use the leaves to treat fever, back pain, amenorrhea, and migraine.
In India, the leaves of the apple tree are a common prescription against malaria, diarrhea, and rheumatism.
In Vietnam, some people steep apple tree leaves in the bath water of women who have recently given birth.

Currently, experts have discovered that the apple tree contains compounds that help fight HIV, which is a good signal in the search and preparation of drugs to treat this century’s disease. In addition, the extracts from the leaves of the apple tree have anti-fungal effects on skin diseases, inhibit the vascular donor activity associated with a number of diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, arthritis, solid tumors…

And we can’t forget the famous Johnny Appleseed (aka John Chapman) who carried apple seeds from a cider press in Pennsylvania across the country. While traveling the Ohio River Valley, he planted more than 35 apple orchards in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Beware: apple seeds contain cyanide, and eating a cupful of them can cause cyanide poisoning. But who would do that?

Mistletoe

Vitale writes quite a bit about European mistletoe. But my focus is on American mistletoe, so what follows is from sources across the web. The two differ primarily in the shape of the leaves and the number of berries in the clusters.

American mistletoe grows only in the Americas, from New Jersey to Florida and west through Texas. Most people know it best for its ornamental and sentimental uses at Christmastime.

As for kissing under the mistletoe, that seems to have immigrated from Europe. In Norse legend, the trickster god Loki played a sinister trick on the beloved god Baldur, killing him with a mistletoe arrow. After his death, mistletoe berries somehow brought Baldur back to life, so Frigga declared mistletoe to be a symbol of love. According to Smithsonian magazine, “Mistletoe would come to hang over our doors as a reminder to never forget. We kiss beneath it to remember what Baldur’s wife and mother forgot.”

American mistletoe (Phoradendron leucarpum), also called eastern or oak mistletoe, is a parasitic shrub that grows on the branches and trunks of trees across Virginia. It grows most commonly on oaks, red maples, and gum trees and is most abundant in the swampy forests of Virginia’s Coastal Plain.

Both American and European mistletoe can be toxic in high doses, but neither has been convincingly shown to cause clinically apparent liver injury when given in conventional doses.

The leaves, stems and berries were used in traditional medicine to treat hypotension, constipation and as an abortifacient. The active component of American mistletoe appears to be a phoratoxin which causes vasoconstriction, perhaps the basis for its purported uses. High doses can induce delirium, hallucinations, bradycardia, hypertension and cardiac arrest. Nevertheless, there have been few reports of serious complications from accidental ingestion [of up to] 20 leaves or up to 5 berries of American mistletoe … American mistletoe is available as an oral extract in several forms and is purported to be beneficial for hypotension and constipation, but its clinical efficacy has not been shown in prospective clinical trials. There is no recommended dose. Side effects can include gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, vomiting and drowsiness. American mistletoe is believed to be embryotoxic and an abortifacient.
NIH — LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury

American mistletoe was once used to counteract fertility. Native Americans employed the muscle-contracting medicinal properties of the plant to induce abortions.

Yet despite their parasitism, mistletoes may well be the Robin Hoods of plants. They provide food, shelter and hunting grounds for animals from birds to butterflies to mammals — even the occasional fish. Fallen mistletoe leaves release nutrients into the forest floor that would otherwise remain locked within trees, and this generosity ripples through the food chain.
The Biology of Mistletoe, Smithsonian Magazine

Woody Nightshade

The nightshade family is one of the largest plant families and is related to potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, among others. However, plant lovers also know woody nightshade as deadly nightshade or poisonous nightshade because all parts of the woody nightshade are dangerously toxic if eaten raw. Nevertheless, the leaves and green branches have historically played an important role in folk medicine.

In the second century, Galen (a Greek physician) recommended its use for treating cancer, tumors, and warts. According to Vitale, “…recent scientific studies prove that this plant does indeed contain a tumor-inhibiting element.”

Other authorities over the centuries have recommended the juice of the leaves for treating those who have been beaten or bruised, shingles, “hot inflammations,” and chronic rheumatism.

Mashed leaves in cream was recommended as a poultice for poison ivy and to treat sunburn. Modern chemists have found that this nightshade does contain solanine, “…a substance effective for healing obstinate skin disorders and ulcers.”

And if that isn’t enough, this plant is reputed to have healing magic!

Oleander

Flowering oleanders—whether the clusters of blooms are pink, rose-red, or white—are gorgeous. They have a variety of scents—vanilla, lemon, apricot, and floral with a hint of spices—depending on species, time of day, and developmental stage.

Warning: all parts of the shrub are poison. Eating a single leaf or eating meat cooked on a skewer of oleander wood can be deadly. In India, it’s called “horse killer” but it is lethal for dogs, mules, and many other animals.

At the same time, historically, people treated venomous bites by drinking the juice of oleander leaves with wine. The juice relieves scabies, mange, and abscesses. It’s also useful as a pesticide and rat poison. Modern researchers have developed a treatment for weak heartbeats from oleandrin, a glycoside in oleander.

Lemon Verbena

Although many (most?) leaves are some combination of pros and cons, plusses and minuses, lemon verbena is all about loving it.

Wherever lemon verbena grows, the leaves perfume the air around. The dried leaves retain their scent for years, hence their popularity for potpourri and sachets.

Lemon verbena oil is a frequent ingredient in perfume, and in other cosmetics and creams.

The leaves haven’t contributed much to medicinal uses. However, decoctions have been taken as a sedative and for indigestion.

Tea made from lemon verbena leaves is widely popular for the flavor alone (for example, in Brazil). In southern Italy, women wishing to get pregnant often drink such tea—although there is no science supporting that tea as a fertility aid.

Bottom Line: Leaves are often useful as well as ornamental! Whether you take a leaf or leave it depends on your goal—and risk tolerance!

For the Love of Turtles

Posted on May 7, 2024May 7, 2024 by vlaw759

This blog has nothing to do with anything except that I really like Eastern Box Turtles. I hope you enjoy it.

If I were a box turtle, I could eat nearly anything, never have to build a shelter, would be nearly impervious to predators, could live virtually anywhere in the eastern half of the U.S., and live up to 100 years! Plus, I’d be beloved across time and cultures.

Researching Turtles

I first paid attention to them when I was a summer research assistant during graduate school. The professor I was working for eschewed buying lab animals. Instead, he had his graduate students do things like trap dump rats. One spring, he had his students collect box turtles from roadsides and fields for a class project. I worked for him the following summer.

The brick animal holding building near the river was old, dim, and dank. I worked in the basement where the box turtles lived in a huge terrarium. We fed them lettuce, blueberries, and raw hamburger.

Turtle Speed Runs

I set up a T-maze, which looks just like it sounds. As I recall, the stem as well as each arm was two feet long. One arm led to food; the other arm led to a drop-off into a big box of shredded paper. I measured several things:

How long it took each turtle to traverse the maze;
How many times the turtle looked left and then right at the choice point before choosing a direction—i.e., (for science nerds) the VTE’s or vicarious trials-and-errors;
Whether the turtle made the right choice or not;
How many trials it took before the turtle consistently made the right choice.

It was a l-o-n-g summer of l-o-n-g workdays. Sometimes, a single trial for a single turtle took more than an hour.

Research Results

The hypothesis being tested was that the more VTE’s, the fewer trials to learn. Not supported.

However, over some weeks, we noticed aberrant behavior. For example, we saw several instances of males mounting males or turtles eating newly-laid eggs. So, we wrote a paper about the effects of crowding on eastern box turtles. As far as I know, that paper never saw the light of day.

But I learned a great deal about Eastern Box Turtles that summer, starting with how to “sex” them, quick and easy: bright red eyes distinguish males from the brown-eyed females. In addition, male box turtles’ heads and shells are often more brightly and distinctively colored than females. The underside of female box turtle shells are flat; males are concave. There’s more, but not as obvious.

Subsequently, I’ve picked up a lot of interesting (to me) information. For example, the temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings; eggs incubated at 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit are more likely to be males, and those incubated above 82 degrees Fahrenheit are more likely to be females.

Turtles Gone Wild!

Periodically, I see eastern box turtles in my backyard. Once I saw two on the bank, mating. Never before, and not since!

*Eastern box turtle shell patterns are very similar to the fall foliage of tulip poplars, which grow throughout turtles’ natural habitat.*

Eastern box turtles live in a wide variety of habitats including forests, forest edges, meadows, and rural or suburban backyards. Depending on the habitat quality, Eastern box turtles can have a home range between 2 and 13 acres. If their habitat provides enough food, water, shelter, and occasional contact with other box turtles, they have all they need and rarely leave their home range.

Box turtles will always go back to where they are most familiar with their surroundings. Researchers call this adaptation homing behavior. Home ranges often overlap regardless of age or sex.

Actually, you shouldn’t disturb turtles in the wild. (Little did we know when embarking on the turtle project all those years ago!) Don’t disturb, pick up, or move a box turtle unless it has a visible injury or is in imminent danger. If you find a turtle in the road, move it to the other side in the direction it was going. Don’t attempt to relocate it. Turtles have small home territories and should be left where they are found.

Behavior

Courting turtles in my backyard — *Turtle courtship in my backyard*

Turtles typically show no antagonism toward each other. While aggression between individuals is uncommon, competing males will spar each other. This involves biting at each other’s shells.

Box turtles reach sexual maturity around age five. Mating season generally starts in the spring and continues through fall. After rain, males become more active in their search for females. Males may mate with more than one female or the same female several times. Females can store sperm for up to four years. They lay fertilized eggs at will, so they don’t mate every year. A female could lay fertile eggs up to four years after a successful mating!

In the wild, eastern box turtles walk energetically with their heads upright. They may walk about 55 yards in one day. A homing instinct helps them find their way back home. Box turtles generally live for 25-35 years but have been known to survive to over 100! They grow to only about 4 inches by six inches.

If you do need to pick one up, hold it like a sandwich with both hands.

And they like to be scratched with a stiff brush!

Diet

Eastern box turtles are omnivores, and in the wild eat whatever is available: a variety of plants, fruits, insects, fish, small amphibians, eggs, and even animal carrion. They can even eat mushrooms that are toxic to humans!

Younger box turtles grow very rapidly and tend to be preferentially carnivorous (for the needed energy). Younger turtles tend to be more carnivorous than adults, hunting in ponds and streams for food. After five to six years, they move onto the land and shift to a more herbivorous diet.

Anatomy of Turtles

Box turtles have great eyesight for recognizing food surroundings, and potential danger. Not only can they tell the difference between ripe and unripe fruit, but they can also identify other individual box turtles based on the colors and patterns on their shells and bodies.

The underside of its shell (its plastron) is dark brown and hinged, which allows them to almost completely shut their shell. When threatened, the box turtle can pull its head and legs into its shell and wait for the danger to pass. Very few predators can effectively prey upon adult box turtles because of this technique.

Its shell is also unique in that it can regenerate. In one reported case, the carapace of a badly burned box turtle completely regenerated.

Wonderful as they are, box turtles are not good pets. They don’t like to be petted or handled, and without special lights they are prone to bone and other health problems. Also, most turtles carry salmonella infection asymptomatically, in that they do not show signs of illness, but can pass it on, which can be an issue for children, especially.

Symbolic Turtles

*Palm leaves woven into a turtle shape to make a ketupat penyu, an amulet providing protection in traditional Malay medicine*

However, you can still have turtles around you! Turtle jewelry is easily found, and very variable. Just ask me! Besides the turtle image itself, the power of the metal and stones may be protective, too.

*From the Great Peace of Montreal, the mark of the Turtle Clan, which Tourengouenon signed for Senecas*

Besides appealing to me generally, I like the symbolism of turtles. Many Native American cultures believe turtles to have a strong and ancient understanding of the world they hold upon their shell. The Chippewa, Menominee, Huron-Wyandot, Abenaki, Shawnee, Lenape, and Iroquois tribes all have Turtle Clans. In other tribes, turtles represent healing, wisdom, spirituality, health, safety, longevity, protection, and fertility.

Many cultures associate turtles with water. Some concentrate upon the fertility that this connection can suggest.

In addition, some cultures view the turtle as a symbol of spiritual rebirth and transformation. The turtle has the ability to submerge underwater and then resurface, representing renewal and spiritual protection.

Wise Turtles

*Cambodian bas-relief showing Samudra manthan-Vishnu and his turtle Avatar Kurma*

Around the world the tortoise and/or turtle can be seen as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, and is able to defend itself on its own. According to Yoruba foklore, the trickster Alabahun is a tortoise who performs heroic deeds. In other traditions, turtles signify water, the moon, the Earth, time, immortality, and fertility.

The turtle is one of the Four Fabulous Animals of Chinese mythology, the ruler of the North. Seen in ways similar to those of Chinese tradition, the Japanese turtle spirit minogame (蓑亀) represented longevity, support, and good luck. Although they don’t have Eastern box turtles in China and Japan, they do have the Yellow-margined Box Turtle (Cuora flavomarginata).

Strong Turtles

*Turtles are still popular subjects for tattoos in Polynesia*

Turtles in Oceania tend to be more representative of strength. According to Tahitian legend, the tortoise is the shadow of the gods and the lord of the oceans. Polynesian warriors would tattoo the symbol of the war god Tu on themselves, often in the form of a huge turtle.

Sometimes, a turtle’s strength and perseverance is marked on its shell. A folktale from the Amazon tells the story of how the turtle broke its shell when falling from the sky in an attempt to reach the King of Heaven. In Cherokee legend, the patterns on a turtle’s shell serve as a reminder of when the gods took pity on a turtle with a broken shell.

All in all, turtles are considered to be symbols of good luck because they embody positive qualities that are associated with prosperity, longevity, and perseverance.

Bottom Line: May turtles live long and prosper!

BUTTERFLIES HELPING HUMANS

Posted on April 9, 2024April 8, 2024 by vlaw759

Humans have seen butterflies as deeply symbolic for at least as long as they’ve been making art. In poetry, paintings, music, dance, and fiction, the butterfly signifies the human spirit. They symbolize hope, eternity, and rebirth. But beyond their metaphorical significance, butterflies inspire humans in many other ways.

Butterfly Eyes

Butterflies will always win a staring competition. They have two compound eyes, containing up to 17,000 mini eyes, each with its own lens, a single rod, and up to three cones. Where humans have cones (photo-receptors) for three colors, butterflies have photo-receptors for up to nine colors, one of which is ultra-violet. But what they don’t have is eyelids; hence, they’d always win.

Butterflies eyesight has inspired technology developments potentially beneficial to us all. Professor Doekele Stavenga teaches evolutionary biophysics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. “The optical principles evolved in nature have inspired improvements of LEDs, for instance, and colour discrimination processing,” says Stavenga.

Butterflies perceive a spectrum of light beyond human capabilities. This extraordinary vision has inspired scientists to develop multispectral surgical cameras. These cameras, mirroring the butterfly’s sight, help surgeons see more than ever before, making surgeries safer and more precise.

Butterfly Wings

“Only some [butterfly wings] are really transparent. … Morphos (and many others) are structurally coloured, due to optical multilayer reflections,” explains Stavenga.

In 2015, a group of researchers revealed the science behind transparent butterfly wings. Nano-structured pillars of random heights cover each wing surface. Scientists found that the extreme irregularity of these pillars barely reflect any light.

Scientists studying these phenomena in butterflies can apply that understanding to developing new smartphone screens.

Butterflies don’t flap their wings to fly, only to take off. They have “cymbal wings” that “clap.” The distinctive wing clap collects a pocket of air and use it to fly. “Just before the clap, it seems like these wings bend, form like a pocket shape. And then that collapses and they push out again, creating a jet of air, basically,” says Professor Per Henningsson at Lund University in Sweden.

“The shape and flexibility of butterfly wings could be really key to small micro vehicles or drones, that need to be really lightweight and efficient,” Henningsson says.

Butterfly Wing Inventions

The Key Program for International S&T Cooperation Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee, and the National Key Research and Development program have been funding research into the energy capabilities of butterfly wings. They recently published four elements of progress achieved by studying butterflies.

By employing the different properties of butterfly wings, featured researches have successfully fabricated thermal, medical, and vapor sensors, anti-counterfeit security devices, photocatalysts, photovoltaic systems, triboelectric nanogenerators and energy storage systems.

More research is necessary but researchers suggest that the applications should extend to photothermal imaging and therapy in cancer treatment and management. The good performance recorded by medical sensors for health monitoring and photothermal capabilities of butterfly-wing-inspired materials will aid in the detection, imaging, therapy, and monitoring of terminal diseases.

Similarly, photothermal materials inspired by butterfly wings can gain interest in the emerging stealth technologies research for modern-day warfare and scientific research technologies, such as rockets.

Lastly, butterfly wings have exhibited numerous and diverse properties that enable them to respond effectively to external stimuli.

Butterfly Behavior

Butterflies (and moths to a lesser extent) serve as part of a group of ‘model’ organisms that researchers use to investigate many areas of biological research, including such diverse fields as navigation, pest control, embryology, mimicry, evolution, genetics, population dynamics, and biodiversity conservation.

New research on butterflies is proving that these insects are capable of an astonishing range of clever behaviors. They can thwart attacks or outwit competitors. Their abilities range from learning lessons to navigating long distances. “They don’t have a lot of gray matter in their brains, maybe just a cubic millimeter,” says Georgetown University biologist Martha Weiss, “but with it they can do everything they need to do.”

A lot of research concludes that abundance of butterflies is often an indication that an ecosystem is thriving. For one thing, butterflies are an important link in a food chain, as predators and prey. Both adult butterflies and caterpillars are an important source of food for other animals such as bats and birds.

Butterfly Migration

Monarch butterflies have a longer lifespan than most and will take flight from their native USA and Canada habitats to the warmer climate of Mexico for winter. Some migrating monarch butterflies travel over 4800km (2983 mi) to reach their warm winter home.

Butterflies only flutter on takeoff. Long-distance migrants like monarchs will save energy by holding their wings in a flat “V” and gliding. “When they’re migrating, monarchs will fly a few feet off the ground in the morning until they hit a thermal rising off some barren earth or asphalt. Then they’ll rise like a hawk.” So says Orley Taylor, a University of Kansas ecologist and director of Monarch Watch, a mark-and-recapture program. Monarchs can ride a thermal to 5,000 feet.

Out of sight of humans, butterflies on their way to their usual wintering grounds in Mexico each fall migrate in such dense concentrations that they show up on radar. Despite flying 2,000 miles on paper-thin wings, their mastery of low-powered flight means they arrive barely winded. “A lot of monarchs arrive in remarkable condition,” says Taylor. “They look like they just hatched.”

Butterfly Food

Whether they migrate or not, butterflies are important pollinators. We think of honey bees as great pollinators, and they are, but they confine themselves to a much smaller range than even stay-at-home butterflies.

Nectar is an important component of a butterfly’s diet. Technically, butterflies can’t eat anything and instead drink all their nutrients. Proteins and minerals gained during the caterpillar’s diet of plants and ants are stored for the butterfly. It’s essential for metamorphosis and sustaining the butterflies through to reproduction.

Thanks to the effort of their crawling caterpillar stage, butterflies are free to get their sugar-fix of instant energy from nectar. You might see butterflies drinking from wet soil or puddles. Gulping up muddy water helps butterflies regulate their temperature and increases their salt supply. People have even found butterflies lapping up the salty tears of turtles. And they will suck up blood if the opportunity arises!

Butterfly Habitat

Like rats, the only continent butterflies can’t be found is Antarctica due to its sub-zero climate.

Because of their sensitivity to environmental changes, butterflies make an ideal specimen for scientists how climate change influences biodiversity. As the planet warms, researchers in Scandinavia have noticed that these beautiful insects have gradually altered their range, expanding northwards. Researchers in Sweden and Finland have discovered an astonishing 64% increase in average provincial species richness, expanding from 46 to 70 species per province.

Butterflies are aesthetically pleasing and few species cause any damage to commercial plants. They are a diverse group of insects containing around 20,000 different species. North America is home to more than 700 of these species. Each type has various behavioral and structural adaptations that allow them to survive in various environments.

Microgravity during a space flight creates almost weightless conditions. Still, astronauts were able to observe metamorphosis of the Monarch and Painted Lady butterflies in space. With a little difficulty, the butterflies managed to emerge. However, they had some trouble navigating. They bumped into the sides of their habitat and struggled to fully expand and dry their wings as quickly as they would here on Earth.

Butterfly Anatomy

Butterflies have taste buds across their wings, feet, and antennae as well as their proboscis.

Butterflies are day insects and “sleep” hanging upside-down from leaves. Hanging on leaves actually protect them from rain and any early morning birds.

Butterflies with ‘warning colors’ like the orange and black of the monarch and the long-winged tiger and zebra butterflies are less concerned with hiding while they rest. These colors indicate to predators that they will be poisonous to eat. Some butterflies have evolved to store the toxins from the milkweed they eat as caterpillars.

Although their habitats range all over the world, butterflies have a fleeting life, with an average lifespan of around three to four weeks. However, it varies across species. In 2009, scientists did a large-scale study and found that butterflies’ lives span from a few days to almost a year.

Bottom line: Butterflies deserve their symbolism. In literature and art, butterflies signify hope, love, and the soul’s eternal nature. In science, butterflies symbolize (and inspire) advances in research and technology.

BODY SPEAK

Posted on February 20, 2024February 21, 2024 by vlaw759

Not body language—facial expressions, gestures, movement, etc. Rather, body parts used in clichés and idioms that mean more than the words. Keep your nose to the grindstone or Have a silver tongue.

Linguists have noticed that English is not the only language with idioms full of body parts. Czech, Korean, Malay, Pashto, Turkish, Igbo, and Vietnamese (just to name a few) are full of body part phrases that mean more than the literal sum of their parts. It seems, no matter what language you speak, your brain reaches for parts of your own body when looking for interesting ways to express yourself.

So, head to toe, here are examples.

Head

Hard-headed
Soft in the head
Bang your head against a brick wall
Keeping your head above water
Able to do something standing on your head
Keep your head down
Hold your head high
Bite someone’s head off
Head in the clouds
Head in the sand
Bring something to a head
Can’t make heads or tails out of something
Drum something into someone’s head
Head to toe

Keep your head in the game
Fall head over heels in love
Get a head start on something
Get someone or something out of one’s head
Give someone a head’s start
Go over someone’s head
Have a good head on your shoulders
Head someone or something off
Hit the nail on the head
In over your head
Lose your head
Keep your head
Off your head
Scratching your head over something

Brain

Right brain/left brain
Brain storm
Brain fart
Brain buzz
Brain freeze
Brain dead
Braining (to hit someone on the head)

Neck

A pain in the neck
Stick your neck out
Neck and neck
Breathe down your neck
Dead from the neck up
Up to your neck
Neck of the woods
Millstone round your neck
(Competitors are) neck and neck
To save your neck
Risking your neck
Wring his or her neck
Rubber necking

Shoulders

A chip on your shoulder
Come straight from the shoulder
Give someone the cold shoulder
Put your shoulder to the wheel
A shoulder to cry on
Stand shoulder to shoulder
Shoulder a burden

Arm

Arm of the law
Cost an arm and a leg
Give your right arm
Up in arms
(Keep) at arm’s length
Strong arm someone

Hands

Give a hand
At hand
Out of hand
Bite the hand that feeds you
Change hands
First hand
Hands down
Have a hand in
A firm hand
Hand something over
Hand in glove

Heavy handed
Hand holding
In your hand
Lend a hand
Out of your hands
Wash your hands of
Get your hands dirty
Hands full
Hands tied
Live from hand to mouth
All hands on deck

Chest

Something will put hair on your chest
Get something off your chest
Keep your cards close to your chest
Chest thumping

Spine

Spineless
(Send) a shiver down someone’s spine
Spine-tingling
Spine of steel

Heart

Change of heart
Heart of gold
Eat your heart out
Know/learn something by heart
After your own heart
Cross your heart
Lose heart
Follow your heart
Heart skips/misses a beat
Take heart
Follow your heart

Break your heart
Have your heart set on/against something
Heartbeat away
My heart bleeds
Bleeding heart
Heart of stone
Soft-hearted
Young at heart
Wear your heart on your sleeve
Big-hearted
A heavy heart
From the bottom of your heart
Get to the heart of the matter
Be halfhearted about something
Have a heart-to-heart talk
Heart in the right place
Pour your heart out

Guts

Gut feeling /reaction
Gut punch
Beer gut
Blood and guts
Bust a gut
Go with (one’s) gut
Gut feeling /instinct
Gut it out
Gutted
Gut-wrenching
Hate someone’s guts
Have someone’s guts for garters
Have the guts (to do something)
No guts, no glory
Puke (one’s) guts out
Slog/sweat/work your guts out
Spill your guts
Split a gut

Leg

Not have a leg to stand on
On one’s last legs
On the last leg (of a journey)
Pull (someone’s) leg
Put your pants on one leg at a time
Have/find your sea legs
Get/give a leg up
Break a leg (theater)
To have hollow legs
To leg it
To talk the hind leg off a donkey
To pull someone’s leg

Knees

Bee’s knees
On one’s knees / bring to one’s knees
Knee-high to a grasshopper
Weak in the knees
Take a knee (football)

Feet

Cold feet
Foot in the door
Have two left feet
Get off on the wrong foot
Have itchy feet
Put your foot down
Feet on the ground
Foot the bill
Get back on your feet
Feet of clay
Get your feet wet
Swept off your feet
Best foot forward
Have a lead foot
One foot in the grave
Bound hand and foot
Dead on my feet
Foot in both camps
Jump in feet first
On the back foot

Heels

Achilles heel
Bring someone to heel
Cool one’s heels
Dig in your heels
Be a heel

Toes

Dip one’s toes in (the water)
Keep someone on their toes
Step/tread on someone’s toes
Toe the mark

Bottom Line: When words about body parts don’t literally mean what they say, they can be used in an infinite number of ways.

LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES

Posted on February 13, 2024February 12, 2024 by vlaw759

The first thing I’ll say about life’s simple pleasures is that with age I am more conscious of them. That’s probably because I have more time to notice—and this is a good thing! These are among my pleasures, in no particular order.

Weather and seasons affect me daily, and always have. In the past, mostly that’s been for practical reasons: do I need an umbrella? A snow shovel? Extra sunscreen? While those questions are still relevant, now I’m also aware of breezes on my face, and the skyscape—bare branches against “Carolina”
blue sky—seasonal changes, and the varied faces of clouds.

I have stained glass panels hanging in the window over the sink and in my study window. Sunlight through those windows gives me great pleasure, more than either sunlight or colored glass alone. This underscores my preference for daylight over dark.

Drinking many mugs of water every day has made me aware of the pleasure of ice cubes—one of my favorite things! Our old refrigerator wasn’t dispensing ice well for months, so the contrast with the new one is stark.

And speaking of sensory pleasures, I enjoy flannel sheets and down comforters, and lying in bed deciding whether to get up then or later. (It’s usually later.) Even better is turning off the alarm and going back to sleep. And in a similar vein: I like to nap in my recliner in late afternoon.

*This is not my bedroom, but it sure looks pleasant!*

With the exception of high winds and rain, virtually every breakfast and lunch brings the pleasure of bird and squirrel watching. I’ve now learned the names of our resident bird species: house finches, gold finches, bluebirds, blue jays, titmice, chickadees, robins, mourning doves, mocking birds, cardinals, white-throated sparrows, catbirds, grackles and starlings, and the occasional sharp shinned hawk. I can
usually remember them! But I enjoy them regardless.

The other kitchen table pleasure is watching squirrels. I admire their athleticism. It’s amazing what having back feet that can rotate 180 degrees allows them to do! All the males I call Stanley and all the females, Olive.

Speaking of kitchen pleasures reminds me of coffee—strong, black, and moderately hot. Mocha java, Moka Batak Blend, and Columbian Supremo are among my favorites. Three particular coffee pairings bring pleasure: cranberry-nut bread with plain goat cheese, crusty bread with havarti, and anything chocolate!

Reading. I read every day—sometimes long into the night. Having more books on hand than I’ll have time to read is wonderful. I’ve often said it’s like money in the bank. Should I ever be laid up for three months, I’m prepared!

Read what? It scarcely matters. Mysteries, action/adventure, romance, creative non-fiction, memoirs, popular science… Not much poetry. But a related pleasure is finally allowing myself to not finish a book that is boring or poorly written.

And then there is laughter. It can be any sort of laughter, from giggles to guffaws, tinkling to belly laughs, as long as it comes from joy and pleasure.

Life’s small pleasures are nearly limitless. Blooming plants. Mah Jong tiles, the look as well as the feel of them. Playing computer solitaire. Playing with my jewelry, organizing “sets” of pieces that I find make pleasing combinations.

Rocks, stones, shells, sticks. A completely silent house. This list could run on, but I won’t let it.

You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned family, friends, love, good health, writing or other big pleasures—because they are big—but pleasurable they are.

Bottom Line: Stop and smell the honeysuckle. You will be glad you did.

DUST TO DUST

Posted on January 9, 2024January 9, 2024 by vlaw759

It’s here, it’s there! In the car. Under the china cabinet. On book shelves—and books. Curled into dust bunnies in closet corners. Where on earth does all that dust come from? Short answer? Nearly everywhere!

Wherever it comes from, dust is fine particles of solid matter, heavy enough to see and light enough to be carried by the wind.

What Makes Dust?

*Pay no attention to the cuteness – these creatures are dangerous!*

Tiny fragments of human skin account for 20-50% of household dust! People are generally aware of dry skin on the scalp and body. Now you know: it doesn’t just disappear! If you sleep on flannel sheets, your bed might look like you have full-body dandruff. (Told to me by a friend!)

Pets also shed skin cells. People who are allergic to cats, dogs, guinea pigs or whatever, are allergic to that pet’s dander. Personally, I have a major anaphylactic response (throat swelling, unable to breathe) to guinea pig dander—even to a room where a guinea pig has been! In Peru, guinea pig meat is a traditional and major source of protein. It turns out, I can eat guinea pig, I just can’t be around them.

BTW, although it is extremely rare, people can be allergic to human dander! And some dogs are allergic to humans!

Hair is usually seen in strands, but can disintegrate into dust, too.

Dangerous Dust

Smoke and ash often go together. You smell smoke because of the particles coming in contact with your nasal membranes. And as you all know, excessive exposure to smoke or ash can be deadly. But don’t forget volcanic ash!

*Pollen season where I live washes the world in chartreuse.*

Those spring days when your vehicle seems to have been powdered in yellow, you can see pollen dust. But even when you can’t see it, airborne pollen can adversely affect breathing.

Bacteria are dust? Yep. Or at least they are in dust. The most common ones are staphylococcus and streptococcus, both common on human skin and relatively prevalent in our everyday lives.

Dust that is small bits of dirt or rock are hazardous to one’s lungs with long or repeated exposure. Think black lung disease for coal miners. Ditto asbestos used in construction. Even plaster or chalk dust.

Wind moves dust in dry places. A small wind gust can swirl debris almost anywhere, such as the driveway or a city street. A strong, well-formed, relatively short-lived whirlwind makes a dust devil. It can be short or tall, like a swirling cone of dust.

*A gigantic dust cloud engulfs a ranch in Boise City, Okla., in 1935.*

Big winds, over expansive areas can form dust storms. This happened long-term in the 1930s across the American and Canadian prairie. The result was called the Dust Bowl, and great damage to the ecology and agriculture.

People with asthma or other breathing problems pay close attention to the daily air quality index, which is affected by all these sources of dust pollution.

Useful Dust

*Scott Wade turns dusty cars into fantastic works of art!*

Is there anything good about dust? I mean apart from children being able to write their names on tables, cars, etc.

Beauty, maybe? You can buy sea salt spray for your hair, purported to offer texture, a natural look, and to counter some of the oil on hair to give you an extra day of good style between washes.

Sea spray (aerosol particles of salt crystals from the ocean) is formed mostly by bursting bubbles where the sea meets the air, transferring matter and energy between the ocean and the atmosphere. It’s most obvious when it dries on surfaces.

*Dust particles help in pollination of plants.*

Then, too, individual dust particles are a major part of rain. Water vapor in clouds condenses (turns to liquid) around invisible dust particles. A “grain” of dust is likely at the center of every raindrop.

In agriculture, dust can enhance soil fertility and improve crop growth. Adding rock dust to fields can also help to capture carbon in the atmosphere, potentially helping to reverse climate change.

In industry, dust can be used in the production of such materials as concrete and ceramics.

*During Holi, celebrants throw colored dust (typicall*y made of corn starch and dye) on each other to celebrate spring, love, and the triumph of good over evil.

Among the benefits of dust is that it reduces the air temperature, as well as reduces the risk of toxic gases in the atmosphere.

Exposing children to dust through gardens and dust in the child’s natural surroundings enhances children’s immunity.

Household dust actually purifies the air by neutralizing ozone that can harm our lungs—because one of the major components of house dust is human skin, which contains the ozone-eliminating component squalene.

Dust is important for survival because it plays a role in a range of physical, chemical, and bio-geological processes, and interacts with the cycles of energy, nitrogen, carbon, and water that are necessary for Earth system functions.

Bottom Line: Like so many things, dust is good for you—in moderation.

*In Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series of fantasy novels, “dust” is actually an elemental particle responsible for consciousness.*

Self-Soothing

Posted on November 21, 2023November 21, 2023 by vlaw759

“Self-soothing” refers to behaviors people use to regulate their emotional state by themselves. It’s a strategy used to regain equilibrium after an upsetting event, or when facing a stressful situation. (For example, when a child’s parents argue, or an older person has to make a public presentation.)

Self-soothing behaviors are often apparent early in life, and are calming or comforting for a child or adolescent. Infants, for example, may be seen repeatedly sucking fingers or thumbs, hugging a toy or blanket. These habits may continue for years.

Self-soothing behaviors are repetitive/habitual in nature—and are often not consciously applied. Do you touch your hair, twist a ring, straighten your tie, etc.? Noticing when you engage in such behaviors can help you recognize mildly tense or stressful situations. It’s another form of self-awareness.

Following a shock, a traumatic or upsetting event, all people need soothing. In these more intense situations, two common self-soothing behaviors include reaching for an alcoholic drink or a tub of ice cream or other emotional eating. However—as you no doubt know—these kinds of self-soothing behaviors can cause additional problems.

Several self-soothing behaviors can lead to other problems: binge-watching TV, compulsive gaming, or internet surfing. Many superheroes have unhealthy self-soothing behaviors, including Jessica Jones and Iron Man.

Constructive Methods of Self-Soothing

Positive Psychology published an article suggesting several more positive strategies: “24 Best Self-Soothing Techniques and Strategies for Adults.” The following 7 suggestions quoted below are included in that article.

1. Change the Environment

If possible, just change the environment for a few minutes. Go outside and focus on greenery or find a soothing indoor space with a pleasant view or ambiance.

(The origin of the “Green Room” in theaters may stem from Elizabethan actors resting “on the green” between scenes to calm their eyes and their nerves. As the wavelength of green light causes the least strain on the human eye, those Elizabethans may have been on to something!)

2. Stretch for Five Minutes to Move Any Blocked Energy

*For best results, try to put your chin between your heels.*

Often, after upsetting news or a shock, our bodies respond by freezing and energy gets blocked. A few simple trunk twists, neck rotations, or bends at the hip to touch the toes can help shift stagnant energy.

(Even without a shock, our bodies tend to store tension and stress in our backs, shoulders, and necks. Stretching these areas can prevent headaches and improve circulation.)

3. Take a Warm Shower or Bath

Treat yourself with soothing body wash or bubbles and a fresh, soft towel afterward.

(For best results, do not use overly hot water and avoid scrubbing too hard. If hot water is not available, you can turn to oil, smoke, some types of mud, or simple cold water to achieve cleanliness and promote peace of mind.)

4. Soothing Imagery

Find soothing things to look at such as a burning candle, soft lights, pictures of loved ones, favorite places, or perhaps some framed inspirational resilience quotes or affirmations.

(The color green is most restful to the human eye, but some evidence suggests that other colors may have a calming effect on stress and mood. According to the principles of chromotherapy, surrounding oneself with blue, purple, or white can calm, soothe, and relax the central nervous system.)

5. Soothing Music

Listen to favorite tracks that have a calming effect or one of the many relaxing music videos for stress relief that are available online.

(Harp music in particular has a soothing effect on the body as well as the mind. Research has shown that listening to harp music improves pain management, blood pressure, and heart rate regularity.)

6. Soothing Smells

Create pleasant smells by using an essential oil diffuser, scented candle, or incense. Also, try using scented hand lotion.

7. Self-Compassion

Speak compassionately to yourself aloud. Talk to yourself like a good friend would. Give yourself the grace to be off-balance and the space to just be as you are for a while.

Soothing Every Sense

When people experience high levels of stress or discomfort often, some therapists recommend making a self-soothing box that includes objects or reminders of how to soothe all five senses:

Comforting smells such as scented candles, essential oils, or body lotion
Pleasant tastes such as herbal teas or favorite snacks
Soothing things to touch such as a favorite sweater, wrap, or stress ball
Comforting sights such as photos of loved ones, pets, or favorite places
Soothing sounds such as a favorite piece of music or guided meditation track

Most of us are familiar with people soothing other people—a hug, a back-rub, a shoulder to cry on. During COVID, when interpersonal soothing was less available, researchers studied the benefits of self-touching (Dreisoerner et al., 2021). They found that both self-soothing touch (in this study, most participants chose to place their right hand on their heart and their left on their abdomen while focusing on the rising and falling of their breath) and receiving a hug from another person were equally effective at lowering stress levels.

When adults are distressed, it’s difficult to regulate potentially disruptive emotions like anger, fear, and sadness, especially in a public space such as the workplace. If you want to explore self-soothing further, just look online. You will find lists of techniques from 8 to 100. Surely there’s something there for everyone.

Bottom Line: Everyone experiences distress of various sorts and at various levels. Self-soothing is a life skill worth learning.

THE WELL-TRAVELED TURKEY

Posted on October 31, 2023October 31, 2023 by vlaw759

Once Halloween is over, it’s all about Thanksgiving. The shift of focus from goblins to gobblers is instantaneous. Although officially called Thanksgiving, for many it’s really Turkey Day. But beyond dinner, what do people really know of Meleagris gallopavo, the wild turkey that gave rise to the one likely to be on the platter?

Turkeys in North America

Turkeys are native to North America, as are all the subspecies. M. gallopavo silvestris, sometimes called forest turkeys or eastern wild turkeys, are the most numerous of the subspecies, more than five million.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Native Americans domesticated turkeys more than 1500 years ago, before Europeans set foot on the continent. Archaeologists have found turkey bones in burial mounds in Tennessee, Kentucky and some other parts of the South. Turkey relics have surfaced in Arizona dating as far back as 25 C.E., and turkey-raising may well be one of the oldest forms of organized meat production in the Northern Hemisphere.

Indigenous farmers raised turkeys in Mexico and Central America more than 500 years before the Spanish arrived. Evidence of turkey bones at religious sites and burial mounds suggests that turkeys served a ceremonial role as well as providing meat. Although native to North America, the turkey’s range extended into Mexico.

Turkey Trade in Central America

Chalchiuhtotolin, Aztec turkey god — *Chalchiuhtotolin, the god of plagues, depicted as a turkey in the Aztec Codex*

Central Mexico once acted as a center of turkey domestication. Archaeologists have found bones of Meleagris gallopavo from as early as 8000 B.C.E. in what was once Maya territory. Remains of turkey pens and fossilized poop containing traces of corn suggest ancient Mayans kept and fed turkeys, trading them throughout Central America.

A 1980s archaeological dig at the El Mirador assemblage in Guatemala unearthed seven turkey skeletons. The bones were from more than 2000 years ago and more than 400 miles from their native range in Central Mexico.

One thing is certain, says Erin Kennedy Thornton, an environmental archaeologist at Trent University Archaeological Research Centre in Peterborough, Canada. The turkeys “didn’t walk there [to the Jaguar Paw Temple] themselves.” Like many Native American cultures, she says, the Maya used turkey feathers in ornaments and carved turkey bones into picks, pins, and elaborate tubes.

Thornton studied the bones, and concluded they did not belong to the indigenous ocellated turkeys that roamed Mayan territory. Those birds are small, with blue heads and iridescent blue, green, and copper feathers, she says,”almost like a cross between a turkey and a peacock.” The bones found in the temple appeared to belong to the larger, duller Mexican turkey.

After reexamining the bones, Thornton collaborated with archaeologist Camilla Speller, an expert in ancient DNA analysis at the University of Calgary in Canada, to confirm that the bones belonged to M. gallopavo. Only one of the bones yielded enough replicable DNA for analysis. That DNA was an exact match with M. gallopavo, and not the ocellated turkey.

Mayan traders maintained long-distance exchange networks between northern Mesoamerica and Mayan territory. They moved many objects such as jade, obsidian, and pottery throughout these networks between 300 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., when the bones likely originated, says Thornton. However, she says, this is the first sign that Mayan traders may have transported living animals as well.

As early as 300 B.C.E, people transported Mexican turkeys between 650 and 950 kilometers outside of the their natural range. In a study Thornton and others published, they argued that this distribution suggests turkey domestication in Mexico may have begun centuries earlier than scientists previously thought.

“I think they did a good job of making the case that the Meleagris gallopavo birds at El Mirador were derived from Central Mexico and were probably being confined,” says William Lipe, an archaeologist at Washington State University, Pullman. However, the small sample of DNA concerns him, and he agrees with Thornton that scientists need to do more research. “My guess is that the history of turkey domestication in the New World is fairly complex and that we are just beginning to see some of the outlines of it.”

Turkeys in Europe

Turks call this bird a “Hindi.” Hindi speakers call it a “Peru.” Arabic speakers call it a “Greek chicken.” Greeks call it a “French chicken.” The French call it an “Indian chicken.”

So, it’s likely that the Mayans of southern Mexico domesticated turkeys, maybe 2000 years ago. Spanish explorers took Mexican wild turkeys domesticated by the Aztecs back to Europe about 1519. These turkeys spread rapidly throughout Europe, and traders introduced them to England between 1524 and 1541. There, they became a highly sought-after element of gourmet dinners.

After those early domestic turkeys spread across Europe in the 1500s, European colonists brought them back. When colonists set off for the New World, they brought turkeys back across the Atlantic, to the land of their origin. At the time, the turkey was already one of the most plentiful foods of Native Americans. The wild cousin is slim, tall and long-legged. It possesses keen eyesight, hearing, and native cunning, making it a difficult target for human and animal hunters alike.

“The wild turkey in a sprint can outrun a galloping horse for a short distance,” said Charles Ruth, Big Game Program coordinator for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). “Although it is one of the largest game birds, weighing up to 25 pounds, it can fly distances of more than a mile, sometimes at speeds of 55 miles per hour.”

The Modern Turkey

Despite these survival traits, by the early 20th century, wild turkey numbers had plummeted because of overhunting and loss of habitat. In the early 1900s, the population reached a low of around 30,000 birds.

Fortunately, game managers stepped in, re-introducing wild-caught birds to areas where turkeys had disappeared. Thanks to these efforts, since the 1940s, wild turkeys have been prospering. There are now wild turkeys in all of the lower 48 states and even Hawaii, far beyond their original range. They number more than seven million.

Restoration of the wild turkey in South Carolina is one of the Palmetto State’s most noteworthy conservation success stories. In the early 1900s, only small pockets of wild turkeys survived in South Carolina. They lived primarily in the Lowcountry’s Francis Marion National Forest and along the Savannah River swamps. Today, the wild turkey is widespread throughout South Carolina. All 46 counties hold a spring hunting season (there is no fall season). Wild turkey restoration was made possible through the efforts of the SCDNR, the National Wild Turkey Federation, the forest products industry, private landowners, and South Carolina sportsmen and sportswomen.

Myths Busted

The name of the Republic of Turkey (now spelled Türkiye) and the funny-looking bird we eat in November are actually related (maybe). In the 1550s, merchants brought the birds to England by way of Spain and North Africa. People associated the new delicacy with the Ottoman Empire, particularly with the Turkish people.

Myth: Benjamin Franklin suggested the turkey as a national symbol or part of the Great Seal for America.
- Fact: In 1784, Benjamin Franklin did praise the turkey. He wrote that compared to the bald eagle, the turkey is “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America.” But he never actually proposed the turkey as a symbol for America.

Myth: Turkeys are just big chickens.
- Fact: More than 45 million years of evolution separates the two species. However, both are more closely related to dinosaurs than most modern birds!

Myth: Turkeys are so dumb, they’ll stare at the sky during a storm and drown in the rain.
- Fact: Some turkeys have a unique genetic condition called tetanic torticollar spasms. This condition can result in some strange behaviors, like staring at the sky. No turkeys with this condition have been reported dying from looking up in the rain.

Myth: Turkey is high in tryptophan. Eating turkey makes you sleepy.
- Fact: Turkey is just one of many foods that contain tryptophan. In order to feel the effects, you’d need to eat nearly 8 pounds of turkey in one sitting.

Bottom Line: When you think turkey, think beyond the supermarket.