GIANT GARTER SNAKE

STATUS: Threatened. That means we are concerned about the species but that they are not in danger of extinction right now.

DESCRIPTION: The giant garter snake is one of the largest garter snakes. They are at least 162 centimeters long. (About 64 inches.) Females tend to be longer and heavier than males. They weigh 500 to 700 grams. (About 1 to 1.5 pounds) .

The back of a giant garter snake varies from brownish to olive. There is a checkered pattern of black spots. A yellow stripe runs down the center of the back. Along the sides are light colored stripes. The underside is cream to olive or brown. Sometimes it is orangish. And common garter snakes are only 46-140 cm long. Otherwise, the two species look very similar. Garter snakes are not dangerous. In California, only rattlesnakes have venom that is dangerous to humans.

FOOD: Small fishes, tadpoles and frogs.

HABITAT: Agricultural wetlands and other waterways in the Central Valley. (Irrigation and drainage canals, sloughs, ponds, small lakes, streams.)Most of the natural habitat has been lost. So lots of snakes live in rice fields. Rice fields provide hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat for the species.

HABITAT NEEDS: Enough water to provide food and cover during the active season. (Early-spring through mid-fall) Wetland plants such as cattails and bulrushes. (These are for cover and foraging.) Grassy banks and openings in vegetation for sunning.

Winter refuges: Small mammal burrows and other crevices above flood elevations. Giant garter snakes are dormant during the winter so they need places like this to hang out.

SEASONAL LIFE CYCLE: Giant garter snakes are most active from early spring through mid-fall. Between April 1 and May 1, they emerge and start hunting for food. Around October 1, they start looking for winter retreats. By November 1, they are in winter retreats and mostly stay there until spring. Some may bask or move short distances on warmer days.

MATING: Males reach sexual maturity in three years, females in five. The breeding season extends through March and April. Females give birth to live young from late July through early September. Brood size varies. It ranges from 10 to 46 young. (See photo of young snake, left) Young immediately scatter into dense cover. They typically more than double in size in the first year.

PREDATORS: These include raccoons, skunks, opossums ("possums"), foxes, hawks, northern harriers, egrets, bitterns and great blue herons.

RANGE: Mainly the Sacramento Valley of California. Some isolated populations in the San Joaquin Valley.

THREATS: Habitat loss and fragmentation. Flood control activities. Changes in agricultural and land management practices. Predation from introduced species, parasites, water pollution.

Cormorant

Naked-Head Toothfish and Rakery Beaconlamp–despite Antarctica's stark white scenery, its inhabitants do possess colorful names.

These are among Antarctica's 200 species of fish, and were first caught during an 1840 James Clark Ross expedition.


One hundred and twenty of these species are descendents of Notothenioids, which contain glycoproteins in their blood that work as "anti-freeze" proteins.

These proteins appeared in fish because of a genetic mutation that occurred 5-14 million years ago; since the waters were warmer back then, the proteins were not needed.

However, when continental plates shifted, what is now Antarctica broke off from South America, and produced such a strong current that warmer waters could not get through.

Therefore, the Antarctic seas became increasingly colder over time. The fish without the genetic mutation died out; today, each remaining Notothenioid carries the glycoproteins.

The proteins attach themselves to small ice crystals in the fish's body, enabling the fish to live in waters with temperatures as low as 28 degrees F.

Sweet Pinesap

Monotropsis odorata
Family: Monotropaceae

Habitat:
Sandstone ridgetops, chiefly pine woods but also mesophytic woods.

Species Description:
Saprophytic perennial.

Phenology:
Flowering Period: Early February to late April.

Diagnostic Characteristics:
This is a saprophytic plant in the Indian-pipe family that does not have chlorophyll and is therefore colorless or white. It differs from typical Indian pipes in have united petals and nodding fruit.

Management:
Timber removal would be detrimental. Exotic pest plants are a threat to this species and should be removed. Avoid creating access to the site through trail or road construction.

Vampire Squid

FEATURES:

The vampire squid, (Vampyroteuthis infernali) which depicts something that swam out of a late-night science fiction. But in spite of its bizarre name, this squid is a small creature, which grows up to 6 inches length. It is one of the oldest species. It is an exclusive member which shares similarities with both squid and octopuses.

They have large fins at the top of its body that resemble ears. They serve as primary means of thrust as it flies through the water with the help of flapping their fins. They have very gelatinous form, resembling a jellyfish. It will swim faster with a speed of reaching over two body lengths in a second. The largest eyes are relative to its body size of any animal. Though it is comparatively small, they appear red or blue in color.

ARMS:
They have eight arms which are connected with a webbing of skin, which gives an appearance of an octopus than a squid. When threatened, it can draw its arms up by itself and form a suspicious web which covers the whole body. Each of the eight arms is lined with a single row of suction cups and rows of soft, fleshy spines known as cirri. The color of the squid ranges from jet black to pale red. Their body is covered with light-producing organs called photophores.

DIET:
The vampire squid is a carnivorous animal. Its diet consists of prawns, copepods, cnidarians, and other small invertebrates. The beaks of it is found in the stomachs of seals, whales, and fishes, The interesting fact is that they can roam around without eating for a longer period of time.

EGGS:
Their eggs will be of small and opaque, with a size of about eight millimeters. They reproduce slowly by laying small number of eggs.

Black and White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata variegata)

The black and white ruffed lemur is one of the largest lemurs now. They grow up to four feet but their weight is only eight or ten pounds. Male as well as the female look the alike, covered with black and white patches and a fringe of lengthy white fur can be found around their neck and ears.

They normally live in small groups which is consists of two to five lemurs in each group. Common home will be shared by them. They use to give loud calls to let other lemurs know that they in the specific place. They all be together to protect them from the predators If a lemur Found its predator, it gives a loud call to alert their members.

They use to groom each other with their teeth. This makes them clean and helps to have strong friendships in their group.

They mostly found in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar. Their diet consists of fruit and other plants.
The mother will have two to three babies at once. Other lemurs have only one baby at a time. They normally hide their babies in a safe place. When it attains three weeks old, it starts to follow its mother.

OLM (PROTEUS ANGUINAS)

It belongs to the ancient kin of salamanders comprising just six varieties, commonly referred to as the olm, mud puppies and water dogs .it is a blind amphibian common to the yawning water of caves. The family diverged from their nearby relations 190 million years ago in the early Jurassic period in the era of the dinosaurs. This predates the 1^st vestige bird by 40 million years. A tiny subpopulation of “black olms” may be a part varieties requiring extra safety.

HOW IT LOOKS?

The olm is a lengthened and slim mythical being with tiny, slim limbs with 3 toes near the front limbs and 2 toes on the hind limbs. The chest is cylindrical and homogeneously broad. The tail is moderately little, tangentially compressed, and bordered by a slim fin. It have defectively urban eyes, which are enclosed with skin in one of the type (P. anguinus anguinus), and have three pink outer gills on each side of the head. It is soft and blind, although their skin-covered eyes are still light perceptive. It has developed a prevailing sensory system of smell, taste, and hearing. Since the pelt is transparent, it is possible to see the olm’s interior organs, making it easy to identify the sex of adults.

TERRITORY

It is present in clean water assets found in dark subversive caves of the Dinaric Alps along the Adriatic Sea, from north-eastern Italy to Bosnia and Herzegovina and possibly Serbia and Montenegro. It may be found in cave opening (especially during high rainfall and flood) and discarded excavate mechanism. Many of the caves within the olm’s range are linked to rivers that run over the earth for the first 50 to 100km and then vanish into the earth.

CATEGORY

It is scheduled in Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of endangered Species because its area of residence is less than 2,000 km sq.

GROCERIES

It is a Europe’s only cave modified vertebrate. They are totally marine variety that can stay alive lacking foodstuff for up to 10 years and live to an age of 58 or more.