Photobucket

Monday, March 26, 2007

Steve Loves Bats II









Second in my bat series: Vampire Bats. Of the roughly 950 known bat species, only 3 survive by ingesting the blood of other animals. The Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus) (pictures 1, 2, & 4), the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat (Diphylla ecaudata) (picture #3), and the White-winged Vampire Bat (Diaemus youngi) (picture #5). These bats are native to Central and South America. Contrary to popular belief, Vampire bats do not suck blood. They have razor sharp teeth with which they make incisions in the skin of their prey. Their saliva contains an anesthetic to make the process pain free, usually the animal sleeps through. The saliva also contains an anti-coagulant called draculin, thus assuring a steady flow of blood. The bat laps up the blood until it has had it's fill.

_______________________________

The last picture, of the two White-winged Vampire bats, is actually a baby picture. Two faces only a mother could love. Aren't they CUTE! For some reason my mother does not think so. Personally, I think she is wrong! You know what they say "all babies are cute", even these two!

Posted by Picasa

Friday, March 23, 2007

Fun In Barstow?

There is not much to do in Barstow. This town is basically a stop for people on their way to somewhere else. James and I like to take a drive when we are bored. There is a rest area 30 miles out of town on the 40. This is the route people take to Laughlin, Nevada. We like to drive out to it and relax. It serves as a surrogate park.
Posted by Picasa
Not much out here. We live in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It is dry and barren. The rest area is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is 30 miles back.
Posted by Picasa
James standing in front of the wildlife information display. Believe it or not there are a lot of things that live out here. We came here once and saw bats flying around. They must have been migrating because I have never seen them again, and I have looked!
Posted by Picasa
Me standing in front of the same thing. Not much to take a picture with here.
Posted by Picasa
James eating his Icee. Cherry flavor I think. I'm not use to this camera. Let me see if I can get closer.
Posted by Picasa
James sitting on the picnic tables with his Icee. Summer is coming to the Mojave. Icees are a must. I can't wait!! Nothing like 120 degrees for 2 months straight to liven things up! Boooooooo!
Posted by Picasa
Sitting together. I finally figured out how to work the delay on the camera. At least I did not cut off our heads on this one!
Posted by Picasa
Here is another picture of us. I like this one better, so I decided to post it. This is the same picture I am currently using for our profile picture.
Posted by Picasa

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Ostara

Eostar, Ostara. On March 20 at 8:07 EST the spring equinox will occur. Freedom from winter. The earth is young and strong. We welcome the beginning of spring. The Wheel Turns.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Give A Hoot - Owls On Display

As many of you may know, my mother LOVES owls. She has a large collection of all types of owls in all types of media. From figurines, cups, brooches, kites, boxes, and she even has a salt cellar and a puppet. Well you get the picture, she loves them. We who love her also like to collect them for her. Every one is always on the look out for owls. She loves them all; normal and strange looking. Her grandchildren even draw her owl pictures. James and I add to her collection as often as we can. Her local library has display cases which she signed up to fill. Guess what she chose to put in them? Right, her owls.....

This is Case #2. The whole project was a lot of work, she had to fill 2 large and 2 smaller cases. I think she did a great job and I am very proud of her.
Posted by Picasa
The back of case number two. I remember some of these things from when I was small. Mom used to have owls way back then. The blue picture above the street sign is an owl I made out of rocks. I created it when I was very young. What artistic talent, even back then, HA HA!
Posted by Picasa
The contents of case number one. You can see Miss Elizabeth in the lower corner with the other stuffed owls. She is sitting between the two standing owls. I explain more about her below. All of the owls have dressed for the party, though Miss Elizabeth is obviously the best!
Posted by Picasa
This is case number four. The two smaller cases were near the children's section of the library. In this case she put some things that children might like; hence the books.
Posted by Picasa
Case number three, also near the children's section. The hand puppet and the kite are displayed here.
Posted by Picasa
This is Miss Elizabeth, my mother's pride and joy. She was made by my brother-in law Joe's mother, Donna. She was given to my mother as a gift. My mother made the clothes especially for this display. The clothes gave her emotional fits. She spent weeks trying to make them. They just never sat right. In the end though, she did a nice job.
Posted by Picasa
A closeup of Miss Elizabeth and her two suitors, or are they just friends?
Posted by Picasa
Her collection of owl brooches. She has quite a few; beautiful and unusual pieces.
Posted by Picasa
A closeup of Halloween themed owls. The owl sitting on the pumpkin was a present from my sister's friend Galene. She said her grandmother always had it in her house and it was passed on to her. She told my mother that she loved the piece but that she thought my mother would enjoy it more! Isn't that nice.
Posted by Picasa
The owl in the cactus is actually a hand puppet. James and I saw it at Cliff's Variety Store in San Francisco. You put your hand in the bottom of the cactus and you can move the owl in the hole. We knew she had to have it!
Posted by Picasa
Owl Boxes.
Posted by Picasa
Remember Woodsy The Owl? Give-A-Hoot Don't Pollute!
Posted by Picasa
A great owl kite. I would like to see this owl fly!
Posted by Picasa