Goofing Off: Black Friday Sales on Etsy: Miss Eileen’s Picks 11.18.11

Goofing Off: Black Friday Sales on Etsy: Miss Eileen’s Picks 11.18.11

Bedtime bats

Bats are amazing creatures. They are unable to see and use ecolocation to fly through the sky, they consume many of the pests which plague us during our days. But what happens when one of these little rodents makes its way into your home?

For years of working with animal rescue, I fielded calls of bats in peoples homes, even sent drivers out to capture dormant bats sleeping on the walls and curtains of peoples homes. But never have I actually had one in my home. That is until 11pm last night.

Just as I was heading into bed, I realized I had left a light on, when I turned to go back down the stairs, I saw something fly across the room. Now earlier in the evening, I had been plagued by a large moth, but even from the top of the stairs, I knew that was no moth.

I came around the corner of the stairs to see the little rodent shimmy across the floor and behind the television. Great. So I retreived the broom and tried to formulate an animal rescue plan solo, hoping the little critter never flew at my head.

Turning on all the lights, I leaned over the television, sure it was going to fly at my head. But alas, during the broom retrieval, it relocated to the kitchen counter. Thankfully right on top of a bag waiting to go out to recycling. So I sandwiched the bat between the cheese bag and the broom, covered it with a kitchen towel and shoved a plastic placemat until it all. Just as I was about to lift the sandwich, I realized I had no open doors and placed a bowl of tomatoes on top of the sandwich.

After propping open the back door with two shoes and a watering can, I retrieved the bat sandwich and ran out to the back room, hoping the bat was still lodged inbetween my make shift slices. I then screamed like a little girl and shoved everything outside.

I am happy to report, the bat was unharmed in the sandwich and "happily" flew off into the night sky.

I then laid in bed for 2 hours wondering where the bat originated and hoped I would not wake up with one chewing on my ears in the morning.

Bats, amazing creatures to watch outside nibbling on insects, but certainly not a bedtime adventure I would care to repeat.

Horseshoe crabs-living fossils

Exploring the animal world with my daughter is a responsibility as a mother which I relish. Her questions have led us on a journey, often chronicled in this column, which has expanded my animal knowledge and her vision of the world. Unfortunately a few weeks ago, this exploration led us down a path I hope to not encounter again. Although everything turned out alright in the end, after two visits to the Emergency Room and another to a walk-in clinic, we have added an additional animal to our list of natural discoveries.

While visiting local beaches and exploring the shore, my daughter enjoys learning about the creatures that live there. As fast as her little brown feet will carry her, she carries various shells and seaweeds over, peppering me with questions about what they are, what they eat or where they live. On one such outing, I found something in an empty shell which I had never seen before; miniscule turquoise eggs all clustered together. After 40 years of scouring New England beaches, I was intrigued by not knowing what it was. So what did I do? Of course I picked it up and spread the eggs out in my hand for my daughter to see, rolling them around my fingers showing her how they stuck together and we imagined what tiny creatures were eventually going to emerge.

After their examination, we returned the eggs to the ocean and wished the little creatures a long productive life. That was when I noticed the hives on the back of both hands; scattering across the skin and worming their way up my arms. Fortunately a friend on the beach had Benedryl cream and that stopped the initial reaction. After three courses of steroids and various antihistamine prescriptions, the hives have subsided. And thanks to an observant receptionist at the walk-in clinic on Martha’s Vineyard, I now know that I am allergic to dinosaurs.

The tiny turquoise eggs were actually a row of horseshoe crab eggs. Horseshoe crabs are not true crabs, but arthropods, more closely related to spiders and scorpions. The earliest horseshoe crab fossils date back 450 million years ago and they have not changed during that amazing amount of time.

Their prehistoric appearance makes them an anomaly in our present day world, but to take note of their importance to our world makes them an extraordinary local creature. The crabs return annually to the sands of their birth to lay their own eggs, females’ lay approximately 100,000 eggs which in turn feed migrating shorebirds. Scientists are unsure what allows the crabs to determine which sand they were hatched from, but this instinctual behavior has prevented researchers from breeding horseshoe crabs in captivity.

Biomedical researchers have used the unique blood of the horseshoe crab to make medical advances which we all benefit from.  With this, they are able to test intravenous medications, devices and vaccines to ensure they are free from contaminants; no other testing has been as reliable.

Horseshoe crabs shells are actually an exoskeleton made of a material called chitin. This material is tough yet flexible and when processed into Chitosan, it is a water-soluble base for numerous medical uses. The chitin from the horseshoe crabs shell has been used to develop chitin-coated filament for suturing and chitin-coated wound dressing for burn victims; apparently reducing recovery time by 35-50%. Water purification, wastewater treatment processes, dietary supplements and cosmetics have also been assisted by horseshoe crab chitin.

Horseshoe crabs are vulnerable to habitat loss due to pollution, shoreline development and human interference. They are harvested for their blood and chitin by researchers; and fisherman who are interested in using them for bait for eeling. Due to the fact that it takes approximately ten years for them to reach sexual maturity, both incidents affect their breeding life and long term sustainability.

The future of the world’s four remaining species of horseshoe crabs may be based on the preservation of our shorelines. In 1999, the “Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary Program” was launched. Conserving our beaches for their natural inhabitants should be a primary focus of our future. Once these natural beauties are gone, they can never be replaced.

Goats

Up at the barn today there were a few baby goats available for sale. Now don't get me wrong, I am not usually a goat-lover. But these kids are just adorable! Leaping off benches, frolicking in hay bags. I realize God made babies and children adorable so we continue to raise them, but baby goats are one of the most enjoyable things I can think of....and ice cream...and a beer after a warm day.... you get the idea!

Dog having conversation with owner

This video is short and hilarious! I am sure it is what dogs are actually thinking when we talk to them about food! TGIF!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw

Therapy Dogs??

Therapy Dogs are a wonderful help to both humans and to the dogs themselves.  A well trained therapy dog can assist the blind, deaf and people with seizure disorders to name a few. Dogs are also used in nursing homes, pediatric hospitals and even in schools to assist children with reading.

Being a Therapy Dog is a calling for some dogs; there are so many dogs in the world who need a "job". That is one reason dogs have so many behavior issues. They are bored. Many owners do not give them a job to do. Border Collies need sheep. Jack Russells need vermin.  A job in therapy allows dogs to utilitze their brains, which in turn tires them out. It is truly a win-win situation.

But what happens when someone calls their dog a "therapy dog" when that dog has not been properly trained or screened? It can be disasterous for all of the well trained, much needed dogs who help thousands of people every day.

I recently saw a story about a little girl with cancer, she has a "therapy" dog, it is German Shepherd. One day while the mother was visiting the neighbors with the dog, the dog jumped up and bit the neighbors daughter in the face. Previously the dog had nipped the neighbors son. This situation is horrible from all aspects. The poor girl with cancer loves her dog immensely. The neighbors now have two traumatized chlidren. And therapy dogs have a black mark.

As a mother, my heart goes out to the family of the girl with cancer. No mother wants to imagine her child going through that experience. But I am questioning whether the dog was actually a "therapy dog".  The dog may be of great help to the girl battling cancer, but unless the dog was throughly checked physically and behaviorally, the dog is not a true therapy dog.

The second incident was from an acquaintence of mine who's family member was traveling via plane for vacation. The family member recently acquired a Bernense Mountain Dog, this large breed of dog is generally between 80-120lbs. She, of course loves her dog, but her plan is to have her doctor write her a note which states that the dog is a "therapy dog" and needs to travel in the cabin with her. I am hopeful that her doctor is reasonable enough to not write this note. But who knows?

Therapy and/or service dogs are an important part of many peoples lives. They are a necessity for independence and often a life saving companion. If people go around calling all dogs service/therapy dogs, it take away the specialness of those who have been carefully selected and trained for service.

You may have a wonderful, special, intelligent and safe dog. But unless it is truly a trained therapy dog, it cannot carry that name. Let's not spoil it for those who truly need it.

Dog Fighting: The Ending

I am happy to announce that the Dog Fighting App has been deleted from the Android website. Power to the people, we were heard loud and clear. Our pets are too important to allow a rogue app to promote violence against them.

It just goes to show that if enough people are up in arms about something, they can change "the powers that be".

Now that is something great that we can teach our children.