The American bison (Bison bison), also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds - millions.Their range once roughly comprised a triangle between the Great Bear Lake in Canada's far northwest, south to the Mexican states of Durango and Nuevo León, and east along the western boundary of the Appalachian Mountains.
Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the late 19th century primarily by market hunters and were reduced to a few hundred by the mid-1880s. They were hunted for their skins, with the rest of the animal left behind to decay on the ground.
The US federal government promoted bison hunting for various reasons, to allow ranchers to range their cattle without competition from other bovines, and primarily to weaken the North American Indian population by removing their main food source and to pressure them onto the reservations. Without the bison, native people of the plains were forced either to leave the land or starve to death.
For a decade from 1873 on, there were several hundred, perhaps over a thousand, such commercial hide/market hunting outfits harvesting bison at any one time, vastly exceeding the take by American Indians or individual meat hunters. The commercial take arguably was anywhere from 2,000 to 100,000 animals per day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison
Music: by Boguslaw Boguch Cysewski, Song of a Winter Stream
The American Black bear is the smallest & most common species of bear. They are omnivores, so their diet is dictated by the season; i.e. new shoots, berries, roots, spawning fish. They live in forested areas throughout North America.
With man encroaching more and more into bear territory either through interface communities or hiking trails, encounters with bears will continue to increase.
This video of a sow with her two cubs was filmed at Hardy Falls (also known as Deep Creek), British Columbia. Hardy Falls is a popular walking trail into a densely forested area.
"We had gone our for a walk to the falls. About a third of the way in, another walker heading back to her car, informed us that she had spotted a bear up on the ridge above the path. We proceeded cautiously until we saw the sow and one cub, then the second cub. They were descending the steep slope down towards the creek and path.
We didn't move any closer, but continued talking and making noise, to let the bear know we were still there. More walkers gathered, and we all stayed a safe distance and ready to leave."
Black bears rarely attack when confronted by humans. At the same time, it is common knowledge if you live in bear country, that a sow with her cub(s) is potential danger. They are wild animals & will be protective of their young.
Coming between a sow and her cub(s) could spell disaster. There also are times when the family pet can be a real danger around bears. This happened recently with a Tappen man.
The attack happened last Saturday, near Tappen. According to Conservation Officers, while out on a walk, the Tappen man's dogs treed a bear cub and while the man tried to pull his dog away, the attacked. The man was knocked to the ground, mauled 3 times and only after fighting back, was he able to get free. The sow and cub ran off. Later at hospital, the man received 50 stitches for injuries to arms, chest & hands.
The bear will be tracked and possibly relocated. The Conservation Service recommends a few simple rules to observe when walking or hiking in our great outdoors:
always be aware of your environment - things around you
make noise so you don't startle bears
if your dog is not voice command trained, keeping it on leash is advised
The following video is of the Calypso bulbosa var. occidentalis Orchid or calypso orchid that we came across June 3, 2011 in the Kentucky Alleyne Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. You can't imagine how excited we were to find it! Another YOLO experience!
Directions to the park:
38 km south of the city of Merritt or 11 km south of community of Aspen Grove,
just off Hwy 5A.
From the east, the park is 11 km. from Coquihalla Highway 97C on paved access.
The closest communities, towns and cities are Aspen Grove, Merritt, Princeton and Elkhart Lodge. See the link for maps.
Also know as Fairy Slipper or Venus's Slipper
a few facts . . .
The Calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa) is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests.
It has a small pink, purple, pinkish-purple, or red flower accented with a white lip, darker purple spottings, and yellow beard.
Calypso orchids are typically 10 to 14 cm in height.Their little purple blooms can be a pleasant sporadic sight on hiking trails from late March onwards, though in the more northerly parts of their range they do not bloom until May and June. The plants live no more than five years.
Where are they found?
We found these by a happy accident!
As it is the only species currently in the genus Calypso, (which takes its name from the Greek signifying concealment) they tend to favor sheltered areas on conifer forest floors. That's exactly where we found them. The specific epithet, bulbosa, refers to the bulb-like corms.
This species' range is circumpolar, and includes the western states and most of the most northerly states of the United States; Canada ; Scandinavia (northern Sweden and Finland), the northern part of European Russia; eastern Siberia; and Japan—see external links for map. Four varieties are recognized: var. americana and var. occidentalis, which are found in North America, respectively east and west of the Sierra Nevada ranges; var. bulbosa in most of the Eurasian range; and var. japonica in Japan.
Threatened and Endangered!
logging is a serious threat . . .
Although the calypso orchid's distribution is wide, it is very susceptible to disturbance, and is therefore classified as threatened or endangered in several US states and in Sweden and Finland. It does not transplant well owing to its mycorrhizal dependence on specific soil fungi. The corms have been used as a food source by North American native peoples, though this is not recommended now because the sites for these plants are now rare and easily destroyed. The ThompsonRiver Indians of BritishColumbia used it as a treatment for mild epilepsy.
Their beard serves a purpose -
The calypso orchid is most often pollinated by queen bumblebees. It relies on "pollination by deception", as it attracts insects to anther-like yellow hairs at the entrance to the pouch and forked nectary-like structures at the end of the pouch but produces no nectar that would nourish them. Insects quickly learn not to revisit it. Avoiding such recognition may account for some of the small variation in the flower's appearance.
Think about it - Obama administration can capture the head of Al-Qaeda - Osama Bin Laden. A treasure trove of terror information with knowledge of sleeper cells, possibly in the USA or Europe, targets, members, training camps etc., so they just up and shoot him when he is unarmed?
Back tracking on original reports that Osama bin Laden returned fire with US troops, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the terrorist mastermind was unarmed during the raid.
Take him into custody, create a false story about his death as not to alert the terror network, get Osama to Gitmo and torture the hell out of him till he spills everything he knows.
Then if he dies 'oh well' but they no way just up and killed him before interrogation...
I'm Peter Russel. I've taught Political Science at the University of Toronto for a good many years and have been a so called Constitutional Expert, above all on the rules of Parliamentary Democracy which are mostly unwritten conventions. But they're very important Principles and I've never been more worried, in my entire life time, of Democratic citizenship in Canada about the possible outcome of an election. Because I really fear, this may sound extreme that, if the Harper Conservatives were to win a majority in the House of Commons, it would be an indication that Parliamentary Crime Pays.
You can just be contemptuous of Parliament & write it off as ‘it's them against us’, ‘just nothing more than partisan bickering’, when the Speaker, who's chosen by all parliamentarians, has found you, the PM & his government in contempt of Parliament on the most fundamental point of being unwilling to tell Parliamentarians how much things cost.
That was the very first real cause in the birth of Parliamentary Democracy, was the insistence that the King, who is spending the people money, tell the people what it was being spent on and how much things cost. And when the speaker finds you in Contempt and you just shove that off & the people of Canada possibly reward you, with a majority in Parliament, I really tremble. I'm just full of fear.
I love the country. We're the 4th oldest Parliamentary Democracy in the world. I treasure it but I would be afraid that our Government we would be in the hands of people who don't treasure it, don't respect it, and supported by, well, not a majority of Canadians, but maybe by 40% of Canadians - more than enough to form a majority in the house.
So it's a scary election for Peter Russel, and an important one for Canadians. Whether we really treasure the Parliamentary Democracy we've enjoyed for decades, for over a century and a half, or whether it's just a process thing, a bunch of stuff constitutional experts worry about.
I hope all Canadians really worry & think about it and try to prevent a majority from killing it.
(Sponsored by KissFM 107.5, Century 21, Wentworth Music, RAREARTH Music Festival and JCVdude)
It's been finalized and it never happened before - We have the TOP TWELVE!!!
'OUR KIDS HAVE TALENT' is originated by Kath Raeber of Kath and the TomKats. It's an incredible music competition inviting musicians 8-18 years of age to compete for prizes totaling more than $5000!
The auditions were this past weekend (Feb 26, 27, 2011) and the Finalists were chosen! Let the contest begin!
The Finalists now need to work at marketing themselves. A part of this involves getting people to view their audition video and vote! On March 12, 2011, the Gala Event of the Top 12 Performances is where the winners will be announced. You can also check out the OUR KIDS HAVE TALENT page on Facebook for more information and photos!
Here are the contestants. Please watch and vote! There's some amazing talent!! (To vote, you must watch to video on YouTube. Hover your mouse over the Gray YouTube Logo at the right bottom of the player & Click. You see 'watch on YouTube'. Once in YouTube, click the thumbs up to vote!)
Have fun and VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!
Playlist of all 12 Finalist Musicians. To view individual videos, scroll down.
Sponsored by 107.5 KISS FM, WENTWORTH Music, and RAREARTH Music Fest
(LIMITED APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED)
Count down has begun for musical kids 8-18 years to get their applications in for the 'Our Kids Have Talent' competition in Vernon, BC. OUR KIDS HAVE TALENT - ALL MUSICAL GENRES WELCOME.
This well received event attracted a 'sold out' house in 2009 and 2010 and we are anticipating even larger participation for 2011!
A Limited Number of Applications Will Be Accepted so it is imperative to get applications in earlier than later.
Applications accepted until February 23, 2010 (download from OUR KIDS HAVE TALENT - see application and contest rules and guidelines.
Auditions February 26th & 27th, 2011 - Held at 2700-28th Avenue, Vernon, BC
Final Ten Performances - March 12th, 2011 - High-End Sound & Sound Engineers
Tickets $15.00 - Children 12 & Under FREE!
FIRST PRIZE - $3,000 plus winner will automatically be included in the Top Finalists at the Armstrong IPE Talent Competition
2ND PRIZE - $1,500.00
3RD PRIZE - $500.00
PLUS NUMEROUS PRIZES FOR TOP TEN CONTESTANTS sponsored by generous business owners in Vernon who continually show their support of our youth in our communities. Thank you again to all of you who help to bring this fantastic initiative for Vernon and opportunity for our young talented stars.
Sponsors who would like to come on board are welcome to email or phone to discuss this opportunity.