Natural Beauty - Hen and chick

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My blogging Muse seems to have gone on vacation

My blogging Muse seems to have gone on vacation....erratic posting until She returns!

Natural Beauty

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Natural Beauty - red dragonfly

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Bats - a misunderstood mammal

Female bats can control when they get pregnant and give birth 

To ensure external conditions are optimal for a newborn bat, mother bats are equipped with a variety of biological tactics that allow them to put off fertilization, implantation or development of the fetus.

 

In some species, mating will occur in the fall, but females will store sperm in their reproductive tract before finally fertilizing their eggs when spring arrives. In other species, the egg is fertilized immediately after mating, but instead of implanting to the wall of the uterus, it floats around until favorable conditions arrive. Yet another adaptation exhibited in some bats is delayed fetus development, in which fertilization and implantation occurs as usual, but the fetus remains in a dormant state for a long period of time.

 

These tactics, which contribute to the slow birth rate of bats, are timed to coincide with high production of fruit or insects in the environment.

 

Something human females could use!!

Read the rest of the article here.

 

Natural Beauty - Wild Lynx

Wild lynx to be brought back to British countryside

Wild lynx could be allowed to roam the British countryside for the first time in almost 1,000 years under plans by a group of leading wildlife experts.

Senior biologists and cat specialists are this week due to apply for a license to reintroduce the cats, which can grow up to four feet in length, into an area of forest on the west coast of Scotland.

Under the plans, which have been backed by officials from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), two pairs of Eurasian lynx would be brought to this country from northern Europe.

A new charity, the Lynx UK Trust, has now been set up by the biologists to oversee the project. They are to submit an official application for a permit to Scottish Natural Heritage, which regulates species reintroduction in Scotland.

The initial reintroduction would act as trial to see whether lynx could then be reintroduced to other areas of the country including parts of Wales and northern England.
The plan, however, is expected to be controversial with farmers and some land owners, who will see the lynx as a threat to livestock and grouse.

Dr Paul O’Donoghue, a wildcat expert who is leading the project, insisted that the lynx would bring more benefits than harm to the areas where they are reintroduced.

He said: “We have been looking at the prospect of Lynx reintroduction for a while and now is the right time.  “This will be the most exciting and ambitious conservation project ever carried out in the UK. We have identified several areas of land and are in advanced stages of discussion with land owners.

 

“These animals mainly prey on deer and in many areas of the country deer numbers are out of control – they are holding back the regeneration of forest because of the damage they can do.

“Lynx will play an essential ecological role that will promote biodiversity.”

Eurasian lynx are mainly found in the forests of Russia, Scandinavia and the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe, although they were recently reintroduced to Switzerland.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/10080527/Wild-lynx-to-be-brought-back-to-British-countryside.html?fb

Natural Beauty - flamingo with baby

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