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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 23, 2018 11:33:53 GMT
Hey Swamprat!
I posted that bicycle butt joke on Twitter. Thank you for that laugh!
Good morning to you and all of our lovely UFOCasebookers,
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 23, 2018 11:35:35 GMT
Richard Dolan Streamed live 18 hours ago
On today's show Richard talks about the private UFO briefings that took place between President Truman and air force Colonel Robert B. Landry.
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Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 23, 2018 11:40:06 GMT
Asahi Shimbun
Hayabusa 2 rovers land successfully on asteroid Ryugu
By RYOMA KOMIYAMA/ Staff Writer September 23, 2018 at 14:05 JST
Two small rovers from the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft signaled their successful landing on the asteroid Ryugu by sending images back to Earth, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced on Sept. 22.
The success marked the first time that rovers which can maneuver around the surface have been successfully placed on an asteroid, JAXA said.
Each of the two Minerva-II1 rovers measures 18 centimeters in diameter and 7 cm in height and weighs 1.1 kilograms.
According to JAXA, the two robots, named Rover-1A and Rover-1B, were separated from Hayabusa 2 on the afternoon of Sept. 21 at an altitude of 55 meters above Ryugu, which is about 300 million kilometers from Earth.
The two rovers dropped slowly to the surface of the asteroid at a speed of several centimeters per second. That was because they could float off into space if they landed hard due to the impact of the landing and the asteroid's weak gravitational pull.
After the successful landing, the two rovers hopped around on the surface and shot colored images. JAXA said that the two were functioning properly.
The images were sent to the Earth through Hayabusa 2, which allowed JAXA to confirm at night on Sept. 22 that the two rovers had successfully touched down.
www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201809230029.html
Crystal
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Post by swamprat on Sept 23, 2018 15:31:06 GMT
Which bird migrates the farthest? By EarthSky in EARTH | September 23, 2018
Over its lifetime of about 25 years, an Arctic tern can fly nearly 3 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
The bird that flies farthest is the Arctic tern, an elegant white seabird. This bird also sees more daylight than any other.
The Arctic tern breeds on the shores of the Arctic Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere summer. And it feeds over the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere half a year later – in Southern Hemisphere summer. So, like many birds, this bird flies great distances every year to maintain its life of endless summertime.
North American Arctic terns fly about 24,000 miles (40,000 km) each year. That’s a distance about equal to the distance around the Earth.
An Arctic tern can live for 25 years, so in its life-long quest for summer it can fly a million kilometers (620,000 miles) – nearly three times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
earthsky.org/earth/which-bird-migrates-the-farthest
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 24, 2018 11:36:19 GMT
Good morning lovely people,
Perfect Edition
by Shefket Sep 23
Оn the 9th of September (2006), Space shuttle Atlantis was launched towards the international space station for the STS 115 mission. During the 13 day mission, there was a lot of UFO activity. And we are not talking about rumours or ” I heard it through the grapevine” type of reports. During the mission NASA broadcasted several hours of live downlink feed coming directly from space shuttle Atlantis. 2 UFO incidents stand out, because you can hear the space shuttle crew and ground control communicating about these mysterious objects.
The first incident happened on the 19th of September when the crew filmed an object flying between the space shuttle and earth. You can hear someone at ground control talking about the object telling the astronauts that they will keep a close eye on it. The object itself is filmed and it looks like it’s following the crew in space. The second sighting happened on the next day. The incident was captured with 2 different cameras. You can hear one of the astronauts stating that “the object in question just, uh, passed off the nose again”. Why would he use the word “Again”. Maybe this wasn’t the first time they encountered the strange alien object? During the second sighting 4 UFO’s appear right in front of the Atlantis space shuttle. Who knows what conversations take place once the live broadcast stops…?
www.perfectedition.win/nasa-crew-live-comment-on-ufo-the-object-in-question-just-uh-passed-off-the-nose-again/
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 24, 2018 11:44:36 GMT
Earth and Beyond Published on Sep 23, 2018
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Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 24, 2018 11:52:11 GMT
Atlas ObscuraTokangawhā / Split Apple Rock
What looks like a giant stone apple cleaved neatly in half by some otherworldly knife sits within the beautiful crystal clear waters of the Tasman Bay. This strange boulder makes for an unusual beach attraction.
Known as Split Apple Rock, the naturally occurring rock formation is located just off the coast between Kaiteriteri and Marahau in Abel Tasman National Park. It’s made of granite and estimated to be around 120 million years old.
According to Māori legend, the boulder was split by two feuding gods who were fighting to possess it. To resolve the issue, they used their huge godlike strength to break it in half. As such, the Māori name for the rock is Tokangawhā, which means “burst open rock.” A more scientific theory is that water seeped into a crevice in the rock and then froze during an ice age, expanding and thus splitting the stone.
The rock is 160 feet or so out from the shore. The beach can be accessed by walking down a short track just outside the town of Kaiteriteri; alternatively, kayak tours or water taxis will let you see the rock from the sea.
In 2014, the formation was officially named Tokangawhā / Split Apple Rock.
www.atlasobscura.com/places/split-apple-rock-tokangawha
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 24, 2018 20:07:09 GMT
Sydney Morning Herald
Spyware on phone fears as Dutton pushes new security laws
By Colin Kruger 25 September 2018 — 12:00am
A push to compel Australia's telecommunications companies to install spyware on customers' phones under broad new security plans could be "severely damaging" to the country's cybersecurity, the industry has warned.
Telcos are part of an expanded group, which includes device makers like Apple, search engines like Google, and social media apps like Facebook, which could potentially be compelled to help federal authorities gain access to encrypted communications, according to submissions made on a draft bill currently before parliament for consideration.
"Agencies could oblige a device manufacturer to preload (and then conceal) tracking or screen capture software (spyware) on commercial handsets which could be activated remotely," said a joint submission lodged by the Communications Alliance (the representative body for Telstra, Optus and device manufacturers like Nokia and Huawei), the Australian Information Industry Association and the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association.
"The lack of clarity and detail raises significant concerns around intent, actual implementation and, ultimately, legislative overreach."
The Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton is seeking the new powers on behalf of Australia's security agencies in response to the rising use of encryption by criminals.
"Criminal syndicates and terrorists are increasingly misusing and, indeed, exploiting these technologies," Mr Dutton said in a speech last week introducing The Assistance and Access Bill 2018 to Parliament.
"The bill provides law enforcement agencies with additional powers for overt and covert computer access. Computer access involves the use of software to collect information directly from devices," he said.
The tech industry has unanimously denounced the bill despite assurances from Mr Dutton that the legislation will not "weaken encryption or mandate backdoors into encryption".
“It is an enormous expansion of the range of entities, in Australia and overseas that can be compelled to provide assistance of almost any type – including building new capabilities to allow enforcement agencies to circumvent encryption," said Communications Alliance chief executive, John Stanton. He said the spyware scenario could include compelling local telco providers to install this software on customers' mobile phones.
The Digital Industry Group, the representative body for tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter, has reportedly made a submission warning that these proposed "security vulnerabilities, even if they are built to combat crime, leaves us open to attack from criminals".
Even the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) the body that oversees the technical operation of the network, took the unusual step of commenting on the bill.
"While we normally do not review proposed legislation, we are concerned that this proposal might have a serious and undesirable impact upon the Internet," it said. If this results in similar legislation in other countries it "may result in the fragmentation of the Internet," said the IAB.
A government spokesman insisted that the bill had "robust safeguards" to ensure that any help requested of industry was "reasonable and proportionate" and would not threaten the security of communications systems.
Labor has criticised what it argues is undue haste to pass the legislation with the bill introduced into Parliament just 10 days after submissions to its exposure draft closed.
"Proposals that seek to provide security agencies with powers to bypass encryption and access personal communications must be subject to robust and well-considered consultation," said the statement from Labor MPs Mark Dreyfus, Michelle Rowlands and Ed Husic.
The MPs noted that similar legislation in the UK took two years to develop. The Australian government is not alone in seeking ways to penetrate the encryption barrier that has become a mandatory tool for criminals and terrorists.
Last year Apple refused a request from the FBI to unlock the phone of a mass shooter in Texas. In May, all the tech giants including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, criticised proposals that would give law enforcement authorities access to locked and encrypted devices.
"Weakening the security and privacy that encryption helps provide is not the answer," the companies said in a joint statement (https://www.reformgovernmentsurveillance.com/statement-on-reports-of-exceptional-access-proposals/).
www.smh.com.au/business/companies/spyware-on-phone-fears-as-dutton-pushes-new-security-laws-20180924-p505oc.html
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 25, 2018 11:29:07 GMT
Good morning lovely UFOCasebookers
Mysterious Universe
Georgia Sea Monster Turns Out to Just be Modern Art
Sequoyah Kennedy
September 25, 2018
Back in March, I wrote about a supposed sea monster that washed up on the Georgia coast. It was found by a fisherman and his son, and bore a striking resemblance to the Altamaha-ha monster of local legend. Every time one of these “sea monsters” pops up, the best bet is that it’s a hoax. After all, when the story goes that some fisherman takes a picture of exactly the same monster that the town has on its welcome signs, goes to the local bar, and is utterly shocked to learn that there’s legends of this here monster that stretch back hundreds of years, it’s too clean to be true and this fellow has to be taking us for a ride. Well, it’s worse than that. The fisherman was just as duped as everyone else. The real culprit is an artist named Zardulu who, adding insult to injury to the people of Georgia, is an artist and “myth maker” based in New York City, where the “piece” will be on display as part of her solo art exhibition called, in proper spooky Yankee artist style, Triconis Aeternis: Rites and Mysteries.
This is a scenario that’s also almost too clean to be true: an NYC artist with a silly/spooky name and invented title pulls one over on the people of Not-New-York. It’s a story as old as the hills. The artist, Zardulu, told Vice that the “monster” was a taxidermied shark dressed up with papier-mâché to resemble a sea monster of legend. The piece, or hoax, or, prank, or all three is titled, not Altamaha-ha, but “Ketos Troias,” and is based on a monster from ancient Greek myth. According to Zardulu:
"Darien is the home of a great American legend of the Altamaha-ha, I wanted to breathe some new life into and incorporate it into my larger narrative. The slaying of the Ketos Troias is symbolic of a triumph over the frightening creatures in both the ocean of my unconscious, of yours, of all of ours. That’s why it was such a compelling story.”
This isn’t Zardulu’s first rodeo either. During a Miami art festival, there was a widely circulated video of a man finding an Iguana coming out of a toilet. It’s literally just that, a man finds an Iguana in the toilet, the whole family starts yelling, the Iguana almost drowns and then sits proudly on the seat. This was another of Zardulu’s works. It was titled (wait for it) “The Usurpation of Ouranos,” and was based on another Greek myth where a god, Ouranos, imprisons his children in the underworld until his son escapes, castrates him, and usurps his throne. Symbolized by almost drowning an Iguana in a toilet. Here’s Zardulu talking about her work at large:
“These pieces are all crucibles, ritual adventures, I am living out in the real world, in the broadened conceptual space created by the internet and viral media. Deep down… we don’t care about the truth. We want myth. We want our feelings and emotions to be represented in symbolic forms. That’s why we gravitate to these viral stories, videos and images,”
For the record, I’m down with stunts like this. It makes life more interesting. Good job. At the same time, it’s hard to think of anything more annoying. And stop drowning Iguanas.
mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/09/georgia-sea-monster-turns-out-to-just-be-modern-art/
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 25, 2018 11:35:33 GMT
Idaho State Journal
Sasquatch enthusiasts meet for Pocatello Bigfoot Conference
By Madeleine Coles 25 September 2018
POCATELLO — Dozens of people gathered at a local conference recently to share personal experiences involving the legendary creature known as sasquatch, and to hear presentations by leading experts in “bigfooting.”
The Pocatello Bigfoot Conference was hosted Friday and Saturday at the Warehouse, 1009 S. Second Ave.
The legend of Bigfoot, a large, ape-like creature who walks on two legs and has, as the name suggests, big feet, has persisted for years.
In the 19th century, stories were told among mountain men and Native American tribes of wild giants living in the mountains.
Today, Bigfoot still has plenty of believers.
Shows like Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot,” which recently ended after nine seasons, are watched by millions, and Bigfoot conferences, hosted throughout the nation, are attended by avid believers and casual fans alike.
Brandon Tennant, a lifelong resident of Pocatello and the owner of sasquatchprints.com, a screenprinting company which specializes in Bigfoot designs, said he has been drawing pictures of Bigfoot since childhood.
He attended his first conference as a vendor in 2004, and since then has put effort into starting a conference in Pocatello. Tennant hosted this conference, and he said he would like to make it an annual event.
Speakers at the conference included Cliff Barackman, a cast member on “Finding Bigfoot,” Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, a professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University, and Becky Cook, author of “Bigfoot Lives in Idaho.”
According to Tennant, attendees of these conferences are extremely diverse.
“There is a whole spectrum of people from absolute crazy to Dr. Meldrum backing up everything with facts,” said Tennant, who is himself a hardcore believer in the animal.
However, according to Barackman, the widespread interest in the phenomenon doesn’t particularly rely on what people believe sasquatches to be.
“People love the subject,” Barackman said. “Whether they think they’re real animals, or just some sort of cultural thing, they love it. And I think it’s probably because they hold a strange mirror up to ourselves.”
Barackman said sasquatches interest people because they are a “midpoint” between the intelligent, civilized species humans are today and their wild ancestors.
Meldrum agreed with Barackman, saying that the obsession with Bigfoot can be mirrored in the fact that one of the most popular spots at zoos is the primate exhibit.
“We see ourselves reflected in a sort of unusual way,” Meldrum said. “And the digital age has promoted the exchange of information and discussion. So I don’t see (interest in Bigfoot) waning. If anything it keeps snowballing.”
Meldrum believes proof of Bigfoot’s existence to be inevitable, especially considering the new developments being made in Bigfoot research.
According to Meldrum, the emergence of eDNA, or environmental DNA, which is collected from a variety of environmental samples rather than an organism itself, could be the key to finding concrete DNA from sasquatches, which has thus far eluded Bigfoot hunters around the country.
Additionally, Meldrum said drone technology could increase the chances of a sasquatch being caught on camera.
“The bottom line, everyone has to keep in mind, of course though, is that these animals are extremely rare, extremely far ranging and elusive,” Meldrum said, “which makes it very difficult to locate, let alone to observe and learn about them.”
However, Bigfoot researchers and enthusiasts still hold out hope that one day they will have definitive, concrete proof that not even the harshest of skeptics can deny.
“(Bigfoot) has stood the test of time because they are real,” Barackman said. “They’re really here. People do see them. And much like any other animal, they’ve always been here.”
Meldrum said that though he hopes it will be the efforts of searchers and researchers that prove once and for all the existence of sasquatches, he believes it will be a much more serendipitous event.
“Some day, a hunter is going to shoot one,” Meldrum said, “or some day a semi is going to hit one, and the issue will be solved.”
www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/sasquatch-enthusiasts-meet-for-pocatello-bigfoot-conference/article_cde1edc3-0659-5238-9654-2c1a327c1d0b.html
Crystal
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2018 0:45:32 GMT
Not long ago Cliff posted several incidents of passengers and crew hospitalized at several airports after exposure to unknown fumes..well..The airlines best kept little secret just sprung a leak..and these incidents are not one offs.they are organo phospasphate particles which are neuro toxins...like those found in nerve gas..and are produced when fuel is exposed to high temps..like a jet engine..wouldn't you know?
flight attendants have been discussing internally for some time.....and subsequently threatened with loss of jobs..if they discussed it any further..I wonder if all those dead birds that fall from time to time..are victims as well..Nothing to worry about..after all its a big atmosphere..and the rain will just bring it down to us..and don't even talk chem trails..thats all rubbish
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 26, 2018 11:58:11 GMT
Good morning lovely people,
Science Alert
NASA Is About to Announce New Efforts in Searching For Intelligent Alien Life
The truth is out there…
MICHELLE STARR 26 SEP 2018
Here in the Solar System, the search for extraterrestrial life is focused on microbes. But in recent years, projects such as Kepler and HARPS have done something incredible, exploding our awareness and knowledge of planets beyond the Solar System.
To date, 3,779 planets have been confirmed from a variety of observatories, with thousands more candidates, most from the last 10 years. And with that catalogue comes a renewed fervour for answering the question: has some other planet out there in the Universe managed to give rise to life?
With a new generation of instruments poised for a new discovery boom - including NASA's TESS and James Webb Space Telescope, and the European Space Agency's CHEOPS and PLATO - the search is heating up; not just for life, but for intelligent life that may have entered the stage of an advanced civilisation.
This is going to be the focus of new NASA efforts.
In particular, they're going to be looking for something called 'technosignatures' - signals that could be inferred as evidence of an advanced civilisation.
Earth is blasting out technosignatures all the time, most obviously in the form of radio waves.
Technosignatures can also consist of laser emissions, artificial light and heat from an exoplanet, or chemicals in the atmosphere that could be pollutants - these are all examples of signatures that could indicate an advanced civilisation.
"In April 2018, new interest arose in Congress for NASA to begin supporting the scientific search for technosignatures as part of the agency's search for life," NASA explained in a statement.
"As part of that effort, the agency is hosting the NASA Technosignatures Workshop in Houston on 26 - 28 September 2018, with the purpose of assessing the current state of the field, the most promising avenues of research in technosignatures and where investments could be made to advance the science."
There are organisations out there searching for alien intelligence, including the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, founded by astronomers Carl Sagan and Jill Tarter, and the Breakthrough Initiatives, founded by physicist Yuri Milner with the support of Stephen Hawking.
Historically, though, NASA's involvement in these searches has been minor. It ran a SETI program for just one year in the early 1990s before being shut down due to political pressure.
But now the search is more promising than ever before, and recent observations and discoveries have only added fuel to the curiosity fire.
"Kepler's discovery in 2015 of irregular fluctuations in brightness in what came to be known as Tabby's Star led to speculation of an alien megastructure, though scientists have since concluded that a dust cloud is the likely cause," NASA wrote.
"However, Tabby's Star has demonstrated the potential usefulness of looking for anomalies in data collected from space, as signs of technologically-advanced life may appear as aberrations from the norm."
We don't know if there's other life out there. All we know for sure is that there's a non-zero chance of it occurring.
Finding it is a bit like looking for a very small needle in a very large haystack; only as technology evolves and advances, our tools are looking a lot more like magnets.
If you want to tune in to NASA's workshop online, the agency will be streaming it via Ustream here: www.ustream.tv/channel/asteroid-initiative-idea-synthesis---3%E2%80%8B
www.sciencealert.com/nasa-search-for-intelligent-alien-extraterrestrial-life-technosignatures-workshop
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 26, 2018 12:10:01 GMT
Atlas Obscura
The Donkey Refuge Where Burros Become Coyote-Kicking Livestock Guardians
With the right training, feral donkeys go from zero to hero.
by Abbey Perreault September 25, 2018
A NASA facility in California has been dealing with odd interference. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, one of three worldwide facilities of the Deep Space Network that tracks and communicates with far-off spacecrafts, lies in the dry, often scorching heart of the Mojave Desert. But when it gets particularly hot, something strange happens. The office foyer fills with donkeys, preventing scientists from entering or leaving the building.
Despite several large removal efforts, “wild” donkeys, or burros, are abundant in the Mojave Desert. Seeking shade, they crowd beneath trees, buildings, and, on occasion, incredibly important NASA satellites. But donkey interference, as silly as it sounds, extends far beyond the day-to-day disruption of space scientists. According to Mark Meyers, executive director of Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue (PVDR), there are too many donkeys in America, and we simply don’t know what to do with them.
“Places like Death Valley, the Mojave National Preserve, Fort Irwin, and the Naval Air Weapons Station [China Lake] all have giant donkey populations,” says Meyers. “There’s just no burro money to manage them.”
That’s where Meyers comes in. Peaceful Valley, the largest rescue organization of its kind, has recently been tasked with removing thousands of donkeys from national parks across the country. Meyers spends his days venturing into these donkey hot zones, catching them using humane water traps (an enclosed space with water, food, and no exit), and bringing them to his Texas headquarters. But what does one do with tens of thousands of formerly feral donkeys? Historically, not too much. But Meyers and his team are working to change that. At PVDR, donkeys are sorted, taken to donkey school, and given a new life, often as companion donkeys or pets. But burros with a wild side, it turns out, are huge boons for ranchers across the U.S. seeking effective, humane ways to protect their herds. With the help of PVDR, unwanted “wild” donkeys are becoming guardians, set out to pasture with goats, sheep, and even cattle, to keep them safe from predators.
The plight of the American donkey is a strange one—the animal has been simultaneously federally protected and completely overlooked. But the U.S. didn’t always have a donkey problem. In fact, for a long time, it didn’t have donkeys at all. Brought into the country by the Spanish and Portuguese, donkeys and mules were used on farms for a variety of agricultural work, and as pack animals on the Oregon Trail. During the Gold Rush, they toted water, ore, and supplies to camps—and were often taken into mines. But with the development of industrial and agricultural technology, and the end of the Gold Rush, owners left their animals behind.
That wasn’t the end of the rope for the American donkey, though. With few natural predators and an impressive reproduction rate, herds of burros can double in four to five years. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, the Department of the Interior began taking issue with the “veritable pests,” who destroyed trails and forced out the antelope, in the 1920s. Over the next few decades, thousands of burros were rounded up and shot in Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.
At the same time, wild horses (which tend to garner a bit more public sympathy) were caught up in a similar situation. But “mustanging,” or shooting wild mustangs, angered activists and those who viewed them as equine embodiments of the “Spirit of the West.” Congress, agreeing to preserve these eminent equine relics of the Wild West, grouped the two species together, unanimously passing the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which effectively protected wild horses and burros on any land belonging to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Services.
Since then, the government has struggled to control populations in national parks, reservations, and natural preserves. The government spent over one million dollars in the 1980s capturing and retaining around 6,000 burros from Death Valley National Monument. Meyers witnessed the change firsthand. “We went from seeing donkeys all the time to seeing none,” he says. But after federal funding ran out, the donkey population once again skyrocketed. Meyers estimates there are nearly 3,000 donkeys in Death Valley National Park today.
And no matter how adorable they may be, donkey takeovers pose a big problem. Technically an invasive species, the donkey can quickly wreak havoc on ecosystems. When water and food are scarce, donkeys outcompete native species with similar diets such as bighorn sheep and desert tortoises. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, Death Valley burros “ate a disproportionate amount of native perennial grasses,” claiming “grasses were up to 10 times more abundant in areas protected from burros.”
However, Meyers notes that the impact of burros on desert ecosystems isn’t always negative. Springs in Death Valley are often surrounded by dense vegetation, thick reeds, and trees that can obscure the path to the water. According to Meyers, burros will barrel into that vegetation, creating access to that water. “Donkeys will also dig a hole four feet deep just to find water, making it available for other animals as well,” he notes. “So if you remove the burros, you’re removing access to water for deer, bighorns, and everything else.”
But when donkeys in search of water have to get creative, they can cause big problems in the human world. Thirsty donkeys venture into towns, crossing busy streets and even causing car accidents. At Fort Irwin, a major military training base in the Mojave Desert, donkeys congregate beneath the only source of shade they can find, large targets set up throughout the base. When the soldiers in training hit their targets, Meyers says, they blow up the creatures standing beneath them, too.
The government has attempted to use various tactics, from sterilization to, as a last resort, shooting them. More recently, burros have been rounded up en masse by helicopter and placed in government holdings. But there are simply too many of them, and they don’t get adopted fast enough. Meyers says there are currently around 43,000 horses and donkeys in holding, which costs the government (and taxpayers) somewhere around $49 million per year. Once a donkey turns 10, though, it’s considered unadoptable and can be sold—which, technically, makes it available for slaughter.
Meyers’s love affair with donkeys began when his wife bought a donkey as a companion for her horse. “It was just like a big dog,” he says. He noticed other donkeys in the area, too, that were without homes, often victims of abuse or neglect. “She’d buy them, and I’d spend all my evenings just talking to donkeys, fixing whatever ailed them.” Once the couple had acquired a small herd of 25 donkeys, they decided it was time to turn this backyard hobby into something bigger.
Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, Meyers’s brainchild, is the largest rescue of its kind. Recently, it’s been tasked with removing thousands of donkeys from various national parks, which have a zero burro tolerance policy. “Because we’re so big, we’re able to do this. Nobody else can sign on the dotted line and say, ‘However many burros you have, we’ll take them.’”
But his organization isn’t just focused on safely removing donkeys. It’s also about humanely repurposing them. Burros that enter Peaceful Valley are given a microchip for tracking, proper vaccinations and hoof care, and, through PVDR’s adoption training program, a second chance.
On Peaceful Valley’s sprawling, 172-acre ranch in San Angelo, Texas, Zac Williams, Vice President of Off-site Operations at PVDR, walks his dogs through an open field of jennies, or female donkeys. He watches the equines closely, looking for burros with a maternal instinct that kick and bray, while taking note of the ones who seem a little too down to cuddle.
Williams isn’t an animal psychologist, but he just as well could be. As one of the leaders of PVDR’s Texas Guardian Donkey Program, he has a keen eye for which jennies hold the potential to become livestock protectors.
“I watch to see which ones come after the dogs,” says Williams. “I’m looking for a little bit of crazy, but not batshit crazy.” Those donkeys, he explains, are sent to one of PVDR’s many vast sanctuaries, where they can exist in peace (and, after they’ve been gelded, even more peacefully) for around $200 per animal per year—a fraction of the annual cost of keeping a donkey in federally-run holdings.
Once he’s weeded out the batshit burros, along with nuzzle-happy donkeys that will make great cuddly companions, Williams sends his group of promising talent into the first trial: forced bonding. He places them in a pen with a few older goats and watches to see if they’ll become aggressive over food or pick on them “just because they can.” Only the non-bullying burros move onto phase two, where they’re placed in larger pens with goats, kids (babies of the goat variety), and miniature cows. “At this point … we’re also watching to see how they interact with the kid goats,” says Williams. About three weeks into their training, if all is well, the donkeys enter the final phase. At this point, he lets them loose in big, open pasture environments and watches to see if they stick with the livestock like a watchful guardian or abandon the herd to do their own thing.
Training a guardian donkey is no small task. According to Williams, it takes between 30 and 40 days to train a single donkey, but it’s ultimately worth it, with 95 percent of the donkeys adopted out as guardians doing their job successfully. The growing guardian-donkey market seems to have picked up on this. As of now, the waiting list to adopt one from Peaceful Valley’s training program extends until the end of 2019.
Perhaps it’s difficult to imagine placing the lives of one’s sheep or cattle in the hooves of a donkey. But according to Janet Dohner, author of Livestock Guardians, donkeys often don’t need the same extent of training and specialized care as a guardian dog. More importantly, they’re effective. “We’ve discovered [that] they’re aggressive to canines and coyotes and naturally very protective.”
The donkey may not seem like fearsome fauna, but they’ve been known to take on coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. While other animals, such as horses, more frequently flee from predators, donkeys stand their ground. A 1989 University of Nebraska report describes a guard donkey “fending off three coyotes trying to attack a group of sheep bunched up behind the donkey at a fence comer.” The report states, rather triumphantly, that “the donkey was successful in this effort.”
But Dohner is just as quick to point out that guardian donkeys aren’t right for everyone. For people who are dealing with bigger predators such as wolves, bears, or mountain lions, a donkey itself could be prey.
The use of donkeys as livestock protection animals is a fairly recent development in the United States, but donkeys have taken on similar roles around the world for years. Amy McLean, an equine scientist and lecturer at UC Davis, has studied the use of donkeys in over 20 countries. She’s witnessed the informal use of guardian donkeys throughout Europe, Central and South America, and parts of Africa. For farmers on the move, donkeys serve a dual purpose as both pack animal and guardian. “You tend to see this, particularly in pastoral communities in Europe where there’s a lot of sheep production. Often they’ll even place the small lambs in carriers on the donkeys.”
So why is the donkey often seen as little more than the butt of jokes, an invasive species, or a nuisance for NASA? Perhaps its stubbornness has been mistaken for stupidity. “They’re actually highly intelligent,” says Meyers, “way smarter than a horse—and I’m not just saying that because I’m a donkey guy.” He notes that while other animals have historically been trained through systems of reward and punishment, donkeys are a little different. “He has to do it through trust, and [wanting] to do it.”
And, once you have a donkey’s trust, you’re likely dealing with a surprisingly sweet animal. On a recent recon trip into Death Valley, Meyers spotted a wild jack munching on some grass against the backdrop of a magnificent California sky. Bewildered by the sight, he crouched down with his camera to get both the donkey and the rising sun stretching behind it. Startled by the noise, the jack charged full-force at him.
Of course, this wasn’t Meyers’s first rodeo with rattled burros. “I waited until he got right up on me, and I just stood up, and kind of picked his front hooves off the ground with my shoulder,” he recalls. “He just froze, and after a few minutes he slid down and stood there, looking at me. Then we were best friends.” Meyers slung his arm around the burro, and the two embraced like old pals for long enough to snap an even better picture. Just a quick glance at the photograph of Meyers and his furry friend is evidence enough that, at the end of the day, these creatures are indeed kind of like big dogs—just a bit more complex, a bit more invasive, potentially combative, and, until now, not nearly as adoptable.
“My goal isn’t to completely eradicate wild burros,” says Meyers. “I do this for a living, and I still get goosebumps when I see one. But when they’re not managed, and they become a nuisance—that’s when rash decisions are made and bad things happen.”
To save these equine “big dogs,” they don’t necessarily have to become man’s best friend. But at least, with a little management, and a lot of training, they can be more widely seen as something beyond mere interference.
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wild-donkeys
Crystal
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Post by WingsofCrystal on Sept 26, 2018 12:50:23 GMT
Arab News
Joint Saudi-French expedition uncovers new archaeological sites in southern Riyadh 17 September 2018
JEDDAH: A joint Saudi-French expedition has uncovered archaeological sites that date back more than 100 thousand years amid a number of mountains in southern Riyadh, specifically in the Kharj province.
The expedition was operating under the mandate of the National Authority for Tourism and National Heritage.
The field survey covered mountainous territory, where the expeditionary team discovered sites that date back to the Stone Age or Paleolithic period in Al-Kharj province, about 100 thousand years ago.
The Saudi Press Agency report said this was the first time sites from the Paleolithic period were discovered in Al-Kharj province, in addition to sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period.
The remains of broken pottery, and bracelets made of stained glass were discovered on site.
Also uncovered at the site of Ain Dalea, in southern Al Kharj, was evidence of early human settlement dating back 5000 years.
The 18-member expedition included scientists and archaeologists from both Saudi Arabia and France.
www.arabnews.com/node/1373651/saudi-arabia
Crystal
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Post by SuzyQ on Sept 26, 2018 16:36:11 GMT
Not long ago Cliff posted several incidents of passengers and crew hospitalized at several airports after exposure to unknown fumes..well..The airlines best kept little secret just sprung a leak..and these incidents are not one offs.they are organo phospasphate particles which are neuro toxins...like those found in nerve gas..and are produced when fuel is exposed to high temps..like a jet engine..wouldn't you know?
flight attendants have been discussing internally for some time.....and subsequently threatened with loss of jobs..if they discussed it any further..I wonder if all those dead birds that fall from time to time..are victims as well..Nothing to worry about..after all its a big atmosphere..and the rain will just bring it down to us..and don't even talk chem trails..thats all rubbish Rubberish I tell ya !
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQPyZB-cjO4
Cough ... Hack !!!
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