Request for Indigo Snake Sightings

Kevin M. Enge is collaborating on a paper on the status of the federally threatened eastern indigo snake in Florida and Georgia. I am interested in any sightings of indigo snakes on public lands, particularly those since 2000. I will also accept sightings on private lands, as long as a latitude and longitude or directions are included. The private-land sightings can be used to test our GIS-based potential habitat map. The minimum data required are the name of the public land, the year of the sighting, and the name of the observer and his/her affiliation. If you are unsure whether the snake was an indigo, please don't send me the sighting. However, if you have a photo of the snake, I would be happy to identify it for you. I have attached a montage of indigo snake photos to help with identification. Sightings from the Keys or the Panhandle are particularly critical. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks.

Kevin M. Enge

Associate Research Scientist
Reptile and Amphibian Research Subsection

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

1105 SW Williston Road
Gainesville, FL 32601-9044
352-955-2081 ext. 121 (office)

352-955-2183 (fax)

Visit us at MyFWC.com

Press Release: Blue Dominoes Finger Paint

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS!
ECO-FRIENDLY, GLUTEN-FREE, ALL-NATURAL FINGER PAINTS ARE HERE!

No harmful chemicals, free of the eight most common allergens and thoroughly tested – perfect for all the little children in
your life!

January 11, 2010 – San Diego, CA – Finger painting is a wonderful and therapeutic way for people, particularly children to express themselves and have fun. However, if children are sensitive to the ingredients being used in some finger paints
such as: gluten, wheat, toluene, synthetic chemicals and dyes – they
cannot participate in the activity and that is NOT fun.

Bluedominoes Safe Art™ Finger Paints are made from food grade ingredients,
free of the eight most common allergens including gluten, wheat
and soy, made with all natural colors, laboratory-tested to be free of
heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic and is free of chemicals
such as toluene. In addition, the Finger Paints have been certified by the
Celiac Sprue Association and accepted by the Feingold association assuring
the products are free of gluten and do not use artificial colors.

Debbie Lindgren and Linda Manaster founded bluedominoes after Lindgren’s
younger son reacted to art supplies being used in his Kindergarten
class. “His teacher realized he reacted to art supplies with yellow and red pigments –
particularly modeling products and paints. We together took steps to make his environment
and those of the other children in the classroom safer by identifying and
providing alternative options,” states Lindgren, who brought in her own formulations
for the classroom. Lindgren and Manaster eventually assembled an expert team who
aid in the identification of ingredients and product development. The team previously
developed Safe Art™ Activity Dough, which was recognized in Dr. Toy’s Best Picks
Children’s Products – 2009, and was selected as Most Innovative Product by the San
Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“Since children are tempted to taste art supply products, we felt it was necessary to use food grade ingredients in our art supply products aimed at younger children. In addition, toxins such as toluene and lead are both absorbed through the skin as well as through ingestion, so we took steps to use ingredients that do not contain these substances and to have our products independently tested by highly respected U.S. laboratories.” Though not legally required, bluedominoes lists all of its Safe Art™ Finger Paints ingredients on the package.
By complying with rigorous standards, bluedominoes Safe Art™ products are the first to receive certification from the Celiac Sprue Association and acceptance by the Feingold Association. Bluedominoes has a complete line of Safe Art™ products in the pipeline, and the company is committed to the same level of purity, safety and integrity for all of its products. All
bluedominoes Safe Art™ products are developed in San Diego, and all of its patent-pending formulas are manufactured in the USA. Products can be ordered by visiting www.bluedominoes.com.

About bluedominoes, inc: bluedominoes, with its highly informative website and safe children’s art supply products, is the go-to resource for parents and teachers to keep their children safe and the Safe Art™ brand manufacturer that parents and teachers trust. For more information about bluedominoes green children’s art supplies, including our award-winning Safe Art™ Activity Dough and trusted resources to keep your family safe, visit www.bluedominoes.com.

Butterfly Gardening

A butterfly garden can be as simple or elaborate as you want to make it. Size or complexity will not bring success or failure. Good planning and research play heavily in determining the number and species of butterflies you attract to your garden.

Start with selecting a butterfly field guide specific to your geographic region. Your geographic region if you lived in North America could be, for instance, the United States or Canada. Confining your search to within a specific state or province would be a better choice, increasing your chances for success. Pay particular attention to species requirements for both nectar and host plants. Planting you garden with only nectar-rich plants will definitely attract butterflies. Adding host plants to your plan will provide you with a peak into the entire lifecycle of butterflies.

Choose plants from the list that you, as well as the butterflies, are attracted to. If you don’t like the flowers you have selected, even though the butterflies do, chances are you won’t spend much time in your garden. Plan on cutting some of the flowers. There are plenty to go around, and it in a good way to ensure continuous flowering over the blooming season.

An ideal location for your butterfly garden is in an area that receives at least six hours of full sunlight daily. This is generally listed as one of the requirements for most annuals and perennials that butterflies prefer as a nectar source. The butterflies also favor sunny locations. Please don’t be discouraged if your garden does not meet this requirement. I have personally found that success is possible with as little as two hours of direct sunlight a day.

Consider cultural requirements of the plants you select. Having your soil tested is a great way to determine if you can meet them. Adequately preparing you soil and adding the prescribed elements will be well worth the effort. Native wildflowers, or cultivars of the native species don’t require a lot of special care if you have properly prepared your soil. Seldom bothered by pests or diseases, they are an excellent choice for your garden.

If you make an effort to attract beautiful butterflies to your garden, then please don’t poison them with pesticides. A weed is merely an unwanted flower. Try pulling them by hand. What better excuse for spending more time in the garden. Insect pests seldom pick on healthy plants. Keep yours that way by picking up plant litter on a regular basis. Water your garden only when flowers and plants are showing signs of stress. Over watering causes many plant diseases, and it is not good for the plant’s root system. The rest is out of your control so leave it to the birds and beneficial insects to rid your garden of unwanted pests.

Consider adding a birdbath or butterfly hibernation box to your butterfly garden. These are additions that are both useful and pleasing to the eye. Butterflies need water, especially on hot summer days. A flat rock placed in the middle of a birdbath gives butterflies a place to drink. Hibernation boxes provide some shelter from the elements even though very few species of butterflies actually hibernate. Popular also among butterflies are large, dark, flat rocks placed about the garden for sunning.

All else is up to the garden’s creator. One last word “take time to smell the flowers”. Enjoy your garden and get the camera!

For a list of plants that are easy to grow and care for that you can include in your butterfly garden Click Here!

This article was taken from http://www.backyardwildlifehabitat.info/butterflygardening.htm

Brighten Up Your Winter Garden With Colorful Berries

Just because the trees are bare and there is snow on the ground doesn't mean that your garden has to become a winter wasteland. A well-planned garden will provide year-round interest and visual treats. Many evergreens and hardy ornamental grasses can be quite stunning in the colder months.

But perhaps nothing can compare to the vibrant color of berries during the winter. Berry palates range from bright red to yellow to pale blue and white, so there is something sure to please your eye. Many berries will also attract a variety of birds to your garden. Here are a few suggestions for hardy berry-bearing beauties that can provide a bit of pizzazz to the drab winter landscape.

American Cranberrybush (Viburnum trilobum)
Berry: Red

Height: 10 to 12 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: This shrub bears clusters of white flowers in the spring. Some cultivars produce yellow berries. The European Cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus) has similar properties.

American Holly (Ilex opaca)
Berry: Red
Height: 20 to 25 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 5
Partial Sun
Notes: This evergreen tree bears small white flowers in the spring. It has many cultivars, such as “Xanthocarpa,” which bears golden-yellow berries.

Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
Berry: Bluish-Black
Height: 6 to10 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: This shrub bears clusters of dark berries that are very popular with birds and bears clusters of small white flowers in the spring.

Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
Berry: Dark Purple
Height: 4 to 6 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 4
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: The berries of the “Autumn Magic” cultivar last an especially long time into the winter. Although the Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) bears attractive red berries, it is considered invasive in many areas and should be avoided.

Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
Berry: White
Height: 3 to 5 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Full Shade to Full Sun
Notes: This hardy shrub grows well in shade as well as sun and tolerates almost every soil type.

Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)
Berry: Reddish-Purple
Height: 3 to 5 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Full Shade to Full Sun
Notes: Like Snowberry, this shrub likes shade as well as sun and is very easy to grow. It is also know as Indian Currant.

Cranberry Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster apiculatus)
Berry: Red
Height: 1 to 3 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 4
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: Great for ground cover, this shrub bears tiny pink flowers in the spring. Other low-growing cotoneasters include Bearberry Cotoneaster (C. dammeri) and Rockspray Cotoneaster (C. horizontalis).

Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Berry: Powdery Periwinkle Blue
Height: 40 to 50 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Full Sun
Notes: The female trees bear these lovely berries (they are actually cones that look like berries) which are very popular with the birds.

Northern Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica)
Berry: Pale Blue-Gray
Height: 4 to 10 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: This shrub is extremely hardy and easy to grow in most conditions. It is also salt tolerant.

Tea Viburnum (Viburnum setigerum)
Berry: Bright Red
Height: 8 to10 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 5
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: This shrub bears clusters of red berries in the fall and clusters of small white flowers in the spring.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata)
Berry: Red or Yellow
Height: 8 to 10 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 3
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: Birds love these berries, so there is a risk that the berries will all be eaten before the winter is over. If you love having birds in your garden, however, this will do the trick.

Winter King Hawthorne (Crataegus viridis)
Berry: Bright Red
Height: 20 to 30 ft. tall
Hardy to Zone 4
Partial to Full Sun
Notes: This tree bears clusters off white flowers in the spring. The Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum) has similar properties to the Winter King.

The above list, of course, is just meant to get you started. There are many more varieties of berry and winter fruit bearing plants. Many roses, for example, will develop colorful rose hips if the faded blooms are not pruned back. Likewise, some flowering plants, such as clematis, produce beautiful seed heads that can add interest to your garden through the winter months.

The important thing is to keep in mind that winter does not have to mean dreary for your garden. With just a little bit of planning berries can bring color and vibrancy to the winter garden and give you (and the birds) something to enjoy during the cold weather months.

This article was originally published on http://www.helpfulgardener.com

Craft: Coffee Ground "Fossils"

Create your own fossils to display. These would work as visual aids for Science Projects.

What you'll need:

1 cup of used coffee grounds
1/2 cup of cold coffee
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
Wax paper
Mixing bowl
Some small objects to make impressions in the dough
Empty can or a butter knife
Toothpicks, optional
String to hang your fossil, optional

How to make it:

Stir the together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well mixed.

Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the waxed paper.

Use the can to cut out circles of the dough or use the dull knife to cut slabs large enough to fit your "fossil" objects.

Press your objects firmly into the dough. When you take the object out, you have your "fossil". If you want to hang the fossil, poke holes into the edge to hold the string.

Let the fossil dry overnight and then hang it if you wish.

Tips:

Annmarie Shafer wrote: We made these with my preschool class and had to bake them for a short period to get the "dough" to harden , but we loved the resulting "Rocks" which really resembled fossils (we pressed a shell into the dough). The kids (ages 5-6) LOVED THEM!!!

Note from the Craft Exchange Editor: We were never able to get these fossils to turn "rock hard". They are fun to make and the children enjoy them.

This craft was originally found at http://crafts.kaboose.com

Contest: OBOE Bag or Sac

The winner will win one OBOE bag or Sac in your choice of color! Value $10.

To enter contest all you need to do is send an email to ravensecoplanet@gmail.com with your name, address, and favorite OBOE style and color. With OBOE Contest in the subject!

Contest Rules:

1 Entry per Email

Open to all ages

Contest ends Febuary 12,2010 at midnight

Bag Reviews: One Bag One Earth Bags and Sacs

OBOE has an amazing product. I know everyone is buying those cheap unstylish reusable bags at all the stores, OBOE offers you an alternative to those.

OBOE's bags and sacs are slightly more expensive then those store bought ones but well worth the money. These bags are made out of a strong fabric that is able to carry your purchase. Other great thing about these bags is they have little sacks sown into the side of the bag so that you never lose the storage pouch for your bag. The pouch also makes them very easy to transport.

Another thing I love about OBOE is they come in an array of stylish colors and prints that will fit in with anyone's busy lifestyle. You can also get custom bags made for family reunions or any other event you might need some gifts. OBOE's bags are very well made this nice tight stitching to ensure they will last you a while, so you wont have to worry about them breaking like the cheap grocery store ones.

I also discovered while using my OBOE bags that I received a lot of complements on my bags. These are defiantly the next thing big thing in shopping! I love mine and I think they would make great gifts. OBOE offers 2 different types of bags, the bag and the sac. Now my personal favorite is the Bag. I use it for everything from shopping to traveling back and forth from work.

I strongly recommend OBOE!!