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We have lots of spiders in our house, I’ve mentioned this once or twice previously. Try as we may to be rid of them they still persist so we’ve resigned ourselves to that fact and simply try to keep them down in number. Now you might be thinking to yourselves what kind of house do we live in that has so many spiders? Well our house is no different from any other dwelling but it does have cellars, as many rooms below the ground floor as there are on the ground floor, eight of them and they are all reasonably clean. One even has food stored there in kitchen units that we kept when we refurbished the kitchen years ago. The room even has a carpet on the floor as do the cellar hallway and what we describe as the laundry room. The other rooms do not have carpets but the floors are swept once in a while. Despite this we still have spiders in the cellar rooms. This means that they occasionally migrate to the floor above. The room we have just stripped ready to convert to a wet room soon found it with new residents, even after a day or so but that is because of the holes in the floor! In the room in which we store the food there are other things stored in the centre on the floor. E had decided to vacuum clean a small rocking horse to give to our eldest son for his daughter when she is old enough to sit in it. It had a few cobwebs on it as did all of the other things stored with it! It got me thinking just how long would it take for spiders and other creatures to overrun the planet if we weren’t here? If humankind were suddenly wiped off the face of the earth which animals or creatures would become the dominant species and what kind of world would it be?

Shirley Anne

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I used to be a person who despised watching soap operas on television but in more recent times I find myself watching one or two of them. The most striking thing I notice in these programs is the way they portray how people deal with each other, more specifically how they treat each other. They say that soap operas are not true to life but in fact they are very much true to life. Admittedly much is crammed into the episodes and much is going on between the characters but when we analyse it all we can see that the things that go on are the same things that most of us experience or have experienced in our own lives. I wonder why people treat other people the way they do. Some people get along with almost anyone, others find it difficult to get along with anyone at all. People can be horrible toward some and yet at the same time be nice to others. Why are people horrible toward others and what pleasure do they get out of putting another down? As human beings we can be both nasty and kind, selfish and unselfish and we are selective in which is dealt to whom. What makes us hate one person and like another, be kind to one person and leave another out of it? If we analyse our behaviour we might find that we treat others in a way which is dependent on what we might gain from it. If someone is different from us we are often cautious in dealing with them but all the time we are looking to see what effect they will have upon us, whether beneficial or otherwise. We may not think about these things, they just come naturally. So when I look at soap operas do I see aspects of my own personality being portrayed or do I feel that I act in a completely different way? Do we think we have faults that should be worked upon or do we feel we are not behaving badly? Do we really treat our neighbours as we would have them treat us? Do we really love as we ought or do we select whom we should treat preferentially?

Shirley Anne

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I was watching a magazine program on tv a day or so ago and they were talking about one man’s problem with the onset of Parkinson’s disease and how it was affecting his speech. One of the effects people suffer from with Parkinson’s disease is stammering. It was mentioned that an effective procedure was available to alleviate that problem but it would cost the guy about £1000, a sum he couldn’t afford to spend. However there was a much less expensive alternative which hopefully would do the same thing and the cost was a mere £10! Evidently there was a phone application or ‘app’ as it is more commonly known. Used with a ‘Bluetooth‘ earpiece the phone receives what is spoken and immediately sends it back through the earpiece which has the desired effect of halting the stammer on the speaker. It works so well it is as if the speaker has no problem with speaking at all. Now I am not one for gadgetry as my regular readers will have gathered but even I have to admit to this being a really useful application of a mobile phone! I can see how some gadgets really can be useful. It is awful to see people suffering from afflictions  and unfortunately many afflictions cannot be treated but some can be eased with the aid of technology. I cannot see a day though where all ailments find a cure but I can see better times ahead in many fields of medicine and hope for those who find themselves at the mercy of Nature gone wrong.

Shirley Anne

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• Mayo Clinic Finds Genetic Variation That Protects Against Parkinson’s Disease (medicalnewstoday.com)

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I sometimes watch a program on television called ‘How it’s made‘. Each half-hour episode gives an audio/visual explanation of how everyday objects are made, usually three separate items are covered in each program. They show the various and diverse processes that are involved in the different stages of manufacture. Almost anything that is manufactured can find its way on to the program. I find it very interesting but then I have always wanted to know how things work and how they are made. It’s a sort of electromechanical inquisitive curiosity I have built-in and hard-wired into my brain. It sits there with all the other strange and wonderful things that make up my psyche. I also like cosmetics! I digress. In our modern societies the things we use have to be produced using machinery and usually electrical machinery. What factory doesn’t use electricity? From computers and control equipment and the automated production machinery electricity is the essential driving force, the only driving force, apart from the boss, in a factory today. What would we do without it? There is almost nowhere in the modern manufacture and processing industry that doesn’t involve the use of electricity. Even in our homes we find electricity an indispensable commodity. We use it to cook with, to drive our entertainment equipment, our televisions, radios, computers, games consoles, telephones, lighting and security systems. In fact the whole infrastructure of society depends upon this commodity being available. Imagine our world without it. How long would we last? I remember hearing how we could have an almost free supply of electricity about forty-five years ago. It was suggested that if everyone used electricity to power their needs it could be produced more efficiently. What went wrong with that suggestion? Today prices are soaring and yet there are ways of producing electricity at a low-cost to the consumer. Most of our electricity is produced by using coal to make the steam for the turbines attached to which are the electricity alternators. Unfortunately coal or rather the burning of it produces a lot of pollution and in the early years of its use the air we breathed was highly contaminated. Todays coal-fired burners are much more efficient but still they produce some undesirable pollution. There are enough stocks of coal in this country, the UK, to last more than three hundred years which makes it a tempting source of power. There are other sources of power too, gas for instance and also nuclear. As gas is used elsewhere besides generating electricity it would seem logical not to use it for that purpose except that if we switched completely to using electricity there would be no argument. Nuclear power generation has its own problems too, the danger of a leakage of radiation and the disposal of the more dangerous waste products which produce even higher levels of radiation. There may be a future for nuclear powered generation if these issues can be overcome to the satisfaction of the population.  Legislation and the dictates of the European Community have restricted the amount of pollution that any member state can produce without severe penalty. This is to encourage producing electricity by other means. One of the best ways of producing electricity is by using water to turn the turbines, the hydro-electric generating system. All that is needed is a constant flow of water and this usually comes from huge man-made reservoirs or natural lakes where the natural flow of water is governed by the use of a dam. It is a way of producing electricity without pollution and one would think its use would be widespread. Unfortunately it isn’t. There can be no excuse for that when there are numerous lakes around that could be utilised, even more than once if the lakes are at altitude. There seems to always be objections to this sort of suggestion and yet the generators (alternators) can be hidden from view underground. It is the same problem with wind-powered generation, no-one wants to see them dotted about the country or even at sea if it spoils the view! Everyone wants electricity but not everyone is prepared to see their environment spoiled by the equipment needed to produce it. It need not be that way and indeed government has dictated in some situations that the need far outweighs the objection. Personally I agree. Does it really matter if when we look out of a window we see the blades of wind turbines rotating gently in the breeze especially as they are usually situated far enough away from residential areas? Most objections are raised by people who seldom visit areas in which wind turbines are placed anyway. If we cannot live without electricity then we must be prepared to put up with some inconvenience or stop moaning about it.

Shirley Anne

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You know, we live on a very special planet and for those of us who believe in a Creator God, one that was purpose-built. Well even if you are an atheist or believe in other things the fact remains, this is a very special place. Consider these things..

1 The planet itself is just the right size to have and maintain an atmosphere, more especially one that we can breathe. If the Earth was smaller it could not hold on to its atmosphere, gravity would not be strong enough. If the Earth were larger it would hold on to the more poisonous gasses and the air we now can breathe would not be breatheable and probably far denser too.

2 The Earth is situated at just the right distance from the sun so that it is neither too cold nor too hot having temperatures between -60C to +60C (approximately) with the greater portion of the surface being at a temperature we can live with. Think about the planet Mercury, the closest planet to the sun. It has a daytime temperature that is hot enough to melt the metal lead and a night-time temperature that approaches absolute zero! If it has an atmosphere as some have suggested in more recent times, it is very tenuous indeed, almost a complete vacuum to be precise. Venus, the second closest to the sun does have a very dense atmosphere but it comprises very poisonous gasses, acidic in fact and with a very high temperature also capable of melting lead (>500C).

3 The Earth has an axis which is tilted at 23.5 deg from the ecliptic (the suns apparent path around the sky during the year, which is in fact the path we travel around the sun). This factor alone gives rise to our seasons so that each of the hemispheres are alternately pointed toward the sun then away from it. This allows a temperature variation which when coupled with the tidal motions of the seas and oceans cause us to have a weather system, essential to circulate the atmosphere and the oceans to prevent stagnation. This serves to allow precipitation too, essential for watering the planets flora which in turn produces our food. Now although all the other planets have similar axis tilts with Uranus having one that is tilted at 98 deg making it a very unusual object indeed, none of the other planets are at the same distance as we are away from the sun and their ‘seasons’ are accordingly vastly different from what we would call a season. Only the planet Mars comes anywhere near what we have on earth but without large oceans and a substantial atmosphere to sustain life as we know it.

4  We have a large Moon circling the planet without which we would not have tidal motion. The seas would become stagnant through a lack of movement around the globe which also would considerably affect what resulting weather we might have should it not be there.

5 The Earth has just the right gravitational pull on both ourselves and every other living creature on the planet, including plant life as well as the atmosphere. Anything much stronger would have an adverse effect on our growth and ability to get around. Plants would not be able to grow tall to produce enough fruit and seeds for us to eat. Trees would be stunted and there would be no such thing as jungles or forests. No jungles, no diversity of animal life. No forests, no cover for other plants or animals and no wood for us to use as a building material. Also, as mentioned, the atmosphere would be completely different too.

6 The Sun is just the right type of star to support life on Earth. If it were cooler it would be red, either dwarf in size producing insufficient radiation to keep us warm and well-lit or a supergiant engulfing us! If it was hotter it would most likely be too large  and producing way too much radiation, we would in this case be fried! The Sun is also stable and produces a fairly steady output of heat, light and other radiation. As it is the Sun, although just the right size, does produce deadly radiation too. However, because the Earth has a molten iron-based core which produces a very strong magnetic field encompassing the whole planet, this ‘shield’ diverting harmful rays around the planet. Some of this radiation however is drawn into the north and south magnetic poles of the Earth giving rise to the Aurora Borealis and Australis, the northern and southern lights.

Yes this special planet revolves around a special star which circles around a huge galaxy (The Milky Way) at just the right distance from its centre so we are not bombarded with the extremely high radiation levels present where the star density is so great there could never be night-time and the heat would be unbearable. Don’t you think this planet is a very special place?

Shirley Anne

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Our house has a thriving population of different kinds of spiders, probably just the same as any other house. Normally they hide away where there is much traffic so we see them only occasionally in the lounges and bedrooms but more often they are seen in the cellar rooms. Sometimes I wonder what they feed upon but I do see dead spiders on webs so I guess they eat each other given the chance. There are many insects that prefer the warmth and comfort of a house, fortunately most of those in this country are harmless but not all of them. When we first moved into our house some twenty-three years ago we discovered wood worm infestation which was duly eradicated, in fact we completely gutted the room in which they were found, even to replacing the floor! This is the same room that we are now seeking to refurbish as a wet room. Elsewhere in the house we found no such infestation and that remains so today. Whilst we have been digging the garden and sifting the soil recently we discovered many species of insects crawling about in the soil, centipedes, millipedes and similar creatures. All these creatures live beneath the soil, hiding away from the light of the sun and when disturbed dart for the nearest shelter or quickly bury themselves. Only ants behave differently. Fortunately we haven’t disturbed any ant colonies whilst sifting the soil although there are plenty of them in other parts of the garden. Lately we have been inundated with green-fly but the rain keeps them down. They seem to fly everywhere when it is dry and sunny. A few years ago we had so many ladybirds (ladybugs) flying about it looked as if it was snowing! Ladybirds I don’t mind, they eat green-fly! As human beings we like to think we rule the roost but we have a long way to go to match the success and versatility of insects.

Shirley Anne

Shirley Anne

But in today’s world, there really is a lion that lies down with a calf…in fact, she adopted and nurtured a total of five antelope calves.

It’s a remarkable story of the love of one animal for another, and it seems to personify the truth that not all natural enemies are exactly that—natural and unavoidable enemies.

On Christmas Day of 2001, game wardens at the Samburu National Park in Kenya watched as an adult lioness frightened off an oryx antelope mother, and picked up her baby calf in its mouth. Because lions normally hunt these antelope, they assumed the lion would kill and eat the baby. But then the unexpected happened.

The lion, named Larsens, began to nuzzle and fondle the frail little creature. Behavioral scientists first stated that the lioness had probably mistaken the oryx calf for a lion cub. But then the lioness showed her awareness of the calf as another species, because she allowed the calf to return to her natural mother to nurse.

For more than two weeks, the lioness Larsens nudged the little calf along, all the while allowing her to return to her antelope mother for nourishment before chasing the mother antelope away once again.

The fragile baby oryx was seen crossing the savannah with her lioness “mother,” and would curl up by her side for naps. Tragedy struck one day while the lioness napped by a water hole. While the baby oryx was playing, another lion attacked and killed it.

According to the wardens, Larsens was enraged when she woke. Ten times she circled the lion that killed her oryx calf, roaring all the while. Then she disappeared from view.

Larsens was seen a few weeks later, following herds of oryx antelope. “She never kills them,” said one warden. “When she is hungry, she goes after warthogs.”

But Larsens would again amaze the rangers with her mothering instincts. On Valentine’s Day, 2002, lioness Larsens was spotted with another oryx calf. And just like the last one, she’d adopted the calf as her own.

It seemed Larsens had learned the need to protect her new baby from other lions and predators. She guarded the new baby ferociously, chasing off any lions that approached. “There are other lions trying to attack the lioness to get to the baby, but the rangers are watching them and the lioness is protecting the calf,” said park warden Mark Lenya-kopir.

“This is one extraordinarily maternal cat,” said lion expert Jim Cavenor. “I’ve seen lions adopt a few small animals, but they usually end up turning round and eating them after a couple of days. But she seems to be totally fixated on this little one.”

Unlike the common assumptions of most people, animals do think. Their thinking is not some robotic response to environmental stimuli, but an active, cognitive reasoning. Larsens is proof of this. She adopted a series of what was normally a “prey” species for lions, and protected them as her own. She knew she could not provide nourishment for them, and allowed them to return to their mothers for food.

Larsens is just one example of how animals react with emotion, with feeling and with true knowledge of what they are doing. She ultimately adopted a total of five oryx calves, giving all of them fierce protection and tender care while ignoring her own basic needs. Her actions have made her a legend among the people of Kenya, and they bestowed another name on her because of their reverence for her loving nature.

The Samburu people call her Kamunyak—the blessed one.

Sources: The Observer, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy

The whole article and others can be seen in the ‘Nature’ link under ’Global and other sciences’ on the right, or here at http://www.naturescornermagazine.com/animal_articles.html

It is amazing what can be read in the Bible but it also shows that not all animals are as dumb as we sometimes think they are. Whether incidences of this kind of behaviour are widespread is debatable, you’ll have to make your own assessment.

Shirley Anne

Shirley Anne

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As you can see, we do see the sea. It is often the case though that whenever I go down to the seafront for a walk I seldom catch the tide in. The above pictures were taken at the Spring high tide so when the tide does come in throughout the year it isn’t as bad as this.

Shirley Anne