Posts Tagged ‘environment’

Cat Behaviour

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Cats are so commonplace that we scarcely look at what they do and why they do it, but cat behaviour is quite an interesting subject really, particularly for cat owners and animal lovers.

Cat behaviour is normally taken to refer to that of domestic cats, although they do share some characteristics with their larger wild relatives.

A cat’s behaviour largely depends on whether it is a solitary cat or one of several in a household. Cats are normally solitary animals only coming together to mate, although they will usually co-exist with other cats in a house, particularly if they met while they were young or those that were introduced were juvenile.

You may become problems of territorialism if you endeavour to introduce an older cat into a house, where another cat has been living for a time. This is comparable to wild cats, which have their hunting ground that they patrol and delineate with urine and faeces each day. Tom cats sometimes do this at home, much to the annoyance of their owners.

Rubbing has a comparable meaning. A cat rubs with scent glands on its face to mark something as its own, particularly territory, which is all cats actually worry about except food.

Kneading or knitting is another prevalent mannerism in household cats, although it is not really well understood.

One suggestion goes that domestic cats stay juveniles, never really growing up, so kneading is reminiscent of kneading its mother’s teats to encourage the flow milk. Others say that it is reminiscent of flattening grass to create a bed, but this does not seem to explain the ecstasy that cats seem to get from kneading.

We like to hear our cats purr because we see it as a sign of happiness, but is it? Well, it almost certainly is, but it almost certainly comes from the fact that cats are born sightless and, like most babies, fairly stupid, so the sound of mum purring almost certainly attracts the kittens to her for a feed. The ‘memory’ of this glad event almost certainly triggers purring in adult cats.

When a cat arches its back, it is probably telling its aggressor that it is bigger than they think it is. It is also an attack stance. With its back arched, a cat can rear up in order to scratch a taller opponent, but it can also jump or run, whichever action is appropriate. The hissing goes with arching to deter the antagonist.

Cats do not have a broad vocal range and, being nocturnal hunters, they have developed a sort of ‘eye language’. For instance, if a cat is pleased, it’s eyes dilate – a bit like when we look at their loved ones.

However, it also occurs in cats while they are hunting, which might mean either that they enjoy that activity or that they have to get as much light as possible to see by.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with feline distemper vaccination. If you want to know more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines

Preparing Your Fish Pond For Storms

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

It does not matter where you live, I am sure that you experience storms at some time of the year. In the north of the northern hemisphere, we are inclined to get lots of rain in winter and spring. In the tropics, there may be monsoons. Whatever you call them, they give off lots of wind and lots of rain in a short space of time – it is basically a storm.

The fact is that, if you know that a storm is approaching, you can take safety measures and save your precious fish, whether they are expensive or just dear to you. It might be useful to distinguish between minor and major storms, but that is only helpful if you can trust your weather announcer.

Minor Storms: the first thing to do is to stop feeding your fish, if you have enough notice of the storm. Fish can easily live for weeks on the insects and plant life in the water, so do not be concerned. The reason for stopping feeding is that if the storm damages your filtration system, the quality of the pond water will not deteriorate so much, if there is no uneaten food in it.

Remove some of the water to allow for the rainfall, but do a partial water change too, because otherwise the reduced water level will contain higher levels of impurities until the rain arrives.

Remove items from the vicinity that can blow over and fall into your pond. It is a good idea to put a net over the pond to prevent debris being blown into it too. Flying twigs or branches could alarm or even spear your fish.

Major Storms: we are not talking about hurricanes here. If a hurricane threatens to hit, you ought to evacuate your fish to a temporary tank somewhere safe – maybe a 50 gallon barrel in the basement or something like that.

If you want to be completely certain that your fish will be alright, you could ask your local pet shop to take them away to look after them otherwise proceed as for a minor storm but with the following extra safety measures.

Disconnect all the electrical equipment in and around your fish pond. Make certain that there is no way that a live wire can fall into the pond and electrocute your fish. Remove all the plants from your pond as they could be damaged by the wind and waves, but leave any stone hiding places that your fish will surely look for while the storm is blowing. If you think that maybe you do not have enough ‘caves’, erect some provisional ones from bricks or blocks.

Put a double layer of netting over your pond and tie it lower down than normal, say only a few inches above the water line, but not so low that if a fish gets out, it cannot get back in. Lastly, build a wall of sand bags at least two feet high all the way around your pond. This will allow the water to get in and drain away, without taking your fish with it, which is why the net must be high enough to allow the fish to get back into the pond.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is now concerned with water garden pumps. If you are interested in a Solar Powered Pond Pump, please go to our web site now for a special deal.

Insects And Their Bites

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

The majority of insects will defend themselves if they feel threatened. This is fairly amazing when you think about how big insects are compared with the mammalian interloper. Most insects will only atttack if you stray into their territory. There are also insects that have to drink blood but they actively seek their prey. This type includes insects like mosquitoes and fleas.

Ants form the biggest section of biters. All ants will try to bite if they feel the need, but most black ants simply do not possess big enough mandibles (or jaws) to get a grasp. The big exception in all ant and ant-like species are the soldiers, which have colossal mandibles compared to the workers.

Red ants can bite with or without poison and some sting as well. Formic acid is their normal chemical weapon. Some ants inject it, which is what we feel if we are bitten by red ants, but other ants spray it into the eyes of its aggressors.

The most agonizing sting of any insect is delivered by the Bullet Ant of Central and South America. The Bullet Ant’s sting has the top rating possible on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The scale goes from zero to four; zero being painless (to humans) through two for bees and wasps to four for excruciating pain.

The Fire Ant, which is famous for its painful bite ranks a 1.2 on this scale, but level 1.8 is compared to having a staple shot into your cheek. The European honey bee is on level two and the Red Harvester Ant is on number three.

Some bites and stings are not so high on the scale but can still be deadly. The Jack Jumper Ant is in this category and people, particularly hypersensitives, have been known to die from Fire Ant stings, which inject piperidine alkaloids instead of formic acid.

The mandibles of the Trap Jaw Ant are the fastest closing jaws in the animal world. They have been clocked at 230 KPH (143 MPH). Another unusual ant defence is carried out by a Malaysian species: it ejects its stomach unto its aggressor. The stomach acids contain acetophones which completely immobilize insects. Regrettably, the soldier dies because its stomach has been torn out.

Bees, ants and wasps are all related in the order known as Hymenoptera. Bees and wasps only sting although some wasps do have large jaws as well. One definition of a wasp is ‘any insect of the order Hymenoptera that is neither a bee nor an ant’ (Wikipedia).

Not all wasps are black and yellow. There are not a lot of insects that do not have a sort of wasp preying on it, which makes them very important in the biocontrol of destructive insects. A lot of wasps do not sting their prey to kill it for food, they sting it to immobilize it.

While paralyzed, the wasp lays her eggs in the prey, which becomes fresh food for her young when they hatch out. This is usually the only time when a wasp eats meat in its whole life, because adult wasps eat nectar and honey like bees.

When a bee stings it releases pheromones which encourage other bees nearby to sting too. The most belligerent stingers though are vespid wasps (common black and yellow wasps).

Fleas, ticks and bed bugs, unlike mosquitoes, really feed on blood, that is they use it for food, whereas the mosquito uses it as the ‘white’ of her eggs. There have been times in our history when losing a couple of drops of blood to a flea was not the worst thing about being bitten by them. They also carried the Plague, which wiped out a large percentage of the populace of Europe a number of times.

Spiders and scorpions make up the causes of the majority of insect bites but they are comparatively rare.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is currently involved with finding a home remededy for mosquito bites. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

Relieving The Stress Of Stopping Smoking

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

Numerous smokers say that they smoke because it assists relieve stress in uncomfortable situations. Therefore, part of the job of stopping smoking is learning how to deal with your stress degrees, which theoretically ought to rise if you stop smoking. Learning how to stop smoking is therefore part of a general process of avoiding and dealing with the stress in your life.

Learning how to cope with stress goes hand in hand with giving up smoking. So, the first aspect of this process is to analyze your life and work out what causes you the most stress. Is it your job? Is it driving? If you smoke more while drinking, which is a fact with the overwhelming majority of smokers, why do you do that? Are you stressed out by the social situation you find yourself in whilst you are drinking or socializing?

Once you comprehend what it is ‘that makes you smoke’, you have to learn how to cope with that stress without smoking. Smoking is very likely to mean that you will have significant health problems when you are older, so ask yourself, is sacrificing your future health a fair price to pay for what you are currently getting out of life?

If your job is getting you down, why not retrain in night school or by correspondence on the weekends and get the qualifications to be able to do the career that you would like to do. If the neighbourhood you live in is violent causing you stress, move into a smaller apartment in a better district. If driving in traffic gets you down, attempt to join, or set up, a car sharing scheme or go to work by bus.

If your main way of relaxing and socializing is drinking in a bar, you will find it hard to stop smoking, because smokers smoke much more when they are drinking. Consider stopping going to the pub, until you have successfully kicked the habit.

Once you have cleared your addiction, you could go back, but it is a notorious phenomenon that smokers do not like to see one of their group giving up. If you remain with them, you will here lots of: ‘Go on, one won’t hurt!’. The fact is that it does.

You might not be much of a sports person, but try to do something. You will realize just how short of breath you have become and keeping doing that exercise will remind you how much better you are getting. It does not have to get strenuous. Try walking, swimming or gardening. Anything that gets clean air into your lungs.

Lastly, take time out to relax. There are many ways of doing this. Read a book or and find a hobby. The hobby could could anything from gardening (two birds with one stone) to Yoga to building model airplanes and flying them. In fact, anything that you have always wished to do, but never found time for before

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on numerous topics, is currently concerned with free smoking patches. If you are interested in quitting, visit our website now: Health Risks to Smoking

Air Conditioning Systems In our Cars

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

Sky high petroleum prices, the recession and the threat of unemployment means that most drivers are searching for ways to decrease the amount of fuel they use in their cars. There are various things you can do to lessen your fuel bills that will not include any costly alterations to your vehicle. In fact, it will not mean any changes at all.

One of the first things to understand is that fuel additives do not work. None of them have been proven to work. On the other hand a well tuned engine will run at its maximum fuel efficiency. This can most easily be integrated into your car’s annual service.

Another technique to save fuel is not to accelerate quickly or brake abruptly. Try to drive smoothly and stay under 60 miles per hour. Fifty-six miles per hour is the most economical driving speed for many modern cars.

However, the easiest way of saving money on driving your car, is to turn off the air conditioning system altogether. You have probably already noticed that your car is less quick to respond when you have the air conditioning running. This is because your car’s engine is powering the wheels of your car and the air conditioning system. In other words, your car’s engine is driving two motors at the same time, dividing its resources.

Therefore, you should avoid using your car’s air conditioning system unless you really have to have it. Opening the roof light is a good alternative, which will not create too much draft. The extra sun light is invigorating as well. I personally like to have my window down while I am driving, although I am conscious that it can be very drafty in the back of the car if you have passengers there.

If you do not have rear passengers and you do not want too much draft anyway, you can open a rear window in order to lower the temperature in your car.

A vehicle’s air conditioning system is a boon if you can afford to use it, but it is also an superfluous luxury if you need to save some money on fuel. Some figures show that a car’s air conditioning can cost anything between 5% and 10% of your fuel costs, if your are driving slowly in the inner city. Less if you are driving fast on the freeway.

Turning off the air conditioning is the simplest and easiest way to save on your fuel bills. Many auto cooling systems still have fans and very powerful ones as well. There is no need to swelter just because you have turned the car’s air conditioning off.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with split air conditioning systems. If you are interested in Home Air Conditioning Systems, please click through to our site.

The Only Way To Stop Smoking Cigarettes

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Smoking cigarettes used to be a great deal more widespread than it is today. Now most smokers are searching for methods of stopping smoking. This is because smokers and the general public at large are more aware of the risks of smoking cigarettes nowadays.

Just look at films manufactured in the Sixties and before, everyone is smoking. It shows how common smoking was compared with today. This would not be allowed now as you may not smoke in public places, on public transport, in restaurants or in bars any more in most Western countries and elsewhere as well.

The problem with smoking is that not only the smoker suffers, so does everyone around about the smoker. This is known as passive smoking and it has an effect on those working or living with smokers – a barmaid or a spouse for example. So, all these individuals are endangering their health so that tobacco firms can become richer.

No matter how long someone has been smoking, it is possible to quit the habit. Anyone who has stopped smoking will tell you that stopping smoking cigarettes is all to do with the mind. You really have to desire to stop smoking or you will not do it successfully.

Individuals have different ways of stopping smoking cigarettes. Some say that nicotine patches or nicotine gum help, because you can wean yourself off nicotine slowly without having to inhale the poisonous smoke of cigarettes. Nicotine is highly addictive and most of the chemical withdrawal symptoms have to do with the shortage of nicotine in the body.

Most individuals find that the single effective way of stopping smoking cigarettes is to stop smoking dead – in one go. It is very hard to cut down or to switch to a weaker brand. You are still inhaling poisonous smoke. It is still no good to you or anyone about you.

Cutting down or switching brands is not effective, because you will still smoke other smokers’ and you will still be in a smokers’ environment. You will also find yourself smoking tomorrow’s five cigarettes today, promising not to smoke any the next day. That never works. You have to quit smoking dead.

There are a number of situations that can provide the motivation to quit smoking cigarettes. Illness is usually high on the list. A few years ago two friends of mine who smoked heavily stopped smoking cigarettes within weeks of each other.

One was in his sixties and had smoked for almost sixty years: he was told that his lungs were beginning to go, but that if he stopped smoking, the shock might kill him. He quit smoking one morning and survived, but what a dilemma!

The other was in his fifties and drove a lot as a travelling salesman. The doctor told him that he would probably have to have a leg removed next year, if he did not stop smoking and that the other might go a year or so after that. He stopped smoking instantly and still has both legs.

So it seems that the trick to stopping smoking cigarettes successfully is to find your motivation (do you want to live long enough to see the grandkids married?) and bear that image in front of you at all times. Take nicotine substitutes if you have to and keep away from environments where people smoke more, like taverns.Join a sports club instead, something like tennis, table tennis, swimming or even chess.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, is currently involoved with the exercise to quit smoking. If you are interested in massage, visit our website now: Health Risks to Smoking

Kicking The Habit For Good With Acupuncture

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

Acupuncture is still controversial and it has been around for thousands of years. Anyway, people who believe in acupuncture say that it is fantastic for the dispelling of addictions such as nicotine addiction.

However, it ought to be borne in mind that numerous doctors do not believe in this alternative kind of medicine stating that it is no better than sticking pins in the skin at random.

The fact of the matter is that if acupuncture helps you then there is nothing wrong with it and it is certainly better than smoking. If you have tried several times to stop smoking and nicotine patches and gums have not helped you, then it may be worth trying acupuncture, which is not necessarily that expensive anyway.

One of the good facts concerning acupuncture is that no one is allergic to acupuncture so it is perfectly safe if you want to give it a go. Obviously, you will have to go to a respectable acupuncturist so that you can be certain that the needles have been sterilized.

Protagonists of acupuncture believe that inserting pins or needles into the meridians of the body will have an effect on the emotions, the internal organs and other facets of the body. Therefore, they say, an acupuncturist can influence your desire to do something with a couple of sessions of acupuncture. Smoking or nicotine dependence is one of the problems that it is said to be able to alleviate.

Acupuncture to cure nicotine addiction is normally carried out on the ear lobes or / and the hands. The insertion of the needles is painless and said to be very soothing. It is also said to alleviate the longing to smoke again and alleviate withdrawal symptoms such as dizziness, ‘hangover’, nervousness, concern, depression and queasiness.

One of the biggest concerns is that nicotine activates pleasure zones in the brain and as the nicotine wears off so does the excitement resulting in the withdrawal indications. This process occurs fairly quickly, which is why smokers tend to light up at least once an hour.

Some acupuncturists claim a 70% success incidence for curing individuals of smoking after a few sessions of two to three weeks. This is quite high and since acupuncture is not that expensive you will quickly recover your costs.

Some acupuncturists make use of herbs and other aids to back up their acupuncture. They might even provide some counselling on how best to avoid getting themselves into predicaments where one is likely to start smoking again.

This is all useful. It frequently takes a several-pronged attack to overthrow the smoking habit and as long as you do stop, then it does not actually not matter how.

There are several slight differences of the actual techniques of acupuncture, so you might not experience precisely what you read, but most anti-smoking sessions will last 30 minutes, during which time, filiform needles will be inserted into the skin in the ear, hands and wrists, which does not hurt at all. The therapist may also pass a low electrical charge through the needles for additional stimulation.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on numerous topics, is currently involoved with quitting smoking statistics. If you are interested in quitting, visit our web site now: Health Risks to Smoking

How To Add Warmth To Your House With Candles

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

With our contemporary, demanding lives, it is all too easy to treat your home like a hotel. Many individuals spend less than five waking hours a day in their home and, unfortunately, it often shows too. Many people’s homes have changed back to ‘cold’ houses where you store your stuff, do your laundry and sleep. In other words they lack warmth and personality.

However, warmth and personality can certainly be restored or crafted in a home by spending some time in it and imparting some of your self into your milieu. One of the simplest ways of doing this is by the use of candles and beautiful candle holders. Candles will add lots of warmth and personality to your home and make you choose to spend more time there.

The bedroom is a good place to start. Whether you want your bedroom to be a place of romance or of sanctuary, candles will help. A candelabrum on a table top always looks good, but so will small tea lights on the dresser. Small floating candles in the shape of water lilies or other flowers look fantastic in a bowl of water too.

Most people only squeeze in a shower or two a day, but it is very soothing to soak in a bath of hot water. You can make your soak in the bath even more relaxing and atmospheric by mixing tall and short candles such as pillar, votive and tea light candles placed on tiling around the room.

You can utilize candles in the kitchen for various reasons. Aromatic candles will hide the odour of foods like cabbage and other foodstuffs. Night candles will keep the room a-glow if you need to pop in and out for snacks or drinks during the night, saving switching the electric light on and off a dozen times a day. A burning candle will also remove cigarette smoke if you are apt to smoke while reading the paper or chatting to neighbours around the kitchen table too.

The living room is the perfect room for using candles. There are so many varieties of candles and they are all suitable for use in the living room. Wall sconces can be a beautiful way of burning candles in your hall and living room. In deed, candles do not even have to be lit to lend an atmosphere to your living room. Aromatic candles are perfect for moulding the atmosphere to what you want.

You could use a candelabrum on a table or candlesticks on a fireplace or large tubular candles in the hearth. Smaller vase or jar candles will go anywhere to create the ambiance you desire.

In the dining room or at least at the dining table, candles are essential whether you want to create a romantic atmosphere or not. The only no-no here is aromatic candles as you do not want to interfere with the odours of the meal. Long tapering white or red odourless candles in either candlesticks or a candelabrum are best.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several subjects, but is at present involved with researching decorative candle holders. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Wrought Iron Light.

What Attracts Mosquitoes To What They Want?

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

In essence, mosquitoes are attracted to each other, water, food and blood: every other in order to breed, water for laying eggs, food for obvious reasons and blood so that the female can lay fertile eggs. Regrettably, it is this latter reason that most worries us and other animals.

Mosquitoes probably detect one another by pheromones and it has been shown that a mosquito’s sight is not much good, so they almost certainly detect, food, water and blood by smell. The manufacturers of mosquito repellents have recognized this for a long time. For example, DEET, the best repellent in the world ever, does not deter mosquitoes at all.

No, it masks the human being so that the mosquito does not know that we are there, even though it might be only inches away, which proves just how bad the mosquito’s vision is. We must be the size of an apartment block to a mosquito, yet it cannot see us from a few inches, if we are wearing repellent!

So, if all that is a fact, is there anything that some of us do to promote our presence to these half-blind nuisances? After all,. there must be, because some people are bitten a lot more than others. Well, it seems that there are some do’s and don’ts.

Firstly, there are over 3,500 kinds of mosquitoes. Some bite humans more eagerly than others and some have different characteristics and behavioural patterns, but in general, mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide. Great! I hear you saying, so I merely have to quit breathing or wear a gas mask!

No, it is probable that CO2 carries and enhances some other smells to the mosquito’s receptors. It has long been considered that perfume and deodorant are some of these smells and that would make sense, because some expensive perfumes contain animal sweat and pheromones. However, it seems that extensive tests have shown that smelly feet are a magnet for mosquitoes as well.

In order to test this theory, scientists baited traps with CO2 and with used socks (and with a cheese that smells like old socks) and the traps smelling of feet (and cheese) won out. The smell of perspiration is a bizarre thing.

Fresh perspiration does not have a robust smell unless you have been eating something strong-smelling and most individuals find the smell and sight of fresh sweat on a body quite sexy. OK, mosquitoes may be different, but no one likes the smell of ‘old’ sweat. That is the one that smells bad. It is also the one that is in used socks.

And the likely reason for it smelling badly, it that microflora and bacteria have started to decompose it. It is likely that mosquitoes pick up the stench of our old sweat being broke down by microscopic bugs and flowers.

Would an extra shower help? It cannot hurt.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on more than a few subjects, but is now concerned with how to stop mosquito bite itch. If you want to know more, please go to our web site at Getting Rid of Mosquito Bites.

Concerns About Gassing Termites

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Have you just found out that you have a serious termite infestation? Have you just been told that you will need to use gas on them because it is the fastest means of termite control and you do not have any time to lose? If so, toxic gas probably is the only answer.

However no one would blame you for being a little worried about having your house fumigated with poisonous gas. It does not sound a very healthy environment to have to live, eat and sleep in afterwards, does it? The good news is that there is little cause for concern, particularly if you use a respectable company with a history of using gas on termites.

Vikane is one of the most frequently used gases for the fumigation of termites. It is typically used with a practice called tenting. Tenting means quite literally putting a tent over the whole structure concerned, say your house.

The tent is then sealed as much as feasible, the Vikane gas is pumped in and fans are utilized to make sure that it is dispersed throughout your house, including your attic and basement. The gas is left to do its lethal work for a day within the sealed up tent and within your house.

On the second day, the tent is taken off and the house is ventilated making use of the fans again. Delicate instruments are used to determine the levels of gas in all rooms of your home and when the pest controller is certain that the levels of gas have fallen to where your house is safe for human habitation, you will be allowed to move back in. That will typically be on the third day.

Vikane does not leave a sticky deposit, so it will not leave a coating on your furniture which you will have to wash off later. When the house has been thoroughly aired, all the gas will have gone, although there may still be a couple of harmless pockets left behind rafters and joists in the attic and basement.

Tenting your house may give you grounds to think that the gas must be dangerous for surrounding wildlife or your neighbours, but this is not the motive for tenting. The tent is erected in order to hold the gas against the outside of the exterior walls of your house as well, so that it is treated from inside and out, although it does help stop wasting gas also.

This tenting system of fumigation with Vikane is a very successful method of getting rid of an infestation of termites from a building. In fact, it is so efficient that your contractor should issue you with a guarantee, although you may have to have the procedure repeated every year or two in order to maintain the guarantee.

Vikane is aimed exclusively at termites, so it will not eradicate any other eco-system that has established itself within your house. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. More’s the pity, I can hear you saying.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with pictures of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.