SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Wild for Wildlife and Nature

The dingo is Australia's wild dog. As the largest native carnivorous mammal in the country, it is a magnificent animal in its natural habitat and plays a vital role in maintaining the balance in ecosystems. The dingo's origin is uncertain, though scientists now believe that it is related to Asian and Middle Eastern wolves that probably arrived in Australia between 3,500 and 4,000 years ago, transported by Asian seafarers.

The scientific name of the dingo was recently changed from canis familiaris (domestic dog) dingo to canis lupus (wolf) dingo, to show its relationship to the white-footed wolf of South-East Asia. Whereas barking is typical of domestic dogs, dingos generally communicate over long distances with howls - like other wild dogs and wolves. Where do dingos live? Before European colonisation of Australia, dingos inhabited most parts of mainland Australia. However, in NSW most remaining dingo populations are in the east of the state, in forests between the Great Dividing Range and the coast. This limited spread is probably due to a combination of land clearing (which reduced the range of the species dingos prey upon) and dingo control efforts by the pastoral industry.