Tag Archives: Facts

Hunting Trophy

By | |
Leave a comment
Hunting Trophy

Would you ever display a hunting trophy on your wall?

  • Hunting trophies are objects made of hunted game specimens, typically put on display like a trophy, and they can be as simple as animal horns, tusks or teeth, or it can be the taxidermied head or body of a hunted animal.
  • Generally, elderly animal specimens are favoured for exhibiting as a hunting trophy, due to their impressive size, and hunting these animals will usually have little or no impact on the general population of the species.
  • The practice of hunting animals for the purpose of gaining a hunting trophy is known as ‘trophy hunting’, and most animals that are used for this purpose come from Canada or African countries.
  • If undertaken randomly and without control, trophy hunting can disrupt populations of animals, reproduction patterns and the genetic pool.
  • In the 1800s, taxidermied animals became sought after and were commonly displayed, and during this time, the hunting trophy became popular among Europeans.

Hunting Trophy, Invention, Taxidermy, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Deer, Head

  • Trophy hunting is often considered to be highly beneficial for African countries, as it contributes greatly to the country’s economy with little negative effect, and in 2008, across a small selection of African countries, $190 million USD was injected into the African economy as a result.
  • Investigations conducted suggest that the controlled hunting of some animals for hunting trophies, especially those in Africa, controls and potentially increases a species’ population, due, in part, to locals of the area wanting to protect the animals so that can collect large sums of money from those wanting to do the hunting.
  • Hunting for the purpose of a hunting trophy is prone to being controversial, as it is commonly claimed that it is inhumane and dangerous to animal populations, however many of the major wildlife organisations have supportive or neutral views on the subject.
  • Hunting trophy animal heads and antlers are commonly mounted on a wall, most often in an office or one’s house, often in a specially designated ‘trophy’ or ‘game room’.
  • A number of places and organisations, including a number of airlines, have banned the handling or importing of hunting trophies, mainly because they don’t agree with the killing of animals for sport purposes.
Bibliography:
The History of Trophy Hunting, 2015, Timeline, https://www.timeline.com/stories/the-history-of-trophy-hunting
Hunting Trophy, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophy_hunting
Ting I, Hunting trophy imports to Australia rise as global trophy imports fall, 2015, The Sydney Morning Herald, http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/hunting-trophy-imports-to-australia-rise-as-global-trophy-imports-fall-20150807-giuagr.html
Trophy Hunting, n.d, In Defense of Animals, http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/wild-free2/habitats-campaign/anti-hunting/hunters/trophy-hunting/

Amazon:       

Frilled-neck Lizard

By | |
1 Comment
Frilled-neck Lizard

Frilled-neck lizards will attempt to intimidate anyone, including you!

  • Frilled-neck lizards are a species of lizard native to wooded areas and dry forests of northern parts of Australia and southern areas of New Guinea.
  • ‘Frilled-neck lizards’ are also known as ‘frillneck lizards’, ‘Australian frilled lizards’, ‘frilled dragons’ and ‘frilled lizards’.
  • The scientific name of a frilled-neck lizard is Chlamydosaurus kingii and it is from the family Agamidae, the family of iguanian or dragon lizards.
  • Frilled-neck lizards have a flap of skin that reaches from their head down to the neck, which they can extend outwards to frill around their neck.
  • A frilled-neck lizard has a long tail and the lizard typically ranges from 60 to 90 centimetres (24 to 35 inches) in length, though only a third of it is the length of its body, and it usually has a weight ranging from 0.5 to 1 kilogram (1.1 to 2.2 pounds).
Frilled Neck Lizard, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Animal, Reptile, Lizard, Australia, Unflared, Resting, Bathing
An Unflared Frilled-neck Lizard
Image courtesy of VirtualWolf/Flickr
  • The scale colour of frilled-neck lizards is generally a combination of tan, brown, yellow and black, while the frill is coloured vibrant reds and oranges, and they mainly live in trees on branches or the trunks where they are generally camouflaged.
  • The diet of frilled-neck lizards consist primarily of beetles, rodents, termites and other insects, as well as spiders, while smaller lizards are also sometimes consumed.
  • Female frilled-neck lizards generally lay between 4 to 14 eggs at one time, laid in a nest in the ground, and hatchlings are usually female when incubation temperatures are above 35°C (95°F).
  • As a popular symbol of Australian fauna, a depiction of a frilled-neck lizard can be found on the discontinued Australian two cent coin.
  • When threatened or scared, a frilled-neck lizard will arch its body and flare its frill, hiss and lunge, and if all else fails, flee quickly.
Bibliography:
Chlamydosaurus, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydosaurus
Chlamydosaurus kingii, 2001, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Chlamydosaurus_kingii/
Frilled Dragon, n.d, Perth Zoo, http://perthzoo.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Frilled-Dragon-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Frilled Lizard, 2015, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/frilled-lizard/

Amazon:       

Maize

By | |
Leave a comment
Maize

Is it maize or corn?

  • Maize is a grain-based food plant where the seeds, or kernels, are also known as ‘corn’, and the plant was first cultivated in Mexico, America, thousands of years ago, where the grain is a staple food.
  • The scientific name of maize is Zea mays and it is from the family Poaceae, the family of true grasses.
  • There are a number of different types of maize, and they are generally categorised under the names ‘sweet corn’, ‘popcorn’, ‘flour corn’, ‘flint corn’, ‘dent corn’, and ‘wild’ or ‘pod corn’.
  • Approximately 600 kernels of maize form on a cob, that grows as an ‘ear’ or spear head shaped spike, on a 2.5 to 12 metre (8 to 39 feet) tall plant.
  • Female flowers of maize plants produce stigmas that are like strands of hair, known as ‘silk’; and the kernels or seeds are a white, yellow, orange or red colour, while green, purple, black, and blue/grey varieties exist.

Maize, Food, Culinary, Ten Random Facts, Vegetation, Field, Europe

A Field of Maize
Image courtesy of Carsten Ullrich/Flickr
  • The United States was the world’s top producer of maize in 2013, producing roughly 353.7 million tonnes (389.9 million tons), of a world total production of just over 1 billion tonnes (1.1 billion tons), making it the most produced cereal crop on earth.
  • Depending on the type and variety, maize has different uses – sweet corn is generally cooked and eaten like a vegetable; popcorn is heated until the kernels burst providing a light weight snack, flour corn is typically ground into flour; flint and dent corn are used for animal feed and are also processed and made into products for human consumption; while pod corn is not usually used for commercial purposes.
  • A protein found in maize, that fails to break down when cooked, can cause allergic reactions, with symptoms that include itchiness, rashes, asthma or vomiting, among others.
  • Field corn, which includes all types of maize except for sweet corn and popcorn, accounts for at least 98% of corn crops grown in the United States, of which around 75% is used for stock feed and the production of ethanol fuel, while the rest is used to make products like breakfast cereal, corn syrup, corn starch and flour, corn chips, and other commercial products.
  • The cobs of maize have been crafted into smoking pipes, and it is believed that they were made as early as the 1860s in the United States, while the starch is used in many non-food products including adhesives and plastics.
Bibliography:
Corn, 1999, Purdue Agriculture, https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/Crops/Corn.html
Maize, 2009, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, http://www.iita.org/maize 
Maize, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maize

Amazon:       

Chefchaouen

By | |
1 Comment
Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen is a calming blue.

  • Chefchaouen, also known as ‘Chaouen’, or ‘Xauen’ in Spanish, is a city located in the north of Morocco, North Africa, in the Rif mountains, and it sits approximately 660 m (2165 feet) above sea level.
  • The name ‘Chefchaouen’, meaning ‘watch the horns’ comes from the term ‘chaoua’ meaning ‘goat’s horns’ in one of the tribal languages, in reference to the appearance of the mountains situated over the town, while the term ‘chef’ is translated as ‘looks at’.
  • Chefchaouen is a popular tourist site, with around 200 hotels actively used to cater for visitors that come to experience the natural beauty, and history.
  • In 2004, Chefchaouen had a population of 35,709, which is around 7,000 people less than the census of a decade prior.
  • Chefchaouen is famous for its many buildings and objects, that have either been totally or partially painted the colour blue.
Chefchaouen, Morocco, Street, Blue, Part, Africa, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Place, Town
A Street of Chefchaouen
Image courtesy of Mark Fischer/Flickr
  • Chefchaouen was originally built as a fortress in 1471, used against the Portuguese in their invasion, and the city has been a safe-haven for Jewish refugees at least twice in its history.
  • Chefchaouen is notable for selling an extensive variety of textiles, handcrafts and goat cheese, while the drug cannabis is widely grown in the area.
  • The blue painted buildings of Chefchaouen are a tradition that is believed to have begun in the 1930s, or possibly centuries earlier, started by Jewish refugees, serving as a reminder of God and a reflection of the sky.
  • Chefchaouen was under Spanish command from the 1920s to 1956, and it had been attacked by Spain prior to this occasion.
  • The blue buildings of Chefchaouen are typically repainted every two years to maintain the colour.
Bibliography:
Chefchaouen, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen, the Blue City of Morocco, 2012, Amusing Planet, http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/08/chefchaouen-blue-city-of-morocco.html
Neubauer I, Chefchaouen: The electric beauty of Morocco’s incredible blue city, 2015, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/03/travel/morocco-blue-city-chefchaouen/
To Visit the Medina of Chefchaouen, n.d, Chaouen.info, http://www.chaouen.info/in-medina.html

Amazon:       

Airport

By | |
Leave a comment
Airport

Airports are the terminals of activity that enable travel to far-off places.

  • Airports are a construction that provides assistance in the flying, taking off and landing of aircraft, as well as the storage, service, repair and maintenance of aircraft.
  • Airports usually consist of a type of runway for aircraft to land on, and often have hangars, terminals and control towers for further functionality.
  • When an airport has large amounts of traffic they will generally have at least one control tower, which is used to monitor aircraft arrivals and departures, dangers due to weather conditions and other factors, and to ensure there are no aircraft collisions.
  • It is generally considered that the world’s oldest airport still in use is the College Park Airport of the United State’s Maryland built in 1909, while one of the earliest commercial facilities still in use is Sydney Airport in Australia which officially opened in early 1920.
  • Airport runways vary depending on the facility size, with smaller ones generally having grass, gravel or dirt based runways of under 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) in length, while larger runways are made of concrete or asphalt and reach lengths of 2 to 5 kilometres (1.2 to 3.1 miles).

Airport, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Invention, Place, Port, Aircraft, Aeroplane, Qantas, Australia

  • Despite the majority of airports being of smaller size, most are owned by a government organisation, rather than by business corporations or an individual.
  • The first airports were, on the most part, reserved for military use until after World War I; many of which were later used for commercial purposes.
  • Each airport has its own letter code, known as an International Air Transport Association (IATA) code, and generally also an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) code, and the facilities usually have an official name, and sometimes a common name, which may be more well known than its formal title.
  • In 2013, there were 41,821 airports in the world, and almost a third of those were located in the United States, while Brazil had the second biggest number of facilities with almost ten percent of the world’s total.
  • Airports are generally split into two sections, landside – which is open to the public and includes roads and transport options, and airside – which has restricted access and includes airplanes, runways, hangars and so on.
Bibliography:
Airport, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport
Field Listing: Airport, n.d, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2053.html
The History of Airports, 2015, AvJobs, http://www.avjobs.com/history/airports.asp

Amazon:       

Raccoon Dog

By | |
Leave a comment
Raccoon Dog

Raccoon dogs have more dog to them than raccoon.

  • Raccoon dogs are a species of dog that have an appearance notably similar to that of a raccoon, though they are only distantly related.
  • ‘Raccoon dogs’ are also known as ‘tanukis’ and ‘manguts’, and they are native to some of the eastern areas of Asia.
  • The scientific name of a raccoon dog is Nycetereutes procyonoides and it is form the family Canidae, the family of dogs, and five subspecies of the animal exist.
  • A raccoon dog has an average lifespan of 6 to 7  years, and the animal is generally between 45 to 71 centimetres (18 to 28 inches) in length with a weight from 3 to 10 kilograms (6.6 to 22 pounds).
  • The scientific name of raccoon dogs means ‘night wanderer’ when translated from Greek, which refers to the dog’s mainly nocturnal activity.
Raccoon Dog, Trivia, Ten Random Facts, Animal, Canid, Brown, Europe
Raccoon Dog
Image courtesy of Tambako The Jaguar/Flickr
  • Raccoon dogs live in woodland and forest habitats near water, and they have a habit of hibernating in winter, particularly when snowy, which is a unique characteristic in its family.
  • During summer months, raccoon dog fur is generally a red or yellow colour, however the fur coat changes to greys, browns and blacks in winter.
  • Raccoon dogs have a diet that consists primarily of rodents, fish, nuts, berries, molluscs, birds and their eggs, grains, insects, reptiles and frogs, and they are adept at climbing trees.
  • Raccoon dogs were first introduced to Europe, including parts of Russia, in the 1900s, and have since become a pest in some areas.
  • The primary predator of a raccoon dog is a wolf, and the animal is also commonly hunted by humans for the purpose of culling, for food, as well as for its fur.
Bibliography:
Raccoon Dog, 2015, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/raccoon-dog/
Raccoon Dog, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon_dog
Raccoon Dog – The Night Wanderer, 2015, Fact Zoo, http://www.factzoo.com/mammals/raccoon-dog-night-wanderer.html

Amazon:       

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...