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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Derk
Thank you for the link. It seems relatively certain that Irving is one of the mosquito species from the genus Toxorhynchites, also called an "elephant mosquito". There is some information on this genus in Wikipedia, but it doesn't give details about the origins of the different species. I had read in a couple of other places how these are being used to reduce the occurrence of dengue fever, due to their predatory behavior towards other mosquito larvae.
Here's the Wikipedia link for anyone interested:
Toxorhynchites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Here's another link to a scientific paper that talks about the biology of Toxorhynchites mosquitoes and their potential as biocontrol agents:
http://www.cabi.org/bni/FullTextPDF/...0003030873.pdf
This paper indicates that Toxorhynchites mosquitoes inhabit most of the tropical regions of the world.
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Oh man kind screwing with nature once again.. Here in Florida they introduced the Asian wasp some years ago was supposed to be harmless to humans and so on as it destroyed fruit flies and ate the larvae, thus protecting our fruit industry especially the citrus but now it's a pest wasp and they do sting too.
Up in the great lakes they introduced the zebra mollusk to clean the water as they are very good at removing nitrates and other chemicals from the water and they have done a wonderful job.. Unfortunately they had so much food to fed on and reproduce that now they are blocking off hydro electric turbines and attaching so thickly to the bottom of ships and such that they are causing increased fuel consumption and many other problems.. Now they are inches thick on the bottom of the lakes and endangering other water ways. When will we ever learn? We're more of a threat to our environment then we ever protect it with our constant attempted manipulation of it for our own purposes..
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I get the awful feeling we're going to do the same with some kind of genetically modified organism which hasn't been studied enough before it's released.
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^
Too late - Two instances of where this has already happened - JamieJambos and ENT
Proof that the body does not need a brain to exist.
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Just wanted to post an update on the menagerie.
Bonnie the former Soi dog has basically settled into a new life as a pet at our place. She's still young and although she's close to full growth size, she's still a puppy at heart. She likes to play a lot with Val and is constantly looking for things to chew on. Her personality is the opposite of Val's - easy going and quiet versus Val's manic behavior, which seems to balance things out.
Speaking of chewing, when Val was still a puppy she was really into that too. We had to keep after her constantly to leave the shoes alone and she still slips up occasionally. One thing Val did back then that was a big no-no was to start chewing on the car cover. Fortunately we caught her at that before the damage was too severe. She managed to break the elastic band that kept the cover snug around the back of the car and we had to clip it with a couple of clothes pins after that to keep it from flapping in the breeze.
Now along comes Bonnie who has been pretty good about leaving shoes and other items alone. She has chewed up a stick or two, which aside from making a fair amount of noise is no problem. I did notice on a couple of occasions that the clothes pins on the back of the car cover were out of place, but she seemed to be leaving the cover alone.
Last evening as I was sitting at my computer engrossed in a Teak Door thread, I heard some kind of commotion outside the front door. At first it sounded like cloth flapping in a strong wind. My wife called out from the kitchen to check out, and just as she spoke there was a loud ripping noise, followed by another even bigger one - like a sheet being torn. By now I'm heading out the front door and moving fast, but it's too late. When I walk around the back of the car the damage is obvious. The cover is split up the middle and the edge is chewed to shreds. Bonnie apparently decided to tug and chew on the clothes pins, and in doing so got carried away and it became a full-on car cover assault. Bonnie was nearby wagging her tail as if nothing was wrong.
Now normally I am quite gentle with animals and I take care to treat them well and cause them no harm. But when one of them crosses the line, I can quickly go into 'Mr. Hyde' mode. In this case, I grabbed Bonnie and pulled her over to the torn cover. A good scolding and a couple of healthy slaps on the hind quarters got her attention. My wife came out of the house to survey the damage, and gave Bonnie another couple of slaps to the muzzle. I think this was the first real disciplinary action that Bonnie has been exposed to, and she seemed quite taken back and subdued for the remainder of the evening.
Today I spent a couple of hours mending the cover with duct tape. It seems to be patched together enough to make it work for a while - we'll have to see how long that lasts. I don't want to have to buy a new cover only to have that shredded as well. For now I'm leaving the clothes pins off, as that seemed to be the attraction that Bonnie was going after. I'll consider myself fortunate that I was able to mend the cover and still make use of it.
We'll have to get creative about providing something for Bonnie to chew on. We'd like to give her something like a rawhide bone, but Val gets very possessive about those and will try to take it away and guard it obsessively. So Bonnie may have to be satisfied with chewing on sticks for the time being.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Necron99
Who ties up a cat?
Those who consider felines to be their pets. Indeed.
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Nice thread. Thanks. Like cats and dogs:)