Category Archives: Nature

Good Samaritans save stranded Orca by pouring water on it until tide came in

Posted on August 3, 2021 by | 4 comments

The Daily Mail has a happy-ending story about an Orca that was rescued by humans. Apparently the whale had got stuck on some rocks and was stranded for six hours before the tide brought it back into the water. Before the whale made it back into the ocean, humans kept the Orca wet and scared off birds trying to get to the creature. Read the story below.

From Daily Mail:

“Good Samaritans saved a 20-foot Orca that was stuck between rocks on an Alaskan shore by continuously dousing it with water and protecting it from birds who circled above the defenseless whale. 

The whale was ultimately saved after a six-hour, labor-intensive life-saving operation.  

Someone spotted the the large whale on the Prince of Wales Island near the coast of British Columbia Thursday morning. The Coast Guard was called around 9am local time. 

Chance Strickland, the captain of a private yacht in Alaska, and his crew anchored and began life-saving maneuvers that were captured on video by Aroon Melane and posted on Instagram. 

Strickland could hear the orca calling out to killer whales swimming in the area. ‘I don’t speak a lot of whale, but it didn’t seem real stoked,’ he told The New York Times.

People on other boats stopped with water and buckets to douse the orca. Mr. Strickland and his crew gave the whale a wide berth in case it started flopping around, he said.

‘There were tears coming out of its eyes,’ he told The Times. ‘It was pretty sad.’

The group of Good Samaritans formed a chain that passed buckets of seawater back and forth and poured the water on the Orca, which seemed to liven it up. It made a noise and raised its tail when it got water. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was called in, which can be seen on the video using a machine to spray a mist of seawater on the Orca, which doubled as a way to keep the whale cool and scare the congregation of birds that were hoping to feast on the beast. 

Melane said in her video that the Orca was stranded for about six hours until the tide came in swept it back into the ocean.”    

Read the whole story and watch a video here.

Great job, humans!

DCG

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How to make your own plant/seed-starter pots from newspaper

Posted on June 4, 2021 by | 4 comments

Making your own plant pots is both inexpensive and environmentally sustainable. 

Materials:

  • Newspaper: Newspapers with black or color ink are biodegradable and are considered safe for plants. Avoid glossy and shiny papers as they may not be safe for your garden.
  • Cylindrical object, such as a bottle or can

After the seedlings sprout, transfer the biodegradable seed-starter to your garden and let nature take care of the rest!

~E

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Majestic Beauty: The Grand Canyon

Posted on May 30, 2021 by | 5 comments

One place I’ve always wanted to visit is the Grand Canyon. I’ve only seen the Grand Canyon from an airplane and it is so stunning from that view! I can’t imagine what it is like to be on the ground and witness the true beauty of it all.

Located in Arizona, the Canyon was carved by the Colorado River and is 277 miles long and the carvings began millions of years ago. Here’s some fun facts about the Grand Canyon, from The National Park Foundation:

  • The Grand Canyon creates its own weather
  • There are no dinasour bones in the Canyon
  • There are only eight fish species native to the Grand Canyon, six of which are found nowhere outside of the Colorado River
  • There’s a town in the Grand Canyon called Supai Village, within the Havasupai Indian Reservation. It is not reachable by road and mail is still delivered by pack mule!

Supai Village

Here’s a bit of history about the Canyon and how it came to be a national park:

Here’s a video that explains the formation of the Canyon:

Have you ever visited the Grand Canyon? And if you have been, did you walk the Skywalk Bridge (see below)?

DCG

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God’s amazing paintbrush: Woman captures stunning Texas storm photo

Posted on May 19, 2021 by | 4 comments

This photo made the rounds on social media on Monday after a storm blew through Texas on Sunday. A gal by the name of Laura Rowe tweeted the following:

She’s now selling prints of this amazing picture. Here’s how she was in the right place at the right time to capture this image, via her Smugmug page:

“Hey y’all! I was out for a Sunday drive with my boyfriend. Small town, nothing else to do. We were over in Muleshoe checking out the salt lakes in the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refugee when we saw a small tornado touchdown close to Earth, Texas.

We looked at each other and knew we had to check out this crazy storm. We followed it for about three hours down county dirt roads until we set up in the spot where I took this shot that has now gone viral. 

I knew that God’s creation was beautiful to witness, but I had no idea that it would explode like this on social media. I was just a girl with an iPhone and nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon, in the right place at the right time.

Thanks for checking me out, and I hope you enjoy your purchases! As a broke college kid, everything goes a long way!”

If you desire a print, order one here.

DCG

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Would you eat “sustainable” Cicadas?

Posted on May 16, 2021 by | 7 comments

Wired came out recently with an article entitled, “The Cicadas Are Coming. Let’s Eat Them!”

Never heard of a Cicada? Here’s what this insect looks like:

And YES, they can be that BIG. Trust me, I’ve seen ’em in Oklahoma. And I’ve heard them. This is what Cicadas sound like when they emerge from the ground to terrorize us for a few weeks in the summer:

From the Wire article: “They’re like crickets with musical-theater degrees—dramatic, loud, committed to a splashy outfit change. And while some people will delight in their natural spectacle, others will just want to be rid of them. There is, however, another reaction: Grab a fork and knife.“

You want to “dig in” to this?

The Wired article claims that Cicadas are “a source of free-range, no-cost, eco-friendly protein.”

Well, that may be true but there’s NO WAY I’m eating these creatures. My cats have captured and released Cicadas. Even the feline predators wont eat ’em! 

If my cats are smart enough to not eat these creatures, there’s no way I’m eating them!

DCG

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A trip to the refuge to try and spot a “red dog”

Posted on May 10, 2021 by | 2 comments

Yesterday we went to our local Oklahoma refuge to try and get a glimpse of a “red dog.”

“Red dog” is a reference to a baby bison. This is due to their “red” (more like orange) color when they are born. Some folk refer to baby bison as “cinny babies” due to their cinnamon-like color.

When baby bison are born, they are red/orange in color and their dark brown coloring develops after a few months. Their “humps” and horns also grow at that time. Read more about the bison here.

Since the babies tend to be born from late March through May, we headed out to the refuge to see if we could spot any “red dog.”

Alas, we did not spot any. We also didn’t spot many prairie dogs as about 50+ Longhorn were passing through prairie dog town.

Texas Longhorns passing through prairie dog town.

Lone prairie dog keeping an eye on the Longhorns.

But here’s some cute videos of red dogs:

We’ll try again next year and hopefully be able to see some “red dogs!”

DCG

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Bear attacks are rare…yet be prepared!

Posted on May 5, 2021 by | 11 comments

Earlier this week I read a story about a woman in Colorado who was attacked and partially eaten by a bear. She had taken her dogs out for a walk and not returned home. The woman’s boyfriend found the dogs at home and not his girlfriend so he started to search for her. He found her dead from an apparent bear attack. Tragic.

Bear attacks are rare in America yet they do occur. And you should always be prepared if you live in bear country.

Soon I’ll be visiting my father in northeast Washington where bears are not uncommon. Many years ago he did have an encounter with a mama bear and her cubs while he was fishing. He had a firearm , remained calm, and was able to retreat from the river to his vehicle with no interaction with the mama.

Since then, he always carries bear spray and has it at hand.  When I’m visiting him and we go for hikes in the mountains or stop off at a rest area we carry bear spray:

Me and dad (above) walking his doggies at a rest stop. I’m carrying bear spray in my left hand. You never know when you might need it. Better to be safe than sorry!

Here‘s some tips for carrying/using bear spray from the National Park
Service. Also, watch this video:

Know the basics of what to do during a bear encounter and how to survive one. Remain calm, don’t approach bears for a “photo op,” and leave them their space (and yours) to retreat.

And always, be prepared!

DCG

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Donkeys and horses dig wells that help life thrive in the desert

Posted on May 3, 2021 by | 5 comments

I had no idea these animals did this!

Science News reports that donkeys and horses “dig into the dusty sediment to reach cool, crystal clear groundwater to quench their thirst. New research shows this equid ingenuity has far reaching benefits for the ecosystem.”

This provides a major source of water during dry times in the American southwest, benefiting many desert animals. Read their whole report here or watch below:

https://youtu.be/KvoKJJWTNdw

Here’s some video footage that shows many species using the wells:

https://youtu.be/BGG97nLljhk

So fascinating how God’s animals adapt to survive their environments!

DCG

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Have you ever seen a tornado in real life?

Posted on April 29, 2021 by | 13 comments

This week in my Oklahoma town we had a tornado warning the other night. We’ve been in this state for over seven years and have yet to see one. I never saw one when I lived in Georgia either, even though we’d go outside when the tornado siren went off!

Tornadoes happen frequently in the south during this time of year. Check out a tornado compilation here:

The US has the most tornadoes than any other country each year.

How are tornadoes formed? From Popular Mechanics:

“Tornadoes are usually born from thunderstorms. High intensity tornadoes form from supercell thunderstorms, a storm that has a “deep rotating mesocyclone.” Supercell thunderstorms are usually when you’ll hear a tornado warning. A regular thunderstorm will hit before a supercell and for this to occur, a specific set of ‘ingredients’ need to come together.

Humid air, which rises, collides with cold air in the atmosphere above it. This creates wind shears, rolling columns of wind that spin above the space where the hot and cold air meet. The warmer air creates an updraft that takes one of the horizontal wind shears and moves it into a vertical position.

The peak of the updraft has two spinning columns on either side of it—the larger of the two columns overtakes the smaller one and becomes the thunderstorm. From here, the storm is able to expand due to the warm air being sucked into the spinning column.”

Read the whole Popular Mechanics article here.

Read more tornado formation/characteristics here or watch below:

Have you ever seen a tornado?

DCG

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How to attract hummingbirds to your yard

Posted on March 15, 2021 by | 3 comments

Spring is on the way!

Last month I wrote about how to attract butterflies to your yard. Now let’s take a look at how to bring hummingbirds to your yard.

Hummingbirds apparently can remember feeding locations and will return to the best feeders. The food is a simple recipe: refined sugar and water (don’t add the red dye!). See easy recipes here or here.

Some fun facts about these birds:

  • There are more than 325 unique hummingbird species in the world. Only eight species regularly breed in the United States, though up to two dozen species may visit the country.
  • Hummingbirds do not suck nectar through their long bills, instead they lick it with fringed, forked tongues.
  • Hummingbirds cannot walk or hop, though their feet can be used to scoot sideways while they are perched.
  • A hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second depending on the direction of flight, the purpose of their flight, and the surrounding air conditions.

Carol from the “Hummingbird Spot” has a great YouTube channel with tons of videos that are all things hummingbirds. Check out how many hummingbirds she attracts to her patio:

See all of the Hummingbird Spot videos here for more tricks and their amazing videos of hummingbirds!

DCG

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