Some interesting facts about the Burrowing Owl are that they can make more then seventeen vocalizations, and when alarmed they can make a hissing sound that sound like a rattlesnake. They make the hissing noise to scare predators, so they think there is a poisonous snake nearby. Burrowing Owls put dung at the entrance of their hole to attract bugs to eat. The burrowing owl is an endangered species, and here are some reasons why. Burrowing Owls are losing their habitats, because there is construction, like the building of houses that takes space in the desert.
In the case of roads, nitrogen in exhaust fumes can be beneficial to the growth of some species of wildflower, which encourages them to spread further along the protective area of the grass verge, which is an area almost untouched by human interference due to its proximity to heavy traffic, therefore meaning that plant species have a lot of freedom to grow and spread. This in turn then encourages an increase in plant, bird and animal life along the routeway, creating a diverse ecosystem - such as along the M4 corridor, which has become a home to kestrels and other birds of prey due to the increase in the number of insects and small mammals who inhabit the area. In addition, some human activities along routeways can affect the types of plant species that can be found there. For example, the spreading of salt/grit on roads in icy conditions can lead to halophiles (salt-loving plants) inhabiting the area, and as many grass verges are regularly maintained by weeding/mowing, natural succession can sometimes be restricted due to the fact that plant species are not allowed to grow naturally and can sometimes be managed by the use of chemical pesticides, possibly resulting in a plagioclimax. Furthermore, afforestation by groups such as the highways agency (who have planted over 1.8 billion
As a kid you always saw sow bugs in damp and dark areas. According to Melville H. Hatch’s, Records of Terrestrial Isopoda or Sow Bugs from North America, where they researched different sow bugs and stated that the sow bugs are not limited to the sea shore, but they are still sound in wet, dark environments. (Hatch, 1939) Also, in Pill Bugs Up Close, living in damp, dark places keeps the Sow Bugs from drying out. Showing why most of them prefer dark, wet places. Sow bugs also prefer dark, damp, covered places because it keeps them hidden from most of their enemies, according to Pill Bug Biology: A Spider’s Spinach, But a Biologist’s Delight.
The role of tools greatly impacted human life in the sense that they helped humans hunt animals. This created an easier way to eat animals for survival and to use their skin for clothing, as well. Animal bones were even used to sharpen and create tools. It ultimately changed humans’ way of living. 3) The Neolithic Revolution brought a spring of agriculture and a new society.
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) take large amounts of animals, fatten them up, and slaughter them as fast as they possibly can, so they can keep the prices low. These (CAFOs) are inhumane areas where animals are confined to quarters where they can barely move. Living in such close quarters also makes it easier for these animals to become sick which sometimes leads to recalls. In 2009 there was an outbreak of salmonella from tainted peanuts which killed at least eight people and sickened 600. “To stay alive and grow in such conditions, farm animals need pharmaceutical help, which can have further damaging consequences for humans.”(34) An astounding 70% of antimicrobial drugs used in America are given to animals not humans.
Amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates and small mammals are part of their diet too. Unfortunately, eating these organisms can sometimes put endangered and rare species at a greater risk. Corn, barley, wheat, seed, grain and oat crops are the main vegetation that they feed on. Figure 1 & 2 (last page) shows the extent of feral pigs impact on threatened species in 2008. Feral pigs usually stay close to water so they can drink regularly and to control their body temperature, as they are extremely susceptible to heat.
Chloe Mott Block 2A November 15, 2011 Ignorance is Lethal Rachel Carson, a biologist, wrote a book entitled Silent Spring that helped change American’s attitudes about their environment. In the Silent Spring passage Carson describes how farmers rid themselves of vexing or inconvenient creatures, a majority of them being birds. The farmers kill the birds by spraying a poison called parathion, which is capable of “protecting” the area in which it is administered for extended amounts of time. In the passage, Carson provides all three types of rational appeals-ethical, logical and emotional- in an effort to raise awareness and encourage action about the issue of using poisons that have the potential to kill animals. She expresses these appeals by using various rhetorical strategies such as diction and syntax.
Environmentally, a positive impact is “as generalist feeders, they can have more than one food source and other insects are their prey (University of Arkansas division of agriculture, 2006). In the South Eastern United States, fire ants eat the natural predator of the sugar cane and cotton (Roberts, 2011). When fleas and ticks are involved, fire ants eat the larval and pupal stage fleas and ticks and reduce the chances of Lyme disease and other nasty diseases (Roberts, 2011). The negative impacts of fire ants on the environment are the disfiguring of landscapes, and the stinging of people, pets and livestock (Steven Tvedten. The Best Control (2nd Edition).
A few of the differences include the society that the ants live in versus the society of the other bugs, the specific behaviors that make up the ant's culture, and the beneficial differences that can be made to the ants overall society and culture when they are open to the idea of change. In the film the ants are a part of a unique and very structured society that is made up of a variety of similar ants with diverse personalities. There are a large number of ants and each of them have their own responsibility and they are controlled by the queen ant. The Queen ant has many responsibilities such as running the colony and communicating with
Decline in Bees The decline in bees has dropped about 80%(honeybees) and 60% (bumblebees) since 1970. Bees are so important because they don’t only just make honey, they pollinate more than 90 of the flowering crops we rely on for food. There is a direct connection between the bees pollinating the crops and our ability to provide food for our families. One of the reasons why the bees are declining is that it is largely due to loss of habitats, intensive farming and overuse of pesticides and herbicides. Bees need flowers, and there are very few flowers to be found in the farmed countryside these days.