Longleaf Pine

The Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) is a pine native to the southeast United States, found along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast Virginia extending into northern and central Florida.

Longleaf Pine takes 100 to 150 years to become full size and can live to 500 years old. When young, they grow a long taproot, which is usually 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) long; by maturity they have a wide spreading lateral root system with several deep 'sinker' roots. It grows on well-drained, usually sandy soil, often in pure stands.

Before European settlement the Longleaf Pine pine forest dominated as much as 90,000,000 acres (360,000 km2) stretching from Virginia south to Florida and west to eastern Texas. Its range was defined by the frequent widespread fires that occurred throughout the southeast. In the late 19th century, these virgin timber stands were "among the most sought after timber trees in the country." This rich ecosystem has now been relegated to less than 5% of its presettlement range due to clear cutting practices.

Further Reading:
Longleaf Alliance
Joseph Jones Ecological Research Center

Info from here

Monday what are you reading

Finished this book this weekend. AMAZING>!! Its a thriller that keeps you spellbound throughout the entire book. It involves some of my favorite times in history (Tsarist Russia, the mystery of Anastasia, the early part of the 20th century, Europe in WWII)and also has a good love story. There were parts near the end that seemed abrupt but all in all the book flowed nicely. The dialogue and characters were well thought out and researched and the writing flowed easily. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical thrillers.


Still muddling through the Queen Noor book. Hopefully will finish today or tomorrow.


Hoping to start soon either Shanghai Girls or Day after Night.

Wordless Wednesdays

Happiness

While out and about checking mammal cameras for our job this fall. I found this today while stuck inside going through bat data and a couple hundred miles away from him. It made me happy.

Happiness is......

....recovering from a migraine.

....job interviews with jobs you're super excited to hear back from.

....nice spring weather.

....getting a parking spot out front of your office building.

....having fun at a Super Bowl party playing games.

Day of Happiness....... (let's be honest I don't remember anymore)

Monday Reading

I recently found this site via i-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com and followed it to its new home at this blog: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-22/



I am an avid reader and am thrilled to be participating for the first time.
I look forward to writing them many new reviews on books and reading others!



Currently reading:

The Heretic's Daughter is one that I've wanted to read for a long time. So far it is living up to my expectations and is my favorite book this week. I love stories that involve womens relationships to one another and the more historical the better.

Queen Noor's autobiography while good is a slow read. It is not surprisingly biased but I was surprised how much of the book was taken up with the war between Isreal and Palestine (past, present and future) and less with actually telling the story of her life.

Just finished:


Sundays at Tiffanys was a light fluffy read. Very enjoyable and quick.


The Years to Come was awful. I didn't expect much from it but only picked it up because it was a historical romance set in Australia. Turns out the main character is raped three times. Once by a convict and twice by her husband. Its ok when its her husband though as they eventually fall in love even though he does nothing but dominate her and yell at her and this somehow shows his love.


Up Next:



Shanghai Girls I've also wanted to read for a long time and am super excited about.

City of Shadows I picked up because I am a sucker for anything related to Tsarist Russia.

One badass little smammal

The Southern Grasshopper Mouse (Onychomys torridus)

Look at this crazy, little fucker! Apparently, they kill horned lizards by biting their eyeballs and then leave nothing left but the skin and legs!!!!

From the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Site:

Grasshopper mice are extremely aggressive predators. They are largely nocturnal, good climbers, and active year round. They hunt their prey like most sophisticated predators. After stalking their potential kill, they seize the animal with a rush, killing with a bite to the head. While overpowering their prey, O torridus closes its eyes and lays its ears back.

They also apparently eat their mates (that's one way to solve a domestic dispute):

Grasshopper mice are solitary animals, guarding their large territory fiercely against all intruders. They may, however, live in male-female pairs year round, although this seems to shorten the life span, as one of the two partners inevitably kills the other. Grasshopper mice often commit acts of cannibalism, killing and eating other members of their species if they are threatened or in need of food.

Holy shit, they howl too??

Perhaps the most unusual thing about the grasshopper mouse is its trademark "howl". Onychomys can produce a loud, piercing, pure tone, which lasts between 0.7 and 1.2 seconds, and is audible to the human ear up to100 meters away. Standing on their hind legs with their noses pointed upwards, they give this call when faced with an adversary, including other grasshopper mice, or prior to making a kill. This shrill warning, often repeated, is compared to a miniature wolf call, due to its smoothness and prolongation, and to the animal's wolf-like posture.

Damn, these are badass little smammals.

This is why I got into Biology and wanted to study in particular small mammals (smammals) because of all the crazy, cool shit they do.
Read more here.