Backyard Wildlife Habitats

With the increasing influx of new housing developments and shopping complexes, more and more wildlife habitats are becoming extinct each year. To help restore some part of the ecosystem, our backyards can become lifesavers for many animals such as birds, butterflies, bats, squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, skunks and frogs. What advantage to you gain from this? The obvious seems to be able to watch animals in their natural environment; the other is that you will have to spend less time and money keeping up your yard. What constitutes a Backyard Wildlife Habitat? It is simple, really - a backyard for the needs of wildlife. However, you must be certified, by at least having a small area - as small as a few square feet - and be ready to show or prove the following:

1. Food: trees and plants, feeders for birds, squirrels, birdseeds, insects (for lizards and toads)
2. Water (for drinking and bathing); birdbaths, ponds, water gardens, dripping hose, dish.
3. Cover: shrubs, crown vetch, a discarded Christmas tree, a dead tree trunk, brush piles, rocks, stonewalls.
4. A place to raise young; heavy cover, bird houses, squirrel boxes, water (for frogs, salamanders, other reptiles, insects)

The National Wildlife Federation suggests utilizing native trees, shrubs, and flowers that usually require less water, fertilizer, and pest control. Go to your local state and fish department's website or contact them to find out what can be planted to attract wild life. Vary the heights of plants so you have layers of foliage. Consider plants and trees that hold berries into winter: pyracantha, holly, juniper, dogwood, madrone, toyon, bayberry, bittersweet. Include a firebreak, which can be as simple as a mowed path. Once planting is done, try to conserve even more water through mulching and other practices.

To attract hummingbirds: Plant tubular flowers bearing nectar. You can also put out feeders containing a mixture of four parts water to one part sugar. (Don't use honey or red dye). You should change the sugar water and clean the feeder every three days. Consider: acacia, butterfly weed, butterfly bush, delphinium, echeveria, eucalyptus, fireburst, fuchsia, hollyhocks, impatiens, lantana, lobelia, morning glory, nasturtium, nicotiana, penstemon, phlox, red buckeye, salvia, sweet William

To attract other birds: Plant a variety of seed and fruit-bearing trees, grasses, and plants. Consider: barberry, bayberry, black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, blazing star, bluestem grass, buckthorn, columbine, coralbells, cotoneaster, elderberry, flowering crab apple, grape holly, holly honeysuckle, jewelweed, juniper, mulberry, oak, phlox, pine and cedar trees, sunflower, thistle, trumpet creeper, viburnum, Virginia Creeper

To attract butterflies: Locate your garden in a warm and protected place. Plant flowers in big clumps so butterflies can find them. Some butterflies tend to eat one kind of plant when in the larval stage, another when mature. Monarch larvae, for example, eat only milkweed, while mature monarchs sip nectar from a variety of flowers. Plan your garden so that flowers will be blooming throughout the growing season. Purple is the favorite color of butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing flowers to plant. (They also like orange, pink, lavender, yellow, and white.) Provide water and some large, dark-colored stones where butterflies can sunbathe. Don't use pesticide.

Kiya Sama is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/
which is a site for Writers.

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What You Need to Know About Arc Flash

An arc flash is a short circuit in the air. The flash is instant, and almost too fast for the eye to understand, however the final outcome of this incident could worth millions in direct and indirect costs to a company.

The temperature of an arc can reach more than 5000 F because it creates a brilliant flash of light and a loud bang. An enormous amount of concentrated radiant energy explodes outward from the electrical equipment, the spread of hot gas, the fusion of metal, causing death or serious radiation burns, and creating pressure waves that can damage hearing or brain function and a flash that can damage eyesight. The fast-moving pressure wave can also send bulk materials such as pieces of equipment, metal tools, and other objects flying, injuring person standing nearby.

When the insulation or isolation between electrified drivers is breached or can no longer withstand the applied voltage, arc flash occurs. Because employees working on or near energized conductors or circuit, movement or close contact with the material, or equipment failure, it can cause a phase ashore or phases fault.

Insulation failure and accidents caused by the probe touching a test on the wrong surface or slid tool are the most common causes of arcing fault. In other words, arc flash is caused by uncontrolled conduction of electric current in the ground phase, the phase of neutrality, or from one phase to be accompanied by ionization of the air. Due to the expansion of the evaporation of metal driver, a line by line or ground fault line arcing can degenerate into an electrical arc fault phase in less than a 1 / 1000 of a second. The heat and intense light at the point of the arc is called arc flash.

Courts-circuits and arc faults are extremely dangerous and potentially lethal to personnel. The proceeds of arc fault current and voltage concentrated in a single place, results in enormous energy released in many forms. Arc fault generates large quantities of heat, which can seriously burn human skin and clothing set on fire. Temperatures in the arc can reach four times the temperature of the suns surface. The high temperature of the arc vaporizes drivers in an explosive change of solid state to steam.

The main reason to be concerned about arc flash is for the safety of staff.

Electrical safety training includes NFPA70 and Arc Flash analysis and education. Lewellyn has been a leader training the foremost companies and their employees for years.

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Alligators Do Not Make Good Pets

When I was about eight years old, a neighbor of ours, about sixteen years of age had a pet alligator. We lived in Providence, Kentucky a small coal mining town in the western side of the state. This neighbor was known for doing and owning exotic things. I remember being impressed by that small alligator chasing our hands as we moved them quickly along the edge of the old bathtub where he was kept. I do not think that he kept him very long as he was growing very fast and was getting harder to handle.

My next encounter with an alligator was in 1962, I had just gotten out of the service and was visiting my family in Sebring, Florida. Dad had retired from coal mining and took Mom back to Florida that she loved so much. The Florida alligator was not protected at that time and you could find plenty of stuffed ones in the souvenir shops around the state. Dad had taken up commercial fishing while I was in the service and he was enjoying the hunting and fishing on Lake Istokpoga. One of the things that he would hunt was alligator. You could bait hooks and hang them from limbs over the water for the alligators, but that was not the way we hunted. We would go out after dark in the boat with flashlights and 22 magnum rifles, drag the boat into the edge of the swampy shore line and then get out. We would wade through the swamp in water and mud up to our knees shining the light around looking for the reflection of the alligator's eyes.

The eyes would shine bright red, you had to be careful though, if the eyes where too high off the ground, then it could be a cow. When we spotted the alligator, then dad would shoot it between the eyes. My job when I was with him was to get the alligator by the tail and drag it back to the boat. Dad also carried a 22 long barrel pistol to finished off any trouble makers. Once when I was dragging a five-foot alligator back to the boat, he came to life. I could not hang onto that tail, Dad finely finished him off with the pistol and we had alligator tail the next day for dinner.

On one of those hunting trips I recall coming upon a small pool of muddy water that was full of swarming alligators, there must have been hundreds in it. From that time on I was sure that there would never be a shortage of alligators. A few years later the state of Florida placed a ban on hunting alligators and they started to greatly increase in numbers throughout the state.

As the fishing and hunting rules became more strict, Dad moved from the lake and into town. He bought twenty plus acres north of Sebring near Lake Bonnet. It was a peat bog that was being dug and sold by the bag. Digging out the peat left ponds on the property and the alligators loved that. Dad had one alligator he named Old Charlie. He was blind from a hunter's hook used at some time in the past. Dad would take fish scraps out to the pond and clap his hands for Old Charlie to come, then feed him the fish. They became great friends until after several years, Old Charlie wandered to close to a near by house and the county came out and killed him.

In the 1980's I took over the books and finely the peat farm and ran it from our home in Georgia with no more than one employee at anyone time, we just barely make ends meet. So we were always looking for some way to help it make a profit. One thing that came up was the possibly of creating an alligator farm. We already had a good start, with the ponds and a few wild alligators on the property. Kathy and I attended a three-day seminar at a college in north Florida on farm raising alligators. We learned more about alligators in three days than we ever wanted to know. I even visited a working alligator farm north of Avon Park and watched as they feed them and walked around the breeding grounds that consisted of a series of ditches dug in "S" shapes to provide plenty of nesting area.

Alligators are very hard to raise and there are a lot of risks involved. Alligator that you see served in restaurants are farm raised two no more than the second year. After that the growth rate slows and the feeding becomes too expensive. The best part of the alligator is the tail, cut into stakes with a center bone and four good sections of white meat. If you get dark meat in a restaurant, you are eating the parts around the shoulders and legs. The female alligator will adjust the height of the nest and coverings so that the temperature is correct. Alligator eggs can only survive within a very small temperature window, and the sex of the alligator is determined by just a few degrees one way or another. The egg will form a band that will grow around the egg, if the egg is turned over before this band has completed a circle around the egg then the embryo will die.

When the eggs are ready to be moved, they must be gathered and moved to a safe place for hatching. The hatching and growing buildings consist of a long building, low to the ground and the rood can be lifted to feed and clean the concrete pools inside. The building will consist of four or five compartments for different size alligators. That start at one end when they hatch and are moved to deeper pools and with slightly more room as they grow. The ideal is to keep them as quite and dark as possible so that they will grow fast and not expend their fat moving around. They are feed and hosed down each day for no more than two years and then sent to restaurants. Runts have to be weeded out when they are found not to be growing. You can feed a runt all you want but it will not grow.

Well with all this knowledge about alligators we were convinced that it was not worth the risk and gave up on the ideal.

About the Author: Hubert Crowell, Cave Explorer

I have started writing as a hobby and plan to write about my life, work, hobbies, religion and many other things of interest to me and maybe others will enjoy also.

For more information on caving, improving your service department and many other subjects, Please visit my web site at:

http://hubertcrowell.name/

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Women's Fashion - Trendy Handbags For Your Spring Wardrobe

Every woman knows that no wardrobe is complete without the perfect purse. Shopping for a purse can be exhausting. Going from store to store in search of the perfect one to carry your important possessions around can be time consuming and frustrating. From the simple to the outrageous there is a bag out there to please even the pickiest of purse buyers. If you're planning on hitting the stores in search of the the handbag to complete your spring wardrobe here is a look at what's hot this this season.

• Exotic Reptiles: If you're a fan of fashion inspired by snakes and crocodiles you're in luck. This season's exotic reptile skin purses are extremely popular. Ranging from classic snake skins to iridescent crocodile hides you should be able to find a hobo or a clutch in a bold pattern that reflects your love for the wild side.
• Bright and Bold: This spring's collection of purses have been referred to as candy. This sweet title comes from the bold and bright colors that are filling stores everywhere. Gone are the muted colors of winter, replaced by the bright hues that make spring so fun. Pick your spirits up while you brighten up your wardrobe with a flashy orange or multi-colored handbag. The bright colors turn your purse into a terrific arm accessory bring flair to simple outfits.
• Heavy Metal: While fashion as a whole has seemed to make a quick stop in the 70's, purses are taking a that approach to a new level. Rock N' Roll is a great way to describe the latest purses. This seasons handbags are into heavy metal with large gold, silver, and black chains and other loud embellishments. Look for purses made using patent leather and metallic materials.
• Super Sized: Tired of trying to balance between a clutch and bags resembling luggage all the while staying fashionable? This season over sized is in especially when it comes to the hobo. The trend in purses this season make it possible to bring everything you need without carrying a duffel bag on your shoulder or worrying about whether your zipper is going to break under pressure. For an added bonus look for a over sized handbag inspired by 60's and 70's vintage wear.
• Simple Sophistication: While a large majority of the purses out there this season will leave your head spinning there are a few that use simplicity as their claim fame. If sophistication is a must for your purse of choice, then you will definitely be able to find one that fits your requirements. Spring is full of simple yet stylish purses in timeless color combinations like black and white or brown and tan. Details are kept to a minimum and there is a return to feminine chic that hasn't been seen in awhile.

For trendy clothing and accessories including handbags shop at Baby Phat. Baby Phat offers trendy urban style for women of all ages. Shop at Baby Phat.

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