The Ark In Space

Prehistoric Landscape Returns to Europe

Saturday 26 January 2019

If you take a short train journey north from Amsterdam you really should choose to sit on your left. When you have passed the small town of Almere you will come across something that has not been seen in Europe for thousands of years. Beasties, big beasties. Herds and herds of them. Welcome to the Oostvaardersplassen.

Image Credit Wikimedia

It looks to the observer as if they have suddenly been transported back in time. Herds of deer, wild cattle and horses roam around – it is like a vast prehistoric landscape. Strangely enough this place did not exist before 1968. It is a polder, a low lying tract of land that is enclosed by barriers called dikes. The Oostvaardersplassen has become in forty years one of the most important nature reserves in Europe.

The Hidden Life of the Burrowing Owl

Sunday 13 January 2019

We don’t usually stray away from live action on Ark in Space, but this is really something rather wonderful. Mike Roush, an animator living in California, has created this animated record of the life and loves of the Burrowing Owl. Although it does veer in to the anthropomorphic it also faithfully records many of the details of how burrowing owls survive in the wild. If this wets your appetite for the real thing then why not take a look at our feature article on the burrowing owl.

The Schmidt Sting Pain Index: How Much Could You Take?

Sunday 6 January 2019

Have you ever been stung by a bee? Want to know how much you have suffered on a scale of one to four? Then take a look at the Schmidt Sting Pain Index which rates the relative pain caused by the sting of hymenoptera. That would be sawflies, wasps, bees and ants to most of us.

The Sweat Bee

Image Credit Flickr User Grafted No 1

Schmidt describes the sting of the Sweat Bee as “Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm.” Sweat bees are a large family of bees and they are hugely attracted to humans. Specifically, it is the salt in our sweat that they like.

The Meerkat - Sun Angel of Africa

Saturday 5 January 2019

Image Credit Flickr User PJM

The Meerkat – if any species of animal had a right to be a little irritated by the name we have gifted them, this is one. Of course, they are blithely unaware of any names we might choose to call them, but this small mammal from the heart of Africa is anything but a mere cat.

Image Credit Flickr User peasap

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