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The Sweat Bee

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.

Spiders have been studied for centuries.  In Middle English the name for spider was coppe and they built coppewebs, a word still retained in the language as cobweb. Yet despite our familiarity with these enigmatic air-breathing arthropods, scientists are still discovering new facts about them – and not necessarily about newly discovered species either.  Here are ten amazing recently discovered facts about spiders.

10. Electrostatic Webs that Suck in Prey
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In 2013 students at the University of California, Berkeley, discovered that the web of the garden spider (or common cross spider) is attracted to charged objects. When a charged object is held next to a garden spider web, its threads arc towards each other. Many insects produce a charge when flying – the honeybee, for example, can generate a charge of up to 200 volts as it moves its wings.  So, if one gets close to a web, the threads arc, effectively sucking the hapless creature in to the web.

Love them or hate them, there is more to the snail than meets the eye. Here, with some amazing photography, is a look at the humble snail in all its mucus covered glory. Whether regarded as pet, pest or tasty treat, they are everywhere.

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Snails that live on land have been around for quite a while, around six hundred million years which puts our species a little to shame. Although there are many more species of snails that live in water, it is the land snail that most people know well. Many shudder at the thought of the sliminess of the creature, others have nightmares about them. However, there are many aspects of snail life that will surprise. Seen up close, too, the shells of these gastropods are often things of exquisite beauty.

At first sight, getting into sports betting as a pet lover might seem an unusual combination, but these two have more in common than you might think. Both presuppose passion, patience, and a sharp eye. Whether you are a fan of a team or you are training an animal, you are making bets on the future outcome of events that are based on patterns and behaviors that you value and enjoy. This is what you do to use your love of pets to enter into the thrilling world of sports betting.

1. Basics of Sport Betting

 

Before engaging in any gambling, it is important to understand the fundamentals. Sports betting is the act of betting on the result of some sports  event. You can place a bet on platforms such as Bovada betting sportsbook and wager on different things like the winning side, the total number of goals or points, or even the most specific occurrences that may occur during a game. The odds denote the chance of these events happening, and knowing these odds is an essential part of making intelligent bets.

2. Using Pet Training Principles for Betting Strategy

As a pet lover, you already have the idea of patience and consistency required in animal training. The application of these skills is directly in sports gambling. Betting should be viewed from a long-term perspective, similar to the way you would expect a pet to learn a new trick after repeated practice and reward.

Training a pet requires seeing their behavior and modifying your method to suit it. Likewise, in betting, the record of team performances, player injuries, and other factors will enable you to predict with a higher degree of accuracy. Like all training sessions with animals, you will need to record your betting results to see what works and what doesn’t.

3. Emotional Control: Pets to Bets

Emotional control is one of the most significant aspects of pet lessons. The one who knows the worth of staying calm while remaining rational because people who faced situations of the relevant kind are surely those who had to handle an overexcited puppy or an obstinate cat. This control of emotions is more precious when coming into the gambling circle. It’s really easy to let the excitement of the winner or the irritation at a loser influence your judgment. The way you keep being in control when a pet does something wrong, you should also be disciplined and logical when it comes to making bets so that you do not make irrational decisions based on emotions.

4. Your Niche Expertise

In the same way, breeds of dogs differ, there are different types of sports and betting opportunities. Capitalizing on what you already know. For example, if you have always been a fan of a certain sport because it is popular in your area or among your people, stick to it. Your already acquired knowledge of the activity could serve as a big benefit. In both sports betting and pet training, the more specialized your understanding is, the more likely you are to succeed.

5. Joining Communities

As animal lovers enjoy groups to tell stories, advice or tricks about their pets, sports bettors gain from such communities. The communities may offer information and tips that can improve your betting system. Participate in forums, visit local betting events, or even be a member of online groups where you can share strategies and learn from professional bettors.

6. Responsible Betting

The most important thing to be aware of, similar to the proper taking care of animals, is to bet responsibly. In the same way you would not put your pet’s health or safety at risk, do not gamble with money that you cannot afford to lose. You should allocate a certain amount of money for bets, the way you might allocate a sum for pet care items.

7. Technology and Tools

In today’s digital world, technology and tools are available that will allow you to monitor and analyze sports, whereas there are apps and devices that are used to monitor the health and physical fitness of pets. Utilize these instruments to get the understanding of player stats, historical performance and predictive modeling. This information can greatly contribute to your betting accuracy as a fitness tracker to a pet’s health routine.

8. Patience and Long Run Dedication

Last but not the least, both pets’ ownership and sport betting demand long-term and patient investment. Just as a new pet does not obey at once, you also cannot right away have success in sports betting. Lose learnings, win celebrations, and continuous progress are needed at all times.

In the end, you, as a pet lover, will have many of the qualities required to succeed in betting on sports. You can realize that sports betting has turned into a sometimes profitable and entertaining addition to the activity that already filled your life, which depends on the ability to observe, learn, and consistent effort. Whether this is about strategic betting or the joyful randomness of pets, both worlds have a lot of challenges mixed with beautiful rewards. Keep the same drive and passion you show to your pets in this new venture, and you could be a winner as a pet lover more than as a bettor.

Each year the lakes of Kenya play host to one of the world’s largest populations of flamingos. For a short period the area around a group of lakes is awash with pink as millions of lesser flamingos fly in to breed and one of the world's most spectacular displays takes place.

There is safety in numbers, of course. It ensure the survival of the many. So each year Flamingo City forms, crowded, noisy and sometimes tempers can flare.  Yet why do these remarkable birds flock here in such huge numbers?

Some of these lakes, Lake Bogoria in particular, have formed along the Rift Valley. The lakes, among them Nakuru and Elementeita do not have significant drainage in to rivers. This means that the forces of evaporation are concentrated on them and this causes the water to become brackish and alkaline.

This has, of course, an adverse effect on aquatic life and you may then be wondering what on earth the flamingos eat. The answer is algae, the growth of which is encouraged by the shallow depth of the water and the powerful sunlight beaming down upon it.

The lesser flamingo loves to eat this blue-green algae and it is virtually alone in its taste for this rich harvest. That means that, without competition, they arrive in huge numbers. Some are predated by hyenas but Lake Bogoria can be temporary home to over one hundred thousand of them.

Volcanic geysers and fumaroles spit out sulfurous gases into the air which gives the place an other worldly feel. Once can hardly imagine life scraping by here, let alone thriving. Yet only a small distance away life defies all obstacles and flourishes in a mass of pink exuberance!


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First picture - Image Credit Flickr User Rainbirder

You may be familiar with the Common Yellow and the Western Tiger, but the Swallowtail family of butterflies is much larger and diverse than you may imagine. Take a look at some of the less familiar species, such as the Pipevine above, along with some stunning photographs, and revisit one or two you have perhaps seen before.

The Old World Swallowtail
Although not restricted to the Old World, Papilio machaon occurs throughout Europe, Asia and North America. However, the alternative name, the Common Yellow, although more accurate, has less of the natural glamor that the insect itself exhibits. The black vein markings give the butterfly a striking appearance. The name of the insect is, of course taken from the swallow like tails which protrude from the hind wings.

In centuries gone by beachcombers would come across this strange sight – a paper-thin chain of circular capsules – seemingly abandoned on the shore.  The chances are that they knew exactly what they were but we can imagine that one fisherman, perhaps to entrance the girl he was courting, hit on a romantic name for this definitively non-ovate leftover; the mermaid’s necklace.  The name stuck – of course it would, it allows a wonderful jump of the imagination. We can only guess how many stories were woven around them and told to starry-eyed children. Did they know that they were looking at the egg cases of the very creature they had enjoyed for dinner on numerous occasions?

Image Credit Wikimedia