We were notified that the Rattlesnake Rescue Video was selected to be posted on NPR’s Talk of the Nation/Science Friday website! For those of you who are fans of the show (Friday’s at 2pm EST on WFAE 90.7 in Charlotte), you know that they often request “science related” videos from listeners for their website. We weren’t sure the Rattlesnake Video qualified as a science vid, but we submitted it anyway and were thrilled when we were contacted by the show’s producer for permission to post the video. Of course, in this day and age, nothing is that easy, so we had to contact Loye and Sam, the stars of the video to see if they would be willing to sign a release allowing NPR to use their images and names on their site. Neither one of them hesitated and we all sent our releases in promptly! Not only is it totally cool to have our video posted on a national, dare I say “international” site, but more importantly, we are hoping that the exposure will educate others on how important snakes are to the eco-system and will make people think twice before they kill one. You may have already seen the original video (at right in VodPod), but check out the video on the SciFri website. Its been edited for length and also has a “never before seen” shot of the snake for a different vantage point that wasn’t included in the first video.
My hometown newspaper, The Lake City Reporter, ran a great article on the snake rescue. Todd Wilson, Editor, spoke with Loye Barnard, one of the rescuers and an avid conservationist in North Florida, and wrote a great piece on how everything—plants and animals—has a purpose in nature. We were delighted that Todd mentioned Smell Like Dirt and I hope if anyone from Lake City visits this site, they will post a comment. If you haven’t seen the the Rattlesnake Rescue Video, check it out on the VodPod listing on this blog. And for you Lake Citians, there is also a great video of the Ichetucknee River in case you haven’t visited it recently. Hopefully you will be inspired to go kayaking!
We recently spent a week kayaking the Ichetucknee River in North Florida and although we’ve already posted a couple of great videos from our trip (see the Rattlesnake Rescue and Pileated Woodpeckers on the VodPod on the far right of your screen), we are posting this overview of the State Park and all of the wildlife we saw. Its a great place to see a lot of amazing wildlife and if you can’t get to Florida soon, we hope it will inspire you to visit a park near you to see wildlife in their natural habitat.
Another video from our recent Smell Like Dirt Takes a Road Trip to the Ichetucknee Springs State Park in North Florida. We got lucky and stumbled upon a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers who were too focused on looking for food to care about us filming them. Pileated Woodpeckers can be found across the Eastern United States so most of us have a great chance to see them. Find a large forested area near you and see if you can find some for yourself. They are very loud so chances are you will hear them before you see them.
Special thanks to Lauri Shubert of Lake City, Florida, for letting us use the still photos of a male pileated working on a tree in her own backyard. Lauri definitely Smells Like Dirt!
"In Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." --Margaret Atwood.
I believe we are losing our relationship with nature and with it, the understanding that how we live impacts the world around us. This blog will explore ways to reconnect to nature: Gardening with native plants, creating a haven for wildlife in your backyard, tips on living green and fun ways to experience our abundant natural resources. Its time to get outside! I smell like dirt, do you?
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen is reviewing whether to seek damages from former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, who was at the helm when it emerged the carmaker had cheated on emissions tests, supervisory board member Stephan Weil told a newspaper.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rains soaked portions of the U.S. Corn Belt this week, swamping fields in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, and more storms are expected early next week ahead of a warm-up, meteorologists said Friday.
HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Hundreds of Israeli surfers in black skull-and-crossbones shirts took to the waves on Friday in what they said was a record-breaking protest against potential environmental damage from off-shore gas development.
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese volcano that figured in a 1960s James Bond movie erupted explosively on Friday for the first time since April, sending smoke thousands of meters into the air, less than a week after a strong earthquake shook the country's west.
LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Electric car maker Tesla Inc's move last week to cut 9 percent of its workforce will sharply downsize the residential solar business it bought two years ago in a controversial $2.6 billion deal, according to three internal company documents and seven current and former Tesla solar employees.
PEDAVEEDU, India (Reuters) - India is fast-tracking environmental clearances for projects like power plants and coal mines in a bid to propel growth, setting off alarm bells among environmentalists and affected residents who say the decisions are being made too quickly.
(Reuters) - Homes and businesses in Texas are expected to set a daily electricity consumption record for June on Friday as consumers crank up their air conditioners to escape a brutal heat wave, according to the operator of most of the state's power grid.
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Sugar market players in Brazil are diverging widely about the size of the 2018-19 cane crop in the center-south, the world's largest sugar producing region, as erratic weather makes it difficult to assess the season's likely final tally.
MADRID (Reuters) - Emilio Cuenca makes a living taking portraits of pets but in his spare time snaps rescue animals, hoping that his pictures will encourage people to adopt mistreated and abandoned dogs and cats.
COLOMBO (Reuters) - A Sri Lanka court on Friday ordered the arrest of villagers who beat a leopard to death after the big cat, an endangered animal in the country, eluded capture by wildlife officials.
