Good morning. 60s and rainy. It got up to the high 70s yesterday — June rather than April weather — but it is predicted to cool off tonight, down to the 50s.
First, LOVE SRV! Eric Clapton was supposed to be on that helicopter; I forget why he wasn't. But she is an absolute hoot! Her reactions are as if shes opening the BEST Christmas presents EVER over and over again.
Today’s special animal friend is the grey (or southern) foam-nest tree frog, Chiromantis xerampelina. These arboreal frogs are found in a wide variety of habitats: forest, savannah, scrubland, grassland, marshes, cultivated fields, urban areas, canals, and ditches. Unlike many frogs, they thrive in both moist and dry habitats. They are 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches long; females are bigger than males. The skin is dry and bumpy, ranging in color from white to dark brown, depending on the habitat. Thicker and less permeable than is typical for frogs, it protects them from drying out.
In drier and sunnier habitats, the frog’s skin will turn white to reflect the sun, while in cooler areas – with temperatures below 96 degrees – the frog will darken to absorb more heat. This also helps them to camouflage themselves against damp tree bark. Another adaptation allows the frogs to excrete uric acid in a solid form, avoiding water loss. When estivating during the hottest, driest times, they tuck themselves up to avoid exposing the underside. They can lose up to 60% of their body weight as fluid and still survive until the next wet season.
Females in this species are polyandrous in a weird way. When a female is ready to mate – at night during the local wet season – she will excrete mucus from her cloaca and use her back legs to aerate the mucus into an adhesive foam on a tree branch above water. Several times, during this process, she will descend to rehydrate. When the foam nest is ready, she will deposit up to 1,200 eggs in it, and various males, sometimes 10 or more, will deposit sperm and mix the whole mess up. It is believed that this increases the chance of compatible sperm and eggs meeting up as well as increasing genetic diversity for the species.
The eggs hatch in the foam, and when the tadpoles are about 1 cm long, they drop out of the nest into the body of water below. Fornasini's spiny reed frog, Afrixalus fornasini, eats the eggs and tadpoles of the foam-nest tree frog. Mantises can kill and eat adult frogs. The tree frogs eat insects as adults, and they can live 2-1/2 years. They are a species of Least Concern with a broad range across southern Africa.
There are other frog species that produce foam nests for their eggs. These include the Malabar Gliding (or flying) Frog, Rhacophorus malabaricus, which is native to India.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0SmXVrLlZ4
The Be Good Tanyas cover Townes van Zandt's "Waiting Around to Die".
This was our favorite band in Nashville, FF to around 2:08…unbelievable. https://youtu.be/K-3AFleDG3c?feature=shared
She’s so cute! I’m going to have to share this with my husband, the guitar player who worshipped SRV.
Good morning. 60s and rainy. It got up to the high 70s yesterday — June rather than April weather — but it is predicted to cool off tonight, down to the 50s.
First, LOVE SRV! Eric Clapton was supposed to be on that helicopter; I forget why he wasn't. But she is an absolute hoot! Her reactions are as if shes opening the BEST Christmas presents EVER over and over again.
Today’s special animal friend is the grey (or southern) foam-nest tree frog, Chiromantis xerampelina. These arboreal frogs are found in a wide variety of habitats: forest, savannah, scrubland, grassland, marshes, cultivated fields, urban areas, canals, and ditches. Unlike many frogs, they thrive in both moist and dry habitats. They are 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches long; females are bigger than males. The skin is dry and bumpy, ranging in color from white to dark brown, depending on the habitat. Thicker and less permeable than is typical for frogs, it protects them from drying out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEPTJhDlx7s
In drier and sunnier habitats, the frog’s skin will turn white to reflect the sun, while in cooler areas – with temperatures below 96 degrees – the frog will darken to absorb more heat. This also helps them to camouflage themselves against damp tree bark. Another adaptation allows the frogs to excrete uric acid in a solid form, avoiding water loss. When estivating during the hottest, driest times, they tuck themselves up to avoid exposing the underside. They can lose up to 60% of their body weight as fluid and still survive until the next wet season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj-77tT0Bso
Females in this species are polyandrous in a weird way. When a female is ready to mate – at night during the local wet season – she will excrete mucus from her cloaca and use her back legs to aerate the mucus into an adhesive foam on a tree branch above water. Several times, during this process, she will descend to rehydrate. When the foam nest is ready, she will deposit up to 1,200 eggs in it, and various males, sometimes 10 or more, will deposit sperm and mix the whole mess up. It is believed that this increases the chance of compatible sperm and eggs meeting up as well as increasing genetic diversity for the species.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsICYkA_9ic
The eggs hatch in the foam, and when the tadpoles are about 1 cm long, they drop out of the nest into the body of water below. Fornasini's spiny reed frog, Afrixalus fornasini, eats the eggs and tadpoles of the foam-nest tree frog. Mantises can kill and eat adult frogs. The tree frogs eat insects as adults, and they can live 2-1/2 years. They are a species of Least Concern with a broad range across southern Africa.
There are other frog species that produce foam nests for their eggs. These include the Malabar Gliding (or flying) Frog, Rhacophorus malabaricus, which is native to India.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1OHaa0MeH8
Helicopters are very dangerous.
Good morning, how is everyone today? I slept in until Bird Time, about 5:50. "They say" it might rain in the next hour.