Camelopardalis

Nature 2 Minutes

Giraffes are amazing creatures! They used to be known as ‘camel leopards’, due to their tall structure and leopard-like pattern, and their scientific name today has not changed – Camelopardalis. The name was given to these creatures by Julius Caesar, who received a giraffe as a gift and was thrilled with it! After showing it off to the people of Rome, he ended up feeding it to the lions…ooops!

The patterns on a giraffe are totally unique – no two giraffes are ever the same! And even though a giraffe has a longer neck than all other mammals, it still only has seven vertebrae in its neck, which is the same amount as other animals. They can run up to speeds of 35 miles per hour, outrunning most horses, and their long legs mean that they can cover plenty of space in a short amount of time, making their average walking speed around 10 miles per hour. But a giraffe’s sharp 12-inch hooves can cause a lot of damage, and could even kill a lion if necessary.

A giraffe’s tongue is blue-back to protect it from sunburn in hot climates. They also have the same amount of teeth as humans; however, one of the most interesting things about giraffes is that all 32 teeth lay on the bottom of its mouth and are mostly molars positioned right at the back. Giraffes use their bottom teeth to grab a branch and then comb the leaves off. So when you see a giraffe without upper front teeth it’s not because of a giraffe brawl – that’s what evolution intended. Giraffes live in savannas throughout Africa. The tall creatures are native to Kenya, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Uganda, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Angola and South Africa. They like semi-arid, open woodlands that have scattered trees and bushes, making the savannas perfect for these animals. 

Giraffes seldom sleep. Most of them get around 10 minutes to two hours of sleep per day. Even when they get the little amount of sleep required each day, they don’t lie down. Giraffes go to sleep standing up most of the time. They are also able to give birth while standing up, meaning that these creatures rarely have an excuse to lie down! And giraffes conserve water very well, mainly because they don’t sweat or pant when hot. But adult giraffes only need to find water once a day. They are able to drink up to 10 gallons of water each day, and also get water from the plants they eat, including acacias.

When giraffes are seen rubbing their necks against one another, they are competing to see who is stronger. Known as ‘necking’, it is a practice between male giraffes. (Not at all what I envision when i hear the term necking.) Both male and female giraffes have horns from birth. These actually lie flat on their heads and are not attached to the skull to avoid injury during birth. These horns, called ossicones, can be used to defend themselves. Later in life, the ossicones will fuse with the skull and become formidable weapons, particularly in adult males.

The birds pictured below are oxpeckers which feed off parasites on giraffes’ bodies. This win-win situation for both creatures ensures that the birds find food and that the giraffes get rid of unwanted parasites.

Unfortunately giraffe populations are challenged because of poaching and their shrinking habitat. The animals’ tails are made into good-luck bracelets, fly whisks and thread for stringing beads. As agricultural settlement expands, the giraffe’s main source of food, the acacia tree, is being cut down. Fewer than 100,000 giraffes remain in the wild, down from an estimated 150,000 that roamed the savannas 30 years ago.

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Published by pat frederick

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194 thoughts on “Camelopardalis”

  1. My sweet Piper when she was born – in her Dad’s hand – I’m trying to upload more to imgur – these first 2 flew right into Imgur. Everyone after that just sits and sits and sits and sits, never loading. It is this fricking internet!!!!! I am so sick of this crap!

    This is from the 2014/15 school year, the fall before her Mom died:

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      1. I have so many wonderful pics of all the trips she and I took…..we always had so much fun. When she finally does come up to visit, I’m going to bring some of those pics out….kind of remind her a little bit.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. Well, they’re digital, no hard copies but I can print some – I have photo paper but I need more, as well as more printer ink. I’ll let her decide if she wants them and pick out which ones.

            Liked by 1 person

  3. EXCERPT: “Progressive de-prosecution policies likely caused 374 more murders during a five-year span in Philadelphia, according to research by Thomas Hogan, an attorney and a former prosecutor. His research will soon be published in Criminology and Public Policy, a peer-reviewed journal of the prestigious American Society of Criminology.

    Hogan told The Epoch Times that Philadelphia started on a de-prosecution path in 2015 under then-District Attorney R. Seth Williams. Larry Krasner, Williams’s successor, carried it even further. De-prosecution is a policy to no longer prosecute certain criminal offenses. It is a signature policy move adopted by progressive prosecutors across the nation.

    By 2019, the annual new prosecutions in Philadelphia dropped by a third to 9,514 when compared to 2014, the year right before the de-prosecution began. Hogan counted new prosecution cases as those that had been charged and gone through preliminary hearings, based on data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. He also found that as cases traveled through the system, more of them were dismissed before any consequences could be imposed at the sentencing stage.

    By 2019, the annual number of sentencings dropped by 70 percent to 2,195 when compared to 2014, according to data from Pennsylvania Sentencing Commission. Meanwhile, as prosecutions and sentencings dropped, murders climbed steadily to 356 in 2019, a 43.5 percent jump from 2014, based on FBI crime data.

    Hogan excluded the pandemic years, 2020 and 2021, from his research because of data availability and aberrational factors caused by the pandemic and civil unrest.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/philadelphia-de-prosecution-likely-caused-374-more-murders-in-5-years-research-finds_4617805.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=TheLibertyDaily

    Liked by 1 person

  4. But of course – it is a side effect of the Pfizer jab!!! And now they are openly admitting that they are using human beings as guinea pigs!!!

    EXCERPT: “A top World Health Organization (WHO) official conceded that everyone who gets a monkeypox vaccine is essentially part of a “clinical trial” to collect information on whether the shot is effective. The comments came as the agency’s Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, overruled a WHO advisory panel and declared monkeypox a global health emergency, which is the agency’s highest level alert. The last time the WHO issued such an emergency was in early 2020 when it made the same declaration for COVID-19.

    Tim Nguyen, the head of the WHO’s infectious hazards preparedness agency, said the monkeypox vaccine’s efficacy isn’t known because it hasn’t been used on a large scale before. “I would like to underline one thing that is very important to WHO. We do have uncertainty around the effectiveness of these vaccines because they haven’t been used in this context and in this scale before,” Nguyen said Saturday.

    Nguyen then said that “when these vaccines are being delivered, that they are delivered in the context of clinical trial studies and prospectively collecting this data to increase our understanding of the effectiveness of these vaccines.”

    Cases

    So far this year, there have been more than 16,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 75 countries, and five deaths in Africa. The viral disease has been spreading chiefly in homosexual men in the recent outbreak outside Africa where it is endemic.”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/who-admits-everyone-who-gets-monkeypox-vaccine-part-of-clinical-trial-to-collect-data_4618460.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=TheLibertyDaily

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  5. Now they are going after Clarence Thomas’ wife!!!!

    Entire Article @ BB: “Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 riot said they are considering subpoenaing Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, over text messages she sent to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

    Anchor Jake Tapper said, “The wife was Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas repeatedly corresponded with then, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and John Eastman. She was writing to them about efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Not to mention, her correspondence with Arizona lawmakers pushing thick electorates. Is your committee planning on talking to her?”

    Cheney said, “We are. The committee is engaged with their counsel. I hope she will agree to come in voluntarily. The committee is prepared to contemplate subpoena if she does not. I hope it doesn’t get to that. I hope she comes voluntarily.”

    She added, “We’ve spoken with members of people who are similarly situated in terms of the discussions that she was having at you mentioned. It’s very important for us to speak with her. As I said, I hope she’ll agree to do so voluntarily. I’m sure we’ll contemplate a subpoena if she won’t.”

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  6. Entire Article @ TheLibertyDaily:

    “There are no coincidences. Three young and otherwise healthy doctors died last week. They were all working for the same hospital system. Their deaths came days after their hospital started injecting staff with the fourth Covid shots. Someone at the hospital has started anonymously blowing the whistle.

    When this story broke yesterday, we started attempting to confirm it. Conspicuously, nobody in the Mississauga hospital system is willing to confirm or deny any of it. Coverup? Truth-seeker Steve Kirsch acquired a note pertaining to these deaths:

    “Please share – 3 physicians at Mississauga hospitals have died this week. 1st memo Monday, 2nd Tuesday, 3rd Thursday. Cause of death wasn’t shared in the memo, but how many times have 3 doctors died in 1 week, days after the hospital started administering the 4th shot to staff” This is in addition to the physician who worked at North York General who died this week while out running. How many more “coincidences” will people accept? These shots need to be pulled.”

    The deaths:

    Dates of death: July 17, 18, 20.

    Look at how close together the dates are! All three died in a 3 day period just days after they gave the 4th shot. All are young doctors. You can see from their pictures. All three at Trillium Health in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
    No mention of the vaccination date or cause of death. Just bad luck? Or related to the vaccine? What do you think?

    The three doctors from the same hospital and the fourth from a nearby hospital are Dr Jakub Sawicki, Dr Stephen McKenzie, Dr Lorne Segall, and Dr Paul Hannam. We have not been able to independently confirm this story but a Reddit member was able to confirm the doctors’ identities:

    Just tried calling Segals office – got an automated message saying he was on “medical leave” until 9/20/22 – so he’s probably dead. Just tried McKenzie office – got a computer modem sound, no dial tone. Sawicki didn’t have a listed number, trying to confirm with Trillium Health Partners, Mississauga Hospital

    This will be swept under the rug by the hospital, ignored by corporate media, and denounced by Big Pharma as a conspiracy theory. But it adds to the mountain of evidence that there’s a true conspiracy in play with the Covid jabs. The truth needs to continue to find its way out.”

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  7. Oooooh, look out! The Republicans are “angered!!!!” Are they going to start off with a “stern” letter this time???

    EXCERPT: “President Joe Biden appears to have angered Republicans once again with his latest move regarding immigration and border issues. As sections of the U.S./Mexico border remain wide open and chaotic, Republican lawmakers want to know why the president recently fired immigration judges appointed by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, the Washington Examiner reported last week:

    ‘The top two Republicans for judicial matters in the House and Senate have launched an investigation to determine if the Biden administration terminated federal immigration judges and replaced them with more progressive judges.

    Republicans on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, Sen. Chuck Grassley (IA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (OH), sent Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter Wednesday demanding answers about the Department of Justice’s termination of several judges who were hired during the Trump administration.’

    “At least some of these terminations appear to have been the result of a coordinated effort between the Biden-Harris Administration and far-left immigration advocates,” Grassley and Jordan wrote in their letter. “In fact, in tweeting about two of the terminations, one such advocate commented: ‘I’m immensely proud to have participated in this campaign.’”

    https://conservativebrief.com/trump-judges-64829/

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  8. EXCERPT: “A fast-moving wildfire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday and prompted evacuations even as firefighters made progress against an earlier blaze that burned to the edge of a grove of giant sequoias.

    The Oak Fire, which began Friday afternoon southwest of the park near Midpines in Mariposa County, grew to 10.2 square miles (26.5 square kilometers) by Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Evacuation orders were put in effect Saturday for over 6,000 people living in the sparsely populated, rural area.

    “Explosive fire behavior is challenging firefighters,” Cal Fire said in a statement Saturday morning that described the fire activity as “extreme with frequent runs, spot fires and group torching.”

    As of Saturday morning, the fire had destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures and damaged five more, and was threatening 2,000 more structures, Cal Fire said. The fast-growing blaze prompted Caltrans to order numerous road closures, including a shutdown of Highway 140 between Carstens Road and Allred Road — blocking one of the main routes into Yosemite National Park.

    Hot weather and bone dry vegetation caused by the worst drought in decades was fueling the blaze and challenging fire crews, said Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest. “The fire is moving quickly. This fire was throwing embers out in front of itself for up to 2 miles yesterday,” Patterson said. “These are exceptional fire conditions.”

    A shoeless older man attempting to flee crashed his sedan into a ditch in a closed area and was helped by firefighters. He was safely driven from the area and did not appear to suffer any injuries. Several other residents stayed in their homes Friday night as the fire continued to burn nearby. Pacific Gas & Electric said on its website that more than 2,600 homes and businesses in the area had lost power by Friday afternoon and there was no indication when it would be restored. “PG&E is unable to access the affected equipment,” the company said.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/yosemite-national-park-wildfires-explode-size-us-takes-emergency-action-save-sequoias

    Liked by 1 person

        1. Morning!
          it was a lot of thunder and lightning…but not much rain…either that or the ground was soooo dry ot soaked right right…not a blip in the pond level at all…
          might be more today

          Liked by 1 person

  11. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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