nature – All Things For The Win

A member of the Thrush family, the Western Bluebird or Rocky Mountain Bluebird can be seen in open meadows near trees, sagebrush prairies, pinyon-juniper woods as well as mountainous areas and Alpine zones above the treeline; in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Continue reading for photos, facts and footage of the beautiful Rocky Mountain Bluebird or Sialia currucoides.

The Rocky Mountain Bluebird often forages by perching or hovering and then darts out to catch flying insects once their prey has been spotted. Beetles, grasshoppers and caterpillars are also free game. In wintertime they forage for wild berries such as juniper berries, mistletoe, hack berries or anything else they can find. If you have ever caught a glimpse of one of these birds fluttering around, it is like a small piece of the most beautiful blue sky. The female pictured above is modestly dressed, while the male of the species is somewhat more decorated with more blue on it’s breast and darker blues on it’s back seen here:

The Rocky Mountain Bluebird dwells in high elevations during the summer months where insects are plentiful. They nest in empty hollows and crevices among trees, rocks, buildings or cliffs. Then as the weather begins to change, these breathtaking birds assume a slow, nomadic migration from high elevations down to the lower areas near the Rocky Mountains in search of better foraging grounds.

There are a few ways to attract these birds to visit your yard on their yearly migration routes. One way is to grow a garden, including some of their favorite berries mentioned above, so that they have a place to forage for food during winter months. Although apparently not everything they find is worth swallowing. I captured footage of several of these birds coughing up and spitting out tidbits of food here and there. However it seems like they are getting enough nutrition to keep them going. To show you that footage, I have made a short video on YouTube which you can watch here if you would like:

Another way to attract bluebirds is to install a birdhouse that is the correct size for the birds you wish to attract. You can purchase a kit and build your own or they also come fully assembled. To see these birdhouses for yourself and check out the current pricing, just follow this link to Western Mountain Bluebird Houses on Amazon – also for more in depth information about attracting Bluebirds, there is The Bluebird Book: A Complete Guide To Attracting Bluebirds also on Amazon.
These birds mate and raise young twice per year, having broods of between four and eight chicks at a time, usually during the spring months when they return to higher elevations.
If you live near the Rocky Mountains keep an eye out for these striking blue creatures of nature and let me know in the comments section if you have seen one – I really appreciate your interest in this segment; the internet and I would like to know what you think about it.

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nature

Ascaris Round Worms – Horse Worms

January 3, 2018October 18, 2018 AllThingsForTheWin

Do you suspect that your horses may have worms? Here are a few Ascaris Worm Facts: Parascaris equorum, also known as Horse Worms, are a type of Giant Roundworm which resides within affected horses. This article covers how they live and spread and symptoms to look for in horses – plus easy and cost effective treatment of affected animals.

Ascarids are one type of parasitic nematode worms. Also known as giant round worms, they affect the intestinal tract of vertebrates all over the world and can wreak havoc on livestock animals such as horses. Let’s examine the lifecycle, dangers and treatments of ascerids.

This jar of parasites is on display at my local veterinarian clinic. They came from one of the horses here in rural North America, where parasites can be a real problem. Ascerids usually trouble young horses whose immune system’s are not yet fully developed. They can lead to weakness, depression, stunted growth and potentially fatal colic.

Most ascerids are host specific, meaning that they will grow into adulthood and reproduce in only one single type of host animal. These equine ascerids known as parascaris equorum, occur in horses, donkeys and zebras but are not capable of infecting dogs pigs or humans for instance.

Equine ascaris are usually the size of a pencil, but the females can get much larger – up to 14 inches long. Healthy female ascerids can lay hundreds of thousands of eggs per day. These eggs are passed on into the open and can lay dormant in manure for up to ten years or longer, until they are picked up by other grazing horses. Adult equine ascarids usually reside in the small intestine, however freshly hatched larva will invade the gut wall and travel to the liver via the lymphatic system.

Then after about a week they will molt, reaching the next larval stage, when they migrate to the lungs, traveling through the bloodstream.

From there they are coughed up and swallowed, returning once again to the small intestine, where they can mature into adults, mate and begin laying eggs – typically within just 10 weeks from being ingested. It is common for adult horses to develop an immunity to ascarids; so they are more of a problem with young horses.

If your horse is under 2 years of age, keep an eye out for symptoms such as weight loss, poor growth, lethargy, a rough hair coat, coughing, nasal discharge, pot-bellied appearance and/or colic. This problem can be taken care of with an oral worming treatment by your local veterinarian; also available online if you prefer to take care of it yourself. I will post a link to oral worming treatments if you would like to compare prices on the best horse worming medicines available. Check the link below…

– Here is a link for you to compare the best prices for horse wormer medicine on Amazon: safe-guard horse dewormer on Amazon

This article is also available in a video format on YouTube here:

As far as long term prevention is concerned, it would seem like a good idea to clean up and remove any old manure from the your horse’s living area when possible. We have all seen horses nibble on road apples when they get bored, and that is where the eggs would be picked up. I hope that this has been helpful and informative for my fellow equestrians out there.

Please feel free to leave a comment below, I really appreciate your interest in this segment; the internet and I would like to know what you think about it.

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nature

Why Did I Start An Observation Beehive?

December 15, 2017December 29, 2017 AllThingsForTheWin

Last year during the long winter months, I was daydreaming about how it would be cool to have an ant farm. The ants would prosper and get big enough that I could install a tube that would let them outside. They would bring things inside, and I would get to see all of their activities.

Later on, I was thinking about Honeybees and the tough time that they have been having lately. I wished that I could somehow do my part and thought about getting a backyard beehive and then – the two ideas clicked together.

Instead of an ant farm, I will have a BEE FARM! IN THE HOUSE! This will be so cool and I will get to see the inside of their hive and watch larva develop into adults and learn. I was so excited about this idea.

So I went for it. I Started putting pipes together and making things. I ordered a nuk of bees – A nuk of bees is usually about three pounds of worker bees and a freshly mated queen. Apiaries sell nuks once a year in the spring, so if you are going to make or purchase an indoor beehive yourself, then order the bees now, from your local apiary (honeybee distributors) before they sell out!

I learned so much about bees from doing this. I went from having a vague knowledge of honeybees, to looking up articles about honeybees pretty much every day for about the first month after I got them. Did you know that bees use yeast fermentation to make a pollen based, probiotic superfood known as “bee bread”? Or what about where do they get their wax? It turns out, they produce wax from several glands on their abdomen. These glands turn the honey into wax by way of fatty acid synthesis.

They bees made honeycomb and filled it with honey at an alarming rate. Be prepared to install an expansion is one thing I have to say. This is one of the coolest things that I have done in years and has made me feel very excited about being an active part of honey bee preservation. Plus I get to show it off to all of my friends! Below is a short video I made on Youtube about how to install your own aquarium observation beehive, plus a list of all of the supplies needed to build it – and also a link to some pre-made observation beehives, in case you want to check out the best prices on Amazon.

Here is a list of the supplies I used to build the beehive:

Light Duty Staple Gun

Or, you could check out pre-made Observation Beehives

Please feel free to leave a comment, I really appreciate your interest in this segment; the internet and I would like to know what you think about it.

There’s no place like HOME

Category: nature

The Western Rocky Mountain Bluebird

Ascaris Round Worms – Horse Worms

Why Did I Start An Observation Beehive?