True Education

Scared?

2009-03-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Once in a while, Sam, our dog, will come running to the back door. What makes these particular runs to our door odd is that his hackles are up. His tail is slightly bushed and is hanging down. I always wonder what makes his hackles go up, but today I wanted to learn just a little bit more.

When a dog, or other animal, has their hair standing on end it's called piloerection. From the Latin, "pilus" meaning "hair." Piloerection is an involuntary reflex of the sympathetic nervous system - the system responsible for the "fight or flight" response - when one is afraid or cold.

When the hair on an animal is up as a result of this response, it does not mean they are angry, as is commonly the assumption, but rather afraid.

What causes this involunary reaction? Adrenaline pumps through the body causing the arrectorus pilorum, the tiny muscles at the base of each hair, to contract. This in turn causes the hair to "stand on end."

Although this reaction is largly biological, it also gives the animal an advantage: when the hairs are up, the animal appears larger to whatever it is afraid of. If another animal or human was the source of that fear, well, you see how it could be intimidating and useful for survival.

Piloerection not only happens in dogs and in cats. All bird types get "ruffled feathers." If a bird's feathers were plucked and they were in this response, you would see "goose bumps." It also happen with porcupines, all mammals, and of course humans.

Not only is this a biological response, but it also can be a rare symptom of some diseases: epilepsy, some brain tumors, and autonomic hyperreflexia (also known as autonomic dysreflexia, or AD. It is a "condition characterized by a massive sympathetic discharge that can occur in association with a spinal injury or disease, i.e. multiple sclerosis").

So next time you see a giant dog with his hair standing on end, look away and back away slowly - even they are afraid, it doesn't mean they won't attack! If it's your own pet, just calm them down - unless it's a cat, just back away slowly; )

Fluorescent Lighting Allergies?

2008-12-18T07:14:00.000-08:00

I work in a lab that has lots of lovely windows, and so on most days we keep the lights off and just work by natural light. This week however it has been very cloudy and gray, so the lights have been on much more often. I won't say this is the only reason I have been feeling less than my usual cheery self lately... but the possibility is interesting. I've heard about fluorescent lighting allergies and sensitivities in the past, in fact, my younger brother seems to be very sensitive to them. I've never much liked being under them either. They are just annoying, and bother me. So I decided to google some info on possible allergies, and irritation to these lights.
There are several little forums where people were discussing how they feel sick under fluorescent lights, and some even get rash when they are near them in lamps and such. I've never reacted that strongly to the lights thankfully. One very interesting site I found is this one

http://www.cloanto.com/users/mcb/19960719lcd.html

The author started noticing the problem when the LCD screens first came out, and he couldn't work with one for too long. Upon doing research he found that the light behind the screen was fluorescent. So he started doing studies. He suggests that part of the problem may be in the constant pulsing of the fluorescent lights. He says that the sun doesn't pulse on and off, and so our bodies don't react well to that, even if we are not consciously aware of the pulses. "The negative effects of 100% fluorescent room lighting have been known and studied for some time, and thinking about it from this perspective I would find it logical that directly staring at a source of fluorescent light can be just as bad, if not worse. I know that many people have problems with the energy-efficient fluorescent room illumination in general, and prefer the traditional light bulb, which I believe has a wider frequency spectrum."
Pretty interesting, I would recommend reading the full article, since me summarizing it would get tedious.
All I can say is.. I really hope they don't actually ban incandescent bulbs for "energy" reasons. If they do... I'll switch to sun glow bulbs in my house... or maybe just go back to the day... candles and lamps are quite pretty. ;o)

Goats in a tree! How can that be?

2008-12-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

I just came across this and thought is was so weird I had to post it. The picture is really of goats in a tree. Apparently there is a type of tree in Morocco that goats like to climb up to eat the berries (more like olives) off of it. The farmers follow the goats so that they can find the berries and harvest them to make oil.

Honey During Pregnancy

2008-12-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

I found this answer about whether it is safe to eat honey during pregnancy (http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/psafe/0,,3wd1,00.html). I'll just paste in what they said... because I'm lazy :).

"Many parents know that it is not safe to give honey to a baby younger than one year of age. The reason that this is advised is because honey can contain the botulinum spore that in the proper environment may cause the deadly food poisoning botulism. Acid will inhibit the spore from growing and producing the botulism toxin. A baby's immature digestive system is not yet acidic enough to inhibit the toxin from being produced, whereas the digestive system of an older baby and adults is. In other words, the baby's digestive tract provides a nice warm, air-free, low-acid environment where botulinum spores just love to grow. When it grows it will produce the toxin. The toxin produced by the spore is the danger.

A pregnant mom can safely eat honey. Her digestive tract is acidic, and will prevent a botulinum spore from growing -- no toxin will be produced. There is no danger to the fetus from the mom-to-be eating honey or honey-containing foods."

Botulism: why you don't feed honey to babies

2008-12-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

Recently I had a conversation with my mother-in-law about why you don't feed honey to babies. I knew it was because of botulism, but I realized that I didn't know much more than that. I wasn't even sure if cooked honey was okay or not. So I did some reading and here is what I found.

Botulism is caused by a toxin produced by a bacteria known as Clostridium Botulinium. The toxin is the most powerful natural substance known. The lethal dose is only 0.0000001 mg per kilogram of body weight (1kg = 2.2 lbs). Even this tiny amount can cause death in minutes (http://www.drgreene.com/21_825.html).

The toxin attacks your nervous system causing muscle paralysis. Paralysis of breathing muscles is what eventually leads to death. Early symptoms of Botulism include: double vision, and difficulty swallowing, breathing, and speaking. In infants, early signs include constipation, listlessness, loss of appetite, and a weak cry. Symptoms will show up between 3 and 30 days after the bacteria is ingested. Treatment is usually effective if started early enough, but recovery can still take several weeks or even months on a breathing machine and with intense medical care.

C. Botulinium is a special bacteria because it has the ability to form spores when times get tough. The bacteria replicates its DNA and covers it in a thick protective shell. This shell renders the bacteria immune to extremes in heat and cold, oxygenless atmosphere, radioactivity, lack of food, and lack of water.
Here is a diagram of the bacterial spore: (http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/bacspores.html)
Because botulism has the ability to form these spores it is not easily killed. Normal cooking procedures will not kill it. It is most common for adults to get botulism from eating improperly prepared, low acid, canned foods that were prepared at home. When canning, foods should be boiled for at least 10 minutes (http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/botulism_gi.html). In infants the primary source of botulism is honey. 65% of Botulism cases in the US are babies less than 12 moths old.

Very small numbers of C. Botulinium are found in some honey (about 5%). It is thought that it is picked up by the bees as they are collecting nectar, perhaps in small specks of dust. These small amounts of the bacteria are not dangerous to healthy adults, but they are dangerous for babies because they still have low acid levels in their intestines. For this reason babies under 12 months should not be fed honey. Cooked honey is not okay either because as I mentioned above they can form spores and survive the cooking process.

Do Spiders Have Ears??

2008-11-25T14:51:00.001-08:00

Since spiders are such a common predator in the Pacific Northwest, and because we have had several in our home, I decided to learn more about them to help abate my...uncertainty...about them. I decided to ask the question: do spiders have ears? My first hypothesis was, duh, of course they do. After doing some research, I found that technically, they do not!

Spiders have sensory hairs on their legs that help them ascertain their environment. The pressure waves from a source of a sound come into contact with these hairs (pictured at left). They are called thrichobotria. The waves are then converted into an electric signal and taken to the brain where they are interpreted as sound.

I read some stories of these ladies who would scream when they saw a spider and the spider would stop in it's tracks. They were also wondering whether spiders had ears and their sources said that spiders did not. I'm not sure how it all works but based on how quickly I was able to find answers I think this is pretty accurate.

I would also like to include a bone chilling picture of a spider that a lady claimed she found in her house. She claims that this is the actual size and from her story, I'm assuming it's a hobo. Go web go!

Here is a link to some creepy hobo spider stories: http://discovermagazine.com/2005/sep/bite-of-the-hobo-spider

A Little About Rabies

2008-11-21T13:41:00.000-08:00

Okay it has taken me forever to get around to writing this post. I'm not sure why I did my reading forever ago. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

Rabies is caused by a virus that can infect a variety of plants and animals. I have tried to find information about rabies in plants, but there haven't found anything yet. It is usually spread by animal bites although there are a few cases of it spreading from an organ transplant. Obviously they are more careful now to make sure that the person did not die of rabies before accepting the transplant organs. It may also spread through contact with infected saliva or in an aerosolized form-- perhaps in some bat caves.

Once the animal or person has been infected the rabies virus will bind to the tissues (muscles and nerves) around the site of infection. It can remain there and replicate itself for up to several months without any symptoms. This time period is called the incubation. I wonder what the trigger is to end incubation... I'm sure people have done research on that.

After incubation, the virus travels along neurons to the spinal cord and to the brain. It infects the cells of the brain causing encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and degeneration of neurons. Symptoms occur such as seizures, hallucinations, and paralysis. in about 50% of cases a fear of water is seen. Eventually the disease will progress into coma and death.

A strong immune response from the body is not seen until the virus has entered the brain. By this time it is too late. Vaccination against rabies is very effective if done before symptoms set in-- even after the bite has occurred. If treatment doesn't take place until after symptoms are seen Rabies is almost always fatal. There have only been two known cases worldwide of a person surviving who did not receive vaccinations and treatment before symptoms set in. Both cases used the same treatment-- a deliberately induced coma-- to stop damage until the immune response could gather enough strength. Similar methods have been tried in other cases however without success.

Although Dog bites are the leading cause of rabies infection worldwide, in the US most cases are due to bats. Because bats have small, sharp teeth, people may not even be aware if a bat does bite them. If they are aware they may not seek treatment because the bite is small and doesn't seem serious. Because of this, the bite may not be reported until it is too late.

If you are bitten by an animal the wound should be rinsed and disinfected very well. The animal should be captured (if possible) for observation and testing, and you should go into the doctor for testing as well.

Anyway so there you have it: rabies. Thanks to vaccinations of both domestic and wild animals, rabies is no longer a prevalent problem in the US. There are only 1-2 deaths per year. but in other parts of the world it is a serious issue.

The Alpha Dog

2008-11-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

Since we're on this animal kick, I thought I'd share some information I discovered while reading about dogs and training. We have had some issues in training Sam not to bite our hands or ankles. Of course he is a puppy, but it was frustrating when I would tell him "no" and he would stop for a second, only to open his mouth and try to bite me again. He only does this when he is playing so I decided to find out why. A guy who has been training dogs for 45 years set up a website and sells DVD's about dog training and he said to better train your dog, you should find out why they do the things that they do.

When a liter is about 3 to 4 weeks old, the pups start to nip at each other and play bite, just as Sam is doing to us. This biting of the paws and snout helps to establish rank within the liter. The mom dog establishes her Alpha status in a couple of ways, here are a couple of examples: if a pup approaches mom while she is eating from her food bowl, she'll growl. This lets the pup know that he has come too close and that he should stop. (Of course this varies from dog to dog. Some moms let the pups share their food). Another example is when the pups are being fed by mother. If a pup starts to be a little too rough while feeding, the mom will lower head onto the head of the pup who is hurting her. She gently but firmly place her mouth over his head and growl. This lets the pup know he is being too rough and that he should stop.

When Sam bites, he is trying to establish his rank among his new "pack." The dog trainer said that it would not be far fetched for us to growl, or even yelp, when Sam does something wrong. That is what he understands. We used to think that giving Sam's snout a good pat would work, but it doesn't. It winds him up even more. Ultimately, we have to establish ourselves as the "Alpha" dog in our "pack." Which means getting Sam to be submissive to our commands. One way to challenge and override his attempts at becoming the Alpha, is to stare him in the eye. When Sam does start to bite us during play time, and he doesn't listen to our first "no," we simply hold him by the face and look him right in the eye. With a firm "knock it off," or a firm "stop biting," we wait for him to submit. When his body relaxes or he lies down, we can let go because this his him submitting to our correction and he'll usually look away first. It works! He'll usually stop biting after that. (Unless he's on a crazy rampage, then we put him outside to cool off his energy).

A couple more examples on how we establish ourselves as the Alpha: when we're going outside with Sam, we always go first. The Alpha goes first and the lesser ranking dogs follow. If Sam shoves past us, we pick him up and put him back inside and show him that we go first. What's facsinating is that he gets the idea! Another way is when we have to correct him, either minutely or with more umph. When the Alpha dog corrects someone of lesser rank, they do not usually commend them for something shortly thereafter. No "good dog!" no petting or scratching behind the ears, we let them think about why we corrected them and we walk away. Sam gets really calm when we practice this concept.

Ultimately, Sam is still a pup and he is very dependent on the "Alpha" or mom dog. We recently taught him to "stay" and he's doing very well. But if I leave the room, he follows. Whatever room I'm in, Sam can be found within 10 feet of me. When he sleeps we have a little "den" for him that makes him feel safe. When we sleep far away from him he cries all night. Literally. The dog trainer said that we have to ignore it and after a few days it will stop. This is true but when he sleeps far away it does not stop. We had him sleep far away from us where he couldn't see or hear us for a week and he cried all night long and tried to escape. So we're taking it slow; leting him sleep near us for a couple of weeks, then we'll move his "den" a few feet away from the last one for a couple of weeks, and we'll keep moving it over time so he gets used to the idea that we will come get him in the morning!

I love having a dog because I'm learning more about why they act the way they do and how their behavior is very pack oriented. I'm also learning how and why it's important to be the Alpha with your dog. Too many times does a dog think he's the alpha in a family and it can cause lots of problems. So remember, be the Alpha!

Wuff, wuff!

Bovine

2008-11-18T08:13:00.000-08:00

I found this on wikipedia:

"The biological subfamily bovinae includes a diverse group of 10 species of medium to large sized ungulates, including domestic cattle, the bison, the water buffalo, the yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship between the members of the group is obscure, and their classification into loose tribes rather than formal sub-groups reflects this uncertainty. General characteristics include a cloven hoof and usually at least one of the sexes of a species having a true horn."

So I guess they are related. :)

Expensive Pacifier!

2008-11-17T10:08:00.000-08:00

So I was wondering about pet prices after I read your post about the $4,000 cats. I was trying to find the most expensive dog sale ever. I still haven't found it, but I did find the most expensive pacifier. It has 287 diamonds and is made from 14 karat white gold. It sells for $17,000! Sorry Jane maybe next year.

Keeping Camels

2008-11-16T07:08:00.000-08:00

I found an interesting site by a guy who keeps camels as pets. You only need a permit for them if you are making money off of them. They are supposed to be more gentle and less easily startled than horses. They are also often smarter about getting out of dangerous situations. When a camel encounters a scary situation it will stop and think for a minute about what it should do and then act. Horses are more prone to panic.

Camels are harder to come by and harder to train than a horse. They don't like to leave their comfortable stall and familiar surroundings. They are also harder to find health care for as not many vets have experience in the care of camels. They are less sure footed than horses because they have such a smooth foot.

The adds I saw for camels are pretty expensive. It looks like a young, untrained camel will run around $3,000. Older and better trained camels are from $8,000-$10,000. But they sure are cute!

2008-11-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

I just read the link you sent me. I think yaks would be better to have than cows in some ways. I would love to have one as part of the food storage: ) No wonder yaks have been used throughout time - they are a very utilitarian animal and they are strong and have really good health. Here's a question:

Are oxen related to yaks and bison? I read that climate is a huge factor in separating them. Yaks can take cold and windy temps while bison need heat; even then their ears at risk for freezing. Other than that they are very similar in usefulness. I'll look for some more weird pets that you can keep without a permit. Sounds very interesting to me too!

**UPDATE** While I was searching for animals I came across a lot of websites for exotic pets. From what I read they all required permits but some were really cute and some I'd never heard of! The one in the picture is called a Serval, and, obviously it's a type of wild cat. These cats go for almost $4,000!! And this particular one was bred in captivity, not the wild. Just thought this was an interesting fact!

Camels, Yaks and other stuff

2008-11-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

Hey So I just sent you an email about that then I got on to see your template and saw your post :). I have been reading a little about strange animals that can be kept as pets without having a permit. I'll post a link to the article about water buffaloes and yaks. It sounds interesting to me.

http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/yaks-water-buffalo.aspx

What do you think?

New Blog

2008-11-14T11:24:00.001-08:00

Charity, I was thinking that we could always change our template to match the topic we are currently talking about. I thought that would be kind of fun. We now need to decide what we should talk about first. Any interests in the last couple of weeks? We can always continue our black hole or horse pursuits.

Ask a question

2008-02-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

we are adding a new element to our blog. Ask us your question and we will try to answer it for you. Ask your question in the comment section of this post and we will add it to out list.