DO YOU GET HEDGEHOGS?

My parents had a hedgehog family take up residence in their garden for several years.  I thought of them when I found this information online. A friend of mine (in the UK) has a family in her garden. She takes very good care of them, as my parents did theirs years previously. 

I cancelled out of the website and realized later I had forgotten to make a note of it and its author. If I come across it again, I will come back and add it.  It seemed important enough to go ahead and share, for those of you who see them in their natural habitat. If there are any hedgehog experiences you have had, I would love to know about them.  

Wikipedia has interesting information about them at this link. According to them, “there are no hedgehogs living species native to the Americas.  However, the extinct genus Amphchinus was once present in America.”

Here’s the information I found.   

“If you find a "dead" hedgehog during the cold months, do not bury it, do not throw it in the trash...

No one wants to see a dead animal in their garden or road, but it could be a hedgehog hibernating from November to March.

They usually dig holes to stay safe, but we have less green areas, bushes or wooded areas these days and it’s becoming harder to find a safe place to spend the winter sleeping.

Some may come into your gardens seeking safety and warmth to hibernate, some are so exhausted from looking that they end up sleeping in various strange places like roadside streets or even on pavements.

When they are in hibernation, their heart rate and general body functioning slow down considerably, as a way of saving energy that can confuse a person that the hedgehog is dead.

Just in case you see a stationary hedgehog, make sure it is in a safe and warm place and that it can last five months.

If you find a hedgehog in your garden or somewhere on the street, make a hole in a cardboard box and in a dry, safe and quiet place so it can spend the cold months there.

Hedgehogs are an endangered species, they are completely harmless and very important in our ecosystem. They eat beetles, snails, frogs, lizards, snakes, including poisonous.

They also destroy mice nests.

They are not afraid of bees or wasps. The hedgehog can easily destroy a hornet's nest and eat its inhabitants by ignoring their bites.

Scientists have long noticed the immunity of hedgehogs to strong poisons, including bites from insects. This antidote phenomenon is not yet known to scientists.

Be aware when you see a hedgehog in the cold months. It costs nothing to help such a fragile wee thing.”

(Images are from pixabay.com)

AN OLD BLOG POST FROM A TRIP TO THE SEATTLE MUSEUM IN JULY 2010 - PART 2

Continuing my post visiting the Seattle Art Museum in Seattle.

This sculpture is one is made out of porcelain. The plaque read: "St. John the Baptist, 1988. Porcelain. Jeff Koons, American, born 1954."  You can read about it here.

I'm in an area where there is African art, perhaps Nigerian. I wish I had more information but by this time I was getting a little tired and got a bit lax on taking note of things.  I found a page on African art at this website.

The marker on this one below reads: "Lion stool, after 1957. Wood, paint. Ghaniain, Asante."

The following two photos are called Caterpillar Suits by Walter Oltmann.

More information at this link.

This one is called "Boys Blowing Bubbles, 1640's. Oil on canvas. Attributed to Michealina Woutiers. Flemish, ca 1620 - after 1682".  More info here.

This painting was one of my favorites. I found the contemporary art very interesting but I love the traditional pieces.

"Mme. H. and her children. 1815. Oil on canvas. Louis Andre Gabriel Bouchet. French, 1759-1842." And more info here.

This beauty is a: "Mantel Clock, 1799. Gilt, bronze, enamel, white marble. French, Paris. Movement by Ridel."  I couldn't find anything else about it.

There was an Egyptian exhibit....

and a Roman one.

And a room full of hundreds of pieces of porcelain, which kept me entertained for quite a while.

Behind the center display, you can see another wall with more pieces of porcelain.

This website has a photo of the whole room, with several other pieces shown.

Next:"The Italian Room. Wood-paneled room ca 1550-1600. Spruce, Willow and Fir. Northern Lombardy, Chiavenna."  

A description of the Italian Room.

This was on the ceiling.

More information on this room can be found here.

There were many more exhibits but a lot of them I couldn't take photos of because of the rules. One of my favorites was the northwest native art. It was absolutely beautiful and I spent longer there than any other area. I wasn't sure I could take photographs and by the time I had made my way around and figured how things worked, I was too tired to go back and check.  I found photos of various artifacts here.  It looks like it is permanent - fingers crossed.  If you ever find yourself in the area, this museum is definitely worth a visit.  

I have been spoiled by the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC as they are all free, but I paid my $15 dollar entrance fee to this museum without complaint (the price has no doubt gone up since my visit in 2010).  However, there are 'free' days and this website tells you where and when.   

So, this brings me to the end of my trip to the art museum.  I hope you have enjoyed it.

AN OLD BLOG POST FROM A TRIP TO THE SEATTLE MUSEUM IN JULY 2010 - PART 1

Before my Dear Other Half retired, he went on a business trip for two weeks to Seattle.  These photos are from June 2010, so some of the exhibits, may have changed. 

I joined him midway when he was able to take the Friday through Monday off.  We spent a great time looking around the area, but on the Tuesday, when he had gone back to work, I set out on my own. 

Fortunately, he was working downtown and our hotel was nearby, within easy walking distance of many interesting places, which included the Seattle Art Museum. Outside the building stands the 48-foot-high silhouetted statue of a man with a hammer. I remember watching his arm in a continuous motion, slowly bringing the hammer down, and watching that arm go back up and come down again.  There is an article about it at this link.  It was created by Jonathan Borofsky and is part of the city's permanent public art collection.  If you click on Mr. Borofsky's name, you will see more of his work.  There are even taller versions shown of this particular sculpture in Soeul, Lillestrøm and Frankfort.  At the website it is described as representing a worker and "celebrates the worker’s contribution to society. He or she is the village craftsman, the South African coal miner, the computer operator, the farmer or the aerospace worker - the people who produce the commodities on which we depend."

I was surprised and fascinated to see nine actual cars suspended from the ceiling. The rods sticking out of them lit with pulsating lights. Its creator is Cai Guo Quiang and he has a similar sculpture at the Guggenheim in New York.  If you click on his name it will give you his biography.

I walked up the stairs and passed these beautiful ancient Chinese statues. Below is a ram and the sign read: "Ram. China - Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Thought to be from the spirit path of the tomb of Zhu Gaosui (died 1436), third son of the Yongle emperor (reigned 1403-24). Marble."

Do you see the picture of Picasso? I was disappointed that I would miss his exhibition of artwork as I was too early. His exhibit was due to start after I had left town.

The marker on the the above reads: "Civilian Guardian. China Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). From the spirit path of an unknown tomb of the 17th-18th century. Marble."

The one on the camel reads: "Camel - China - Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Thought to be from the spirit path of the tomb of Zhu Gaosui (died 1436), third son of the Yongle emporor (reigned 1403-24). Marble."

These sentences were printed on one of the walls I walked by.

I found this suit of armor entitled "Some/One" and was amazed to find that it was made using thousands of military dog tags representing soldiers. The creator of this piece is Do-Ho-Suh.  You can see a photo of the back view of this piece if you click here.  My photos don't give it the justice it deserves.  It was magnificent!

The next sculpture was made by German artist Katharina Fritsch, of a six foot tall black mouse sitting on a man in a bed, all snowy white in stark contrast to the mouse.  It was a very effective, visual piece. It is called 'Man and Mouse' and you can read about it at this link. I couldn't help but smile when I saw him.  All these years later as I transferred this blog post, and on doing more research of the artists, I was surprised to see a familiar blue cockerel among her works - I learned it is called Hahn/Cock. I remember it from one of the columns in London on our last visit there in 2015.  It was in Trafalgar Square and I didn't have the chance to take a photo.  We were on a double-decker bus and had passed it before I had the chance to react.  Click on the last link and you can see it also. That particular statue now resides as a permanent exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue.

There are more photos to share but I'll leave that for another day.  I will probably share it next Tuesday if I can get it done in time.

(Graphic for my signature is of the Seattle Skyline and I found it at pixabay.com)

THE OPOSSUM

I thought this was worth sharing. I found it on our local neighborhood app.  

A few fun facts about them - and more - at this website.  

Due to an opposum's low body temperature and successful immune system, it is very rare for one to carry rabies.

In northern regions, opossums often have abnormally short tails, the ends are lost due to frostbite.

The Virginia opossum has more teeth than any other North American Mammal - 50 to be exact.

The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial that inhabits the U.S.

A study conducted by a University of Florida researcher, traces the existence of opossums as far back as the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Although many throughout North America refer to native opossums as "possums", the term "possum" technically refers to a classification of marsupials living in Australia, New Guinea and Sulawesi.

More information can be found here.

Thanks for visiting and 

I hope your day is a great one!