Update

Hey guys, sorry this is so late.

So, the past few weeks have been a bit hectic. They've included a trip to Rondevlei, a snake practical, another two Nature Studies tests, countless PoE activities and a basic fire training prac.

Short description:

The Rondevlei prac involved an ecology lecture, a Californian king snake, an egg eater, a couple of molesnakes, a Western leopard toad, several species of water birds, a study of the grasses and a very friendly porcupine named Pippa :)

The snake practical was pretty cool. The first snake out of its box was a Cape cobra, followed by a puffadder, and then a molesnake. We were then able to handle a couple of egg eaters, a skaapsteker, a red-lipped hatchet and an olive house snake.

The first Nature Studies test was on classification and taxonomy, bacteria and fungi, plants, arthropods and molluscs. The second was a nation-wide rewrite of the first semester's test, on geology, astronomy, weather and climate, ecology and biomes. Yay.

The PoE activities were pretty boring, so I won't go into details, but let's just say that they involved grasses and leaves. Exciting, huh?

The fire training we did today, and it was refreshing to do some physical activity for a change, crawling through pipes, using fire extinguishers, playing with fire hoses, carrying bricks through a burning building [container] and extinguishing fires with the hose :)

Anyways, on Monday I shall be off on a four-and-a-half-week EcoTraining course at Selati Game Reserve (west of the Kruger National Park), where I'll hopefully obtain my FGASA Level One. If I study. Which I may not. Oh well. I'll be keeping a log of everything. If I remember. Which I very well may not.

Ok, cheers. See you in five weeks.

Frogs 'n Toads

Ok, so, I didn't go to last Thursday's prac, because, well, I overslept.. ahem..

Anyway, today in Nature Studies we went through Chapter 11: Amphibians. You can imagine my excitement (me being partial to frogs and all).

We went through some interesting things about life cycles, habitats, reproduction, etc. etc., but I found a couple of things that really boggled my mind:

There are a few species of large frogs and toads: the giant toad, the Goliath frog/toad and the giant bullfrog. The giant bullfrog, a species from Western Africa, can be up to one metre in length - from the tip of the snout to the tip of the toe (outstretched) --->

I also found out about the South African platanna. In the early 1900s, the frog was used to test for pregnancy. A sample of urine would be taken from the suspected woman and this would be injected under the frog's skin. If the platanna then began to develop eggs, this meant that the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin, which in turn would indicate the woman's pregnancy. This method of testing for pregnancy is still used, and is regarded as one of the most reliable pregnancy tests.

I'll post a link to the Two Oceans Aquarium's site, where you'll be able to read up on the platanna. Google the others - there are some awesome pictures :)

Peace,

Andy

Last week's practical

Yo..

So, last Thursday (8 July), our class had a prac at Cape Point. The aim of the prac was to look at the different vegetation types and associated wildlife. We were able to distinguish the zones where vegetation type changed, the milkwood forests on the coast and the disturbed areas (sites previously used for farming and military balistics target practice - bet you never knew that Cape Point was a military station :P).

Animals spotted were several ostrich, a bontebok, several eland, a pied crow and a raptor of which we still can't decide the name..

We drove around for a bit, stopping here and there to do activites or to view the vegetation. We stopped at the Cape of Good Hope (most south-west point of the Cape) and then walked up to the Cape Point lighthouse, just for fun.

For tomorrow's prac, which, I'm guessing, will focus on the remaining Renosterveld in the Cape, we will be looking at Rondebosch Common and Signal Hill.

Oh, and from the 18th of August to the 14th of September we will be doing our FGASA (Field Guides Association of South Africa) Level 1 and EcoTraining and stuff. So, coolness :)

Okay, bye bye now,
Andrea

Supplementary reading on Signal Hill

Check out this Cape Nature article I just found on the endangered Renosterveld on Signal Hill and Devil's Peak. It's pretty much the only thing I could find on Signal Hill's ecology, which is strange..

http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Biodiv_fact_sheet_4_PenShaleRen_2010-03.pdf

Shot,
Andrea

Signal Hill Excursion

Wow, okay.. So, this is post #1 of the who-knows-how-many to come.. I'm going to keep Frogg Spot's topics along the nature line because, well, frogs..

So anyways, today was an adventure for Andrea the Aspiring Game Ranger. For my Nature Studies syllabus, I'm supposed to do a few activities relating to the general ecology of a chosen protected area. The first two activities are due for tomorrow (which reminds me that maybe I should be doing work) so I decided that today would be the perfect day to head up to Signal Hill to complete them. Perfect day it was..

The aim of the assignment was to look at rock types in a certain [protected] area and the organisms associated with them, as well as the possible relationship between leaf size and soil type. Signal Hill is a major dud when it comes to naturally-occuring diversity, but, nevertheless, I missioned to the top parking lot to check it out.

As expected, I found only a few lumps of sandstone amongst the concrete and a few indigenous shrubs amongst the cone pines and red gums, as well as several Cape francolin (now dubbed "Cape spurfowl", but, hey, "francolin" is easier for me to remember) scavenging between the planted acacias and daisy bushes. And one bug. But, the view was amazing and I got what I needed. Should have taken photos..

So, with today's short-lived expedition and beautiful weather, I feel a little better about meeting those deadlines tomorrow. All in the name of research for a better chance at conserving our natural heritage :)

Peas and carrots,
Andrea