I've been peed on.

Flying ants. In my shirt. Bad day not to wear a bra.

I've been peed on before. Last year, trying to take some photos of blueberries or something similarly pointless, I looked down only to realize my foot was covered with ants.

Not wanting to leave before I'd taken the photos, and of course I wasn't wearing shoes, I got peed on by about a dozen ants. I had the red marks, covering half my left foot, for over three months.


Although last time was.. let's call it unpleasant, this time felt different. It was instant, sudden; like someone stopping me short and tightening every muscle in my body, every fiber in my being directing its attention down my shirt. Something, somewhere was making it hard to breathe.

Turned out I'd got peed on. Still hurt like hell an hour later. Fortunately, aloe vera gently massaged on once in a while did the trick.


The patio gets invaded by these creatures every evening at sunset. I probably should cover up more tomorrow, but knowing myself I probably won't.

I wonder if it hurts more or less if it happens twice...

Hairy Dog

I find myself avoiding this blog.

If I decide to write a post, it would mean having to think, write and actually form sentences. Then I'd have to go through all my photos on a tiny little laptop, to find the two I want to actually present to the world. To illustrate my point.

I don't have a point.
Not yet anyway, they're all jumbled together, looking like those hairy dogs that have hair in front of their eyes at all times. I feel like one of those dogs right now.

A little more than I'd like to admit, actually.

It's raining bugs!

This is friggin weird...

Several times today when I've been in my room I've heard a soft thud!

Looking around to see what it was, I find a bug on the floor, the bed, the desk, anywhere.

They seem to climb around in the ceiling, then suddenly fall down.

It's raining bugs!

Centipede!

I'm lying in bed contemplating sleep when a centipede comes wandering down the curtain a few inches away.

I'm not usually squeamish and I don't mind spiders - but centipedes, those buggers are the devil's creatures!

I trapped it in a glass and got it out the window... and now I can't stop wondering what else might have got in there.

I've seen the spiders, I've caught most bugs...
But is there another centipede waiting for me under the covers?

Test Shots

I *think* I like my new camera.
And I don't think I've ever seen a lil green bug's eyes before...

Click to enlarge, check out the details.

Cutest photo ever?

Hedgehog Sex

Apparently it is close to impossible to see, let along catch on tape, two hedgehogs having sex. But last week a man in Leikanger, Norway came home to find two of them go at it on his freshly mowed lawn.

Having sex with another hedgehog is supposed to be painful but the man said the male did not seem to mind (though he did have to take a few breaks), while the female seemed to experience some discomfort.

There is a saying which seems very appropriate in this case...

"Etter den søte kløe kommer den sure svie."

...which I'm not sure exists in English (at least I haven't been able to find it), but would be something like "after the sweet itch comes the nasty burning [sensation]".

Something like that (I suck at translating), but it seemed to fit for two hedgehogs going at it.

Check out the video at vg.no

Baby Fly

I sat so still thinking about something on Kill the Goat, a little fly who was flying all around my head finally settled down on my nose.

Those little legs really tickle when you're trying not to scare it off, while at the same time trying to make it not go inside your nose.

I need a hobby...

Felix the Cat

Five weeks after a building housing the city archives in Cologne, Germany collapsed, firemen rescued a cat from the rubble.

While they were clearing the area they noticed paws moving and a weak meowing. The cat, Felix, was starved but survived drinking rain water.

Felix's owner, Andrea Schröder, was quickly notified as she had put up several missing posters with a picture of the cat after he disappeared when living with her parents.

While Schröder's parents escaped Felix and his sibling Cleo were trapped as the building collapsed. Luckily one cat survived the collapse which took two human lives.

Ants: "No more males!"

The Amazonian ant Mycocepurus smithii has no longer any need for the male in order to reproduce themselves; they have developed into an all-female species.

They reproduce through cloning and is the first species ever to develop in this way.

Although there are other cases of asexual reproduction, where females lay eggs before the male fertilizes them, these ants have no longer any need for a male at all.

BBC News writes;

There are advantages to life without sex, Dr Anna Himler explained.

"It avoids the energetic cost of producing males, and doubles the number of reproductive females produced each generation from 50% to 100% of the offspring."

The ants have become physically incapable of mating, as the "mussel organ", an essential part of their reproductive system, has degenerated, leaving them with no means of reproducing through sexual relations of any kind, making the male superfluous.


A glimpse into the future of all species, perhaps?
Men - do we really need them?

Albino bear Salt and brother Pepper

No, it's not a polar bear, it's albino brown bear Salt and her brother Pepper.

The cubs were born nine weeks ago in Polar Zoo in Bardu, Norway. At birth they weighed approximately one pound, but are growing rapidly.

They are getting used to being around humans, and the caretakers say they get plenty of hickeys when the cubs mistake them for their mother.

Although the white colour may be great camouflage, the cubs are still too young to stay out in the snow long, and the albino Salt is very sensitive to light. She may develop more health problems than her brother, but as of yet she is almost as strong.

During this spring people will be able to go to the park to see the cubs. Albino animals, such as the albino elk discovered a couple years ago, seem to fascinate people. Plus, they're very cute!

Lint?

I was just in the laundry room downstairs taking some clothes out of the washing machine. Before putting them in the dryer I removed some lint - most people don't seem to that and sometimes there's a lot.

This time there were some black lumps in it, the colour of lint naturally depends on the colour of the clothes so nothing strange there. I try and take some out when, wait... Lint isn't supposed to move, is it?

Ewww! Gross!!

It's not black lint, it's hundreds of half-dead mosquitoes with broken wings and legs walking around and lying in lumps in there! What can the last person using this possibly have done with their clothes??

*flashbacks to horror stories from Uganda about people who came home with bugs in their luggage and had the spread all over the house*

Christian the Lion

...and people say animals don't have feelings...

Oh poor baby...

The Eurasian Lynx

The Eurasian Lynx (or lynx lynx) is found all over Norway, although rarely in the western counties. Maybe that's why I never really thought of it being out there - it just hasn't been an issue where I'm from.

A couple months ago though a man found tracks not far from our house, and in the town next to ours they have started hunting for them.

This weekend they tracked one from Friday until Sunday when they found it and shot it dead.

They're absolutely beautiful animals and it's strange to think about them walking around in the mountains where we all go hiking during summer. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about humans going out to kill them, the lynx does kill a lot of sheep and I understand both the emotional and the financial side to wanting to control the population.

Still though...

I miss the kitten...

Ain't she adorable?
(a little spoiled too but don't tell her I said that!)

Only in Norway?

The annual ski race «Rindhovda rundt» had to be cancelled - for the first time since WWII. The reason? The skiiers are almost outnumbered by moose. The animals use the ski tracks as a walkway and the risk of colliding with them is just too big.

Beate Øygarden from the ski group says she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. "As soon as we prepare the trakcs, the moose come and use them. It seems hopeless this year."

aftenposten.no

Squirrel Spy Ring? Thats Nuts!

Police in Iran are reported to have taken 14 squirrels into custody , suspected of spying.


The rodents were found near the Iranian border allegedly equipped with eavesdropping devices. The reports have come from the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

When asked about the confiscation of the spy squirrels, the national police chief said: "I have heard about it, but I do not have precise information."

The IRNA said that the squirrels were kitted out by foreign intelligence services - but they were captured two weeks ago by police officers.

A Foreign Office source told Sky News: "The story is nuts."

But if true, this would not be the first time animals have been used to spy. During World War II the Allied Forces used pigeons to fly vital intelligence out of occupied France.

More recently, US marines stationed in Kuwait have used chickens as a low-tech chemical detection system. It is also well documented that dolphins have been used to seek out underwater mines.

It is even claimed that M15 once planned to recruit a team of specially-trained gerbils as a secret weapon to sniff out spies.

SkyNews

Wonder *why mosquito and which book...*

To eat or not to eat

I was talking to my sister earlier when she commented:


"Nemi's carrot was sticking out of her cage.
Snurre used it to scratch her back and tried to eat it.

But I don't think she will become a vegetarian!"