Cats

Cats were special to many countries throughout the world ever since they were domesticated. The first civilisation to worship cats was Ancient Egypt, six thousand years ago. Cats have been special to many other cultures since then. (Some people go as far as to claim that cats have psychic powers!) Cats are the second most popular pet in the world and have been bred so long that the domestic cat is now an entirely different species from its ancestors.

What is the history of the domestic cat? I plan to answer that question and more in this post.

History of cats

Cats were first bred from the African Wildcat in Egypt when the cats started catching the mice that were eating the wheat. Later, cats were bred in places like Cyprus and Persia for the same reason. Some of the oldest cat breeds came from Persia.

By 500 years ago people were breeding cats in countries worldwide, but mainly in places like Russia. The number of breeds had increased dramatically. 

After the dog, cats are the oldest household pet as they were first domesticated 6000 years ago. The Persian king almost  always kept at least one. Therefore the cats had a lot of time to breed, and there are thousands of breeds in the world today.

Unique breeds

Of all of the breeds, the strangest of all is the sphinx. Sphinx cats have almost no fur. It is one of the newest breeds and there are about 5000 of them around.

There are several breeds of almost tail less cats around. Why people want cats with no tails, I have not the slightest idea!

Actually, getting a cat with no tail can help if you do not want your cat climbing trees. Cats use their tails to balance themselves. Take away the tail, and it would be very hard to climb trees for the cat.

Some tips

Where do you live?

If you happen to live in Belgium, as long as there are not any big roads in the area, you can let your cat roam free.

If you live in Australia, you have to take precautions.

You see, cats are a problem in Australia as they kill wildlife. Attach a bell to your cat's collar. Keep your cat indoors at all times.

Because of the problems cats pose, Australians usually choose dogs. However, you can still keep a cat if you feel confident...

The Battle In The Hills part 1

This is the beginning of my new story, a sequel to 'Paradise'. I will post the next section when this one gets five views on the Lyra's Letters website:

    Swish, swish, swish...
    Ranid listened to the sound of his wings flapping under a bright sun. He was in the middle of a wide field with his brothers and sisters. Sometime the sun would start sinking below the horizon.
     Ranid was a ground-swallow. He darted along, flying very close to the ground.
     Ranid's eye caught a black cockatoo. He stopped flying and alighted on a dead tree. The black cockatoo was sitting halfway up a tall tree, higher than Ranid had ever gone. From far below Ranid could easily see the striking panels of red on the underside of the cockatoo's tail.
     Ranid couldn't help asking "hello, did you see anything happening lately? You are staring at that hill."
     The black cockatoo said "yes... I just saw three bush turkeys going up the hillside."
     "What's a bush turkey?"
     "Bush turkeys are big birds with small heads that are completely black except a little yellow and red on their necks. I sometimes wonder how they fly. But they rarely do, compared to you ground-swallows."
     "If they don't fly, how can you see them under all those trees?"
     "They went across some rocks with no trees. But they never go along that stretch. I think something is going on."
     "What do you mean?"
     The black cockatoo acted like he hadn't heard Ranid's question, "Ground-swallows are lucky. You are isolated from anything happening in the hills. You are safe. Be thankful."
     Ranid was about to ask another question, but the black cockatoo had already flown away.

paradise

    "Where did you find those grubs?"
    "I told you. Behind three cabbage tree palms."
    "Are you trying to trick us?"
    They didn't believe what they had told him the second time. This was because they had sent him into the most foodless, unexplored part of the woods.
    Gumbark was a bush turkey. Every evening he and his family went searching for food. In the late afternoon they had decided where each of them would go. To his surprise Leaf came back with a full stomach. Even Gumbark did not believe Leaf. Redtree got chased by a dog, Gumbark found only a few worms, Krar could not hunt for food because some of her eggs got eaten by a snake and she wanted to defend the rest...
    ...and Leaf found more grubs than anywhere else while searching in a place with no food? Impossible!
    "He could have found some apples making a wide loop and going to the houses at the side of the road" Redtree said to me,"but I was walking around all of the houses and did not see a hint of him."
    Gumbark did not say anything back to Redtree, because he had started to make sense out of what Leaf said. That part of the forest had never been explored before.
    Then Leaf said "Come over here. I'll show you."
    With Leaf leading the way, they went to the place with flat rocks covering the ground. Here It was windy, the few trees crammed in between the rocks being too small to stop the wind. Any dead trees were not moist but dried to a crisp. The scarce soil was as dry as sand, and no worms or grubs could live here.
    But soon the bush turkeys felt wet earth beneath their feet, they passed three cabbage tree palms, and there was it. In the middle of a bunch of flowering grass trees and tall plants, was a bunch of rotting dead trees, slithering with worms and grubs.
    "Enjoy" said Leaf.
    All three returned home more full than they ever were before.

what does she like most?

Q:What is lyra's favorite food?  A:chicken   B:dog food   C:vegetables

Please write your answer in the 'comment' section.



answer coming in next  issue.

Energy

E lectricity carries some
N ever seen when by itself
E ver circulating through the universe
R esting only when not used
G ravity provides it
Y ou are using lots of it

Dogs

    An introduction to the domestic dog:

    More than 30,000 years ago, Canis Lupus, or the Gray Wolf, came into evolution. About 15,000 years ago wolves got hungry and came into the homes of our distant relatives. This was the domestication of the modern dog.
    Dogs were the first, as cats were domesticated about 7,000 years ago. There are now more than a hundred kinds of dogs bred for hunting, scenting, guarding, working, herding, aiding blind people, and other things.
    The domestic dog is a subspecies of Canis Lupus. The scientific name is Canis Lupus Familiaris.

    It is a mystery how dogs changed from violent, aggressive wolves to the friendly companions we have bred some of those wolves into. One time some scientists got about a hundred wolf pups and tried to breed them into non-aggressive wolf pups. But the few wolves that were tame enough to be allowed to breed had aggressive pups, so the scientists were not able to succeed. Could it be a mutation?
   

This is a picture of two dogs. The one on the left is Cobi, a mix-breed, and the one on the right is Lyra, a flat-coated retriever. Lyra is only one example out of the many breeds of dogs.

   Overall, there seems to be only one thing that dogs are bred for: helping people. Dogs have helped people in many ways from guarding their house to just being a companion. Take Lyra, in the picture, for example. Flat-coated Retrievers are bred as gun dogs but they look and behave like puppies their whole lives(which makes them very energetic and playful). They are usually black but very few are brown or yellow, and they have a characteristic feathery tail and shiny coat.
    Have you seen a dog chasing an animal? Chasing things is a natural behaviour that most dogs have from their wolf ancestors. Other behaviours like this include licking someones face(which came from wolf pups licking their mother's muzzle to make her regurgitate food), howling(which came from wolves howling to defend their territory), and digging(which came from wolves digging into an animal's burrow to catch it).
    There are dogs in mythology, too. In Greek mythology, Cerberus is a three-headed dog that is the pet of Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. Cerberus guards the underworld and stops dead spirits from getting out.

    Here is something to remember if you want to get a dog: Don't buy your dog online. Many puppies sold online come from puppy mills. If you haven't been introduced to puppy mills, they are places where dogs are bred. But they are sad breeding conditions. In 2005, a survey was taken out on the puppy mills in California. Out of all the dogs, 1 out of 4 did not have a healthy amount of food or water, and 32% were bred in cramped or overcrowded conditions. Puppies in most puppy mills are taken away from their mothers too young. Dogs in puppy mills lead unhealthy(in both body and mind) and short lives, being put down at the age of 4. If you are going to buy a dog, get it from a good and healthy breeder, and don't buy it online.

    But getting a dog(from a good breeder) is not a bad idea. I've heard people who own dogs are happier, and having a dog around decreases the chance of dying during a heart attack.

Big or small, retriever or spaniel, we all enjoy man's best friend.

How to get rid of an Australian land leech

Australia includes the wild, the weird, and the wonderful. However, it also has a secret bad side, not known to every tourist. Australia includes the most venomous snakes, the freakiest spiders, and the most disgusting lizard on earth.

Compared to lots of the continent's wildlife, land leeches are barely annoying. But nobody would enjoy seeing a leech inside their shoe, and that is why I am writing this post.

Before we begin, you need to know what exactly an Australian land leech is.
An Australian land leech is an animal that moves like a caterpillar, is as slimy as a snail, and for short, has the appearance of a very small lamprey. The color is very dark brown, almost black with some telltale streaks of orange running from its mouth.

Land leeches are usually active only in damp conditions, but don't let that information fool you. I have had leeches on my shoes even in very dry conditions.

Land leeches only drain a few drops of blood and you may not notice that any leech has been sucking your blood at all, but a lot of the time you do notice, and it looks really disgusting (Believe me, I screamed when I first had a leech sucking me).

Before learning how to get rid of land leeches, you must know how to prevent one from biting you. Here are the ways:

    1. Avoid where they are. Basically, avoid where it is damp. This includes temperate rainforests, valleys close to the sea, swamps, marshes, and other muddy areas. Another place they are always found is on unclear trails.
    2. Take routes where they are not. Land leeches hate boardwalks, metal stairs and well trodden trails. They also hate places with thin tree canopies and dry soil.
    3. Spray insect repellent on your shoes. You can get it at many Australian stores. It is mainly used against  mosquitoes, but it works against land leeches as well. However, do not trust insect repellent completely. I had a leech attack once when my shoes were sprayed with repellent. However, they exhibited weird behavior, not biting but writhing in agony.
    4. Do not walk right after rain as this is when land leeches are active. My first big leech attack happened after days of terrible weather. To be safe, walk in sunlight.
    5. The popularity. Once we were taking a rainforest hike and got attacked by leeches near the dry picnic area at the very end. As we figured out later, because there was not very much wildlife in the area, the leeches' chosen prey was people.

Here are the ways to get rid of Australian land leeches when they are sucking your blood! However, there are pros and cons to each one, as listed below:

1. Pick them off.
Pros: The quickest and cleanest way of getting a land leech off your foot. The most foolproof way. Grab the leech as close to the skin as possible.
Cons: Looks disgusting. Leech may hold on very tight. Possible that leech might get on your fingers. The cut also bleeds a lot and itches.

2. Pour salt on them.
Pros: Almost foolproof for getting leech off.
Cons: Only for last resort as leech bleeds terribly.

3. Wait until it stops sucking.
Pros: You do not have to do anything. The healthiest and easiest way.
Cons: Terrible wet feeling. Blood all over your sock. Can take an hour.

To wrap it up, here are questions about Australian land leeches answered!

Q: How much blood do leeches drain?
A: Land leeches can drain everything from a drop to 30 to 40 millilitres! Not much more, though.

Q: What is worse, a leech or a tick?
A: Ticks suck longer, hurt much more, and are harder to get off.

Q: How scared should tourists be of land leeches?
A: It should not stop you doing anything. Leeches are easy to avoid and get rid of.