Balloon modeling or balloon twisting is the shaping of special modeling balloons into almost any given shape, often a balloon animal. People who create balloon animals and other twisted balloon sculptures are called Twisters. Twisters often work as busker, clowns, or restaurant entertainers.
A variety of single balloon animals, (bears)
A multiple balloon sculpture, created by Waukesha, Wisconsin artist for use as a displayTwo of the primary design styles are single balloon modeling, which restricts itself to the use of one balloon per model, and multiple balloon modeling, which uses more than one balloon. Each style has its own set of challenges and skills, but few twisters who have reached an intermediate or advanced skill level limit themselves to one style or another. Depending on the needs of the moment, they might easily move between the one-balloon or multiple approaches, or they might even incorporate additional techniques such as “weaving” and “stuffing”. Modeling techniques have evolved to include a range of very complex moves, and a highly specialized vocabulary has emerged to describe the techniques involved and their resulting creations.

Some twisters inflate their balloons with their own lungs, and for many years this was a standard and necessary part of the act. However, many now use a pump of some sort, whether it is a hand pump, an electric pump plugged in or run by a battery pack, or a compressed gas tank containing air or nitrogen. Twisters do not generally fill their creations with helium, as these designs will not usually float anyway. The balloons for twisting are too porous for helium and the designs are generally too heavy for their size for helium to lift.

Source:

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Author: suegold

Training dogs using positive reinforcement and reward training has long been recognized as both highly effective for the owner and a positive experience for the dog. Positive reinforcement training is so important that it is the only method used to train dangerous animals like lions and tigers for work in circuses and in the movie and television industry. Proponents of positive reinforcement swear by the effectiveness of their techniques, and it is true that the vast majority of dogs respond well to these training methods.One reason that positive reinforcement training is so effective is that is uses rewards to teach the dog what is expected of it. When the dog performs the desired behavior, he is provided with a reward, most often in the form of a food treat, but it could be a scratch behind the ears, a rub under the chin or a pat on the head as well. The important thing is that the dog is rewarded consistently for doing the right thing.

Reward training has become increasingly popular in recent years, but chances are some sort of reward training between humans and dogs has been going on for hundreds if not thousands of years.

When understanding what makes reward training so effective, some knowledge of the history of humans and dogs is very helpful. The earliest dogs were probably wolf pups that were tamed and used by early humans for protection from predators, as alarm systems and later for guarding and herding livestock. It is possible that the wolf pups that made the best companions were the most easily trained, or it is possible that these early dogs were orphaned or abandoned wolf pups. Whatever their origin, there is little doubt today that the vast variety of dogs we see today have their origin in the humble wolf.

Wolf packs, like packs of wild dogs, operate on a strict pack hierarchy. Since wolf and dog packs hunt as a group, this type of hierarchy, and the cooperation it brings, is essential to the survival of the species. Every dog in the pack knows his or her place in the pack, and except in the event of death or injury, the hierarchy, once established, rarely changes.

Every dog, therefore, is hard wired by nature to look to the pack leader for guidance. The basis of all good dog training, including reward based training, is for the handler to set him or herself up as the pack leader. The pack leader is more than just the dominant dog, or the one who tells all the subordinates what to do. More importantly, the pack leader provides leadership and protection, and his or her leadership is vital to the success and survival of the pack.

It is important for the dog to see itself as part of a pack, to recognize the human as the leader of that pack, and to respect his or her authority. Some dogs are much easier to dominate than others. If you watch a group of puppies playing for a little while, you will quickly recognize the dominant and submissive personalities.

A dog with a more submissive personality will generally be easier to train using positive reinforcement, since he or she will not want to challenge the handler for leadership. Even dominant dogs, however, respond very well to positive reinforcement. There are, in fact, few dogs that do not respond well to positive reinforcement, also known as reward training.

Positive reinforcement is also the best way to retrain a dog that has behavior problems, especially one that has been abused in the past. Getting the respect and trust of an abused dog can be very difficult, and positive reinforcement is better than any other training method at creating this important bond.
No matter what type of dog you are working with, chances are it can be helped with positive reinforcement training methods. Based training methods on respect and trust, rather than on intimidation and fear, is the best way to get the most from any dog.

The author Tony Williams manages the dog behavior training website that offers access to expert dog training tools and resources and a chance to get quality dog training DVD’s and videos by an expert dog trainer.

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_841219_54.html

What is a Butterfly?

Butterfly anatomyButterflies are beautiful, flying insects with large scaly wings. Like all insects, they have six jointed legs, 3 body parts, a pair of antennae, compound eyes, and an exoskeleton. The three body parts are the head, thorax (the chest), and abdomen (the tail end).

The butterfly’s body is covered by tiny sensory hairs. The four wings and the six legs of the butterfly are attached to the thorax. The thorax contains the muscles that make the legs and wings move.

FLYING
Butterflies are very good fliers. They have two pairs of large wings covered with colorful, iridescent scales in overlapping rows. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are the only insects that have scaly wings. The wings are attached to the butterfly’s thorax (mid-section). Veins support the delicate wings and nourish them with blood.

Butterflies can only fly if their body temperature is above 86 degrees. Butterflies sun themselves to warm up in cool weather. As butterflies age, the color of the wings fades and the wings become ragged.

The speed varies among butterfly species (the poisonous varieties are slower than non-poisonous varieties). The fastest butterflies (some skippers) can fly at about 30 mile per hour or faster. Slow flying butterflies fly about 5 mph.

LIFE-CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY
life cycle
Butterflies and moths undergo complete metamorphosis in which they go through four different life stages.

* Egg - A butterfly starts its life as an egg, often laid on a leaf.
* Larva - The larva (caterpillar) hatches from an egg and eats leaves or flowers almost constantly. The caterpillar molts (loses its old skin) many times as it grows. The caterpillar will increase up to several thousand times in size before pupating.
* Pupa - It turns into a pupa (chrysalis); this is a resting stage.
* Adult - A beautiful, flying adult emerges. This adult will continue the cycle.

DIET
Monarch larva Caterpillars spend most of their time eating leaves using strong mandibles (jaws). A caterpillar’s first meal, however, is its own eggshell. A few caterpillars are meat-eaters; the larva of the carnivorous Harvester butterfly eats woolly aphids.

Butterflies and moths can only sip liquid food using a tube-like proboscis, which is a long, flexible “tongue.” This proboscis uncoils to sip food, and coils up again into a spiral when not in use. Most butterflies live on nectar from flowers. Some butterflies sip the liquid from rotting fruits and a rare few prefer rotting animal flesh or animal fluids (the Harvester butterfly pierces the bodies of woolly aphids with its sharp proboscis and drinks the body fluids).

HABITAT
Butterflies are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests.

butterflyMany butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmental conditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood. Most migrate relatively short distances (like the Painted Lady, the Red Admiral, and the Common Buckeye), but a few (like some Monarchs) migrate thousands of miles.

CLASSIFICATION
Butterflies and moth belong to the order Lepidoptera. Lepidos is Greek for “scales” and ptera means “wing”. These scaled wings are different from the wings of any other insects. Lepidoptera is a very large group; there are more types of butterflies and moths than there are of any other type of insects except beetles. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 different species of butterflies and moths (there may be many more). There are about 28,000 butterfly species worldwide, the rest are moths.

BUTTERFLY FOSSILS
Butterfly fossils are rare. The earliest butterfly fossils are from the early Cretaceous period, about 130 million years ago. Their development is closely linked to the evolution of flowering plants (angiosperms) since both adult butterflies and caterpillars feed on flowering plants, and the adults are important pollinators of many flowering plants. Flowering plants also evolved during the Cretaceous period.

The Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho menelaus) is an iridescent blue butterfly that lives in rainforests of South and Central America, including Brazil, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.

Anatomy:The Blue Morpho Butterfly is a species of neotropical butterfly that has brilliant blue wings (the females are are not as brilliantly colored as the males and have a brown edge with white spots surrounding the iridescent blue area). The undersides (visible when the butterfly is resting) are brown with bronze-colored eyespots. The Blue Morpho has a wingspan of about 6 inches (15 cm). Adults drink the juices of rotting fruit using their straw-like proboscis.

The caterpillar of the Blue Morpho is red-brown with bright patches of lime-green on the back, and it eats the plant Erythroxylum pilchrum nocturnally (at night).

Classification:

Order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies), Genus Morpho, Species menelaus.

Many birds come to the Arctic in the summer to live and breed but not all of them live here year round. Ptarmigan, snow bunting, and snowy owls are some of the Arctic birds that live here year round. Snowy owls live on the tundra.

They stay in the Arctic during the winter unless their food sources are scarce. If they leave the arctic in the winter they overwinter in northern Greenland, the Canadian islands, northern Eurasia, Wrangel Island as well as North America.
They are called snowy owls because their coloring is almost pure white when they are full grown. The feet of snowy owls are covered with feathers and have extra thick pads.

Snowy owls have incredible vision. They can see from high up in the sky and swoop down silently to capture their prey. Like all owls they have good night vision. They are nocturnal and diurnal hunt at night but in the Arctic it doesn’t get dark in the summer so the owls hunt in the daylight too. When the owl gets food it swallows it whole or tears it into large pieces to swallow.

The mother stays on the nest and the father brings her food and protects her. After the owlets are born both parents work to feed the owlets. In eight weeks the owlets are ready to leave the nest. This is important because the summers are so short in Arctic regions. If the owlets weren’t ready to take care of themselves they would not survive the cold winter.

Characteristics and Physical Features of the Snowy Owl
Identification:

Height: Up to 27 in. - it is one of the biggest owls.
Wingspan: 45-60 in.
Color: In the summer, snowy owls are brownish with dark spots and stripes. In the winter, they are completely white.

Distinguishing Characteristics: All white color, ability to hunt silently, hunts during the day unlike most owls.

Breeding: 8-10 eggs, eggs are laid on the ground or on hummocks because there aren’t trees in the Arctic.
Habitat:

Range: Northern most Canada, Alaska, also circumpolar - prefers open spaces; tundra, grasslands, or frozen lakes.

Diet: Lemmings, hare, vole, and shrews. It also sometimes will eat hare or small birds. During the spring breeding season, owls will also eat eggs of waterfowl like swans.

Why are snowy owls white?

The feathers of the snowy owl have no pigment. This leaves more space for air which helps to keep the owl warmer because air is such a good insulator and it also makes the owl white.
Can you find a snowy owl in Oregon?

When food supplies become scarce in Arctic regions around the world the snowy owls that live in those regions migrate to other area to find more food. In the areas of Canada and Alaska this would mean that they would migrate to the northern states which would include Oregon.
Why are the snowy owl’s feet furry?

The Arctic regions are very cold. Sometimes the temperatures can reach -155ºF in the winter. Even the average would be well below 0ºF. Having well insulated feet is important in the region where they live because it is so cold and also because there are not many trees so the owls have to nest and live on the ground a lot.
How can an owl find its food in the dark?

Owls have keen hearing. The ears of an owl are positioned in different locations on either side of its head. The sound of its prey reaches the ears at two different times. The different times help him pinpoint the exact distance away from the lemming or other prey.
Can an owl digest all of the animal it eats?

It is able to digest its prey whole because it has strong acid in its stomach. Hair, bones and feathers are things that it can’t digest so after the food is digested the owl spits the undigested food back out as a “pellet”.
What’s a snowy owl’s favorite food?

Owls live mostly off lemmings. If there are a lot of lemmings the owl population increases. But if the lemming population is down during the winter the owls leave the Arctic are in search of food. Some people think that the owls die if there is only a little food but really a lot of them fly south searching for food. They come back when the food becomes more abundant.
Why do owls like airports?

When snowy owls fly south looking for more food they will often land at airports. We think that they do this because the wide-open space of the airports reminds them of the tundra.
What makes an owl able to fly silently?

They way that an owls feather fit together make them able to fly without making any sound. The front edge of the owls wing feathers breaks up the air as it goes over it. This breaks up the sound level so that the flapping of the wings is almost silent. It does this because the leading edge of the wing is frayed and can break up the air.
How much does an snowy owl eat every day?

Owls help control the rodents population. They are able to eat about a dozen rodents each day. If they have owlets they catch even more to feed them.

The muskox, known as the Oomingmak  to the Alaskan natives, are huge. The word Oomingmak means “the animal with skin like a beard” to the Inupiaq speaking Eskimos. Their extraordinary fur coat covers their whole body even the udder. The Muskox is closely related to the Takin, found in the Himalayas. It is classified by Taxonomists with sheep and goats.

Characteristics and Physical Features of the Muskox
Identification:

    Height: 3-5 ft.
Weight: 500-900 lb.
Color: Brown shaggy, silky fur

Distinguishing Characteristics: Horns - broad and flat and plastered close to skull. Record distance between tips of horns is 29.74 in.

Breeding: 1 calf every other year.
Habitat:

Range: Northern tundra areas and Nunivak Island in Alaska. This includes northern Alaska, Canada, Ellesmere Island and Greenland.

Diet: Wide variety of plants, including grasses, sedges, forbs, and woody plants. One of their favorite foods is willow.

What is a boss?

Boss is the name of the muskox horn. Their skulls are like heavy armor to protect them from being hurt when they fight. It is estimated that when muskox bulls hit head-on its equivalent to a car driving into a concrete wall at 17 mph (27km/h). The boss is four inches of horn and three inches of bone that lies directly over the brain with no other skull in between.
How can a muskox calf stand -30ºF weather?

The muskox coat and hooves keep them warm in the cold arctic weather which can reach –70ºF. If their fur were not like it is they would die. The muskox has two kinds of fur. The outer fur is coarse and stiff. The under fur is soft and able to keep the muskox very warm. The fur of the muskox is 3-4 inches thick. Even the young calves are able to survive by themselves when the temperatures get down to -30ºF.
Will a muskox attack another muskox?

The only time that muskox fight among themselves is during breeding season. Then they fight just like a lot of other animals do. But they don’t fight for dominance in the herd. They just fight for the right to breed. The rest of the time the whole herd lives together and dominance within the herd isn’t a big part of their life. The older bulls are the leaders of the group.
Can a muskox kill a grizzly bear?

When muskoxen are attacked by a grizzly the first thing that the herd does is get into a circle, facing outward. They place the calves inside the circle to keep them safe. This circle is almost impossible for a predator tomuskox herd penetrate. Sometimes one of the bulls will break out of the circle to go fight the animal that is attacking. When he does this the rest of the circle quickly closes so that other attackers can’t get in. When a grizzly attacks the muskox will always win because of its powerful charge. It uses its boss like a battering ram against predators or like a spear it picks up smaller animals like a wolf, and throws them so high that the leg of the  attackers will break when it falls. Sometimes the defending muskox will throw the predator back into the herd and the rest of the herd will trample the attacker.
How do you know when a muskox is going to charge?

Before charging they always do one thing that alerts you. They tip their head down and press their nose against their knee. This releases a musky smelling liquid from a gland near their nose.
Why do muskoxen like to live near rivers?

Even though muskox live on the tundra if there is a river nearby they will try to stay near it. They do this because their favorite food grows there. The willow plant is this favorite food.
What poses the most danger to a muskox?

You might not think it but the little mosquito is very dangerous to the muskox. It is actually a danger to most animals living in the Arctic. The reason it is dangerous is because the mosquito carries a lot of diseases and when it bites the muskox it can cause a lot of infection. There aren’t a lot of areas that a mosquito can bite on a muskox so it will usually go after its nose.
Do muskoxen really stink?

Muskoxen are really pretty clean animals in the wild. They only look like they would stink because of how shaggy their coat looks. Sometimes when muskox are in captivity they do smell.
Why is a muskoxen’s best defense also its worst?

Although their protective ring is very effective against animal predators it makes them like “sitting ducks” to men. Since men hunt with guns the muskox is very vulnerable to being killed by man in their protective ring. After firearms came to the arctic in the mid-1800s the muskoxen were wiped out.
How did muskoxen get back in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?

After the muskoxen were all killed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service purchased 34 muskoxen from Greenland and brought them to Alaska in 1930. They put them on Nunivak Island. It is off the west coast of Alaska. After the herd had gotten large enough they took 40 of them and moved them to ANWR. In 1980 there were nearly 400. They had divided themselves into three separate herds.
How do arctic people benefit from the muskoxen?

The soft underfur of the Oomingmak is used by native people to create many knitted items. They use the fur of them muskox because it is one of the warmest furs known to man. Native people call this underfur “Qiviut”. It is eight times warmer than wool and it is much lighter too. It is even lighter than cashmere.

Dall sheep have a broad habitat. They are a subarctic as well as arctic animal. The most northern group of these animals live in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The alpine ridges, meadows, and steep, rocky slopes that have “escape terrain” are where the dall sheep live. The flock likes to rest and feed on these slopes. They are also there to keep away from predators because they can flee to the rocks easier than their predators. Some of these predators would include bear, golden eagles, wolves, and humans.

Characteristics and Physical Features of the Dall Sheep
Identification:

Height: Rams and Ewes 35 in. to shoulder
Weight: Rams 200-250 lb., Ewes 110-150 lb.
Color: White usually, may vary from yellowish white to snow white. It is the only wild white sheep in the world.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Known for their magnificent curling horns. The horns of the dall sheep take eight years to reach full size. Ewes have shorter, more slender horns. The horns are made out of keratin, which is the same substance as human fingernails are.

Breeding: The lambs are born in late May or early June. Near the time for lambing the ewes seek a protected spot that is quiet to birth her lambs. They usually choose the most rugged cliffs available.

After the lambs are born they are strong enough to leave the birthing areas in as little as a week. By the time they have left the birthing area they are also eating vegetation and the ewes wean them in October.
Habitat:

Range: Northern regions of the globe both Arctic and Subarctic. In Alaska, except in the Southeast, the Yukon and Northwest Territories and a few in northwestern British Columbia. Sheep like where they live. After they have chosen a group to join (which young rams sometimes do) they never leave it. Because they stay up on the steep slopes in remote places the dall sheep are pretty health and don’t get diseases from domestic livestock.

  Diet: Grasses, sedges, lichens, moss and willow make up their diet.

How do dall sheep survive in the cold weather?

Dall sheep have hollow hair which insulates their body. They also like the south-facing slopes because they get more sun.
Do male dall sheep actually fight for their mate?

Males only fight before breeding season to gain dominance over all the males. They begin fighting when they reach maturity at about seven to nine years. The size of his horns determine his place in the ram hierarchy.
What is annuli?

Annuli is the pattern of growth on the rings of the dall sheep. These horns are made of keratin like your fingernails. Even though the horns are made out of the same stuff as fingernails they are very heavy.
Can you tell how old a dall sheep is by looking at it?

The bigger the horns the older the sheep is. The horns stop growing in the winter. Because of this stoppage of growing “growth rings” occur. You can identify how old a sheep is by the number of “growth rings” that his horns have. Ram horns reach half a circle in about three years, 3/4 of a circle in about five years, and a full circle or “curl” in seven to eight years. To tell how old a sheep is just count the growth rings.
Do dall sheep eat dirt?

They like to visit mineral licks during the spring and will travel many miles to reach a mineral lick to eat the soil there. Eating soil may sound different but it helps the sheep with any mineral deficiencies it may have. Mineral licks are great places to see dall sheep for longer periods because they ignore people when they are there.
How many are there in the Alaskan Arctic?

Current population numbers for the dall sheep in the Brooks Range is 30,000. There are other dall sheep in Alaska but this number is for the sheep living in the Arctic area.
Why do some people say dall sheep and some say Dall’s sheep?

The proper name is Dall’s sheep however, most often it is referred to as dall sheep. The species is named for scientist, William H. Dall even though he may not have had anything to do with them. E.W. Nelson gave the sheep their first scientific name, Ovis montana, with a sub name of dalli. Later J.A. Allen changed the name from montana to dalli. So their Latin name is now Ovis dalli dalli.
Can you tell how old this dall sheep is?

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This sheep is approximately 7 years old.
How do arctic people benefit from the dall sheep?

Subsistence hunters hunt dall sheep because they have good meat. They aren’t as popular as caribou because they are harder get to when hunting. They are also a lot smaller than other animals that the native people hunt.

Characteristics and Physical Features of the Collared Lemming
Identification:

Length: 4 and three-quarters inches or 120 mm.
Weight: 14 oz. or 40 grams.
  Color: Buff gray with black stripes down back and on sides of head.

Distinguishing Characteristics: The lemming has smaller ears and tails than other rodents. The collared lemming is the only true rodent that turns white in the winter.

     Breeding: Mating may occur as early as January, but usually takes place from March to September. During the height of the summer breeding season all females are pregnant. Each female may have up to 3 litters a year with an average of 4 and one half young per litter. Baby lemmings are born under the snow and drink their mother’s milk to survive. Few lemmings live over a year.
Habitat:

Range: Only in the Arctic tundra. During the summer collared lemmings live on the high, dry areas of the tundra. They burrow under the rocks. During the winter the collared lemmings move to lower meadows where there is more snow.

Diet: In summer their main foods are tender shoots of grasses and shrubs. During the winter they eat bark and twigs off willow and dwarf birch.

What do lemmings use to make their nests?

They line their nests with dry grasses, feathers, and muskox fur. In winter the collared lemming builds its nest on the tundra surface, or under the snow, and sometimes even in the middle of snow-banks.

What do the collared lemmings use their enlarged front claws for?

The claws are used to dig through the arctic wind packed snow. The claws are slowly worn away, and by spring all their claws have the same shape.

Why do collared lemmings have small ears and tails?

Less surface area reduces heat loss. That means there is less skin area for heat to escape from. Rodents in desert areas have larger ears for more surface area in order to keep cool.

How does the amount of plants affect the lemmings?

The number of lemmings shrinks and grows depending on how much food (plants) is available.

How quickly do lemmings multiply?

A pair of lemmings can have 10 babies in a litter. A month after the young are born they are ready to mate. They can have up to 3 litters a year. If all the young live and breed then there may be 10 times 10 by the next month! This is why the collared lemming is so important as a food source in the Arctic.

What keeps the lemmings from taking over the world?

Predators, diseases and lack of plant food all work to keep the lemming population in check.
How do the arctic people benefit from the collared lemming?

The winter fur of the collared lemming is used by Eskimos to trim garments and to make doll clothing.