Raccoons Are A Familiar Sight For Many Environments Because They Eat Just About Anything. The Raccoon’s

Our Great Blue Heron was doing some feather cleaning this morning. Look at how long that neck is! The long neck and beak of the Heron was adapted to fishing for prey. This tall birds are excellent at wading through the water and make quite an impressive sight in flight. 

“ Great Blue Herons aren’t likely to visit a typical backyard. However, they are sometimes unwelcome visitors to yards that include fish ponds. A length of drain pipe placed in the pond can provide fish with a place to hide from feeding herons. Herons, like most of our birds, are legally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.” -The Cornell Lab https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/overview

Today the SNC donated dish and appliance sets to FLITE Center. FLITE’s mission is to “guide those aging out of foster care and other vulnerable youth for a successful transition to independence.” 

The SNC is very happy we got the opportunity to give back to our community this way. Kids that have grown up through the foster care system are more vulnerable as they start their adult life and many of them do not have support systems to help them get started on the right foot.

Remember, as a community, there is no issue we can’t tackle together. 

I am part of a club at my collage where we help to educate others on reducing their water and energy waste! Follow us on Instagram at chicogreencampus for more stuff like this!

Here is our Executive Director using Big Red, our resident red rat snake, for our virtual education program. One of the SNC’s main missions is to spread environmental education throughout South Florida. We are excited to pivot to a virtual, safe platform. Big Red was just happy to have a warm body to thermoregulate with in this #FloridaCold! 

Are you feeling increased stress and anxiety due to COVID-19 related issues? Lavender is one of the best ways to naturally reduce stress and anxiety. Burn a lavender candle, use a few drops of lavender essential oils in a bath, or even use some to mix with lemonade! 

Check out what other people are using lavender for here: https://www.ausnaturalcare.com.au/health/life-style/10-benefits-of-lavender-essential-oil-and-how-to-use-it/

We hope your Thanksgiving was as great as Nelly’s, our resident Turkey Vulture!

“Fragile & paper thin, is the compelling nature of many perfect things. Like butterfly wings, unfolding from a chrysalis, vibrant & vital in release. Exploring their place in this tangled world, faint heartbeat fluttering over roaring air, velvet lace floating on fitful winds. Barely there for the briefest of moments, then with one final, breathless flourish—gone again”.

RhymingTherapy—November 2020 (Caper White butterflies in my garden last weekend) poem inspired by @Writerscreed challenge “we need unfolding”

Manatees are nicknamed “sea cows” because they eat seagrasses and other aquatic plants. Following decades of conservation progress, the West Indian manatee was recently reclassified from threatened from endangered under the Trump Administration. Diverse conservation efforts and collaborations by Florida and other manatee states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Caribbean nations, public and private organizations and citizens, have led to notable increases in manatee populations and habitat improvements. Photo by Keith Ramos, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Beautiful metal tree art….

natgeotravel

Video by @bertiegregory | A harp seal pup takes a swimming lesson with its mother in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Quebec, Canada. This species has an extraordinary breeding cycle. Females give birth to pups on moving ice floes. They suckle the pup for just 10 to 14 days. During the last few days of this short period, they encourage the pup into the water to help them learn to swim. After the swimming lessons, they abandon the pup. The females then mate with the males who have been waiting nearby before heading north to their feeding grounds. The pups at two weeks old are left alone with nothing to eat.