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Enjoy Reindeer This Holiday Season

The reindeer, or rangifer tarandus (as it is known to those who care about such precise species classifications), has played a significant role in human history, for it is the only species of deer that has ever been even partially tamed by humans. Reindeer are considered semi-domesticated creatures, in that they can be herded, bred in captivity, and trained in some basic draught animal tasks, such as carrying and dragging loads. Specific reindeer living in close contact with their herders may even develop a bond similar to that of a wayward, sometimes affectionate house pet.

Reindeer typically range throughout Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Greenland and the Americas — where the species is more commonly referred to as caribou — and similar zones of Europe and Asia. But reindeer have also accompanied man as he has populated other regions of the world, with the result that herds have been introduced to areas of Iceland, Scotland, the South Sea and the Falkland Islands. In fact, the former British territories of The South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, well off the eastern coast of Argentina in the southern Atlantic Ocean, still carry the image of a reindeer on both their national seal and flag.

The history of man’s interaction with reindeer spans more than 300 centuries (or roughly 15 times the age of Christianity), which is why images of reindeer make up a substantial percentage of all prehistoric cave art. Early ancestors of such present-day sub-Arctic native peoples as the Chukchi, Tungus, Sami (or Lapps), Mi’kmaq, Gwich’in, Inupiak, Athabascans and Inuit relied heavily on reindeer herds for survival on the bleak tundra (treeless plains) and in the stark taiga (evergreen forests) of their frigid world. Still today, reindeer provide natives with transport, labor, meat, milk, cheese and clothing. Boots are sewn from hides, thread fashioned from sinews, needles and fishing hooks from bone and antler. Mattresses are stuffed with animal hair, and the creatures’ internal organs become containers.

At an average weight of about 600 lbs. for males, 300 lbs. for females, reindeer are fair-to-middling on the size scale of deer species. Their smaller relatives include the white-tail, red, Chinese water, mule and sitka deer, as well as the muntjac, dama, deerlet, and the wee pudu (often only one foot tall and 20 lbs. in weight). Larger relatives include the wapiti, elk, and moose (which can reach 7.5 feet tall and 2,000 lbs.) Reindeer that are semi-domesticated tend to be shorter-legged and heavier than those in the wild.

Reindeer are the only deer species in which both males and females carry antlers. These massive and often ornate outgrowths of bone, which may grow up to 5’ x 5’ in size and 40 lbs. in weight, are initially covered in velvet supplying the blood necessary to nurture antler growth. As mating season approaches, with its impending head-butting contests to win mates, the velvet is worn off, and the strengthening male’s neck may expand to twice its previous girth. After mating, males depart to a solitary life, while females and their young form massive herds with an inherited female hierarchy.

Presumably millions, perhaps even tens of millions, of reindeer remain across the planet today, though a precise tally is difficult to achieve. About ¾ million animals make up the largest known herd, the George River Herd, in Labrador. Another million or so animals populate a number of herds (including the Porcupine Herd, America’s best-known) throughout Alaska. In that state, reindeer outnumber human residents by a ratio of 3 to 2. In Finland, where reindeer races are frequent and well-attended, more than 5,000 reindeer herds occupy over 1/3rd of that nation’s land area.

Reindeer traverse their frozen world on only 8 toes per animal. They are artiodactylic, meaning even-toed, with just two toes per foot forming a split hoof — though they also have two tiny rear vestigial toes or ‘dew-claws’ on each foot. Reindeer hoof-pads are soft and spongy in warmer months, to allow the animal to bear on squishy boggy summer tundra, but then turn hard and form a sharp cutting edge in colder months, to provide the creature traction on hard snow and ice. As the animals migrate, their flexing hooves and ankles make a distinctive snapping sound, like breaking twigs, which can often be heard for great distances. Reindeer use their hooves to push aside snow cover to find their favorite staple — lichen growing low across the plains. And it’s apparently not only their favorite food; lichen bread is quite popular throughout Scandinavia. The creatures can scent lichens as much as 40” below drifting snow, and thus spend much of their time shuffling and snuffling through the landscape in search of fine grazing. (‘Caribou’ is, in fact, a native term meaning ‘snow-shoveler’.) While lichens constitute much of a reindeer’s diet, they are not above dining on birds’ eggs, lemmings, voles, leaves and grasses, as the opportunity arises.

The typical migratory path of a reindeer may stretch over 2,000 miles each year, as the animal heads for cooler, breezier coastal plains in summer for food, as well as for relief from clouds of mosquitoes and other predators. In peak swarms, a reindeer may lose up to one quart of blood a week to mosquitoes, and consistent reindeer-killers (in addition to lynxes and avalanches) are the warble and nose bot flies. With expanding populations and increased development in northern lands, coupled with climate change, older migration routes have often become broken by man’s intrusion or been submerged; some reindeer herders now assist their animals’ migration with boatrides and trucking where necessary. If you’d like to view an actual radio-tagged-and-tracked migratory route of an individual reindeer, go to http://www.taiga.net/satellite/where.html.

Reindeer have keen sight, hearing and sense of smell. They are fast and agile swimmers and can run very fast (up to 50 mph) across forbidding terrain on spreading snowshoe-like hooves. They can also carry or pull substantial loads. They are well-suited to colder climes, with multiple layers of coarse insulating hair and hairy muzzles. The ‘turbinate’ bones in their long snouts pull excess heat and condensation out of their exhalations, returning it in kind, by pre-heating and moderating incoming chillier air. Their antlers serve as heat radiators throughout the year’s warmest months. This capable and dependable creature has been aiding man for more than 30,000 years; it’s easy to see why it’s a favored choice to pull Santa’s sleigh this time each year.

Written by rickzimmerman

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Posted by Wetaskiwin Airport - September 29, 2011 at 10:46 pm

Categories: Enjoying Domestic Holiday   Tags: , , , , , ,

Get lost in Amsterdam ? Or read this article and get around like locals do.

Once you’re in Amsterdam the three best means of transportation are either bikes, your feet or public transportation.

Bikes

By far the best way to travel around in Amsterdam is by bike. Bikes are to Amsterdam what, say, tomato sauce is to pasta. It adds that little je ne sais qoui… Moving around on a bike is cheap, fast, reliable and a good way to have a genuine experience of Amsterdam life. On the other hand, it might be a bit inconvenient for those not comfortable with the noble art of cycling.

Bikes are cheap and easy to get. There are quite a few bike rentals located in the city center which rent good quality Dutch bikes. Notice that the traditional Dutch bike has no handbrakes but uses it’s pedals to break. If you feel insecure by this, ask for a bike with handbrakes. (Duh.)

Use your feet

Exploring the city by foot will allow you to see more of it’s  details (which you might not notice while managing your bike through the traffic) or stumble upon that nice little shop or restaurant. It’s great for denser exploration within a neighborhood. Just be aware that you’re in a bike city:

Warning: When you are walking around and suddenly notice a pictogram of a bicycle painted on the sidewalk, it means you are NOT on the sidewalk. Get away fast. You are walking on a bicycle highway. Locals might get very angry at people looking in books or gazing at rooftops in the midst of a bicycle lane. In the case you find yourself in a situation like this – you will – keep calm. Look from which direction the bicycles are coming – assume all – and step aside. DO NOT DO the funky chicken, just choose a direction and keep it. Local bicyclists are very well trained in avoiding collisions with pedestrians. Accordingly to your movement they choose a side to pass you. If you keep moving hence and forth they have to keep correcting their course which, finally, will result in a painful collision. In close encounters with bicyclist you probably will wonder why so many of them have problems with their throats. Actually, they don’t. They are cursing you. Common things to hear in a close bicycle encounter: Godver! Ga weg! Pronounce like: [Scrape your throat]odver! [Scrape your throat]a we[scrape your throat]!

Of course you can spend your day well wandering around at random, in fact it is one of those things I as a local still like to do. But if you’re short in time, or just like a bit more structure in your day you can choose to follow an official wandering route. Throughout the city there are little signs which you can follow, or you can buy a map of a walking tour at a tourist information office.

Public transportation

If you are not the moving type, or the weather is really bad, you can use public transportation to get around town. In the city center the most widely used vehicle is the tram. (Tourists tend to refer to trams as: “AAAAHWATCHOUTOHMYGODATRAIN!” or just “SPLAT”.) 

Before you hop on a tram you’ll need a short explanation of the public transportation pricing system. You can buy a ticket on board or you buy a strippenkaart in advance, which is the cheaper option. Strippencards are sold from almost any tobacco shop or supermarket, at the underground stations there are vending machines. To understand where to stamp on your strippencard you must need to know that the city is divided into zones. (I.e. the inner city is roughly included in one zone.) For traveling within one zone you need two strips of the strippencard (leave one blank and get a stamp on the second). For traveling within two zones you need three strips (leave two strips blank and get a stamp on the third), etc. At first this seems a bit illogical, but once you think a bit longer about this you’ll understand it really is. Once stamped, your ticket is valid for 1 hour (1, 2 or 3 zones) in which you are allowed to get on and of trams, busses and subways, as often as you like, as long as you stay in the zone(s) you stamped for.

On most tram lines you can only enter through the front and the second last entrance, on a few others you may enter through any door you like. Since this is of course perfectly logical, even for outsiders, boarding through a false door will almost certainly earn you a reprimand yelled through the on board intercom in an unfriendly manner, telling you to come and show your ticket to the conductor. Always keep in mind that the Dutch are not unfriendly, just direct.

On buses you may only enter through the front door, the subway you may enter through any door you like as long as it’s not the front door (you’ll end up on the driver’s lap, which is strictly prohibited by safety guidelines). When seated in the subway make sure you keep your feet away from the benches. The police are very keen on writing fines nowadays (keeping organized crime low) and sometimes gather in a subway station, peeking through the windows of incoming trains in search of passengers who have their feet resting on benches (or displaying other forms of deviant behavior). Once halted the subway train is entered and the government treasury filled. Bribing with donuts usually doesn’t sort effect. Restrain from making pig-like noises. 

Since Amsterdam is a big metropolitan city, public transportation runs until midnight, sometimes even 30 minutes longer. Of course you are already well back in your hotel by then, unless you’re lost, on drugs or both. Might this be the case, or you just missed the last few trams -uhuh-, you got no other options than stealing a bike, walking your way back or getting a cab.  

Stealing a bike, of course, is illegal. Besides it is immoral, mean and lowlife-ish. Bikes are the holy cows of Amsterdam so treat them with respect. In fact locals often buy one or more locks in tribute to their bikes that cost each more than the bike itself. Keep this in mind. 

Cabs come in different flavors. We’ve got the old fashioned four wheeled types, they’re quite expensive but fast (during the night). Act like you know your way around. (TIP: The shortest way from one point in the city center to another usually isn’t via the suburbs.) A good alternative to a regular cab is the tuk-tuk. These small three wheeled motor/car-thingies are quite cheap and fairly fast. In fact, due to their great popularity big Asian cities like Bangkok now also adopted this form of transportation. You’ll notice that “Thailand” is already written on the back of the tuk-tuk’s in Amsterdam. This is done in order to sell them more easily abroad once they’re used up according to European standards. Finally there’s a bike-cab (you might have seen Asian clones called riksja’s). These bike-cabs do not have a fixed price, you have to negotiate, which might be, given the state of mind and the time of the day we were talking about, a bit inconvenient. Besides their speed varies accordingly to the size of the driver’s legs and your own weight. If you prefer walking your way back, good choice! Walking through Amsterdam by night is a very enchanting experience. Divert from the main roads and enjoy the quiet of the smaller neighborhood streets and the yellowish glowing lights at the canals. Listen to the water sloshing softly against the many houseboats. Smell the air of the night. Make a mental note to reincarnate in Amsterdam in your next life.

Written by annaf26

Question by BradLad: BASSIST QUESTION: How can I extend my Bass amp?
I have an Ashdown MAG 300 Combo which I love don’t get me wrong but how much can I add which it will power perfectly? I’m looking for a fairly cheap cab which is powerful and sounds great which i can add to my combo head, chears!

Best answer:

Answer by Snow Leopard
It might get answerer if you ask on Music category.

What do you think? Answer below!

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Posted by Wetaskiwin Airport - August 28, 2011 at 10:46 pm

Categories: How To Get Cheap Cabs   Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Car Rental in Alicante ? Keeping Up the Spirit of this Land

Car Rental in Alicante ? Keeping Up the Spirit of this Land

There are so many things that you need to look for when you are exactly moving for a perfect vacation in Spain. These Spanish regions have always managed to make some good statement about their presence on the world map. Most of the Spanish regions are loaded with rich culture and heritage and at the same time these places are holding some of the most amazing monuments for a long time. In order to attract more tourists for these regions, the tourism department operating in this part of the world has preserved these attractive things elegantly.

As already mentioned you need to look for few things in order to make the whole tour really successful. In this regard first you need to look for the right place in the Spanish region that is now drawing more popularity among the tourists across the globe. Well, in this list Alicante will come in the top slot. This city has been conveniently located at the eastern part of Spain, which is again bordering the provinces such as Murcia at the South, Albacete at the north and Valencia at the north. Before you move for Alicante its always better for you to know and look at the place and try to collect more information about it so that you can draw maximum amount of help during the tour.

This is a perfect spot for anyone who simply wants to draw a perfect traveling. Whether you want to have fun or you simply want to have parties, Alicante is the place that can always make you feel better about your tour. Here you can draw the most vibrating nightlife and at the same time you can follow the traditional events to make your tour more amazing. Discos and festivals here are now drawing more acceptances. In this part of the world tourists are going to find sunshine through out the year.

Visiting castles, and several other amazing destinations is the most fun filled task that every traveler wants to experience. Well, last but not the least, when its all about choosing the right transportation in this part of the world you need to know what are the best modes that you can have. In this regard car rental in Alicante can bring in fabulous response for you. It’s the city of Alicante, which is exactly drawing more response due to its car rental services. These services are also offering great results in terms of transporting tourists from one location to the other with ease.


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Argus Car Hire – www.argusrentals.com – let Sebastiano Serafini and La Carmina – http – play with a blue Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible in Los Angeles! Your favorite “Japanese celebrities” end up on silly situations, such as failing to fill the gas and driving on the highway with the top down. Be sure to watch the art film at the end! Ireland-based Argus Car Hire – www.argusrentals.com – has over 550 suppliers worldwide, and works with companies such as Alamo, Enterprise, National and Thrifty. The next time you’re travelling and need a rental, check out their site — they’ll hook you up with real-time access to the world’s cheapest all inclusive deals. *** For more PHOTOS of our LA Invasion www.lacarmina.com *** Did you like the video? Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel — more LA and Tokyo adventures to come! *** CUTE JAPANESE FASHION, MAKEUP TUTORIALS and more on my daily blog: www.lacarmina.com —- LA CARMINA is a professional Japan Goth music / fashion / subcultures blogger, travel TV host & arranger, coolhunter, author of 3 books (Penguin USA and Random House), designer and CNNGo.com journalist. Her popular blog has been featured in major publications (The New Yorker, Washington Post, WWD, Village Voice, Time Out New York, LA Times). She contributes articles about Asia travel, pop culture and Goth fashion for CNN and Lip Service. Her books include Cute Yummy Time (about decorating food to look adorable) and Crazy, Wacky Theme Restaurants: Tokyo (maid cafes, cat cafes …
Video Rating: 4 / 5


Question by Andrea: What car rental companies do not charge extra for drivers under 25 years of age?
I am going to Louisiana from PA to check out a grad school but im only 23, though my driving record is spotless I know I’ll be charged more to rent a car cuz im not 25 yet. Also, I’ll land late at night, know any rental companies still renting at like midnight?

Best answer:

Answer by simply_made
Take a look at this article … it has good information and tips for renters under 25

http://young-driver-car-rental.yolasite.com/

Give your answer to this question below!

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Posted by Wetaskiwin Airport - May 6, 2011 at 12:51 pm

Categories: car rental   Tags: , , , , ,

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