Margaret's Most Visited Websites:
nogginhoopsandyoyomylittleponynickjr.
playhousedisneypbskidsyahooligansscholastic
rubbaducksmilkmonitorzula patroldanger rangers

Margaret's Current Events:

archive:
2007
2006

Crazy cat toy!

(click to play)

12_17_2007 - What a way to start the morning! Thanks for the giggles Miss Kathryn!

 

Odie grin!

Odie Avery Stathelson Odie tongue

07_14_2007 - Welcome to the family, Odie!

 

corn snake baby frog

Red spot damselfly Spotted salamander

Tiger salamander Howard the horned lizard

07_08_2007 - Margaret's choice for the best critters at the Festival for the Eno.

 

Sparkle!

Isn't it beautiful?

Isn't it beutiful?

(click image to play)

07_04_2007 - Afternoon cookout, night time play. Happy Birthday USA!

 

Scopula limboundata (Large Lace-border),

Scopula limboundata (Large Lace-border)
06_16_2007 - Found fluttering in the edge of the woods and the lawn.

 

Coty and colt

05_12_2007 - Uncle Danny's new colt, and mother, Coty.

 

Four-Toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

Four-Toed Salamander
(Hemidactylium scutatum)
03_30_2007 - Found in the edge of the woods near Margaret's swings

Description: 2-3.5 in. (5-9 cm). Coloration of body is gray with a white belly marked with black spots. There are four toes on the hind feet. The tail breaks off easily.
Habitat: Commonly found in mossy areas and boggy woodland ponds in the piedmont and mountains of North Carolina.
Habits: This salamander is terrestrial when adult and aquatic in the larval stage. Spawning occurs in early March, with hatching in May.
Young: Females lay about 30-50 eggs under moss and watch them until hatching. After hatching, larvae are aquatic for about 6 weeks before they metamorphosis into terrestrial salamanders.

(Information copied from the Amphibians and Reptiles of North Carolina webpage created by the students of Davidson College)

 

Good-bye little Aquasaurs 02_09_2007

Today we lost the last of our little Aquasaur friends. Margaret was given a super cool Aquasaur kit for her birthday. Thanks Katie!!!! We finally put them in water on 11_25_2006 and they hatched around 11_27_2006.

triops_video_1
click to play video

Our Triops friends just a few days old 12_02_2006

The real name for our aquasaurs is Triops longicaudatus and they have been on earth for 350 million years. Triops is for their "three eyes." They are a type of crustacean, sometimes called tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp, and look much like a horseshoe crab, or a trilobite.

For more detailed info, try these sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notostraca
http://mytriops.com/articles/triops_species.stm
http://www.netfysh.com/home.html?http://www.netfysh.com/instantpets/triops/faq.html

They were fast growers, molting nearly every day, which made water changes a bit disturbing. The molts were like transparent versions of themselves. Good thing they have adapted to life in brackish water, because we were not exactly prompt on the water changes, and the algae took over fairly quickly.

triops_video_2
click to play video

The last Triops, adult 01_19_2007

Our last little guy was starting to look a little slow at around 70 days old. The other two 'saurs had kicked off about a month earlier. The Triops lifespan is between 20-90 days, so I guess we kept our buddy for a long time. We'll miss the sound of the gravel scraping against the bottom of the tank in the middle of the night. Thank you, little Triops.