tidbits vernon 169, frogs, april 18 2014

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April 18-24, 2014 Issue #00169

TIDBITS® IS CROAKING ABOUT

FROGSby Kathy Wolfe

Since April is National Frog Month, it only seems fitting for Tidbits to bring you the facts on these little creatures. • Frogs are amphibians, meaning they are

cold-blooded and sp lit their time between land and water. Their body temperature changes depending on their surroundings. If it’s cold, certain frogs dig underground burrows or hole up in the mud of ponds.

• More than 4,700 species of frogs can be found around the world. The U.S. is home to about 90 species. Frogs can survive in an astonishing variety of climates and live on every continent except Antarctica. It’s not just warm tropical climates they thrive in – they also dwell in deserts and on mountaintops. Some wood frogs live north of the Arctic Circle, subsisting for weeks in a frozen state. The glucose in the frog’s blood acts as an antifreeze that collects in the vital organs, preserving them while the body freezes.

• The front legs of a frog have four toes each, and the back legs have five toes. While aquatic frogs’ legs are longer and stronger to help them swim, land-dwelling frogs have shorter legs for walking and climbing. The tree frog’s large round toe pads act as suction cups to help it grip branches.

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CROSSWORD Across

1 2012 Ben Affleck political thriller5 Organizes by date, say10 Is able to13 Former Defense Secretary Panetta14 Came into play15 “Mission: Impossible” theme composer Schifrin16 Novelist Tyler17 Most populous city in South Dakota19 Second-in-command in the kitchen21 Demean22 Baby goat23 Legged it24 Mercedes rival26 Bus. get-together27 Sharp ridge29 Adman’s connection31 Digital camera battery, often32 Legal thing34 Hoops gp.35 Superficially cultured36 Michigan or Ontario city on the same border river40 Unit of cotton41 Carry a balance42 Yeats’ land: Abbr.43 Land parcel44 Continental border

range46 Last Supper query50 Unbarred, to a bard51 Fall mo.52 Marlins’ div.54 ISP option55 Indian dresses57 Canal passage connecting Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes59 “W is for Wasted” mystery author62 Margin jotting63 Gymnast Korbut64 Part of BYOB65 Price66 Low in the lea67 Betsy Ross, famously68 Lodge group

Down1 “North to the Future” state2 Pierre-Auguste of impressionism3 Take it all off4 Small bills5 Barack’s younger daughter6 “Murder on the __ Express”7 Ski rack site8 Lone Star State sch.9 Gender10 Ristorante squid

11 “Good Hands” company12 Bouquet of flowers15 Chem class requirement18 Baby deer20 Fishing basket24 Neuwirth of “Cheers”25 Home of baseball’s Marlins28 “You’re right”30 Very big maker of very little chips33 Mall unit35 “Iliad” war god36 Home to millions of Brazilians

37 Half a superhero’s identity38 Switch39 Animated mermaid40 Open, as a bud44 KGB country45 Take a nap47 “No worries, man”48 “Shame, shame!”49 Detailed map windows53 Recluse56 Franchised supermarket brand57 Put away58 Almost never60 Sit-up targets61 Opponent

FROGS (continued):

• Although it does have lungs, a frog breathes through its skin, which allows oxygen to pass through it, so its skin must always be moist. If it isn’t wet enough, there isn’t enough oxygen and the frog suffocates. The frog doesn’t take a drink when thirsty – all the moisture the frog needs is absorbed through the skin.

• At least once a week, frogs shed their skin. After doing a lot of twisting and stretching, a frog will pull the skin over its head. Although the frog will usually eat the skin, some species, like the Australian water-holding frog, uses the shed skin as a cocoon to burrow in. This desert-dwelling water-holding frog can wait seven years for rain in its underground burrow.

• Out of all animals with a backbone, frogs are by far the best jumpers, with many able to leap up to 20 times their body length. If a human could do that, it would be about a 100-foot (30.5 m) jump. The longest frog jump on record took place at a 1989 South African frog derby when Santjie the frog leaped 33 feet, 5.5 inches (10 m.).

• Not all frogs are jumpers. Costa Rica’s flying tree frog soars among the branches aided by its feet. The webbing between its toes fills with air much like a parachute, enabling the frog to fly from tree to tree.

• Have you ever tried to sneak up on a frog? It’s “nigh on” impossible because its bulging eyes enable it to see in all different directions without even moving its head. And because its eyes are located on the top of its head, a frog can sit in the water with only its eyes and nose above the surface. Frogs have three eyelids, two of which are used above water, and the other to protect its eyes when it is under water.

• An unusual species known as the glass frog has transparent skin, meaning you can see its internal organs, bones, and muscles. An observer can view the heart beating as well as the stomach digesting food.

• Although most frogs stick to a diet of insects, snails, spiders, and worms, some species dine on small fish and even mice. Argentina’s horned frogs can eat a mouse in one mouthful, swallowing it whole. Africa’s dwarf puddle frog gobbles up to 100 mosquitoes in one night’s dinner. It takes less than one second for a frog to roll out its long sticky

tongue, grab its prey, and return it to its mouth. While the frog does have a row of teeth on its upper jaw, they’re only to hold the prey while the frog kills it. The teeth are not used to chew.

• You can distinguish the male from the female frog by checking out its ears, located just behind the eye. If the ear is larger than the eye, it’s a male; if the ear is smaller, it’s a female.

• The largest kind of frog is the Goliath frog native to the Cameroon in West Africa. The Goliath’s body can grow to nearly a foot (30 cm) long, and can weigh as much as a housecat, about 7.3 lbs. (3.3 kg). In contrast, one of the world’s smallest frogs can be found in Brazil. The adult Gold Frog measures just 3/8th of an inch (9.8 mm).

• What’s the difference between a frog and a toad? Technically, the toad is a frog because it also belongs to the order Anura. Toads are simply frogs with dry warty skin and short hind legs. Frogs have smooth moist skin and long webbed hind legs.

• While all frogs have poison glands in their skin, most aren’t potent enough to do any damage. However, some Central and South American varieties, known as poison dart frogs, have extraordinarily strong poisons. The natives use this poison on the tips of their hunting arrows. Although there are about 170

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MARATHONS With the Boston Marathon scheduled for Monday, April 21, Tidbits examines the facts on the history of marathons, while focusing on a few famous events. • The official distance of the modern marathon is

26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 km). It began as a commemoration of legend’s run of the Greek messenger and soldier Pheidippides. At the completion of the Battle of Marathon between the Greeks and the Persians, Pheidippides was sent from the battlefield to Athens to announce the victory. After running the entire distance without stopping, he rushed into the assembly, proclaimed, “We won,” then collapsed and died.

• When the modern-day Olympics began in 1896, the marathon was one of the original events, although there was no standardized distance. In 1908, at the London Olympics, the race course was from Windsor Castle to the White City Stadium, followed by a partial lap of the track within, a distance of 26 miles, 385 yards (42.195 km). In 1921, the International Amateur Athletic Federation made this the official length of a marathon.

• There was no Olympic women’s marathon until the 1984 Summer Olympics.

• The first New York City Marathon was held in 1970 with 127 competitors running several loops around Central Park’s Park Drive. Only 100 spectators were on hand to watch 55 of these runners cross the finish line. Held every year on the first Sunday of November, the race has dramatically changed. The course now winds

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FROGS (continued):

different kinds of these poisonous creatures, the most toxic is the golden poison frog. It contains enough poison to kill eight people.

• In the English language, the frog says, “ribbit,” while in the Arabic, it says “far, gar.” Mandarin Chinese frogs croak, “guo, guo,” while Russian frogs make the sound “kva-kva.”

• Frogs have their place in folklore as well. Legend has it that if the first frog you see in the Spring is sitting on dry ground, for the next year, you will shed as many tears as the frog would need to swim away in. It’s also not a good sign if Spring’s first frog jumps into the water – you’ll have misfortune all year. Likewise, if it jumps away from you, you will lose some friends. However, take heart! If it jumps in your direction, you’ll have many friends. Why not adopt the Japanese’s view of frogs – they view them as symbols of good luck.

• About 120 species of frogs, toads, and salamanders have disappeared over the past 35 years.


Canadian Tid-bits▶ Canada is the third largest producer of diamonds in the world.

▶ The largest archipelago in the world is Canada’s Arctic island chain, including 6 of the world’s 30 largest islands.

▶ The world’s strongest current is found in the Nakwakto Rapids at Slingsby Channel, British Columbia. The current has been measured at speeds up to 18.4 miles per hour. The current is so fast at times that people have tied a rope to Turret Rock, which is located right in the middle of the rapids, and then water-skied.

▶ The names Quebec and Detroit both originate from native words for ‘strait.’

▶ What was the first Canadian city to install parking meters? Sudbury, ON, in 1940.

▶ 27 of the fifty U.S. states have land north of Canada’s southernmost point at Middle Island, ON.

FAMOUS CANADIANS:

PAUL ANKA• One of the world’s favorite crooners hails from

Ottawa, Ontario. Born in Canada in 1941 to restaurant-owning parents of Lebanese descent, Paul Anka began singing in the St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Church choir at age 12. By 13, he had formed his own group, the Bobbysoxers.

• A school contest when he was 13 changed the course of Anka’s life. He collected Campbell’s soup labels for three months and won a trip to New York City, where he determined he was going to make it in the music industry. By 14, he had recorded his first single, “I Confess.”

• At 16, Anka headed back to New York and was granted an audition at ABC-Paramount Records, singing “Diana.” The studio signed him immediately and “Diana” quickly skyrocketed to Number One, and continues to be one of the best-selling 45s in music history, with sales of over 9 million copies. Following up with four more singles, Anka was firmly in place as a universal teen idol.

• In the late 1950s Anka was traveling the world, singing such hits as “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “Hey There, Lonely Boy.” While touring Great Britain and Australia with Buddy Holly, Anka composed “It Doesn’t

Matter Anymore” exclusively for Holly, and Holly recorded it shortly before his fatal plane crash in 1959. At age 18, Anka generously bestowed his composer’s royalties on Holly’s widow.

• While enjoying a career as a recording star, Anka began songwriting in earnest. He composed the 1960 hit “Puppy Love” inspired by his brief teen romance with Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. At age 19, he wrote the theme song to the hit move The Longest Day, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song. He was also given a part as an army private in the film.

• In 1962, Anka wrote the theme song for The Tonight Show, during Johnny Carson’s tenure. During Carson’s heyday, Anka earned $900,000 annually in royalties for just that one song. It’s estimated the song has been played close to a million-and-a-half times.

• Paul Anka has written more than 900 songs, including Frank Sinatra’s signature tune “My Way” and Tom Jones’ biggest hit “She’s a Lady.” Sinatra also became noted singing Anka favorites “Fly Me to the Moon’ and “I’ve Gotta Be Me.” Connie Francis, Barbra Streisand, and The Doobie Brothers have had hits with his compositions. The voice of Elvis Presley can heard singing Anka’s “Blue Christmas” every holiday season.

• Anka was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in the U.S. in 1993, and into the Canadians Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2008. He’s had a song on the Billboard charts in every decade since his 1957 debut, including singles in the Top 50 during five different decades. Anka has recorded 125 albums, including songs in Japanese, German, Spanish, French, and Italian. Worldwide, he’s sold more than 15 million records. In recent years, he has gravitated to big-band arrangements of popular standards. At 72, he still performs on a regular basis as well as appearing on a motivational speaker circuit. In his words, “I’ve always believed that if you don’t stay moving, they will throw dirt on you.”


Q: My 12-year-old spayed dog used to piddle like the female she is. Then, about a year ago, she began to piddle far more often on walks, sometime lifting her leg like a male dog. She used to urinate maybe three or four times on walks, but now she lifts her leg maybe 10 times or more. The vet checked her out and she’s fine. He has no idea what’s going on. Does she want a sex-change operation?

A: “Hormones are a strange thing,” says Madison, WI-based certified applied animal behaviorist Patri-cia McConnell, author of “For the Love of a Dog: Un-derstanding Emotion In You and Your Best Friend” (Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 2006; $24.95). “It’s not uncommon for a female dog to lift a leg here and there, but to do so regularly, well, that is more un-usual.” McConnell wonders if your dog is perhaps undergo-ing a sort of personal “change of life,” a switch in her hormone balance. Having said that, McConnell has never heard of dogs being so severely impacted by a sudden hormone change and/or watching Maury Po-vich that the animal would actually want sex-change surgery! More likely, an external stimulus triggered this be-havior. McConnell wonders, “Is there a new dog on the block which your dog has an issue with, and feels she has to author a daily chemical newspaper col-umn? Maybe she’s become overly insecure due to an-other change in her life. I wonder if she marks (as a male dog would) when you take her on walks in other neighborhoods.” In any case, if you want to speed your walks along (instead of letting your dog stop at every tree or hy-drant), use positive reinforcement to encourage her to mark less and walk more. In other words, take some kibble along in your pocket and offer it your dog as she’s walking to discourage those frequent stops.

MARATHONS (continued):

through all five boroughs of New York City, beginning on Staten Island, finishing up outside Tavern on the Green near Manhattan’s Central Park.

• The New York Marathon begins promptly at 10:10 A.M. and has a time limit of 8.5 hours. One of the largest marathons in the world, this past year there were 50,304 finishers, including the millionth runner to start the course in its 43-year history. Since 1970, the race has been cancelled only once, in 2012, due to the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy the week before.

• The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, first held in 1897, the year after the marathon’s premiere in the Olympics. From its humble beginnings with 18 participants, the Boston event has grown to about 20,000 participants, with 2013’s race boasting 26,839 entries. About 500,000 spectators are on hand annually.

• Each year, the Boston Marathon is held on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday in April. This date commemorates the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775.

• The Boston Marathon did not officially allow women until 1972. However, in 1966, 23-year-old Roberta Gibb donned her brother’s Bermuda shorts and hooded sweatshirt and hid in the bushes near the starting line. The starting gun went off and after half the pack of runners had started, she jumped in. She had been training for two years, running as much as 40 miles in one day.

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Easter Seals Splash of Colour Kelowna & Vernon

Saturday, April 19, 2014 from 10am to 3pm at Kin Beach, Lakeshore Rd Vernon. Every sum-mer over 260 kids with disabilities from the Okanagan Valley and surrounding areas attend Easter Seals Camp Winfield having a blast of a time! Now you can help a child by splashing out in colour on April 19, when the Easters Seals Splash of Color Family Fun Run presented by Century21 takes place in Kelowna and Vernon for the first time. Fundraisers, such as the Eas-ter Seals Splash of Color Family Fun Run raises funds to help send kids to camp for a one week adventure. All the proceeds raised from the events in Kelowna and Vernon will stay in the Okanagan to help send local kids with disabili-ties to Camp Winfield. Every $2,400 raised will enable one child to attend the week-long camp. For registration information http://www.splashofcolor.ca/

Art and Soul Thursday, April 24, 2014 to Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 10am at Vernon Public Art Gallery, 3228 31st Ave, Vernon. The Vernon Public Art Gallery will present an annual exhibition of art produced by secondary students from School District #22 and surrounding areas. For more info: (250) 545-3173 or [email protected] Vernon Public Art Gallery four exhibitions are currently on view, everything from video to painting to printmaking. There is something to engage audiences of all ages. There’s no fee to view our exhibitions or browse the Gallery Shop although donations are greatly appreciated. The Gallery is open Mon-Fri, 10am - 1pm and Sat form 11am-4pm. www.vernonpublicartgallery.com

Elephant’s Child puppet showFriday, April 25, 2014 at 3:30pm at Okanagan Regional Library, 2800-30th Avenue, Vernon Elephant’s Child puppet show for ages 6-8. Just drop in! Unplug & Play at the Vernon Branch of the Okanagan Regional Library! For more information please call (250)542-7610 or visit www.orl.bc.ca. http://www.orl.bc.ca/

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tidbits vernon 169, frogs, april 18 2014

Documents

species of frogs

landdwelling frogs

certain frogs

wood frogs

aquatic frogs legs

frogs blood acts

shorter legs

sqft deliveryquality