I’ve been in Houston so that I can lock in my new job. While there, I decided to go to the Houston Zoo. I love animals, and have wanted to visit the Houston Zoo because they have the endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chickens there in a restoration project…
From the Houston Zoo website:
Attwater’s prairie chicken [...] is a critically endangered subspecies of prairie grouse that was once very common on the coastal prairies of eastern Texas, including what is today the Houston metropolitan area. This bird is perhaps best known for its “booming” display, a characteristic male behavior that attracts hens during the breeding season, which takes place from late winter through early spring. Unfortunately, the combination of vanishing habitat, predation, and introduced species has taken its toll on the remaining wild population, which now numbers less than 100 birds at three protected sites[.]
There are less than 100 wild Attwater prairie chickens remaining in the wild! They are beautiful, as you can see from the image at the top of this post, and ever since I did a project over them in high school, I have been trying to see one or hold one before they go extinct!! Unfortunately, I was not able to see them! They had some hatching ‘behind the scenes,’ but nothing I could get close to… I asked around and eventually was told that if I really, really wanted to see them, I could possible set up a VIP tour or set up a special tour with the Houston Zoo at a later date… I guess I have to wait until next time I come to visit…
But! There were other cool animals that I saw there!
My party and I were planning on getting to the zoo around noon, but we got there a little later, around 2:30… and we were only going to stay for about 2 hours… But the zoo was just too large and too fun for us to leave so early! We ended up staying until after their closing time at 7 that evening and we still didn’t get to see all of the animals there. (Yes, even the Attwater prairie chicken…) Oh, it would have also been cool to see a Victoria Crowned Pigeon… We will definitely be going there again very soon. Here in a few weeks, I’m going to be going to the Dallas Zoo!
To wrap up this blog post, though, I have to say that my favorite animal that I saw there was the Siamese Fireback Pheasant!
Houston Zoo: Click Here
More about the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken at the Houston Zoo: Click Here
The golden laced wyandotte is a very pretty and rare wyandotte breed of chicken. The wyandotte breed is somewhat common breed because the wyandotte is beautiful to look at, nice, but also very productive. They can also resist the cold easily because they are so fluffy and their combs are of the pea comb variety, which are less prone to frostbite.
They are also heavy, yet very energetic at times and even come in the bantam size! (A bantam is a smaller and lighter version of chicken that comes in a lot of different breeds.)
This breed has been around since 1880 when Joseph McKeen bred a silver laced wyandotte with a chicken that’s called a winnebago. 8 years later, the breed was admitted to the American Standard.
This wyandotte is actually a pullet. A pullet is a female chicken that isn’t a hen, yet. If you have a female chicken that’s younger than a year and is immature (without the comb and wattles), then she’s a pullet!
I would love to have a golden laced wyandotte hen. I already have a blue wyandotte at my house and I love him; He’s large and fluffy but is definitely not nice to people. If he sees a stranger, he will attack them! Not me, though.
The above image is a pigeon. In fact, it’s the world’s largest pigeon. A few weeks ago, I went to the Dallas World Aquarium, which actually was less of an aquarium and more of a zoo. They had a lot of really cool creatures… fish, jellyfish, crabs, monkeys, etc… But the coolest creature was definitely the Victoria Crowned Pigeon. The first animals you see when you get to the aquarium are various species of exotic birds that are each in their own bamboo cages. The last ones down were these beautiful birds.
Of course, this isn’t my video, but it shows that these guys aren’t afraid of people and are pretty docile. I searched around online to find some more information about them.
This species is categorised as Vulnerable because its population is suspected to be rapidly declining through logging and hunting. It is particularly easy to hunt as it is tame, gregarious, and flushed birds are easy to shoot from their low perches.
Apparently, they are very tamable and make great exotic pets. I’m not sure how legal it is to own one in America, though, since a lot of sources are saying different things. I would absolutely looove to have a pet Victoria crowned pigeon! They are beautiful brids…
Texas state law regarding exotic animals:
No person may possess a dangerous wild animal without first obtaining a license (certificate of registration). Dangerous wild animals are defined as lions, tigers, ocelots, cougars, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, bobcats, lynxes, servals, caracals, hyenas, bears, coyotes, jackals, baboons, chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, or any hybrids of the animals listed. However, there are no requirements for a person possessing all other animal not listed above, such as monkeys, wolves etc.
If I did happen to have one as a pet, I’d allow it to roam around my yard with my pet chickens since they need a lot of room. It would even get along well with my chickens, as it’s stated in the bird fact sheet. (Below.) Of course, I’d have to clip it’s feathers, but they are grounded birds, like ducks. And since they are from a similar climate, I think it would be comfortable and under the watch of my rooster, it’ll be safe from predators. Another note: feeding the pigeon would be quite easy… it’ll forage with my other birds, eating grain, bugs, and dirt, and get the rest of its very simple diet from the chicken mix that I have.
Looking at more and more pictures of these birds, they are very, very beautiful. I absolutely love the brilliant blue colors that they can have. Some are duller, though. I’m assuming that they are dull because they have a different, less ballanced, diet than the ones raised in captivity. Their eyes just pull me in; The red is just stunning, especially contrasted against their blue feathers.
I watched this back in 2007 or 2008 when it aired on Animal Planet. It’s pretty incredible to see that an evolutionary modification can equip little shrimps with specialized claw that can snap so fast, that it squirts a stream of water that for a split second is as hot the surface of the sun to temporarily stun prey. Check out the video to see for yourself!
Ahhh… Chemtrails… Very interesting… This is the first post that I’m gonna make about this subject but I’ll be posting soon about it, though, so don’t worry. It’s controversial but widely acknowledged by the conspiracy community as a problem… as a tool used by governments.
What are chemtrails? Well, you know whenever you see a jet way up in the sky with a white line behind it? What is that line? It’s like a cloud. Whenever aircrafts reach a certain speed, they disrupt the water molecules in the air and they clump together, forming a fozen mist.They aren’t anything special, really. No one denies the fact that jets can leave behind them a stream of mist at a certain speed.
What is this conspiracy theory revolving around, then? A chemtrail is not a stream or mist left behind by the planes- it is different. It is a product (liquid spray or gas) that’s released by the aircraft for a variety of supposed reasons. Some people believe they are used to control the weather. These people believe that controlling the weather may be beneficial to controlling the economy via agricultural production. Some people believe that chemtrails contain chemicals that are used to control people’s minds… through inhalation or our water system.
Personally, I’m conflicted over the idea. It just makes logical sense to me… Sometimes I see perfect grids in the sky made of these lines… Where does the government need these jets going to so fast? And honestly, I have noticed there being two distinct kinds of trails left by aircrafts. But I digress; I don’t know what to believe on this. I feel like I need more proof or evidence to make me believe something. I feel like I’ve been shown enough only to doubt what I think I know. So, do chemtrails exist or not? I’m not exactly sure right now.
I’m going to be posting more about this later so you can understand my viewpoint, but for now, take a look at this video. I don’t want to go through and translate what this guy is saying, but it’s pretty obvious he’s saying what time it is, where he’s at, etc. The trail that this guy is talking about is very peculiar. You can clearly see between 1 minute in and 3 minutes in how fast it dissipates. Being in Baja California, next to the coast, they could have a different kind of humidity than I’m used to in Texas, which may explain the weird dissipation and even the consistency. Besides that, though, the stream of whatever it is, happens to be very, very low.
Welcome to crait’s Lunchbox! First of all, I’d like to tell everyone Happy new years! I’m Jonathan Holmes and I created this website to share some influences of mine. I’m a software engineer and I am always making new, free software for everyone. I’ll also be posting all the software updates for my programs here, and re-releasing some of my older games and tools here, too.
I feel like putting all of my projects into a single, organized website, I’ll be able to streamline my progress and won’t be so scatter-brained. I have a lot of interests in my life, like politics, chickens, movies, etc. So I’ll be sharing a lot of these kinds of things, also.
Along side the updates to my games, programs, graphics, and tutorials, I’ll be posting the following on a regular schedule:
Sunday – Weekly Ponder
Monday – Game Of The Week
Tuesday – Weekly Infogram
Wednesday – Movie Of The Week
Thursday – Funny video and some cool Lego stuff
Friday – Political cartoons and funny photos
Saturday – Chicken Of The Week
Also, I’ll be posting one or two songs a day. I’m really interested in a great variety of music, so I’m bound to find some cool music that you’ve yet to hear!
So, I hope you enjoy my website! If you’d like to contact me, you can reach me at crait.is@gmail.com or follow mention me on Twitter @crait. Of course, you can also directly comment on my articles that get posted!
My party and I were planning on getting to the zoo around noon, but we got there a little later, around 2:30… and we were only going to stay for about 2 hours… But the zoo was just too large and too fun for us to leave so early! We ended up staying until after their closing time at 7 that evening and we still didn’t get to see all of the animals there. (Yes, even the Attwater prairie chicken…) Oh, it would have also been cool to see a Victoria Crowned Pigeon… We will definitely be going there again very soon. Here in a few weeks, I’m going to be going to the Dallas Zoo!
E-Mail: 
Twitter: 
Facebook: 
RSS: 
AIM: 
Skype: 
Y! Messenger: 
Google+: 
MSN Live: 
On The Web: 