Sometimes, you just need a reason to live

My buddy Darren of Aqua Terra emailed me this and i thought you'd enjoy this...


The orangutan was in a rescue (Tigers Sanctuary in
Myrtle Beach , South Carolina ) and not doing well. This old hound wandered in absolutely emaciated and the orangutan snapped to life, his buddy had arrived. He stayed with the hound night and day until he was well and in the whole scenario, found a reason to live. They are now inseparable.

Who says turtles don't grieve?

I first heard about this story on CNN a couple of days ago, and it was just so heartbreaking, and yet, so affirming of my belief that even the littlest of God's creatures feel emotion, that i just had to share it with you. I went on the Hawaiian newspaper website and am reprinting this story by news reporter Ron Mizutani because i don't think i can explain it better then he does. His article picks up after the slaughter of a popular sea turtle over the weekend. Some of the locals created a memorial at the beach where the turtle died...and then something happened....

Nature at its Finest
By Ron Mizutani
When it comes to science, there is a strong effort not to give animals human characteristics, like feelings and emotions. But something happened at Laniakea Beach on Oahu's north shore Monday afternoon that challenges this concept and makes you appreciate nature at its finest.

Dozens of people flock the shoreline at Laniakea Beach hoping to get a glimpse of the Hawaiian Sea Turtle. News of the slaughtering of "Honey Girl" a frequent visitor to Turtle Beach, has generated even more interest in the threatened species.

"Look at how much joy people get out of this and then something like this somebody does something horrible it's terrible," said Heidi Walden an Ewa Beach resident.

But what happened Monday afternoon tugs at your heart even more. A large male, known as "Kuhina" suddenly appeared on the shore and quietly made his way to a memorial that volunteers had set up for Honey Girl.

"They had to move the ropes aside so he could come straight up through and just came up and put his head right near the memorial right near the picture and just stayed," said Michelle Meeks of Malama Na Honu.

Kuhina stayed for hours. Volunteers say it appeared as if he never took his eyes off her picture.

"Heart breaking to see those images but it was also so touching just to see him come up and be so close to the memorial it was almost like he was coming up to say good-bye," said Meeks.

Visitors are moved by the powerful images.

"Look at that -- quite unbelievable -- oh my -- nature is unreal isn't it -- just so fantastic," said Val Leech of South Africa. "That's unbelievable very sad."

"To me this is heart-breaking -- it's just so sad -- it's like he's grieving -- sad -- very sad," said Walden.

Science often discourages attribution of human motivation or behavior in animals. This story provides a different perspective.

"The way we've given names to the individuals here that is kind of borderline to me but now I feel its good to have those connections with the individuals," said scientific illustrator Michelle Schwengel, who also volunteers for Malama Na Honu.

An example of nature teaching us a lesson on life.

"I think that they're more connected to their feelings probably then we are. So we can really learn something from them and what he did," said Meeks.

"Because they know -- very sad -its awful, I hope it doesn't happen again," added Walden.

Cindy's note: Here's hoping it doesn't happen again, and here's hoping they catch the creeps that did this soon, because honestly, if someone can kill a sea turtle for no reason, what stops that person from upping the ante to a defenseless human.

Mythbusters says Goldfish never forget a meal

Last Friday i was watching the tv show Mythbusters with my daughter when they did a story on goldfish memory. According to the myth, goldfish only have a three second memory.

Honestly, until i had Buddy, i had always believed that myth. I mean, most of my goldfish only lived three days anyway so how would i know? Well, on this Mythbusters episode, two of the researchers taught some goldfish to swim through a maze to get to food, noting that each time they did it, the goldfish got faster! But even if i hadn't seen that Mythbuster episode, i know that everyday when i come into work, Buddy is waiting for me...he actually comes out from behind the castle in his fish tank and swims around in circles while he waits for me to feed him...come to think of it, i think this goldfish has ME trained!

Can i keep Buddy alive? Keep checking back here for updates...or give my "buddy" Darren a call over at Aqua Terra for updates or advice on all your fish needs...414-774-6080 or drop by his new location, right next door to the Rosebud Theatre at 6823 W. North Avenue and say hi Darren.
Cindy

If it's over 7 feet and tries to eat you, it's not a goldfish

Well here's a problem we don't have at our Indy...

Shark alert: It's not safe to go in the water at the Indy 300
By DENNIS PASSA, AP Sports WriterOctober 18, 2007
SURFERS PARADISE, Australia (AP) -- Over-exuberant fans at the Indy 300 have been urged not to cool off by jumping into the river that runs through the Surfers Paradise street course because it's full of aggressive bull sharks.
On Friday, race officials said extra security boats have been employed to keep revelers out of the waterways, fearing a shark attack at the prime feeding times of dusk and dawn. Fans arriving by boat and jet skis were urged to stay out of the water.

The Nerang River and many of its canals and lakes have been the site of numerous shark attacks. In 2003, two men, including an 84-year-old former athlete, were killed in attacks in Nerang River tributaries, both by bull sharks.

My goldfish loves me...

My earliest memory of my first goldfish was at county fair.
It was the prize for successfully tossing a ring onto a hoop. I think i won 3 that night, which i excitedly poured into a bowl and filled up with, i think warm water. Two were dead by the next morning and the third was belly up by day three. I think i might have cried but my mom comforted me by saying "don't be sad, goldfish don't live very long anyway."
As it turns out, mom was wrong. According to my buddy Darren the goldfish guy "goldfish can live up to 10 years; in some cases 15 to 20 years if they're taken care of by someone who knows how to do it.

Oh, and one more cool thing...because my goldfish never lived long enough , i never got to know their personality...that's right, personality!

I thought something was pretty weird the second week i had Buddy because he seemed really excited to see me. No one gets that excited to see me, not even the dog, and i feed him! Nope, he justs lifts one ear up...turns his head in my direction, and then goes back to sleep. No, the only person that gets excited to see me is Julie Davidson because she can go home when i get there, but even she doesn't spin around in the studio like Buddy the goldfish does in his tank.

There's even been some scientific studies that show that goldfish know who you are... and apparently it only takes about 2 weeks for that to happen. It's pretty cool, Buddy appears to know who i am...he actually comes up to the top of the tank to beg everytime i see him so of course i'm always feeding him...which could be a potential problem as he has doubled his size since i got him...or as Darren the goldfish guy wanted to know..."is that the same fish i gave you?"

Can i keep Buddy alive? Keep checking back here for updates...or give my "buddy" Darren a call over at Aqua Terra for updates or advice on all your fish needs...414-774-6080 or drop by and say hi Darren at 6410 W. North Avenue.
Cindy

Bowl vs. Tank

When i was a kid, goldfish lived in Bowls.

They just didn't live very long.

No matter how cute the bowl was, or how much food i threw in there, the goldfish usually didn't survive day 3! And the ones that did, usually died shortly after i changed the water.
So i asked my new best friend Darren, the goldfish guy. (ok, i made the last part up but Darren really is his real name) Darren confirmed what i already knew;
Goldfish don't live very long in a Bowl.

So what's the problem? Well, according to Darren...

1. Not enough air surface in a bowl. Something i never realized...goldfish need "air" and tap water doesn't always have enough of it. That's not to say "don't use tap water in your goldfish tank." You can use tap water, i certainly do, but keep in mind that there is probably not enough air in it. So how do you make sure there is enough air in your tank?

2. Make sure you have filtration in your tank. For questions on which one to buy, talk to my friend Darren...i'll post his number at the end.

3. Goldfish grow very fast and need at least 10 gals of water per fish. (goldfish grow to 6")!

4. Goldfish also need light. Darren has Buddy's light on a timer so it's always on when i'm on the air.

Can Cindy keep Buddy Alive?

(Say hi Buddy)

And the answer is...gee, i hope so...Yikes!

You see, about a week ago i had the pleasure of meeting a guy by the name of Darren who just happened to be at my radio station (B93.3) recording a commercial for his pet shop and...

Hey!

I could tell you were starting to doze off...oh yeah, i'm not a psychic or anything but i can kinda tell when i'm getting long winded and HEY!

Your doing it again...
(Thats Buddy going "where the heck

am i?")


(Picture below: how you should introduce your goldfish to his new home.)

O.k, here's the problem...i felt uncomfortable around Darren because here i was helping him with a commercial on goldfish, and yet, i have never been able to keep one goldfish alive ever...

And it's not just goldfish...it's the lawn, Ford Tempos, and even hostas!!!

(even the turtle get nervous around me and those pets live to be 75 years, although, poor thing, living with me has probably knocked him down to 25 instead!)

Long story short...i told Darren this...and guess what?! Darren thinks i can keep a goldfish alive and

isn't he a cutie?!

I named him Buddy after one of my favorite singers...um, one of my favorite dead singers and i just want you to know that was totally unintentional...dead or not, Buddy Holly-the goldfish- just rocks! (softly, of course)...and Buddy...well, that just seemed, (opps! past tense) seems like a good name for a, well, goldfish.

This is Darren showing me how to adjust the light fixture on the tank so that the light is always on when i'm working...all the better to enjoy my buddy, Buddy! (it seems easy enough when Darren was doing this, but honestly, i have no idea what he did...if they ever put me on overnites i'm screwed...i wonder if Darren will mind me calling him at 3 am in the morning...i'm sure he won't mind)
Now this picture here might seem strange, but really, this is Buddy in a bag ...wow...yeah, that does sound strange doesn't it? But honestly, according to Darren, this is the best way to introduce your new goldfish to his new home. He also put a some kind of oil-i forgot what it was called so i'll have to ask him next time i see him-which calms Buddy down, because moving your goldfish to a new home in a plastic bag can be stressful to your fish...something i'll think about next time i see a bag full of goldfishes at the fair...(or maybe they were just stressed because they saw me "oh great, if Huber wins me, notify my next of kin!")

That's actually the face my goldfish is making...i'm making this face because i have doubts about whether i can do this or not...and i don't want to kill another goldfish!

Can i keep Buddy alive? Keep checking back here for updates...or give my "buddy" Darren a call over at Aqua Terra for updates or advice on all your fish needs...414-774-6080 or drop by and say hi Darren at 6410 W. North Avenue.

Cindy