Ostriches in Armeni and The Lonely Frog of Kissos

In line with many guidebook writers we never cease to ‘marvel’ at the wonderful variety of indigenous fauna and flora that is to be found on Crete. In recent years, however, we have become increasingly curious about the ostrich connection. In one of our earliest editions of the Bugle we made the comment that ostriches seem to pop up on Crete when you least expect them (rather like llamas in Abingdon). Thanks to Peter and Kimberley from Crete Kennels for the picture, taken when they were travelling in a jeep on one of their very rare days off. These ostriches live in Armeni, South of Rethymnon. We don’t know their names yet, but hopefully someone will enlighten us soon and tell us more about them. It’s ’Spot the ostrich on Crete’ competition time!

Thanks to Valerie Sellers who has sent us this question which we hope readers might be able to help to answer: “A few days ago a tiny bright green frog took up residency in our half-filled swimming pool. It has been calling for a mate since then by enlarging the skin beneath its throat. The effect of this means it is very noisy and it sounds like a quacking duck. It appears to have red eyes and suckers on its feet. As it is having no success in attracting a mate my husband Fred and I were wondering whether it was the only one of its kind up our mountain. We did notice one on our bougainvillea plant last year which we purchased in the Hania area and if it is the same type of frog it could have arrived with the plant. Do any of your readers know if this frog is indigenous to our area of Crete - Kissos, Rethymno or will our frog be doomed to a loveless life (without kisses in Kissos? Sorry!) if we don't transport it back to the Garden Centre in Hania?”
If you know how to turn this frog into a prince, get in touch!

The Artistic Elephant of Worcestershire

For those international readers who may be curious, Worcestershire is a county in England, known chiefly for its sauce and also for being difficult for foreigners to pronounce (I would tell you the urban myth about some Americans trying to ask the way to High Wycombe (not in Worcestershire), but as column space is limited, this is best saved for another time). Up until now, Worcestershire has not been universally recognized as a ‘hot spot’ for unusual elephants. However, all this has changed with the news that ‘Five’- a sixteen year old elephant residing at West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley - has recently been compared to a ‘Young Picasso’. According to the Birmingham Post Online (and no, that is not Birmingham Alabama), Five has created over 50 works of abstract art since taking up painting some two years ago (Editor’s note: A lot of numbers seem to be figuring in this feature which is not about painting by numbers at all!).

Park wardens are keen to point out that Five was not pressurized in any way to become a performance artist, but took up her new career spontaneously, after having a bath — as one does (desperately trying to resist the temptation at this point to mention baths, famous discoveries and Ancient Greeks, and failing drastically). It goes like this: every morning, after the elephants have been bathed, workers at the Safari Park brush ‘hoof oil’ on the elephants’ toe- nails with a paintbrush. One day, Five picked up the brush with her trunk and started painting her own toe-nails by herself. Workers then placed an easel and canvas in front of Five, along with a selection of paints and brushes, and she instantly took to painting “Like a duck to water”. Carl Soper spokesperson for ‘Destination Worcestershire’ is quoted as saying: “Her thoughtful pieces have already attracted critical acclaim from art aficionados the world over. Mostly abstract, her colourful work has been likened to that of the young Picasso as she works in vibrant colours using bold strokes….” Five’s works sell for between £50 and £100, and she has recently branched out into portrait painting.
To find out more about the work of the West Midland Safari Park — which, joking apart, is a great place, by the way — log on to the www.wmsp.co.uk website.

Amazonian Ants: Girl Power!

This month’s Germaine Greer Feminist award to the Animal, er, Kingdom (?) goes to….Ants, of course! (And, yet again, thanks to our very own Professor Kimberley for having brought some ‘interesting facts about ants’ to our attention in the first place - you can read her feature in the August 2008 edition of the Bugle).
It has recently been discovered that a certain species of female ‘mushroom farming’ ants in Brazil can reproduce without having sex. Asexual reproduction among some insect species is not unheard of, but ants are apparently usually pretty sexy, so this is hot news. A research team headed by Anna Himler at the University of Arizona have been studying a group of ants based in the Amazon (Mycoceperus smithii). They found that the ants were all genetic clones of the colony’s queen. When they investigated further they also found that the ants were physically incapable of mating, because an essential part of their reproductive system - something known as the ‘mussel organ’ to be precise - is missing.

So, not much going on in these ants’ pants, then. It is not clear why this particular species evolved in this way. However, according to Dr Himler “There are advantages to life without sex. It avoids the energetic cost of producing males and doubles the number of reproductive females from 50% to 100% of the offspring” (we’re making no comments at this point!). And as for the mushroom farming? Well, the research team first became interested in these ants not because of their celibate lifestyle but because of their ability to cultivate a certain type of fungus (which, by the way also reproduces asexually). Ants are generally very good at farming (they discovered farming before humans), and these ants are experts. We’ll stop now, as even for us, this story is pretty bizarre. Next month, look out for tortoises….