Le 10/02/14, 8:17
-93.09715218.737745125
Hello,
At first, I wanted to call this message : I lost !
I lost at the competition for the best picture of lonely planet conquest and so, I lost a trip in Tibet.
I lost also the occasion to see a jaguar in the jungle of Campeche and this, even though I did a early morning safari.
I lost ?
...
But, I win so much than the title wasn't this right ! The Tibet, I did the trip in September, and I earned it myself. I didn't see the jaguar this time but I saw so many other animals that I will describe later. And, I have time to see jaguar, for example at the zoo in Belize. The zoo in Belize is considered as the most interesting in the world. And, I have lot of time in Guatemala jungle to have the opportunity to met one.
So, I changed the title to make it more in phase with the theme of the day and make you discover some animals from Mexico. You saw already pictures of butterflies, iguanas, and also heard the monkeys howlers. I will begin the question of the day : who is ten millions more numerous than humans ? The ANTS. And here, you are telling to yourself : is not going to write about ants ! We have lot of them in the garden... That's enough, it is nothing exotic for his blog... Yes, I will, because I like the stories about ants (bees also). Some facts on this small things and you will probably change your mind about them. You remember what I said about agriculture as the basis for the creation of social, politic, cultural organizations. humans "created" agriculture, 10 000 years ago, the ants began it 70 millions years ago. And then, they got the time to create real organization in their anthill. They know cooperation to build their "cities" and also to manage it. They use the division in the work between ants, they know antibiotics, bacterias they make grown, hygiene... The sociability help the queen to live 30 years which is hundred time more than insects without society. I spoke about agriculture but we can also say that they developed a kind of breeding. For example, they move aphids from trees to trees like we move our cows from fields to fields. They also "milk" them and eat them when they are too many.
With all this, they are now 10 millions more than humans. For each person on earth, you have 10 millions ants. You can play to kill some, it won't make a big difference unless increase your cruelty in you. I admit that i my cruel with them when they bother me... If you consider all their biomass (their all weight), so it is similar the the biomass of human. Have you ever seen ants which cut leaves ? They are essentially in tropical area and me I didn't remember seeing some but I heard a lot about them.
Question : why do they cut leaves ? It is for their agriculture. They are mushroom farmers ants... They use the mushroom for food. The leaves is use as nutrient for the mushroom. In the anthill they have rooms for the cultivation of mushroom.
Question : in a picture, you will see that a ant is on a leaf carried by another ant. Why ? The ant on top, is here to protect the leaf from flying predators. I stop here, otherwise I will write a book. I won't do the same speech for each animal, don worry. Here a re the pictures of animals
And the toucan...of course
I let the best for the end. With a python close to 1,5-2m just in front of me at a meter. I did a video also ! Even not afraid.
Python à Uxmal
Beside taking animals in picture, I visited a part of Campeche. I stopped at Xpujil to visit the site of Becan (superb)m the famous city of Calakmul and a walk in the jungle. This area is much less visited, far from tourist circuit.
Becan was a true good surprise under a blu, blu sky. And again a site almost just for me., a pyramid with a view, just unbelievable.
Then Calakmul... The city of Calakmul is in the inside a natural reserve. This reserve will be soon the biggest in the world, considering that the Amazonia is decreasing size rapidly due to deforestation and mining. Here, there is nothing in the soil, and agriculture is barely not feasible because of lack of water. Remember that a reason of maya civilization disappearance was the drought. There is no lake because the soil is too porous. In this natural reserve, it is full of jaguar ! But I didn't see one... And modification, correction from my last message : there is no leopard here. Leopards are just in Africa. Calakmul was one of the most important city for the mayas. There were wars between Calakmul and Tikal (Guatemala) to take the lead of the area
Few words about the jungle walk. After waking up at 5 o'clock, we ( 3 tourists and a guide)
Went in car in the jungle. After 10 minutes, we let the car and begin the hike inside the jungle. This one is not so impressive , it is not a tropical forest. It looks like more as our forest in Europe, but more dense. We walk carefully, on the tiptoes, we stop, listen for any noise... Finally, nothing or almost in 4 hours.
Few birds, 2 mammals not identified because too far. No jaguar, no crocodile. The picture of crocodile later is from the canyon del Sumidero at Chiapa de Corzo, close to San Cristobal de las Casas.
The crossing trip around south Mexico still go on, and I just arrive in Yucatan. The famous region of Yucatan between temples/cities as Chichen Itza and beaches.
For those who have some interest, the podcasts from podcastscience.fm and the broadcast of "sur les épaules de Darwin" enriched me a lot on ants topics and other scientific topics.
At first, I wanted to call this message : I lost !
I lost at the competition for the best picture of lonely planet conquest and so, I lost a trip in Tibet.
I lost also the occasion to see a jaguar in the jungle of Campeche and this, even though I did a early morning safari.
I lost ?
...
But, I win so much than the title wasn't this right ! The Tibet, I did the trip in September, and I earned it myself. I didn't see the jaguar this time but I saw so many other animals that I will describe later. And, I have time to see jaguar, for example at the zoo in Belize. The zoo in Belize is considered as the most interesting in the world. And, I have lot of time in Guatemala jungle to have the opportunity to met one.
So, I changed the title to make it more in phase with the theme of the day and make you discover some animals from Mexico. You saw already pictures of butterflies, iguanas, and also heard the monkeys howlers. I will begin the question of the day : who is ten millions more numerous than humans ? The ANTS. And here, you are telling to yourself : is not going to write about ants ! We have lot of them in the garden... That's enough, it is nothing exotic for his blog... Yes, I will, because I like the stories about ants (bees also). Some facts on this small things and you will probably change your mind about them. You remember what I said about agriculture as the basis for the creation of social, politic, cultural organizations. humans "created" agriculture, 10 000 years ago, the ants began it 70 millions years ago. And then, they got the time to create real organization in their anthill. They know cooperation to build their "cities" and also to manage it. They use the division in the work between ants, they know antibiotics, bacterias they make grown, hygiene... The sociability help the queen to live 30 years which is hundred time more than insects without society. I spoke about agriculture but we can also say that they developed a kind of breeding. For example, they move aphids from trees to trees like we move our cows from fields to fields. They also "milk" them and eat them when they are too many.
With all this, they are now 10 millions more than humans. For each person on earth, you have 10 millions ants. You can play to kill some, it won't make a big difference unless increase your cruelty in you. I admit that i my cruel with them when they bother me... If you consider all their biomass (their all weight), so it is similar the the biomass of human. Have you ever seen ants which cut leaves ? They are essentially in tropical area and me I didn't remember seeing some but I heard a lot about them.
Question : why do they cut leaves ? It is for their agriculture. They are mushroom farmers ants... They use the mushroom for food. The leaves is use as nutrient for the mushroom. In the anthill they have rooms for the cultivation of mushroom.
Question : in a picture, you will see that a ant is on a leaf carried by another ant. Why ? The ant on top, is here to protect the leaf from flying predators. I stop here, otherwise I will write a book. I won't do the same speech for each animal, don worry. Here a re the pictures of animals
And the toucan...of course
I let the best for the end. With a python close to 1,5-2m just in front of me at a meter. I did a video also ! Even not afraid.
Python à Uxmal
Beside taking animals in picture, I visited a part of Campeche. I stopped at Xpujil to visit the site of Becan (superb)m the famous city of Calakmul and a walk in the jungle. This area is much less visited, far from tourist circuit.
Becan was a true good surprise under a blu, blu sky. And again a site almost just for me., a pyramid with a view, just unbelievable.
Then Calakmul... The city of Calakmul is in the inside a natural reserve. This reserve will be soon the biggest in the world, considering that the Amazonia is decreasing size rapidly due to deforestation and mining. Here, there is nothing in the soil, and agriculture is barely not feasible because of lack of water. Remember that a reason of maya civilization disappearance was the drought. There is no lake because the soil is too porous. In this natural reserve, it is full of jaguar ! But I didn't see one... And modification, correction from my last message : there is no leopard here. Leopards are just in Africa. Calakmul was one of the most important city for the mayas. There were wars between Calakmul and Tikal (Guatemala) to take the lead of the area
Few words about the jungle walk. After waking up at 5 o'clock, we ( 3 tourists and a guide)
Went in car in the jungle. After 10 minutes, we let the car and begin the hike inside the jungle. This one is not so impressive , it is not a tropical forest. It looks like more as our forest in Europe, but more dense. We walk carefully, on the tiptoes, we stop, listen for any noise... Finally, nothing or almost in 4 hours.
Few birds, 2 mammals not identified because too far. No jaguar, no crocodile. The picture of crocodile later is from the canyon del Sumidero at Chiapa de Corzo, close to San Cristobal de las Casas.
The crossing trip around south Mexico still go on, and I just arrive in Yucatan. The famous region of Yucatan between temples/cities as Chichen Itza and beaches.
For those who have some interest, the podcasts from podcastscience.fm and the broadcast of "sur les épaules de Darwin" enriched me a lot on ants topics and other scientific topics.
