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Issue 760 - 5/23/2016
SNIPPETZ PRESENTS A QUICK GUIDE ABOUT SELF PUBLISHING YOUR BOOK by Lindsey Harrison The simple truth is this: every person has a unique and wonderful story to tell. Whether that story is your own autobiographical story, whether it is a work of fiction, whether poetry is your medium or whether you tell your story through art or some other medium, we all have a story worth telling. Snippetz brings you a peek into today’s age of self-publishing, crowdfunding and digital marketing, it is now relatively easy to bring your story and your book to fruition. At all times, our own life is a wonderful story. You might believe your life events are simply a series of unimaginative or unimportant days, but that is never true. Any good storyteller could tell your story to others so that your life story becomes a kaleidoscope of people, places, events, ideas and occurrences which are in fact fascinating to others. It’s all in the telling but it is also a matter of offering your unique and highly individual perspective. Whether your story is your own story or the story of someone else, a children’s book, a word of fiction, a non-fiction tome or something else, your unique perspective of the world is suffused into your written work and will, without question, also offer someone else answers to the questions they are currently posing in their life experience. This can be a great gift to another. It matters not whether your written work is completely new or different than any other work. For example, through your own words and the experience of your life, or a unique story you have crafted, your storytelling will reach the people who need to hear your tale where the words of others will not. This is one of the core reasons we find books so compelling. Publishing a book, whether self-published or through a true publisher, is not a guarantee of success. A 2014 analysis of U.S. ISBN data by R.L. Bowker reveals that “the number of self-published titles in 2013 increased to more than 458,564, up 17 percent over 2012 and 437 percent over 2008. Print titles were up a very strong 29 percent over 2012, indicating the format’s continuing relevance to self-publishers. While self-publishing continues to grow, the pace appears to be normalizing after several explosive years.” While printing of new titles is growing, this also means that many more books are fighting for the same one inch or so of shelf space in an already deeply crowded marketing. Because the market is flooded particularly with self-published books, the overall book market, both for print and e-books, is often reported to be in a decline. However, what might truly be occurring is that self-published authors -- who according to industry source Author Earnings, can often make more from sales of their books than authors published through traditional publishing houses -- are selling directly to consumers, taking ‘share of wallet’ consumer spending from traditional publishers. Perhaps most interesting is that publishing has a sweet spot; print juvenile books, which experienced 12.8% unit sales growth from 2013 to 2014. Juvenile bestsellers are taking up a bigger percentage of the overall bestseller list. In fact, its growth is driving an industry undergoing enormous change. But what is especially interesting is that 80% of young adult books are bought by adults for themselves, according to writersservices.com. “Why self-publish? There are many revenue reasons, but what writers often do not understand is that traditional publishing houses now often require authors to submit a full marketing plan along with a manuscript. They want to see that a potential author has thousands of social media followers, for example. They want to know that the author has the bandwidth and resources to do much if not most of the marketing of their title and that they have an organized plan to do so, including mixed media advertising, a website, speaking engagements, a self-organized book tour and more, “noted Satiama Writers Resource’s founder Karen Stuth. “Publishers still fulfill important roles in helping craft books to succeed and making books available in sales channels, but whether the books move in those channels depends primarily on the authors,” she added. “The world of publishing is a fascinating one. It is unique in that no other industry has so many new product introductions. Every new book is a new product, needing to be acquired, developed, reworked, designed, produced, named, manufactured, packaged, priced, introduced, marketed, warehoused, and sold. Yet new titles on average generate only $5,000 to $25,000 in sales, which needs to cover all of these new product introduction expenses, leaving very little profit margin available for each area of expense. This more than anything limits how much publishers can invest in any one new book and in its marketing campaign,” Stuth observed. Self-published authors should seek to avoid the main and major mistakes that self-published authors often make, including but not limited to using print-on-demand services, assigning away their ISBN number, failing to use a true and truly experienced editor for the five types of editing all manuscripts need, using a poorly designed cover, book jacket or a badly conceived title, mispricing the book and failing to properly market the book during the first year of its life. “If you self-publish, you need expertise and you need it right from the beginning of your process. The New York Times reported recently that the average U.S. nonfiction book is now selling less than 250 copies per year and less than 2,000 copies over its lifetime. And very few titles are big sellers. For example, approximately 62 of 1,000 business books sell more than 5,000 copies and most have less than a 1% chance of making onto a bookstore shelf. Without professional support, your book won’t cut through the ‘noise’ and extreme density of new titles produced annually. If it was worth writing, it is worth bringing it forward correctly so that it can be enjoyed by thousands if not millions, rather than just a circle of friends and family,” said Stuth. Issue 761 - 5/30/2016
SNIPPETZ SAYS, THIS MEANS WAR! by Lindsey Harrison “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower, American president Since the beginning of human history, mankind has found reasons to wage war on each other. Wars have begun over religion, power, resources, territory, etc. You name it, people have probably fought a war over it. Some would say that war is a necessary evil that helps us resolve conflicts, while others would say that war is stupid and pointless and only leads to more fighting. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of war, the reality is that wars are being fought all the time and that fact is unlikely to change in the near future. Another fact that we must all come to terms with is that some wars are just plain ridiculous and could have been avoided altogether. Now, what kind of magazine would Snippetz be if we didn’t dig into the thousands of years of human existence to find some of the most absurd, bizarre, and interesting wars ever fought? We would be irresponsible and that’s just not us. So come along as we journey through time to investigate the history of war. WAR OF THE ROSES One of the most legendary wars ever fought was actually a series of battles and altercations between two factions of England’s royal family, spanning 30 years and several generations. It all began with the House of York, headed by Richard of York, defeated Richard’s cousin from the House of Lancaster, headed by King Henry VI in 1455. The whole drama started because both families claimed rights to the throne as descendants of the sons of Edward III, king of England from 1327 to 1377. Richard II, grandson of Edward III and son of Edward the Black Prince, reigned from 1377 to 1399, when he was deposed by his cousin, Henry IV. Henry IV reigned from 1399 to 1413, when his son Henry V took over the throne. Henry V reigned until 1422, when his son, Henry VI was crowned king of England. Henry IV was the first king from the House of Lancaster and since his son and grandson succeeded him, the throne remained with that house until that fateful encounter on May 22, 1455. Interestingly enough, that encounter may not have happened if it hadn’t been for a series of events from the prior two years. First, Henry VI went insane for a time in 1453 and was deemed unfit to rule the county, so in 1454, Parliament appointed his cousin, Richard, duke of York as the protector of the realm. In late 1454, Henry VI regained his sanity, dismissed Richard and handed over power to his wife, Queen Margaret of Anjou. Apparently, that didn’t sit well with Richard, who rounded up an army of 3,000 men and marched on London and into the first battle during the War of the Roses. The battle lasted for less than an hour and Richard claimed the victory for the House of York. Richard was made the protector of the realm yet again but Queen Margaret wasn’t about to give up that easily and eventually regained control in 1456. Once again, the House of Lancaster was in control and a tentative truce was announced . . . until 1459 when the fighting broke out again. In 1460, the House of Lancaster was defeated again and the House of York was finally granted the right to ascend to the throne upon Henry VI’s death. If history has taught us anything, it’s that the Lancastrians were not defeated so easily and in fact, they gathered troops in northern England and in late 1460, they marched on Richard’s castle, ambushed him and killed him, fully expecting Margaret to take power once again. But Richard’s son Edward made it back to London before Margaret did and was proclaimed King Edward IV, from the House of York. In March 1461, King Edward IV and his troops fought another bloody battle against the Lancastrians, after which Henry VI, Margaret and their son Edward fled to Scotland. But King Edward IV’s rivalries didn’t end with the House of Lancaster and eventually the House of York was overthrown in 1470 and Henry VI was restored to power. Back and forth, back and forth; that’s kind of the moral of this story, in case you can’t tell yet. Edward IV, who had been exiled to the Netherlands, returned and defeated Queen Margaret and her forces, killed her son and sent Henry VI to the Tower of London, where the former king was murdered. King Edward IV, from the House of York, reigned uninterrupted until he died in 1483. His oldest son became King Edward V only to be imprisoned by his uncle Richard III, his father’s brother. Both Edward V and his younger brother were sent to the Tower of London and were never seen again, while Richard III took over the throne. King Richard III was killed in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field by the Lancastrians who were led by Henry Tudor. Henry became King Henry VII, the first Tudor king and is credited with reuniting the Yorkists and Lancastrians when he married Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth. Their marriage is considered the ending point of the War of the Roses. But wait! We still don’t know why it was called the War of the Roses! Well, it’s simple: the badge for the House of York was a white rose and the badge for the House of Lancaster was the red rose. And now you know! OTHER UNUSUAL WARS Lijar vs. France – the 300 citizens of Lijar, Spain declared war on France when they heard rumors that the Spanish King Alfonso XII had been insulted and attacked by a mob in Paris. The war technically began on October 14, 1883, although no shots were fired and no one was killed. The war ended in a “ceasefire” in 1981. The War of the Oaken Bucket – yes, this war was actually started because of a dispute between two city states over the control of a wooden bucket. In 1325, soldiers from Modena raised Bologna and stole a wooden bucket. In response, Bologna declared war on Modena. After 12 years of “war,” Bologna still hadn’t gotten its bucket back but the war was officially declared over. The amount of casualties (if any) is unknown. The War of the Stray Dog – after fighting against each other in World War I, Greece and Bulgaria still had not buried the hatchet by 1925. This tension set the stage for the start of the War of the Stray Dog, which began on October 22, 1925 when a Greek soldier chased his dog across the border into the Bulgarian city of Petrich. He was shot and killed, and Greece declared war in response to the incident by invading Petrich the following day. After 10 days, the League of Nations sanctioned Greece and ordered them to leave the city and pay Bulgaria for the damages they caused. In all, 52 people died. The Pig War – in June 1859, Great Britain and the United States were still struggling over territorial rights to an area between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland, called the San Juan Islands. The Pig War started when a British infantryman shot a pig that was on American territory and the Americans responded by preparing for war. Although the altercation lasted four months, no one (besides the pig) was killed and the British eventually apologized. Issue 762 - 6/6/2016
SNIPPETZ EXAMINES SOME PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES by Lindsey Harrison “The other day I was thinking – because I get a lot of headaches – I was wondering whether the head should be where it is. Because, at the end of the day, it’s probably the heaviest part of your body, right? And yet, it’s at the top as opposed to, I don’t know, dangling at the bottom somewhere.” – Karl Pilkington, British actor Everybody is different, we all know that’s true. Some of us have blue eyes, some have brown, and others have green or hazel. We’re either tall, short or somewhere in between. Those differences make each of us interesting and unique. However, we also have a lot in common with each other, but that’s not to say that those commonalities aren’t interesting. Quite the opposite, in fact. Don’t believe us? Fine, but keep reading because Snippetz has uncovered some really interesting physical peculiarities, some of which are rare and some of which are extremely common. OH BABY! Let’s start at the beginning of our lives here on earth, when we showed up as teeny, tiny babies. You probably didn’t know that, as a newborn baby, you couldn’t taste salt. That ability doesn’t appear until a baby is between two and six months old. How commonly peculiar! And all those taste buds we adults have? That number pales in comparison to the number babies have. Instead of just on their tongues, babies have taste buds all over the insides of their mouths. Babies surely are incredible creatures. In fact, scientists have discovered that they can regrow almost any body part that is damaged while they are in the womb and in some instances, children as old as two have been known to regrow fingertips. More people welcome their little bundles of joy in September than in any other month, followed by August, June and July. More babies are born on Tuesdays than any other day, followed by Monday; Sundays see the least amount of births. And if your baby is born in autumn, which is fairly likely given what we now know, it has a better statistical chance of living a long life. FOOT FETISH? Most people don’t give much thought to their feet until something is wrong with them. But there are many peculiar facts about feet that you may be interested to learn about, including the increasing size of women’s feet over the last 30 years. The previous average shoe size was 7.5 but the new one is 8.5 or 9. And that first number was even higher than the average shoe size at the start of the 1900s, which was size 4. We have all heard about the issues created by wearing ill-fitting or uncomfortable shoes. But as many as 87 percent of American women have developed real physical problems from wearing shoes like high heels. We’ve all heard about the price of beauty and naturally, wearing high heels and ending up with sore feet is a price many women are prepared to pay. But in order to fit into those cute sandals or stiletto heels some women just can’t live without, a trend has emerged in which women have their toes surgically shortened or even have their pinky toes removed to more easily fit into their coveted footwear. Now THAT’S peculiar. ATTACKED FROM THE INSIDE OUT! There are plenty of scary autoimmune diseases out there that would make anyone cringe, but there are some diseases most people haven’t heard of that almost seem like something out of a sci-fi movie. For instance, people suffering from cold urticarial are literally allergic to the cold. Their bodies break out in red, itchy hives which can be triggered by something as benign as a cold glass of water. And just as with any other type of serious allergy, it can result in death if a full body reaction is spurred on by a dip in a cold river or something similar. Yikes! Food allergies are nothing to sneeze at (sorry for the bad pun, but it had to be made) but sometimes you have no way to know that you should be on the lookout for something dangerous. For example, in 2001, a man died from cardiopulmonary arrest after eating pancakes made from a box of pancake mix. Granted, the box had been opened two years earlier, but pancake mix doesn’t expire, right? Maybe not, but this box happened to grow a type of mold to which this man was highly allergic. Certain autoimmune diseases are difficult to live with but not necessarily deadly. However, when you hear how these next diseases are treated, you may decide the treatment is worse than suffering the effects of the illness! Crohn’s disease, celiac disease and ulcerative colitis are all issues in the digestive tract that can cause extremely unpleasant issues. None has a cure but scientists are working on one; however, one treatment includes using microscopic worms and their eggs which can reset the body’s immune system when ingested. We’re not sure which is worse: these diseases or the worm sandwich it takes to get rid of them! WHEN IS A PLAGUE NOT A PLAGUE? It’s no secret that humanity has suffered through many instances where plagues of various types have overtaken certain portions of the population, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Some plagues, however, are less detrimental but still noteworthy. Read on and you’ll understand why! In a small boarding school in Tanzania, Africa, an outbreak of laughter literally shut down the school. In 1962, what is now known as the Tanganyika Laughing Incident, a small group of students broke out in a fit of laughter, probably due to something expected, like a joke. However, the delirium soon took over the whole school. Reports indicate the laughing plague lasted between six months and a year. Of course, students were not continuously laughing that whole time; a person can only laugh for about one minute at a time. The issue was that the people were actually showing signs of anxiety-related symptoms. Nothing in the environment caused it; it was literally in the mind of those who suffered from it. But it certainly received a lot of attention! A laughing plague certainly isn’t funny, even if all people are doing is laughing. But a dancing plague, especially one that claims the lives of about 400 people is most certainly not a laughing matter. In 1518 in Strasbourg, France, that’s just what happened, though. It all began with a woman called Frau Troffea, who took to the streets one day and began to dance for no apparent reason. She danced for nearly a week and throughout that time, many others joined in. Back in those days, the plague was blamed on “hot blood” and physicians assumed people would eventually dance the illness out of themselves. How wrong they were! People literally danced themselves into strokes, heart attacks or sheer exhaustion. It has been posited that the reason the dancing plague took place at all was because of the superstition surrounding St. Vitus, a Catholic saint who could curse people with a dancing plague. Considering the real plagues and diseases that were pervasive at the time, it’s logical to assume that people were scared into the belief that he had cursed them with a dancing plague as well. It was certainly nothing short of peculiar! Issue 763 - 6/13/2016
SNIPPETZ SAYS GOODBYE TO ONE OF THE GREATS, MUHAMMAD ALI by Lindsey Harrison “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” – Muhammad Ali, American boxer As if we haven’t lost enough incredible people this year, the world is mourning yet another passing – that of Cassius Clay, better known as Muhammad Ali. (Seriously, 2016, could you ease up on us?) Although he is best known for his success as a boxer, Ali was much more than that. He was outspoken about many things, including racial inequality and his religious beliefs. Ali was 74 years old when he died, and as you can probably imagine, trying to fit an entire 74 years of experiences into one article is a bit difficult. And with such an interesting and unique life story, Muhammad Ali’s experiences would easily take up the next few weeks of this Snippetz magazine! So we’ve decided to hit on some highlights from his lifetime, focusing more on his time outside the boxing ring. Come along with us as we remember the late, great Muhammad Ali. EARLY LIFE Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., on Jan. 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr. and his mother was Odessa O’Grady Clay. His heritage has strong ties to the slaves living in the pre-abolitionist South, which ultimately influenced many of his views as he grew older. From the get-go, Clay displayed the kind of unapologetic confidence that became his signature character trait later in life. Luckily, his attention was directed to boxing at just the right time and in a fairly unique way: at 12 years old, Clay’s bike was stolen. He was understandably angry and when he reported it to police officer Joe E. Martin, Clay said he was going to “whup” the thieves when he found them. Martin, who also happened to be a boxing coach, told the feisty youngster he would need to learn to box before he “whupped” anyone. Clay took his advice and began his training. Although he didn’t change his name to Muhammad Ali until 1964, for the purposes of this article, he will be referred to as Ali from here on out! BOXING CAREER During his amateur boxing career, Ali’s record was 100 wins with 5 losses. He earned six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union national title, and the gold medal in the Light Heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He made his professional boxing debut on Oct. 29, 1960. Ali’s unique boxing style caused people in the boxing world to take notice. While he was a heavyweight, it wasn’t heavy-hitting that he used to best his opponents; he used his unlikely speed. Not only could he hit with surprising quickness, but he was constantly moving around the ring. He often appeared to be dancing around his opponents, circling them and keeping them guessing what he was up to. Ali also usually had his hands low, which tricked his opponents into coming in for a hit, thinking Ali was tired or unprepared. The truth was that he hoped they would swing in for the knock-out, and would step back instead of to the side, which caused them to overcommit, pulling them off-balance. That was when he would strike. Punching low and from unpredictable angles, Ali managed to take down fighters who were heavily favored during their fights, including Sonny Liston. His quick feet and incredible reflexes made it nearly impossible for his opponents to corner him against the ropes, and when they actually managed it, Ali had his own strategy to combat it: “rope-a-dope.” He would lie back against the ropes and cover up to protect himself, all the while, taking a much needed rest and allow his opponent to tire themselves out by punching him. CHANGE IS IN THE WIND When he converted to the Nation of Islam in 1964, he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He said, “Cassius Clay is my slave name.” In doing so, Ali took to heart the teachings of the Qur’an, which denounced participating in wars like the then ongoing Vietnam War. Ali refused to serve in the United States Army even though he was drafted. At his scheduled induction into the military on April 28, 1967, he refused to step forward when his name was called and was subsequently arrested. Ali’s boxing license was suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission and stripped him of his title. It took more than three years for him to obtain a boxing license in another state. Ali was found guilty of draft-dodging on June 20, 1967. The conviction was overturned on June 28, 1971. Ali’s stance, however, had an impact on the civil rights and freedom movements that had already taken shape around the country. Al Sharpton perhaps said it best when he stated, “For the heavyweight champion of the world, who had achieved the highest level of athletic celebrity, to put all of that on the line – the money, the ability to get endorsements – to sacrifice all of that for a cause, gave a whole sense of legitimacy to the movement and the causes with young people that nothing else could have done. Even those who were assassinated, certainly lost their lives, but they didn’t voluntarily do that. He knew he was going to jail and did it anyway. That’s another level of leadership and sacrifice.” THE GREATEST . . . TRASH-TALKER? We all know that Muhammad Ali was an incredible fighter. Although he was extremely talented, he was also an epic trash-talker. In fact, his trash talk intimidated more than just one or two opponents over the years, earning him the nickname, “The King of Trash Talk.” Ali may not have been given that title if he didn’t have the boxing talent to back it up, but clearly, he did! Here are some of the more memorable Ali quotes that perfectly depict his confidence and trash-talking abilities:
Issue 764 - 6/20/2016
SNIPPETZ SAYS IT’S TIME TO THINK AGAIN – MISCONCEPTIONS CLARIFIED by Lindsey Harrison “A prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all evidence that would unseat it.” – Gordon W. Allport, American psychologist As we go through this thing we call life, we often find ourselves referring to certain snippets of information about the world that help as navigate our day-to-day lives. For instance, we have all probably heard that if a bee or wasp is buzzing around our heads, it’s better not to try to smack it away because it only agitates them and makes them more likely to sting. But who actually told us that? And who told them that? And can we trust any of those sources to be completely, 100 percent accurate and reliable? It’s doubtful that our moms and dads set out to lead us astray with inaccurate stories about killer bees attacking innocent children who happen to wave their hands at an annoying insect. They had our best interests at heart, to be sure. But doesn’t it make you wonder about those certainties in life that we have all come to know and trust? What if they aren’t certainties at all? Snippetz set out to uncover the truth behind some common misconceptions and here’s what we’ve found! MOTHS ARE NOT ATTRACTED TO LIGHT If you’ve ever stood outside on your porch on a warm summer night, you may have noticed that insects, moths in particular, tend to be drawn to the porchlight. Or really any light, for that matter. And you may have heard that moths are attracted to the light . . . like some sort of homing beacon. That is actually a myth. Moths are not attracted to lights; they are confused by them. It all stems from their instinctual navigating systems. Think about this for a minute: in the grand scheme of things, lights like fire or actual lightbulbs have only been around for a blip on the radar of time. Insects, including moths, have historically used the sun and moon to help navigate through the world and ensure they are flying in a straight line. If the sun is always on one side, they know they are headed in one direction and not flying around in circles. Along come humans and all of a sudden there are all these random “suns” and “moons” and moths (and other insects) kind of lose their way. They try to use the light to guide them as they always have, but obviously a porch light is not going to work the same way as the sun does. So what moths end up doing is trying to position themselves using that light and the end result is a rather chaotic, often frantic-looking trip into and around the light. THE CANARY ISLANDS ARE NOT NAMED AFTER CANARIES OK, so the Canary Islands aren’t named after canaries, fair enough. But would it surprise you to learn they are actually named after dogs? If you happen to be fluent in Latin, it probably doesn’t. The archipelago is named after the Latin name for dogs, as a reference to the incredibly large population of wild and domesticated dogs that call the largest of the islands home. In Latin, Insula Canaria is the proper name, which means Isle of Dogs, but you can see where people have gotten their assumption. So where does the name canary come into play in the English language then, since obviously a canary is a bird, not some breed of dog. Well, canaries are indigenous to the islands as well, and they actually got their names from the islands on which they are found. There is a connection between the birds and the islands, just not the one we’ve always assumed there was. YOUR FINGERNAILS AND HAIR DO NOT GROW AFTER YOU DIE We’ve all heard one variation of this assertion or another. Perhaps you even recall the line by the famous Johnny Carson, who said, “For three days after death, hair and fingernails continue to grow, but phone calls taper off.” If you happen to have trusted Carson’s one-liners implicitly, we hate to break this to you but this one in particular isn’t true. When people die, our hair and fingernails do not continue to grow. Even before Carson’s assertion, the idea took hold in Erich Maria Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front.” In the book, the narrator (remarking on the death of his friend Kemmerich) says, “It strikes me that these nails will continue to grow line lean fantastic cellar-plants long after Kemmerich breathes no more. I see the picture before me. They twist themselves into corkscrews and grow and grow, and with them the hair on the decaying skull, just like grass in a good soil, just like grass . . .” Although that image certainly makes for a great image in a novel, it’s not accurate. However, there is something that may explain why that image is so strongly believed: when we die, our bodies dehydrate and our skin tightens up. This may create the illusion that the hair and nails remaining on the corpse have grown, but that’s just not the case. ATLAS CARRIED THE HEAVENS ON HIS SHOULDERS, NOT THE EARTH If asked to imagine Atlas, the man condemned by Zeus to hold up the sky after the Titans revolted against the Olympians, you probably picture him holding up a massive globe. This is in large part due to the famous Atlas maps created by Flemish geographer Gerard Mercator, the father of modern cartography. On the cover of Mercator’s map collection, the fabled Atlas is depicted holding up something that looks like a globe, but is actually meant to be the heavens instead. Perhaps this is where the phrase, “the weight of the world is on your shoulders” comes from . . . ? ESKIMOS DO NOT HAVE HUNDREDS OF WORDS FOR “SNOW” The saying goes that snow is so important to Eskimos that they have hundreds of words for “snow.” But that depends on who you talk to; sometimes the number is a bit lower, sometimes it’s as high as 400. Bottom line: Eskimos really have no more than four words for “snow.” Looking at the English language, the idea that there could be more than one word for something like “snow” is actually not all that far-fetched and has nothing to do with how important that meteorological phenomenon is to our society. We have sleet, hail, slush, powder, snowflakes, and grapple to name a few, so four is really no big deal. MISCONCEPTION SNIPPETZ
Issue 765 - 6/27/2016
SNIPPETZ SAYS HAVE FUN THIS SUMMER, BUT STAY SAFE! by Lindsey Harrison “Even if you have nothing in your wallet, nothing can keep you from having a great summer. You can listen to crickets sing you to sleep, trace the Big Dipper, breathe in the stars, run through a sprinkler, host cartwheel contest in the front yard.” – Regina Brett, American journalist Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime! It’s officially summertime. While that may not mean much to the average American adult who is stuck behind a desk 40 hours each week, it represents a departure from the typical hum-drum of the daily grind. Instead of eating crammed around the kitchen or dining room table, meals are taken outside to be enjoyed at a patio table or perhaps even in lawn chairs in the front yard. Nights are no longer only about finishing up whatever we have left over from our day’s work and then heading to bed. Rather, we extend the daytime activities into the twilight hours by lighting a fire pit, roasting marshmallows and spending much-needed family time catching up with each other. Whatever days we individually get to enjoy as our “weekend” are arguably the best time in which to partake in the wonderful summertime activities our great state has to offer. However, if you aren’t safe while you enjoy those activities, a fun summer can quickly turn into a miserable one. With that in mind, Snippetz has compiled a list of great local summertime activities and what you need to know to enjoy them safely! SWIMMING By far, the most popular activity associated with summertime is swimming. Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas have plenty of indoor and outdoor pool options, and some locations even provide both! The YMCA is a great place to start since they own and operate various locations throughout the city. Other fitness centers feature pools available to members and their families. One major thing to remember regardless of whether you are swimming indoors or outdoors is that you need to consistently replenish your fluids throughout your day. Yes, you are swimming in water but no, it does not keep you hydrated. A good rule of thumb is to drink water or a sports drink freely while swimming and not to allow yourself to get thirsty; by that time, you are already becoming dehydrated. Swimming in Colorado isn’t done just in swimming pools, either. We have lakes like Palmer Lake, Prospect Lake and the Pueblo Reservoir where people can take a dip to cool off. And with the abundance of rivers coursing through the mountains, headed to the ocean, river rafting and tubing often go hand-in-hand with swimming. In all these instances, it’s important to remember that swimming in a body of moving water like a river or stream is extremely dangerous and should not be undertaken by inexperienced swimmers or young children without adult supervision. Lakes a less dangerous in that respect, however using “touch supervision” – keeping your child within arm’s reach – can help prevent a tragedy from occurring in murky or dark waters. TENNIS If you take a drive around Colorado Springs, you’ll probably notice the variety of organized sport courts and fields. For instance, Bear Creek Park has tennis courts, as does Cottonwood Creek Park. And don’t forget about the local colleges either, like The Colorado College downtown, which features several courts tennis courts. The point is that our city is no stranger to tennis and the great thing we’ve got going on here that other places may not have is called Tennis Round. Basically, you register online and create a profile, which determines your skill level and your home tennis court location. From there, Tennis Round actually matches you up with other tennis players of similar skill levels in your area. You can schedule your own matches with other players or you can become a premium member and Tennis Round will send you emails when they find a match for you. At the end of each match, you can record the score on the website to earn points and move up in the rankings. If you’re into something a little more relaxed, contact the Parks and Recreation Department of Colorado Springs to reserve a court for a specific day and time. Similar safety precautions should be taken when playing tennis, like making sure to drink plenty of fluids. Watch for signs of heat stroke, which can be extremely dangerous. The warning signs to watch for include the following: leg cramps, light sweating which turns into heavier sweating, feeling lightheaded, and feeling nauseated. As soon as you notice those nasty leg cramps, grab a drink with electrolytes like a sports drink and take a break in the shade. You’ll be glad you did! GOLF If you’re anything like a certain writer’s father whose name rhymes with Shmarry Shmellmann, you know that Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas offer some really great golf courses. From Cherokee golf course on the city’s east side, to Springs Ranch just south of that, all the way to Valley Hi and Patty Jewett, the city is a virtual golfer’s paradise. Granted, the cold weather can put a damper on golfing during the winter, but with our long, hot summer days, you can be sure to get in at least one good round of golf each week. And if you’re Shmarry Shmellmann, you probably manage at least three times that many! Not to be discounted are the local mini-golf courses, too. Driving south on Academy Boulevard, you pass at least two and there are a variety on either side of Interstate 25 as well. Many places also feature batting cages so you can be sure your family will stay entertained, even if they don’t score that hole-in-one they were after. Safety tips while on the golf course are much like any outdoor activity where the potential to overheat is ever-present. However, golf presents a unique risk because you are out on a wide open space, flinging around a metal pole. If a thunderstorm rolls in, you do not want to be stuck on a golf course! Lightning strike deaths reach their peak in the month of July, and while not all can be attributed to people out on golf courses, there’s no denying the relationship between outdoor activities like golf and lightning strike deaths. Bottom line: watch the weather and take warnings from weather experts seriously. And as much fun as those little golf carts are to drive, they are still a motorized vehicle and can be dangerous if not driven properly. Use common sense, stay on the designated paths and avoid hazards like sand traps or water hazards. SUMMER SPORTS SNIPPETZ
Issue 766 - 7/4/2016
SNIPPETZ SALUTES OUR FAVORITE FOREFATHER, THOMAS JEFFERSON by Lindsey Harrison “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” – Thomas Jefferson, American president For people around the country, the Fourth of July signifies a time to gather with friends and family to celebrate and enjoy the freedoms our country’s founders worked so gard to secure. Many of us will fire up the grill, break out some lemonade and sweet tea, and kick back to watch the fireworks. Our kids will splash through the sprinklers or the kiddie pool and there may even be a water gun fight or two. Regardless of how you choose to celebrate Independence Day, there’s one thing that remains the same: we would not be celebrating at all if it weren’t for the men who drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence those couple hundred years ago. One such person, Thomas Jefferson, played an integral part in creating that precious document and also went on to become the commander in chief of this great nation. With that in mind, Snippetz decided to pay homage to this incredible founding father, so come with us as we go back to when our country was just a baby and Thomas Jefferson helped it stand on its own two feet! EARLY LIFE Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 to Peter and Jane Jefferson at the family’s home in Shadwell, part of the Colony of Virginia. Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor and upon his death in 1757, Thomas and his brother Randolph inherited their father’s land. Thomas inherited about 5,000 acres and assumed full authority over them when he turned 21. It was on this property that Thomas would build the famous Monticello residence. Thomas was well-educated and studied various subjects, including Latin, Greek, French, history, science, mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy, to name a few. He attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and after two years, graduated 1762 at the age of 18. THE MAKINGS OF A VISIONARY Thomas turned his focus to studying law and securing a position working as a law clerk in Professor George Wythe’s law office. In 1767, Thomas was admitted to the Virginia bar and practiced law, while also serving as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Albemarle County. He remained in that capacity from 1769 to 1775, during which time, he worked to reform slavery laws. During this time, it’s clear that Thomas was formulating strong opinions about the role of government. He took several cases for slaves who were seeking to secure their freedom and even took on one case, pro bono, for a slave who claimed he should not have to wait until the statutory age of 31 to be eligible for emancipation. Thomas’s argument for his client centered on the idea of Natural Law and he even made some statements that would later become extremely important to the developing nation. He said, “Everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will . . . this is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance.” Although the judge in that case ruled against Thomas’s client, that statement set the stage for what would become a powerful sentiment in the Declaration of Independence. He continued to argue that people have the right to govern themselves, especially after British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774. In response to that Act, Thomas actually wrote a resolution called for a “Day of Fasting and Prayer” and a boycott of all British goods as a form of protest. WRITING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE By far, Thomas Jefferson’s largest contribution to this country was his role as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. The idea of breaking away from Britain had been a popular one for some time and by the time the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, Thomas was seated as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress at the age of 33. In June 1775, Thomas began formulating some of the key points in the Declaration of Independence and with those ideas in mind, he approached John and Samuel Adams, cousins that held influential spots in the government at the time. Samuel Adams, a leader of Congress, fully supported appointing Thomas to the Committee of Five that was formed to write the burgeoning document that would become the Declaration of Independence. Much of that document was written to expand on the Lee Resolution, which could be considered the earliest form of the Declaration. On June 11, 1776, the Committee of Five came to the agreement that Thomas would write the first official draft of the Declaration and for 17 days, he consulted other Committee members and other sources to construct the final draft he presented to the Congress on June 28, 1776. On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence and the delegates signed it on August 2, 1776. THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE Jumping ahead a few years to 1803, we come upon another significant act executed by Thomas Jefferson. If the Declaration of Independence created a new nation, the Louisiana Purchase effectively doubled that country’s size. Not bad for one man. The Louisiana Purchase was a deal struck between Thomas and France, run by Napoleon Bonaparte at the time. France was hurting for money and didn’t have many options. It did, however, have the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. In a stroke of genius, Thomas bargained with France to purchase that land for $15 million and France really had no choice but to agree. With that, the nation doubled in size and those of us living in Colorado today are part of the United States rather than a territory of France. MONTICELLO One of the most identifiable residences in the country is Thomas Jefferson’s 33-room, 4 story house called Monticello. It took him more than 40 years to complete because he was constantly having it built, modified, renovated and tweaked. Many of the rooms were octagonal, and some had interested features like a special handle that could close two separate doors. He probably could’ve kept Lowe’s and Home Depot in business single-handedly if they had existed back then. It sits on the 5,000 plantation he inherited from his father and was the place in which he would eventually pass away, on July 4, 1826. Thomas Jefferson’s remains were buried at Monticello, underneath a self-written epitaph that states: “HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA.” THOMAS JEFFERSON SNIPPETZ
Issue 767 - 7/11/2016
ARRRR! SNIPPETZ SAYS READ ABOUT THESE FAMOUS PIRATES, OR WALK THE PLANK by Lindsey Harrison 
“Real pirates were better than in the movies, more daring and terrifying and cunning than any screenwriter could imagine.”
– Robert Kurson, American author Whether you’ll admit to it or not, most people as kids pretended to be pirates at some time or another. There’s just something irresistible about the idea of sailing the seas in search of treasure. Never mind how awesome it would be to carry around a sword and swing around on the ropes of the ship as you battle with a competing band of pirates. And of course, that treasure; gold coins, gems and jewels. Who wouldn’t want to spend their life looking for that stuff, with no other responsibilities or obligations? The thing is, the pirates that we see in Hollywood films are very rarely (if ever) depicted in the manner that pirates actually lived in the “Golden Age of Piracy,” in the late 1600s and early 1700s. So while the movies make piracy look amazing, the real life of a pirate was anything but. Snippetz has peeled back the veil on how the world views pirates and explored the lives of real-life pirates, so come aboard, me hearties, and we’ll take a trip on a real pirate ship! EDWARD “BLACKBEARD” TEACH If we’re going to talk about pirates, we might as well start with one of the meanest and most infamous pirates of them all: Edward “Blackbeard” Teach. He started out as a privateer, captain of a private ship called Queen Anne’s Revenge, commissioned by the British government to capture enemy merchant shipping cargo. Somewhere along the line, Teach decided the benefits of being a pirate far outweighed the benefits he received as a privateer and he began his reign of terror along the commercial shipping lanes and coastal routes along the West Indies and the American Atlantic, especially around North Carolina. To maintain his reputation of villainy and violence, Blackbeard had two unique habits. Prior to a battle, he would embed match cord into his beard and then set it on fire, which created a cloud of smoke around his head, serving to further the belief that he had risen straight from hell. Blackbeard also fully believed that his crew needed to fear him in order to stay in line, so one at least one occasion, he shot a crew member. Blackbeard’s career lasted from 1713 to 1718, not a long time by other career standards but fairly typical by pirate standards. He was killed during a battle with two Royal Navy ships commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard. HENRY MORGAN For those of you who happen to enjoy a drink or two every now and then, you may recall the name Captain Morgan. Well, Henry Morgan was the inspiration for that brand name. Definitely one of the most successful pirates ever, Morgan’s career spanned more than a decade, from 1663 to 1674. Unlike many of his pirate cohorts, Morgan managed to escape a pirate’s life with the majority of his fortune, rather than having lost it. As with Blackbeard, Morgan started out as a privateer hired by the British. However, unlike Blackbeard, Morgan often targeted towns rather than ships. He was ruthless to the core and tales abound of his unspeakable acts, including using the Spanish clergy as a sort of “human shield” while he attacked Panama. Morgan knew the Spanish wouldn’t fire on their own clergy so he put them on the front lines in an act of sheer ruthlessness. After his retirement from piracy, Morgan was appointed lieutenant governor of Jamaica. He died in 1688, having amassed more than $100 million during his lucrative career. ANNE BONNY AND MARY READ If you’ve heard the stories that piracy was strictly a man’s profession, you’re partly correct. Very few women managed to carve out a spot as a pirate, but two such women who were actually quite successful were Anne Bonny and Mary Read. They both ended up sailing on the same ship, the Revenge, captained by other notorious pirate, Calico Jack. Bonny was the daughter of a planter in Charleston and reportedly ran away to join Calico’s crew. It’s likely that she tried to keep her true gender from being discovered but eventually, the truth came out. Read, on the other hand, was a pretty accomplished cross-dresser who even spent some time serving in the British military, as a “man” of course. She was working as a crewmember of a ship commandeered by Calico Jack and got stuck serving with him. Ironically enough, the only other woman on the ship (Bonny), discovered Read’s true identity before anyone else and the two basically decided to stop trying to hide who they really were. They lived their day-to-day lives as women, but dressed as men when they went into battle. All told, these women were some of the more fearsome and ruthless fighters among the crew. That reputation led to their imprisonment when pirate hunters captured their ship in 1720. Both women were tried for their crimes and sentenced to hang but managed to get nine-month reprieves – they were pregnant. Read died in prison and Bonny fell off the map, never to be seen or heard from again (at least in any notable, historical way). MADAME CHENG Speaking of women pirates, Madame Cheng, wife of notorious pirate Cheng Yih, inherited the largest pirate confederation in history upon her husband’s death in 1807. Madame Cheng even managed to expand on the business, controlling about 1,800 ships and 70,000 men. She set up a mafia-style operation in which she demanded payment from coastal towns and communities in return for protection from other pirates or potentially dangerous entities. At the same time, Madame Cheng had some of her other employees attacking ships in the South China Sea and seizing their cargo. Even gutsier than those enterprises was her successful kidnapping of seven British sailors, definitely not a small feat by any means. Madame Cheng retired from piracy in 1810. WILLIAM KIDD No, not that William Kidd. This William Kidd was a pirate who actually wasn’t a pirate at all, at least not at first and not when everyone assumed he was! Kidd was from New York and in 1695, took a job hunting pirates. His ship, Adventure Galley, was originally outfitted with loyal crewmembers and they sailed to Madagascar to catch pirates. However, many members of his crew were diverted to service on a British naval ship and Kidd had to fill in the gaps on his crew with whomever he could find, which was usually either ex-pirates or other criminals of some sort. Not surprisingly, Kidd lost control of the crew and the men turned to piracy, although Kidd himself was not “on board” with the idea. The Adventure Galley ran into (not literally) its first real pirate ship and the crewed bailed on Kidd and joined the other ship instead. Kidd was left with 13 men who stayed loyal to their captain and they all sailed back to the Americas. But Kidd soon found out he was a wanted pirate, even though he had steadfastly refused to take part in the illegal activities of his crew. Unfortunately for Kidd, his was found guilty of murder and the illegal seizure of English ships and sentenced to be hanged. We’ll spare you the gory details, but as with any hanging, it didn’t end well for Kidd, who succumbed to a punishment he really didn’t deserve, especially in comparison to the other pirates of that time period! And that, dear friends, is why the lesson here is “Piracy doesn’t pay (unless you’re a really good pirate and you can steal a bunch of stuff and bribe enough officials so that you can retire without ever being prosecuted).” If ye have a hankerin' to talk like a pirate me matey: Issue 359 Issue 768 - 7/18/2016
COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE AS SNIPPETZ EXPLORES DEFUNCT AMUSEMENT PARKS by Lindsey Harrison “My two best friends, they loved amusement parks. They are such roller-coaster daredevils, and they drag me on every single roller coaster they can find. Some of my favorite experiences have been when they’ve taken me to Disneyland or Six Flags or Universal.” – Katherine McNamara, American actress As the dog days of summer drag on, parents and kids alike try to find ways to beat the boredom. If they’re lucky, they live close enough to an amusement park to be able to spend a day or two riding roller coasters and eating junk food. Truly, a trip to an amusement park is a staple of a good summer vacation by most kids’ standards. But not all amusement parks are created equal. Some thrive while some fail; there’s really no secret recipe to a successful amusement park. However, there may be a common thread to the ones that fail. Snippetz decided that we all know about those really successful parks, but what about the ones that didn’t make grade? Come with us around the world as we explore some defunct amusement parks. PRIPYAT AMUSEMENT PARK There is one very good reason why the Pripyat Amusement Park in Ukraine failed: radioactive fallout. The amusement park was scheduled to open on May 1, 1986 however, on April 26, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant resulted in the designation of the park as a radioactive “hot zone.” Is there anything more depressing than an abandoned, rotting, radioactive amusement park? Probably not. Especially since no one got to enjoy the park before it was considered a disaster area. The rides are still there today, which makes sense considering the toxic levels of Caesium-137 and Strontium-90 left floating around out there and they definitely serve as a sad reminder of a terrible event. NORUMBERGA AMUSEMENT PARK Norumberga Amusement Park in the Auburndale portion of Newton, Massachusetts has a fairly unique history as an amusement park. It was constructed by the Commonwealth Avenue Street Railway in an attempt to bring people to the trolley line running between Boston and Auburndale, and opened for business in June 1897. Built alongside the Charles River, Norumberga got its name from the massive stone structure located across the river in Weston, which served as a reminder of the Viking explorers who sailed up the river sometime around 1000 A.D. The park featured canoeing, an outdoor theater, a penny arcade, picnic areas, a zoo, a carousel, a restaurant and an electric fountain. The park was a popular attraction and more than 5,000 canoes made their way along the 5.8 miles of the Charles River dedicated to such activities at Norumberga. Throughout various points in time, the amusement park underwent updates and improvements to keep people interested. The outdoor theater became an enclosed theater by 1905 and showed “moving pictures.” By the 1920s, new rides were added, including the Caterpillar, the Bug, Custer Cars, Seaplanes, Dodgem Cars and a massive Ferris wheel. In 1930, the enclosed theater, called the Great Steel Theater was transformed into the Totem Pole Ballroom, considered the most elegant and popular ballroom in the area. When World War II broke out, amusement park attendance declined and Norumberga was no exception to that rule. With new, more innovative parks like Disneyland in the works, parks like Norumberga just couldn’t compete any longer. The park closed its gates permanently on Labor Day of 1963, and the ballroom closed on February 8, 1964. MAGIC HARBOR AMUSEMENT PARK Originally opened under the name PirateLand in 1954, Magic Harbor was located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The initial idea was to have PirateLand connected to a camp ground so that amusement park attendees could also camp out and vice versa. However, that particular park failed, even though the camp ground thrived. Time and time again, the park was bought and sold with the hope that someone would be able to make it the success it never was. In fact, the president of the largest amusement park in Europe came along and closed the park in 1972 so renovations and updates could be made. In 1975, PirateLand reopened under the name Magic Harbor and featured a slew of standard British theme park rides like the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Log Flume and the Scrambler. Although the new and improved park seemed like it would be a hit, it soon got a bad rap that it just couldn’t beat. On the roller coaster called “The Black Witch,” a young girl died, even though ride had only been in operation for two days prior to the tragic incident. Another person, a park employee this time, also lost his life at Magic Harbor and soon, the amusement park was nicknamed “Haunted Harbor.” The park never really recovered from its reputation and by the mid-1990s, the park was closed permanently, and everything was torn down, leaving nothing behind. ROCKY GLEN AMUSEMENT PARK If there was ever a park that resembled Germany during the Cold War, it’s Rocky Glen Amusement Park. Let’s back up a bit, though. Rocky Glen was located in Moosic, Pennsylvania and featured a 40-acre lake with 225 acres of land surrounding it that was originally planned as a picnic, boating, swimming and skating park in 1885. In 1904, the park added rides and concessions, making it a bona fide amusement park at that time. However, the park’s manager, Frederick Ingersoll and the owner, Arthur Frothingham didn’t quite see eye to eye on how the park should be run or what should be included in the attractions it offered. When that happened, the pair decided to part ways and in 1910, after noticing that the park wasn’t exactly a success anymore, Frothingham decided to sell his half of the property. John Nallin, Joe Jennings and Ben Sterling joined forces and bought Frothingham’s half in 1919. They didn’t have much success, either and soon the park was literally split in half with a concrete wall. Nallin-Jennings had their side and Sterling had his. Interestingly enough, the separation seemed to be a good idea because both parks, even though they were technically one Rocky Glen Amusement Park, brought in more than 200,000 visitors each year. A main attraction of the park was a roller coaster dubbed the Million Dollar coaster, although it did not cost that much to construct. Its claim to fame was a maximum peak height of 96 feet, and it was 4,700 feet long, making it a behemoth compared to other coasters of its time. But that coaster couldn’t keep the park in business, especially once World War II hit. Rocky Glen officially closed its gates forever in 1987. RIVERVIEW AMUSEMENT PARK Riverview Amusement Park opened in 1904 in Chicago, Illinois and featured more than 120 rides, including the massive wooden coaster called the “Aero-Stat.” It operated until 1967, which was a decent run for amusement parks at the time, although it was built initially to be just a sharpshooter park in the late 1800s. Wilhelm A. Schmidt was the park’s owner and may have found success with his original plan, but was convinced by his son to build the roller coasters and Ferris wheels that were popular in Europe at the time. Riverview was unique because admission was a very small fee and instead, visitors paid to ride each ride. The concept worked and the park was successful and even expanded by adding another 50 acres, on which were constructed $500,000 worth of new rides. By the 1920s, during Prohibition, Riverview became somewhat of a speakeasy because they still sold beer and liquor on the park grounds. When the Great Depression hit, Schmidt’s son, George, invented the foot-long hotdog which they sold at the park as an inexpensive yet filling meal. The park was sold in October 1967 and with taxes and maintenance too expensive to afford, the new owner had to close the park essentially as soon as it was purchased. Issue 769 - 7/25/2016
SNIPPETZ HAS SOME HOT FACTS ON THESE DESERT CREATURES by Lindsey Harrison “I don’t see the desert as barren at all; I see it as full and ripe. It doesn’t need to be flattered with rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has, and creates amazing beauty.” – Joy Harjo, American poet As the summer drags on and the heat settles in, we start to wonder when it will ever cool down. Thankfully, we live in the wonderful state of Colorado and the season eventually changes. However, there are some places that never really find reprieve from the heat. And there are actually animals that live in those hot, dry places that thrive on that type of arid climate. But it stands to reason that those animals that are best suited for that extreme type of climate would differ from the animals we see on a day to day basis. And they do; sometimes in very obvious ways and sometimes in much more subtle ways. Naturally, Snippetz got curious about the creatures of the desert and decided it was high time we gave them the spotlight for a bit. So come with us on a journey through the world’s deserts as we discover some of the most interesting desert creatures! CAMELS You probably think you know camels pretty well. They have humps, they’re big, they live in the desert. But there are some characteristics about camels you’ve probably gotten wrong this whole time. For instance, it’s likely that you’ve heard the rumor that camels store water in their humps. However, that’s all it is . . . a rumor. Camels actually store fat in their humps because they use it as a place to store energy for the long treks they often make without adequate sustenance. Of course, they do need water, too. But camels can go for up to seven days without water if they have to. They more than make up for it when they do eventually find water; usually they drink somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 gallons to stock back up. Additionally, you probably envision camels drudging along through the hot sandy Sahara since the beginning of time. The truth is that camels are not native to Africa or even the Middle East. They are originally from North America, probably one of the least likely places you’d imagine they got their start. They traveled across the Bering Land Bridge millions of years go and ended up in Asia, and eventually into the Middle East and Africa. So, why aren’t they still living around here? It’s theorized that when the climate began to change, it affected the silica content of the grass on which they fed, making it too tough for them to chew, resulting in their gradual starvation. GILA MONSTERS As one of only two venomous lizards in the entire world, the Gila monster is a prime example of a creature perfectly suited for desert life. They are larger than many other lizards (in fact, they’re the largest species of lizard in the United States) which means they are able to store more energy than their smaller counterparts. They actually store fat in their stout tails and throughout their body so they can tap into these reserves as needed. Additionally, Gila monsters eat larger meals whenever they can, sometimes as much as one third of their body weight. Lastly, they have a slow metabolism while at rest which means they are able to conserve energy very efficiently and coupled with their massive meals and the ability to store fat so well, they don’t need to frequently expend lots of energy to find food. GILA WOODPECKERS As iconic as the tall, saguaro cactus is to the North American desert lands, these massive plants probably wouldn’t have become so if it weren’t for the Gila woodpecker. These industrious birds feed mainly on insects but also on cactus fruit and berries. So, how do they help the saguaro cactus? The insects they love to eat just happen to love eating the cactus. This, in turn, damages the cactus and leaves behind tell-tale discolorations, which the Gila woodpecker seeks out to find its next meal. To get to the insects, the woodpecker must dig away at the cactus, which in turn, removes the unhealthy cactus flesh. Thus, the bird gets its “worm” while saving the cactus at the same time. ROADRUNNERS Speaking of awesome desert birds, you probably have one particular one in mind, especially if you ever watched Looney Toons. Meep meep! OK, that was the roadrunner for all of you who didn’t get it and this bird just happens to be our next desert creature. And what an incredible creature it is! These amazingly awesome birds are the epitome of desert adaptability. They can literally survive just fine without drinking water . . . as long as they get enough water from the contents of the prey they eat. How cool is that?! Yes, they are fast. They can run up to 18 miles per hour. But imagine this fast little bird, zipping past you to snatch up a gopher, mouse, snake, lizard or other bird. Or imagine the roadrunner just hanging out near a feeding area, like a bird-feeder, waiting for something tasty to come down for a snack. In a flash, they grab their prey and take off, and they don’t really ever have to stop for a drink! Cool. SCORPIONS These spider-cousins are definitely desert creatures of the highest degree, mainly because they are suited to live on literally every continent expect Antarctica. As with the Gila monster, scorpions frequently eat large meals all at once and store the excess energy supply in various organs throughout their bodies. Additionally, they have a low metabolic rate so they don’t have to eat as often as many other similar creatures. In fact, if they keep a low profile and stay inactive as much as possible, they can survive from between six to 12 months without eating. However, even with a super slow metabolic rate and next to nothing to eat, scorpions can still spring with surprising speed when a hunting opportunity arises. Boom. Instant desert creature credit. Another method by which scorpions are able to survive in the extreme climate of the desert is the large variety of prey they chose to eat. Typically, they eat insects but if necessary they will branch out to other types of food to make sure they have all the food they need. While we often think of the desert as a ridiculously hot place, it’s important to remember that nighttime temperatures can drop drastically, which could be problematic for many creatures . . . but not the scorpion. Scientists studying these creepy-crawlies have even frozen scorpions overnight, more than adequately simulating the cold temperatures of a night in the desert. The next day, they placed the scorpion popsicles out in the sun and watched as the creatures thawed out, shook off the experience, and walked away essentially unscathed. If the scorpion had human feet, its Achilles’ heel would be the fact that it really, really needs soil. Because they are burrowing creatures, they need loose soil to survive. In places with heavy grasses or permafrost, they can’t burrow and that’s just not good. But even in instances where scorpions have been accidentally introduced into a region to which they aren’t native, they manage to find a way to survive . . . as long as they can burrow. |
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