You may instead be dealing with The Points Mean Nothing (where the game is explained but the scoring is arbitrary) Moving the Goalposts (where the game is explained but characters try to change the rules to their own advantage) Gretzky Has the Ball (where the sport is real but the characters play it like Calvinball) Artistic License Sports (where the sport is real but just inaccurately portrayed) New Rules as the Plot Demands (where the fictional game is technically defined but inconsistently portrayed) or Gameplay Roulette (where the rules are defined, but the game itself unpredictably changes them on the players). If the basic rules are described to the audience in any way (or if the game already exists in Real Life) then it's not Calvinball. If any partial description is given, it's usually a list of Noodle Implements, and is often filled with Perfectly Cromulent Words. It's particularly useful to show crazy or destructive characters wreaking mayhem in what looks to the audience like organized chaos. This year, 2008, has been designated as Year of the Frog by conservation groups, zoos and aquariums, in an effort to raise funds and awareness to address the declining populations around the world.Ī conservation action plan has been launched, while 500 zoos around the world enlisted to take part in an amphibian "Noah's Ark" where the most vulnerable species will be moved into protected areas in zoos, aquariums and other institutions around the world so their future survival can be guaranteed.The key to Calvinball is that it allows the work to depict the game without having to take time out to describe it to the audience. WWF runs a number of programs aimed at amphibians - current conservation targets include Bornean tree frogs and African Goliath frogs. The Zoological Society of London is running adoption/donation programs for the wide mouth frog and the poison frog. If you are concerned about the fate of amphibians overseas, consider donating to international conservation efforts. Slug pellets are not necessary if you keep frogs (since frogs eat slugs), and can be potentially harmful to the amphibians.Īdding a pool to your garden is a fantastic start, but if you want to do more you could join ARG UK, a network of wildlife volunteer groups that aim to protect and conserve the native amphibians and reptiles of the UK.ĪRG UK conducts regular amphibian surveys and is frequently consulted in development projects that involve amphibians' habitat. Therefore, you should avoid using chemicals if you hope to have frogs in the garden. Wild areas of the garden, as well as "leaf piles, rocks, logs and garden debris," provide areas in which frogs can forage and hide, they say.īecause all amphibians breathe partially (and in some cases, completely) through their skin, they are particularly sensitive to toxic chemicals in the environment. They actually are terrestrial animals that breed in ponds."įroglife, a national wildlife charity concerned with the protection of Britain's amphibians and reptiles, has some pointers on making the garden around your pond frog-friendly. If they are frogs, they only come back for a couple of days if they are toads, they come back for two weeks each year. "At least two years of life is spent on land before they breed. "What people don't think enough about is the terrestrial environment, which amphibians spend about 90% of their life in," says Halliday. Perhaps even more important than the pond is the area around it. Moving frogs into your pond can deplete other ponds of their populations, could possibly infect the transported frogs with disease, and might (if the pond is not suitable habitat) put you in violation of the Abandonment of Animals Act of 1960. If there are frogs within 1000m, and the pond is suitable, they will often come unsolicited. However, it is important to let frogs arrive at your garden pond on their own. So what people do now to try to conserve amphibians is to create a network of ponds." "Amphibians rely on a network of ponds," says Halliday, "so that if one pond gets into trouble and gets wiped out it can be recolonised quite fast. Ideally, a pond should be at least 60cm deep, in a shaded area, with pond liner (to keep the water in), with a few shallow edges for the tadpoles, and no fish. Conservation group WWF has guidelines here (pdf). He recommends building a pond in your back garden, as close as you can to an existing population.Ĭreating a frog pond isn't as difficult as it sounds, and can add much to a garden's aesthetic appeal. "Creating ponds is the best thing that anyone can do", says Tim Halliday, Open University professor of biology and international director of the declining amphibian populations taskforce.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |