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We close pollinator week with this animated tribute to the bees, bugs, birds, bats, and others who make life a little sweeter.

The Cat that Loves Water:

Determined scientists and photographers finally capture images of the rare and elusive fishing cat

by Morgan Heim

WE KNEW OUR INTENTION TO PHOTOGRAPH FISHING CATS in the wilds of Southeast Asia wouldn’t be easily accomplished. Other than National Geographic Society filmmakers Belinda Wright and Stanley Breeden, who took a few pictures of the cats in the 1990s, few people had seen, let alone photographed, the animals in the wild. In fact, since 2003, Thai biologist Passanan Cutter, founder of the Fishing Cat Research and Conservation Project, has observed only one free-roaming cat.

Science knows little about the fishing cat, which embraces a rather unfeline affinity for water. The animal lives in Southeast Asian swamps, where it swims and hunts fish. Weighing up to 30 pounds, it has adapted to its aquatic environment: It has webbed feet, short legs, tiny ears, spotted, almost water-resistant fur and a muscular tail it uses as a rudder.

Jim Sanderson, a member of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group and founder of the Small Cat Conservation Alliance, believes the species numbers no more than 3,000 individuals, scattered mostly throughout Thailand, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Rampant habitat destruction, persecution and the bush-meat trade have caused an estimated decline in the cat’s numbers of more than 50 percent since those photos taken by Breeden and Wright in the 1990s…

(read more: National Wildlife Federation)

Tribute to Steve Irwin, a guy who genuinely loved nature and animals.

Silver Iceni Coin from the time of Boudicca, Britain, Late 1st Century BC

This is a  “face/horse” type coin. It shows a  Celticized head facing right; a branch behind. On the reverse, a horse prances right; a wheel above and a lozenge below. 

Boudicca was queen of the Iceni tribe, a Celtic tribe of Britain, who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire.

Meade Hall from Beowulf created by Norm Newberry.

Dinner time ! 

Apple cider chicken recipe by Borghild :

- 6 nice boneless chicken breasts or legs - 4 yellow onions - 250gr ( 0.5 lb ) of butter -  A bottle of cider - 1 pot of crème fraiche - salt -  cumin ( or other spices ) Heat the butter in your cauldron and make it melt, add cut onions and make it brown for 10 minutes.  Add the chicken, let it heat then add the cider. Skim and spin often until chicken is cooked through, about 15/20 minutes, then remove from the fire and add the crème fraiche.