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 Air:
Without air, there would be no life. Air is the essence of life. On Venus, the gasses are too inhospitable for life as we know it. The gas giants of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus have liquid nitrogen for an atmosphere, and are considered to be lifeless. Only Earth and Mars which have atmospheres seem to be capable of sustaining life. As an atmosphere, air keeps the heat in, and converts water gasses into liquid. This enables life to flourish. As the wind blows the seeds to the ready earth, so it also brings rain clouds to dry areas.

 Grey Squirrel
Agile and alert, the grey squirrel remains active throughout the year. Chattering on tree branches, she amuses people who watch her antics. What people do not know is that the grey squirrel was a creature of the virgin forests of North America. She is one of the few mammals who adapted to cities. In winter, the grey squirrel eats tree bark and nuts that she stored in the fall. She locates these stored nuts by smell. Any acorns that the grey squirrel does not find will grow into trees for future squirrel homes. She is at home in the trees.

In truth, it wasn’t sloth that has me posting this late in the month. It was over-work, and tiredness and being too hot, and forgetting. But here we are, and what I crave more than anything else right now, is rest. Resting is what mammals do, given the chance. In humans, we celebrate activity and achievement, but the way we work is profoundly unnatural and terrible for mental health.

Here in the UK, it has been very hot for some weeks now. We’re not good at heat or snow, or high winds or any other kind of serious weather. We’re good at being damp, grey and temperate! Still we try to carry on with business as usual, busily doing all the things even as the heat melts our brains and saps our bodies. Too much heat can make you ill. It can kill you. Other mammals, faced with uncomfortable high temperatures, get into the shade and flop out.

Warm-blooded Ones live on the land, fly in the air, and swim in the sea. What makes these animals unique is that they have a constant body temperature. This enables them to live in cold, hot, and temperate areas. Warm-blooded Ones also give birth to live young (except for the platypus and echidna, who lay eggs). However, all Warm-blooded Ones nourish their children with milk. Their other defining characteristic is that they have hair; even whales sport one or two hairs.

Of all the animal groups, most people feel the closest to the Warm-blooded Ones. People have a natural kinship with these animals, since as humans, we are fellow mammals. Warm-blooded Ones live invited in people’s homes as companions and members of the family. They are raised by people for food, clothing, and shelter. People have been nourished by their friendship with Warm-blooded Ones for ages.

Best known of the Ice Age Mammals, Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) received her name from her outer layer of long hair. Underneath that layer, She had another dense inner layer of fur. To cope with the icy temperatures, Woolly Mammoth had a compact body, a high domed head and small ears.

Woolly Mammoth had a shorter but more flexible trunk than other Mammoths. At the end of her trunk was a finger-like appendage as well as another protuberance. She used these to gather grasses and other plants for eating.

In the Northern Hemisphere, autumn is approaching. One sign is Squirrels gathering nuts for the winter. As a species, Squirrels live worldwide in Asia and Africa as well.

When people think “Squirrel”, they generally think of the tree-dwelling variety. Squirrels, however, come in three main groups–Tree Squirrels, Ground Squirrels, and Flying Squirrels. The defining characteristic of a Squirrel, a Squirrel is their bushy tail. Their family name Sciuridae means “shade-tailed”.