Trip to Montana

Recently, I went to Montana with my family and some friends. We stayed in Ronan, a town south of Flathead Lake, and west of the Mission Mountains Wilderness. Right by the house where we were staying, there was a dried up stream-bed that led down to a river that was full of all sorts of small fish and bugs. One time when we were down there a dog came up to us and we played a game of fetch. The dog's name was Ellie, she was a black lab. Here's a picture I took of her.



Another dog, Stinky, was Ellie's friend and liked chasing cars and swimming. He was a golden lab. Ellie and Stinky followed us back to our cabin and we played fetch for at least three hours. At that time in summer, there were lots of forest fires, and the flames of the Ashley Lake forest fire were nearly visible at night. One day we went to the town of St. Ignatius, and saw the St. Ignatius Mission, a very large church with lots of really cool paintings on the walls and ceilings. Southwest of Ronan, there is the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge which is home to waterfowl, song birds, and even some birds of prey. In Polson, I went to the Miracle of America History Museum. It has historical artifacts, machines, and all sorts of interesting things. Outside, there is a helicopter you can climb into, and a bomber from the Korean war, a giant tugboat you can explore, and in back, there is the set up of an old wild west town in the early 1910's.

Resources: "Hidden Montana" and "Montana's Flathead Country."

TECHNORATI TAGS: MONTANA, VACATION, RONAN, ST. IGNATIUS, MISSION MOUNTAINS

Killer Bees: They're Among Us

In 1956, a "mad scientist" had some African killer bees brought over from Africa to Brazil to try to make a new type of hybrid bee by mating killer bees with their cousins, the less aggressive European honey bees. The scientist let them loose in the Amazon Rainforest after the experiment happened, but they escaped and spread slowly throughout the rest of South America and Mexico. They moved into the states on the southern U.S. border in 2002, and are rapidly moving into Colorado. Since they migrate more in the winter, they should be in Montana by this coming winter. The reason these bees are called killer bees is because they are very, very aggressive and will pursue their victim for up to two miles, and they will sting as much as 3,000 times.

Here are some things to do if you encounter killer bees;

To get a killer bee's stinger out:

• scrape the stinger out with a credit card

• DO NOT attempt to pull a killer bee's stinger out, that will increase venom flow and swelling
• After stinger is removed, IMMEDIATELY apply ice and bee sting ointment (such as baking soda or baking powder mixed with water)
• Wrap it loosely, but firmly in something soft, like a cotton pad

If killer bees are attacking your pet:

• hose the pet down with water
• get the pet inside
• make the pet roll around

If you are being chased by killer bees:

• Run away and find shelter
• DO NOT jump into water, the bees will wait for you to resurface

To prevent the risk of being chased by killer bees:

• don't use lawnmowers or noisy mechanical devices around killer bees' hives
• Africanized bees hate high pitched noises
• don't spill or drink fruit juice around killer bees or their hives

To calm killer bees:

• somehow make smoke
• DO NOT use steam (it makes the bees wings wet, and it makes them mad)

To defend yourself from them:

• spray yourself with water
• cover yourself in a non-bee-infested blanket

How to identify killer bees:

• killer bees are smaller than their cousins, the common European honey-bee
• Killer bees fly up to 500 miles per hour ( 804.7 kilometers per hour)
• The queen lives 3 years

Resources: here, here, and here

For news or more information about killer bees, some interesting stories are here, here,and here. A man was stung 1,000 times, but later recovered.The Boca Raton News says:

"...Africanized honey bees don't have a stronger venom than the native honey bee -- but do usually sting in greater numbers, swarm more often than native honey bees, and defend the hive more rapidly than the native honey bee, thus, the reports of greater stings and hospitalizations -- and in extremely rare cases death...In fact, the experts say that for a normal, healthy person to receive a deadly dose of bee venom, it would take about 10 stings for each pound of body weight, or 1,500 stings at once for a 150-pound person, according to Dr. John Jackman at Texas A&M University..."

Everybody hates killer bees. But the bee species deserves some tough guys, doesn't it? And these honey bees are prey not hunter.

TECHNORATI TAGS: KILLER BEES, UNITED STATES, MONTANA, COLORADO, BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, AFRICA, BRAZIL, SAFETY TIPS