Yuccas Blooming on the Desert

Postcard US-3285001 to Finland was a vintage linen card Yucca Whipplei blooming with a background of mighty San Jacinto Mountain in California.

Native to southern California, United States and Baja California, Mexico, Yucca whipplei ( Hesperoyucca whipplei) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Hesperoyucca, but closely related to, and previously usually included in, the genus Yucca. It is extremely drought tolerant and thrives in clay soils. The fiber from its leaves was used extensively by Native Americans for making sandal, cloth, and rope.

Arctic Hare in its Winter Coat

Postcard US-2955780 to NC, USA shows a portrait of an Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus), a species of hare adapted to harsh polar and mountainous habitats, in Manitoba, Canada. It is also called polar rabbit. According to Wikipedia, "the arctic hare survives with a thick coat of fur and usually digs holes in the ground or under snow to keep warm and sleep. Arctic hares look like rabbits but have shorter ears, are taller when standing, and, unlike rabbits, can thrive in cold climates. They can travel together with many other hares, sometimes huddling with dozens or more, but are usually found alone, taking, in some cases, more than one partner. The arctic hare can run up to 60 km/h (40 mi/h). Its predators include the arctic wolf, arctic fox, and ermine, as well as, the Gyrfalcon, Peregrine Falcon, and Snowy Owl."

Copyright Norbert Rosing / National Geographic. The card was purchased at National Geographic store at Zazzle.

ARCHELON

Postcard NL-2619878 from the Netherlands was a produced by ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, showing a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), an endangered species protected by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Founded in 1983, ARCHELON aims to protect sea turtles and their habitats in Greece through research, public awareness campaigns, and restoring habitats. It operates a rescue center built in 1994.

In my previous blog the World Turtle Day, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection (STOP) in Florida was featured for their work in rescuing those new sea turtle hatchlings disoriented by the street lights. You can still help by becoming a supporting member or joining a rescue walk in the 2014 season that lasts from May to October.

International Tiger Day

Today is International Tiger Day, an annual celebration on July 29 to raise awareness for tiger conservation. It started in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia. The most recent estimate shows only 3,200 tigers still in the wild, including 500 Siberian tigers. 95% of the total population have disappeared in the past 100 years; three subspecies: Bali , Caspian and Javan, have already been extinct by 1940s, 1970s, and 1970s respectively.

Habitat loss has been a direct contributor for the tiger population decline. Tigers lost 93% of their natural habitat due to human activities including deforestation, urbanization, and agricultural expansion. Climate change is also a factor as rising sea levels threaten to wipe out the last remaining habitat of Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans, a large mangrove forest area between India and Bangladesh on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean. Therefore, It is ultimate important to protect the natural habitats of tigers for tiger conservation to be successful.

USPS issued the Save Vanishing Species stamp featuring a tiger cub on September 20, 2011, with its net proceeds from sale benefiting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Multinational Species Conservation Funds. The Funds in turn supports efforts by numerous conservation organizations, including WWF which implements conservation projects such as surveying tigers and their prey in Nepal.

The featured postcard was sent from Connecticut as US-2140597.

Take Pride in America

Postcard US-2849038 to Texas was a 14-cent postal postcard issued by USPS in 1987. It features a mountain-lake scene with brilliant blues and rich greens at the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming. It was part of the "Take Pride in America" national public awareness campaign to encourage people to take pride in the nation's natural and cultural resources.

According to an AP Newsfeatures article in Lawrence Journal World on September 20, 1987, "launched by President Reagan in his 1986 State of the Union message, 'Take Pride in America' has been a major campaign to ensure the wise use and stewardship of our public lands - natural resources that belong to all Americans."

The National Elk Refuge was created in 1912 to protect habitat and provide sanctuary for one of the largest elk herd in the world. The refuge is home to an average of 7,500 elk each winter. and receives nearly one million visits annually.

The domestic postcard rate, according to Akdart.COM, was 14 cents between February 17, 1985 and April 3, 1988. Yet, another stamped postal postcard issued in 1980 also had a 14-cent postage when the domestic postcard rate was 10 cents.

On an unrelated note, USA team was edged out by Belgium 1:2 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in a Round of 16 match at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil on July 1, 2014, but not without a fight. The USA Team exceeded the expectation as many did not believe it would make into the Round of 16. "Man of the Match" Tim Howard, who set a World Cup record by making 16 saves, said before the match: "we’re proving critics wrong." We are still proud of the United States Men's National Soccer Team, and are optimistic about their future despite of a loss.

#451566972 / gettyimages.com

São Miguel, Portugal

Postcard PT-357733 from Portugal shows São Miguel Island, named for Saint Michael, the largest and most populous island in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Also referred as "the Green Island," it has a Special Protection Area containing the largest remnant of laurisilva forest on the island, habitat to the endemic and critically endangered bird, the Azores Bullfinch.

It is also the hometown of Pauleta (Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes, born April 28, 1973), a football player for the Portuguese National Team. Pauleta scored 47 goals in 88 matches for Portugal, a national record at the time of his retirement. He played in two World Cups and two European Championships.

In a Group G match against the United States during the 2014 FIFA World Cup at Arena Amazonia in Manaus, Brazil today, Silvestre Varela of the Portuguese National Team scored his team's second goal in the last minute, keeping Portugal alive with a 2:2 draw on June 22, 2014.

#451062278 / gettyimages.com

Golden Snub-nosed Monkey

Traveling Postcard US-2722710 to Czech Republic shows a baby golden snub-nosed monkey (金丝猴), perching in a highland forest at elevations between 1,500 and 3,400 meters above sea level in Sichuan, China.

According to Wikipedia, the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is an Old World monkey, endemic to a small area in temperate, mountainous forests of central and Southwest China.

The golden snub-nosed monkey is endangered due to habitat loss. It is also the most treasured national animal in China next to Panda.

The postcard was purchased from the National Geographic store at Zazzle. Copyright by Cyril Ruoso/Minden Pictures.

Mother & Young Baby

Earth Day celebration continues as postcard TH-165704 from Thailand arrived yesterday, showing a pair of mother and baby Asian elephants, the largest living land animals in Asia.

Since 1986, E. maximus,  one of the three subspecies of the Asian elephant, has been listed as endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2003, the wild population, mainly living in Sri Lanka, was estimated at between 41,410 and 52,345 individuals. According to a 2008 study, The population had declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be around 60 to 75 years. Like many other threatened species, habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation was a major factor.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

The monthly Bank of America's Museums on US program is held for this month on March 1 and  March 2, 2014. You can visit more than 150 arts, culture and educational institutions in the United States free with a Bank of America and Merrill Lynch debit or credit card. Las Vegas Natural History Museum, DISCOVERY Children's Museum, and Las Vegas Springs Preserve are the participating museums in Las Vegas. I took this opportunity to walk around the Springs Preserve and found the weather pleasant.

Postcard US-1650748 to Belarus was produced by the Springs Preserve, showing a Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). It is a medium-sized blackbird with a pointed bill in adults. The adult male has a mostly black body but a bright yellow head and breast. The adult female is mainly brown with a dull yellow throat and breast. Their breeding habitat is cattail marshes mainly located west of the Great Lakes. They migrate to the south western United States and Mexico in the winter. That's when we can see them in Nevada.

World Turtle Day

May 23rd has been the World Turtle Day since 2000. It was initiated by American Tortoise Rescue to celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their ever shrinking habitats around the world.

The postcard US-1532121 was issued by SFWMD, featuring a Florida box turtle living in moist woodlands and floodplains in the greater Everglades. Turtles are the only toothless reptiles, but have beaks with biting edges.

Before I moved to Las Vegas, NV from Florida in 2006, I was aware of the problem caused by street lights to the baby sea turtles during the hatchling season. Those baby sea turtles mistook street lights as the rising sun, so they moved towards city streets and were often crashed by cars, rather than headed to the ocean. I knew there were efforts to install turtle-friendly lights along A1A, a Florida State Road running mostly along the Atlantic Ocean. However, to my surprise, I found out the problem is still serious today. A Youtube video documented disoriented sea turtle hatchlings in Broward County Florida caused by illegal lighting in the summer of 2011. It was estimated that one in every three hatchlings had gone to the street lights instead of the ocean.

In Florida, sea turtles come ashore to nest from May to late October. You can learn how to help this season in 2013 by visiting their web site SeaTurtleOP.org.

What is the difference between a tortoise and a turtle since they are both reptiles from the family of Testudines? Tortoises dwell only on land while turtles can dwell well in the water. Therefore, in the Mojave Desert around Las Vegas, we only have tortoises.