Chinchillas

As mentioned in an earlier post Lance and I's first pet together was a Chinchilla called Squingey. You may be thinking this is a very odd name, but it was the 2 names of Lance's childhood Guinea Pigs Squiggles and Gingey which then formed Squingey.

Back in 1991 Lance came across Squingey when he went to a pet shop with a colleague and was immediately taken with him. He took me along to see him and straight away we knew he was meant to be with us. At the time not much was known about Chinchillas as pets and Lance and I had never come across one before. Knowing what I know now I would have done things very differently but I have to trust that the Lord meant it to be how it was at the time.

Squingey - with us 1991-1997

 Chinchillas are native to South America, mainly around the mountainous regions of the Andes and part of the rodent family. They are rock dwellers and generally live in large groups. Unfortunately at the time we only had Squingey not really realising they were a group living species. If I was to have anymore I would ensure we had at least 2 together. They are known to live up to 20 years of age but I have only ever known one to reach this age.


Chinchillas were commonly bred and sadly killed for their fur to be made in to coats in the 1920s, but as the fur trade died out Chinchillas started to be taken in as pets. The reason they were so heavily sought after for their fur is due to the fact that they have the densest (softest fur) out of all land animals, the only one who has even more hair follicles per square inch is the Sea Otter.  Soft seems to be my theme of the week. If you have ever had the pleasure of handling a Chin then you will know how truly soft they are and it feels like they are all fur and nothing else🐭 They are an entertaining animal and one who whilst nervous in nature can also be loving and affectionate and certainly not timid. They are clever animals and good escape artists!       

The  Lord is truly amazing how he made so many wonderful creatures and when he says and "it was good" you get a sense of how wonderful he considered these creatures he had created.

Genesis 1:31

 It's only after we had Squingey that we became aware that our neighbour also had one called Chester and since had two others Sherbert and Monty. When I started working at the college there were a couple there then. We have had a number of Chins at the college since and currently house 3, Max, Frankie and Tufty. The most common colour is grey but you can also find them in white, beige, dark brown and black. Max is the only non grey chin that I have met, he is white with flecks of grey and quite grumpy. 

 I am often reminded when I am around beautiful creatures like Chinchillas that they are only here by the grace of God and the fact that he wanted to create them in the first place. How thankful I am to him for this fact and how wonderful it was to have Squingey with us for over six years. The Lord uses his wonderful creatures to help support us during difficult times.

A-Z of Animals - British Blue Butterfly

2 Corinthians 5:17

 Since a young age I have  had an interest in butterflies; one of my earliest memories of this is from the mid 1970s when my dad used to collect them. Sadly, back in those days it was quite common for people to collect butterflies and pin them on to boards and frame them. My dad had one of these and I remember thinking what beautiful creatures they were and how amazing it was that they came from a caterpillar. I also enjoyed collecting caterpillars when I was younger, not really appreciating at the time that they were living creatures who should be left in their own environment. This type of attitude along with the increase in housing projects on green space (don't get me started!) led to a big decline in the british butterfly population.  

Caterpillars and butterflies are so varied in their colours and shapes that I find them quite fascinating. Throughout my life I have always found the butterfly to be one of my go to creatures for cross stitch and card making as to me they depict new life.

Butterflies make for a good spiritual comparison in the way that they start off in one form as an egg, then a caterpillar, cocoon then end up as a beautiful creature who has been freed. This is much like the Christian life where we are born in to sin and go through different stages of life until God opens our eyes and makes us a new creation.

British Blue Butterfly

The "British Blue Butterfly" (BBB) first came to my attention a number of years ago at college when they were the subject of a Level 2 Conservation assignment. I found their story to be quite incredible when I learned of their symbiotic relationship with the mermica sabulita ant. This particular species of butterfly could be found in meadows throughout Britain until its apparent disappearance in the 1970s, however due to a reintroduction project during the 1980s it has made a reappearance in the UK and now doing very well. This species does not appear to survive without a specific species of ant and shows how much they need them. This reminds me of how much we rely on God to become a new creation.

The BBB lays her eggs on a plant in the meadow and the caterpillar hatches and eventually falls to the ground. This caterpillar has a pheromone that smells like a mermica ant, so the ant collects the caterpillar thinking it to be one of their own and takes it back to their nest. The caterpillar continues to mimic the young ant smell, despite looking quite different so they take care of it and feed it and nurture it until it becomes a butterfly. Whilst the caterpillar is a parasite it needs the ant for survival but never does harm to the ants, they appreciate all that the ant does for them. However they are still conning the ant and it is fooled in to thinking it is one of their own.

Whilst the BBB caterpillar is just using the ants resources in a positive way there is also the ichneumon wasp whose motives are more sinister and aggressive. This is actually quite creepy but clever on the wasps part; the wasp emits a pheromone and dupes the ant in to thinking it is one of their young so they take it back to their nest, once the ants realise it is not one of them they attack the wasp who then emits more pheromones turning the ants against each other and then injects each ant with one of their own eggs. The wasp then leaves, calm seems to come back to the nest and before you know it young wasps take over the ant and burst forth out of them and the ant nest is pretty much destroyed. I warned you it was creepy👀. The link below goes in to a bit more detail, but there are plenty of sites about this subject and a creepy video somewhere!.

Mermica Sabuleti Ant - The Goodie

Ichneumon Wasp - The Baddie

Research gate link re. BBB and Ants.




The story of the butterfly, ant & wasp could be considered an allegory to our spiritual life as a Christian. We change from our old ways to a new one with the support and strength of our Lord, but sin and temptation will often try to infiltrate this new life. Satan tries to extinguish what we have become and tries to wipe out this new creation. However, as the Lord is "Sovereign" he will not allow this to happen and has the ultimate victory. The story of the wasp reminds me of a number of biblical passages around apostates and false prophets who infiltrate churches and turn congregations against each other, causing division, discord and often destruction of what was once a stable fellowship. The butterfly larvae lives in harmony with the ant acting as one of its own without causing harm but the wasps motives are quite different. This reminds me that as Christians we need to be on guard for those who want destroy our fellowship with other Christians and the Lord.

  

I think the story of this butterfly and ant is a wonderful example of how God works in the whole of creation and has symbiotic relationships that can be used as examples to our own spiritual walk.    

      

AMAZING AXOLOTLS

I thought this was quite an appropriate verse for my animal of the week as it seems a rather strange verse but explains to me why we have such unusual creatures like the Axolotl. The Axolotl is not a freak of nature as evolution scientists would have you believe, but that God intended for this creature to exist, which to me the verse above confirms. Below I have explained why I think this is.

The Axolotl is actually a Tiger Salamander that has not undergone metamorphosis. The Axolotl suffers with a thyroid problem that prevents metamorphosis, due to a lack of iodine.This is something known as "Neotony" (retention of juvenile features as an adult and or ability to reproduce in larval stage)this can happen in a number of species.

There is now only one place known where Axolotls are found in the wild, Lake Xochimilco in Mexico and they are now on the critically endangered list and under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Their population has reduced greatly due to water pollution and introduction of fish that kill the Axolotl. They are now really only found in captivity. 

I  first became aware of Axolotls when I started working in Animal Care at the college. I had never seen one before and was fascinated to hear about their background. Over the years I have researched in some detail the Axolotl and marvel at the diverse creatures the Lord has blessed us with.At the college we have an albino one (pictured below), but when I first started we had a brown one with gold speckles. They can also be pink with black eyes and grey. Our college Axolotl does not have a name and is around 9-10 years old. They are known to live up to 15 years. 

AXOLOTL - FROM MEXICO

In Genesis 1 it confirms that marine creatures were created on day 5 but creeping creatures on the land were created on day 6. Salamanders are amphibians and as they are vertebrates (backbone), then they would have been created on day 6. As it was kinds created on day 6 and the Axolotl is a salmander then they did not exist as a separate species or kind.

The link below discusses how Adam named the various creatures, but they have concluded that this did not include amphibians or marine creatures. This is something that I want to research more closely so I can understand how amphibians and marine creatures got their names.

https://creation.com/how-could-adam-have-named-all-the-animals-in-a-single-day

I do believe that God works in wonderous and mysterious ways and although it may appear the Axolotl is a genetic mistake due to a thyroid issue, God intended it to be this way. This to help aid the survival of the salamander in waters that lack iodine and neotony has its uses. Axolotls have been specifically used in tests around limb regeneration and have helped to further sciencitific investigation in this area. It has also been shown that some Axolotls injected with iodine do actually then undergo the metamorphic cycle to and become a fully formed salamander.

Axolotls reproduce in larval form, which is quite unusual but this does help for their continuation. As  John 1:3 says "was not anything made, that was made".

I could spend a very long time going in to lots of detail about them as they are a creature that not many people are aware of but then it would be a very long article😵. If you would like to know more you can go to the following links.

Tiger Salamander

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl 

 http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2008/osuldsen_brit/reproduction.html

Next week - Butterflies.

Special Feature - Coney (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

 Coney (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Proverbs 30:24 "but they are exceeding wise".

You are probably expecting me to start at the letter A, however I could not start this feature anywhere else other than the original name for Rabbit, which features in a number of places in the Bible.

The word Coney was derived from the scientific name which in part is Cuniculus. The name Coney was the commonly used name for rabbit up to the 18th/19th centuries. In some dialects the word Coney was pronounced Cunny, however the word Cunny during the 19th century became a word used to describe female genitalia so with reference to conies/rabbits the word cunny became bunny which we still use today. Bunny rabbit is a derivation from the original Coney mentioned in the bible.

I believe they were on the ark and were created on the 6th day with all the other mammals, Genesis 1:23/24.

Honey Bunny - with us 2008-2012.

Rabbits really are my favourite of all the amazing creatures God created and whilst they have adapted some what from the original coney they are still wise as these days alot of them live in centrally heated comfy houses🐰 

Other bible references for the Coney:
Leviticus 11:5 
Deuteronomy  14:7  

Next week's feature - THE AXOLOTL.