Where would we be without rats and vultures? We might think we’d be a lot better off. But evidence continues to mount that working with Nature’s wildly varied cast of characters is far better for our health than making holes in the web of life by trying to wipe them out.

For instance, the African Giant Pouched Rat is proving itself invaluable for reclaiming land and saving lives. And the lowly, smelly vulture became conspicuous by its absence in India after approximately 40,000,000 of Nature’s winged garbage collection/recycling units were accidentally wiped out in a mere two decades through the introduction of a drug that was used to treat livestock.
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Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is one of the world’s most isolated places, 1,500 miles from the nearest populated island in the Pacific. It contains almost no vegetation. When the Westerners visited the island, they were amazed at the gigantic statues that had been erected–almost a thousand of them–lined up, gazing out at the sea. Some of them weigh as much as 75 tons. But what amazed them even more was that the 3,000 islanders didn’t seem to know where these gigantic stone figures had COME FROM.
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Legend says that in the 13th century, a pied piper played his flute to lure the rats out of the town of Hamelin, Germany (he lured the town?s children away as well). Well, they need him again: the rats are BACK!

Since they no longer have the piper, the townsfolk have set traps around instead. BBC News quotes town spokesman Thomas Wahmes as saying, “?We hope that within weeks we’ll have removed this threat.”

Art Credit: gimp-savvy.com

Christmas is coming soon?a time filled with inspiring myths and legends (some of which are literally true)! Remember: our exquisite crop circle calendars make great?and AFFORDABLE gifts! And subscribers get an EXTRA 10% off!

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It sounds like a scene out of a horror movie, but it’s really happening: baby rats are being decapitated and their heads are grafted onto the thighs of adult rats by Japanese scientists. The transplanted brains develop normally for at least three weeks, with the mouth sucking as if it’s trying to drink milk. Other scientists say these experiments aren’t necessary.

The Japanese removed heads from 12-day-old rats and waited 90 minutes before connecting them to the blood supply in the thigh of an adult rats. “The grafted brain developed normally provided the operation was done at the low temperature of 19

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