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Nepal

Nepal

The home of Mount Everest and possessing a total of eight of the ten tallest mountains in the world, Nepal enjoys one of the fastest growing economies worldwide. If Mount Everest wasn’t enough to put Nepal on the map, this country is also the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. He was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. A land rich in folklore with strong ties to Tibet,…

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Macaque Monkeys

Macaque Monkeys

With 23 established species of macaque monkeys, this group of primates has considerable variety. The tails come in all lengths from long to medium to short and finally no tail at all. The range of macaque monkeys is quite broad including Asia, North Africa and southern Europe. Each troop has a strict, hierarchical structure, giving a lot of power to those at the top. Bullying…

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Ural Mountains of Russia

Ural Mountains of Russia

Ural Mountains of Russia

Dividing Russia into its European and Asian parts, the Ural Mountains are the backbone of the country. Full of valuable ores, coal, gold and precious gems, the Ural Mountains have long played an important part in Russia’s economy. The home of the ancient Bashkirs people, of Turkic origin, the Ural Mountains are comprised of pristine rivers and rugged, boreal forests.

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Ural Owl

Ural Owl

A beautiful, large owl with as much as a five-foot wingspan, the Ural owl is named for the Ural Mountains of Russia in which it lives. The Ural owl can also be found as far west as Scandinavia and as far east as Japan. Though not considered endangered, biologists and conservationists have worked to protect this species. The introduction of special nesting boxes has helped the process.…

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Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Half the population of Luxembourg is made up of foreigners from 170 different countries. An important founder of the European Union and one of the smallest countries in Europe, Luxembourg was motivated to combine interests with other nations. Two world wars saw Luxembourg invaded by Germany. The sharing of economic interests helps protect the boundaries of nations. With over a hundred…

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Badgers

Badgers

Fearless. That’s the word to describe badgers. They will stand up to bears and wolves, to coyotes, hyenas and jackals. The honey badger, native to Africa, India and southwest Asia, will defend itself valiantly against a pride of lions. Nature has given the badger a host of self-defense attributes like powerful jaws. A badger will eat the bones of its prey. Badgers are amazingly immune to…

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Kansas

Kansas

Situated in the heart of the Midwest, Kansas has given us many notable and famous people like musician Melissa Etheridge, aviator Amelia Earhart, actors Kirstie Alley, Annette Bening, Hattie McDaniel and Buster Keaton as well as President Dwight Eisenhower and activist Erin Brockovich.  Kansas was a place where the buffalo roamed so it’s no surprise that the American classic, Home on the…

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Prairie Dogs

Prairie Dogs

Sweetly affectionate by human standards, prairie dogs of the same family group interact through ‘kissing’, that is oral contact, and through grooming. These rodents are native to the grasslands of the Midwest and give a warning cry like a dog’s bark, hence the name. Relatives of the ground squirrel, they are in no way related to canines as a species. Prairie dogs live in large…

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Prince Edward Island Canada

Prince Edward Island Canada

Prince Edward Island Canada

With a pastoral landscape, Prince Edward Island has idyllic rolling hills, beautiful woodlands, sand dunes, salt water marshes, reddish-white sand beaches, ocean coves and gorgeous red sandstone cliffs. And of course, the author Lucy Maud Montgomery was inspired by the island for the setting of her classic novel Anne of Green Gables. 

Prince Edward Island Canada…

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Ottawa Canada

Ottawa Canada

If you’re visiting Ottawa and stumble across a delicacy called ‘beaver tails’, don’t worry, these are merely pastries made in the shape of beaver tails. Ottawa is the capital of Canada and located a few hours drive from the U.S. border. It’s original name was ‘Bytown’, named after Lieutenant Colonel John By and was founded in 1826. The name was changed to Ottawa when the city was in…

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Wyoming

Wyoming

The Great Plains run smack into the Rocky Mountains in the middle of Wyoming. Small wonder that half the state and its gorgeous natural beauty is owned by the federal government. Two important national parks reside in Wyoming: Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The state’s economy is built on agriculture including cattle, sugar beets, and wheat and on mineral extraction which includes coal,…

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Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Established in 1872, under President Ulysses S. Grant, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming was the first national park not only in the U.S. but possibly in the entire world. The land area of Yellowstone is a fantastic 3500 square miles, or two million acres, and is home to a ‘slumbering’ supervolcano which is considered dormant. But earthquakes are frequent though most…

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Senegal Africa

Senegal Africa

One of the most stable African nations, Senegal is on the west coast of Africa in a zone between the Sahara and sub-Sahara called the Sahel. This region is mostly semi-arid.

Senegal is a land of rolling hills and tropical climate. Agriculture is an important part of the economy and tourism is increasing. Senegal was a minor departure point for the Atlantic Slave Trade. A mostly Mu…

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Turaco Bird

Turaco Bird

A beautiful, colorful bird endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, the turaco bird comes in a variety of colors. Some of the birds show red wings from below while in flight, though when not flying the red isn’t apparent. They are known as ‘banana eaters’, ‘loeries’ and ‘go-away-birds’ in different parts of the country. These gregarious birds usually have long tails and uniquely colored crests.…

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Emus

Emus

Tall, flightless birds with soft brown feathers, emus are native to Australia. They call to each other with whistling and purring sounds. The male emu incubates the eggs and tends to the young which may be the reason female emus fight over the males. A female can produce several clutches in a season. A relative of the ostrich, emus can grow to the height of a man and are capable of quick spr…

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Pincushion Flower

Pincushion Flower

An Australian native plant — both tree and shrub — the pincushion flower is a bird and bee delight. With round deep pink or red flowers that look stuck-all-over with ‘pins’, the plant lives up to its common name. The pincushion flower is a member of the Hakea family, which is a genus of about 150 plants that are endemic to Australia. The flower produces a unique, woody fruit. 

P…

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Horses in the Snow

Horses in the Snow

Horses in the Snow

Today, I’ve combined two powerful, iconic themes: horses and snow. Both are amazing forces of nature. The weight of snow can crush trees and roofs. The power of the automobile is still measured in terms of horsepower. Both are beautiful beyond words. Snow gives us a crystalline purity and silence when it first falls. Horses are elegant in line and motion. The two together…