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October 23, 2012 The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read

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It’s a good day for a field trip and Tidbits is off to the zoo! If you’re interested in animal menageries, you’ve come to the right place!

• Archaeological excavations have revealed the oldest known zoological collection in Hierakonpolis, Egypt, believed to have been created by Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut around 1500 B.C. The emperor of China Wen Wan established a 1,500-acre zoological garden about 1000 B.C., dubbing it the Garden of Intelligence.

• The oldest continuously-operating zoo in the world is Vienna, Austria’s Schonbrunn Zoo, established in 1752, and still receiving more than two million visitors annually. It also holds the honor of being the first place to host the birth of an African elephant in captivity.

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the site of America’s first attempt to establish a zoo, creating a charter in 1859. However, construction did not begin immediately due to the advent of the Civil War. In the meantime, New York City opened Central Park Zoo in 1864 and grabbed the honor of the first public zoo in the U.S.

• Although the word “hippopotamus” translates from the Greek for “river horse,” this herbivorous mammal is more closely related to the pig. It ranks third in size in land animals, right behind the elephant and rhinoceros. Baby hippos are born underwater and weigh about 100 lbs. (45 kg) at birth. By adulthood, one might weigh as much as 5,800 lbs. (2,631 kg). Hippos eat about 88 lbs. (40 kg) of food daily. At one time, hippos’ ivory canines, which reach 20 inches (51 cm) in length, were used by dentists for artificial teeth because they don’t turn yellow. In a zoo environment, a hippo will live about 50 years.

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Vol 1 Issue 41of the River Region

TIDBITS® DELIVERS INFO ABOUT

OCTOBER CELEBRATIONS

by Kathy Wolfe

Page 2 Tidbits® of the River Region

ZOO (continued):• Even with its enormous bulk, the rhinoceros can trot along at 40 mph (64 km/hr). The word “rhinoceros” translates from the Greek language, rhino meaning “nose” and ceros meaning “horn.” A baby rhino enters the world weighing about 140 lbs. (63.5 kg) and can grow to about 7,000 lbs. (3,500 kg).

• You think your blood pressure is high? Consider that of the giraffe, whose pressure is two to three times higher than that of a healthy human. That’s because of that long neck! The heart of a giraffe measures 2 feet (.6 m) long and weighs 25 lbs. (11.3 kg), enabling it to pump blood with enormous force up the neck to the brain. The average giraffe stands about 19 feet (5.8 m) tall, 6 feet (1.8 m) of which are its legs. At birth it was already 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, and had endured a 6-foot drop to the ground head first! The baby calf is up and walking around only one hour after birth. An adult giraffe can weigh up to 3,000 lbs. (1,360 kg) and lives about 20 years.

•The sleek cheetah, the world’s fastest mammal, can reach a speed of 45 mph (72 km/hr) in two seconds from a standstill. It then accelerates to its top speed of nearly 65 mph (104 km/hr). Yet just 300 yards farther on, exhaustion sets in, and the animal must slow down. Half of the cheetah’s running time is spent off the ground, and it can even make a turn in mid-air!

• An African elephant weighs upwards of 6 tons (5,443 kg), stands 12 feet (4 meters) tall at the shoulder, and has a trunk about 7 feet (2 meters) long. It consumes about 300 lbs. (136 kg) of food in a day, and sucks up about 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water into its trunk each time it takes a drink. The elephant is second behind human beings in longevity, with many elephants living well past age 70.

• A gorilla may look gargantuan, but in truth the average male gorilla stands only about 5”7” (1.7 m) tall. He is a hefty fellow, however, weighing in at 330 lbs. (150 kg). The female is much smaller, averaging 176 lbs. (80 kg). The lifespan of these very peaceful, family-oriented creatures in the wild is about 35 years, but they will live to

about age 50 in a zoo. • An adult male lion eats about 15 lbs. (7 kg.) of meat at a meal, although some might consume as much as 60 lbs. (27 kg) at one sitting! The full-grown adult male will weigh somewhere between 330 and 550 lbs. (150 – 259 kg) and can run at top speed of 36 mph (58 km/hr), although not for very long. In the wilds, the King of the Jungle isn’t the great hunter you might think he is – he actually leaves more than 90% of the hunting to his female companion. Lions are the only big cats in which the appearance of males and females is distinctly different. The roar of a male can be heard as far as 5 miles (8 km) away.

• Bear with us! An American black bear will reach about 660 lbs. (299 kg) at maturity, and a grizzly bear tops out at 860 lbs. (390 kg), but it’s the polar bear that takes the prize, a whopping 1,760 lbs. (798 kg)! It’s the only bear that will actually prey on humans. Humans aren’t their first choice, however. In their natural habitat, they prefer seal pups, and can smell a seal on the ice 20 miles (32 km) away. The bears frequently eat only the seal’s fat just below the skin, ignoring the rest of the carcass, making for an extremely fatty diet. Yet it doesn’t seem to slow them down! A polar bear can sprint along at a speed of 25 mph (40 km/hr) for short distances, as well as jump a 6-ft.-high (1.8-m) pile of snow.

• The koala bear isn’t a bear at all, but is actually a member of the marsupial family, joining the kangaroo, wallaby, and opossum. The koala’s diet consists of nothing but eucalyptus leaves, about a pound and a half per day. In fact, the koala would be extinct without the eucalyptus. Sounds like a pretty boring feed, but consider that there are about 600 kinds of eucalyptus trees and to the koala, each one tastes different. If you think your teenager is lazy, consider that the koala sleeps an average of 22 hours per day! There have been koalas at the famous San Diego Zoo since 1925 when the children of Sydney, Australia gifted the zoo with Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

Here in New England, our evening walking group has stopped for the season. It was a nearly unanimous decision, given the recent daily rain, dropping temperatures and earlier sunsets. I was the only holdout in the vote to stop walking until spring.If I’m going to continue to get any exercise as fall moves into winter and it’s too cold to go out, I’m going to have to plan for it and buy a few small pieces of equipment to keep in the house.If you’re also forced indoors by cold weather, a “mini stepper” can serve as a temporary replace-ment for outdoor walking or using a treadmill at the gym. The mini stepper has a place for both feet, and you just walk in place.The one I have my eye on is the The Wagan Compact Mini Stepper Exerciser, Model 2272. I found it on the Safe Home Products website (www.safehomeproducts.com). This stepper has a tubular steel frame with handholds for better balance, adjustable tension for a harder or easier workout, and it only takes up about 1 square foot of floor space. If you aren’t sure of your balance, a “peddler” might be perfect for you. With a peddler, you sit in a chair and peddle like you’re on a bicycle.To make sure of getting an upper-body workout, take a look at handheld weights. If weight on your hands is a problem, you might want the kind that strap to your wrist. Either one would give a mild workout to shoulders and arms.Before you purchase any exercise gear, ask your doctor if he thinks it would be right for you.

Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot person-ally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into her column whenever possible. Write to her in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send e-mail to columnreply@gmail.com.

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.

Staying Active in ColdWeather

“Be known before you’re needed” Advertise with Tidbits (334) 202-7285 Page 3

Some of my kids’ best and least-expensive art supplies have come from nature. Acorns, leaves, shells, pinecones and sticks all have provided in-spiration for a plethora of family craft and decorat-ing projects.Now that apple season is here, it’s a perfect time to get your creative juices flowing and use real apples to stamp out some original art. You can stamp apple prints onto brown craft paper or recycled brown grocery bags for lovely homemade wrap-ping paper, gift tags and book covers.To create wearable art to celebrate fall, stamp apple prints with permanent acrylic fabric paints on a sweatshirt, T-shirt or cotton infant wear. Stamp fabric napkins, place mats, potholder and dish towels, too. There’s really no end to objects that can sport an apple stamp or two.Here’s the fun:Slice an apple in half vertically. Pat it dry with a towel and remove as much moisture as possible. For a handle that young kids can grab onto, poke a fork into the outside center of the apple. Pour craft paint in squeeze bottles onto a paper plate. (Use fabric paint if stamping clothing.) Dip the cut side of the apple into the paint. Press the apple gently on a paper towel to absorb some of the paint, and then press the apple firmly onto the paper or fabric. Stamp as many prints as you like by dipping and printing.When your apple prints are dry, dip a toothpick or small paintbrush into some green or brown paint and paint a slender stem and a leaf onto your apple print. Or, glue a real stem on a print or two for an original look!Notes: --For a group project, look for cheaper bruised fruit at apple orchards. --If you cut an apple widthwise around the circum-ference, the seeds form a perfect star shape. Re-move the seeds and stamp out the natural design.--If using fabric paints on fabric, an adult should heat-set the prints with an iron according to prod-uct instructions after the paint has dried.***Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activi-ties, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the NEW Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”

(c) 2012 Donna EricksonDistributed by King Features Synd.

Put Stamp on Fall With Real Apple Art

This summer, the U.S. Department of Education asked colleges across the country to help potential students determine their true costs for a college edu-cation. Colleges were asked to provide each accept-ed student with a “shopping sheet” to make it easier to compare the costs of attending their college versus other schools.The sheets include details such as tuition and fees, housing, books, grants from the school, Pell Grants

and grants from the state. Further down the page are the net costs that the student will be expected to pro-vide, as well as the options for paying those, such as work study, loans and family contributions.Other handy information on the page details the graduation rate of the school, and whether it’s con-sidered low, medium or high. The loan default rate also is shown for the school, comparing it with the national rate. One of the most helpful sections of the sheet is the loan-repayment information. The section shows the average levels of borrowing for the school, as well as the expected monthly rate of repayment over 10 years. Students will know going in what their repay-ments are likely to be.To see an example of the college shopping sheet, go tocollegecost.ed.gov/shopping_sheet.pdfFor students just starting the process of applying to schools, the Federal Student Aid site (studentaid.ed.gov) has a wealth of information on financial aid for college. Who gets aid (the criteria) and the types of aid (work study, grants and loans) are linked, with special sections on avoiding scams and aid for serv-ing in the military or being a spouse or child of a veteran. There are links to calculators for repayment

comparisons of subsidized and non-subsidized loans, and Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR) Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR) loans.Determining just how student aid is calculated can be a big help when it comes to selecting a school. Look for The EFC Formula 2012-2013 information.Dependent students who have already started the online process for financial aid (and who must in-clude the parents’ income in the calculation) can update their information online should there be a change in the family’s financial situation.Students who were accepted at schools that didn’t provide the “shopping sheet” information should ask for it.The Department of Education awards $150 billion per year in grants, loans and work-study opportuni-ties.

David Uffington regrets that he cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into his column whenever possible. Write to him in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send email to columnreply@gmail.com.

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.

Credit and Debt Myths and Truths

Tidbits® of the River Region Page 4

* In this season of bitter partisan rivalries, it would be well to remember the following sage observa-tion: “Do not trust to the cheering, for those persons would cheer just as much if you and I were going to be hanged.” The man who first made that observa-tion was Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell, considered by some to be a hero of liberty, by others to be a regicidal dictator. He died in 1658, prob-ably from septicemia. He was so reviled that, three years later, he body was exhumed so that he could be posthumously executed, his body thrown into a pit and his head displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall.

* Those who study such things say that if all the gold in the world were combined in one lump, it would result in a cube that measures 20 yards on each side.

* If you’re planning a trip to Lima, Peru, you might want to add Puente de Piedra to your sightseeing list. Though the Spanish name means “Bridge of Stone,” the span is popularly known as the Bridge of Eggs. Legend has it that in 1608, the builders the used the whites of 10,000 seabird eggs in the mortar that holds the stones together.

* Pumpkins are native to the Americas, not Europe. This is why the original jack-o’-lantern was a turnip.

* What do the words “obscene,” “tranquil,” “medi-ate,” “catastrophe,” “dire,” “critical,” “vast” and “apostrophe” have in common? All of them appeared in print for the first time in the works of William Shakespeare.

* If you’re contemplating a move to Corpus Christi, Texas, be sure to keep in mind that in that town, it’s illegal to raise alligators in your home.***Thought for the Day: “One fool can ask more ques-tions in a minute than 12 wise men can answer in an hour.” -- Vladimir Lenin

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.

by Samantha Weaver

Page 5“Be known before you’re needed” Advertise with Tidbits (334) 202-7285

Register to win at www.riverregiontidbits.com and click on “Tommy Tidbits”. Fill out the registration information and tell us how many times Tommy appears in ads in the paper for this week. From the correct entries, a winner will be selected. You must be 18 years of age to qualify. The gift certificates will range in value from $25 to $50 each week. Entries must be received at the website by midnight each Saturday evening or at PTK Corp, PO Box 264, Wetumpka, AL 36092.

This week’s winner receives 4 Dozen Glazed Donuts from Krispy Kreme

Last Week’s Ads where Tommy was hiding:1. Flash Consulting, p. 32. Plantation House Restaurant, p. 43. Philip Bumpers, p. 5

DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My cat “Frank” has been classified as obese by the veterinar-ian. Frank doesn’t look that fat, and he moves around fine and plays a lot. How can the vet call him obese? Trying to get him to exercise more doesn’t work, either. -- Susan J., Phoenix

DEAR SUSAN: Cats, like people, sometimes put on weight so gradually that it’s the scale that sounds the first warning, rather than looks or lack of activity. Frank may not seem too fat, and he gets around just fine, but that good health won’t last if the weight stays on him.He has quite a bit in his favor. It sounds like Frank is a healthy cat who stays active. You can encourage this activity by increasing the amount of time you play with him -- if you dangle a cat toy in front of Frank for five min-

utes every hour so, increase that to 10 minutes each time. It’s also very important to follow the dietary guidelines set down by the veterinarian. Usu-ally a pet diet involves reducing the amount of calories taken in each day. That means serving smaller portions at feeding time. Food treats must be avoided as well, so the extra calories don’t go straight to your cat’s midsection.Keeping Frank’s weight down now will help prolong not only his life, but the quality of that life. Being obese will eventually lead to a host of expensive health problems -- diet and exer-cise cost mostly time and patience.

Send your questions or tips to ask@pawscorn-er.com, or write to Paw’s Corner, c/o King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. For more pet care-related advice and information, visit www.pawscorner.com.

(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.

Fat Catby Samantha Mazzotta

Tidbits® of the River Region Page 6

1. Is the book of Ruth in the Old or New Testament or neither?2. From 2 Samuel, who commanded the rebel army when Absalom rebelled against David? Arioch, Abner, Abishai, Amasa3. In the Old Testament, who said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listen-ing”? Noah, Isaiah, Samuel, Adam4. Who wrote most of the Proverbs? Da-vid, Solomon, Paul, Isaiah5. What’s the Sea of Galilee called in John 6? Tiberias, Dead, Jordan, Geneva6. Who was the mate of Zipporah? Ho-sea, Amos, Moses, Malachi

1. Name the only siblings to each toss a no-hitter in the major leagues.2. Who was the last Baltimore Oriole to lead the American League in batting average for a season?3. Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon set an NCAA record for most consecutive games with at least 100 yards receiv-ing and a touchdown. How many?4. When was the last time before 2011 (Miami Heat) that a team had three players who each tallied at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in the same game?5. In 2012, goalie Jonathan Quick of the Los Ange-les Kings became the third American player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoffs MVP). Who were the first two to do it?6. Name the driver who won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911.7. Who were the last tennis sisters before the Williamses (2002-03, 2008-09) to meet in Wimbledon’s women’s singles final?

Pain Control with HypnotheropyThere is long history of hypnosis being utilized for pain management. Even before anesthesia was invented hyp-notherapy was utilized to prevent shock, and suggestions were delivered to speed up healing. Pain can be modified by changing the perception of it. When one is in a pleas-ant mood, pain can be minimized and increased when one is in a negative mood. Regardless of the physical origin, pain is perceived in the brain. Therefore, psy-chological techniques can be used to alter its intensity and duration. The following is a partial list of acute and chronic pain conditions that can be impacted through hypnotherapy: Migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, dental pain (hypnodontics), burns, childbirth pain, arthritis, pain from cancer, IBS, burning and itching sensations, back pain and bladder pain. Call for a free consultation and visit our website: www.hypnosisworksnow.com 334-213-0054

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1. Bob Forsch (1978, 1983) and Ken Forsch (1979).2. Frank Robinson hit .316 in 1966.3. Twelve consecutive games (2010).4. Portland’s Isaiah Rider, Brian Grant and Arvydas Sabonis in 1997 (in quadruple overtime).5. Brian Leetch (1994) and Tim Thomas (2011).6. Ray Harroun.7. Maud and Lillian Watson, in 1884.

BIBLE TRIVIA ANSWERS:

1) Old; 2) Amasa; 3) Samuel; 4) Solomon; 5) Tiberias; 6) Moses

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Tidbits® of the River Region Page 8