Date: Wed, 26 Mar 97 10:53:00 EST From: "Mellard, David" <dam7@ATSDHA1.EM.CDC.GOV> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1117$foo@default> Subject: CP observation
I thought I would pass on an interesting observation (at least to me) about
a couple of S. psittacinas.
Last fall, I decided to submerge two psitts in a plastic container filled
with rainwater (dimensions are about 1 foot high, 1foot wide and 2 foot
long.), some soil, and some spaghnum moss, and placed the container next to
one of my bogs. I wanted to see if the books were right and that psitts
could live submerged in water. I checked the container periodically during
the winter where it snowed a couple of times and we had periodic freezing
weather in the teens and 20's. The water at the surface froze quite often.
I could no longer see the psitts at the bottom of the container, mostly
because of the green algae that obscured the view.
I tried poking around the container about a month ago and could not find the
psitts and thought very smugly, those damn books are wrong.
You can see where this is going.
Some workers accidently turned the container over recently and a couple of
days later while checking out the bog, I glanced over and saw two little
half dead psitts. One was completely dry and the other was fast aproaching.
I was amazed. The pitchers were in bad shape, either from the
overwintering or the shock of being in a dry environment for a couple or
three days, or both; but, the crown and the portion of the pitchers
closest to the crown were green. I threw them back into the container with
soil and sphagnum moss and they are both doing fine. But, they are no
longer covered with water.
Facts and Morals: Psitts are tough little fellas; I should listen to people
who write books about cps; and I should be less smug in the future.
David
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