All About the Fen Raft Spider

Photo Credit: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/details.php?gid=53&sgid=&pid=228

I just happen to love spiders. Especially the Fen Raft Spider, which is a very endangered spider. These spiders live in Britain (have any EcoBuddies fans in Britain seen these spiders? Let me know!) and live on the water. You know those spiders that zoom past you when you are swimming in a river? These spiders are like that. I think these spiders are awesome because the mom fen raft spiders carry their egg sacs underneath them for a few weeks when they are about to have babies. They are quite big egg sacs and I think they must be very strong to carry them for so long. Every so often they dip the eggs sacs in the water to keep them moist. Cool hey?

Here is a trivia question for you: How long does it take for a fen raft spider to become an adult?

Does anyone know?

Shazam,

Pesto

OH NO: WE MUST VOTE ALL OVER AGAIN

Hi Buddies,

Bad news! Jumbles the Clown accidentally wrote that Spiny Spiders are endangered but they are not! We want to be as fair as possible to the spiders so we are going to start over again with our vote!

We are now voting for:

Spruce Fir Moss Spider
Fen Raft Spider
Kauai Cave

Vote before the 20th of September for the spider you would like to support!

Shazam!

Pesto

Snow Leopard

Hello all,
Today I bring you a new fact sheet. This one is all about snow leopards. Enjoy!
Stay Green,
Violet

Snow Leopard Fact Sheet

SEPTEMBER SPIDERS FOR BUDDIES FOR BABY ANIMALS DAY!

Look closely at this Kauai Cave Wolf Spider... What do you see on her back?

You got it! This is a very rare picture of a mom with her newly hatched spiderlings!

Photo courtesy of Gordon Smith - US Fish and Wildlife Service

I want to tell you some quick facts about the spiders we are voting on this month. We are voting for spiders because, hey, we're all starting school soon and we need some extra fun. AND SPIDERS ARE AWESOME!!! I will start with our first two and then post about the third spider later today, kk?:

Kauai Cave Wolf Spiders
WHY THEY ARE AWESOME: These spiders live in lava tubes in Kauia, Hawaii. They are cave hunters and have adapted so well to the dark cave environment that they are the only wolf spider that have no eyes. Kauai Cave Wolf Spiders use their fangs to kill their prey, which are small shrimp-like crustaceans called Amphipods. Both the Kauai Cave Wolf Spiders and the Amphipods have babies very slowly, so any negative change within their habitat makes it hard for them to survive because they do not have large populations. In fact, these spiders have only been found in 4-6 caves.
WHY THEY ARE ENDANGERED: The Kauai Cave Wolf Spider is endangered because of habitat destruction. Their caves are being destroyed through construction and the use of pesticides, as these actions really hurt their habitats.

Spruce Fir Moss Spiders
WHY THEY ARE AWESOME: They are the smallest tarantula out there and measure 0.10 to 0.15 inches which is about the size of two typed Bs put together- BB. They can only live on moss mats under a spruce-fir forest, which makes me think that each Spruce Fir Spider has a little mossy bed- lol.
WHY THEY ARE ENDANGERED: Well, there is an insect called the Adelgid, which sadly destroys the Spruce Fir Moss Spiders' habitat. More so though, logging has really hurt this spider's chance at survival.

KK, I will post more soon.

Vote today!

Shazam,
Pesto

WOW! BUDDIES FOR BABY ANIMALS BUYS 30 BABY BOTTLE NIPPLES FOR LITTLE PANDAS

Photo: Rob, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Wow Buddies! Great news! The memberships you bought on Buddies for Baby Animals Day (August 20, 2009) went towards purchasing 30 baby bottle nipples for some thirsty pandas! Little pandas need lots of baby bottle nipples because their sharp teeth puncture the nipples all the time- lol- super cute, hey!?

The organization that will use these baby bottle nipples to feed pandas is called Pandas International. They do TONS of work to support pandas and have some awesome videos of pandas on their site. Check out their website at:

https://www.keysecure.com/pandasinternational.org/index.html

Here are some pages that I really like:

https://www.keysecure.com/pandasinternational.org/kids.html

http://www.pennies4pandas.org/

Here is the cutest movie: http://www.pennies4pandas.org/09-wolong-movie/09-p4p-movie.html

Wow!

Shazam!

Pesto

BUDDIES FOR BABY ANIMALS DAY

Buy your membership today and 10% of the cost will go to help baby Pandas! Thanks everyone for voting! Yayayayayayy! We will let you know how we will support Pandas tomorrow!

Make sure to tell all of your friends!

Shazam, Pesto

EcoBuddies Adopts Tiger Cub Rory!

Amazing news Buddies! With the money we raised from July's Buddies for Baby Animals Day
we have adopted Rory, a beautiful tiger cub that is being protected by the Sumatran Tiger Trust. The money raised will ensure that Rory and other Sumatran Tigers are kept safe in their habitats. Doesn't Rory look like such a strong and healthy tiger? I love him!
The Sumatran Tiger Trust is an organization that focuses on ensuring that Sumatran Tigers are safe in the wild through keeping their habitats safe from logging, development, and poaching. The Tiger Trust also helps researchers to study the tigers in their natural environment, so that we know how to keep them safe. To learn more about the Sumatran Tiger Trust please visit: http://www.tigertrust.info/sumatran_tiger_home.asp. You can even adopt a tiger of your very own!

Thanks to all of you who participated in voting and buying memberships on the 20th! Remember, we are voting now for the animal we will support in August. Vote in the poll at the top of this blog! On the 20th day of each month is Buddies for Baby Animals Day. On this day, 10% of the money made from new membership purchases is donated to an organization that supports an animal that our players choose.

Yay Buddies!

Shazam!

Violet

BUY A MEMBERSHIP TODAY AND 10% OF YOUR PURCHASE GOES TO TIGER CUBS

HELLO BUDDIES FOR BABY ANIMALS!

IT IS BUDDY FOR BABY ANIMALS DAY! It was going to start in August but we are starting it today as a SURPRISE!

So most of you voted for Tiger Cubs and now 10% of today's new membership payments will go towards supporting TIGER CUBS! Make sure that if you do not have a membership, purchase one today!

Remember every 20th day of every month is Buddies for Baby Animals Day. Let your friends know, kk?

I will announce where we will be donating the money we raise today at 5pm PST.

Thanks so much!

Stay Green, Violet!

August 20 IS THE START DAY FOR BUDDIES FOR BABY ANIMALS

Amaryllis4 Thanks for this photo!

I just wanted to let you know that August 20th is our start date for Buddies for Baby Animals! YAYAYAYAY! Vote for the animal you think EcoBuddies should give money to in August, kk?
Make sure you tell lots of your friends to get new memberships on the 20th of every month because we will donate 10% of all of our new membership purchases on the 20th of each month to support a baby animal of your choice.

See you soon! Stay Green!

Violet

BUDDIES FOR BABY ANIMALS!

Okay Friends! I am so excited to let you know that EcoBuddies.com is starting a Buddies For Baby Animals Day this August. Starting in August, there will be one day each month where 10% of all new membership costs will go to an organization that helps a baby animal of YOUR CHOICE!!! WOW! All you gotta do is vote for the baby animal you would like to help in the poll at the top of this post. For August, your baby animal choices are 1. Tiger Cubs 2. Baby Sea Lions 3. Baby Hippos 4. Baby Orangutans 5. Baby Orcas (Killer Whales) 6. Baby Sharks. Vote, vote, vote!

Stay Green!

Violet