How Guinea Pigs Became the Pets They are Today [Jacob Burke]

Have you ever heard of a guinea pig? You might have seen them in a pet store, or you might know somebody who owns them. You might even own some yourself. Guinea Pigs are large, social rodents that come in many breeds, which each have a unique personality and look. They are well known as pets, but they are a lot more than just that. Guinea Pigs played a big role in Incan Culture and are important to scientific research and breeders.

Weighing up to 2.6 lbs. and measuring up to 25 cm, guinea pigs (Cavia Porcellus), also known as cavies, are bigger than most rodents. Their average age is about 7 years and, “according to the 2006 Guinness World Records, the longest living guinea pig survived 14 years, 10.5 months.”(Wikipedia, Guinea Pigs).Domesticated Guinea pigs live on a diet of mainly pellets and Timothy hay. Guinea pigs also need vegetables in their diet for vitamin C, which they can’t produce themselves, and many other nutrients.

Guinea Pigs are extremely social animals. They are so social that a law was made in Switzerland making it illegal to own only one guinea pig. In groups, guinea pigs social groom, and do many things to establish dominance like mounting and biting. Guinea pigs also make a wide variety of sounds. Here are some of them. Wheeking is when Guinea pigs squeak loudly. They do this when they are excited, mainly when they think they will get food. Guinea pigs purr when they are happy and content. Rumble strutting is when guinea pigs make a low rumbling purr while strutting around. Guinea Pigs usually do this when they are establishing dominance. Guinea pigs chatter their teeth while raising their head to warn others. Lastly, guinea pigs make a high-pitched squeal when upset or in pain.

The guinea pigs we know today are not the guinea pigs that naturally live in South America and were domesticated by the Incans. These wild guinea pigs are recognized by the name Cuy in South America. Cuy live in groups of several females, a male, and the young. The groups graze through grassy fields, where they live, during dawn and dusk and shelter in other animals’ burrows. Cuy have grey, dark brown, white, and rarely black coats that camouflage with their surroundings, unlike the colorful guinea pig breeds.

Around 5000 BC, Andean Tribes domesticated the guinea pig for food. Cuy wasn’t eaten in every day life though; usually it was a major food dish in many ceremonies. Cuy were almost never bought by Andean People. “A mating pair is a very typical household gift, especially to a newlywed couple, special guests, or to children.” (Cavyhistory.tripod.com, History of the Guinea Pig) Traditionally, Cuy are housed indoor, usually in the kitchen, and allowed to run around. They are fed Alfalfa (a type of hay) and kitchen scraps. They were not just bred for food, though. Cuy play a big part in Incan religion and medicine. “Legend holds that guinea pigs are mystical beings that can heal the sick and assist the dying in the journey from the world of the living to the great beyond.”(Animalcorner, History of Guinea Pigs)One medical use of Cuy is when one of these rodents is rubbed against the body of the sick. When the Cuy squeaks, that area is sick. It is then cut open to diagnose the illness.

“In the 1600’s, the Spaniards were the first Europeans to see these animals. Dutch merchants brought Guinea Pigs back from the Americas to Europe, where they became popular pets with aristocrats.”(AnimalCorner, History of Guinea Pigs). Even Queen Elizabeth the 1st owned one. Guinea Pigs eventually ended up in the United States when British immigrants brought them their in the early 1900s.

Nobody knows for sure how guinea pigs got the first part of their name, “guinea”, but there are a few theories. “One proposed explanation is that the animals were brought to Europe by way of Guinea, leading people to think they had originated there. "Guinea" was also frequently used in English to refer generally to any far-off, unknown country, so the name may simply be a colorful reference to the animal's exotic appeal.”(Wikipedia, Guinea Pigs). Another explanation is that the cost of one of these pets was a guinea (a European gold coin). The pig in “guinea pig” is much more easy to understand. Guinea pigs look and squeal like a pig.

“The use of guinea pigs in scientific experimentation dates back at least to the 17th century, when the Italian biologists Marcello Malpighi and Carlo Fracassati conducted vivisections of guinea pigs in their examinations of anatomic structures.” (Wikipedia, Guinea Pigs) Guinea pigs were a big part in the formation of the germ theory during the late 1900th century. These rodents have also been in space several times, starting from the time they were sent into orbital space flight in the Sputnik 9 biosatellite. “Guinea pigs were popular laboratory animals until the later 20th century; about 2.5 million guinea pigs were used annually in the U.S. for research in the 1960s.” (Wikipedia, Guinea Pigs) So many guinea pigs have been used for scientific research, that the term guinea pig can be used for anything that is a subject in scientific experimentation. Now, mice, rats, and other rodents have mostly replaced them.

Because of their friendly personality, a proneness to not biting, and fairly easy care, the guinea pig is an extremely popular pet. “Domesticated guinea pigs occur in many breeds, which have been developed since their introduction to Europe and North America.”(Wikipedia, Guinea Pigs) Here are 10 breeds. The American is the most common guinea pig breed. Itis very friendly to pigs as well as humans, and requires little care, partly due to their short coat, which needs minimal grooming. Second is the Abyssinian. This breed has medium length swirly hair, and is used in shows a lot. Abyssinians are more mischievous than other breeds. The Peruvian is the guinea pig breed with the longest hair. One Peruvian set the achievement of the longest guinea pig hair with a hair-length of 20cm. This breed is alert, loving, and curious. Unlike the Peruvian, which has long, straight hair, the Silkie (also known as the Sheltie), has curved, long hair. It is very gentle and shy. Teddy Guinea Pigs have a short, rough coat of hair and an upturned nose. They require little care, and are energetic and friendly. The Texel guinea pig has curly, soft hair surrounding their entire body. The white crested guinea pig is the same as the American guinea pig except for its white crest on top of its head. The Rex guinea pig is a shorthaired breed that is missing its guard hair (the coat of hair that protects the other hair fromwearing out) and has droopy ears. This gives its fur a wool-like texture. The Himalayan is another shorthaired guinea pig breed that is albino. It has points of black all over it that may disappear when exposed to too much sunlight. Lastly, Skinny Pigs are a guinea pig breed that is unique because of its very little amount of hair. It only has a bit of hair on its feet, legs, and muzzle.

Guinea pigs are very important to cultures around the world and have helped us advance in science. They are very enjoyable pets to have, and no matter what breed they are, they will have a great personality and look. Guinea Pigs are easy to take care of and make a great addition to any family, just make sure to get two.

Bibliography

Hirst, K. "How and Why Guinea Pigs Were Domesticated." Abouteducation. Web. 3 June 2016. <http://archaeology.about.com/od/gterms/qt/guinea_pigs.htm>.

"Guinea Pig." Wikipedia. Web. 3 June 2016.<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_pig>.

"Guinea Pig History." Animal Corner. Web. 3 June 2016.<https://animalcorner.co.uk/guinea-pig-history/>.

Forstadt, Michael. "History of the Guinea Pig (Cavia Porcellus) in South America." Tripod. Web. 3 June 2016. <http://cavyhistory.tripod.com/>.

James, Richard. "10 Types of Guinea Pig Breeds." Guinea Pig Hub. N.p., 13 Dec. 2014. Web. 2 Aug. 2016. <http://www.guineapighub.com/guinea-pig-breeds.html>.

James, Richard. "Silkie Guinea Pig - The Hollywood Cavy." Guinea Pig Hub. N.p., 7 Oct. 2014. Web. 2 Aug. 2016. <http://www.guineapighub.com/silkie-guinea-pig.html>.

James, Richard. "Teddy Guinea Pig - A Quick Guide." Guinea Pig Hub. N.p., 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 2 Aug. 2016. <http://www.guineapighub.com/teddy-guinea-pig.html>.

James, Richard. "Skinny Pig - The Hairless Guinea Pig." Guinea Pig Hub. N.p., 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 2 Aug. 2016. <http://www.guineapighub.com/skinny-pig.html>.

Jacob Burke, 8/3/2016

The Roots and History of American Liberty Course ~~ An Overview and Day1 [Joshua Burke]

Hello all! 

I hope everyone has been doing well wherever they are! I have been doing a lot since the 4th of July and I will quickly get you up to speed on what my family and I have been doing since the 4th. 

On the 6th we put Sea Glass on the hard. For all of you land lovers, this means that we hoisted Sea Glass out of the water into a boat yard, so that she can be worked on. We have a lot of items on the "to be fixed list" including the centerboard, new bottom paint, fix up the various scratches on the sides of the hull, and tons of other things. 

While the boat is getting worked on, we went to Vail, Colorado which is about 2 hours west from Denver. Even though Vail is primarily a ski resort, in the Summer it turns into a mountain bike/ hiking paradise. The entire place is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and it is definitely a change from living on the Ocean. The other change that I have had to go through is altitude change. I went from -1 on the boat to over 8000 feet. At 8000+ feet there is about 20% less oxygen and the air is a lot dryer and thinner. Therefore, my lips are supper chapped and I am so thirsty for water all the time. Eventually my body will adjust (hopefully). 

Anyway, now about the college course for high school students that I am taking. The course is called the Roots and History of American Liberty. This course is run by Hillsdale College, located up in Michigan. The course is a two week course and is completely on American History. I love any kind of history, and that is the main reason why I really wanted to go on this trip. Besides from the various lectures on certain times and events in American history, you also get to go to Gettysburg, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. I am also really excited that I get to go on a tour of the Capital building and the Pentagon! I can't wait for those tours. For attending this class, you also get 3 hours of college credit on top of the experience that you get. 

When I leave campus by bus, this will be my first time to the East Coast (this is also my first time to the mid west) so I can't wait to see what the East Coast is like. 

To get to Hillsdale, I first flew from Denver to Detroit (the flight was excellent) and then a official Hillsdale shuttle bus picked me up at the airport and drove down to Hillsdale city (where Hillsdale College is located). The drive was very scenic and Michigan actually reminds me of the various open plains in Washington state. When we arrived at Hillsdale, we were first shown our dorm rooms and we had a pizza party! There are about 34 students in my class, which is a lot of kids. I was excepting only 20 at the most. 

                                                                 Me on the plane!

So for the rest of day 1 (7/17/16) I was shown around the campus! The campus in itself is absolutely stunning. All of the buildings on campus are made out of classic bricks, so it looks like the entire place is an old town lost in time. It makes sense though, Hillsdale has a long history. The college its self was founded in 1844, and is one of the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the country. However, history is a HUGE thing here and you must take a course on the Constitution no matter what major you decided to get here. Also, the college is known for being very conservative, in fact it is sometimes known as conservative Harvard. 

We were also shown the "lecture room" where we will be lectured on history topics while at Hillsdale. The professor who will be going with us to the various places also gave an introduction. 

Here is some pictures of the campus: 

Can't wait to learn some history and see some really neat places in our country! 

Cheers! 

Joshua 

The U.S.S Hornet (CV-12) [Joshua Burke]

The U.S.S Hornet (CV-12)

Sea Glass rolled into the San Francisco Harbor after an… eventful journey from Eureka. The voyage was absolutely fantastic until our main engine just decided to take a siesta. Good for the engine, bad for us. The super frustrating part was that our engine quit when we were 70 nautical miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. Seeing that the problem couldn't be fixed with parts that we currently had aboard (a broken fuel injector pump), we sailed in great winds. Nothing could get worse, right? Wrong. Our wind petered out when we were only a few miles from the Golden Gate Bridge! So then we sailed what felt like a snail’s pace, we did an average of 1.5-2 knots under sail. What would usually take us a couple of hours took us almost half a day! After we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge we had Vessel Assist tow us to the San Francisco Marina and that concluded our Eureka – San Francisco passage. 

We stayed in San Francisco for about a month and it being an extraordinary city, we did a lot of adventuring. I will talk about the other neat things (one of them going to Industrial Light and Magic on a private tour) in another post. When we were anchored in Alameda, we were close enough to go see a ship that is in all of the history books: The United States Ship Hornet (CV-12). Now this ship isn’t some any old ship (she is 72 years old however), she is a mighty Essex Class aircraft carrier that played a huge part in the victory over the Empire of Japan in World War 2, and also helped in Korea and Vietnam. She also recovered Apollo 11's and 12's space capsules with the astronauts aboard them after they fell from space. The Hornet is best known for her role in WW2. During that conflict she shot down 668 aircraft and destroyed 772 aircraft on the ground, sunk 1 aircraft carrier, sunk 1 cruiser and 10 destroyers,  sunk 42 cargo and transport ships, and had a major assist in the sinking one of the biggest battle ships ever built in the world: the Yamato.

The U.S.S Hornet

Each one of those Japanese flags stands for one Japanese plane shot down.

Now as I was walking toward her she seemed like a pretty small aircraft carrier. But she just kept getting bigger and bigger until I fully took in the 894 foot boat.  She is HUGE and what is amazing is that they built her in under a year. The only reason we are able to come aboard her is because the US Navy donated her to the USS Hornet Foundation and they then turned her into a floating museum. She is kept up and maintained by volunteers, many of them ex-Navy men who served aboard her in the many conflicts she faced, and is only funded by donations and the museum fee. I have to say they have done a marvelous job at keeping her fixed and floating. 

Me in the bomb bay (where they kept all of the bombs for the aircraft).

For the picture above: This is actually the TBM Avenger that George H. W. Bush got shot down in during WW2. It was found and as you can see, been restored to its formal glory. Also, Bush was not ever assigned to the Hornet and the plane was moved to the Hornet after its restoration. 

The Hornet CV-12 is the 8th ship to be named “U.S.S Hornet”; the first ship to be named the Hornet was built in 1775 in the Revolutionary War. Since then United States Ships named Hornet have served in the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War, World War 2, and the Civil War. The first Aircraft Carrier named Hornet was CV-8 built in 1941. She fought the early battles of WW2 until she was sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. CV-8 was the last aircraft carrier to be sunk by enemy fire. In retaliation the United States started to immediately build another aircraft carrier named the Hornet. This is CV-12 and she was known as the grey ghost because she was built right after the destruction of the last Hornet. CV-12 was actually three aircraft carriers. Sounds crazy, right? Well she was CV-12 from 1943-47, CVA-12 from 1953-58 and CVS-12 from 1958-70. CV-12, CVA-12, and CVS-12 were actually all the same aircraft carrier CV-12. The only difference between them was heavy modifications and different roles. 

This famous photo is in a lot of the history books I have. (Read the top of the photo)

CV-12 sometime after WW2.

We arrived just in time to do the engine room tour and to see some other parts of the carrier that are usually kept closed to the visitors.  The tour guide lead us down one flight of stairs to another, and I started to realize that if this ship looked big on the outside, it is a whole lot bigger on the inside. The engine room was actually pretty neat. The aircraft carrier has eight huge oil-fired boilers that provide steam to the four engines. These engines turned four propellers (each of them weigh 27,190 pounds each!) that could propel the Hornet at a maximum speed of 33 knots. However, she usually just sped at 15-20 knots. Also, she could travel 20,000 nautical miles at 15 knots. On Sea Glass we do an average of about 6 knots and have an engine range of 700 nautical miles. Besides from the engines and boilers, she also had four electric generators and two emergency electric generators. She needs a lot of mechanics that's for sure. 

About half of the various dials and controls for the boilers.

One of the eight boilers.

The aircraft carrier’s main job is to project power using air power, and the Hornet had a lot of air power. Her air group (the men and woman who fly the airplanes and provide maintenance for the airplanes) consisted of 500 personal of the 4,000 personal usually aboard her. She housed about 90 airplanes that consisted of fighters, cargo planes, bombers, electronic warfare, etc. To launch these mighty planes she had two catapults which took the plane from 0 mph to 110 mph in a few seconds. In order for the plane to land, she had four arresting wires in which the plane hooked onto when landing to stop the plane from rolling off the end of the deck. 

What Sea Glass looks like from the Hornet.

One of the two elevators that took aircraft from the flight deck to the hanger deck and vice-versa. 

A F-4 Phantom. This aircraft served mainly in Vietnam.

In the foreground is a F-14 tomcat and a S-3 Viking in the background. 

 After the engine tour we immediately went to a tour of “the island” or the super structure that is the communication hub of the entire ship. Inside there was the navigation bridge, the flag bridge, and the bridge. What I thought was really interesting was that the bridges were actually uncovered; they had no roof, during WW2. That meant if you were the helmsman and if it was raining you got wet, if it was cold you got cold, and if a bomb from a Japanese plane happened to fall on your position, most likely you would die. However, with the introduction of the jet plane, the jet exhaust and noise that came with the jet made the bridge unbearable with the uncovered roof. So they added roofs and all aircraft carriers now have roofs over their bridges. 

The island with a F-8 Crusader in the foreground. 

Up in the aircraft control room.

 The Hornet cost $69 million dollars ($930 million dollars today) and that investment very much so paid off. She served in three separate wars over the years and came under attack 59 times and never got hit by a bomb, torpedo, or by a deadly kamikaze.  I salute the men and women who served aboard her who helped to keep the liberty that we hold dearly. 

 Thanks for reading!

I hope you learned something new about the U.S.S Hornet (CV-12)!

Joshua

Journey to the land of the Ewoks [Joshua Burke]

We have finally sailed down to the Sunshine State, or California. I have been finding out that sailing down the West Coast of the United States in the wintertime is rough. We are sailing off the West Coast in the incorrect season, so whenever we have a “weather window”, that “weather window” ends up containing 5 foot wind waves, 12 foot cross swell, and 25- 35 knots of wind… on the nose. Very uncomfortable weather to sail or motor in. Hopefully, when we get down south to San Francisco the weather will become better.

So our first stop in California was Crescent City, a nice little city that is farthest north Californian port. We rested there for a couple nights and recuperated from the last rough overnight crossing. However, I did find out something interesting. Back in 2011 when the Japanese tsunami hit and destroyed tons of stuff along the Japanese coast, some waves from that tsunami incident actually reached the United States and destroyed the marina here. I never knew that the waves of tsunami incident caused damage here in the U.S. Crescent City has since then built a new marina, and it is really nice and only a year old. 

After a semi-rough 10 hour trip from Crescent City, we arrived at Eureka! I have always wanted to go to Eureka because of the name of the city is unique to any other city I have been to. We stayed at a marina on Woodley (sounds very close to Whidbey, where I am from) Island, which is across a strait from Eureka. The main thing to do in Eureka is to take a car and drive out to see the mighty redwoods.

The mighty redwoods. 

Now back in the late 18^th and early 19^thcentury, most of the redwoods were cut down for the excellent wood that they have. Redwoods take a long, long time, like hundreds of years to get to the size that they are, and people were chopping them down too fast. Luckily, some conservation movements spread to preserve the redwoods and now you can enjoy walking through the huge redwood national parks in Northern California. 

Look at me...... and then look at the size of the tree.

I am betting that most of you are wondering why I called this blog “Journey to land of the Ewoks” instead of like “Journey to the land of the mighty redwoods”.  The reason why is because I am a huge Star Wars fan and I know that the scenes on the small, forest moon of Endor (the home of the Ewoks) were shot here in one of the redwood national parks. I was SUPER excited to not only see the tallest, oldest trees in the world, but to also be where a part of Star Wars was filmed. I literally thought I was on Endor the entire time I was walking through the redwood forest. Also, I sang the Endor theme song by John Williams some of the time. That’s how big of a fan I am of Star Wars. 

Ewoks in all their greatness!!!

It's a good thing we weren't captured by Imperial forces unlike these poor rebels. 

Now to talk a bit about the mighty redwoods themselves. Redwoods can grow up to 360 feet and are the tallest living things on Earth. Also, they can exceed 2,000 years in age, and many of the redwoods that I saw on the trail were 800 to 1500 years old. These trees, old and tall, are amazing and John Steinbeck said, “From them comes silence and awe”. I definitely agree with that.

This picture demonstrates how big these redwood trees can grow.

Out of the many Redwood National Parks in the area, we went to the Humboldt Redwood State Park. It contains over 53,000 acres and has some of the world’s most impressive redwood forests, many miles of river frontage, and almost 100 miles of trails. We only had a time to do one trail so we pulled over at the Drury-Chaney Trail. This trail is a classic loop and is 2.4 miles in length. The trail surface was fantastic and it is definitely better then some of the trails I have been on in SE Asia.

The trail was amazing. The main thing to see of course was the ginormous redwoods, but I also saw many different types of ferns, other big trees, and some mushrooms. On the animal side all I saw was two birds. Unfortunately we did not see any Roosevelt elk, Ewoks, or any animals on the ground for that matter. It was so peaceful and the air, the air was so clean. It felt great just to take in big whiffs of the forest air.

Some neat mushrooms. 

The amount of plant life in the forest was amazing!

An older redwood that survived some kind of fire.

Once we finished the trail (we spent hours just walking around looking at the mighty redwood trees) and seeing no Ewoks, we speed back to the boat to take a well-needed sleep.

Thanks for reading!

May the force be with you.

                              

Joshua Burke