User:Saukkomies/My Sandbox



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Welcome to My Sandbox page
This is used to play around with new material I am creating or editing. Feel free to leave a comment on this page's talk page on material I am working on.

Table for the tree squirrel articles I'm working on:

The table below lists the nine recognized subspecies of Ratufa indica, along with any synonyms associated with each subspecies:

stuff I'm working on for Upper Peninsula of Michigan article

Wildlife
The Upper Peninsula contains a large variety of wildlife, including:

Birds
There is a large variety of birds, including hawks, osprey, gulls, hummingbirds, chickadees, robins, woodpeckers, and bald eagles.

Reptiles
In terms of reptiles and amphibians, the UP has common garter snakes, red bellied snakes, pine snakes, northern water snakes, brown snakes, eastern garter snakes, eastern fox snakes, smooth green snakes, northern ringneck snakes, Eastern Milk snakes (Mackinac and Marquette counties) and Eastern Hognose snakes (Menominee County only), plus snapping turtles, wood turtles, and painted turtles (the state reptile), green frogs, bull frogs, northern leopard frogs, and salamanders.

Fish
Lakes and rivers contain many fish like walleye, Northern Pike, Trout, Salmon, and bass.

Shellfish
The UP also contains many shellfish, such as clams, aquatic snails, and crayfish.

Text
shrews, mice, moles, chipmunks, squirrels, cotton-tail rabbits, snowshoe hares, weasels, stoats, martens, fishers, raccoons, badgers, skunks, beavers, muskrats, river otters, red foxes, gray foxes, coyotes, wolves, bobcats, lynx, white tailed deer, moose, black bears, and bats.

There is a large variety of birds, including hawks, osprey, gulls, hummingbirds, chickadees, robins, woodpeckers, warblers, and bald eagles.

In terms of reptiles and amphibians, the UP has common garter snakes, red bellied snakes, pine snakes, northern water snakes, brown snakes, eastern garter snakes, eastern fox snakes, smooth green snakes, northern ringneck snakes, Eastern Milk snakes (Mackinac and Marquette counties) and Eastern Hognose snakes (Menominee County only), plus snapping turtles, wood turtles, and painted turtles (the state reptile), green frogs, bull frogs, northern leopard frogs, and salamanders.

Lakes and rivers contain many fish like walleye, Northern Pike, Trout, Salmon, and bass.

The UP also contains many shellfish, such as clams, aquatic snails, and crayfish.

The American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon Society have designated several locations as internationally Important Bird Areas.

Among the more uncommon animals seen in the Upper Peninsula include rare cougar sightings, a few of which have been officially confirmed by wildlife agencies. Although th Upper Peninsula was home to cougars in the past, they were hunted out during the early years of settlement. The nearest stable cougar populations today are in the Dakotas. However, solitary transient cougars are known to travel hundreds of miles, and have been spotted throughout the northern Midwest, including the Upper Peninsula. Another uncommon animal is the locally-famous Albino Squirrel of Michigan Tech, in Houghton. This squirrel is often seen scampering around the Michigan Technological University campus and surrounding neighborhoods, and even has a Facebook groupdedicated to it (which includes photographs). Although it has been given a unique name, it is unclear whether there is just one or multiple albino squirrels in Houghton.

U.P. public lands
There are a number of governmental institutions and public lands located in the Upper Peninsula, as detailed below:
 * Federal Government
 * United States Forest Service
 * National Wilderness Preservation System
 * Sylvania Wilderness in Gogebic County.
 * United States Department of Defense
 * K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base now decommissioned, the land is mostly still in Federal control.
 * Department of the Interior
 * National Park Service
 * Isle Royale National Park in Keweenaw County.
 * Keweenaw National Historical Park in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon Counties.
 * National Memorials
 * Father Marquette National Memorial in Mackinac County.
 * National Lakeshores
 * Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Alger County.
 * National Scenic Trail
 * North Country National Scenic Trail - a 4600-mile long trail that goes from northeastern New York to North Dakota, which includes a section that transects the U.P. from Sault Ste. Marie to Ironwood.
 * Bureau of Indian Affairs
 * Bay Mills Indian Community in Chippewa County.
 * Hannahville Indian Community in Menominee and Delta Counties.
 * Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Baraga County.
 * Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Gogebic County.
 * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan in Chippewa County.
 * United States Fish and Wildlife Service
 * National Wildlife Refuge
 * Harbor Island National Wildlife Refuge in Chippewa County.
 * Huron National Wildlife Refuge in Marquette County.
 * Kirtlands Warbler Wildlife Management Area scattered over eight counties at 119 sites in the U.P. and the northern half of the Lower Peninsula.
 * Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Schoolcraft County.
 * Seney Wilderness Area in Schoolcraft County.
 * Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark in Schoolcraft County.
 * Whitefish Point National Wildlife Refuge and Whitefish Point Bird Observatory in Chippewa County.
 * United States Department of Agriculture
 * United States Forest Service
 * |Dukes Research Natural Area] in Marquette County.
 * United States Forest Service
 * |Dukes Research Natural Area] in Marquette County.

Calumet Historic District in Houghton County. Grand Hotel in Mackinac County. Mackinac Island in Mackinac County. Quincy Mining Company Historic District in Houghton County. St. Ignace Mission in Mackinac County.
 * National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks
 * St. Mary's Falls Canal in Chippewa County.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Ontonagon and Gogebic Counties. Fort Wilkins Historic State Park in Keweenaw County.

Lyric references to Neopagan themes
There are several songs on this album that touch on themes prevalent within the British Neopagan community, as shown by the following song references:
 * Songs from the wood: "Let me bring you songs from the wood...", "Let me bring you love from the field...", and "Show you how the garden grows..." are all references to a desire of a return to nature, to a more natural way of life, and a veneration of nature, refering to the common Neopagan belief of the divine immanence of the physical world, or nature.
 * Jack-In-The-Green: Although there is some discrepancy as to whether Jack-In-The-Green refers to a Celtic or an Anglo-Saxon pagan mythological figure, there is unanimous agreement that Jack-In-The-Green refers to a spirit of nature connected with nature, rebirth and fertility.
 * Velvet Green: The line "Walking on velvet green..." may be taken as a reference not just to a midnight tryst in the fields with a lover, but also as a philosophy of how to live one's life in accord with honoring nature, another common theme within the Neopagan community.
 * Cup Of Wonder: This song is almost a Neopagan anthem, so replete is it with Pagan themes and imagery, including:
 * "...and we bring you Beltane's flower...": Beltane is the Celtic May Day festival, and one of the most important annual festivals or sacred days of the Neopagan year. Beltane's flower refers to the ancient practice of decorating the home on Beltane with flowering branches of the hawthorn tree.
 * The lines '"...sung along the old straight track...", "...those who ancient lines did lay...", and "...walk the lines of nature's palm..." all refer to the Ley lines that the amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins wrote about in his 1925 book entitled The Old Straight Track'', and which many Neopagans believe exist.]].
 * "Pass the word..." refers to the Pagan gatherings that were celebrated during the seasonal festivals throughout the year (including Beltane), mostly in secret during the time when these gatherings were banned by the Christian Church. Thus to "pass the word" meant to quietly tell others of the secret gathering.
 * "Pass the lady..." refers to the traditional sacramental sabbath-cake that is passed around and shared by participants in special Neopagan sabbath rituals. The cake is sometimes refered to as "the Lady" (meaning: the May Lady or the Goddess]]. ).
 * "Pass the wit of ancient wisdom..." is a call to return to the old pre-Christian British Pagan traditions.
 * "Pass the cup of crimson wonder..." and "...ask the cup that fills with red..." - although there is disagreement as to whether this is refering to an ancient Druidic blood sacrifice, or to merely red wine, these lines do evoke Pagan imagery, as well as the ancient practice of divination through Oinomancy (the studying of wine in a bowl), which is still practiced by some Neopagan groups.
 * Hunting Girl: In this song about a dominant woman lover, the lines ...high born hunting girl..." and "...the queen of all the pack..." might be references to the pre-Christian Irish (hence: Pagan) mythological Queen Medb (, sometimes Anglicised Maeve), who was a high born lady who gave birth to a "pack" of mighty warriors, and was renowned for her sexuality.
 * Hunting Girl: In this song about a dominant woman lover, the lines ...high born hunting girl..." and "...the queen of all the pack..." might be references to the pre-Christian Irish (hence: Pagan) mythological Queen Medb (, sometimes Anglicised Maeve), who was a high born lady who gave birth to a "pack" of mighty warriors, and was renowned for her sexuality.

The 2003 remastered edition includes a pair of bonus tracks, featuring a live rendition of "Velvet Green".