Summer reading, LJ angst, and Lungfish
Not necessarily in that order.
On Tuesday we acquired a new aquarium at the library, complete with occupant. Someone donated a 20 year old African lungfish. Now this is a weird thing to have in a library, but the boss says we're keeping it so that's that. We do have a regular fresh water tank with colorful little fishes in it that's popular with the kids. When the offer of a lungfish came in, our regular fish maintenance guy was consulted and he was so intrigued that he donated a large tank and stand for it.
Lungfish are interesting because they actually have lungs (or rather, a lung) and can breath air, but also still have gills. They are equipped to survive drought by burrowing into the mud when their lakes or ponds dry up, and surrounding themselves with a protective gooey slime. They can live that way for months (reportedly up to three years or more) until it rains again. They have very rudimentary hind legs and can travel awkwardly over dry land for short distances.
The lungfish is not going to win any beauty contests with me, though. It looks like a muddy eel with a large mouth full of teeth, and needs live earthworms or other similar food twice daily. We know that this one is female, and is at least 20 years old and probably not a whole lot more than that. She is somewhere between 18 inches and 24 inches long and seems intelligent for a fish. Since she can breathe air, the tank cover has to be anchored with velcro to keep her from lifting it and slithering out. Her new home is larger than the one she came from, which is probably a relief for her, but we're limiting her food to about half the normal amount for the moment until we're sure she's settled in. Apparently the lungfish can live as long as 80 years or more... The kids are excited about her, but one of our older users complained this afternoon that she gives him nightmares.
The summer reading program is now half over. It's an ordeal for library staff, but a tradition that probably isn't going away soon. Our door count has been about double the normal for the last three weeks. Today it was down to almost normal, and the remark was made that it didn't seem that quiet. I had to point out that we had a lot of very hyperactive younger kids in today, and each of them probably counted for four or five normal ones.
I'm watching my friends list nervously as one person after another deletes his/her journal. It's like an epidemic of some sort. I don't quite get it, but certainly don't plan to go anywhere myself.
On Tuesday we acquired a new aquarium at the library, complete with occupant. Someone donated a 20 year old African lungfish. Now this is a weird thing to have in a library, but the boss says we're keeping it so that's that. We do have a regular fresh water tank with colorful little fishes in it that's popular with the kids. When the offer of a lungfish came in, our regular fish maintenance guy was consulted and he was so intrigued that he donated a large tank and stand for it.
Lungfish are interesting because they actually have lungs (or rather, a lung) and can breath air, but also still have gills. They are equipped to survive drought by burrowing into the mud when their lakes or ponds dry up, and surrounding themselves with a protective gooey slime. They can live that way for months (reportedly up to three years or more) until it rains again. They have very rudimentary hind legs and can travel awkwardly over dry land for short distances.
The lungfish is not going to win any beauty contests with me, though. It looks like a muddy eel with a large mouth full of teeth, and needs live earthworms or other similar food twice daily. We know that this one is female, and is at least 20 years old and probably not a whole lot more than that. She is somewhere between 18 inches and 24 inches long and seems intelligent for a fish. Since she can breathe air, the tank cover has to be anchored with velcro to keep her from lifting it and slithering out. Her new home is larger than the one she came from, which is probably a relief for her, but we're limiting her food to about half the normal amount for the moment until we're sure she's settled in. Apparently the lungfish can live as long as 80 years or more... The kids are excited about her, but one of our older users complained this afternoon that she gives him nightmares.
The summer reading program is now half over. It's an ordeal for library staff, but a tradition that probably isn't going away soon. Our door count has been about double the normal for the last three weeks. Today it was down to almost normal, and the remark was made that it didn't seem that quiet. I had to point out that we had a lot of very hyperactive younger kids in today, and each of them probably counted for four or five normal ones.
I'm watching my friends list nervously as one person after another deletes his/her journal. It's like an epidemic of some sort. I don't quite get it, but certainly don't plan to go anywhere myself.