A Guide to Adventure

When I walk my dogs late at night before we all go to bed, I can hear the eerie sounds of Coyotes howling in the fields behind my house. It can be a bit unnerving at times, especially when both of my dogs are very nosy, and will chase after almost anything. I worry one will catch their eye one night and will only end in terror. I always walk them on a leash at night, especially when I can hear they are really active. I have even had a Coyote run out in front of me cruising through my neighborhood one evening . That is the closest I ever hope to get to one of the feral dogs.  That being said South Carolina has been devising a plan to create a "Coyote Lottery" in hopes of reducing the amount of predator species in our state. The plan is still in the works, but here is what I know so far:  Lawmakers want to pass a law that allows the state Department of Natural Resources (SC.DNR) to capture 16 Coyotes, mark them someway, and release them into the wild . A h...

On the last Sunday of August in South Carolina death came quickly, and in unbelievable numbers to the Honey Bee population in Dorchester County, SC . The bees fled their colonies leaving behind clumps of dead bees at hive entrances, and became littered across the farms they were raised on. What could caused such destruction and chaos? Something not so mysterious it turns out, ACUTE PESTICIDE POISONING. At Flowertown Bee Farm and Supply located in Summerville, SC reported 46 hives died on the spot, totaling about 2.5 MILLION bees. A scientist from Clemson University collected soil samples from Flowertown on Tuesday morning to investigate the cause of death, although it was clear to the bee farmers what had happened to their bees. The bees had been poisoned by Dorchester's insecticide efforts, causalities in the war against disease-carrying Mosquitoes . On Sunday morning, parts of Dorchester were sprayed NALED, a commonly used insecticide that is known to kill mosquitoes on...

Deforestation has been negatively impacting the earth since the late 1950s, and today it is worse than I ever imagined it could be. Every second I have spent typing this article an acre and a half of forest was cut down . Imagine 20 football fields disappearing every minute , that is what is happening to the rainforests. At this completely unsustainable, and absurd rate in less than 100 years there will be no rain forests left on earth.  The timber and cattle industry are destroying our planet Not only does deforestation endanger wildlife, it also increases global warming by creating 12-17 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, effects the water cycle by creating drier environments, and ultimatly causing massive wildlife extinctions. The Amazon Rainforest alone produces 20 percent of our oxygen, and 18 percent of the rainforest has been cut down already!! Deforestation in Borneo  There are more than 121 natural remedies found in rainforests...

Today's random fact is more about awareness than randomness. Ever since the movie 'Jaws' aired, and the more recent 'Shallows' movie, there has been a misconception that sharks kill hundreds of people per year. That is simply not the case. In recent years the South Eastern Coast of the United States has seen a rise in shark attacks, although not many were fatal, it is still enough to bring about the fear that sharks are just waiting in the shallows for their potential prey.  Sharks have a PR problem that might be hurting their chances of survival. A study from two years ago found that a majority of the media coverage sharks get involves attacks on humans, and doesn't reflect how rare these encounters actually are. In 2012, there were 80 confirmed shark attacks worldwide, but only seven of them were fatal, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. Sharks have very slow reproductive cycles, having babies once every two y...

If you have ever had a fight with your significant other or the two of you are going through a rough patch - let's face it we all go through those - and you want to find a unique way to work together, and get your relationship back on track, getting into nature is the best way to go. Derek and I have been together for the past three years, we have worked together in many different ways, we have put our relationship to the test, and even when we fight, there are things that bring us together, and allow forgiveness. From installing carpet/tile together for a year, fixing multiple car issues together, and now surviving the elements together. The common thread between all of this is that teamwork is crucial to the success of those tasks. I won't go into flooring installations or how to change multiple car parts because neither one of those are any fun, but I will tell you how camping, hiking, and being in nature saved our relationship. Every aspect of camping from packi...