Attn: Beneficiary

Spam rules. Every once in a while, we all get a mysterious email from some dude in a place we never heard of claiming they have a gazillion dollars waiting for you if you just give them access to your bank account. While by now we all know it is a scam and we never actually read them, today I got one that caught my eye.

Now, I already knew this was a scam, but I read it anyway as I was killing some time. The reason I pulled this one is it made me laugh for it has one of the best lines I think I have seen to date.

Here it is in it's entirety:

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Attn: Beneficiary,

This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have thoroughly Investigated with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that you are having an illegal Transaction with Impostors claiming to be Prof. Charles C. Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Aziza, Mr Frank Nweke, none officials of Oceanic Bank, Zenith Banks, kelvin Young of HSBC, Ben of Fedex,Ibrahim Sule,Larry Christopher, Puppy Scammers are impostors claiming to be the Federal Bureau Of Investigation. During our Investigation, we noticed that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of your Contract/Inheritance Payment.

Therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by cordinating your payment in total USD$10.5million in an ATM CARD which you can use to withdraw money from any ATM MACHINE CENTER anywhere in the world with a maximum of $10000 United States Dollars daily. You now have the lawful right to claim your fund in an ATM CARD.

Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation is involved in this transaction, you have to be rest assured for this is 100% risk free it is our duty to protect You. All I want you to do is to contact the ATM CARD CENTER via email for their requirements to proceed and procure your Approval Slip on your behalf which will cost you $570 only and note that your Approval Slip which contains details of the agent who will process your transaction.

CONTACT INFORMATION
NAME: Kelvin Williams
EMAIL: kelvinwilliams11@sify.com

Phone No# +225 44739141

Do contact Mr. Kelvin Williams of the ATM CARD CENTRE with your details:

FULL NAME:
HOME ADDRESS:
TELL:
CELL:
CURRENT OCCUPATION:
BANK NAME:

So your files would be updated after which he will send the payment informations which you'll use in making payment of $570 via Western Union Money Transfer or Money Gram Transfer for the procurement of your Approval Slip after which the delivery of your ATM CARD will be effected to your designated home address without any further delay.

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(NOTE: HERE COMES THE BEST LINE EVER)
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Please if you know you cannot be able to afford the $570 for the delivery of your ATM card via FedEx then do not bother to contact Mr. Kelvin Williams as we are at the End of the year and he should be busy with some other things.

We order you get back to this office after you have contacted the ATM SWIFT CARD CENTER and we do await your response so we can move on with our Investigation and make sure your ATM SWIFT CARD gets to you.

Thanks and hope to read from you soon.

FBI Director Robert S.Mueller III.

Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possesion of your ATM CARD, you are hereby adviced only to be in contact with Mr. Kelvin Williams of the ATM CARD CENTRE who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.

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Well Mr. Mueller the III, I am busy with some other things too! LMAO!

Old Skool Stylz

While I was cruising around Clearwater, I turned on SiriusXM to the old school rap station and caught an old classic by Twin Hype called "Do It To The Crowd". I haven't heard this tune in at least 20 years and it was just as fresh today as it was back then.

I jotted down the title on my iPhone so I wouldn't forget, and when I got home I took to the internet to find the track. iTunes (surprisingly) was useless, so Google here I come. After a few searches, I found it as well as huge library of other killer classics all waiting to be rediscovered on Mr. Magic's Rap Attack.

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Click Here To Check Out Mr. Magic's Rap Attack Vol. 1 - 5
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Twenty years ago it would took days to find this song. Now in only a few keystrokes I can download a song, transfer to my iPhone to bump in my ride. Technology is great!

Baby Cubs In The Limelight

I got an unexpected call late in the day on Monday from my friend over at ZooBorns. Andrew who runs the web site informed me that Country Living Magazine was doing an article on baby animals and they needed my permission to publish a few of my White Tiger cub photos from Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.

Without hesitation I granted permission, as it will not only be great exposure for me, but also for one of my favorite zoos. Just about everyone who has seen those photos can't help to fall in love with them for they are so cute, and to see them in a magazine is going to be great. Look for them in an upcoming issue on newsstands soon!

Congratulations Pittsburgh Penguins

In what seemed an impossible feat, the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey club beat the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings in an instant classic of a series. For us it was an amazing feeling as our old hometown team won the Stanley Cup and we could not be prouder of a team that we watched grow up to win it all.

We watched many of the young current players such as Staal, Fleury, Crosby, Letang, Malkin, Crosby, Talbot come up from the minor league Baby Pens and now to watch them go from a dismal team that almost faded away to now winning it all, it was sweet to say the least. Go Pens!

Field Notes: Gopher Tortoise

One of the most interesting and enjoyable animals one can find when out in a park or on a hike is the Gopher Tortoise. They are found in every county in the state of Florida and without a doubt a highlight of the day if you happen to catch a glimpse of these gentle creatures.

The Gopher Tortoise is a medium size land turtle with large, stumpy hind legs and flattened, shovel-like front legs it uses to dig burrows in sandy soil. These burrows provide a home and refuge for the tortoise and more than 350 species of wild animals and insects that share the same habitat. Gopher Tortoise burrows can be up 15 feet long and 6.5 feet deep and provide the Gopher Tortoise with refuge from wildfires as well as heat, cold, drought, and predators.

Gopher Tortoises prefer high, dry, sandy places such as longleaf pine and oak sandhills. They also live in scrub, dry hammocks, pine flatwoods, dry prairies, coastal grasslands and dunes, mixed hardwood-pine communities and a variety of disturbed habitats, such as pasture lands.

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View A Gopher Tortoise In It's Burrow
View A Gopher Tortoise Searching For Food
View A Close-up Of A Gopher Tortoise Eating
View A Gopher Tortoise In Tender Grasses
View A Close-up Of A Gopher Tortoise's Mouth
View A Gopher Tortoise Hiding In It's Shell
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Gopher Tortoises can live 40 to 60 years in the wild and average 9 to 11 inches in length. They reach reproductive maturity at 9 to 21 years of age and the breeding season is generally March-December, although males may attempt to mate throughout the activity season (April-December). Incubation period for Gopher Tortoise eggs is 80-110 days.

During winter, Gopher Tortoises are much less active although on warm afternoons some individuals trudge to the earth's surface to bask on the sandy aprons of their burrows.   A superb earth-mover, it lives in long burrows that offer refuge from cold, heat, drought, forest fires and predators.

These reptiles feed on low-growing plants like wiregrass, broadleaf grasses, and legumes. They also eat prickly pear cactus, blackberries, paw-paws, and other seasonal fruits. In addition to needing open areas with abundant food, Gopher Tortoises require relatively deep, sandy soils for burrowing and sunny spots for laying eggs.

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View A Close-up Of A Gopher Tortoise
View A Close-up Of A Gopher Tortoise Eating
View A Gopher Tortoise Eating
View A Close-up Of A Gopher Tortoise Looking For Food
View A Gopher Tortoise Sunning
View A Juvenile Gopher Tortoise
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The absence of natural cycles of burning in pine forests spells hardship for Gopher Tortoise. The dense vegetation that grows in a forest in the absence of fire shades out the tender herbs Gopher Tortoises like to eat, and limits their food supplies. Fire is vital in maintaining many native ecosystems, like longleaf pine sandhills, where Gopher Tortoises live.

An amazing trait of the Gopher Tortoise is that it shares its burrow with more than 350 other species, including Burrowing Owls, Florida Mice, Indigo Snakes, Opossums, Rabbits, Gopher Frogs, Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes and Gopher Crickets. For this reason it is called a keystone species since it's very survial is vital to many other species in Florida.  Animals which utilize the Gopher Tortoise burrows are known as commensal species. Since many commensal species depend on the burrows for survival, decreases in Gopher Tortoise populations result in a decline of other species. 

So the next time you are out and about in Florida and see one of these gentle creatures, take a moment to observe and enjoy one of Florida's most ancient residents and without a doubt one of our amazing residents.

2009 Hurricane Season Begins

Well, the 2009 Hurricane Season is upon us. June 1st marks the start and will run until November 30th which makes it the time of the year when we start to really pay attention to the weather patterns coming out of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

This is also the time of year to get familiar with the names that will be associated with the storms when they come, and this year they are:

• Ana
• Bill
• Claudette
• Danny
• Erika
• Fred
• Grace
• Henri
• Ida
• Joaquin
• Kate
• Larry
• Mindy
• Nicholas
• Odette
• Peter
• Rose
• Sam
• Teresa
• Victor
• Wanda

Forecasters are expecting a busy, but average hurricane season and is calling for 12 named storms this year, with six of those becoming hurricanes. Two could become major, which means Category 3 or higher. Let's hope that it is a LOT less!

Tracking Tampa Bay's Wildlife

Over the past four years now, I have photographed lots of wildlife in the Tampa Bay area. Some locations are well-know while others are not. Some places have lots to photograph while others are more special to one species, but whatever the case, there is a lot around the area.

I started to track where some of these locations are and what I found on Google Maps so I can reference what and where I have been. I was amazed when I took an overall look at just how many places I have been!

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Click Here To View Tampa Bay's Wildlife On Google Maps
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I will continue to update the map from time to time when I either find something new or when I remember!

J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park

We had no plans on Sunday, so we got in the car and went off to explore a new park called J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park. This 18,000 acre preserve is one of the largest undeveloped tracts in Pasco County and protects sensitive environmental areas. But the one thing we noticed as soon as we entered the park was the huge numbers of Gopher Tortoises.

Right as we entered the park, we spotted Gopher Tortoise burrows all over the place. Then we spotted lots of them moving around the fields eating the tender fresh grass as the recent rains have given them a smorgasbord of delicious treats. Several were on the road, so every once in a while I had to stop and help the little ones across the road so they wouldn't be in danger.

This park is definitely on our list to revisit and spend even more time exploring the numerous trails and areas, but without a doubt the highlight of our visit was seeing all the cute Gopher Tortoises as they went about their daily business.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Little Love Bugs

During our first late summer in Florida several years ago, we started to see bugs. Lots of them. We noticed thousands of these tiny little black bugs, which at first glance reminded us of "Lightning Bugs" we had back home, however these didn't light up. When we took a closer look, it seemed they all were attached to another. Weird. We later found out they are called "Love Bugs".

Love bugs are really not a "bug" at all. They are really a fly. These little Love Bugs come out by the millions as they emerge in April and May and again in September and October. While they are perfectly harmless, they can and will mess up a freshly washed car as anyone who drives for any period of time will have them splattered all over the front of their car.

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View A Close-up Of A Pair Of Florida Love Bugs
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The weird part of these little bugs are however that they are seen "attached" to one another, as the male and female are connected by the abdomen, which is how they got their name of Love Bugs. Just another reason to love Florida!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Morning Stroll

I went to bed way too early on Friday night. So on Saturday morning, I woke up way too early. Ugh! The morning however was just so beautiful, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood and see if I could find anything. I was hoping to find the baby Barred Owl we found last week, but after searching for him for about an hour, I never did. Perhaps he was hiding in the Spanish Moss, which means it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Not to be discouraged, I made my way around several of the ponds and found a few early morning friends including a baby and adult Downy Woodpecker, a Tri-colored Heron fishing for some breakfast, our male Red-shouldered Hawk and the resident Alligator out in the pond. All in all it was a nice, peaceful walk around the neighborhood.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)