The mysterious light

   If anyone ever asked me what is the thing that you want to do the most before you die, I would say " I want to witness the aurora display!". It has always been my dream to witness the occurrence of the northern and southern lights since I was a child. There is an unexplainable mysterious force that attracts me to this kind of lights and I find them beyond words to describe how beautiful they are. There is no more regret if I could watch these lights live, be it the aurora borealis (northern lights) or the aurora australis (southern lights).

Aurora Borealis

   An aurora is a natural light display in the sky (from the Latin word aurora, "sunrise" or the Roman goddess of dawn, predominantly seen in higher latitude ( Artic and Antartica) regions. Auroras are caused by charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, entering the atmosphere from above causing ionisation and excitation of atmospheric constituents and consequent optical emissions. Incident protons can also produce emissions as hydrogen atoms after gaining an electron from the atmosphere.

Visual forms and colours

   Auroras take many different visual forms. The most distinctive and brightest are the curtain-like auroral arcs. They eventually fragment or 'break-up' into separate and rapidly changing, often rayed features which may fill the whole sky. These are the 'discrete' auroras which are at times bright enough to read a newspaper by at night. 

Red aurora

   Occurs at the highest altitudes, excited atomic oxygen emits at 630.0 nm (red); low concentration of atoms and lower sensitivity of eyes at this wavelength make this colour visible only under more intense solar activity. The low amount of oxygen atoms and their gradually diminishing concentration is responsible for the faint appearance of the top parts of the  "curtains".

Green aurora

   At lower altitudes the more frequent collisions suppress this mode and the 557.7 nm emission (green) nominates, fairly high concentration of atomic oxygen and higher eye sensitivity in green make green auroras the most common. The excited molecular nitrogen (atomic nitrogen being rare due to high stability of the nitrogen molecule) plays its role here as well as it can transfer energy by collision to an oxygen atom, which then radiates it away at the green wavelength. ( Red and green can also mix together to produce pink or yellow hues). The rapid decrease of concentration of atomic oxygen below about 100 km is responsible for the abrupt-looking end of the lower edges of the curtains.

Yellow and pink are a mix of red and green or blue.

Blue aurora

   At yet lower altitudes atomic oxygen is, uncommon and ionised molecular nitrogen takes over in producing visible light emission; it radiates at a large number of wavelengths in both red and blue parts of the spectrum, with 428 nm (blue) being dominant. Blue and purple emissions, typically at the lower edges of the "curtains", show up at the highest levels of the solar activity.

A short video on night of the northern lights

  

Aurora is such a mesmerising natural phenomena to behold. Hopefully I can have the opportunity to witness this fascinating light display in my life.

Information source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora

Experiment time!

Conducting an experiment during every lab session is as if I am about to embark on a journey to learn new things. Experiment is fun though at the same time may be dangerous too when it comes to dealing with some highly concentrated acid. Well, no worries because we are usually briefed beforehand.

‘ An experiment differs from an observation in this, that knowledge gained through observation seems to appear of itself, while that which an experiment brings us is the fruit of an effort that we make, with the object of knowing whether something exists or does not exist.’

                                                                                                                               ~ John George Zimmerman

   One of the lab sessions I enjoyed the most is the Biology lab session. I have learned a lot through the experiments conducted and I like dealing with plant and animal specimens.

Two test tubes on the left is the Molisch test on carbohydrate and the third test tube is Acrolein test on lipid.

Biuret test to determine that enzyme is a protein.

   One thing that can't be denied is that I love to draw! The only time I can feel free and away from the hectic university life is when I am drawing. Drawing isn't one of my hobby but it is definitely a good way to let go all the frustration and tension. Below are some of the drawings drawn during biology lab sessions.

I know I might sound silly but I am indeed fascinated by these real plant specimens!

To draw and label the Animalia kingdom specimens is so challenging but I will face this challenge.

   Lab work can be so much fun if we look at the brighter side. It's not all about submitting the report and scored. It's all about enjoying the process throughout the experiment conducted and gain new knowledge and valuable experience.

Ferrets

   Hi there! Thank you for spending your precious time to read my blog. As a diploma student in animal health and production, currently studying in UPM Bintulu Campus, Sarawak, it is my dream to further my study in the veterinary field and hopefully can be a veterinarian. The veterinary field is not all about cats and dogs (small animals). The art of veterinary medicine extends itself into many families of creatures.  As the first post in my blog, I would like to share with all of you about the ferret.

   The ferret has become one of the more popular pets in today’s society. However, it is seldom seen in Malaysia and is mostly domesticated in the United States and commercially raised for the pet industry and medical research. It is conjectured that they arrived in North America as pets from early English settlers over 300 years ago. They are most likely a domesticated variety of the European ferret ( Mustela putorius furo).

 Mustela putorius furo

   The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) is an indigenous species of the southwestern United States.

Mustela nigripes

   The ferret has an elongated body that allows the animal to enter small areas and holes for the pursuit of prey. The males are larger than the females and their weight fluctuations vary according to season, as does that of dogs, cats and people.

There are three naturally occurring coat colour patterns. Sable is the most commonly observed but albino and cinnamon are also seen.

Cinnamon ferret

Albino ferret

Sable ferret

   The sable ferret, also known as ‘fitch’, has been reported as a cross between the European polecat and ferret. They typically have black-tipped guard hair, cream undercoat, black feet and tail with a black mask.

*Ferrets have no sweat glands in their skin. Due to this the veterinary staff must be aware of the possibility of hyperthermia.

Ferret family

   Ferrets are active little animals limited to the trouble that they can get into only by the size of their head. The adult males are called hobs, intact females are called jills, spayed females are sprites and juveniles are called kits.

Common and zoonotic diseases

     Intestinal obstructions are very common in young inquisitive ferrets. These individuals present with or without vomiting, they are lethargic and in most situations there is a palpable abdominal mass.Tumours present themselves in many ways with ferrets. The most common tumours involve the adrenal gland. These tumours may be benign or malignant. Adrenal gland disease is most often presented as a dermatological concern. Hair loss on the tail, bilateral hair loss along abdomen and vulval enlargement in spayed females are consistent findings with adrenal gland involvement. Adrenal tumours can also cause behaviour change and generalised muscle wasting. Secondary complications of the disease found in male ferrets involve the prostate in the form of prostatic hyperplasia or cysts and are presented dysuria. Bacterial or fungal bladder infections can be sequella to prostatic disease in males with adrenal disease. This problem is extremely difficult to treat.

Intestinal obstructions

   Insulinomas  are among the more challenging disease syndromes to manage. Ferrets present very weak and sometimes seizuring. Because of the excessive insulin produced by this pancreatic tumour, their blood glucose levels are very low. These animals are often presented extremely depressed or even comatose.

Ferret suffering from insulinomas

   Ectoparasites such as fleas, ear mites, sarcoptic mites and ticks are common in ferrets and are easily treated. Endoparasites are uncommon but coccidia and giardiasis are occasionally found. There is some geographic prevalence to ringworm (mycotic) in some individuals.

Giardiasis

Ectoparasites

Coccidia

   Those above are just some informative facts about ferrets for people to have a clear figure of what ferret actually is. I hope with this short article, it can create awareness on society about the importance of protecting animals, be it domesticated or wildlife.

Source : Exotic animal medicine for the veterinary technician / edited by Bonnie Ballard and Ryan Cheek; Blackwell Publishing (2003)