A couple of weeks ago, Mama gnome went to gnomemart and after she placed her reusable bags on the conveyor belt for the groceries, the cashier smiled at Mama gnome and said, "Ahhh...Smart gnome."
Mama gnome looked around and saw she was the only gnome standing amidst the humans and she asked, "Why do you say such mystical things human?"
Cashier said, "Because we're going to be charging for the plastic bags."
Mama gnome's vision turned hazy but she managed to mumble, "When?"
"Maybe next month."
Only because Mama gnome felt faintish, otherwise she would've been whooping and hollering.
Just in California alone, 19 billion plastic bags are used by humans every year and out of that 19 billion plastic bags a measly 5 percent gets recycled.
The other 95 percent of 19 billion become minions of Plastic Bag Monster where they lounge around in their not so secret lair, Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Their mission: "to eliminate more than 135 million pounds of plastic shopping bag waste globally" and gnomemart gets the extra benefits of...
"...reduce our plastic bag waste by the equivalent of 9 billion bags, avoid producing 290,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases and prevent consuming the equivalent of 678,000 barrels of oil every year."
Mama gnome proudly presents her license to any gnomemart cashier.
Really, that is her height...and weight...
She'd gotten heavier with her heart so full, a heart gone green.
But unlike the kangaroo who is a herbivore, this Mystery Animal is carnivorous.
It feeds on carrion and preys on small mammals to a small kangaroo, wombats, birds, fish, frogs, reptiles, fruit.
It's a very noisy eater...so noisy...thus contributing to how it was named...the little devil.
If you've guessed the Mystery Animal of the Day is the Tasmanian Devil, Mama gnome would like to congratulate you and she hopes you will participate in A Billion Acts of Green, Earth Day 2011 on April 22, 2011.
Tasmanian Devil at Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia.
The Tasmanian Devil is found in Tasmania, Australia's island and state.
It has a large head and neck. It has black fur and usually white patches on its chest and lower back. It's stocky and muscular.
It has a keen smell and is also described as having a "pungent smell."
The name Tasmanian Devil has a long history.
Mama gnome will not recount all the names but to give you an idea as to how this animal was named Tasmanian Devil...here it goes...
First named in 1807 Didelphis ursina, "meatloving bear."
Then later also renamed Sarcophilus harrisii,"Harris's meat lover."
Then "Beelzebub's pup was an early vernacular name given to it by the explorers of Tasmania, in reference to a religious deity who is a prince of hell and an assistant of Satan."
Other names used were Sarcophilus satanicus "Satanic meatlover" and Diabolus ursinus "diabolical bear."
Mama gnome would like to rename them as "Poor animalus creaturus name-mes just because it likes to eat loud-es and a eat a lot-es."
The Tasmanian Devil is an endangered animal.
According to the IUCN, its population has decreased by more than 60% in the last ten years.
One of the major threats to this animal is a terrible infectious cancer called the Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD).
The disease is spread between animals especially during the mating season and when they are feeding because of injurious biting.
DFTD is an "aggressive non-viral transmissible parasitic cancer" and the afflicted animal develops lesions and lumps around the mouth which spread to the rest of its body.
The animal is unable to feed and dies of starvation.
Another threat to the Tasmanian Devil is the red fox which was illegally introduced to Tasmania for reasons including fox hunting which is another terrible crime. (And Mama gnome talks about fox hunting in detail here, another Mystery Animal.)
According to IUCN, other threats to the Tasmanian Devil is being killed on the roads by vehicles, being killed by dogs, and from persecution.
Persecution according to IUCN:
"Through the 1980s and 1990s, systematic poisoning in many sheep-growing areas (particularly fine-wool with its reliance on merinos) was widespread and probably killed in excess of 5000 devils per year (N. Mooney unpubl., from interviews with landowners). In the 1990s, control permits were occasionally issued to individuals who were able to argue that Tasmanian Devils were pests (e.g. killing valuable lambs)."
photo by: Alan Wilson from naturepicsonline.com 
photo from: plasticdebris.org
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
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