It is involved in the process which makes us feel tired at night, and makes sure we feel awake in the morning.
Also, I'm sure you've all had the experience of waking up 10 mins or so before your alarm clock was due to go off and thinking 'hm, isn't it funny that I woke up at the right time without the need for my alarm clock to ring...'
Well, that was due to your suprachiasmatic nucleus gearing your body up ready for awakeness (as opposed to sleepness).
I think my supra-chiasmatic nucleus is wako.
I knew this would happen this year, like every year. My exams are over, I have nothing to do, nowhere to go, no pressures, no deadlines, I am free to sleep till noon if I please...
But no, my SCN has different plans for me. I woke up, bright eyed and rearing to go at 6:58AM!!!! Two minutes before my alarm has been set for this last week. (although it was obviously swtiched off today!)
My crazy body thinks I *still* need to get up at 7am to prepare myself for the day's work and so it has decided to wake me up.
Pah, and it's not as it I went to bed really early either (1:30am).
Last year I had an exam period than spun over 10 days, and so every morning for those 10 days I was getting up at 7am. Well, the 2 week period afterwards was horrible as I just couldn't sleep late in the mornings! I just wasn't allowed...by my own brain! I kept on waking up before 7:30am every single morning and being simply unable to actually sleep afterwards! Plus it doesn't help that the curtains in our University rooms are so thin and cheap that it's almost as bright with them drawn, and it is with them open!
*sighs* so here I am, at the crazy time of 7:15am thinking...hmm...what to do...
So I have decided to do some research on the Binturong.
Googled Binturong
When Chris & I went to the zoo a while ago there was this insane animal that looked a bit like a large cat-dog hybrid. I'd never seen one before so it was all very exciting to discover a whole new type of animal exists!
It was actually very sad as I think the zoo had made it go crazy. It was enclosed in a very small area (probably equivalent to if a person was perpetually enclosed in a small bedroom) and all it was doing was constantly pacing round and round and round and round its enclosure. The same circuit just over and over and over again. I seriously think it had some kind of disorder due to lack of space.
Poor thing.
Actually, it was a pretty horrible zoo on the whole. It wasn't like one of those big safari-park-type places that they have where the animals are free to roam around in huge areas of land, the poor creatures were all enclosed in pretty small cages with actually quite limited freedom to move and roam.
But anyway, the binturong...
here is a picture that we took at the zoo. We had to take the shot about 7 times because the mad thing wouldn't stop pacing about but here ya go...
Binturong behind glass
Why do people get kitties and puppies....baby Binturongs are clearly the way forward:
I WANT ONE!!
Isn't the wee one cute?!! :o)
Anyway, here are a few snappy facts about THE BINTURONG (Arctictis binturong)
* It is an arboreal animal, meaning it lives in the trees.
* They have black fur and can weigh 30 to 40 pounds.
* From head to tail they are 46 to 73 inches long, but their body length is only 24 to 39 inches long.
* They can walk upside down hanging from branches with the use of their tail. The tail is also used as a brake when running head first down a tree, like a squirrel.
* It can be found in the tropical and sub-tropical forests of Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Palaway Island, Burma, Indochina, Sumatra, Bangka, Java, Borneo, and possibly Nepal.
*The binturong is rare in its current range due to habitat destruction.
* They are mostly nocturnal,
* Their diet consists of both plant and animal matter. They usually eat moving prey and fruit.
* Unlike cats, their bite is not aimed at a specific bodypart and birds are not plucked before eating.
Binturongs are very good swimmers and are very playful.
* They have been known to leap 5 feet into the air and kill animals by leaping on them.
* Binturongs begin breeding at age two.
* Usually one or two young are born after a gestation period of 92 days. At birth they weigh 11 ounces. Females have two pairs of teats and the young nurse for at least 8 weeks.
* They have a keen sense of smell, and it has good vision and hearing.
* They themselves have an unusual odor like buttered popcorn, and they mark their territory by scent.
* When the binturong is moving, it sometimes makes low grunts or a hissing noise.
* Although usually very tame, they can be aggressive when they are cornered and can give a very powerful bite.
*Otherwise when they are challenged by another animal, they give a low growl and spit.
well, ain't that simply fascinating...?! Plus I'm intrigued by the description of it smelling like 'buttered popcorn'...how odd!
So mummy & daddy, that's what I want for my birthday, a teeny-weeny-popcorn-smelling Binturong!
*sighs*
*looks at watch*
7:45AM.
It's gonna be a long day..!
-x-
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