Ours brun

La population totale des ours bruns est estimée à environ 200 000 dans le monde. Les plus grandes populations vivent en Russie, avec 120 000 ours, aux États-Unis avec 32 500 ours et au Canada avec 21 750 ours. 95% des ours bruns vivant aux États-Unis sont en Alaska. En Europe il y en a environ 14 000, séparés en 10 populations distinctes. On trouve de petites populations d'ours bruns isolées dans plusieurs pays d'Europe, de l'Espagne à la Bulgarie. En Italie, entre 1999 et 2002, sept femelles et trois mâles capturés en Slovénie ont été relâchés dans le Trentin où subsistaient trois ours autochtones. L'habitat des ours bruns du Vieux Continent coïncide avec les reliquats des forêts de la préhistoire, qu'elles soient nordiques ou montagnardes. La Russie et la Scandinavie abritent aujourd'hui avec les Balkans et les Carpathes leurs principales populations.
En 1995, la France comptait une population d'ours brun relictuelle de 5 individus dans les Pyrénées occidentales. Sans la capture en Slovénie et le relâcher de 2 femelles en 1996 et d'un mâle en 1997 dans le cadre du programme de réintroduction en Pyrénées centrales, l'ours brun était condamné à une disparition certaine. Mais en 1997 et en 2004, deux ourses suitées, Melba d'origine slovène et Cannelle la dernière ourse de souche pyrénéenne, ont été abattues par des chasseurs lors de battues. La réintroduction a permis de faire remonter la population à une quinzaine d'individus en 2005 mais ne pouvant être considérée comme viable à long terme, nombre trop faible de femelles et problème de consanguinité. Il s'est avéré que les deux femelles réintroduites s'étaient accouplées sur leur territoire d'origine avec le mâle lui aussi réintroduit. Cette situation a conduit le gouvernement français à mettre en œuvre un plan de renforcement avec un apport de 4 nouvelles femelles et d'un mâle au printemps 2006.

While Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe, France also has a number of territories in North America, the Caribbean, South America, the southern Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica.[15] These territories have varying forms of government ranging from overseas department to overseas collectivity.
Metropolitan France covers 551,695 square kilometres (213,010 sq mi) making it the largest country in area in the European Union, being only slightly larger than Spain. France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the south-east, the Massif Central in the south-central and Pyrenees in the south-west. At 4,807 metres (15,770 ft) above sea-level, the highest point in Western Europe, Mont Blanc, is situated in the Alps on the border between France and Italy.[16] Metropolitan France also has extensive river systems such as the Loire, the Garonne, the Seine and the Rhône, which divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean sea at the Camargue, the lowest point in France (2 m / 6.5 ft below sea level).[16] Corsica lies off the Mediterranean coast.

Satellite picture of metropolitan France, August 2002
France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories (excluding Adélie Land), is 674,843 square kilometres (260,558 sq mi), 0.45% of the total land area on Earth. However, France possesses the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 11,035,000 square kilometres (4,260,000 sq mi), approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world, just behind the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi) and ahead of Australia (8,232,000 km² / 3,178,000 sq mi).[17]
Metropolitan France is situated between 41° and 50° North, on the western edge of Europe and thus lies within the northern temperate zone. The north and northwest have a temperate climate, however, a combination of maritime influences, latitude and altitude produce a varied climate in the rest of Metropolitan France.[18] In the south-east a Mediterranean climate prevails. In the west, the climate is predominantly oceanic with a high level of rainfall, mild winters and cool summers. Inland the climate becomes more continental with hot, stormy summers, colder winters and less rain. The climate of the Alps and other mountainous regions are mainly alpine in nature with the number of days with temperatures below freezing over 150 per year and snowcover lasting for up to six months.

Donald Duck

A little bit of Duck history
One of the most popular of the Disney cartoon characters, Donald Duck made his debut in the Silly Symphony cartoon "The Wise Little Hen" on June 9, 1934. His fiery temper endeared him to audiences, and in the 1940s he surpassed Mickey Mouse in the number of cartoons reaching the theaters. Eventually, there were 128 Donald Duck cartoons, but he also appeared in a number of others with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Pluto. His middle name, shown in a wartime cartoon, is Fauntleroy. Clearly, the most significant factor that led to Mickey's super-stardom was his optimistic, cheerful, resilient character -- one very much like Walt's. The original voice of Donald was Clarence "Ducky" Nash, who was succeeded after 50 years by Disney artist Tony Anselmo. A daily Donald Duck newspaper comic strip began on February 7, 1938.

Donald Duck has a good heart and always has good intentions. Well, almost always.
Actually, it's his second or third intentions that are the good ones, but by the time they surface Donald's already off and running in the wrong direction. He refuses to let anyone or anything stand in his way. It doesn't matter how much humiliation the world dishes out to him, Donald will take it and come back for more. He's a loser, not a quitter, and he'll go down fighting. This is a duck with one short fuse, and an amazing (if unintelligible) command of language, and when things don't go right, he goes ballistic. Yet after the storm is over and the tantrum is through, when faithful Daisy soothes his brow or his conscience finally catches up with him, even Donald can admit that there must be a better way. If only he could figure out what it is.

The history of Mickey Mouse
Walt is said to have drawn the first sketches of Mickey Mouse on a train to Los Angeles after losing the rights to Oswald, the cartoon rabbit. Viewed from a distance of over 70 years, it appears that Mickey's success was inevitable, that he was a kind of force of nature in entertainment, destined to become one of the most beloved characters in the world. But the truth isn't so simple. In fact, Mickey Mouse could easily have become just another character in the history of animation, joining the likes of Popeye, Betty Boop, and Felix the Cat. In fact, when Mickey was first created he didn't look so very different from many of his predecessors. Clearly, the most significant factor that led to Mickey's super-stardom was his optimistic, cheerful, resilient character -- one very much like Walt's. It may be true that animator Ub Iwerks was largely responsible for Mickey's final form -- reworking Walt's sketches to make the mouse easier to animate. But as old animators have commented, according to animation historian Charles Solomon, "Ub designed Mickey's physical appearance, but Walt gave him his soul."

Still, an appealing personality didn't guarantee Mickey fame. He got his first big break because of one seemingly simple flash of inspiration: In a day when cartoon characters were silent, Walt decided to give Mickey Mouse a voice. Other studios had experimented with synchronizing sound and animation, but none had done a particularly successful job. Writes Solomon of Mickey's start, "The first three films . . . were made as silents. Distributors expressed little interest in them: Mickey seemed very similar to Oswald. Disney was asking for $3,000 per film (a considerable sum at the time) and insisted on retaining the rights to the Mickey Mouse character." It was then that Walt decided to spend every dollar he had creating a soundtrack for one of these three cartoons, "Steamboat Willie." It wasn't easy, and a lesser man than Walt would have given up. Musicians didn't keep time to the cartoon . . . a bull-fiddle player turned up drunk . . . money ran short. But the job was finally done. And when "Steamboat Willie" premiered at New York's Colony Theater, it attracted a great deal of attention. The "New York Times" called it "an ingenious piece of work with a good deal of fun." And Mickey was off and running.

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Don Hoi Lot
Don Hoi Lot It is a bar at the mouth of the Mae Klong River, created by sedimentation of sandy soil or “Khee Ped Sand” as called by the locals. It occupies a vast area 3 Kilometres wide and 5 Kilometres long. There are two places: Don Nok, located at the mouth of Mae Klong Gulf which can be accessed by boat. The second is Don Nai, located at Chu Chi village’s beach, Tambon Bang Cha Kreng and at Bang Bo Village’s Beach, Tambon Bang Kaeo; which can be reached by car. This bar contains various species of mollusc such as Hoi Lai, Hoi Puk (Ridged Venus clam), Hoi Pak Ped, Hoi Khraeng (scallop), and most abundant is the of Hoi Lot (worm shells).
Worm Shells have 2 shells which resemble a straw and a muddy white meat. It lives in the muddy sand. Catching the worm shell is best done at low tide. The way to catch a worm shell is by using a little wooden stick dipped in lime and plaster mixture and sticking it into the worm shell’s hole. The worm shell will be agitated by the mixture and will come to the surface and caught. It is not advisable to dump the lime and plaster mixture onto the ground as will likely kill all kinds of molluscs living there. The best time of the year to catch the worm shells are during the months of March to May, when they are in season.
A very important site within the Chu Chi Village area at Don Hoi Lot is the Shrine of Prince Chumphon Khet-udomsak which is highly revered by all Thais. There are also restaurants and stalls selling a vast variety of local products such as fresh-dried worm shell, fresh-dried seafood, fish sauce, Khlong Khon shrimp paste, palm sugar, and palm juice, and many others.

HOW TO GET THERE
1.Travelling to Chu Chi Village’s Beach at Tambon Bang Chakreng by-passing the access road to Samut Songkhram and going on for another 3 kilometres. Before you reach the Phutthaloetlanaphalai bridge, at the foot of the bridge, there is a 5 Kilometres access road to Hoi Lot.;
2.Travelling to Bang Bo Village’s Beach at Tambon Bang Kaew. Starting from the opposite side of the road from the Highway Weighing Station on Thonburi-Paktho Roadside. Just one Kilometre before you reach the access road to Samut Songkhram, on your left, there will be a sign pointing to Don Hoi Lot. Take this road - a laterite road 4 Kilometres long to Don Hoi Lot. The road is not convenient for large vehicles;
3.By boat to Don Nok. There are many kinds of boat that will take you there, they are available at the Mae Klong river pier. For groups, please contact (Sun Huad Heng Wood Mill) at 711-466 or call the Boat Ticket Counter at Mae Klong River, Samut Songkhram in advance;
4.Taking a Song-Thaeo (local truck) from the market in Mueang Samut Songkram to Ban Chu Chi. The Song-Thaeo runs all day.