Good morning.
A partly sunny day, with an unseasonably warm temperature of fifty-four, awaits Whitewater. In Lawrence, Kansas, it will be drizzling and fifty-nine today.
On this day in 1865, the House of Representative passed a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery:
…when the presiding officer announced that the resolution was agreed to by yeas 119, nays 56, the enthusiasm of all present, save a few disappointed politicians, knew no bounds, and for several moments the scene was grand and impressive beyond description. No attempt was made to suppress the applause which came from all sides, every one feeling that the occasion justified the fullest expression of approbation and joy….
On the day of Florida’s presidential primary, Google’s daily puzzle asks a question about that state’s electoral history: “Did Florida vote for the last elected U.S. president who was neither a Democrat nor a Republican?”
With a hat tip to the Huffington Post for the link, here’s a happy video to start the day — a snoring dormouse, with accompanying descriptive text:
Don’t worry, he’s okay! He’s just sleeping.
He’s a dormouse. Dormice hibernate in the winter in nests that they make hidden away on the ground. In Britain the dormouse may spend up to a third of its life in hibernation. Dormice usually enter hibernation at the time of the first frost, when nearly all food is gone. Dormice rely upon fat reserves gathered in the summer and autumn, and during hibernation they lose about a quarter of their body weight.
Surrey Wildlife Trust Mammal Project Officer, Dave Williams, took this lovely footage of a dormouse in torpor (hibernation).
Help them protect our endangered dormice and other wildlife by giving a donation. Click here: http://bit.ly/AfDNLk
Or, consider adopting one: http://bit.ly/zxOnTN
For more information visit
http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/conservation/projects/8They don’t normally snore like this, but don’t worry. This one was fine really and in expert hands. He was only briefly removed from his nest to be weighed and check he has enough fat reserves to sleep on safely through until spring.