78/150: Jumping bloodsuckers Batman! It’s a flea!

Animalia: Arthropoda: Insecta: Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae: Ceratophyllinae: Ceratophyllus: Ceratophyllus vison (Baker, 1904)

This species of flea is an ectoparasitic insect of squirrels, living on red squirrels east of the Rocky Mountains and Douglas squirrels to the west. Being an ectoparasite means that they live on a host, so fleas have evolved particular features that help them live such a lifestyle, such as a loss of wing development, strong claws for grasping onto the host, and a laterally flattened body to move through the hair or fur. Continue reading “78/150: Jumping bloodsuckers Batman! It’s a flea!”

Full of Aspiration

So we’ve made it to Kootenay National Park! I hope everyone is enjoying the blogs the crew and I have been posting about our grand trip. We have been bunked in a house at Kootenay Crossing. So that means no hammock this week, I got to stay in a bedroom, which I have to say was great, as was having a full kitchen. Continue reading “Full of Aspiration”