Thursday, October 30, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Dani rescued four wild squirrels – remained friends

Updated December 22, 2022, Published November 19, 2022 – By Editorial staff
Dani Connor developed strong bonds with the squirrels.

Londoner Dani Connor traveled to Sweden last year and had the experience of a lifetime when she rescued four wild baby squirrels.

Dani Connor went from England to northern Sweden in March last year. She is a nature photographer as well as a zoologist and came to volunteer with another nature photographer. She fell for the Swedish nature and especially the wildlife very quickly, and especially for her new favorite animal – the squirrel.

With their exaggerated ears, charismatic personality and cute face, it's hard not to fall for them, says Dani in one of her videos.

She remained in Sweden because of the corona crisis and spring came to Kalvträsk. Then a tragedy occurred – a female squirrel she had been following with her camera, which she called Remi, was run over. Dani knew Remi had kids.

– When I said goodbye to her, I sat in the forest for a while and suddenly I see something red in the grass. It was a small baby squirrel, she says.

She quickly realized that there were four cubs and that they would not survive without help. Dani then decided to save the cubs. From that day, she spent four to six hours in the woods with the cubs, making sure they were fed and comfortable.

She named them Little Pear, Baby Moomin, Cheburashka and Little Flame.

Pretty quickly the baby squirrels became comfortable with Dani and came down from the tree when she called. She developed a close relationship with them, something she says she learned a lot from.

– The squirrels have given me so much joy and also taught me patience and perseverance to keep them alive. They have also taught me the importance of creating bonds with individual wild animals.

 

The squirrels grew up and fended for themselves. It was therefore time for Dani to leave her squirrel family and travel on. Only at the end of 2020 did she come back to Kalvträsk again and look for her new family. Winter had come and the snow was thick on the trees. Every day she went to the forest where the squirrels had lived, without seeing any of them, but after a few days Dani finally caught sight of the squirrels. She put out some peanuts and several squirrels came to eat. However, it wasn't one of the kids, but other squirrels.

Despite her daily visits to the squirrel forest, she saw no cubs, until one day when she stayed home. She looked out her window and saw a little squirrel sitting there.

– It wasn't afraid when I opened the window and I immediately saw who it was. Baby Pear.

Shortly afterwards she also saw Cheburashka. Two of the baby squirrels had survived. She does not know what happened to the other two, but that two survived is still against all odds.

Dani concludes by saying that she had no idea that she would develop such a strong bond with these animals when she travelled to Sweden.

– After spending hundreds of hours in the forest, I learned to identify all the squirrels and their personalities. It was also fascinating to see the different bonds they had with each other.

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Income level found to influence garden biodiversity

Biodiversity

Published October 27, 2025 – By Editorial staff
Researchers see gardens as a potential tool for preserving biodiversity as global diversity declines.

Households with lower incomes tend to have more biodiversity in their gardens, according to a study from North Carolina State University in the United States. People with higher incomes prefer neatly mowed lawns instead.

In the study, published in HortScience, researchers examined attitudes toward biodiversity in the United States. They surveyed over 2,000 people and looked at whether they had any innate appreciation for biodiversity, something called biophilia.

The results showed that far from all people had an innate appreciation for biodiversity, and it varied greatly between individuals. However, it was not uncommon for it to develop early in life.

Biodiversity is declining globally and climate goals are often not met. Therefore, researchers have begun to see gardens as a tool for preserving plant and animal life. But to succeed, they must first understand who is willing to let their gardens grow wilder.

While a single person’s garden isn’t going to do much individually, as a collective they could be a big part of conserving biodiversity. The question then becomes; how do you get those people to change their gardens in that way? says Vanessa Woods, doctoral student at NC University, in a press release. To do that, you must first identify the people who are receptive to these more natural gardens with greater biodiversity.

Income plays a role

The most important factor for biophilia was income level, the researchers conclude. The higher the income, the less inclined people were to have more biodiversity in their garden, preferring neatly mowed lawns.

The lower the income level, the more positively disposed people were to a more wild-grown garden. Households with an income below $25,000 per year showed the greatest interest in biodiversity. Additionally, people who lived more environmentally friendly lifestyles were also more open to a garden that promotes biodiversity.

Melinda Knuth, lead researcher and associate professor at North Carolina State University, believes it is important to identify those who are attracted to biodiversity in order to bridge the gap between intention and conservation actions.

To do that, you first need to identify the people who will be receptive to those messier, more biodiverse types of gardens, she says.

Leopard seals sing lullabies

Published October 24, 2025 – By Editorial staff
Male leopard seals sing up to 13 hours per day during mating season to attract females

The mating calls, or songs, of leopard seals resemble human nursery rhymes and lullabies, new analyses show. Among other things, the song is reminiscent of "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep".

Leopard seals live in Antarctica where they mostly spend their time hunting penguins or relaxing on the floating sea ice. They can grow nearly four meters long and weigh between 300 and 500 kilograms. Males also have another repetitive occupation – and that is to find a female to mate with. To do this, the males "sing" when they are underwater. They do this every day from late October to early January.

Males can sing for up to 13 hours per day. Females also sing, but only for a few days a year when they are in heat.

It’s big business for them. They’re like the songbirds of the Southern Ocean. During the breeding season, if you drop a hydrophone into the water anywhere in the region, you’ll hear them singing, says Professor Tracey Rogers, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), in a press release.

Now researchers have analyzed recordings of the male seals' songs to better understand their structure and patterns. There they discovered that the structure of leopard seal songs resembles nursery rhymes or lullabies.

"Baa, baa, black sheep"

In total, songs from 26 different males were studied and it was found that the sounds were very similar in pitch and length, but that the order and pattern in which the sounds were emitted varied considerably between individuals.

"We think this is a deliberate strategy. While leopard seals are solitary animals, the males need their call to carry clearly across vast stretches of icy ocean, to woo a mate", the researchers write in Science Direct.

The researchers compared the song with several different styles of human music and discovered that it consisted of five key notes. What also stood out were the similarities between the predictability of nursery rhymes and leopard seal calls. Nursery rhymes are characterized by being simple, repetitive and easy to remember, something that the seals' songs also were.

Among other things, they found similarities with the well-known rhymes "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and the classic "Rock-a-bye Baby". The simple melodies likely make it possible for the male leopard seal to continue singing his unique mating call for several days, which is important to avoid changes in pitch or frequency as this could create misunderstandings among other leopard seals.

It’s the order and pattern that matters. They’ve stylised it to an almost boring degree, which we think is a deliberate strategy, so their call carries a long distance across the ice, says Professor Tracey Rogers.

Finnish city tests forest microbes in playgrounds to boost children’s health

Biodiversity

Published October 17, 2025 – By Editorial staff
The sandbox consists of fallen trees filled with sand and humus. If the test succeeds, the concept could be expanded to more playgrounds.

A new type of sandbox has been installed in Kupittaa Park in Turku, Finland. Instead of regular sand, it contains soil from the forest floor filled with microorganisms that, according to research, strengthen children's immune systems.

The city of Turku is now taking a unique step to counteract health problems in children growing up in urban environments. In Kupittaa Park, the country's first sandbox has been built that mixes traditional play sand with humus and microbes from the forest.

The initiative is based on research from the Natural Resources Institute Finland, the University of Helsinki, and Tampere University, which shows that exposure to forest microbes improves the regulation of children's immune systems.

The study showed that children who played in sand enriched with forest soil exhibited improved immune regulation. The discovery is particularly important because urban children are increasingly affected by immune-related diseases such as allergies, asthma, atopy, and type 1 diabetes.

The cause is linked to the fact that city children have limited contact with the diversity of microorganisms found in nature.

Follow-up will determine the future

The new play box is constructed from logs – naturally fallen trees – and filled with a mixture of sand and humus from the forest floor. The design is deliberately simple so it can be replicated if the concept proves successful.

— I became enthusiastic about the Natural Resources Institute's research showing that sand mixed with soil containing microbes from the forest improved children's resistance. I thought the box would be easy to test at a playground in the city. Based on user experiences, we will assess whether such a play box could be implemented on a larger scale, says Anna-Kaisa Hatakka, responsible project manager at the City of Turku, in a press release.

The city will now monitor how popular the new play box becomes among children and parents. If the project succeeds, it could mean a new direction for Turku's playgrounds, where in recent years rubber mats have increasingly been chosen over natural surfaces such as grass and gravel.

PFAS levels declining in Sweden’s major lakes

Published October 10, 2025 – By Editorial staff
PFAS levels have been measured in fish from Lake Vättern, Lake Vänern, and Lake Mälaren, three of Sweden's largest lakes.

Bans on dangerous PFAS substances have shown results in Sweden's major lakes. However, levels still remain above limit values in Lake Vättern.

PFAS are environmental toxins often called "forever chemicals" because they break down very slowly and therefore accumulate in soil, water, animals and even humans.

Certain PFAS substances can be harmful to humans, with several studies having pointed to their potential to cause cancer, liver damage, impaired reproductive ability, intestinal diseases and thyroid disorders, among other health issues.

It was recently discovered that Swedish wild animals have unusually high levels of these substances, with forest voles among others likely suffering liver damage due to the forever chemicals.

Decreased since the 2000s

In a new study conducted by the Swedish Museum of Natural History, commissioned by the Water Conservation Associations, researchers measured the occurrence of these substances in fish in Swedish lakes. This was done using samples from the museum's environmental sample bank, which dates back to the early 1970s.

The results show that PFAS levels have generally decreased in Swedish lakes. In Lake Mälaren and Lake Vänern, levels have decreased since the early 2000s, and in Lake Vättern since 2008.

Problems remain

The reason for the decrease is believed to be the international banning of the most well-known PFAS substances. However, Arctic char in Lake Vättern still exceed the Water Framework Directive's limit value for PFOS, one of the PFAS substances that has been banned.

Our results show that measures and bans have had an effect, but also that the PFAS problem is far from solved, says Suzanne Faxneld from the Environmental Analysis and Research unit at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in a press release.

Stricter limit values for these chemicals are now being discussed in the EU. If these are implemented, Faxneld believes that Sweden's major lakes will exceed the new limit values. The study shows that preparations should be made for stricter regulations from the EU.

It's also very important to prevent these substances from entering the environment in the first place, she says.

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