This informative post will be posted on Saturday along with my usual writing.  You are invited to participate with the opening question.

Brain Teaser Question

What could you put in a 50-pound barrel of oil to make it weigh less than 50 pounds?

(answer found at the end of this post)

Featured Facts

In North America’s animal kingdom, one of the smallest and most dangerous creatures is the tiny tick.  Having eight legs, they are arachnids (related to spiders).

Here are a few interesting facts about the tick:

• Habitat:  bodies of animals, in fields or woods (awaiting an animal host)
• Diet:  blood
• Color:  brown to reddish-brown (with leathery or shell-like covering)

Known as “black measles,” Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever came to the forefront when it cast its dark shadow over the Bitterroot Valley in western Montana.  Early settlers in the valley contracted a mysterious disease.  Scientific research began in the early 1900s and culminated in the beginning of the Rocky Mountain Labs research. The lab would research and refine treatments for the dreaded spotted fever, which scientists had discovered was carried by the tiny tick.

Answer to Brain Teaser Question

A hole.