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The Pink
The Pink
Frosty at the March 16, 1985, show. Description Of The Pew According To The AFRMA Standard Pink-Eyed White rats are described as: Color is a clear sparkling white, showing no yellow cast to the hair. The Pink-Eyed white has a pink eye of medium color (not ruby). This is probably one of the simplest standards to visualize. Simply put, a PEW should be white, white, and nothing but white. A really good example has no yellow tinge to the coat, no discoloring of the undercoat, and no staining. This sounds simple, but once you see a really nice example of a PEW, you realize that 99% of whats out there is actually cream or ivory colored. Showing The PEW The key to showing the PEW is its conformation. Because any litter of PEW babies are all going to be white, type and size are THE factors that should be used when choosing breeding stock. (Assuming of course that no one would choose to breed a rat with poor health or temperament). There is no excuse for a PEW with poor type. The best way to think of Pink-Eyed Whites is as a blank canvas on which to show what the conformation of a rat should look like. Often a judge will put up a rat with beautiful color and/or markings, even if its type is less than excellent. Most judges will not do the same for a PEW just because it is white. Pink-Eyed Whites are probably the hardest color to maintain in show condition. Their coats must be white-white and free of staining. Tails, also, must be very clean. The overall look is an immaculate, sparkling white animal. There is also no excuse for a dirty PEW on the show bench. You can get away with not bathing some colors and varieties, but the PEW isnt one of them. A sparkling white rat with beautiful type and condition will attract the attention of any judge and is a spectacular exhibit on the show bench. Breeding The PEW Pink-Eyed White rats are fairly simple to breed, and are an excellent variety for the beginning fancier. There are actually two types of PEW rats out there. The first one we see most commonly is the true Albino. The second kind is
APURBO
not specifically bred for the show bench, but its good to be aware that they do exist. They are simply pink-eyed Marked (Capped or Masked) rats which have been selected for less and less color. Eventually you get rats that are white all over with pink eyes. Though these are not Albino rats, they are indistinguishable from them. They are not genetically the same, however, and if you breed one of these to an Albino rat, or breed two of these rats together, you will get babies who have colored spots. Incidentally, breeding for less and less color is how Black-Eyed White rats are created, and it is possible to make Odd-Eyed White rats in this same fashion. The Pink-Eyed White rats which are bred for the show ring are the true Albinos. Albinism is a simple recessive trait. PEW bred to PEW will give you a complete litter of PEW babies. It should be kept in mind that the Albino gene covers up or prevents the expression of whatever color or pattern happens to be present on the rat. The color and pattern are still there, you just cant see them. This makes no difference if you are breeding PEW to PEW; however, if you breed to anything else, you may get surprising results. Most of the PEW rats currently kept by fanciers are actually Hooded, so when you breed to other colors/markings you would expect to get the same results as if you were using a Hooded rat. Pink-Eyed White bred to Siamese will give you a litter of all Himalayan babies. This is how Himis are made, but keep in mind that if you use a PEW that is genetically Hooded, you will get a litter of babies with no color on their feet and possibly none on their tail. When breeding the PEW with intent to show, there are two points to concentrate on: color and type. As was said before, the PEW should be white, white, and nothing but white. Rats that show yellowing or staining should not be used in a breeding program. Type is also extremely important for the PEW. Because they are relatively simple to produce (PEW X PEW = PEW), babies kept should excel in the area of conformation. You do not have to concentrate on producing the correct shade of a color (just white), or on making sure the markings are correct, so you end up with complete litters of babies that could all be shown. The difference between a Best In Show PEW and a show bench dud, is as simple as its conformation. Sunflowers Follow the Sun
Common sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) exhibit heliotropism -- they follow the Suns daily round. Not to be confused with phototropism, which is a plants growth response to any light, heliotropism refers to the plants response to the daily cycle of the Sun. Heliotropism most likely helps to increase the development of pollen -- once pollinated the sunflower head remains facing east. This daily dance with the Sun results from motor cells in a flexible segment of the stem just below the bud known as the pulvinus. These cells enlarge or shrink according to the turgor pressure of the water against the cell walls. As pressure increases on one side and decreases on the other the stem responds by drooping or stiffening. Sunflowers are native to the North American prairies, and some seeds have been carbon dated to be over 4,000 years old. Sunflowers were taken to Europe in the sixteenth century and proved to be a big hit in Russia where research and selective breeding created a plant with much higher oil content. Now Russia is a major producer of sunflower seeds and oil. Often mistaken for a flower, the head of Helianthus annuus is made of many tiny flowers. The florets on the circumference of the rim are sterile while only the inside florets can become seeds. It's not unusual to see sunflowers, such as the beauty above, photographed in a garden in Alexandroupolis, Greece, exceed heights of 7 ft (2.13 m) in mid-summer. Photo taken on July 24, 2010. Benefits Heliotropism or phototropism enables a plant to absorb more warmth and light. This creates a warm and welcoming environment for insects, increasing the likelihood of pollination. Increased light and warmth may also enable heliotropic flowers to maintain ideal conditions for the production of pollen, improving their reproductive success. Phototropism may enable the plant to grow more seeds, according to Cambridge University Senior Lecturer in Plant Sciences David Henke.