Sharks and Suet

I know you all have seen the filming of a weakened frilled shark off the coast of Japan. What made this exciting is that this species of shark is rarely seen alive because its natural habitat is 2,000 feet or more under the sea. The frilled shark was captured on film by staff at the Awashima Marine Park in Shizuoka, south of Tokyo.

Marine park staff caught the 5-foot long creature in shallow water. This critter is often referred to as a “living fossil” because it is a primitive species that has changed little since prehistoric times. Frilled sharks, which feed on other sharks and sea creatures, are sometimes caught in the nets of trawlers but are rarely seen alive.

The shark appeared to be in poor condition when park staff moved it to a seawater pool where they filmed it swimming and opening its jaws. The shark died a few hours after being caught.

With thoughts of frilled sharks in my mind, I am busy this morning preparing suet for the birds. They love the recipe that was shared by Mary Lee McPherson. For you folks that feed the commercial suet, I would recommend trying this recipe.

Suet
2 cups of quick oats
2 cups of corn meal
1 cup of flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of lard

I always multiply the ingredients by four so that I will have an adequate supply for our feathered friends. I heat the lard and, once it has melted, pour into the dry mixture. Mixing with the hands is therapeutic for this arthritic! It smells wonderful. I then place the suet into two 10X16 inch pans. Letting it solidify either outside or, if temperatures are warm, I place the suet in the refrigerator. After cutting in blocks, I put them in sandwich bags and store in the refrigerator until needed.

We use a log suet feeder which the birds love. It is a hanging log with holes drilled into the wood so that suet can be placed into the holes.

I have also drilled suet holes in the tree base of our open feeder.