Date of Issue : 15 June 2011
Ceska Posta will issue two stamps on 15 June 2011 featuring European hamster and commemorating European Florists Championship Europa Cup 2011. Both the stamps are beautiful and good collecting items for the lovers of Flora and Fauna.
Young Animals - Cricetus Cricetus
The European hamster (Cricetus Cricetus) is a species of hamsters relative to voles. The European hamster is a medium-sized, stout-bodied animal with short legs. The tail is short and furred. It is often taken for a marmot, but unlike a marmot, the European hamster is more colourful, with yellow to orange brown dorsal fur with black ends, and a dark brown to black chest and belly. The top head fur is reddish, with white or yellow patches behind the ears and on the nose (and on the front legs). The animal changes its rather thick coat colour once a year. Other prominent features include very large cheek poaches, and flank glands of males that are much larger during the breeding season.
The European hamster is a nocturnal species. It is an excellent runner and jumper. It lives in separate burrows, consisting of tunnels 6-8 cm in diameter, nesting chamber, hibernating chamber, food and storage chambers and droppings chamber. It can burrow as deep as 2 meters in winter months when it hibernates. Females usually have 2-5 litters each year. The gestation period is 20 days, and the size of the litter ranges from 3 to 12 young. It is native to a large area extending from south-west Siberia (the Yenisey river) to Belgium and north-east France.
Date of Issue 15 June 2011
European Florists Championship Europa Cup 2011
Like the Olympic games, the top prestigious EUROPA CUP competition in floral design takes place once every four years in one of the member countries of FLORINT, the European Federation of Professional Florist Associations. The federation was formed in Strasbourg in 1956 under the name Fédération Européenne des Unions Professioneless des Fleuristes (FEUPF) and changed its name to Florint in January 2009.
The first of these professional florist competitions was held in 1967. The EUROPA CUP 2011 will be held on August 31st - September 5th, 2011 and it will be the first time the competition will be held in the Czech Republic. The City of Havířov and the Czech Union of Flower Growers and Florists will be the organizers.
The competitors will come from 24 European countries. The six disciplines will take them through the history of the organizing city and the history of Czech music. A couple of the competition themes will reflect Havířov's early history and its relationship with coal and flowers. The next theme will be the 170th anniversary of Antonín Dvořák's birth. The final theme will focus on fashion and surprise.
: Česká pošta
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