title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

text: The poem has been adapted to film three times, twice by writer-director Stephen Weeks: first as "Gawain and the Green Knight" in 1973 and again in 1984 as "", featuring Miles O'Keeffe as Gawain and Sean Connery as the Green Knight. Both films have been criticised for deviating from the poem's plot. Also, Bertilak and the Green Knight are never connected. On 30 July 2021, "The Green Knight" was released, directed by American filmmaker David Lowery for A24 and starring Dev Patel as Gawain and Ralph Ineson as the Green Knight, albeit with some significant deviations from the original story.


title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

text: There have been at least two television adaptations, "Gawain and the Green Knight" in 1991 and the animated "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" in 2002. The BBC broadcast a documentary presented by Simon Armitage in which the journey depicted in the poem is traced, using what are believed to be the actual locations.


title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

text: The Tyneside Theatre company presented a stage version of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" at the University Theatre, Newcastle at Christmas 1971. It was directed by Michael Bogdanov and adapted for the stage from the translation by Brian Stone. The music and lyrics were composed by Iwan Williams using medieval carols, such as the "Boar's Head Carol", as inspiration and folk instruments such as the Northumbrian pipes, whistles and bhodran to create a "rough" feel. Stone had referred Bogdanov to "Cuchulain and the Beheading Game", a sequence which is contained in the Grenoside Sword dance. Bogdanov found the pentangle theme to be contained in most sword dances, and so incorporated a long sword dance while Gawain lay tossing uneasily before getting up to go to the Green Chapel. The dancers made the knot of the pentangle around his drowsing head with their swords. The interlacing of the hunting and wooing scenes was achieved by frequent cutting of the action from hunt to bedchamber and back again, while the locale of both remained on-stage.


title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

text: In 1992 Simon Corble created an adaptation with medieval songs and music for The Midsommer Actors' Company. performed as walkabout productions in the summer 1992 at Thurstaston Common and Beeston Castle and in August 1995 at Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire. Corble later wrote a substantially revised version which was produced indoors at the O'Reilly Theatre, Oxford in February 2014.


title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

text: "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was first adapted as an opera in 1978 by the composer Richard Blackford on commission from the village of Blewbury, Oxfordshire. The libretto was written for the adaptation by the children's novelist John Emlyn Edwards. The "Opera in Six Scenes" was subsequently recorded by Decca between March and June 1979 and released on the Argo label in November 1979.


title: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

text: "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" was adapted into an opera called "Gawain" by Harrison Birtwistle, first performed in 1991. Birtwistle's opera was praised for maintaining the complexity of the poem while translating it into lyric, musical form. Another operatic adaptation is Lynne Plowman's "Gwyneth and the Green Knight", first performed in 2002. This opera uses "Sir Gawain" as the backdrop but refocuses the story on Gawain's female squire, Gwyneth, who is trying to become a knight. Plowman's version was praised for its approachability, as its target is the family audience and young children, but criticised for its use of modern language and occasional preachy nature.


title: Drop shipping

text: Drop shipping is a form of retail business wherein the seller accepts customer orders without keeping stock on hand. Instead, in a form of supply chain management, the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details to either the manufacturer, a wholesaler, another retailer, or a fulfillment house, which then ships the goods directly to the customer. As such, the retailer is responsible for marketing and selling a product, but has little or no control over product quality, storage, inventory management, or shipping. By doing this, it eliminates the costs of maintaining Warehouses – or even a brick and mortar storefront, purchasing and storing inventory, and employing necessary staff for such functions. As in any other form of retail, the seller makes their profit on the difference between an item's wholesale and retail price, less any pertinent selling, merchant, or shipping fees accruing to them.


title: Drop shipping

text: A drop shipping business model does not require a brick and mortar store. It may be eliminated entirely, or combined with drop shipped order fulfillment business model. A physical retailer may keep potential drop shipped items on display, provide details on mail order items via a catalogue, or maintain a website with information available only online. A virtual retailer only has a website.


title: Drop shipping

text: Drop shipping retailers are not required to disclose the practice, nor, as with any other retailer, the wholesale source of the products they offer. This can be achieved by "blind shipping" (shipping merchandise without a return address corresponding to the seller), "private label shipping" (having merchandise shipped from the wholesaler with a return address customised to the retailer), or utilising a fulfillment house. The ultimate order fulfiller might also include a customised packing slip, including details such as the retailer's company name, logo, and contact information.


title: Drop shipping

text: In unusual circumstances drop shipping can occur when a small retailer (that typically sells in small quantities to the general public) receives a single large order for a product. The retailer may arrange for the goods to be shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer or distributor.


title: Drop shipping

text: Sellers on online auction sites such as eBay also use drop shipping as way of distributing products without handling the stocking the items sold. A seller will list an item as new, and have purchased items shipped directly from the wholesaler to the customer. The seller's profit is the difference between the selling and the wholesale prices, minus any pertinent selling, merchant, or shipping fees accruing to them. However, some of the drop shipping methods used by sellers are not allowed under the eBay terms of service. This includes drop shipping methods in which a seller fulfills an order by purchasing the item from another online marketplace and having the item shipped to the customer. Sellers who use this method can be suspended from eBay.


title: Drop shipping

text: Products may be listed by a drop shipping retailer as available but actually be back-ordered either with the wholesaler or the item's manufacturer. Such potential delays in order fulfilment are not always known, or even when known disclosed, by a seller. They also can be extended, beyond the control of the seller. Likewise order fulfilment and shipping delays are beyond the seller's control, yet can reflect badly on the purchaser's ultimate satisfaction with their transaction. This puts a premium on timely and accurate information provision by the seller on both sides of the purchase, both before and after it is made.


title: Drop shipping

text: The use of Chinese drop shipping companies has been on the rise in recent years by both companies and individuals. This is largely due to the increasing ease of e-procurement and the growing part that the internet is playing in commerce. Drop ship suppliers based in China have increasingly been able to compete with same-country distributors because of improved logistics for small packets and the easing of trade barriers.


title: Drop shipping

text: There are a wide range of issues that may arise from engaging in the practice. At the forefront of these are ethical concerns, with many critics arguing that drop shipping relies on the exploitation of poor working conditions in developing countries to meet success. Others are opposed to its high risk of legal problems, potentially low profit margins, and inherent limited seller oversight, which places the buyer at risk for scams.


title: Drop shipping

text: Drop shipping has also been a component of internet-based work-at-home schemes posted on social networking services. Scam artists will promote drop-shipping as a work-at-home scheme, in which victims will be sold a list of businesses from which drop shipment orders can be placed. These businesses may not be wholesalers, but other businesses or individuals acting as middlemen between retailers and wholesalers, with no product of their own to sell. These middlemen often charge prices that leave little profit margin for the victim and require a regular fee for use of their services. In 2019, the Gimlet Media podcast Reply All investigated the drop-shipping phenomenon, exploring the way drop shippers microtarget their client, but also found that micro-shipping itself is a rather dubious industry in that, despite the promises of some of the most well-known drop-shipping proponents, few drop shippers actually make any profits.


title: Drop shipping

text: In 2016, "Buzzfeed News" published an article exposing unscrupulous drop-shippers in China, describing how customers were receiving products that were not as those were advertised, or not receiving any products at all.


title: Drop shipping

text: One effect of drop-shipping is that customers who receive a drop-shipped package will realise that they overpaid for the item, return the item to the seller, then reorder the identical item directly from the manufacturer. The cost of processing the return and the loss of the unsalable returned product can result in significant losses to the drop shipper.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy's pre-1962 designation system.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Skyhawk is a relatively light aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of , and has a top speed of . The aircraft's five hardpoints support a variety of missiles, bombs, and other munitions. It is capable of carrying a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II–era Boeing B-17 bomber, and can deliver nuclear weapons using a low-altitude bombing system and a "loft" delivery technique. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine; from the A-4E onwards, the Pratt & Whitney J52 engine was used.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Skyhawks played key roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Falklands War. In 2022, nearly seven decades after the aircraft's first flight in 1954, some of the 2,960 produced (through February 1979) remain in service with the Argentine Air Force and the Brazilian Naval Aviation.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Skyhawk was designed by Douglas Aircraft's Ed Heinemann in response to a U.S. Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the older Douglas AD Skyraider (later redesignated A-1 Skyraider). Heinemann opted for a design that would minimize its size, weight, and complexity. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's weight specification. It had a wing so compact that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage. The first 500 production examples cost an average of $860,000 each, less than the Navy's one million dollar maximum. The diminutive Skyhawk soon received the nicknames "Scooter", "Kiddiecar", "Bantam Bomber", "Tinker Toy Bomber", and, on account of its speed and nimble performance, "Heinemann's Hot-Rod". The XA4D-1 prototype set a world speed record of 695.163 mph on 15 October 1955.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The aircraft is of conventional post-World War II design, with a low-mounted delta wing, tricycle undercarriage, and a single turbojet engine in the rear fuselage, with two air intakes on the fuselage sides. The tail is of cruciform design, with the horizontal stabilizer mounted above the fuselage. Armament consisted of two 20 mm (.79 in caliber) Colt Mk 12 cannons, one in each wing root, with 100 rounds per gun (the A-4M Skyhawk II and types based on the A-4M have 200 rounds per gun), plus a large variety of bombs, rockets, and missiles carried on a hardpoint under the fuselage centerline and hardpoints under each wing (originally one per wing, later two).


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The short-span delta wing did not require the complexity of wingtip folding, saving an estimated . Its spars were machined from a single forging that spanned across both wingtips. The leading edge slats were designed to drop automatically at the appropriate speed by gravity and air pressure, saving weight and space by omitting actuation motors and switches. Similarly the main undercarriage did not penetrate the main wing spar, designed so that when retracted only the wheel itself was inside the wing and the undercarriage struts were housed in a fairing below the wing. Thus the wing structure was lighter with the same overall strength. The rudder was constructed of a single panel reinforced with external ribs.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The turbojet engine was accessed for service or replacement by removing the aft section of the fuselage and sliding out the engine. This obviated the need for access doors with their hinges and latches further reducing weight and complexity. This is the opposite of what can often happen in aircraft design where a small weight increase in one area leads to a compounding increase in weight in other areas to compensate, creating a demand for more powerful, heavier engines, larger wing and empennage area, and so on in a vicious circle.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The A-4 pioneered the concept of "buddy" air-to-air refueling. This allows the aircraft to supply others of the same type, reducing the need for dedicated tanker aircraft—a particular advantage for small air arms or when operating in remote locations. This allows for greatly improved operational flexibility and reassurance against the loss or malfunction of tanker aircraft, though this procedure reduces the effective combat force on board the carrier.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: A designated supply A-4 would mount a center-mounted "buddy store", a large external fuel tank with a hose reel in the aft section and an extensible drogue refueling bucket. This aircraft was fueled up without armament and launched first. Attack aircraft were armed to the maximum and were given as much fuel as was allowable by maximum takeoff weight limits, which was far less than a full tank.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Once airborne, they topped off their fuel tanks from the tanker using the A-4's fixed refueling probe on the starboard side of the aircraft nose. They could then sortie with both full armament and fuel loads. The A-4 was rarely used for refueling in U.S. service after the KA-3 Skywarrior tanker became available aboard the larger carriers.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The A-4 was also designed to be able to make an emergency landing, in the event of a hydraulic failure, on the two drop tanks nearly always carried by these aircraft. Such landings resulted in only minor damage to the nose of the aircraft which could be repaired in less than an hour.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Navy issued a contract for the type on 12 June 1952, and the first prototype first flew from Edwards Air Force Base, California on 22 June 1954. Deliveries to Navy and Marine Corps squadrons (to VA-72 and VMA-224 respectively) commenced in late 1956.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Skyhawk remained in production until 1979, with 2,960 aircraft built, including 555 two-seat trainers. The last production A-4, an A-4M of Marine squadron VMA-331 had the flags of all nations that operated the A-4 painted on its fuselage sides.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Skyhawk proved to be a relatively common United States Navy aircraft export of the postwar era. Due to its small size, it could be operated from the older, smaller World War II-era aircraft carriers still used by many smaller navies during the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate newer Navy fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader, which were faster and more capable than the A-4, but significantly larger and heavier than older naval fighters.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Navy operated the A-4 in both Regular Navy and Naval Reserve light attack squadrons (VA). Although the A-4's use as a training and adversary aircraft would continue well into the 1990s, the Navy began removing the aircraft from its frontline attack squadrons in 1967, with the last ones (Super Foxes of VA-55/212/164) being retired in 1976.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Marine Corps would not take the U.S. Navy's replacement warplane, the LTV A-7 Corsair II, instead keeping Skyhawks in service with both Regular Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve attack squadrons (VMA), and ordering the new A-4M model. The last USMC Skyhawk was delivered in 1979, and they were used until the mid-1980s before they were replaced by the equally small, but more versatile STOVL AV-8 Harrier II.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: VMA-131, Marine Aircraft Group 49 (the Diamondbacks) retired its last four OA-4Ms on 22 June 1994. Trainer versions of the Skyhawk remained in Navy service, however, finding a new lease on life with the advent of "adversary training", where the nimble A-4 was used as a stand-in for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). It served in that role at "TOPGUN" until 1999.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The A-4's nimble performance also made it suitable to replace the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II when the Navy downsized its aircraft for the Blue Angels demonstration team, until McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets were available in the 1980s. The last U.S. Navy Skyhawks, TA-4J models belonging to the composite squadron VC-8, remained in military use for target towing, and as adversary aircraft, for combat training at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads. These aircraft were officially retired on 3 May 2003.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Skyhawks were well loved by their crews for being tough and agile. These attributes, along with their low purchase and operating cost as well as easy maintenance, have contributed to the popularity of the A-4 with American and international armed forces. Besides the U.S., at least three other nations have used A-4 Skyhawks in combat (Argentina, Israel, and Kuwait).


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Skyhawks were the U.S. Navy's primary light attack aircraft used over North Vietnam during the early years of the Vietnam War; they were later supplanted by the A-7 Corsair II in the U.S. Navy light attack role. Skyhawks carried out some of the first air strikes by the US during the conflict, and a Marine Skyhawk is believed to have dropped the last American bombs on the country. Notable naval aviators who flew the Skyhawk included Lieutenant Commanders Everett Alvarez, Jr. and John McCain, and Commander James Stockdale. On 1 May 1967, an A-4C Skyhawk piloted by Lieutenant Commander Theodore R. Swartz of VA-76 aboard the carrier , shot down a North Vietnamese Air Force MiG-17 with an unguided Zuni rocket as the Skyhawk's only air-to-air victory of the Vietnam War.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: From 1956 on, Navy Skyhawks were the first aircraft to be deployed outside of the U.S. armed with the AIM-9 Sidewinder. On strike missions, which was the Skyhawk's normal role, the air-to-air armament was for self-defense purposes.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In the early to mid-1960s, standard U.S. Navy A-4B Skyhawk squadrons were assigned to provide fighter protection for anti-submarine warfare aircraft operating from some "Essex"-class U.S. anti-submarine warfare carriers; these aircraft retained their ground- and sea-attack capabilities. The A-4B model did not have an air-to-air radar, and it required visual identification of targets and guidance from either ships in the fleet or an airborne Grumman E-1 Tracer AEW aircraft.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Lightweight and safer to land on smaller decks, Skyhawks would later also play a similar role flying from Australian, Argentinean, and Brazilian upgraded World War II surplus light ASW carriers, which were unable to operate most large modern fighters. Primary air-to-air armament consisted of the internal 20 mm (.79 in) Colt cannons and ability to carry an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile on both underwing hardpoints, later additions of two more underwing hardpoints on some aircraft made for a total capacity of four AAMs.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The first combat loss of an A-4 occurred on 5 August 1964, when Lieutenant junior grade Everett Alvarez, of VA-144 aboard , was shot down while attacking enemy torpedo boats in North Vietnam. Alvarez safely ejected after being hit by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire, and became the first US Naval POW of the war. He was released as a POW on 12 February 1973. The last A-4 loss in the Vietnam War occurred on 26 September 1972, when USMC pilot Captain James P. Walsh, USMC of VMA-211, flying close air support from Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, was hit by ground fire during the Battle of An Lộc. Captain Walsh ejected safely and was the last U.S. Marine to be taken prisoner during the war. He was released as a POW on 12 February 1973.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Although the first A-4Es were flown in Vietnam in early 1965, the A-4Cs continued to be used until late 1970. On 1 June 1965, the Chu Lai Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) was officially opened with the arrival of eight A-4 Skyhawks from Cubi Point, Philippine Islands. The group landed with the aid of arresting cables, refueled and took off with the aid of JATO, with fuel and bombs to support Marine combat units. The Skyhawks were from Marine Attack Squadron VMA-225 and VMA-311.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Lieutenant commander Michael J. Estocin of Attack Squadron 192 was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while flying surface-to-air missile (SAM) suppression during coordinated strikes against targets in Haiphong, North Vietnam, on April 20 and April 26, 1967.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: On 29 July 1967, the aircraft carrier was conducting combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. A Zuni rocket misfired, striking an external tank on an A-4. Fuel from the leaking tank caught fire, creating a massive conflagration that burned for hours, killing 134 sailors, and injuring 161.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: During the war, 362 A-4/TA-4F Skyhawks were lost due to all causes. The U.S. Navy lost 271 A-4s, the U.S. Marine Corps lost 81 A-4s and 10 TA-4Fs. A total of 32 A-4s were lost to surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), and one A-4 was lost in aerial combat to a MiG-17 on 25 April 1967.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The A-4 Skyhawk, in the two-seat TA-4J configuration, was introduced to a training role replacing the TF-9J Cougar. The TA-4J served as the advanced jet trainer in white and orange markings for decades until being replaced by the T-45 Goshawk. Additional TA-4Js were assigned to Instrument Training RAGs at all the Navy master jet bases under RCVW-12 and RCVW-4. The Instrument RAGs initially provided jet transition training for Naval Aviators during the time period when Naval Aviation still had a great number of propeller-driven aircraft and also provided annual instrument training and check rides for Naval Aviators. The assigned TA-4J models were installed with collapsible hoods so the aviator under training had to demonstrate instrument flying skills without any outside reference. These units were VF-126 at NAS Miramar, California; VA-127 (later VFA-127; NAS FALLON, NV) at NAS Lemoore, California; VF-43 at NAS Oceana, Virginia; and VA-45 (later VF-45) at NAS Cecil Field, Florida until its later move to NAS Key West, Florida.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Additional single-seat A-4 Skyhawks were also assigned to composite squadrons (VC) worldwide to provide training and other services to deployed units. These included VC-1 at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii; VC-7 at NAS Miramar, California; VC-5 at NAS Cubi Point, Philippines; VC-8 at NS Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; VC-10 at NAVBASE Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and Naval Reserve squadrons VC-12 (later VFC-12) at NAS Oceana, Virginia and VC-13 (later VFC-13) at NAS Miramar, California until its later move to NAS Fallon, Nevada.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: With renewed emphasis on Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) training brought on with the establishment of the Navy Fighter Weapons School ("TOPGUN") in 1969, the availability of A-4 Skyhawks in both the Instrument RAGs and Composite Squadrons at the master jet bases presented a ready resource of the nimble Skyhawks that had become the TOPGUN preferred surrogate for the MiG-17. At the time, the F-4 Phantom was just beginning to be exploited to its full potential as a fighter and had not performed as well as expected against the smaller North Vietnamese MiG-17 and MiG-21 opponents. TOPGUN introduced the notion of dissimilar air combat training (DACT) using modified A-4E/Fs. Modified aircraft, called "Mongoose", lost the dorsal hump, the 20 mm cannon with their ammo systems, and the external stores, although sometimes the centerline station was kept. The slats were fixed.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The small size of the Skyhawk and superb low speed handling in the hands of a well trained aviator made it ideal to teach fleet aviators the finer points of DACT. The squadrons eventually began to display vivid threat type paint schemes signifying their transition into the primary role of Adversary training. To better perform the Adversary role, single-seat A-4E and F models were introduced into the role, but the ultimate adversary Skyhawk was the Super Fox, which was equipped with the uprated J52-P-408 engine. This variant had entered service in 1974 with VA-55/VA-164/VA-212 on the final USS "Hancock" cruise and had been the variant that the Blue Angels had selected in 1973.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The surplus of former USMC Skyhawks resulted in A-4M versions being used by both VF-126 and TOPGUN. Even though the A-4 was augmented by the F-5E, F-21 (Kfir), F-16, and F/A-18 in the adversary role, the A-4 remained a viable threat surrogate until it was retired by VF-43 in 1993 and shortly thereafter by VFC-12. The last A-4 fleet operators were VC-8, which retired its Skyhawks in 2003.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The A-4M was also operated by the Operations Maintenance Detachment (OMD) in an adversary role based at NAS Dallas, Texas for the Naval Air Reserve. Many of the aviators that flew the four jets were attached to NAS Dallas, including the Commanding Officer of the air station. The aircraft were instrumental in training and development of ACM for Naval Air Reserve fighter squadrons VF-201 and VF-202 flying the F-4 Phantom II and later the Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The unit also completed several missions involving target towing to NAS Key West, Florida; NAS Kingsville, Texas, and deployments to NAS Miramar, California and NAS Fallon, Nevada for adversary support. The detachment was under the operational command of the Commander Fleet Logistics Support Wing (CFLSW), also based at NAS Dallas.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Israel was the largest export customer for Skyhawks. The Skyhawk was the first U.S. warplane to be offered to the Israeli Air Force, marking the point where the U.S. took over from France as Israel's chief military supplier. Deliveries began after the Six-Day War, and A-4s soon formed the backbone of the IAF's ground-attack force. In IAF Service, the A-4 Skyhawk was named as the "Ayit" (, for Eagle).


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: They cost only a quarter of what a Phantom II cost and carried half of its payload. Starting in 1966, Israel purchased 217 A-4s, plus another 46 that were transferred from U.S. units in Operation Nickel Grass to compensate for large losses during the Yom Kippur War.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In the late 1960s and 1970s, Israeli Air Force Skyhawks were the primary ground attack aircraft in the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War. Skyhawks carried out bombing missions in the Yom Kippur War, and a considerable proportion of the tactical sorties. ACIG.org claims that at least nine A-4 Skyhawks were downed by MiG-21s and MiG-17s during Yom Kippur war. Formal Israeli sources claim only five Israeli Air Force aircraft, of any type, were shot down in air-to-air duels.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In May 1970, an Israeli Skyhawk piloted by Col. Ezra Dotan shot down two MiG-17s over south Lebanon (one with unguided rockets, the other with 30 mm cannon fire) even though the Skyhawk's head-up display has no "air-to-air mode". However, up to three Skyhawks were downed by Egyptian MiG-21 fighters, plus two were downed by Soviet-piloted MiG-21s during the War of Attrition.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: A special version of the A-4 was developed for the IAF, the A-4H. This was an A-4E which featured improved avionics and the improved thrust J52-P-8A engine. Armament consisted of twin DEFA 30 mm cannon in place of the Colt Mk.12 20 mm cannons. Later modifications included the avionics hump and an extended tailpipe, implemented in Israel by IAI. The extended tailpipe gave greater protection against heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles. A total of 90 A-4Hs were delivered, and were Heyl Ha'avir's (Israels Air Force) primary attack plane in the War of Attrition.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In early 1973, the improved A-4N Skyhawk for Israel entered service, based on the A-4M models used by the U.S. Marine Corps. The different model Skyhawks carried out bombing missions in the Yom Kippur War, and a considerable proportion of the tactical sorties. They also attacked in Operation Peace for the Galilee, and one of them shot down a Syrian MiG-17.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The IAF also operated two-seat models, for operations as well as advanced training and retraining. The first training models arrived in 1967, with the first batch of Skyhawks. During the Yom Kippur war, the Skyhawk order of battle was reinforced with TA-4F and TA-4J models. The IAF selected in 2003 RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. to upgrade its A-4 trainer fleet with weapon delivery, navigation and training systems. Integration of a multifunction and Head-up Display produced an advanced Lead in fighter trainer for the IAF's future fighter pilots.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: According to acig.org, Syria claimed that two Israeli A-4 Skyhawks were downed by Syrian MiG-23s over northern Lebanon on 26 April 1981. However, official Israeli Air Force statistics do not list any downing of Israeli warplanes since the Yom Kippur War, and no loss of aircraft was reported on that date.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: During the 1982 Lebanon War an Israeli A-4 piloted by Aharon Achiaz was shot down over Lebanon by a SA-7 on 6 June 1982. Israel reported this was one of its only two fixed-wing aircraft shot down over the Beqaa Valley during air battles spanning from 6 June 1982 to 11 June 1982 where 150 aircraft took part, including the battle on 9 June 1982 known as Operation Mole Cricket 19.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In October 2008, it was decided due to maintenance issues that the A-4 Skyhawk fleet would be withdrawn and replaced by more modern aircraft, able to perform equally well in the training role and, if required, close support and interdiction missions on the battlefield. Some of Israel's A-4s were later exported to Indonesia. The Skyhawks have been replaced by F-16s in combat roles but are still used for pilot training. All the remaining A-4s aircraft were to be fully phased out beginning by 2014 as the IAF accepts delivery of Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master jets. Skyhawks were last used in combat operations in the Israel airforce in 2012, when they dropped leaflets over Gaza in 2012.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In July 2013, Israel began a program called "Teuza" (boldness) for the purpose of turning some military bases into sales lots for obsolete IDF equipment. Older models that are not suited for Israel's modern high-tech forces will be sold off, or sold for scrap if there are no buyers. A-4 Skyhawk jets are among those being offered.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: On 13 December 2015, all remaining Israeli A-4 Skyhawks were retired from service. The retirement ceremony took place at Hatzerim IDF base.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Argentina was the first foreign user of the Skyhawk and had nearly 130 A-4s delivered since 1965. The Argentine Air Force received 25 A-4Bs in 1966 and another 25 in 1970, all refurbished in the United States by Lockheed Service Co. prior to their delivery as "A-4P", although they were still locally known as "A-4B". They had three weapon pylons and served in the 5th Air Brigade (). In 1976, 25 A-4Cs were ordered to replace the F-86 Sabres still in service in the 4th Air Brigade (). They were received "as is" and refurbished to flight status by Air Force technicians at Río Cuarto, Córdoba. The C model had five weapon pylons and could use AIM-9B Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The Argentine Naval Aviation also bought the Skyhawk known as "A-4Q" in the form of 16 A-4Bs in 1972, which unlike the Air Force's A-4Ps, were powered by J-65-W-20 engines and fitted to use Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. They were received in 1972 to be used mainly from the aircraft carrier ARA "Veinticinco de Mayo" by the 3rd Fighter/Attack Squadron ().


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The U.S. placed an embargo of spare parts in 1977 due to the Dirty War backing the Humphrey-Kennedy amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1976, the Carter administration placed an embargo on the sale of arms and spare parts to Argentina and on the training of its military personnel (which was lifted in the 1990s under Carlos Menem's presidency when Argentina became a major non-NATO ally). Ejection seats did not work and there were many other mechanical faults. In spite of this, A-4s still served well in the 1982 Falklands War.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: During the 1982 Falklands War, Argentina deployed 48 Skyhawk warplanes (26 A-4B, 12 A-4C and 10 A-4Q aircraft). Armed with unguided bombs and lacking any electronic or missile self-defense, Argentine Air Force Skyhawks sank the Type 42 destroyer and inflicted a variety of damage on several others: Type 21 frigate (subsequently sunk during attempted disposal of unexploded bombs), RFA "Sir Galahad" (subsequently scuttled as a war grave), Type 42 , , Type 22 frigate , and RFA "Sir Tristram".


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Argentine Navy A-4Qs, flying from Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego naval air station, also played a role in the bombing attacks against British ships, destroying the Type 21 .


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In all, 22 Skyhawks (10 A-4Bs, nine A-4Cs, and three A-4Qs) were lost to all causes in the six-week-long war. These losses included eight to British Sea Harriers, seven to ship-launched surface-to-air missiles, four to ground-launched surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire (including one to "friendly fire"), and three to crashes.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: After the war, Argentine Air Force A-4Ps and A-4Cs survivors were upgraded under the "Halcón" (Spanish for "falcon") program with DEFA cannons, air-to-air missiles, and other minor details, and merged into the 5th Air Brigade. All of these were withdrawn from service in 1999, and they were replaced with 36 of the much-improved Lockheed Martin OA/A-4AR Fightinghawk (rebuilt and modernised ex USMC A-4M). Several TA-4J and A-4E airframes were also delivered under the A-4AR program, mainly for spare parts use. The A-4AR was in service between the late 1990s and 2016 when the majority of the fleet was grounded for serviceability and age. A small number of airframes remained in service for limited roles. Three aircraft were lost to accidents.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In 1983, the United States vetoed the delivery by Israel of 24 A-4Hs for the Argentine Navy as the A-4Q replacement. The A-4Qs were finally retired in 1988.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Kuwaiti Air Force Skyhawks fought in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, the available Skyhawks flew attack missions against the advancing Iraqi forces from deserted roads after their bases were overrun. Twenty-four of the 29 A-4KUs that remained in service with Kuwait (36 had been delivered in the 1970s) escaped to Saudi Arabia. The escaped Skyhawks (along with escaped Dassault Mirage F1s) operated as the Free Kuwait Air Force, flying 1,361 sorties during the liberation of Kuwait.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Twenty-three A-4s survived the conflict and the Iraqi invasion, with only one A-4KU (KAF-828, BuNo. 160207) shot down by Iraqi radar-guided SAM on 17 January 1991. The pilot, Mohammed Mubarak, ejected and was taken prisoner. The remaining Kuwaiti Skyhawks were later sold to Brazil, where they served aboard the aircraft carrier NAe "São Paulo" prior to its decommissioning in February 2017.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Twenty A-4G Skyhawks were purchased by the Royal Australian Navy for operation from . The aircraft were acquired in two batches of 10, in 1967 and 1971, and were primarily used to provide air defence for the fleet. Ten of the A-4Gs were destroyed in accidents, and all the survivors were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In 1970, 10 A-4K single-seat aircraft and 4 TA-4K were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force, joining 75 Squadron. These were joined by 8 A-4G Skyhawk and 2 TA-4Gs from the Royal Australian Navy in 1984, which allowed a second Skyhawk-equipped squadron, 2 Squadron, to form. In 1986, Project Kahu was launched to upgrade New Zealand's Skyhawks with new avionics, including an AN/APG-66NZ radar based on that used by the F-16, and weapons, as a lower-cost alternative to buying new replacements. All 10 ex-RAN and the 12 surviving original RNZAF aircraft were converted to the A-4K Kahu standard.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In 2001 the three Air Combat Force squadrons (Nos 2, 14, and 75) were disbanded and the Skyhawks put into storage awaiting sale. They were maintained, with occasional servicing flights, and then moved to RNZAF Base Woodbourne, where they were preserved in protective latex. Draken International signed an agreement with the New Zealand government in 2012 to purchase eight A-4Ks and associated equipment for its adversary training services. Six were former RAN A-4G airframes which as carrier aircraft had logged significantly fewer flying hours. These were subsequently relocated to the U.S. at Draken's Lakeland Linder International Airport facility in Lakeland, Florida. The other A-4K aircraft were given to museums in New Zealand and Australia.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Due to the declining relationship between Indonesia and the Soviet Union, there was a lack of spare parts for military hardware supplied by the Communist Bloc. Soon, most of them were scrapped. The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) acquired A-4 Skyhawks to replace its Il-28 Beagles and Tu-16 Badgers in a covert operation with Israel, since both countries did not maintain diplomatic relationships. These A-4s were chosen because the IDF planned to retire its A-4 squadrons. The A-4 served the Indonesian Air Force from 1982 until 2003.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In 1982, Malaysia purchased 80 refurbished A-4C and A-4L under a modernization program called PERISTA. Forty of the airframes were upgraded with the Hughes AN/ASB-19 Angle Rate Bombing System, air refueling capability, and increased payload, while the rest were kept in the United States as a reserve and for spare parts. This modified version was redesignated as A-4PTM (peculiar to Malaysia).


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: The aircraft were delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in December 1984 where they served in the No.6 and No.9 RMAF Squadrons at Kuantan air base. While in service, they suffered from frequent maintenance issues and a high accident rate. In 1995, they were finally retired and replaced with BAE Systems Hawks.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: As of 2014, Brazil is the latest Skyhawk customer. In 1997 Brazil negotiated a $70 million contract for purchase of 20 A-4KU and three TA-4KU Skyhawks from Kuwait. Kuwait's Skyhawks, modified A-4Ms and TA-4Js delivered in 1977, were among the last of those models built by Douglas. The aircraft were selected by Brazil because of low flight time, excellent physical condition, and a favorable price. The Brazilian Navy re-designated AF-1 and AF-1A Falcões (Hawks), the Kuwaiti Skyhawks arrived in Arraial do Cabo on 5 September 1998.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: On 18 January 2001, an AF-1 trapped aboard the Brazilian aircraft carrier was later successfully catapulted, making Brazil's fixed-wing carrier force operational again after nearly two decades. To replace the aging "Minas Gerais", Brazil purchased the surplus French aircraft carrier on 15 November 2001. Renamed , the "new" carrier received extensive refitting before becoming operational in 2003. "Minas Gerais" was decommissioned and retired that year.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: On 14 April 2009, Embraer signed a contract to modernize 12 Brazilian Navy aircraft, nine AF-1s (single-seat) and three AF-1As (two-seat). This upgrade will restore the operating capacity of the Navy 1st Intercept and Attack Plane Squadron. The program includes restoring the aircraft and their current systems, as well as implementing new avionics, radar, power production, and autonomous oxygen generating systems. The first of the 12 modified Skyhawks was delivered on 27 May 2015. Embraer stated the modifications will allow the aircraft to remain operational until 2025.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: In 2017, the Brazilian Navy indicated that it was reconsidering the total number of aircraft to be modernized to AF-1B/C standard due to budget constraints and the decommissioning of the "São Paulo". Two AF-1Bs were delivered in 2015 and a further two of undisclosed type are to be delivered in 2017. It is believed that despite the loss of its only carrier, the Navy wants to retain the experience of carrier-based operations, and thus will not rescind the contract outright. As of 2022, there are 3 A-4s in service, with 3 used for training and the other aircraft on display.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Top Aces, formerly Discovery Air Defense Services, a private Canadian company contracted by the Canadian Armed Forces, Australian Defence Force, and Bundeswehr to provide air combat and fighter training, imported and registered ten A-4N and TA-4J aircraft. Discovery upgraded and modified the jets to be capable of Electronic Warfare training. Top Aces also operates A-4Ns under contract for training of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Another major civil user of A-4s for training support to military forces is US-based Draken International, which operates ex-New Zealand A-4Ks as part of a diverse fleet of jets. A-4s have previously been operated in the target support role in Germany by Tracor Flight Systems.


title: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

text: Given the number of air forces that operated the Skyhawk, a significant number have been preserved, either airworthy or on display. Preserved A-4s can be found in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, United States, and others.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller roles being filled by Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Salt, and Barnard Hughes. Set in New York City, "Midnight Cowboy" depicts the unlikely friendship between two hustlers: naïve sex worker Joe Buck (Voight), and ailing con man Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo (Hoffman).


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: At the 42nd Academy Awards, the film won three awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. "Midnight Cowboy" is the only X-rated film ever to win Best Picture. It has since been placed 36th on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and 43rd on its 2007 updated version.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: In 1994, "Midnight Cowboy" was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Joe Buck, a young Texan working as a dishwasher, quits his job and heads to New York City to become a male prostitute. Initially unsuccessful, he manages to bed a middle-aged woman, Cass, in her posh Park Avenue apartment. The encounter ends badly as he gives "her" money after she is insulted when he requests payment and it is implied that she is a high class prostitute herself.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Joe meets Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" Rizzo, a con man with a limp who takes $20 from him for introducing him to a pimp. After discovering that the alleged pimp is actually an unhinged religious fanatic, Joe flees in pursuit of Ratso but cannot find him. Joe spends his days wandering the city and sitting in his hotel room. Soon broke, he is locked out of his hotel room and his belongings are impounded.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Joe tries to make money by receiving oral sex from a young man in a movie theater, but learns after the act that the young man has no money. Joe threatens him and asks for his watch, but eventually lets him go unharmed. The next day, Joe spots Ratso and angrily shakes him down. Ratso offers to share the apartment in a condemned building where he is squatting. Joe reluctantly accepts his offer, and they begin a "business relationship" as hustlers. As they develop a friendship, Ratso's health grows steadily worse.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: In a series of flashbacks, Joe's grandmother raises him after his mother abandons him. He also has a tragic relationship with a girl named Annie. The film has successive flashbacks to an experience in which he and Annie were jumped while naked in a parked car and raped by a gang of cowboys. The rape affects Annie's mental stability to the point that she becomes insane and is driven away in the back of an ambulance taking her to a psychiatric institution. The viewer gains more information about the experience as the flashbacks accumulate.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Ratso tells Joe his father was an illiterate Italian immigrant shoeshiner whose job led to a bad back and lung damage from long-term exposure to shoe polish. Ratso learned shoeshining from his father but considers it degrading and generally refuses to do it, although he does shine Joe's cowboy boots to help him attract clients. Ratso harbors hopes of moving to Miami, shown in daydreams in which he and Joe frolic carefree on a beach and are surrounded by dozens of adoring middle-aged women.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: A Warhol-like filmmaker and an extrovert female artist approach Joe in a diner, taking his Polaroid photograph and handing him an invitation to a Warhol-esque art event (which incorporates actual Warhol superstars, including Viva, Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Joe Dallesandro and the Warhol-related filmmaker Paul Morrissey). Joe and Ratso attend, but Ratso's poor health and hygiene attract unwanted attention from several guests. Joe mistakes a joint for a cigarette and starts to hallucinate after taking several puffs, along with "uppers" he is offered. He leaves the party with Shirley, a socialite who agrees to pay him $20 for spending the night, but Joe cannot perform sexually. They play "Scribbage" together and the resulting wordplay leads Shirley to suggest that Joe may be gay; suddenly he is able to perform. The next morning, she sets up her female friend as Joe's next client and it appears that his career is finally taking off.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: When Joe returns home, Ratso is bedridden and feverish. He refuses medical help and begs Joe to put him on a bus to Florida. Desperate, Joe picks up a man in an amusement arcade and robs him during a violent encounter in the man's hotel room where Joe brutally beats the man. Joe buys bus tickets with the money he robbed from the man so he and Ratso can board a bus to Florida. During the trip, Ratso's health deteriorates further as he becomes incontinent and sweat-drenched.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: At a rest stop, Joe buys new clothing for Ratso and himself and discards his cowboy outfit. On the bus, Joe muses that there must be easier ways to earn a living than hustling, and tells Ratso he plans to get a regular job in Florida. When Ratso fails to respond, Joe realizes that he has died. The driver tells Joe there is nothing to do but continue to Miami and asks Joe to close Ratso's eyelids. Joe, with tears welling in his eyes, sits with his arm around his dead friend, alone.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: The opening scenes were filmed in Big Spring, Texas in 1968. A roadside billboard, stating "If you don't have an oil well...get one!" was shown as the New York-bound bus carrying Joe Buck rolled through Texas. Such advertisements, common in the Southwestern United States in the late 1960s and through the 1970s, promoted Eddie Chiles's Western Company of North America. In the film, Joe stays at the Hotel Claridge, at the southeast corner of Broadway and West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan. His room overlooked the northern half of Times Square. The building, designed by D. H. Burnham & Company and opened in 1911, was demolished in 1972. A motif featured three times throughout the New York scenes was the sign at the top of the facade of the Mutual of New York (MONY) Building at 1740 Broadway. It was extended into the "Scribbage" scene with Shirley the socialite, when Joe's incorrect spelling of the word "money" matched that of the sign.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Dustin Hoffman, who played a grizzled veteran of New York's streets, is from Los Angeles. Despite his portrayal of Joe Buck, a character hopelessly out of his element in New York, Jon Voight is a native New Yorker, hailing from Yonkers. Voight was paid "scale", or the Screen Actors Guild minimum wage, for his portrayal of Joe Buck, a concession he willingly made to obtain the part. Harrison Ford auditioned for the role of Joe Buck. Michael Sarrazin, who was Schlesinger's first preference, was cast as Joe Buck, only to be fired when unable to gain release from his contract with Universal.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: The character of Shirley, the bohemian socialite Joe hooks up with was allegedly based on socialite and Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: The line "I'm walkin' here!", which reached No. 27 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, is often said to have been improvised, but producer Jerome Hellman disputes this account on the 2-disc DVD set of "Midnight Cowboy". The scene, which originally had Ratso pretend to be hit by a taxi to feign an injury, is written into the first draft of the original script. Hoffman's version explained it differently on an installment of Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio". He stated that there were many takes to hit the traffic light just right so that they would not have to pause while walking. In that take, the timing was perfect, but a cab nearly hit them. Hoffman wanted to say, "We're filming a movie here!", but stayed in character, allowing the take to be used.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Upon initial review by the Motion Picture Association of America, "Midnight Cowboy" received a "Restricted" ("R") rating. However, after consulting with a psychologist, executives at United Artists were told to accept an "X" rating, due to the "homosexual frame of reference" and its "possible influence upon youngsters". The film was released with an X rating. The MPAA later broadened the requirements for the "R" rating to allow more content and raised the age restriction from fourteen to seventeen and above. The film was later rated "R" for a reissue in 1971.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: It took several hours to shoot the rape scene, and Jennifer Salt recalls the evening as an unsettling ordeal for her. The wardrobe crew had given Jennifer a nude-colored body suit to wear, but the night was so brutally hot and sticky that she quickly stripped it off. "I felt that the most horrible thing in the world was that people were seeing my bare ass, and that was so humiliating I could not even discuss it. And this kid was just on top of me and all over me and it hurt and no one gave a fuck and it was supposed to look like I was being raped. And I was screaming, screaming, and it was traumatic in some way that couldn't be acknowledged."


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Critical response to the film has been largely positive. Vincent Canby's lengthy 1969 "New York Times" review was blunt: "a slick, brutal (but not brutalizing) movie version of... Herlihy's 1965 novel. It is tough and good in important ways, although its style is oddly romantic and at variance with the laconic material... As long as the focus is on this world of cafeterias and abandoned tenements, of desperate conjunctions in movie balconies and doorways, of catchup and beans and canned heat, 'Midnight Cowboy' is so rough and vivid that it's almost unbearable... 'Midnight Cowboy' often seems to be exploiting its material for sensational or comic effect, but it is ultimately a moving experience that captures the quality of a time and a place. It's not a movie for the ages, but, having seen it, you won't ever again feel detached as you walk down West 42d Street, avoiding the eyes of the drifters, stepping around the little islands of hustlers and closing your nostrils to the smell of rancid griddles."


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" said of the film: "I cannot recall a more marvelous pair of acting performances in any one film." In a 25th anniversary retrospective in 1994, Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote: ""Midnight Cowboy"s peep-show vision of Manhattan lowlife may no longer be shocking, but what is shocking, in 1994, is to see a major studio film linger this lovingly on characters who have nothing to offer the audience but their own lost souls."


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: "Midnight Cowboy" holds an 89% approval rating on online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes as of 2022, with an average rating of 8.50/10, based on 114 reviews. The website's critical consensus states: "John Schlesinger's gritty, unrelentingly bleak look at the seedy underbelly of urban American life is undeniably disturbing, but Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight's performances make it difficult to turn away."


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: The film opened at the Coronet Theatre in New York City and grossed a house record $61,503 in its first week. In its tenth week of release, the film became number one in the United States with a weekly gross of $550,237 and was the highest-grossing movie in September 1969. The film earned $11 million in rentals in the United States and Canada in 1969 and added a further $5.3 million the following year when it was nominated and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It eventually earned rentals of $20.5 million.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: John Barry composed the score, winning a Grammy for Best Instrumental Theme, though he did not receive an on-screen credit. Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'" won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Male for Harry Nilsson. Schlesinger chose the song as its theme, and the song underscores the first act. Other songs considered for the theme included Nilsson's own "I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City" and Randy Newman's "Cowboy". Bob Dylan wrote "Lay Lady Lay" to serve as the theme song, but did not finish it in time. The movie's main theme, "Midnight Cowboy", featured harmonica by Toots Thielemans, but on its album version it was played by Tommy Reilly. The soundtrack album was released by United Artists Records in 1969.


title: Midnight Cowboy

text: More than five years after its theatrical release, "Midnight Cowboy" premiered on television on November 3, 1974. Twenty five minutes were edited out of the film due to censorship regulations and a natural desire for broader appeal. Although the cuts were approved by director John Schlesinger, critic Kay Gardella of the "New York Daily News" stated the film was "hacked up pretty badly."


title: Nutria

text: Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, "Myocastor" is now included within Echimyidae, the family of the spiny rats.


title: Nutria

text: The nutria lives in burrows alongside stretches of water, and feeds on river plant stems. Originally native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by fur farmers. Although it is still hunted and trapped for its fur in some regions, its destructive burrowing and feeding habits often bring it into conflict with humans, and it is considered an invasive species. Nutria also transmit various diseases to humans and animals mainly through water contamination.


title: Nutria

text: The genus name "Myocastor" derives from the two Ancient Greek words (), meaning "rat, mouse", and (), meaning "beaver". Literally, therefore, the name "Myocastor" means "mouse beaver".


title: Nutria

text: Two names are commonly used in English for "Myocastor coypus". The name "nutria" (from Spanish word "nutria", meaning 'otter') is generally used in North America, Asia, and throughout countries of the former Soviet Union; however, in most Spanish-speaking countries, the word "nutria" refers primarily to the otter. To avoid this ambiguity, the name "coypu" or "coipo" (derived from the Mapudungun language) is used in South America and parts of Europe. In France, the nutria is known as a "ragondin". In Dutch, it is known as "beverrat" (beaver rat). In German, it is known as "Nutria", "Biberratte" (beaver rat), or "Sumpfbiber" (swamp beaver). In Italy, instead, the popular name is, as in North America and Asia, "nutria", but it is also called "castorino" ("little beaver"), by which its fur is known in Italy. In Swedish, the animal is known as "sumpbäver" (marsh/swamp beaver). In Brazil, the animal is known as "ratão-do-banhado" (big swamp rat), "nútria", or "caxingui" (the last from the Tupi language).


title: Nutria

text: The nutria was first described by Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782 as "Mus coypus", a member of the mouse genus. The genus "Myocastor" was assigned in 1792 by Robert Kerr. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, independently of Kerr, named the species "Myopotamus coypus", and it is occasionally referred to by this name.


title: Nutria

text: "M. c. bonariensis", the subspecies present in the northernmost (subtropical) part of the nutria's range, is believed to be the type of nutria most commonly introduced to other continents.


title: Nutria

text: Comparison of DNA and protein sequences showed that the genus "Myocastor" is the sister group to the genus "Callistomys" (painted tree-rats). In turn, these two taxa share evolutionary affinities with other Myocastorini genera: "Proechimys" and "Hoplomys" (armored rats) on the one hand, and "Thrichomys" on the other hand.


title: Nutria

text: The nutria somewhat resembles a very large rat, or a beaver with a small, long and skinny hairless tail. Adults are typically in weight, and in body length, with a tail. It is possible for nutria to weigh up to , although adults usually average . Nutria have three sets of fur. The guard hairs on the outer coat are three inches long. They have coarse, darkish brown midlayer fur with soft dense grey under fur, also called the nutria. Three distinguishing features are a white patch on the muzzle, webbed hind feet, and large, bright orange-yellow incisors. They have approximately 20 teeth with four large incisors that grow during the entirety of their lives. The orange discoloration is due to pigment staining from the mineral iron in the tooth enamel. Nutria have prominent four inch long whiskers on each side of their muzzle or cheek area. The mammary glands and nipples of female nutria are high on her flanks, to allow their young to feed while the female is in the water. There is no visible distinction between male and female nutria. Both are similar in coloring and weight.


title: Nutria

text: A nutria is often mistaken for a muskrat ("Ondatra zibethicus"), another widely dispersed, semiaquatic rodent that occupies the same wetland habitats. The muskrat, however, is smaller and more tolerant of cold climates, and has a laterally flattened tail it uses to assist in swimming, whereas the tail of a nutria is round. It can also be mistaken for a small beaver, as beavers and nutrias have very similar anatomies and habitats. However, beavers' tails are flat and paddle-like, as opposed to the round tails of coypus.


title: Nutria

text: Nutria can live up to six years in captivity, but individuals uncommonly live past three years old. According to one study, 80% of nutrias die within the first year, and less than 15% of a wild population is over three years old. A nutria is considered to have reached old age at four years old. Male nutrias reach sexual maturity as early as four months, and females as early as three months; however, both can have a prolonged adolescence, up to the age of 9 months. Once a female is pregnant, gestation lasts 130 days, and she may give birth to as few as one or as many as 13 offspring. Average nutria reproduction is four offspring. Female nutria will mate within two days after offspring are born. The years of reproduction cycle by litter size. Year one might be large, year two litter size will be smaller and year three the litter size will be another larger size. Females can only produce six litters in her life, rarely seven litters. A female on average will have two litters a year.


title: Nutria

text: They generally line nursery nests with grasses and soft reeds. Baby nutrias are precocial, born fully furred and with open eyes; they can eat vegetation and swim with their parents within hours of birth. A female nutria can become pregnant again the day after she gives birth to her young. If timed properly, a female can become pregnant three times within a year. Newborn nutrias nurse for seven to eight weeks, after which they leave their mothers. Nutria have been known to be territorial and aggressive when caught or cornered. They will bite and attack humans and dogs when threatened. Nutria are mainly crepuscular or nocturnal, with most activity occurring around dusk and sunset with highest activity around midnight. When food is scarce, nutria will forage during the day. When food is plentiful, nutria will rest and groom during the day.


title: Nutria

text: Native to subtropical and temperate South America, it has been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by fur ranchers.


title: Nutria

text: The distribution of nutrias outside South America tends to contract or expand with successive cold or mild winters. During cold winters, nutrias often suffer frostbite on their tails, leading to infection or death. As a result, populations of nutrias often contract and even become locally or regionally extinct as in the Scandinavian countries and such US states as Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska during the 1980s. During mild winters, their ranges tend to expand northward. For example, in recent years, range expansions have been noted in Washington and Oregon, as well as Delaware.


title: Nutria

text: According to the U.S. Geological Survey, nutria were first introduced to the United States in California, in 1899. They were first brought to Louisiana in the early 1930s for the fur industry, and the population was kept in check, or at a small population size, because of trapping pressure from the fur traders. The earliest account of nutria spreading freely into Louisiana wetlands from their enclosures was in the early 1940s; a hurricane hit the Louisiana coast for which many people were unprepared, and the storm destroyed the enclosures, enabling the nutria to escape into the wild. According to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, nutria were also transplanted from Port Arthur, Texas, to the Mississippi River in 1941 and then spread due to a hurricane later that year.


title: Nutria

text: Besides breeding quickly, each nutria consumes large amounts of vegetation. An individual consumes about 25% of its body weight daily, and feeds year-round. Being one of the world's larger extant rodents, a mature, healthy nutria averages in weight, but they can reach as much as . They eat the base of the above-ground stems of plants, and often dig through soil for roots and rhizomes to eat. Nutria eat parts and whole plants, and go after roots, rhizomes, tubers and black willow tree bark in the winter. Their creation of "eat-outs", areas where a majority of the above- and below-ground biomass has been removed, produces patches in the environment, which in turn disrupts the habitat for other animals and humans dependent on wetlands and marshes. Nutria eat the following plant varieties: cattail, rushes, reeds, arrowheads, flatsedges, and cordgrasses. Commercial crops that nutria also eat are lawn grasses, alfalfa, corn, rice, and sugarcane.


title: Nutria

text: Nutrias are found most commonly in freshwater marshes and wetlands, but also inhabit brackish marshes and rarely salt marshes. They either construct their own burrows, or occupy burrows abandoned by beaver, muskrats, or other animals. They are also capable of constructing floating rafts out of vegetation. Nutria live in partially underwater dens. The main chamber is not submerged underground. Nutria are considered to be a species that lives in colonies. One male will share a den with three or four females and their offspring. Nutria use "feeding platforms" which are constructed in the water from cut pieces of vegetation supported by a structure like a log or branches. Muskrat dens and beaver lodges are also often used as feeding platforms.


title: Nutria

text: Local extinction in their native range due to overharvesting led to the development of nutria fur farms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first farms were in Argentina and then later in Europe, North America, and Asia. These farms have generally not been successful long-term investments, and farmed nutria often are released or escape as operations become unprofitable. The first attempt at nutria farming was in France in the early 1880s, but it was not much of a success. The first efficient and extensive nutria farms were located in South America in the 1920s. The South American farms were very successful, and led to the growth of similar farms in North America and Europe. Nutrias from these farms often escaped, or were deliberately released into the wild to provide a game animal or to remove aquatic vegetation.


title: Nutria

text: Nutrias were introduced to the Louisiana ecosystem in the 1930s, when they escaped from fur farms that had imported them from South America. Nutria were released into the wild by at least one Louisiana nutria farmer in 1933 and these releases were followed by E. A. McIlhenny who released his entire stock in 1945 on Avery Island. In 1940, some of the nutria escaped during a hurricane and quickly populated coastal marshes, inland swamps, and other wetland areas. From Louisiana, nutrias have spread across the Southern United States, wreaking havoc on marshland.


title: Nutria

text: Following a decline in demand for nutria fur, nutria have since become pests in many areas, destroying aquatic vegetation, marshes, and irrigation systems, and chewing through man-made items such as tires and wooden house panelling in Louisiana, eroding river banks, and displacing native animals. Damage in Louisiana has been sufficiently severe since the 1950s to warrant legislative attention; in 1958, the first bounty was placed on nutria, though this effort was not funded. By the early 2000s, the Coastwide Nutria Control Program was established, which began paying bounties for nutria killed in 2002. In the Chesapeake Bay region in Maryland, where they were introduced in the 1940s, nutrias are believed to have destroyed of marshland in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. In response, by 2003, a multimillion-dollar eradication program was underway.


title: Nutria

text: In the United Kingdom, nutrias were introduced to East Anglia, for fur, in 1929; many escaped and damaged the drainage works, and a concerted programme by MAFF eradicated them by 1989. However, in 2012, a "giant rat" was killed in County Durham, with authorities suspecting the animal was, in fact, a nutria.


title: Nutria

text: There is only a small selection of game meat websites on the internet where you can purchase nutria meat for consumption. There are no restaurants that advertise nutria meat dishes currently. In 1997 and 1998, Louisiana attempted to educate the public to consume nutria meat. Nutria meat is leaner with a lower fat content and lower in cholesterol compared to ground beef. In an effort to encourage Louisianians to eat nutria, several recipes were distributed to locals and published on the internet. People in poor and rural Louisiana have trapped and consumed nutria meat for decades.


title: Nutria

text: Marsh Dog, a US company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, received a grant from the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program to establish a company that uses nutria meat for dog food products. In 2012, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation recognized Marsh Dog with "Business Conservationist of the Year" award for finding a use for this eco-sustainable protein. A claimed environmentally sound solution is the use of nutria meat to make dog food treats.


title: Nutria

text: In Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, nutria (Russian and local languages Нутрия) are farmed on private plots and sold in local markets as a poor man's meat. As of 2016, however, the meat is used successfully in Moscow restaurant Krasnodar Bistro, as part of the growing Russian localvore movement and as a 'foodie' craze. It appears on the menu as a burger, hotdog, dumplings, or wrapped in cabbage leaves, with the flavour being somewhere between turkey and pork.


title: Nutria

text: Nutria herbivory "severely reduces overall wetland biomass and can lead to the conversion of wetland to open water. " Unlike other common disturbances in marshlands, such as fire and tropical storms, which are a once- or few-times-a-year occurrence, nutria feed year round, so their effects on the marsh are constant. Also, nutria are typically more destructive in the winter than in the growing season, due largely to the scarcity of above-ground vegetation; as nutria search for food, they dig up root networks and rhizomes for food. While nutria are the most common herbivores in Louisiana marshes, they are not the only ones. Feral hogs, also known as wild boars ("Sus scrofa"), swamp rabbits ("Sylvilagus aquaticus"), and muskrats ("Ondatra zibethicus") are less common, but feral hogs are increasing in number in Louisiana wetlands. On plots open to nutria herbivory, 40% less vegetation was found than in plots guarded against nutria by fences. This number may seem insignificant, and indeed herbivory alone is not a serious cause of land loss, but when herbivory was combined with an additional disturbance, such as fire, single vegetation removal, or double vegetation removal to simulate a tropical storm, the effect of the disturbances on the vegetation were greatly amplified. " Essentially, this means, as different factors were added together, the result was less overall vegetation. Adding fertilizer to open plots did not promote plant growth; instead, nutria fed more in the fertilized areas. Increasing fertilizer inputs in marshes only increases nutria biomass instead of the intended vegetation, therefore increasing nutrient input is not recommended.


title: Nutria

text: Wetlands in general are a valuable resource both economically and environmentally. For instance, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined wetlands covered only 5% of the land surface of the contiguous 48 United States, but they support 31% of the nation's plant species. These very biodiverse systems provide resources, shelter, nesting sites, and resting sites (particularly Louisiana's coastal wetlands such as Grand Isle for migratory birds) to a wide array of wildlife. Human users also receive many benefits from wetlands, such as cleaner water, storm surge protection, oil and gas resources (especially on the Gulf Coast), reduced flooding, and chemical and biological waste reduction, to name a few. In Louisiana, rapid wetland loss occurs due to a variety of reasons; this state loses an estimated area about the size of a football field every hour. The problem became so serious that Sheriff Harry Lee of Jefferson Parish used SWAT sharpshooters against the animals.


title: Nutria

text: In 1998, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) conducted the first Louisiana coast-wide survey, which was funded by the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act and titled the Nutria Harvest and Wetland Demonstration Program, to evaluate the condition of the marshlands. The survey revealed through aerial surveys of transects that herbivory damage to wetlands totaled roughly . The next year, LDWF performed the same survey and found the area damaged by herbivory increased to about . The LDWF has determined the wetlands affected by nutria decreased from an estimated minimum of of Louisiana wetlands in 2002–2003 season to about during the 2010–2011 season. The LDWF stresses that coastal wetland restoration projects will be greatly hindered without effective, sustainable nutria population control.


title: Nutria

text: In addition to direct environmental damage, nutrias are the host for a roundworm nematode parasite ("Strongyloides myopotami") that can infect the skin of humans, causing dermatitis similar to strongyloidiasis. The condition is also called "nutria itch". Other parasites they can host are tapeworms, liver flukes, and blood flukes. Waterbody contamination by nutria occurs through urine and feces. Nutria also host fleas, ticks and chewing louse. They can carry several zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans). They are reservoirs for salmonellosis, encephalomyocarditis virus, chlamydia psittaci and antibiotic resistant bacteria, Aeromonas spp. Other zoonotic disease of concern they are host reservoirs for are mycobacterium tuberculosis, septicemia, toxoplasmosis, and rickettsiosis. According to the CDC, nutria carry two out of eight diseases of concern for the United States, rabies and salmonellosis. Nutria are considered a global alien species and have potential to spread disease to livestock and humans. Nutria are found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Native to the southern hemisphere and spreading globally requires preventive monitoring for zoonotic disease transmission. Currently nutria immigration is monitored for habitat destruction of wetlands, farmlands, marshes and is measured in habitat loss in acres. Increased local awareness of viral, bacterial and parasitic transmission from nutria to humans and livestock will be of greater importance as climate change progresses.


title: Nutria

text: As a global alien species, nutria are monitored and managed throughout the world. Many countries have attempted eradication efforts with varying degrees of success.


title: Nutria

text: Nutria are predicted to expand their range northward over the next century as global temperatures increase. As climate change progresses, eradication efforts will increase globally.


title: Nutria

text: Nutrias are classed as a "prohibited new organism" under New Zealand's Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing it from being imported into the country.


title: Nutria

text: In the UK, nutria escaped from fur farms and were reported in the wild as early as 1932. There were three unsuccessful attempts to control nutria in east Great Britain between 1943 and 1944. Nutria population and range increased, causing damage to agriculture in the 1950s. During the 1960s, a grant was awarded to rabbit clearance societies that included nutria. This control allowed for the removal of 97,000 nutria in 1961 and 1962. From 1962 to 1965, 12 trappers were hired to eradicate as many nutria as possible near the Norfolk Broads. The campaign used live traps allowing non-target species to be released while any nutria caught were shot. Combined with cold winters in 1962 to 1963, almost 40,500 nutria were removed from the population. Although nutria populations were greatly reduced after the 1962–1965 campaign ended, the population increased until another eradication campaign began in 1981. This campaign succeeded in fully eradicating nutria in Great Britain. The trapping areas were broken into 8 sectors leaving no area uncontrolled. The 24 trappers were offered an incentive for early completion of the 10-year campaign. In 1989 nutria were assumed eradicated as only 3 males were found between 1987 and 1989.


title: Nutria

text: This species is included since 2016 in the EU list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.


title: Nutria

text: A nutria was first sighted in the wild in Ireland in 2010. Some nutria escaped from a pet farm in Cork City in 2015 and began breeding on the outskirts of the city. Ten were trapped on the Curraheen River in 2017, but the rodents continued to spread, reaching Dublin via the Royal Canal in 2019. Animals were found along the River Mulkear in 2015. The National Biodiversity Data Centre issued a species alert in 2017, saying that nutria "[have] the potential to be a high impact invasive species in Ireland. […] This species is listed as among 100 of the worst invasive species in Europe."


title: Nutria

text: Nutria were introduced to Japan in 1939. They were imported from France during World War II to support food shortages as well as the fur trade. After the war in 1950, many nutria were released en mass or escaped, and became one of Japan's worst invasive species, damaging river banks, rice fields and other valuable crops. In 1963 an eradication program was started to remove nutria but has shown little to no success. Nutria are still present in Japan and there is currently a restriction on importing, transporting and obtaining nutria per the Invasive Alien Species Act established in 2004.


title: Nutria

text: Nutria herbivory "is perhaps the least studied or quantified aspect of wetland loss". Many coastal restoration projects involve planting vegetation to stabilize marshland, but this requires proper nutria control to be successful.


title: Nutria

text: The Louisiana Coastwide Nutria Control Program provides incentives for harvesting nutria. Starting in 2002, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) performed aerial surveys just as they had done for the Nutria Harvest and Wetland Demonstration Program, only it is now under a different program title. Under the Coastwide Nutria Control Program, which also receives funds from CWPPRA, 308,160 nutria were harvested the first year (2002–2003), revealing damaged and totaling $1,232,640 in incentive payments paid out to those legally participating in the program. Essentially, once a person receives a license to hunt or trap nutria, then that person is able to capture an unlimited number. When a nutria is captured, the tail is cut off and turned in to a Coastal Environments Inc. official at an approved site. As of 2019, each nutria tail is worth $6 which is an increase from $4 before the 2006–2007 season. Nutria harvesting increased drastically during the 2009–2010 year, with 445,963 nutria tails turned in worth $2,229,815 in incentive payments. Each CEI official keeps record of how many tails have been turned in by each individual per parish, the method used in capture of the nutria, and the location of capture. All of this information is transferred to a database to calculate the density of nutria across the Louisiana coast, and the LDWF combines these data with the results from the aerial surveys to determine the number of nutria remaining in the marshes and the amount of damage they are inflicting on the ecosystem.


title: Nutria

text: Another program executed by LDWF involves creating a market of nutria meat for human consumption, though it is still trying to gain public notice. Nutria is a very lean, protein-rich meat, low in fat and cholesterol with the taste, texture, and appearance of rabbit or dark turkey meat. Few pathogens are associated with the meat, but proper heating when cooking should kill them. The quality of the meat and the minimal harmful microorganisms associated with it make nutria meat an "excellent food product for export markets".


title: Nutria

text: Several desirable control methods are currently ineffective for various reasons. Zinc phosphide is the only rodenticide currently registered to control nutria, but it is expensive, remains toxic for months, detoxifies in high humidity and rain, and requires construction of expensive floating rafts for placement of the chemical. It is not yet sure how many nontarget species are susceptible to zinc phosphide, but birds and rabbits have been known to die from ingestion. Therefore, this chemical is rarely used, especially not in large-scale projects. Other potential chemical pesticides would be required by the US Environmental Protection Agency to undergo vigorous testing before they could be acceptable to use on nutria. The LDWF has estimated costs for new chemicals to be $300,000 for laboratory, chemistry, and field studies, and $500,000 for a mandatory Environmental Impact Statement. Contraception is not a common form of control, but is preferred by some wildlife managers. It also is expensive to operate - an estimated $6 million annually to drop bait laced with birth-control chemicals. Testing of other potential contraceptives would take about five to eight years and $10 million, with no guarantee of FDA approval. Also, an intensive environmental assessment would have to be completed to determine whether any non-target organisms were affected by the contraceptive chemicals. Neither of these control methods is likely to be used in the near future.


title: Nutria

text: In Louisiana, a claimed environmentally sound solution is the killing of nutria to make dog food treats.


title: Nutria

text: An eradication program on the Delmarva Peninsula, between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic coast, where they once numbered in the tens of thousands and had destroyed thousands of hectares of marshland, had nearly succeeded by 2012. In September 2022 government officials announced that nutria have been completely eradicated on the Maryland Eastern Shore.


title: Nutria

text: The first records of nutria invading California dates from the 1940s and 1950s, when the species was found in the agriculture-rich Central Valley and the south coast of the state, but by the 1970s the animals had been extirpated statewide. They were found again in Merced County in 2017, on the edge of the San Joaquin River Delta. State officials are concerned that they will harm infrastructure that sends water to San Joaquin Valley farms and urban areas. In 2019, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) received nearly $2 million in Governor Gavin Newsom's first budget, and an additional $8.5 million via the Delta Conservancy (a state agency focused on the Delta) to be spent over the course of three years. The state has adopted an eradication campaign based on the successful effort in the Chesapeake Bay, including strategies such as the "Judas nutria" (in which individualized nutria are caught, sterilized, fitted with radio collars, and released, whereupon they can be tracked by hunters as they return to their colonies) and the use of trained dogs. The state has also reversed a prior "no-hunting" policy, although hunting the animals does require a license. California currently has a restriction on importation and transportation without a permit. If nutria are found or captured in the state of California, local authorities must be notified right away and the nutria cannot be released. Licensed hunters in the state of California may hunt nutria as a non-game animal. Eradication programs are not advised in California due to native species of muskrat and beaver being misidentified.


title: Methuselah

text: Methuselah () ( "Məṯūšélaḥ", in pausa "Məṯūšālaḥ", "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword"; "Mathousalas") was a biblical patriarch and a figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He had the longest lifespan of all those given in the Bible, dying at the age of 969. According to the Book of Genesis, Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah. Elsewhere in the Bible, Methuselah is mentioned in genealogies in 1 Chronicles and the Gospel of Luke.


title: Methuselah

text: His life is described in further detail in extra-biblical religious texts such as the Book of Enoch, Slavonic Enoch, and the Book of Moses. Bible commentators have offered various explanations as to why the Book of Genesis describes him as having died at such an advanced age; some believe that Methuselah's age is the result of a mistranslation, while others believe that his age is used to give the impression that part of Genesis takes place in a very distant past. Methuselah's name has become synonymous with longevity, and he has been portrayed and referenced in film, television and music.


title: Methuselah

text: Methuselah is a biblical patriarch mentioned in Genesis 5:21–27, as part of the genealogy linking Adam to Noah. The following is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible:


title: Methuselah

text: According to the Bible, Methuselah died the year of the flood but the Bible does not record whether he died during or prior to the flood. He was also the oldest of all the figures mentioned in the Bible. Methuselah is mentioned once in the Hebrew Bible outside of Genesis, in he is mentioned in a genealogy of Saul. Methuselah is mentioned a single time in the New Testament, when the Gospel of Luke traces Jesus' lineage back to Adam in Luke 3.


title: Methuselah

text: The apocryphal Book of Enoch claims to be revelations of Enoch, transcribed by him and entrusted to be preserved for future generations by his son, Methuselah. In this book, Enoch recounts two visions he has had to Methuselah. The first is about the Genesis flood narrative, and the second chronicles the history of the world from Adam to the Last Judgment. In the latter vision, men are represented as animals – the righteous are white cattle and sheep, the sinners and enemies of Israel are black cattle and wild animals. Following his father's death in the Book of Enoch, Methuselah is designated by God as a priest, while Methuselah's grandson, Noah's brother Nir, is designated by God as his successor. In Slavonic Enoch, Methuselah asks his father for a blessing, and is given instructions on how to live righteously. After their father ascends into heaven, Methuselah and his brothers build an altar and made "a great festivity, praising God who had given such a sign by means of Enoch, who had found favor with Him."


title: Methuselah

text: The Book of Jubilees presents itself as "the history of the division of the days of the Law, of the events of the years, the year-weeks, and the jubilees of the world" and claims to be a revelation of God to Moses, given through the Angel of the Presence in addition to the written Law received by Moses on Mount Sinai; and, while the written Law was to be imparted to all, this was to be a secret tradition entrusted only to the saints of each generation, to Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, and Shem, then to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Levi, and finally to the priests and scribes of the latter times.


title: Methuselah

text: Rabbinic literature states that when Noah was 480 years old all the righteous men were dead, except Methuselah and himself. At God's command they both announced that 120 years would be given to men for repentance; if in that time they had not mended their evil ways, the earth would be destroyed. But their plea was in vain; even while Noah was engaged in building the ark, the wicked - who were of immense stature as they were descended from the sons of God - made sport of him and his work, saying: "If the Flood should come, it could not harm us. We are too tall; and, moreover, we could close up with our feet [which were of monstrous size] the springs from below." They resorted to these tactics; but God heated the water, and their feet and the flesh of their bodies was scalded.


title: Methuselah

text: The 17th century midrashic Sefer haYashar ("Book of Jasher") describes Methuselah with his grandson Noah attempting to persuade the people of the earth to return to godliness. All other very long-lived people died, and Methuselah was the only one of this class left. God planned to bring the flood after all the men who walked in the ways of the Lord had died (besides Noah and his family). Methuselah lived until the ark was built, but died before the flood, since God had promised he would not be killed with the unrighteous. The Sefer haYashar gives Methuselah's age at death as 960.


title: Methuselah

text: Methuselah (Arabic: "Mattūshalakh") is also mentioned in Islam in the various collections of stories of the pre-Islamic prophets, which also say he was an ancestor of Noah. Furthermore, early Islamic writers like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included his name in the genealogy of Muhammad.


title: Methuselah

text: The Book of Moses, a Mormon text, says that after Enoch and the City of Zion were taken up to heaven, Methusaleh stayed behind; this was so that God's promises to Enoch – that he would always have descendants on earth and that he would be an ancestor of Noah – would be fulfilled. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints further teaches that Methuselah was a prophet.


title: Methuselah

text: Interpretations of the Bible following biblical literalism take Methuselah's 969 years to be 969 solar years. Some literalists attempt to give certain arguments for how this could be: early humans had a better diet, or a water vapor canopy protected the earth from radiation before the Flood. Others introduce theological causes: humans were originally to have everlasting life, but sin was introduced into the world by Adam and Eve, its influence became greater with each generation, and God progressively shortened human life, particularly after the Flood. The "Catholic Encyclopedia" says "Certain exegetes solve the difficulty to their own satisfaction by declaring that the year meant by the sacred writer is not the equivalent of our year."


title: Methuselah

text: Some believe that Methuselah's extreme age is the result of an ancient mistranslation that converted "months" to "years", producing a more credible 969 lunar months, or 78½ years, but the same calculation applied to Enoch would have him fathering Methuselah at the age of 5 using numbers from the Masoretic Text. Donald V. Etz suggested that the Genesis 5 numbers "might for convenience have all been multiples of 5 or 10".


title: Methuselah

text: Ellen Bennet argued that the Septuagint Genesis 5 numbers are in tenths of years, which "will explain how it was that they read 930 years for the age of Adam instead of 93 years, and 969 years for Methuselah instead of 96 years, and 950 years for that of Noah instead of 95 years"... "Surely it is much more rational to conclude that Noah lived 50 years instead of 500 years before he took a wife and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth..." and then lists the Septuagint total ages with decimal points: 93.0 for Adam, 91.0 for Cainan, 96.9 for Methuselah, 95.0 for Noah, etc.


title: Methuselah

text: Yigal Levin states that these long lifespans are intended simply to speed the reader from Adam to Noah. Claus Westermann states they are intended to create the impression of a distant past.


title: Methuselah

text: Some versions of the Sumerian King List mention a character named Ubara-Tutu who seems almost identical to Methuselah. He was the son of En-men-dur-ana, a Sumerian mythological figure often compared to Enoch, as he entered heaven without dying. Ubara-Tutu was the king of Sumer until a flood swept over his land. Although the ages of Methuselah and Ubara-Tutu are different, they both died in a Great Flood. Babylonian writer Berossus also claims that, prior to the events of Babylon's flood myth, kings could live for tens of thousands of years, which bears some similarity to Genesis 5. In "Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity", Lucian Boia says that the Bible's portrayal of Methuselah and other long lived figures features "traces of the Mesopatamian legends" found in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", where Gilgamesh rules Uruk for 126 years, and his ancestors are said to have ruled for several hundred years each. Boia also notes that tales of kings who lived for thousands of years can be found in both Indian and Chinese mythology, and that the Bible is comparatively "restrained" in depicting early humans as being able to live for hundreds of years, rather than thousands.


title: Methuselah

text: Boia notes that following the Flood, the Bible depicts its characters' lifespans as gradually diminishing; Noah's sons lived between 400 and 500 years, while Abraham died at 175, Moses died at 120, and David died at 70, an age that the Bible portrays as old for David's time period. Boia compares early biblical figures and their vast lifespans to the people of the Golden Age in Hesiod's poem "Works and Days", whose bodies are perpetually youthful.


title: Methuselah

text: Methuselah's father Enoch, who does not die but is taken by God, is the seventh patriarch, and Methuselah, the eighth, dies in the year of the Flood, which ends the ten-generational sequence from Adam to Noah, in whose time the world is destroyed. Boia believes that Methuselah serves the symbolic function of linking the Creation and the Flood, as Adam would have died during Methuselah's lifetime and Methuselah could have learned about the Garden of Eden from Adam. The kings of the "Sumerian King List" lived for over a thousand years, and Mesopotamians believed both that living over a thousand years made someone divine or somewhat divine, and that their contemporary kings were descended from the kings of the "Sumerian King List". Robert Gnuse hypothesizes that the author of Genesis made all of its characters die before they turned one-thousand as a polemic against these Mesopotamian beliefs, as well as any claim that a king is divine. Gnuse also believes that the author of Genesis said that Methuselah died before he lived a thousand years to show that he was not divine.


title: Methuselah

text: According to the "Catholic Encyclopedia", Methuselah's name "has become a synonym for longevity". Saying that someone is "as old as Methuselah" is a humorous way of saying that someone is very elderly. In this context, dogs which have lived long lives have been described as "Methuselah dogs".


title: Methuselah

text: The word "Methuselarity", a blend of Methuselah and singularity, was coined in 2010 by the biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey to mean a future point in time where people are expected not to die from age-related causes anymore, however long they live.


title: Methuselah

text: A -year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine ("Pinus longaeva") tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California is called Methuselah.


title: Methuselah

text: The lyrics of Ira Gershwin's song "It Ain't Necessarily So" (1935) cast doubt on various aspects of the Bible, such as the idea that Methuselah lived so long, the idea that the devil is evil, the story of Jonah, and the story of David and Goliath.


title: Methuselah

text: In the 1970s mathematician John Conway introduced the Game of Life, a cellular automaton. In cellular automata, methuselahs refer to a small initial state of cells that continue to grow for a large number of generations.


title: Methuselah

text: The character Flint from the "" episode "Requiem for Methuselah" is a nearly-immortal man who was born in ancient Mesopotamia. His identities include Methuselah, Alexander the Great, Solomon, Lazarus of Bethany, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Brahms. Flint becomes lonely after living for a time on a deserted planet, and creates an immortal gynoid to keep him company. He eventually begins to slowly die because he left Earth's atmosphere, and dedicates the remainder of his days to the betterment of Mankind.


title: Methuselah

text: Thor Kjartansson played a young Methuselah in Darren Aronofsky's 2014 film "Noah," with Anthony Hopkins playing the adult one. In the film, Noah's adopted daughter Ila (played by Emma Watson) is infertile until Methuselah blesses her. Aronofsky's version of Methuselah is a hermit who lives on a mountaintop. In this retelling of the Genesis flood narrative, Methuselah dies during the deluge.


title: Methuselah

text: In the TV series "Altered Carbon", based on Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel of the same name, a class of people who can afford to live forever by transferring their consciousness into cloned bodies are called "Meths" or "Methuselahs."


title: Methuselah

text: In 2016, it was announced that producer David Heyman would produce a biblical epic starring Tom Cruise as Methuselah with Joachim Rønning to direct. The film is set to show Methuselah as never aging and possessing "unparalleled survival skills."