If you walk through any kind of woods, you might hear a rapid tapping sound nearby. This is most likely the woodpecker, looking for a bite to eat, or making itself a new home. Meet The Woodpecker Most woodpeckers have four toes, two face forward and two face backward. These, along with their short legs …
Tag: design
The African Elephant’s Ears
How do you tell the difference between an African elephant and an Indian elephant? Answer: the size of its ears. An African elephant’s ears are three times the size of the Asian elephant’s ears, and weigh in at a hundred pounds each! They each have a surface area of 3000 in², more than 50% of …
The Elephant’s Trunk
The name ‘elephant’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘ivory.’ This animal, the largest of all land creatures, lives up to 70 years or longer. The parents must wait 22 months for the birth of their baby but it weighs in at 260 pounds! Eventually, the calf will reach an average of six tons and …
Mutualism
Symbiosis, or mutualism, is a common phenomenon in nature. Simply stated, it means that two living creatures help each other to the benefit of both. A parasite benefits to the detriment of its prey. But in mutualism, both the giver and receiver are helped. Here is an example: when ticks bore into the hide of …
Couch’s Spadefoot Toad
A Surprising Discovery! We lived for six years south of Tucson, Arizona, the eastern part of the Sonoran Desert. The climate was certainly different from Wisconsin where my wife and I grew up. There we could go weeks without rain, without even a cloud in the sky. The annual rainfall in our area was 12 …