B R O W N B U L L H E A D C A T F I S H
F I S H
Bottom dweller.
Thrives off dead animals drifting to the murky
bottom of lakes and rivers. Here the waters
are so thick with silt, mud and debris that one's
eyes are useless. To compensate the catfish
has a great sense of smell that guides them to
their meal, and tenacles around their mouth
allowing them to feel about the muck to find
their food.
R E D S A L A M A N D E R
A M P H I B I A N
Lungless. They breath through their skin.
Very inefficient method of getting oxygen
to the animal's cells deep inside. Relying
on the passive diffusion of gas drastically
limits the size of an animal. The salamander
pictured here is no more than five inches long.
It fits comfortably in the palm of your hand.
Here's a biological engineering problem
common to both salamanders and lizards.
Their legs stick out of their side instead of
underneath. Consequently, they are constantly
dragging their belly over the ground everywhere
they go.
Imagine horses running the Preakness
with their legs like oars sticking out the side
of a boat. You might as well saddle up
on a potted plant.
A L L I G A T O R S N A P P I N G T U R T L E
R E P T I L E
Comes from a tough neighborhood.
This guy is armored head to tail and
has a bite that will amputate your foot.
It rules over lakes and streams, wherever
it lives. What could possibly threaten this
reptile armed with a bone-crushing beak?
Probably another snapping turtle...
one that wants your territory, figuring
you're too old to defend what's yours.
You are.
Soon you become just another item on
a catfish's menu.
P I L E A T E D W O O D P E C K E R
B I R D
Banging your head against the wall is hard
on the brain. If you've heard a woodpecker
doing their job you know they bang their head
several times a second. Just a couple of those
hits would put an NFL quarterback in concussion
protocol.
In the real world of cause and effect you already
know there must be an engineering solution
to prevent constant bruising of the brain.
There is such a fix but it's only temporary.
After a couple of years of being just a
woodpecker you're pretty used up.
Senility sets in. You begin wondering
which end is up?
Does it ever really matter?
You just couldn't stop banging your head.
B I G B R O W N B A T
M A M M A L
Flying mice.
A mammal with wings.
The bones of the front legs are elongated
into a skeletal structure covered in a membrane
that replaces a bird's feathers for providing lift.
Bats fly at night using their echoes
for navigating around obstacles and
directing them toward their prey.
Sight guides a bird's flight.
An owl's eyes can maneuver through darkness
but who else ventures into the night except
to migrate across a sea of water?
Bats rule the night with their dog paddle
flight skills because they don't have to compete
with a bird's skillful acrobatics.
.
Like the salamanders, a bat's engineering
was built atop a foundation that wasn't
designed for the purpose of flight.
For instance, the lungs of a bat reflects
those used by ancient four-legged mammals.
The mammal breathes in oxygen, then
exhales carbon dioxide. It spends only half
its time retrieving oxygen whereas a bird's
breathing doesn't need time to exhale.
Their oxygen intake is uninterrupted.
The bird's performance is turbocharged
by this boost in energy efficiency.
How did this advance in respiration
come about?
N I N E - B A N D E D A R M A D I L L O
M A M M A L
Armored against coyotes and bobcats,
not so much protection against bears
and mountain lions. Your best bet
to survive as an armadillo is to avoid
being seen.
Have your meals at night, limiting
your search for grubs and insects
to after dark. Generally this precaution
works out and maybe you live long
enough to raise a family.
Eventually, though, your luck runs out
and you become some predator's meal.
All those vital nutrients that made you, you,
now inhabit another of Nature's creatures
who's first act is to take a nap after its
meal of you.
Once your predator revives it runs and
snoops about, schemes and plots and
looks for a mate before it too, eventually
succumbs to something lethal.
The nutrients that once were a part of you
and then that other guy, now inhabit the nutrient
cycle of another living home, insuring this
Earth-bound process continues.
Existing in Nature.
Food for thought.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
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