Yard Friendly

  

 B  L  U  E       J  A  Y

 HOW DO YOU GET BLUE FROM A BROWN PIGMENT?

 There is no blue pigment in nature.  To make 

a Blue Jay's feathers blue requires biologically

created microscopic structures that scatter the

sun's light, so that only the color blue is reflected

back to you.  The same holds true for blueberries

and hydrangeas, anything living that looks blue.

The Jay is closely related to Crows and Magpies.

Clever birds all; known for problem solving.

Highly adaptable.  It's true of every animal you see

making a living about your house.  Each of the

animals featured here has its own way of dealing

with you.

 A  M  E  R  I  C  A  N       T  O  A  D

ONE OF THESE IN YOUR YARD RIDS YOUR HOME OF INSECT PESTS.

 Each day they swallow about a thousand creepy crawlers

that would like to surprise you and run out from hiding in

your cupboard.  And you have guests... over for dinner.

You don't have these problems with Mr. Toad.

Of course, this could easily be the misses.

I can't tell them apart.

You could stuff a lizard in that big mouth.

The thick, gnarly bumped skin slows water evaporation.

Frogs need to be near ponds.  All this toad needs 

is a log or rock, someplace dark and cool to hide under

during the day.  But the toad is an amphibian.

It's eggs have no protective shell, and they must 

be laid in standing water or they quickly dry out.

Reptiles lay eggs with shells and they have 

no such constraint.

G  R  A  Y       S  Q  U  I  R  R  E  L

 AND YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE VEGAN.

 What turns a park squirrel into a murderous carnivore?

Opportunity.  A dead bird.  A nest of eggs or young ones

momentarily left unguarded.  There is no nut and seed 

diet that provides the surge in protein, fat and calcium

that animal flesh delivers.  Here is the needed 

pick me up if you are a pregnant or nursing squirrel.

Have a sudden urge to bite the head off of a baby chick?

Don't worry about it.  It's instinct,

and comes with a rational explanation.

 

 B  R  O  W  N  -  H  E  A  D  E  D       C  O  W  B  I  R  D

 A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER FEEDS A SPIDER TO 'BABY'.

 The cowbird looks like a black bird with a brown head.

They don't make nests.  Cowbirds drop their egg in

the nests of unsuspecting birds because they haven't

the time to raise kids.

For thousands of years the cowbird had made a 

good living following the buffalo about as it stirs

insects from the prairie grass.  Day after day the

scenery always changed because these large

bison herds were nomadic.  If you wanted to make

a living off the buffalo you couldn't take time to build

nests and raise the nestlings.

Most birds take an hour or more to lay one egg.

A cowbird delivers its egg in under forty seconds.

Get in and get out quickly without being seen.

The cowbird young are precocious.  They hatch

sooner and grow more quickly than their nest mates.

Consequently they monopolize the food and 

push their competitors from the nest.

Is there no justice for the wronged?

 E  U  R  O  P  E  A  N       S  T  A  R  L  I  N  G

 A CRAZY HIGH METABOLIC RATE REQUIRES INNOVATIVE RESPIRATION.

A bird's airflow system is not like the bellows that are a

mammal's lungs, tidal - first drawing oxygen in then push

out carbon dioxide.  An avian respiration has a one way flow

of air, much like that of a wind tunnel.  The beauty here is

that even when the animal is exhaling, it is also drawing in 

oxygen at the same time, supercharging the metabolism.

The body's intense burning of calories generates a

dangerous amount of heat.  Once again, this respiratory

approach provides the solution by efficiently drawing 

heat from the body, along side the CO2.

When it comes to flight, birds are jets and mammals

strictly piston engines.

O  P  O  S  S  U  M

 HER JOY FROM HEAVEN.

 Nocturnal.  Highly nomadic.  Moving always from 

den to den.  They are marsupials.  Their embryonic

young migrate to a pouch, where they develop into

something survivable.  

Possums are surprisingly good climbers.  They also

have a high immunity to snake venom.  Here's the

problem.  Possums prowl for insects, snails, rodents

and the like at night.  They have poor vision.  They 

rustle through leaves where copperhead rattlers like

to rest.  Bingo.  They get bit, with enough toxin to

quickly kill an animal this size.  But the possum

has natural immunity.  It may well go on and 

eat the snake.

Possums do play dead.

Under extreme stress they involuntarily fall into

a comatose state.  To heighten the intensity of the

moment, the possum also releases a death-like odor

to further discourage a predator from making

it a meal.

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

 OVER   EASY 

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