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1.  Which animal has more bones in its neck, a mouse or a giraffe?  

They have the same number- 7.  If you're a mammal, you get issued 7 cervical

vertebrae.  The exception is if you're a manatee or a sloth, who have 6, but

they rarely use the internet, so they're not likely to see this.

Mice have 7 tiny neckbones, giraffe have 7 giant ones.

2.  Why can an owl turn its head around 270 degrees?

We're back to neckbones for the beginning of this answer...  all birds have

more cervical vertebrae than mammals.  Swans hold the record at 22, most

ducks have 16, and owls have 14, still twice as many as the President of the

United States.  That's because the President doesn't need to groom his

feathers everyday, like birds do.  A longer neck allows birds to reach feathers

on their backs and other less Presidential areas. 

But birds (including owls) have another advantage in the neck swiveling

department;  the way their skull sits on their neck...

Mammals have two bumps (occipital condyles) on the bottom of their skulls

that fit into grooves at the top of the neckbones.  Birds have only one.  This

allows them much more freedom to swivel their heads around.  That's why

you can't turn your head past your shoulder on either side, but a bird could

turn his chin around and look over his backbone.  That is, if he had a chin.

3.  How does a snake eat something 8 times the size of its head?

Our jaw is made differently from a snake's.  We have one solid lower jawbone

that attaches in the front of our skull, on either side, near our ear.  So the

biggest prey item you could get in your mouth in one bite might be a cheeseburger.

However a snake comes equipped with two separate jawbones, which can

move independently, and they attach way in the back of his skull.  At rest he

can fold them down and hold the front bones together like ours, so he looks

like he has a small mouth.  But when he is feeding, he can stretch one side

of the jaw out to grasp his prey, then the other, literally walking himself over

the prey item.  His skin and facial muscles stretch out, allowing him to swallow

something up to 8 times the size of his head.  That would be like you swallowing

a German Shepherd dog all in one bite.

4.  How can you tell the temperature by listening to a cricket?

Snowy tree crickets (oecanthus fultoni) are the species most often cited for

this phenomenon, but you can try it with other species whose chirps are

a little harder to distinguish.  Here's the secret:

Count the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds, and add 40.  That will give

you the temperature within a couple of degrees Fahrenheit.   The males

chirp to get girls, of course.  They produce sound by rubbing a tiny file on

one wing against a rough area on the other.  The wing membrane acts like

the world's tiniest sounding board,  amplifying the vibration.  The cooler

the night, the more a cricket's metabolism slows down, and he chirps more

slowly.  Try it!

5.  How many songbirds are estimated to be killed by cats

     in North America in ONE DAY?              

According to estimates from the University of Wisconsin and the U.S. Dept.

of Fish & Wildlife, between 4 and 5 million songbirds were killed by cats

yesterday, another 4-5 million will be killed today, and so on.  These figures

are just for North America, just in one day.  Hard to believe?

Here are some reasons: 

1) Many species of baby birds spend a period of time as "ground fledglings"

while they learn to fly.  One or both parents will come down to feed them,

but they are out of the nest and not yet able to get the elevation in flight needed

to get back up the tree.  Keeping pet cats indoors during spring would greatly

reduce songbird predation, but pet owners often resist, thinking they're cat

doesn't do that much damage.

2) The majority of songbirds that are killed by cats are not caught, they are

injured and get away.  The owner of the cat never sees the dead bird, but

the wounds from a cat scratch become septic very quickly and most birds

die slowly from the infection.  

3) Cats' predatory instincts are overwhelming.  Even when they are not hungry,

the motion of a bird sets off a behavioral pattern which results in the opportunity

to "practice" stalking and pouncing, then releasing the injured prey.  (By the way,

when a cat is stalking, it moves too slowly for a bell on the collar to make noise.)

Small cats in large numbers are not part of the natural ecosystem.  Only a few

species of songbirds can survive the introduction of a detrimental predator

species.   Over time, this will result in the extinction of many beautiful and

ecologically important species of birds, which will affect other parts of the

environment in their interdependent network. 

Keeping cats indoors and providing for their behavioral needs in our homes

is the only effective means of helping to reduce the songbird population

decline.

6.  Why can dogs track scent so much better than humans?

Inside your nose there are about 5 million olfactory receptors, tiny cells

that transmit information about scent to your brain.  (There might be some

other things in there too, but we don't want to think about that...)

The chemical signal travels to an area of your brain  which processes

the information and says "CHEESBURGER!"     This Cheesburger

Identification Area of your brain, or rhinencephalon, is relatively tiny.  So

humans are "microsmatic" since we don't rely much on scent for survival.

Our old friend Fido has more than 200 million olfactory receptors, as well

as slitted nostrils and specially shaped nasal membranes which trap scent

and recycle it over the cells.  Once the signal is sent to the brain-- you guessed

it--  the dog's brain is "macrosmatic" meaning that a comparatively large part 

is devoted to the rhinencephalon, or Cheesburger Seeking Device.

7.  What is attached between a woodpecker's eyes that helps him eat?

His tongue!   Most animals have tongues that attach in their throat, but a woodpecker's

tongue wraps around the back of his skull and attaches in the front, between his eyes.

This isn't a bad idea if you're an animal who spends all day banging your head on a

tree-- it provides a little cushioning for the brain.  Even more advantageous is the

extra length of tongue which makes a great device for sticking into woody crevices

to extract tasty insects. 

8.  What part of a tarantula's body is used for taste?

Her feet!  As a tarantula walks, tiny receptor cells on her feet send chemical signals

to her brain in the same way that our taste buds do.   Since her eyes are on the top of

her head, she can "taste" her way along a path and still keep an eye out for predators

above her.

9.  What group of people is most likely to be bitten by a rattlesnake?

Emergency room statistics indicate that you have the best chance of being bitten by

a rattlesnake if you are 1) male   2) between the ages of 18-25  and  3) drinking alcohol.

Also, the odds are good that you are going to be bitten on the hands.  What does

this tell us?  The overwhelming majority of rattlesnake bites occur when someone

is suffering from a pre-existing testosterone overload, has a drink or two, and tries

to touch an animal that should have been left alone in the first place.

Rattlesnakes don't go looking for people to eat.  We're too big.  What they do go

looking for is shelter from the heat (so don't reach your hand into a woodpile or

under a log while hiking) and they go looking for yummy rodents to munch.

When we water our neighborhoods in ecosystems that are naturally dry in the

summertime, we draw rodents to the area, and the snakes follow them.  When we

build neighborhoods in open spaces that are habitually used as migration paths

for rattlesnakes between winter hibernation areas and summer feeding grounds,

the snakes come through our neighborhoods. 

On the positive side, snakes (including rattlesnakes) are responsible for consuming

billions... that's BILLIONS...  of rodents in this country each day. 

If you find a snake near your home, turn a large empty garbage can on its side

and GENTLY move the snake with a long-handled garden rake or broom.  Put the

lid on the can and release the snake in a nearby open space.  He was just passing

through anyway.  (This should only be done by a responsible adult.)

Rattlesnake bites, while painful, are rarely fatal.  More people die of dog bites each

year than rattlesnake bite.  More people die of lighting strikes than rattlesnakes, too.

If you are bitten, many species of rattlesnakes will often not even waste venom

on a defensive strike, saving it to paralyze prey.   They can adjust the amount of

venom injected with a bite, and you may get off easy with a small injection, or a

completely dry bite.  In any event, don't cut and suck the wound, it does no good

and  CAN do damage.  Don't use a tourniquet.   Keep the area elevated and get to

a hospital quickly, even if it means walking out of a hiking area.   Your car keys

are the only thing you need in a first-aid kit for snakebite. 

10.  If you see a tarantula walking outside in October in California,

        is it more likely to be male or female? 

Male!  The California tarantula (aphonopelma californicum)  lives in underground

burrows, and is very shy.   It takes female tarantulas 10-15 years to mature, and

when they are ready to mate, they wait for males to come calling at their burrow

door.  Males mature at around 7 years old, and have only one or maybe two

breeding seasons before they die.  They leave the safety of their burrow and

wander over hillsides looking for a female's door. 

When he finds the scent of a lady tarantula's home, he stamps his foot on the

ground to get her attention.  She comes to see, and if she likes him she stamps

her foot back to signal acceptance.    

Then the hard part begins... he has to run up to her,  pick her front legs up

in the air, then quickly  lock his front toes under her fangs so she can't bite him.

(And you thought dating was tough in your world?)  When they're done, he must

jump out of the way before she eats him in preparation for raising a large family.

If you take a close look at a tarantula's front legs, you can tell whether it's male

or female-- the males are the only ones with the specialized toes on their long

front legs about halfway up.  Without getting that close, though, you can be

pretty sure if you see a tarantula out wandering on a California fall day, it's most

likely a guy looking for a date.

11.  Why don't turtles drown when they stay underwater for several days?

Some species of turtles have special adaptations for breathing through their, well...

through their butt.  Yep, it's true.  The opening in a reptile or bird that carries waste away

from its body is called the cloaca.   (This is also the reproductive opening.)   In some species

of turtle, the cloaca is lined with a network of blood vessels specially equipped to extract

oxygen from water.  

If you're a turtle, this bizarre talent allows you to remain submerged for several days at

a time to avoid predators, or to get a drink from a pond while keeping an eye out in the

other direction!

12.  What's the difference between poison and venom in an animal?

Venom is produced in an animal's body and delivered into another animal actively. 

A viper injects venom through its fangs, a bee through it's stinger, a duck-billed

platypus through spurs on its hind legs.

Poison is passively delivered.  A poison dart frog can't deliver the toxin on his skin

to your system himself, you have to eat him.  Don't eat him.  The amount of his poison

the size of a period at the end of this sentence is enough to kill eight people.  

If you're dumb enough to lick a cane toad (bufo marinus), you'll discover that the

psychedelic properties of the poison from his parotoid glands can also make you

violently ill.  That's the plan, of course, if you're the toad.  When left alone, he doesn't try

to make anyone barf.  But if a coyote or other predator tries to ingest him, immediate

and violent vomiting makes the predator learn to find another less disagreeable meal. 

(By the way, just to be technical-- toads have paroTOID glands on their skin which

secret poison, humans have paroTID glands in our mouths which secret saliva.

Different glands, different words.)

13.  Will a mother bird reject a baby that has been touched by humans?

Nope.  Let me say that again.  Nope.  No matter how cute that baby bird is, put it back.

The very best animal care technician for a baby bird is a mommy bird.  Their diet is species

specific, their feeding schedule is very demanding, and their only chance for learning

to interact with their own species (so they can hold enough territory to survive and

reproduce) is if they imprint on mom, not us.

Mom can't smell, and she can't count.  If a baby falls out of the nest, no matter how young,

putting it back will not make the mother stop feeding it, she'll feed whoever begs in her nest.

Sometimes a baby will be pushed out of the nest repeatedly by too many siblings, or may

get injured in the fall from a nest and not be able to survive if you put him back.  But if you

can get it back in the nest, that's where its best chances will be. 

Older fledglings who are learning to fly go through a ground fledging period where they

spend time in the area of the nest on the ground.  Mom will fly down to feed him if you

leave him on the ground.  If there are cats or other predators nearby, you can put him on a

branch of the tree where the nest is and mom will fly down there if you can't reach the

actual nest.  If he's too small to hold on to the branch, a margarine tub full of kleenex in

the crook of a branch makes a good nest-substitute. 

If it's a bird of prey, like a baby hawk or owl, just leave it on the ground.  They can defend

themselves very well with their talons, even as babies, and many species are capable of

using their strong feet to climb out of the way of predators just fine without our help. 

If you find an injured or orphaned animal, keep it in a dark, dry container and don't feed

it anything.  Call a local wildlife rehabilitation center (your veterinarian will have the number.)

Wildlife medicine and animal handling should be done by folks who have the training and

resources to give the animal the best chance of survival.  You won't be charged for their

services, and you'll be able to follow the animal's progress as it is rehabilitated. 

14.  How do archeologists tell a person's age from the skull?

 Your brain is protected by 4 large skull plates, one in front, one in back and one on each

side.  These bones weren't connected when you were born, so that they could move

around a little in the birth canal and keep from being fractured. 

As you grew these plates joined up, leaving tiny hairline spaces called sutures where

they met.  The frontal sutures don't completely ossify until you're in your 20's... the

sagittal suture (down the center) closes completely in your 30's... and the ones down

the back don't close until you're in your 40's.    This gives you a good long time to

engage in activities that may get you bonked on the head before the skull is completely

fused.   By your 40's it is hoped you'll have slowed down a little.

When archeologists find a skull that has been in the ground for a long time, it still

bears the same suture marks from the age the person was when the bones stopped

growing, at death.  So the skull of a young person will have wider sutures, that of

an older person will have tight sutures, or hardly any visible at all.  Applying a set

of average measurements to a precise analysis of the sutures will give a good idea

of the age of the person when they died.

15.  If one pair of Norway Rats had a litter of babies and they all survived,

    and their offspring had litters who all survived, how many Norway Rats

    would there be at the end of 2 years?

Ready?       108,370,799,354,790,275,142,647,808,000

We don't have a word for this number, but each Norway Rat ways about a pound, and

this number of pounds exceeds the weight of the planet Earth.   The trick is that they

can get pregnant when they're 5 weeks old, and have a litter of 12-15 babies once a

month.  Statistically their litters are about 50% females, who can do the same thing. 

At the end of 2 years, the numbers are staggering from just ONE PAIR.

Of course, they don't all survive to reproductive age (thank goodness!)  But we do tend

to take for granted all the rodent control that is going on in nature--  So leave those snakes,

hawks and other rodent eaters alone to do their job, we need them!

16-20:  These questions only you can answer... here are some links that can help:

16.  Where is the watershed nearest to your house?  What animals live there?

Center for Watershed Protection

17.  If you found an injured or orphaned animal, where could you take it?

International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council

18.  What animals are on the list of wildlife that you have seen from your own yard?

Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program

19.  Is there a wildlife volunteer organization in your area that could use your help?

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Volunteers

20.   When is the last time you went on a nature hike?  What are you waiting for?

Sierra Club