PSA - Watch Out For Turtles on the Road

Blanding's turtle (Photographer: Justthefacts60)

Today's fact is more of a public service announcement. It's turtle mating season in many parts of the world, which means female turtles are searching for good spots to lay eggs, and male turtles are looking for girlfriends. If roads are in their path, the turtles go ahead and attempt to cross them. Unfortunately, the armor they wear for protection from predators is no match for a car or truck. Populations of turtles have been declining as motor vehicles have become more plentiful. Some species, such as the Blanding's turtle and Eastern box turtle, are now endangered or threatened in many areas. These turtles take many years to reach breeding age (14 - 20 years for Blanding's turtles, and 7 - 10 years for box turtles), so the loss of just one breeding turtle can be detrimental to the species.

Please be extremely careful if you see a turtle on the road, for your own sake as well as the sake of other motorists and, of course, the sake of the turtle. Unfortunately, many accidents are caused by well-meaning folks who swerve out of the way or stop to help, and some of these good Samaritans are hit by drivers who aren't paying attention. Some communities are putting up fences or building wildlife passages (such as the Lake Jackson Ecopassage in Florida) to help divert turtles from the roads. However, until such things are more common, please keep your eyes open for turtles on the road, and take care. Future generations of turtles will thank you!

A Mother Cottontail Rabbit Can Have 25 Babies Per Year

 © Jhansonxi (via Wikimedia Commons)

I think I was in second grade when I first heard the phrase, "multiplying like rabbits." I thought, "I didn't know rabbits could do math!" I'm pretty sure my mom had to explain what it meant. Anyway, that phrase exists for a reason. A mother cottontail rabbit has four or five babies per litter, and four or five litters per breeding season. If you do your own multiplication, you'll see that comes up to 16 - 25 new baby bunnies every year. Of course, some of those babies will die before they reach adulthood, but enough survive for the population to grow. This can cause problems for farmers and gardeners if there's aren't enough predators in an area to keep the overall numbers of bunnies at stable levels.

According to the History Channel's website, rabbits are a symbol of fertility and new life due to their breeding habits, which could have led to their association with spring, which led to their association with Easter.

Speaking of baby bunnies, if you stumble across a nest and don't see the mother around, don't assume the babies are orphans. Mother rabbits don't stay with the babies 24/7. In fact, they're absent from the nest most of the day, and only feed the babies in the early morning and in the evening. However, if you are CERTAIN the babies are orphaned (for example, if you witnessed your dog or cat killing the mother), do NOT try to raise them yourself. This is a difficult task for a trained wildlife rehabilitator, and an impossible one for somebody without that training. Wild baby bunnies are the most difficult mammals for humans to raise - they have very specific requirements and they succumb easily to stress and infections. Check with your state's Department of Natural Resources for a list of rehabilitators in your area.

Happy Easter/ Passover/ Spring!

Some Fish Can Walk on Land

Many have heard of lungfish and mudskippers, and know that these fish can survive on land. The critters look somewhat like salamanders and have pectoral fins that resemble legs, so it's not really that surprising to see them slithering through the mud. However, a few species of fish that look like FISH can also "walk."

The climbing perch (actually not a perch, but gourami) has an organ called a labyrinth, which allows the fish to breathe air from the atmosphere for hours at a time. The labyrinth organ is full of "lamellae," which are maze-like plates of thin bone that are covered with a membrane. Oxygen passes through the membrane,where it's absorbed into the blood and distributed through the body. Good thing for the climbing perch, because they have small gills and live in oxygen-poor water, so they need an alternative way of getting air. It's not the end of the world for them when their water dries up, because, unlike most other fish, they can wander off in search of a new home. As you can see in the video, they move across the surface by pulling themselves along with their pectoral fins and gill covers. They have spines under their gill covers to help in the task, and it's said that these spines can hurt anyone unfortunate enough to be on their receiving end. 

These guys are called "climbing perch" instead of "walking perch" because they supposedly have been seen in trees. However, many are skeptical and suggest that any fish in trees were taken there by birds.

Turkey Vultures Have Super-Sniffers

© Joshin Yamada (via Wikimedia Commons)

Take a close look at this vulture's nostrils. Notice that you can see clear through to the green grass outside the window! This is because the turkey vulture doesn't have a nasal septum (the wall that separates the nostrils). The turkey vulture shares this quality with the other two North American vulture species -- the California condor and black vulture. The turkey vulture's nostrils are the largest of the three species, making the see-through aspect much more noticeable. It's easy for the bird to keep these big open nostrils clean, which is important when you often have to stick your head inside carcasses to eat. One of the last things a turkey vulture needs is a sinus infection brought on by bits of partially rotten meat getting stuck inside his "nose." The perforated nostrils also allow more air to pass through, and with that air, come the molecules that make smells.

There's more to the turkey vulture's amazing sense of smell than just large nostrils. Most of our feathered friends have larger optic lobes in their brains, which process vision, and smaller olfactory bulbs, which process scents. This means that your average bird can't smell very well. Of course, there are exceptions, and the turkey vulture is one of the big exceptions. Put the enlarged olfactory bulb together with the nostrils, and they add up to make one highly developed sense of smell. There's still quite a bit of debate about exactly how powerful that sniffer is. All ornithologists agree that turkey vultures can follow their noses to locate food when the birds are walking on the ground or soaring just above the tree tops. However, some researchers say that it's unlikely that these vultures can smell food from higher soaring altitudes.

Bonus fact: Turkey vultures have been used to locate gas leaks. The compound added to the gas as a warning signal (what makes it stinky) is ethyl mercaptan, which is one of the gasses given off by rotting carrion.

A Tiger's Roar Can Paralyze

© Arddu (via Wikimedia Commons)

This tiger almost looks like he's trying to paralyze you with his mind. Even though he can't do that, many people have reported being "frozen" or "stopped in their tracks" by a tiger's roar!

Of course, there are people out there who scoff at this. Those who say anybody who believes in the power of the roar is "giving tigers magical powers." However, it's not magic. It's science. It's no secret that sound can have physical and psychological effects. You've experienced this if you've ever winced when nails scraped against a chalkboard or felt pain when you heard a loud, high-pitched sound. It's why sound and music have been used as a form of torture, and how real sonic weapons work. It's why listening to music can be good for your health. 

Bioacoustics is the study of sound and biology, and how they relate to each other. A researcher in the field by the name of Elizabeth von Muggenthaler has extensively studied sounds tigers make. She and her colleagues discovered that tigers can produce sounds below frequencies of 20 hertz. This is called infrasound, because it's below the human range of hearing (we measly humans can hear frequencies between 20 hertz and 20,000 hertz). Von Muggenthaler believes it's the low frequencies and high volume that can cause paralysis. Infrasound can travel long distances, and tigers use it to communicate as well as to hunt. It can also pass through solid objects, including bones, which is why people such as wildlife researcher and professor Mel Sunquist have reported being able to feel the roar. Infrasound has been shown to produce chills, stress, and even sorrow. Some people even think it could explain reports of ghostly experiences. In any case, infrasound is one more weapon in the tiger's arsenal, and yet another reason these cats are among the world's top predators.

Octopus Arms Have Minds of Their Own

© Drow_male (via Wikimedia Commons)

In recent years, we have learned that the octopus is rather intelligent. These little guys have figured out puzzles and mazes. They can open jars and child-proof pill bottles. Octopus keepers often have to come up with ingenious methods to secure tanks to keep the critters from escaping. There are anecdotes all over the internet about octopuses/octopi* sneaking out of their tanks, crawling to a neighboring tank to snack on the fish and then return to their own tanks. Sometimes an octopus who is bored rather than hungry will also cause mischief -- just ask the staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. They came in to work one morning to find that an octopus had entertained herself the night before by taking apart the tank's recycling system valve. The place was flooded, and the employees had to work frantically to get everything cleaned up before the day's school groups arrived. If the octopus could talk, she could have said, "Sorry, but my arms have minds of their own," and she wouldn't have been lying. According to an article in Scientific American, only about one-third of an octopus's neurons are in the brain. The rest are found throughout the body, primarily in the legs. The suckers have their own ganglia (bundles of neurons) that allows the octopus to control them individually. They can even pinch with those suckers.

*Though many people use "octopi" as the plural for octopus, others object to this form. They say it comes from the assumption that "octopus" is a Latin word, when it actually comes from Greek (oktapous, meaning "eight-footed"). "Octopodes" would be the Greek plural, but it's rarely used (probably because people would look at you strangely if you did). Merriam-Webster says that either "octopuses" or "octopi" is correct. I personally think "octopuses" sounds... odd. Maybe it's because I can't hear/read/write it without thinking of "Octopussy."

Alligator Snapping Turtles are Expert Fishermen

Do you see that pink wiggly thing in the turtle's mouth? It looks just like a worm, doesn't it? Well, it's actually part of the turtle! The alligator snapping turtle has a vermiform (worm-shaped) appendage on the end of his tongue, which means he never has to run to the bait shop or sporting goods store when he wants to catch something to eat. All he has to do is find a comfy spot on the river bottom, open his mouth, and sit as still as possible. The fake worm coupled with the cave-like appearance of the turtle's head is enough to draw curious and hungry fish. Then, as you might imagine, the fish becomes the meal.

This is an example of aggressive mimicry (aka Pekhamian mimicry, named after George and Elizabeth Pekham). Basically, this means a predator appears to be something else -- something harmless -- so that the prey doesn't recognize it as a threat. This way, the predator doesn't have to do any actual hunting. He just waits for the prey to come along. A lure isn't required for an animal to be considered an aggressive mimic - the ability to closely approach prey is enough - but the lure definitely makes things easier for the turtle.

Note: A human going fishing is a different situation. For something to be considered an aggressive mimic, the mimicry cannot be intentional. In other words, the turtle was born to fish. He naturally has all the equipment he needs. A human has to go out and buy rods, reels and bait.