9 Our house wren is only 9 cm's long. It weighs a mere 4-7 grams. To get an idea of the significance of that statement, a sugar cube weighs 4.4 grams. You can see them in your gardens now rummaging about in hedge rows and in places where there are bushes and woodpiles. They will protest in a rasping chirp when cats or predators come into their spaces. In my own garden they are to be seen and heard atop the tallest trees, singing their beautiful songs to proclaim occupation of their territories.
1 A bat takes only one breath per hour during its hibernation. They set their respiration rate and temperature as low as possible to conserve energy. Actually they do not truly hibernate, because it is known that they regularly elevate their temperature and activate their brains...it is thought that they may do this to relieve their intestines and bladders of waste; however, it is known for a fact.
1973 This Fritillaria sort is since 1973 is a protected plant by law. In spite of this law, this plant has almost completely disappeared from Belgium and the Netherlands. They are picky about where they will grow and want to have very rich soil that stays moist throughout the entire year. Additionally they take eight years to bloom from seed. The above foto is from a plot in my flower garden..and were planted as mature bulbs.
90 90% of all animals on earth are Arthropods. Arthropoda is a phylum in the classification of animals. Scientists have discovered, classified and named 1.2 million animal sorts...from this, 1 million are arthropods. They exist on land, in the sea and in the air. They bare spread from the highest mountain top to the deepest ocean. Arthropods are the most successful animal sort on earth.
At any given moment, you can take in 11 million bits of information with all five of your senses. However, you can only pay attention to about 7 bits of information at one time (+ or - 2). This makes each of our experiences unique to the individual. WOW!
I am enjoying it as well 2OF. JEWELL--Thanks for your contribution--something to think about sensibly.
3 Kingfishers. After a severe winter where 50-60% of the adult kingfishers die, they do their best to restore the population. They then can brood three times in a season, where-in certainly in the first nest there will be many chicks...sometimes as many as eight! Look here on our national website to see a next camera of a kingfisher: http://www.beleefdelente.nl/vogel/ijsvogel You can watch them live or klik on some of the short film clips over to the right. Cam 1 is outside and cams 2 & 3 inside their nest tunnels. I believe that there are seven eggs in the nest.
I watched the videos and the cams, Sjoerd, and I have to say they are a beautiful bird. I have never seen one, other than in a photo, so it was interesting to see them hunting and nesting. I couldn't believe that the bird was able to cover all the eggs in the nest!
3 - Snails can sleep for 3 years! The reason snails sleep is they alike many other animals hibernate. Hibernation means that they sleep when weather becomes excessively cold, this is a necessity in survival. Snails will bury themselves in the ground and close their shells off with their own slime. It is also been known some species of desert snails can do this for years before actually dying.
2 OF--Great that you took the time to watch the cams and vids of the various birds on the link. I watch every day. Good one 102! Thanks for contributing. 3.6 3.6 meters (~3.5 yards) is the wingspan of the Great Albatros. This huge bird has a body length of 110 cm's and a weight of 8-12 kilos. They are experts at using the wind...with the wind in their backs they can sometimes reach a speed of 150 kpm.
The largest animal in the world is the Blue Whale. It can grow up to 31 feet (9.3 meters) and can weigh up to 191 tons. (and I thought I was overweight!)
170 The visarend (Pandion haliaetus) has a wingspan of 170 cm. It does not breed here, but we can sometimes see it as it passes through. It is a magnificent bird.
