Professor Simpoo's Gyan of the Month
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Ravens and crows like to play and have been observed sliding down snow banks on their backs, cavorting in updrafts and sliding repeatedly down sloping windows. |
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Ostrich mothers lay their eggs in a communal nest, allowing the eggs and young to be cared for by one bonded pair. Up to 380 chicks have been seen being escorted by loving parents. |
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Unlike most birds born in nests, chicken, partridge and duck youngsters are able to walk, swim and pick up food as soon as they hatch. |
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Giant South African bullfrogs are devoted fathers who have attacked lions and elephants while defending tadpoles. |
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Some fish protect their babies by opening their mouths and letting the babies swim inside until the predator has passed by. |
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Squids can change their body colour and texture to not only blend into their surroundings, but also to convey different messages on both sides of their bodies, such as projecting a mating colour on one side and warning off a predator on the other. |
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Fish live in groups with social hierarchies. They are able to recognise individual family members, form bonds with other fish, cooperate and even tell time. |
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Much of elephants’ complex language is based on “infrasound” – below the level of human hearing – which enables separated family members to communicate with one another over vast distances. |
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Bees alert other hive members to food, to new home locations and to conditions within their own hive (such as nectar supply) through intricate “dance” movements. |
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Mother squirrels are so protective of their babies that they kick the fathers out of the nests for the spring and summer but may allow them back to bunk with the family during winter. |
