Please tell me animal facts!

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Another species of owl seems to be behind a certain other more modern myth.

That of "Moth Man" who haunted the mountains of Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

A five foot tall two legged human like figure with huge batlike wings who appear at night scaring the locals. It became a major meme for a long time, and it even spawned a Hollywood movie starring Richard Gere ("the Moth Man Prophecies").

Its got started when a teen couple parked their car near the ruins of an old abandon munitions plant in the woods of west viriginia so they could canoodle by the moonlight when....the creature landed nearby and made a hooting sound at them. In the dark they could see his silohuette. Little ears, a flat topped head between the up right ears. A flat humanlike face. Upright on two legs. It took off with its enormous wings.Looked like a cross between batman and a space alien!. Terrified they reported the creature to the cops, and the mass hysteria was spawned. But this human like flying creature they described exactly matches a great horned owl. Great horned owls often hang out at human buildings, and are as big as eagles.

I got a spooky owl story, kinda. Not intending to one up you.


I was campground hosting in the Smoky mtns and one evening just past dusk, I heard some very strange noises. I eased over and saw three small figures on a tree branch doing the owl be-bop, or head bobbing dance. They were young Eastern Screech-Owls and have a very eerie whinny and thrill. I haven't been around them and I was fascinated by them.

The next night, I heard the whinny again and eased over to the same tree. They were in lower branches and some what separated. One dropped something and flew away from me. It was the nearest, so I eased towards where it dropped the something. I had my flashlight and was searching the ground, I felt the air move past my head but did not hear any wing beats when momma flew by me. She let out the screech about three feet away from me. Then I let out a similar sound, some might say it was like a little girl screaming.

From that night forward, I had a relationship with these young owls. I never saw momma again but the three younguns would visit me at dusk. I'd be reading and one would fly under my RV awning and land on a tree to watch me. One evening, I was sitting in my lawn chair and I heard a crunching about four feet away. One owl had a huge beetle and was munching on it. It would take a bite and then look up at me...crunch, crunch, crunch. I was so tickled to witness that meal. They played a game like counting coup as they would fly under the awning seeing how close they could get to me. As a birder, it's one of my highlights!

This was from a PBS nature show: There were 4 or 5 juvenile orphaned male elephants who were let back into the wild. They started raiding near-by farms not because they were hungry; they were just being ornery. There were all types of suggestions on how to deal with this problem; there was a strong outcry that they should be put down. One suggestion that did work was to turn a bull-elephant loose in the same area to more or less to show them the ropes. Somehow the presence of the bull elephant had a positive influence on the young elephants. The bull elephant somehow communicated to the young elephants that raiding farms was not acceptable behavior. The farm raiding by the young elephants decreased to 0.

Elephants are so cool.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com ... f=1&nofb=1

Some spiders can fly. Small spiders can travel through the air by shooting a streamer of silk upwards and letting the wind carry them off. This behaviour is called "ballooning." It's done both by species that are very small, and by newly hatched spiders of larger species.

I saw this happen the other day while watching a money-spider explore a picnic table. The spider was roaming around the table top, and when it got to a gap between slats it would point its abdomen forwards, shoot a strand of web across the gap, and walk across. The whole process only delayed it about 2 seconds. But after a while it got bored with the table. So it shot straight up into the air and sailed off through the trees at an altitude of about 3 meters. I don't think I've ever seen a spider launch itself like that before!

Insects make up half of this planet's biological species.
The order Coleoptera accounts for a quarter of this planet's biological species.This number has exceeded all plants combined.

Hard exoskeleton and physical weapons. Complete metamorphosis. Good flying ability. Amazing wing-folding technique (though probably not as good as earwigs). Adapt to various ecological niches and ecosystems. Some species even emit light or create chemical weapons.
What a successful biota.

Today's Random NaturePictureOfTheDay is the BigHorned Sheep:



Credit & Copyright: Matt Keane from Trout Creek, Montana
Foragers: A pair of big horn sheep paw through the late spring snow to get any juicy, green shoots they can find.

http://www.naturepicoftheday.com/archive/2014-11-14

And . . .
The Facts:

https://www.visitbigsky.com/get-inspire ... rn-sheep-1

Named after their curved horns, the Bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America. There's a very good chance you'll see these animals when you visit Big Sky, Montana.

Bighorn sheep live in the town of Big Sky and the surrounding mountains of Southwest Montana. If you're lucky, you'll spot a herd near the entrance to Big Sky on Highway 64 licking salt near the side of the road, along Highway 191 near the banks of the Gallatin River, or deep in the mountains while on an epic Big Sky wilderness hike. These beautiful creatures are fun to spot, but always give them the respect that they deserve.
Read these interesting facts about bighorn sheep and share them with your friends:

The bighorn sheep's scientific name is Ovis canadensis.
Their horns can weigh up to 30 lbs.
The horns represent the age of the ram. They are a status symbol, but they are also a weapon.
The number of horn segments counted in the fall is one more than the ram's age.
Males are called rams. Females are called ewes.
Males have curved horns. Females have shorter horns with less curve.
Males weigh 127-316 lbs, measure 36-41 inches at shoulder, and are 69-79 inches from nose to tail.
Females weigh 75-188 lbs, measure 33-36 inches at shoulder, and are 54-67 inches from nose to tail.
Bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mountains (near Big Sky) can exceed 500 lbs!
Their two-toed split hooves help with grip and balance.
They range from southern Canada through the western US and down into Mexico.
They tend to live in alpine meadows, grassy mountain areas, rocky cliffs, and bluffs. They use cliffs and rocky terrain to escape from predators.
Bighorn sheep are susceptible to diseases like scabies and pneumonia.
Predators include bears, wolves, cougars, coyotes, bobcats, and lynxes. Golden eagles sometimes prey on lambs.
Bighorn sheep are herbivores that eat grasses, twigs, leaves, herbs, shrubs. They also enjoy minerals and salt licks.
In Big Sky, the Spanish Peak herd congregates next to the road because of the salt in treatment used to melt ice on the road.
The Spanish peak herd is a native herd to Montana. It ranges from Durnham Meadows to the Beartrap Canyon. It is estimated to include 140-150 bighorn sheep.
Bighorns typically swallow their food, regurgitate it later, then chew it up more before swallowing it again!
In November, during the rut season, or mating season, bighorn rams will compete by butting heads. They race at 20 MPH and crack their foreheads against each other. The sound travels up to a mile away.
Butting heads is done for mating rights or for dominance.
Bighorn lambs are typically born in spring from April to June.
Gray-brown coats help them blend in to the mountainside.
Bighorn sheep are social animals that live in herds, or bands, of 5 to 15. Ewes and lambs typically live together and rams typically live separately in groups of 2 to 5.

Bighorn Sheep | Pixabay

There are approximately 70,000 bighorn sheep in North America.
Bighorn sheep can live over 10 years.
They inhabit 3.7 million acres in Montana.
In Montana, you can hunt Bighorn sheep. Learn more at FWP.MT.gov.

Bighorn sheep are wild animals. There are a few cases of bighorn sheep attacking humans, but it's rare. They are typically not aggressive animals, but can get defensive - especially during rutting season. You wouldn't want them to use their horns to butt you! Always give them plenty of space.



If you take any photos of bighorn sheep in Big Sky share them on social media and use the hashtag #visitbigsky.

Humans have three colour receptors in their retinas, sensitive to red green and blue light. All colours inbetween trigger more than one receptor at a time, and the brain comes up with a mixture, like yellow.
The brain can also create entirely new colours, like pink - if the red and blue receptors get triggered simultaneously, we see pink. But there's no pink in the light spectrum from blue to green, yellow and red. No pink in the rainbow. Pink is a fictional colour.

Lots of anals can see more, less, or different parts of the colour spectrum. A lot can see ultraviolet light, and flowers which are single-colour in visible light for example can to have spectacular patterns in the ultraviolet spectrum to attract pollinators.

The Mantis shrimphowever has 16 different receptors, sensitive from far into the ultra-violet spectrum all the way towards the far red. They can also tune the wavelengths they are sensitive to, meaning, they can physically alter how well they can distinguish colours in the ultra violet spectrum.
And they can distinguish light ppolarisations,besides wavelengths.

Funnily, though they have this really elaborate receptor system, they don't seem to have good eyesight.