Weird Nature

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RebelSteve33
Amateur Mycologist

Registered: 05/28/02
Posts: 3,774
Loc: Arizona

Weird Nature

#1289776 - 02/07/03 07:15 PM (23 years, 6 months ago)

Today I saw a show on the discovery channel called Weird Nature. This particular one dealt with unusual partnerships formed between different members of the animal kingdom. It was really interesting and made me realize that the "lower" members of the animal kingdom are even more complex and intelligent than I had previously thought!

Here are some of the examples from the show:

Ants have more in common with cattle farmers than you might think. Many ants are actually known to farm aphids! They have a relationship with the tiny insects where they stroke the aphids' lower abdomens and cause them to secrete a sugary substance, which the ants then proceed to eat. Just like a farmer milking his herd of cows! The ants will actually pick some of the aphids up and move them to a better food source to maximize prduction, just as a farmer will move his herd around.

Another example dealth with a certain type of bird in Africa that feeds on the honeycombs of bees. The problem is that the bird needs to get easy access to the honeycomb. In order to accomplish this, the bird is actually known to attract the attention of a certain type of badger, who also feeds on the honeycomb. The bird will lead the badger to the site of the bees' nest, which the badger will proceed to tear apart. Thus, the honeycomb is made available for the bird to eat as well.

The same bird is also known to have a relationship with the local indiginous people who hunt for honey. It will lead them to the bees' nest as it does with the badger and achieve the same results. The people always make sure to leave some honeycomb behind for the bird to eat.

Pretty smart animals, eh?

Another example of animals working together that the show gave was of a certain type of lizard and a scorpion that live out in the desert. Apparently the lizard is sought after as a delicacy by the natives, who seek out it's burrows and simply reach in and grab their prey. However, the desert scorpion also happens to seek out these lizards' burrows to get protection from the heat and sun. The scorpion gets it's protection from the sun, and the lizard gets protection from its human hunters because the scorpion will sting any hand that happens to reach down into the burrow.

Quite an interesting symbiotic relationship if you ask me!

One other example was of the relationship between hummingbirds and different types of aphids that feed on the nectar of the same flowers that the hummigbird does. When the hummingbird stuck his beak into the flower to feed on its nectar, a horde of aphids would climb aboard its beak and crawl into it's nostrils to hitch a ride to the next flower!

How cool is that? I can't believe that such a tiny little insect can have that sort of mental capacity!

The show also gave many examples of wild animals using drugs, in a sense. The first and probably most well-known example they gave was of cats and their interesting relationship with catnip. From the footage they showed, the cats seem to become intensely innebriated by the herb.

Another really neat example was one with bees. It showed how they have a very intricate society, including guard bees who guard the entrance to the hive and check the identity of any bees coming in. It also showed how some bees will actually get themselves drunk by drinking the fermented sap of a certain tree. When these drunk bees eventually made their way home and crash landed in front of the hive, the guard bees would actually throw them out and sometimes even bite off their legs.

That's some crazy stuff if you ask me!

Another crazy example from the show was the relationship between a certain type of lemur and these giant millipedes. The lemurs would grab the millipedes and simply bite them softly to annoy them. When they did this, the millipedes would secrete a substance, which the lemurs would wipe all over their fur. After a while of doing this, the lemurs would become extremely intoxicated as if they were being affected by a strong narcotic.

The show also had a part about these monkeys that lived in a tropical area, and would actually steal alcoholic drinks from people on the beach and get themselves intoxicated! Their drinking behavior was actually very similar to that of humans!

I thought it was so interesting that all these animals actually seeked out a substance for the purpose of feeling some type of pleasure from it. I guess that drug use among humans is not as unnatural as some might think.

The show also mentioned the relationship between reindeer and the Fly Agaric mushroom, but the information they gave about wasn't all that correct from what I know.

All in all it was a very interesting show and really gave me even more respect for the complexity of the animal kingdom. Did anyone else happen to see it at all? If not, what do you think about the examples I gave from the show?

-RebelSteve

--------------------
Namaste.

Extras:

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