How do gecko lizards walk on ceilings?

Gecko Lizard

Gecko has the ability to walk on walls and ceilings due to special adhesive pads on their feet.  These small lizards live in warm climates.  They have wide-spreading toes.  Each toe ends in a pad and hidden claw.  

These toe pads, made up of thousands of tiny suction cups, enable the gecko to cling to any smooth surface—even glass.  The claws can be moved out like those of a can, and are used on rough surfaces.  

The gecko’s grip is so good that it can scamper easily over walls, ceilings, and windowpanes while watching for insects and other prey.–Dick Rogers

Does an ostrich hide its head when it is frightened?

Ostrich

No, an ostrich doesn’t hide its head when it is frightened.  According to this old belief, the ostrich hides its head in the sand to escape danger, because it feels it is safely hidden.

What this tall bird actually does when it sights possible danger is lie flat on the ground with its long neck stretched out, thus producing a low profile.  And enemy may not be able to see the ostrich when it is in this position.  

If danger comes too near, the ostrich runs off at top speed.  Although an ostrich cannot fly, it can run as fast as 40 miles an hour, and can easily outrun most of its enemies.–Dick Rogers

How Do Snakes Move?

Snake

Despite the fact that they have no legs, snakes are able to move and get along very well indeed.  Most snakes slither along in a serpentine motion—pushing against the ground and weaving forward in  a series of graceful, S-shaped curves.  

Many large, heavy snakes crawl straight ahead like a caterpillar, pushing with their belly scales and humping along.  Snakes called “sidewinders” live in the desert where the sand is too loose to push against.  

This kind of snake moves in a series of sideways loops.  Snakes climb well, too.  And, oddly enough, they all can swim. – Dick Rogers

What are tails for?

Tails

The tails of animals are good for many things.  Jumping animals, such as cats and kangaroos, use their tails for balance.  Many monkeys use their long tails to help them climb trees.  

Horses and cows swish away pesky insects with their tails. A fish swims with its tail, of course, and so do many other water creatures.  A bird without a tail would have a hard time taking of and landing. 

Dogs give special messages to other dogs by wagging their tails.  One kind of wag means, “I’m happy to see you.”  Another means, “I’m the boss around here.”–Dick Rogers

Why do dogs bury bones?

Dog

When a dog buries a bone, it is probably following an age-old habit of burying food for safekeeping. The ancestors of dogs were wild animals that lived outside. These animals had to hunt for their food.

They often buried the food they couldn’t finish eating in a meal, hiding it from scavengers.  This also enabled the wild dogs to have a leftovers for a future meal.  Modern house dogs are still born with this instinct to bury food, even though it is no longer necessary.  

When burying a bone, a dog digs the hole with its front feet, but covers the bone with its nose.–Dick Rogers

How can birds perch on electric wires without getting shocked?

Birds

A bird doesn’t receive a shock when it lands on an electric wire because it lands on only one wire.  Electricity takes the path of least resistance—it flows through some materials much more easily than others.  

It is simply easier for the electricity to continue along the metal wire than it is for it to detour through the bird.  If the bird landed on two wires with different voltages, however, the electricity would flow through the bird from the wire with the higher voltage to the wire with the lower voltage, and the bird would be electrocuted.–Dick Rogers

How do birds fly?

Bird

Most birds are well suited for flying.  First of all, a bird has feathers and wings, and powerful muscles in its breast with which to flat them.  A bird’s body is streamlined to other little air resistance. Its bones are light in weight. Many of them are hollow and filled with air. 

When a bird beats its wings downward, it produces a lifting force that holds the bird in the air.  As the wings flap downward to flight, the long wingtip feathers twist and push against the air, moving the bird forward.  The bird uses its tail feathers as a brake and as a rudder for steering. – Dick Rogers

Why do owls come out at night?

Owl

Owls are creatures that few people ever see.  This is because most owls, like many animals, are nocturnal in their habits—they are most active at night.  Most owls hunt at night because they feed on mice and other small creatures that are also nocturnal.  The owl is well equipped for night hunting. 

It has large eyes and can see well in the dark. Its ears are so sensitive that it can hear a mouse scamper over the ground many yards away.  And its feathers are so soft that there is hardly a sounds as it swoops down to capture its prey in its talons.– Dick Rogers