Fun fact of the day:

[Becky]

Here's my fun fact for today - there's a bird in Africa that guides men to beehives on the condition that it is rewarded with honeycomb. Incredible!

 

[MaryMary]

@Becky, that is cool!! There are dolphins around the world that help people to catch fish!

These dolphins in Brazil have been helping for 120 years or more. Each generation teaches the next.

There are also these in Africa. I don't understand the narrator, so I don't have any details.
These guys have a much harder time of it than the ones in Brazil!!

 

[Becky]

That's fascinating @MaryMary!

 

[MaryMary]

I've always been fascinated by odd laws, because taken as a whole...people are weird.



If you are in Arkansas, you'd better know how to say it! It is illegal to mispronounce "Arkansas" there.

If you hold a frog-jumping competition in California, and a frog dies, it is illegal to eat it.

With the exception of married couples, sex is illegal in Virginia. Breaking this law is a Class 4 misdemeanor.

In West Virginia, it is illegal to use a ferret for hunting. Whistling underwater is also illegal.

In Nevada, it is illegal to "drive" a camel on the highway.

If you are married in Michigan, it is illegal to cut your own hair without your husband's permission.

It is illegal in Ohio to get a fish drunk.

In Minnesota you are not allowed to cross state lines with a duck on top of your head.

In New Jersey, it is illegal for a man to knit during fishing season.

If you live in Texas, it is illegal to sell your eye.

In Wyoming, you must obtain an official permit to take a picture of a rabbit from January to April.

It is illegal to keep an ice cream cone in your back pocket on a Sunday if you live in Georgia.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/weird-laws-in-america_us_56a264abe4b0d8cc1099e1cd




People are SO weird. I would love to know the reasons for some of these!!

 

[alp]

Just read this a pigeon is involved in geopolitical drug trafficking

A pigeon has been arrested with almost 200 ecstasy pills. The bird was sent on a sortie from Iraq to Kuwait.

Amazon might learn something from this. Although I'm no friend of Amazon which treats staff like robots and clock their every move ..

Have some fun today! Off now ..

 

[marlingardener]

Texas Parks and Wildlife department issues permits to pick up feathers off the ground. That's right--during molting season picking up a vulture feather without the proper paperwork can get you hard time!

 

[MaryMary]

Researchers observed ten captive greater vasa parrots, an African species native to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, for eight months. The greater vasa parrots are the first animals (other than humans) to be seen using tools to grind something to powder. They grasp pebbles or date seeds in their beaks and use them to grind cockle shells to a powder, which they then eat. They also were seen using the tools as wedges inserted into the cracks to break them into smaller pieces for easier consumption.

They are among few documented cases of direct tool sharing; one bird would approach another and take their tool away, in order to use it themselves! The link has a video, where they show the use of the tool, both to grind and as a wedge. (They put the curve of their beak along the outside of the shell, and use their tongues to manipulate the pebble against the inside.) They also show "Tolerated theft of pebble" and "Protested theft of pebble."

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-parrots-use-pebbles-tools-grind-seashells-180957584/


It was the five male parrots observed grinding the shells. They would then regurgitate the calcium "pellets" to feed the females. (It's nice when a guy makes dinner for you. )

 

[marlingardener]

(It's nice when a guy makes dinner for you. )
Well, at least it wasn't spaghetti and meatballs!

 

[Becky]

On the subject of weird laws, there is a city called Chester near where I live. There is an old law there saying it's ok to shoot a Welshman after sunset with a crossbow if he is within the city walls

 

[DeborahJane]

On the subject of weird laws, there is a city called Chester near where I live. There is an old law there saying it's ok to shoot a Welshman after sunset with a crossbow if he is within the city walls

Lets hope that Welshman has the right body clock, early to bed, at su set to be precise

 

[roadrunner]

On the subject of weird laws, there is a city called Chester near where I live. There is an old law there saying it's ok to shoot a Welshman after sunset with a crossbow if he is within the city walls

It would almost be funny if someone attempted to abide by that law

 

[MaryMary]

Hey!! @Beverly!! Yoo-hoo!!

Sorry to abruptly yank you into the thread like this, but your post is the inspiration for today's fun fact.

If i catch a wasp of any size (...) that wasp is going to die at my hands, guaranteed. You will say that it is the natural way for wasps to eat caterpillars, but it is the natural way for all of nature to have some sort of predator, and if you are a wasp, that predator would be me. The wasps that come into my garden are scared to death of me, and i like it that way

Your wording is wonderful. You sound like Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson, and Robert De Niro, all rolled into one! Bravo!! I didn't really have anything to say about tropical milkweed, so I didn't jump in the thread. But since this is "Chat," and I've given everyone permission to hijack this thread with any facts they choose, I figured I'd take the opportunity to give you a shout out!


Today's fun fact is that Beverly should never plant certain varieties of corn and cotton.

There are some corn and cotton plants, that when eaten by caterpillars, will release chemicals into the air that draw parasitic wasps to the plant. Even the recorded sound of caterpillars chewing on leaves will trigger the release of these chemicals. Without being touched - the plant acts like it can hear.

 

[Rajesh Sethi]

Too good to be true!

 

[Beverly]

Sorry to abruptly yank you into the thread like this, but your post is the inspiration for today's fun fact.

MaryMary well i've just gotten in from pulling up all my cotton plants and thank you for your hilarious post and informative video. I do understand the value of some parasitic wasps...just not in my garden

i am happy to lend myself to this thread. I really like it but have had minimal computer time available for the last couple of weeks. Sometimes life seems to happen all at the same time.

 

[MaryMary]

Sometimes life seems to happen all at the same time.

Don't I know it!!