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Super! Nature Notes
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  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
    ^I've just done a couple of weeks' worth of research on this! Strictly non-experiential, of course. It does seem that an arms race between males and females to determine female mate choice is pretty widespread.

    For instance, Drosophila sperm is toxic to females , so that one mating discourages females from further matings (Drosophila are the tiny flies that live in your fruit bowl and organic waste bin). Dung fly females have evolved powerful spermicides so that they can mate many times and kill off the sperm from substandard males. 

    Male Swordtail fish superstimulate females with their tail streamers in the hope that they will mate, but it seems that females are likely to go off long tail streamers in time and find a new marker of good quality.

    I recommend Perry and Rowe's 2011 paper on the genital armaments of Water Striders.   
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    :O
    And it all seemed so innocent....!
    Only you could have posted that info PG and I have to dash now so will read it fully with fascination and horror later!
    Got to find ten mins before I go to work to cook up some corn and peas!
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    imageMama Duck and her 3 babies are doing really well and getting extremely cheeky and tame. This was them about 3 weeks ago, diddy and fluffy.

  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    And this was them this morning. I open my bedroom curtains and expect to see them on the lawn waiting for me. When I spotted them today they were on the doorstep waiting for me before I'd made it to the front door! Still got their baby feathers, but all the corn and oats I'm feeding them with is fattening them up!image
  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    If that's GMO corn, do not...I repeat, DO NOT...let @Ponygurl know.
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down PonygurlPonygurl
    Posts: 2,501
    @kat Aw, they're just beautiful Kat. The garden is lovely too!
    U R I E L
    What is done in the dark will always come to light
  • Vote Up0Vote Down PonygurlPonygurl
    Posts: 2,501
    iuventus said:

    If that's GMO corn, do not...I repeat, DO NOT...let @Ponygurl know.




    If the chics wind up becoming sterile or having offspring with birth defects, you can always blame it on those pesky Mosquitos. Damn those Mosquitos! Where's the pesticide!
    Post edited by Ponygurl at 2017-06-08 12:54:14
    U R I E L
    What is done in the dark will always come to light
  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    Yipes stripes! How did you find me?!

    (Foiled again!)
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
    I've been enjoying the window feeder I put out for the birds over Xmas. There's been Robins, Sparrows, Titmice, thrushes - always someone there,happily hopping about and quietly grateful for my generosity. But now the Starlings have discovered it. Bloody hell. It's like having a crack den opening up next door. Always with the squawking, squabbling and shitting everywhere. Especially the shitting. Always the shitting.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Urban_TribesmanUrban_Tribesman
    Posts: 5,681
    My Dad always likened Starlings to Spivs!
    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ.
    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit.
    Shall lure it back to cancal half a line,
    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
    Urban_Tribesman said:

    My Dad always likened Starlings to Spivs!



    It's like The Bullingdon Club have gatecrashed the party
  • Vote Up0Vote Down PonygurlPonygurl
    Posts: 2,501
    Well, my darling boy-cat 'Bigs' has disappeared. I tried to keep him indoors, but he would always escape. He's been gone two week now :( and I fear the worst. There's a breeding pair of Barred Owls that live in a walnut tree close to my yard. They have a couple of cute, fluffy fledglings they've been teaching to hunt. I think my boy could've been on their menu. Who knows. So many predators in the forest, who knows. My hope is fading
    Post edited by Ponygurl at 2017-07-01 01:05:34
    U R I E L
    What is done in the dark will always come to light
  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
    Ponygurl said:

    Well, my darling boy-cat 'Bigs' has disappeared. I tried to keep him indoors, but he would always escape. He's been gone two week now :( and I fear the worst. There's a breeding pair of Barred Owls that live in a walnut tree close to my yard. They have a couple of cute, fluffy fledglings they've been teaching to hunt. I think my boy could've been on their menu. Who knows. So many predators in the forest, who knows. My hope is fading



    Aw >hug< My cat has been ruthless with the birds here and Ive had to set up a load of barriers to interrupt his stalking lines so he cant rush out and kill the birds at the garden feeders.
    Last night was funny, though, as I watched as he unexpectedly discovered a young hedgehog in his path - he leapt a foot in the air and ran away as if Beelzebub himself was on his tail.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    Really hope you've got your cat back PG. on a similar note, our visiting ducks have abandoned us, since the evening I brought home a fluffy baby kestrel. I'll post pics of it tomorrow and explain. I know that's not as sad as your cat going missing - so I'm upset for you.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
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