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Show How wild things communicate By HOI 1 A (opley News Servlie ( opley News Service there are others treated in glittering detail in a recent Wyoming Fish and Game publication by Harry Harju a staff game biologist His subject is Animal Communication and some of his observations are fasci nating A spider, with its refined sense of touch, can tell imme diately if a warning tremor on the web signals a strug glmg insect, an errant, wind blow leaf, or the tentative steps of a love smitten male spider seeking affection You can admire the actions of this particular male without being flayed as a chauvinist pig, for he must do every thing right or hell be the entree on Mama's dinner menu He may be eaten, anyway Animals do not communi- cate, as humans do, obvious ly, since speech is denied them But they are better than we are at interpreting chemical and physical signals among their own He certainly cannot scent like a tails or tap with their beaks, and mammals use vocal cords vibrated by a moving air stream, stamp their feet or thump their tails " The rattle of a snake is a warning sound as is the buzz of bees Quail c makes use of chemit al visual and auditory communication to defend itself When attacked, this bee tie produces a loud explosion and a foul smelling blue smoke comes from its anus "This usually stops the at lacker and allows Ihe beetle time to escape If pursued, the beetle can fire this weap on as many as 20 times Usually, after one or two such discharges, the attac ker gets the message " Stink bugs are similarly equipped, and the skunk does pretty well with its talent A porcupine rolls into a tight ball, making it necessary for an attacker to paw or chew his way through double-barbe- d spines to reach a vul nerable spot A pill bug reacts similarly, its segmented armor closing around it A blow fish for protection puffs into an unappetizing ball of spines Bird recognition is remark able because it is instantane ous and accomplished by con spicuous display of patterns shark Many animals use certain portions of the body as visual These signals, say Harju include the enlarged, brightly colored claws and legs of crabs, the wings of birds, the facial expressions of apes, man, dogs, and the rump patch of antelope But nobody signals with the efficiency of a female firefly curious wasps flush, as do grouse, to momentarily startle an in truder (or attacker, in their view) Dogs growl, ats hiss A loon makes a piercing cry and drags a wing to detoy outsiders form her nest Among all types of communication, Harju says ' my favorite is the bombardier beetle, which hunting dog or, probably the best of the the bunch, a flight of vultures We cant see like antelope, and our taste buds are nowhere near the sharp ness and sensitivity of those used by, say, catfish or This and creature, which brings joy to youngsters in the Midwest every summer, lights up her cold-hebody segment and tells all males within sight range who she is, where she is, what she is and that she is ready to mate all of this in a split millisecond Sounds are produced in a variety of ways Harju says "Most insects produce per cussion sounds Crickets chirp by rasping comb like structures (their legs) together Others may tap parts of their body together or against another object Among the higher anid mals, fish vibrate an bladder, birds expel air from a resonating air sac, beat their wings, flick their "Climbing is done primari feet and legs" letting the lyman says and His foot was slipping from bone structure support balanc e the weight of the the ii y ledge Hould that last piton body whenever possible and the large thigh muse les wedged in ( rumbling ro k using to do the heavy work of lift hold him-- ' mg the body upward "Auugh1 At the same time the Heve all seen movies of mountaineers struggling to climber should hold himself as upright as possible to reach the top of a (raggy maintain balanc e and to keep ice en rusted mountain But roc k climbing doc sn t his center of gravity directly have to be Spew er Trac y over his feet as min h as dangling on a frail rope from possible I In his book yman dia snowy peak sc ribes the tec hniques and Tom l.yman in his book skills required for bouldermg "Bouldermg and Outcrop simple and advanc ed that you says Climbing," Rather, says Lyman, a needn t go to the Himalayas be reason to climb it can be just as climber should ably strong and agile and challenging to climb a boul have good stamina der close to home Roc k climbing is a test of Bouldermg as opposed to mountain climbing, requires your own skills your sense of it is balance and timing no special equipment It is a "climbing on rocks without challenge to climb atop a the use of, or necessity for, boulder whether for the ropes or any other gear or view or just for the fun of it Rock climbing is both an equipment except (usually) ac cording a science art and a craft proper fuotwear to Lyman and a mystery Lyman His book presents boulder says It is more than an extension of exercise, more than just ing as it is an adven as they are both climbing walking, dependent upon the muscles ture in the legs By JOANNE MASON Hll HAMS The sensory apparatus of wild things is marvelous The sonar of whales, for example considering their size, or of bats, taking into account their speed and density of flight They never run into others of their kind Antelope spring their white rump hairs to attention de noting danger Monarch but terfly males can scent a vir gin female from a distance of a mile Deer like some humans, stamp their feet A when they re annoyed hon'y bee dances a pattern on the floor of the hive, stamping out a map which directs other worker bees to the food which has just been located All of these abilities are relatively well known, but Of The musky-smellin- insect, the eyed hawk moth When it is touched, it spreads its wings fully, displaying two huge eyes which sem to glare at the intruder Before the interloper recovers, the moth is m flight and RM-125- Wide plastic lenders stYle number plates Big 520 size chain Full floating rear brake 6 speed transmission ignition Suzuki s PEI 125CC WORLD CHAMPION RV Special $1189 PLUS 100 Factory Rebate PLUS FREE Lined Jacket SUZUKI 1980 The Performer. DAVIS MOTOR & SERVICE 159 N Main in Helper 472-395- Saturday, May 17, 1980 5 Rafting down the river ly with the and colors Male birds use their bright colors to identify themselves both to females and other male birds of their species "The male flicker, Harju notes, recognizes another male by the presence of a mustache on its hpad Fe males don t have this mark, so flickers without the mustache are courted, those with are attacked If a mustache is painted on a female, the male attacks her'" Taste is used for communication when two animals are in contact The bull elk, for examples, tastes the urine of the cow to determine whether she is ready to mate Scents generally are used to delineate territory Lions and hyenas do this Bears salivate and gnaw and scratch on trees, and deer rub their antlers on trees, partly to remove velvet from antlers but also to deliver a scent A smelt, when schooling, releases an odor which directs others to the area A bull alligator, bellowing at night, emits a fluid which attracts females and, at the same time, warns other males to keep their range Garter snakes lay a foul smelling scent to discourage animals which would eat them One of the curious visual signals is that used by an Gutsy Power Reed 'engine Leading axle front air forks Gasoil rear shocks with refillable remote reservoirs Works type chain guide Aluminum swing arm RV SHOW An adventure in stone Spiders and Stink lugs 3 i By SADI (.KIIK (opley News Service ON THE STAMS1AIS - RIVER Calif Here going to do what' The Stanislaus is a raging torrent of a river in the middle of summer when run off has screeched to a standstill relatively This spring it s indc-s- ribably tern pestuous Raft down tins stream of all streams The easy stretc hes of the aie about my Mississippi speed He climbed aboard the pumped up raft about the size of a small fising boat Man your oars' ( aptain Bligh shouted This is supposed to be- - fun He pushed off from shore heading downstream at a pretty good clip The spray from the river iry cold, crashed up and into the boat It was a free form roller coaster A wet one Down the river we sped, over the rapids, oars like dragging loothpu ks Lp and down splash crash over the rapids and through trie roc ks I m not sure flow muc h of this fun c an stand My shipmates were chor tlmg with glee shrieking with joy Hhere was my lifejac kef The river took us down, around a huge boulder in a swift semicircle It was like being in a little sports car speeding around the comers on crooked Highway One up the coast AROUND to the left AROUND to the right Hrnm maybe this wasnt so bad after all The water did kind of cool you off a bit By the time we reac hed the end of our journey I d be come a river rafter I, too chortled with glee at each approaching rapid The only thing I missed was my fishing pole I m sure I could ve snagged a couple as we went by Hhy cant you troll for trout |