What stinkpots are

Stinkpots are a species of turtles found in eastern United States. They are so named because when they are attacked by a predator, they squirt a horrible smelling liquid from their bottoms. They are also smelly because they gnaw on the rotting remains of dead animals.

They live in muddy streams and swamps, where they eat water snails and insects. Their shells are often covered in thick layers of algae (tiny plants). They are also known as musk turtles.

What a rattlesnake's rattle is made of

Rattle snakes are deadly creatures but fortunately they are not found in Sri Lanka. They mostly live in the Americas. They can be easily identified by the noises they make. In fact, the scariest snake noises are said to be made by rattlesnakes.

Apart from the sinister hissing sounds they make, they also make loud noises similar to the sounds made by a rattle, with their tails. So, what exactly is there on their tales' end to help them make such a din? There are no special sound gadgets attached to their tails. They have only button-like dead skin attached to the tip of their tails. When the snake wiggles its tail, these buttons knock together making a surprisingly loud, cluttering rattle.

Are rattlesnakes born with rattles at their tails' end? No. They have only one button on the tail at birth. One button cannot make any sound as it has nothing to rattle against. So, each time the snake sheds its skin, it leaves a new button on its tail. When these skin buttons dry out, they contribute to the rattle.

Biologists are able to generally estimate a rattlesnake's age by the number of theses skin buttons on the rattle. However, snakes do not shed their skin very often as they grow older.

How woodpeckers drill holes

Usually, woodpeckers work in pairs to bore out a nesting hole in a tree. Whenever possible, they select a dead or decaying tree because the wood is much softer than in other trees. Once they choose the tree, the birds hammer away with their beaks, straight through the outer bark. It is only after the inner wood is reached that the woodpeckers start to bore or drill downwards.

If you happen to watch a bird in action at this point you will notice the chips of wood go flying as the bird hollows out a shaft inside the tree trunk.

The pair of woodpeckers may drill a hole as deep as 30-50 centimetres before hacking out a small chamber where the eggs will be laid.

What do you think happens to all the wood shavings?

They clear away most of the shavings from the hole, while they drill the hole. However, they save some of it to use as a cosy lining in their nest.

If you are wondering as to why they do not rattle their brains with all the vigorous drilling they do, it is because they are cusioned. Woodpeckers do not have large brains. Most of the impact of the hammering is below the brain area.

How a toucan eats fruit

A toucan is a bird with a huge beak so it is hard to imagine how it eats small fruits such as berries.

As it has a very massive beak what it usually does is use the tip of its beak to pull or twist a juicy fruit off the tree first.Now the fruit is in its beak but it is a long way from the tip of its beak to the back of the toucan's throat. So , getting it into the throat certainly needs to be worked out.

How do you think it gets over this problem? The toucan is smart and so it has found a good way to get over this problem. It holds the fruit (or even a small peanut) lightly from the tip of its beak and then tosses it high up into the air.

At the same time it opens its massive beak wide. When the fruit lands in the bird's throat it instantly swallows the fruit. What is amazing is that the bird hardly misses its aim. Bigger fruits are eaten by breaking up the fruit.