Three Cool Animal Observations

 Nothing earth shaking here, just three things that I saw and want to remember, so that next year when 2027 self looks back, she'll thing "Cool!"

This was all at the museum.  The first thing was when I cleaned and refilled a snake's water dish.  Apparently he appreciated it, because he crawled in for a nice soak.  I have often seen snakes coiled up in a water dish, but never watched one get it.
It was oddly meditative to watch, because it was like tracing a labyrinth.  He first went around the outside edge, and spiraled inward.  When he got to the center, he reversed, and making a second layer of himself, spiraled outward until all of him was coiled up in the water.  A very calming thing to watch (if you're not the type to get freaked out by snakes)

The second was when I was cleaning the habitat for the great horned owl.  It's common to find a feather or two, but yesterday he had dropped one of his leading wing feathers.  The engineering on those is fascinating, and explains the silent flight of owls.  The leading edge has a tiny comb-like structure that breaks up the air.  The feather on the trailing edge are soft and wispy.   I didn't get a picture yesterday, but here's one I took of a barred owl feather a few years ago.

 

I've seen pictures in books, of course (which is how I knew what to look for) but it's not the same as holding it in your hand.

The third shows the human urge to share something that you think is really cool, but something that most people would go "yuck" and back away.  Theo (who works at the cafe) found a huntsman spider whose egg sac was hatching.  She really wanted to share her excitement, so she put in in a plastic container and brought it to the animal kitchen.  I didn't know that huntsman spiders carry their egg sacs.  But there she was, with a tiny hole in it, and dozens of near invisible spiders coming out.

I didn't take a picture, but here's one of spider with egg sac from the web (how appropriate.)

So the spider and the babies were duly admired, and then safely released.

That's it.  Just three moments that made me pause, go "Oh, wow" and feel a sense of wonder.