Hi. I am peaches’ son. I have a question.
How come Owl’s can turn their heads almost all the way around? How does that work?
Also, bears hibernate all winter. How do they go to the bathroom then? thanks
this post typed by peaches
How can you be peaches’ son and peaches at the same time?
It’s called taking dictation.
The Owl Pages at
says:
The eyesight of Owls is legendary, particularly their ability to see in near darkness. Recent studies have shown, however, that their vision is not quite as acute as was once supposed. It would appear, in fact, that the Owl’s vision and hearing work in harmony. An Owl’s eyes are, in effect, fixed in their sockets. They face forward and provide a wide angle of vision, the overlapping field of view providing binocular, stereoscopic vision. Having eyes fixed in their sockets could prove a disadvantage when it comes to scanning the surroundings. To compensate for this, Owls have incredibly flexible necks that enable the birds to rotate their heads 270 degrees in either direction, or even turn them upside down.
Lots more interesting info here, hope you enjoy it.
mango says thanks, and now he’s trying to picture the owl’s head upside down. Yes, hes still awake, its so hard to get him to sleep!
hmmmm, if the owls’ head can go upside down, if he threw up, would it go up? (sorry)
Peaches: almost at 300 posts!
Right below our head is a neckbone called the atlas. This sits on the next neckbone called the axis. The axis has two depressions in it, and the atlas turns around on these depressions. Because there are two depressions, we can turn our heads only so far (I can do it for something under 180° - shoulder to shoulder). To look over my shoulder, I have to turn my other shoulder inwards and twist my back.
Birds have an atlas and axis, but they only have one depression. This lets them twist their heads more freely, for owls, about 270°.
To see what this feels like, make a fist and place the fingers from your other hand over two of your knuckles. You can twist your fist from side to side before the fingers stop the twisting. If you cover only one knuckle, your hand can twist more freely. Owls don’t twist their heads off because 1) muscle, tendons, and other stuff will stretch only so far, and 2) owls are smarter than that 
lol,Tell Mango he’s quite welcome.And who needs to sleep?It’s summer vacation, after all.
About the bears, Cecil has this to say:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000121.html
"Eating, drinking, urination, and defecation cease. (One notable aspect of bear hibernation is formation of an anal plug, but I’d just as soon not get into that.) "
About owl barf:
I don’t know, but now that you’ve pointed that out, I may have to start carrying an umbrella when I walk in the woods at night.
I can just imagine signs all over the park saying “Watch for falling Barf”.
brachyrhynchos - Cool answer.I really didn’t know myself and that’s the most clearly it’s been explained to me.Have you got any more on the bear part?
Thanks three bunny momma. It looks like Cecil covered it pretty well with the bears. (One awsome sight I saw recently on public TV - a polar bear with her newborn in the den. Such a tiny cub, with Mom tenderly washing it with her tongue and completely covering it with one paw. Incredible.)
Oh, I see. Next time, I’ll remember to read your mind.
Okay, he also wants to know why giraffes necks are so long? Because their food sources are high up?
Also: why does the rhino have a horn?
Giraffes’ favorite thing to eat is the leaves of the acacia tree. The longer their necks, the more leaves they can reach. Some males can reach leaves 18½ feet above the ground. They can also feed on bushes near the ground, but they find this awkward. Here’s an interesting fact your kid will be happy to know: the male sticks its tongue into the female’s urine stream to taste if she is in heat. Kids love this stuff! (Mothers may not like it so much.)
Rhinos seem to use their horns mostly in fighting each other (some males are very territorial). These fights rarely result in serious injury, since rhinos have very thick skin. The horns can also be used to defend against predators. The “horns” are not true horns since they are made entirely of keratin. (True horns, like those of cows, are bone covered with keratin). If a rhino’s horn breaks off, it will grow back.