A Moment With Nature; Compilation of Segments

Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro, for the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University. We are observing a male and female burrowing now on their progeny, consisting of four or five young chicks that were hatched this summer. It's typical for them to stand around the burrow, especially the little ones. They're bringing from mom and dad to bring in grasshoppers, beetles, and small mammals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now these owls occupy abandoned peridom burrows, and they are certainly welcome to Eastern Mexico and West Texas, and we can say that they're easily recognized, because they are about 10 inches high, a feathery, stocky body with skinny little featherless legs. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University. We are being dived upon by a Mississippi kite on the Eastern Mexico University campus. Actually, there is no sexual discrimination, because the kite died upon Marjorie, my wife, as well as me. Now this kite and other members of the species, which are protected by federal and state laws, winter in South America, and they travel 5,000 miles to come to their summer home here. Now the dives are frightful, very frightful, but typically they're not harmful. The thing is that what the kites are trying to do is protect their young and their nest. Now one thing is good news, only about 50% of breeding Mississippi kites die. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Now animals are typically camouflaged to protect them from predators. That's not true for brightly colored birds, such as the male housefinch. Now the housefinch uses its bright colors to advertise its territory, and of course females are attracted to those bright colors. Now the red coloration of housefinch comes from nutrient foods. Males that collect the most nutrient foods have the brightest red colors. Now I guess which males the females pick, those males what the brightest colors, because they will be the best providers of the housefinch family. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Who says foxes can't climb trees? The gray fox can sometimes call the tree fox. Now the gray fox spends a lot of time on the ground, but its greatest escape from enemies would be to climb a tree with ease. Now these foxes also den in trees, in fact there is a record of a fox den, the gray fox 27 feet high and the hollow of a tree. Model is, why be sly if you can climb? Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Believe it or not, porcupines do not throw their quills. Now to receive a batch of quills, one has to be in contact with the porcupine or be in

the way of his slapping tail. Now each porcupine has an elongated stiff hollow hair, which is barbed on its pointed end. Now within the skin, one of those porcupine quills can penetrate one half inch deeper about eight or ten hours, every eight or ten hours. To stay away from this porcupine quills, thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. How would you call this animal if you were to meet him on an open prairie? I would call him anything he wanted to be called, but it is a bison, a bison, not a buffalo. True buffalo are found in Asia, the Asian water buffalo, and in Africa, the African buffalo.

Now does that mean we change buffalo bill to bison bill, buffalo New York to bison New York? I doubt that. But we should use the word bison for the American species. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. I wonder why we call these animals prairie dogs when they are really prairie grounds squirrels? Well, settlers in their wagons as they cross the prairies heard bark-like sounds and call them dogs. Now, a word about those bark-like sounds, they are predator warning calls. Now, the prairie dog that makes the warning calls remains motionless. They're prey dogs that hear it run against which ones the predators go after, they're running

prairie dogs, not the motionless car. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern New Mexico University in Fort Tellas. As we cruise along a highway across the grassland, how many times have we heard people say, look at that herd of antelope. Those are not antelope, those are pronghorn, pronghorn only inhabit America. Now, true antelope are found in Africa, the Middle East, and surrounding countries. So I guess from now on, we're going to have to go pronghorn watching and pronghorn hunting. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature.

Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern New Mexico University in Fort Tellas. We are often told that these camels store water in their humps, but according to scientists, that's not true. Actually, the camels help is used for fat storage, rather than storing the fat beneath the skin of the camel, and that's good. Because in hot areas, camels must lose excessive heat. And because there is no fat insulating very below the skin, that is easily done. But camels do drink a lot of water. They can drink 27 gallons of water in 10 minutes. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Believe it or not, domesticated pigs comes from the wild boar, such as the European wild boar. Now, domestication began about 12,000 years ago on Thailand. And then the Polynesians introduced the domesticated pig into a Y a thousand years ago. And the Spaniards introduced the domesticated pig to South Eastern U.S. in the 16th century. Then later on, we came along and introduced wild boars into the South Eastern U.S. Now, free roaming pigs are running all over the place from California all the way to Florida. And now we know the name of the University of Arkansas football team to raise a batch. Why? That's the wild boar. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. We're looking at Canada geese. Other times we see this birds flying in deformation, north in the spring and south in the fall, we say, look at those Canadian geese. Those are the wrong words because these birds are as much American as they are Canadian. But they were named Canada geese, not Canadian geese. So when you see them in this guy in the spring fall, we're going to have to say, look at those Canada geese. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Now we've often heard the word deer horns, but that's not correct. This deer has antlers as do caribou and reindeer and elk and moose.

Horns are found on antelope and pronghorn and bison and buffalo and deer and goats. Now antlers are made entirely of bone except for skin on the outside during the early development called velvet, as you see on this particular deer. Now horn on the other hand consists of a central spike all over the horn, consist of material like our fingernails. Last, these antlers are lost each year annually. The entire antler falls off. That's not true for horns. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas.

I have an often asked how these spots can protect a fawn or other kinds of prey when the predator uses a sense of smell to detect them, but you see when the predator is picking up odors it might be over a broad area unless the predator actually sees the prey. The predator may not perhaps capture that prey, so these spots might be very important after all. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Don't you think it's strange for this barred tail to be hanging down from the body of raccoon? Well, nature has purposes of most structurally to try this idea. Our eyes and probably the eyes of raccoon responds strongly to the border between light and dark areas.

Now perhaps the light and dark area or the border between them on this raccoon may act as a visual stimulus to the young raccoons so they can keep track of this very active, free climbing mother. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Fort Tellas. Many times we hear the comments, see those buzzers in the air, it must be something dead in the area where there might be something dead in the air, but those aren't buzzers. Beauty always in Europe are called buzzers, in the early settlers when they arrived in America, saw those black birds in this guy and they called them buzzers. But they're vultures. Now to be truthful, there are no vultures in America. Therefore, we'll have to change the old saying in America, you'll buzzer you to you old vulture you, thanks for being with us on a moment with nature.

Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University. They're wonder why zebras have stripes, they may, for example, disrupt the outline of a zebra in a sabana, confuse a predator such as a lion, some say the stripes are for temperature control. Now, the latest suggestion is that stripes act as a visual stimulus to attract members of the same species to get together form a group such as a herd for feeding and for protection. Now if you're asked a zebra lie or the function of stripes, I'm sure he or she would say, all of the above. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Portellas, every wondered why asthmins are situated here and there and for us, or the reason there is that asthmins replace the native trees from that area, as a result of the native tree being removed because of logging or fires. Now the first plants that come in of course are forbs and they're followed by grasses and then shrubs replace the grasses and finally the asthmins come in and the asthmins will stay there until they're replaced by the native trees, which sometimes will take as much as 300 years. Have you ever wondered why the leaves of asthmins quake, shake or tremble? The reason is that petty was flat, that's the structure between the blade and the stem and when the wind blows, the leaves resistance against the wind cause the leaf to shake. Thanks for being with us in a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Portellas. How many times have we been told how poisonous centipedes are, and that's not true? They're found worldwide and all conceivable habitats, they're very secretive and only hunt at night. They only have a very mild ventum for their prey, which consists of small invertebrates, spiders and insects. Now, Stoops and Martin said if you're ever bitten by one of these little guys, it'll be painful for a while, apply soap and water and antiseptic, perhaps you'll need a tetanus shot, but that's about it. Thanks for being with us in a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University. Recall all the almond trees we see in cemeteries and parks and along the streets and so forth.

We call them Chinese alums many times, but they are Siberian alums, it's a difference. Siberian alums are introduced into the Americas and the 1800s, and then finally during the 1930s during the drought, these Siberian alums are planted everywhere, shelter bells, and that's why we see them today, notice the small leaves and so forth. The idea is that the tell the difference of Siberian alums fruits in the spring and we see disc-like seeds everywhere, however the Chinese alums, which is certainly like better than the Siberian alums found and fruits only in the fall. If you want to see Chinese alums, the best place to see them is in Disney World or Land of Florida, they're rare everywhere else. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Portellas. I'm wholly made coach whip. You can typically be identified by the tanning's color and also notice the pattern, which resembles the whip used by coachmen to drive the coach. Here's a found in Eastern Mexico and West Texas. They can run faster than a human can walk and they are the fastest snake. They're rarely caught, they climb trees, they're called racers, but they are not venomous but very aggressive. Thanks for being with us in a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Ginerro from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Portellas. My friend Ethan Ortega and I are holding a great plane skink, commonly found in the Midwest, also gets into Arizona and in Mexico.

The animals found the shrubs and grasses, but we also find them in our gardens because they prefer dark areas. The animal eats insects and that makes it very important for our way of life here to take care of the insects. But important thing about this lizard that doesn't occur among other lizards that it does incubate, it should be, incubate its eggs for almost all summer before the hatch. They develop into small lizards that are all black in color that first year, second year they are tan. A lot of the young people pick these little lizards up, they are not poisonous, absolutely no poison whatsoever, but they will bite, so be careful when you pick them up. Ethan's going to hold me for me today too, but I think we'll see what this lizard might do. He has a tendency to do this, you see what I mean? So that's why we're trying to tell you, if you pick up the little guys, be careful, but they are important to our environment. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. When a person falls into a cactus patch, they worry about being penetrated by needles.

Those aren't needles, they're spines. My name is Dr. Tony Genero from the Natural History Museum, an Eastern New Mexico University in Portellas, and we're going to talk about spines today. Note this particular plant called the prickly pear. When we look at it, we notice that these spines are really modified leaves. The green part of this plant is the stem. Now this is called a prickly pear, but as I said, these aren't prickles, prickles are on lowest wishes. These aren't pear, they're stems, so the plant should be called a prickly stem. There are other kinds of plants that have spines, mesquite, for example, which develop from the stipules on the stem, or the edges of barberry leaves. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. We're often told that roses are beautiful, but we're warned again to watch out for the

thorns on the stem. My name is Dr. Tony Genero from the Natural History Museum at Eastern New Mexico University in Portellas. We're going to talk about plant structure today, that there's a prickles and thorns and spines, and our main subject, of course, will be prickles because that rose bush actually has prickles, so not thorns. In addition to the rose bush, black berries and raspberries also have prickles, and let me explain what a prickle is. A prickle does not come from a certain part of the stem. Prickles are found all along the stem in various places at random. They're not real long, in fact, they're kind of short, but they are very pointed, and they can puncture the skin and cause one somewhat to be painful. Now, when this happens, we say, Doc, I have a prickle in my finger. Would you help me? Thanks for being with us on a moment with me. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Genero from the Natural History Museum at Eastern New Mexico University. Some very important plant parts are prickles, thorns, and spines, and there's a difference between them. Today, we're going to talk about thorns. Most of us see bushes of any kind, and they have pointed things on them. We say they have thorns, and that's not true. Not all bushes have thorns. Pyracanthus do, such as this bush, as well as honey locusts and some others, but only a few. Now, let me explain what a thorn is. A thorn develops from the angle between the leaf and the stem. It is a very stout, long pointed structure, and that thorn sometimes can reach great lengths such as this one, all the way out here, and they develop their own leaves. Thorns are very, as I said, stout, and they can penetrate the skin, and when they break off, they can be dangerous. So one needs to be caution or express a caution with thorns. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony General from the Natural History Museum of Eastern Mexico University. I ever wonder why chickens can't fly, I mean, really fly, hey, they have feathers, got wings, nice beak, they've got all the things they need, right? So a reason they can't fly is because this chicken is too heavy for a wing size. Scientifically, we call that wing loading, large body size, small surface area of the wings, high wing loading, small body size, such as in, say, swallows and elbow trosses, small body size and wide wing area, we call that small or low wing loading. They can really glide and do a lot of flying. Well, it's not the chickens fall. Actually, this chicken is a descendant of a jungle foul. I'll show you a picture of that. The jungle foul is from East Indies and also Asia. That is the jungle foul is the original wild chicken from which all breeds of birds came from. Notice how good looking this little jungle foul is. Being as thin as it is, you can fly quite high, roost in trees, probably much higher.

You can fly much higher than the heavy chicken we were just looking at. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Genero from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Portellas. We are looking at fruits and flowers in the produce department of IGA in Portellas. It's determined whether or not we can identify some of these. Some of these are quite normal and typical to us, citrus, fruits and apples. Others may be a little more difficult. Let's try it. Elbacadl, these are all fruits, banana, beans, cantaloupe, look at this, of course corn, these, coconut, these are all fruits, now believe it or not, the cucumber is a fruit as long as grapes, peanuts are fruit, yes, you won't believe this one, peppers are fruits, squash

and guess what, tomatoes are fruits along with zucchini and mushrooms and strawberries are all fruits. Now we have a few flowers. Tea choke is a flower, broccoli is a flower and cauliflower is a flower, well, now they say it's healthy to eat fruits, how about a tomato a day will keep the doctor away. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature. My name is Dr. Tony Genero from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University. We're looking at veggies, the non-reproductive parts of plants that is the root, stem and leaves.

We are at the, we are in the produce department of IGA and Portellas, this determine if we can ID these parts, for example, let's look at roots, the carrots, the root, radish and raw potato and turnip, these are roots, stems, guess this one, asparagus, stem, sweet potato, stem, garlic, stem and finally we go to leaves, cabbage, leaf, celery, the only part that's the leaf is out here, really this is just the stalk of the leaf or the pedio of the leaf. Parsley, leaf, lettuce, obviously a leaf, onion, leaf and spinach, a leaf. Well, we're told that veggies are healthy, so let's eat it garlic. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature. Welcome to a moment with nature.

My name is Dr. Tony Genero from the Natural History Museum at Eastern Mexico University in Portellas. Say, yeah, anytime we're eating chicken or turkey, what's your choice? Here for the dark meat or the light meat, well, we say meat on birds like that, we're talking about muscle and actually the muscle of the bird is on this structure, bony structure called the keel. Now birds that are runners and walkers have white muscle on the keel and dark muscles on the legs, however, birds that are flyers have dark muscle on the keel and whiteiest muscle on the legs. Reason, dark muscle has more blood vessels, as dark muscle has more blood vessels, more oxygen and more fat than white muscle and all those things are necessary for dark muscle in order to supply the high energy production for flight. Thanks for being with us on a moment with nature.