If you didn't see the quiz yesterday, scroll to the previous post for the questions before you look at these photos.
IOWA COUNTY ALMANAC QUIZ ANSWERS
1. This is the under-shell of a painted turtle.
Hey, you staring at my plastron, Buster?
Painted turtles have been around 15 million years, so maybe we can learn a little something from them––be mellow, have thick skin, and lie in the sun as much as possible.
2. If you didn't guess feather, I would love to hear the other possibilities. Bonus points if you can identify the bird. (Because I haven't!)
3. An ice fringe all the way around the shore of the pond.
dirt ice water
4. Never try to stare down a dragonfly. They have a 360˚ field of vision, and their eyes have tens of thousands of facets. You will blink first.
5. Every year English sparrows build a nest in the eye socket of our cow skeleton. (More on that later.) There’s plenty of room and protection in a cow skull. This little fellow has a cow’s eye view of the world.
6. Damselflies have separated eyes, unlike most dragonflies. You will not sneak up on them unless they are in love, and they are always in love––and then they die.
7. A fat old tadpole rolls over under the surface of our pond. You have no idea how long it took to teach him this trick.
8. Took a few days to figure out who was decorating the morning dew on the windshield of my truck.
9. The acorns fell out leaving these little aviator glasses in the snow on the forest floor.
10. Too easy, right? Fence in an ice storm.
11. A big, black fungus (7-8 inches tall) somehow broke free from the woods and floated around the pond for a week. It hosted a variety of tiny plants, most on their very first cruise.
For more on painted turtles:
http://www.herpnet.net/Iowa-Herpetology/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=26
For more on dragonflies and damselflies:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/uniramia/odonatoida.html
For more on tadpoles:
