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Seriously, the ostrich story is a myth....

they pick(peck) their food food off the ground and therefor seem to have their heads burried in the sand, even when in danger.

A common counter-argument is that a species that displayed this behaviour would not likely survive very long. The myth may have resulted from the fact that, from a distance, when ostriches feed they appear to be burying their head in the sand because they deliberately swallow sand and pebbles to help grind up their food. Burying their heads in sand will in fact suffocate the ostrich. When lying down and hiding from predators, the birds are known to lay their head and neck flat on the ground, making them appear as a mound of earth from a distance.
pustakalaya.olenepal.org

you would also be 100% correct VVG. has anyone found a true scientific answer to VVG's tortoise shell myth yet? would be interesting to hear about it.

Very , very long ago, tortoise chewed on the succulent leaves of the karoo vygies, soaking up the early morning rays of the rising sun. The dewdrops offering relieve from yesterdays harsh heat. He stretches his supple limbs.....

this is hear say.. please don't persecute me

OK OK the tortoise story...

it will not be easy to relate in words as this is a campfire story....

He stretches his supple limbs.....life is wonderfull. Plenty to eat and drink and no predators to worry about. Oom olifant(agh sorry…) elephant sweeps his mighty trunk across the tasty morsels the karoo veld has to offer, the spekboom from last evening still sitting heavily in his stomach. Vygie will do fine to improve the digestion of last night’s feast.

With one almighty sweep, ellie heaves the sweet tasting delicacy into its gaping orifice to multiple stomachs….

Imagine….karoo veld(wide expance)….wood fire burning….SAN woman clapping hands rhythmically…men dancing like elephant grazing…circling the fire…very surprised tortoise

That is not my version AKadwa, but here is the whole truth as I remember it from childhood.

The one moment skillie is nibbling at the softest juicy leaves and the next; he swings through the air at neck break speed. He sees the huge orifice of ellies mouth approach and shrieks at the top of his voice, but too late.
Ellie savors the saltiness of the succulents before he swallows. Skillie tumbles head over heels down ellies gullet, clawing frantically to stop his fall. His sharp little nails leaves bloody track marks in ellies throat.
Ellie is furious, “who dares to hurt me so!” he bellows, “come out immediately and identify yourself!!”
Poor skillie trembles with fear, he realizes that if ellie gets hold of him he will trample him to death, but he can’t stay down here forever either. He only has two options, the front door or the back door. The front door is dangerous and the back door is seriously unpleasant. Skillie ponders his plight; he has no other option but to use the backdoor.
He starts to nibble on ellies intestines, it drives ellie crazy, and he has never had so much pain in his live. Eventually skillie separates a piece just big enough to cover his body. He pulls it over his head until only his four little feet and head stick out. He slowly makes his way through ellies insides until he reaches the exit, with a mighty heave he pushes himself outward and drops on the ground with an almighty thud. He jumps up and runs away as fast as he can, he runs for miles until he collapses exhausted in the shade of a rock.
He realizes that in his haste to make his escape, he forgot to remove the piece of intestine. He grabs the end around his neck and starts to pull but the intestine will not budge. He struggles this way and that, roll over, jump up and down but the piece of intestine has dried in the sun and shrunk tightly around skillie’s body….and from that day on, skillie had a shell!


FACT OR MYTH

In reality a myth, but it might be fact if you look at the San people folklore??

NOOOOOoooooooooooo, skillie saw the ellie coming at him and the fear and adrenaline pumped out of his body like crazy and he ran like he never ran before- some of the hares saw him like lightning flashes before him - and all the rocks and stuff that flew by got stuck on the adrenaline fear glue stuff - hence the patterns on the shell and the shell.

Fact or myth: Lions(and other big cats) do purr (or not?)

Fact, they do purr, I think... When I was young we had an animal orphanage on the farm (local farmers would bring injured or orphaned animals and I would look after them until they were ready to be released into the wild), and I had a caracal from when he was tiny (his mother was shot by a farmer - sheep issues, etc.). He lived in a hectare enclosure and when I would come to say hi to him he would come and rub against the fence (like a housecat) and purr. Also, I went to an animal orphanage in Zim and there was a big fat leopard (saved from a zoo), it too came up to the fence and rubbed itself against it also purring like mad!

But apparently, lions (and tigers) do not purr, it's more a rasping noise generated in their throat - I've heard of a rule that if a cat can roar then it can't purr? But a Caracal and Leopard definately make a purring sound (whether or not it is technically purring, I have not idea )

, Bosnimfie.


The elastic hyoid, combined with the fibroelastic tissue on top of the big cats' undivided vocal folds, acts like a slide trombone, enabling the big cats to roar. Only snow leopards, which lack the specialized vocal folds, are not able to roar. Because of the elastic hyoid, big cats can purr only when breathing out. The hyoid of smaller cats is solid bone. These cats can purr when breathing both in and out, but they can't roar.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 249AA3t4El


However, there is actually some debate over this topic in the scientific community. Some biologists maintain that big cats such as lions and tigers cannot purr, because they have adapted special physical traits in order to be able to roar which preclude purring ability. Others believe that the big cats can and do purr, although they may not purr exactly like household cats. Study of big cats in a variety of environments appears to bear out the second theory, that they do in fact purr for many of the same reasons that smaller cats do.

The exact mechanism of purring is not completely understood. It is believed that purring is accomplished with the use of the hyoid bone, a small flexible bone located in the neck. When the cat pushes air through its voicebox, it rattles the hyoid bone, creating the distinctive purr sound. Purring may also be caused by false vocal cords, located slightly behind the cat's actual vocal cords. The debate over how cats purr has greatly complicated the issue of whether or not big cats can purr.

Biologists who believe that big cats cannot purr generally support the hyoid bone theory. They argue that big cats have developed a slightly different hyoid bone, which is less flexible, and thus able to serve as the mechanism behind the roar. The sacrifice in flexibility, however, means that the hyoid could not be used to purr. However, other biologists believe that big cats actually can purr, although they can only purr when exhaling, rather than continuously, like a house cat or smaller cat breeds. This may be accomplished through limited vibration of the hyoid, or through the false vocal cords.

http://www.wisegeek.com/do-lions-and-tigers-purr.htm

I have now (maybe a odd question) to add to the cats purring. My one cat is rather small (though fully-grown) but she purrs harder than the other cats. It sounds like she is starting some kind of engine when she starts to purr!!! but would that be because she is smaller that you could hear her clearer or that bone thingy is different or ........... ??? or maybe simply because she is happier???

wow BushFairy!!! the ultimate to have a leopard rubbing against you and purring!!!!!
wildflowergirl you have a very happy cat!!!!

Wildflowergirl im with koedoe u have a very happy cat indeed. And i know cheetha purr as well. I went to the hoedspreit endangerd spesiessenter and there where afrikan wildcat and small black footed cat as well as cheetha thay all purr when u get close and when thay rub against the fence...

I also say they purr, or at least make a very believable purring sound...... Unless that lion just wanted me to relax so it could grab me. I guess i'll never know.

Thanks all . I suppose my cat is just very happy indeed.