Re: Cave Critters Big and Small
Posted: Mar 21, 2016 12:37 pm
I'm not too surprised but it is pushing things a bit IMHO. I think we all pretty much know how other senses kick in when a particular one is unavailable. Even being sensitive to air pressure changes and such subtleties as light sound being blocked by an object close by are some examples. Caves have a certain resonance where sound is more enclosed as opposed to essentially moving away openly from a subject. Owls can hear mice under snow because of the configuration of the flat hairs on the face that are sensitive to sound. Fox ears are the same when looking for food under snow. Nature is cool like that. My guess is even large creatures have all their senses tuned right down to skin and feet picking vibrations from other animals at whatever distance. In the case of elephant feet it can be a sound felt from miles away. Honestly, this stuff is amazing.
OK, time for a joke: A man on a horse out west came upon a Native American who had his ear to the ground. He asked him what was up and the NA replied Buffalo were about a mile away and he estimated the group to be around 500. The Cowboy was impressed and asked how he could possibly know such things. The Native American replied that it was simple the Buffalo the herd had come through and trampled him flat about ten minutes ago.
Anyway, to bring it all home to topic I'm obviously more interested in the "Cave Critters Big" part of the thread's title.
OK, time for a joke: A man on a horse out west came upon a Native American who had his ear to the ground. He asked him what was up and the NA replied Buffalo were about a mile away and he estimated the group to be around 500. The Cowboy was impressed and asked how he could possibly know such things. The Native American replied that it was simple the Buffalo the herd had come through and trampled him flat about ten minutes ago.
Anyway, to bring it all home to topic I'm obviously more interested in the "Cave Critters Big" part of the thread's title.