AMAZING LIVING CREATURES- PREPARE TO BE AMAZED-AGAIN! (PART 2)
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
By Jessica Breazeale
Pitcher Plant
I first learned of this predatory plant when one was for sale at the Garden Club booth during Wesson Founder’s Day several years ago. I was so intrigued that I’d never heard of this plant and that it could look so otherworldly. This is a carnivorous plant that attracts small bugs, luring them in with its sweet fragrance, sugary nectar, and bright colors. Once the small insects get inside, they can’t get out because of the plant’s sticky substance. These are cool. You definitely NEED one!
BUTTERFLYS & MOTHS
These interesting creatures have spots that look like eyes. I’m sure you already knew this BUT…I just discovered something cool. (Maybe you already knew.)
Owl Butterfly has eye-like spots resembling owl eyes and snake-like patterns on the corners of their wings. The eye spots are so compelling that predators often pause long enough for the butterfly to get away.
SEA HARE
When I saw these, I just about died. Drop dead creepyyyyyy! We rented a boat several years back and went to Peanut Island, off the coast of Miami. While playing in the water on the island, these were all around us. I genuinely thought they were fall-looking leaves. They were very still. I tried to rake them away, and they "came to life and started swimming and spraying ink”. I’m still unclear if these are called sea hares or sea slugs, but these creatures scared the Jurassic Park out of me. These are definitely otherworldly creatures, and I get the heebie jeebies thinking about them. But they are interesting and amazing!
MIMIC OCTOPUS
This creature is the ocean’s best actor! It can impersonate multiple other creatures…on demand! Most animals have one defense. The mimic octopus has a whole cast of characters to choose from — and it picks based on who's threatening it.
Discovered off Indonesia in 1998, it doesn't just change color like other octopuses. It reshapes its entire body — flattening, elongating, tucking arms, altering its swimming style — to become something else entirely.
It becomes…
Lionfish: Spreads arms out like venomous spines and floats slowly through the water Flatfish: Pulls arms together and ripples its body along the seafloor
Sea snake: Hides six arms in a burrow and waves two in a banded pattern
The really unsettling part? It appears to choose which animal to mimic based on the
specific predator in front of it. When threatened by damselfish, it tends to become a sea snake. That's not reflex. That's something closer to judgment. It has no shell, no venom, no armor. Its only real weapon is the ability to become whatever you're afraid of.
Like all octopuses, it has three hearts, blue blood, and a brain wrapped around its
esophagus — meaning it literally thinks around its food. It also has neurons distributed through its arms, so each limb can process information semi-independently. In a sense, it's not one brain running eight arms. It's closer to nine.
We've only been aware this animal exists for about 25 years. Which raises a reasonable question: what else is out there, hiding in plain sight as something it isn't? Look this up and watch videos...for real!
The "true" Rose of Jericho (or Resurrection Plant) is native to Asia as is the only species or its genus in the mustard family. The small gray plant curls its branches and seedpods inward in the dry season, forming a ball that opens only when moistened,
and can survive for years in that form. This is the one with genuine biblical roots. The plant enters a dormant state in the absences of water, avoiding tissue and cell damage by synthesizing trehalose, a crystallized sugar that acts as a compatible solute in place of the evaporating water, preventing dissolved salts from causing damage. The resurrection process typically starts within a few hours, and the plant usually unfurls completely within 24 to 48 hours of being exposed to water. It is called the "Resurrection Plant" as it symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus. According to legend, it bloomed on the day of Jesus' birth, dried up and closed at the time of his crucifixion, and opened again on Easter Day.
P.S. I would like someone to get me this for Christmas!
Barn Swallows
These little cuties have been making a mess of my front porch, but I have
officially adopted them as family members. The parents share parental duties, whereas both parents build the nest, feed the young and protect the nest. Sounds like our house! If you get too close, they’ll swoop in to scare you.
As of today, three have flown off, but one was on the ground. His hair looks like Jack Nicholson’s hair. We put him back in the nest. He’s still there, so please pray he figures out how to fly.
YOU!
You are pretty incredible…if it weren’t so, you wouldn’t even be here. What are the chances you’re sitting here right now? The observable universe contains an estimated 2 trillion galaxies and up to 10^24 stars, yet Earth is the only known body to harbor complex life. The probability of being born is nearly zero… and yet here we are!
You are pretty cool. Go ahead and believe it!
What’s the bigger picture here?
With all the busy in the world, with all the ugly in the world, with all the problems, chaos, drama, if you look for the incredibly amazing… you WILL find it! This planet has some pretty remarkable creatures. Now, go find some!
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