Coyote Blog

9 Comments

1. Sam L.:

   Those were great!

   February 12, 2014, 9:14 pm

2. Ward Chartier:

   Washington DC is full of barnacles, both elected to government and working in government. Replacing all of them with seahorses would be good.

   February 13, 2014, 12:42 pm

3. Matthew Slyfield:

   Washington DC is a barnacle.

   FTFY

   February 13, 2014, 2:03 pm

4. jimc5499:

   Washington DC is not full of barnacles, it is full of leaches.

   February 13, 2014, 2:10 pm

5. Mercury:

   Actually barnacles are pretty cool in that they are (I think) reverse evolved shrimp (or whatever the term for that is). Meaning that they were at one time some species of prawn who found a niche in staying put and grabbing stuff to eat from the currents that passed by. Eventually I guess they just grew thicker armor and glued themselves in place.

   Once I saw a story on TV about a super obese guy who stayed on his couch for so long that his skin grew into the couch pillows which had to be surgically removed.

   I know it sounds dodgy and they didn't really explain how he excreted waste but they did show pretty graphic, clinical photos of the pillow foam sort of baked into his skin and the forklift operation some emergency crew devised to get him out of his house. So, he was pretty much turning into a barnacle as fast as an organism possibly could in a single generation.

   February 13, 2014, 2:25 pm

6. Scott:

   somehow, the wonder of science that is the barnacle may not be fully grasped by a 5 year old, so I personally agree with the answer provided.

   February 14, 2014, 6:53 am

7. FelineCannonball:

   Darwin was a giant barnacle fan. The trick is getting them enough food as they're pretty efficient filter feeders. I used to have freshwater bryozoans as a kid. Set up a microscope on the aquarium glass and it's amazing what you can see.

   Seahorses are pretty much for experts. Generally wild caught and dead within the month.

   ----

   If you want a kid to actually get into biology you probably want him to pay attention to the apparently mundane stuff under his nose. Focusing on the exotic is for those with ADD.

   February 14, 2014, 9:42 am

8. Rick Caird:

   Particularly if all the sea horses were to die.

   February 16, 2014, 3:34 pm

9. Mercury:

   True. A 10 gallon fish tank, a bubbler and even tiny critters scooped up (and easily replaced) at the beach is much better viewing than most TV. The epic battles, antics and soap operas of hermit crabs especially can keep your eyes glued to the glass for quite a while.

   February 18, 2014, 6:36 pm