Where The Animals Live
From high towers to pitcher plants.
When we think of animals, we are led to the idea of an untamed wilderness. Deprived of the comforts that we humans enjoy. There is no organization, no laws except those of the jungle. Their behavior, relegated to hunting and sleeping.
But to anyone that’s turned their focus towards the wilds, we know that these are misconceptions. There is more to them on every level, including where and how they live.
In every major city around the world you’ll find towers that pierce the sky. You walk in their shadows and can scarcely see past them.
We are not the only ones with cities composed of towers.
Termites make structures just as impressive, they don’t follow a blueprint and there is no central plan. Each member of the colony adds on to their homes until they naturally grow into impressive mounds of nothing but soil, termite saliva, and dung.
Though the building process sounds chaotic, once the maelstrom has passed, the result seems destined. The termite mounds have specialized rooms and chambers for all sorts of purposes.
Chambers for food storage, rooms for holding eggs, a special room for the queen and even rooms containing fungal gardens.
That’s right, termites aren’t only impressive architects but accomplished farmers as well.
They cultivate the fungus within these rooms and then they feed off of them. The fungus, when eaten, helps them extract nutrients from the wood.
It’s the spinach to their Popeye.
Termite mounds are cities without an end, an amorphous blob that keeps expanding and jutting out in numerous ways. It appears solid but this is not the case. By design, the termite mounds are actually porous all throughout it’s structure.
This porous makeup means the mounds are one of the world’s most efficient air conditioning systems.
It works like this:
The tops of the mounds consist of central chimneys. A network of tunnels and passages all lead and connect to the central chimney.
Hot air speeds through the network and rises up through the chimney, mixing with the cooler air outside. This causes the cold air to collapse and sink down.
Now, in reverse the cold air is racing through the entire mound using the network. Lowering the temperature throughout the entire city of termites.
This entire design comes about even though there is no central planner. Every single termite must wear many hats as the building process progresses but not all homes must be built.
Some are already existing and are merely stumbled upon by the endless carousel of tenants.
Take the Bromeliads, a spire of leaves that end in sharp, outwardly stretched points. A firework caught in mid frame. Within them, down at the very base of the plant is a small pool of water.
Here lie the poison dart frogs.
Poisonous dart frogs come in an assortment of bright colors and the curves and edges of their body only increase their effect.
The frogs jump onto the plant and make their way down to the tank of water. They plant their eggs within the plant’s tank.
The eggs will hatch, tadpoles stream out of them but will remain within the bromeliad until their limbs have sprouted and a tadpole no longer, they venture out.
Bromeliad tanks don’t just store water, they are their own ecosystem, interacting with other plants and animals. The frogs aren’t freeloaders, they too have something of value to contribute.
Their rent is paid with their feces.
The Bromeliad’s use the nitrogen from the feces as a fertilizer, which allows them to grow.
From ever growing cities fully built with dirt, dung and spit to plants that house water and frogs. There are animals that lie in the middle of both extremes.
Existing life that is altered and inhabited by another.
The Acorn Woodpecker Approaches.
A bird with social behavior so complex that it’s responsible for one of the longest running behavioral studies of birds. This innate complexity reverberates in their homes and living conditions.
They live lavishly, having several rooms within several trees and even patrolling an area that extends to 15 acres of land.
We started with city dwellers then moved on to the renters and at last the high rollers have arrived.
The acorn woodpeckers live in family groups of up to a dozen individuals or more. They cooperate when it comes to raising young, gathering, storing and even guarding food.
When they find a tree that suits them, several holes are drilled into it. One hole is drilled for nesting while the rest are for roosting. Other trees are repurposed into granaries, in which they store all their nuts.
From acorns to almonds and pecans.
The acorn woodpeckers live much more comfortably than most. Having several trees for food storage alone.
To ensure that no thieves make away with their bounty, they wedge acorns into the entrances of their granaries. Periodically switching out the acorns depending on the size needed.
Despite their excess they are not wasteful. Acorn woodpeckers reuse nesting holes and entire trees for many years. Keeping their estates prim and proper, organizing their existence to fit the homes they built for themselves.
Diversity is not a pond but a trench.
Animals may differ in appearance but it’s how they live that truly creates a dividing line amongst them.
Most birds can fly but not many can drill into trees and build several rooms for themselves. Many insects have antennas but only termites can build high towers with built in air conditioning.
It’s important to look past the flashy layers and down into the root of it all. We are what we do, not what we appear to be.
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