Lets beat the heat

As we see summer season is getting round the corner and the temperatures are soaring. Its time to turn on fans,A.C.s,coolers and drink cold drinks,cool coconut water. This is what we do for beating the heat. But, wonder how animals beat the heat. It is obvious that they take a dip in water pool, just pant themselves etc. But ,there are lot of unique methods which they do this post will tell.

We all know that pachyderms like elephants beat the heat by taking a mud bath or spraying water upon themselves. But, there is another technique these giants use for beating the heat i.e. by flapping the ears.

Their ears act as radiators from the hot, tropical climate of their habitat. Also, these giants do not sweat.Thanks due to their internal body mechanisms.

Even, there are animals who beat the heat by resting during the day like koala bears who beat Down Under's(Australia's) heat by just holding onto Eucalyptus trees branches while sleeping. Funnily, the scene looks as they are sleeping on their favorite trees.

Prevention of sunburns is another advantage of beating the summer's heat and in some animals,their colors are enough to do the job.

Image courtesy of [criminalatt] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Though currently under research, still nobody knows why zebras boast stripes. But, one great advantage with its patterns is that it deflects around 76% of sun's heat thus shielding the equines(horses and similar animals) from sunburns which is also the same reason for giraffes boasting bluish black tongues (as shown in pic).

Finally, for animals like the Fennec fox, its body features help. Their large, triangular pointed ears release out the desert's heat.





From this post, we can accept that animals too have their own unique capabilities for beating the summer's heat.

Animals in sayings-2

Coming to the second part of the earlier topic, now this post reveals about animal sayings in the form of proverbs. Its true that there are animals and their number of proverbs are huge, this post will reveal only a few great ones.

As it is known that dogs are man's best friends, they are all time no.1 pets for humans. They can even be smarter than a 2-yr old child and their breeds are also loved by most people around the world. One of the best proverbs of these faithful creatures is revealed here. Every person in life has good and bad days. But, when good times arrive, this saying comes into use i.e. 'Every dog has his day' which means every person will have his good times at some point in life.

Image courtesy of [satit_srihin] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Elephants are one of the really amazing beasts created by god. They boast unique characteristics like possessing more than 40,000 muscles in their trunks, capability of identifying humans even from a distance etc. These giants have not only became famous with humans for use in riding, work animals etc.but they are also popular for their inclusion in sayings of which two great ones are revealed.  Here is a popular proverb which is ' When an elephant is in danger, even a frog will kick him'. In this case, it means that elephant is a person who is rich and the frog is one who is the opposite. No matter how rich or strong the person is, whenever he/she gets into trouble, the poor one can also take advantage of him/her.

Another really popular and valuable proverb which has elephant is derived due to the animal's size and its application in problem solving or challenging situations. It is 'The only way to eat an elephant standing in your way is to slice it into pieces'.Here, the elephant is referred to as a problem and it means we should solve any big problem bit by bit. This proverb is used more popularly in situations  like when a student is completing a huge portion for an exam etc.

Similar to elephants, horses became popular with humans.Along with riding, they play a role as a beast of burden. They do are intelligent and boast pretty nice memory. They are also no exception when it comes to their inclusion in proverbs.When it comes to riding, there is a proverb which highlights about a particular task in which one is appointed a leader and another is appointed a subordinate. For this, a quote states 'When two people decide to ride on a horse, then one must ride from behind'. Also, there is another one which states about changing the people appointed for work. It states 'Do not change your horses while crossing the stream'. True, it isn't great to change people when they are appointed for any work i.e. changing the appointed posts.

Last comes the proverb about the king of the beasts i.e. the lion. Yes, lions are one of the powerful animals and are a symbol of bravery and even strength.They are the top predators in whichever ecosystem they inhabit. The male's menacing roar can be heard from 5 miles away.Two most popular proverbs of this majestic beast revealed are about  people of two qualities. 'A roaring lion doesn't kill any game' states a person who talks a lot doesn't do things a lot. 'Even a lion also has to fight with the flies' states no matter how strong a person is he still has to deal with small troubling matters.

Animals in sayings-1

It is true that humans have made phrases which are used according to situations. But, in some phrases animals are used  which represent their characteristic behavior and some popular ones will be presented in this post.

Bull is used quite many times in phrases and popular ones are 'dragging the bull by horns' which means tackling the challenge by facing it upfront like 'he dragged the bull by horns by completing the stunt'. 'Telling a cock and bull story' means telling an unbelievable story like I have won a lottery.

Though not used quite often, possum has its own phrase i.e. 'playing possum' means 'pretending to be dead'. For instance,
'When the man climbed a tree, his friend played possum on the ground as they both had seen a large bear approaching from far towards them'. Remember the fable by Aesop in which two friends were crossing a forest and had seen a bear approaching towards them. One had to lie down to pretend as if he is dead.

True, in such a situation this phrase becomes applicable. It should be done when one sees any wild animal but it is useless to do if one sees a scavenger like hyena.

In many situations, we often want to get a large part of something be it a snack like burger,pizza or a money etc. then that part is called as 'king size'. As lion is referred to as the king of the beasts in all the stories or fables, another phrase is born which is getting 'a lion's share' which means a large part of something.

When a person is accused of wrong doing or if he/she just wants to show themselves sad, then they only cry falsely. This cry is known as 'crocodile tears' means shedding false tears which arose by the crocodile's behavior of removing tears from their eyes by fooling us that they are sad. But, in reality it happens naturally to them as when warm air passes through them while feeding, tears roll down from their eyes as a result of air passing through their eyes.

Sometimes, we immediately rush into any situation thinking it is favorable for us. But, there is someone (another person or a leader if its a group) who tells wait please don't rush. In this case, hold your horses is applicable as if every person has a horse with him/her to ride through life which means to wait.

Is it male or female?

We all know how to differentiate between a male and a female human but how to differentiate between a male and female animal species, we all know quite some of them.

As it is known that animals have sexual diamorphism. The most obvious kinds of sexual diamorphism observed are in lions where males boast thick and fuzzy manes, many males of birds and two primates i.e. mandrill and gelada baboon have brightly colored body parts, females of all marsupial species having pouches etc.and in huge number of animal species males are larger than females.

But, this post will tell about distinction of males and females in some other animal species about their other characteristics apart from their size which are never thought about.

The presence of tusks is the symbol of only bull elephants which is true only in case of Asian elephants, but not applicable for its African cousin where bulls(males) as well as cows(females) boast it.

Tallest animals i.e. giraffes are recognized by bulls(males) boasting bald ossicones (giraffe's horns) whereas cows(females) boast hairy ossicones.


Everyone knows that the remarkable part of camels are their humps which are their storehouses for fats. But, it isn't used as a determinant for gender determination. A weird part found on the neck of bull (male) Arabian (single-humped) camels which is a soft palate which it inflates during the mating season to attract cows (females) is the main thing for identification.

Similar to these camels, the same case is with orangutans where the males of these orange-hairy primates boast soft cheek pads which they inflate during the mating season to amplify their calls and other purposes. But, the males of its bulky, black cousins i.e. gorillas boast grey backs who are known by the name "silver backs".

But, here comes the most remarkable example for an animal whose way of identification from that of other species will make you feel really awkward. The male platypus is recognized by venomous spurs on its hind feet to assert dominance during the mating season. Even though it doesn't kill us, still we shouldn't underestimate their venom as they are strong to cause severe pain.


Lastly, another weird example is that of turtles where the genders are recognized on the basis of sounds where males produce grunts and females emit hisses.