Animals that recycle

[Catherine]

I never thought about animals as recyclers, but many reuse things.
The pictures are of some of the more common ones.
http://www.takepart.com/photos/wildlife-...2014-06-13

So we didn't invent recycling after all. Mother nature has been doing it for years.

[Tobi]

This is fascinating. I was a bit worried about the wren's nest made from office supplies....thumbtacks! Ouch! That must have been a bit spiky if the tacks were part of the internal decor!

That was amazing and interesting about the Octopus who carries shells to use at a later date, showing the Octopus's ability to plan ahead and use tools.

[Catherine]

I think a great many animals use tools and plan ahead. I don't always observe such behavior in homo sapiens.

Birds are great at finding stuff we discard to make interesting nests. Squirrels use old leaves, but I also saw one removing posters from a telephone pole to add to a nest. Paper makes good insulation.

[Tobi]

Yes I sometimes find old birds' nests -long abandoned and fallen out of a shrub or tree. I take them home and have a look at the building materials. This is what I found so far:
Horse hair
Sheep's wool
Badger hair
Grasses
Baling twine (usually well-worn looking twine)
Soft fur (which could either be moulted dog or cat fur)
Moss
Human hair (or something that looks like it.)

I always comb out my hair outside on the lawn in Spring and early summer, and any loose hairs get balled up in my hands and put on the grass, so some of those human hairs could have been mine!
On dog walks in the past I noticed many people had combed out their shedding long-haired dogs on walks, presumably so as not to get their furniture and carpets too furred-up at home! Birds love this.

[Tobi]

(08-13-2014, 12:04 PM)Catherine Wrote: I think a great many animals use tools and plan ahead. I don't always observe such behavior in homo sapiens.

So funny and so true! LOL!

[Catherine]

IU love the nesting material choices. Think how comfortable a wool/hair nest would be.
I should put wool or something out next spring to help with nest building. Maybe I should cut my hair outside next time.

The birds clean up all shed hair and odd bits of stuff. They are recyclers and they clean up the environment.

It amazes me how much people don't plan ahead even when it really matters. I amazed that we have been successful as a species.