1/2/11

So, I'm already behind. Not a stellar start if I do say so myself.

While wandering through a gun shop one recent afternoon (this sounds so casual, doesn't it??) I overheard a clerk telling a customer about groundhogs being cannibalistic. "Once you shoot them, the others pull 'em down into the hole...that's after the crows get 'em..." Here he was selling the two for one feature of shooting them, first you get rid of the groundhog, then the crows! He laughed heartily.

"Seriously?" I thought.

Being somewhat naive, I assumed he was right (he does work in a gun shop after all) and planned to post it as my learning for the day. Then my ever analytical husband said, "Don't you think you should find some facts to back that up?"

Well folks, I've searched for a bit and can't find anything to back up that gun shop employee. Now, I'm not saying he's a liar, I'm just saying I couldn't find any evidence on the internet in a 10 minute search.

I'm a fan of how scientists and mathematicians organize and categorize everything so I did learn that cannibalism is categorized. Here are a few ways...
*Those who eat each smaller members of themselves (size structured cannibalism)
*Females who eat their male partners before, during, or after you know what (sexual cannibalism)
*Unborn baby carnivores who eat smaller, less developed, and also unborn siblings (intrauterine cannibalism)

Again this was found in a brief internet search... and perhaps is a bit creepy for a first entry but it caught my ear and has stuck with me for a few days.

Learned something new today!