Owls
The owl is a nocturnal bird of prey and a mostly solitary creature. There are over 230 species living on every continent except Antarctica.
Owls vary hugely in size. The smallest owl, the Elf Owl, is less than 6 inches in height while the Great Grey Owl can grow up to 32 inches tall: wow, what a difference!
Owls hunt by stealth and surprise which they achieve by being quick and silent, plus they are aided by the ability to revolve their head by 270 degrees which gives them an almost perfect 360 degrees of vision to see all around them! This helps them to spot prey from far up in the sky.
Owl feathers are soft and fluffy but sadly not waterproof, so no good for flying in heavy rain.
So, what does the owl teach us.?
Look at things from every angle like the owl does with its incredible vision and flexible neck.
Use the talents that have been given to you and accept your flaws; everyone has flaws and like the owl, it shouldn’t stop you doing what you need to do.
Don’t worry about your size. Owls vary massively in size, but they are all still owls, and their size doesn’t stop them from living their lives.
Chirping Cousins
Crickets, Grasshoppers and Locusts are cousins, so they are similar in many ways and different in others so let’s look at each of them starting with crickets.
Crickets are very resourceful, and they will make all sorts of places their home, from rotting wood, treetops, grassland, caves and beaches. They are mostly nocturnal and are best known for their loud chirping at night. This is the song of the males trying to impress a female. The crickets defences aren’t very good, so they tend to hide in the day as they have many predators including humans who use crickets for food.
Grasshoppers also chirp, but during the day as they are diurnal. They have better defences than crickets and use camouflage and jumping. Grasshoppers are herbivores while crickets are omnivores and grasshoppers have shorter antenna than crickets.
Both grasshoppers and crickets are seen as harmless creatures who do not damage environments unlike their cousin the locust.
People often think of locusts as bad because of their tendency to swarm and destroy crops but not all locusts live in a group. They have been known to live alone. It is only when a certain part of their body is stimulated that they will go into a swarm mentality and get caught up in the crowd.
So what can we learn from these chirping cousins?
Home is where we are comfortable, whether it’s a caravan, a castle, a barge or a bedsit. Like crickets who will make a home in all kinds of places, so do we. It doesn’t matter where, what matters is that it speaks to you and that it feels welcoming and safe.
Everyone is unique, even members of the same family. You may share many similarities with people close to you, just like crickets and grasshoppers are similar to each other, but ultimately you are a special individual.
Another lesson could be: don’t adopt “crowd thinking” like the locusts when they are swarming. Think for yourself, don’t find yourself caught up in it all and simply go along with the crowd.
Winter
Wintertime can often look drab and bleak, and you may wonder what can nature teach us during this season when nature does not seem to be doing a lot itself, but nature in winter if you really look can teach us some valuable lessons.
Stock up on supplies – squirrels may not hibernate, but they do stock up and save nut stashes for the winter. Stocking up at the beginning of winter is also beneficial to us. Often, we have had a fall of snow that has left people unable to get out or shops closed. Its good to be prepared.
Conserve energy – winter is about resting. During the other seasons, nature has been extremely busy blossoming, growing, producing fruit and dispersing its seeds. Plants become dormant in winter, conserving energy until the time of action starting in spring comes round again. It is the same for humans.
Keep warm – very few British animals actually do hibernate, but all animals will shelter away as much as they can. Ladybirds will huddle together, and other insects will find nooks and crannies. We should also make sure that we keep warm in the winter to keep us healthy.
Be optimistic – look for the brightness in situations. Even in the darkness of winter there is still life and light. Evergreens grace the landscape; holly berries are gems of brightness and the moon and stars still shine light in the long dark nights.
Have a look at nature in winter, is there anything more you think it can teach us?
Ants
Ants have been around for a very, very long time and live on every continent on Earth except Antarctica. They live with lots of other ants in a nest and this is called a colony.
Ants are very organised and they each have their own job to do for the colony including keeping their nest clean and defending it from other creatures. They work hard and are really great at being a team, talking to each other all the time to get things done.
Ants are also clever, they build their nests a certain way to make the most of the sun to keep the nest warm and will work with other animals too if it helps out both.
Ants are a very successful creature and we can learn a lot from learning about them.
Keep talking – it is important for friendships and relationships and can help to solve problems
Be a team player – working as a team is good, you can achieve great things with teamwork.
Look after your family and home – family and home are special, look after them and they’ll look after you.
Butterflies
Butterflies have lived on Earth for millions of years. We know this because fossils of butterflies have been found dating back to 56 million years ago!!! Wow, that is a really long time ago.
They live all over the world except Antarctica and are found in many different habitats including salt marshes, forests, wetlands, grasslands, mountain zones and even in the desert.
There are four main stages to a butterfly’s life starting with egg, then caterpillar, chrysalis and then lastly changing into a butterfly.
There are about 18500 different species of butterfly. Most of them are diurnal which means they stay awake in the day and sleep at night.
They come in lots of colours and patterns and this is for a good reason. The bright colours are to warn other animals that they might be poisonous to eat, and the patterns are helpful for hiding by blending in with their surroundings through camouflage.
It is very clever!
So, what can the butterfly teach us?
The butterfly lives in lots of different habitats and even becomes part of its surroundings, teaching us to be adaptable to ours. This is helpful because it is good to be comfortable wherever you live. You can do this by joining in with things you enjoy and getting immersed in your surroundings.
All butterflies are beautiful whether bright, patterned, plain or neutrally coloured. Just like people, each individual is wonderful and unique.
Don’t be in a rush to grow up. Life is a series of stages. Enjoy each one. To become the butterfly the caterpillar must wait and so must you.
Earth Mother Nature Lover 