by Margo Graf

The animal kingdom is full of fantastic and surprising marvels. BBC’s Planet Earth series does an outstanding job of introducing and explaining the exotic animals and environments of the world. But we must not take for granted that the habitats surrounding Kernersville are also full of wonder. Next time you visit Kernersville Lake Park, Fourth of July Park, Triad Park, or anywhere around nature, take a closer look at the life around you.  

Spring is not so far away now, and with warmer temperatures comes the great migration of the Monarch butterfly. However, the original name was flutterby. Makes too much sense, right? Some types of flutterbies never develop mouths after leaving the cocoon. So they have to live off of the stored energy from when they were caterpillars! Talk about extreme dieting; guess you have to be light in order to fly hundreds of miles each day.

Continuing with winged animals, let’s focus on one of the fiercest nocturnal predators. One that everyone should be cautious of when hiking through our trails– owls. The Great Horned Owl is the largest (54in) and most common in North Carolina. Although they cannot move their eyes, owls are said to be able to rotate their heads 180-230 degrees. A group of owls is referred to as a Parliament. They do seem like the authorities of the woods!

Next time you are at Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex, take a look at the black specks flying around the baseball lights. Then, give a little praise to those screeching bats. They are, in fact, the only mammal that can fly. Plus, they eat mosquitos and moths. Those are pretty nice traits to have as an animal. On the other hand, contrary to their names, flying squirrels and flying lemurs actually just glide. In your dreams, you gliding imposters!  

Speaking of dreams, cows only do it when they are lying down. Sure, they love to doze off standing up–as we all know with the whole cow tipping scenario–but they can only count sheep when fully on the ground. This is because they do not reach the REM cycle on all fours. REM is required for dream making and this goes for many large animals who sleep standing up, horses included.

Bees, however, never sleep. No one said making honey was easy! In fact, they have to go through over four million flowers to make two pounds of honey. At least they can rest assured that their hard work will not spoil–since honey lasts forever! Thank you, sweet bees.  

Hummingbirds will also start arriving soon to feast on flowers. Hundreds of flowers, actually, every single day. Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolism throughout the animal kingdom. Flapping their wings up to 200 times per second takes a lot of energy! Therefore, they must consume well over their body weight. They are also the only bird that can fly backwards and upside down, but they cannot walk! Tiny feet and weak legs prevent them from late afternoon strolls, but every disadvantage comes with an advantage–they make up for it.

Ostriches, on the other hand, have two strong legs and cannot even walk backwards. Nobody is perfect. They can, however, run faster than a horse. That would be a funny derby to witness, especially for the ostrich jockeys. Although you probably will not see an ostrich sauntering about in Harmon Park (If you do, call someone or run, but remember they are fast).  Even so, Kernersville is still made up of many natural wonders the animal kingdom has given us. We just have to go out and look.

Remember to appreciate the animals that make up our town, they are here for a reason. We must also respect and maintain the environment that allows them to be so cool and interesting. So cheers to the flutterbies, birds, bees, and all the mammals and animals with which we share our home!