We have several alpaca farms sprouting up in our area and I thought I’d find some amazing facts to share about them.

There are two breeds of alpacas, the huacaya and the suri. The huacaya have fluffy hair, much like a teddy bear. The suri have long wavy hair that hangs off its body.

Alpacas have soft pads on the bottom of their feet which don’t dig into the ground like the hooves of a horse or a cow.

Much like llamas, alpacas are known to spit when they’re annoyed with someone or angry with someone.

When they sit, they fold their legs under their body, which makes them very easy for transporting.

When they eat grass, they cut off the top of the plant rather than pulling it by the root. This is why many farmers use alpacas like a lawnmower.

Alpacas use their tail to express their feelings towards one another. If they don’t like something they will move it back and forth. If it’s being submissive, it will move its tail over its body and crouch down.

Alpaca mothers will always have their offspring in the morning. By having their offspring in the morning, the offspring will have the whole day to dry off, begin walking around and go back to its mother for nursing before the temperatures begin to drop at night.

Female alpacas have an 11-month pregnancy period and in 90% of the cases, don’t need help in delivering their offspring.

Alpacas were domesticated by the Incas more than 6,000 years ago. They were mainly raised due to their incredible fleece. The fleece is known for its quality and elite characteristics.

Alpaca fiber is a lot like a sheep’s wool but it’s much warmer and not as itchy. It doesn’t have lanolin, which is what makes it hypoallergenic and it’s able to be processed without high temperatures or harsh chemicals.

Alpaca fiber is flame resistant and water resistant. It can wick away moisture because it has a unique ability to mimic cotton in the moisture region.

Due to their close genetic makeup, alpacas and llamas can cross breed. The offspring that they create is known as “huarizo”.

Alpacas are known for using a communal feces pile. Due to preferring to use a predetermined spot for feces, many alpacas have been successfully house trained.

When they’re breeding, the male alpaca emits a unique and throaty vocalization called “orgling.”

Alpacas can be found in many different colors such as fawn, grey, brown, black, white and any different combination of these.

Due to their small size, it only takes an acre of productive pasture to sustain as many as 8 alpacas.

Alpacas are known to be very friendly with human children and very sociable with dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, sheep and goats.

Alpacas can live to be 25 years long and they’re able to survive in almost all climates.

While content alpacas tend to hum, when an alpaca wants to show friendly behavior, it will make a clucking or clicking noise.

Alpacas need a lot less food than most other animals their size. On average, one alpaca will consume two pounds of hay each day with about a cup of any other supplemental food.

Alpacas are usually about three feet at shoulder height when full grown. Some can reach four to seven feet in length at adulthood.

Alpacas are herbivores and they have a three chambered stomach. They will mostly eat grass but some have been known to eat wood, bark, leaves and stems.

Baby alpacas are called “crias” and they can weigh up to 20 pounds at birth.

Next to mohair, alpaca fiber is considered to be the second strongest natural animal fiber.

In honor of National Lobster Day, here are a few fascinating lobster facts according to Maine Lobster Now.  (If you visit their website, you can order your own!)

Two Strong Front Claws

The first thing to know about Maine lobsters and what visually distinguishes them from other types of lobsters is that they have two strong front claws. All lobsters have eight walking legs they use to crawl forward.

Wild Lobsters Are Colorful

While we commonly imagine the iconic bright red lobster, lobsters in nature are a wide range of colors, but not red. Wild lobsters can be green, blue, yellow, grey, calico, multi-colored or even albino. Most commonly, lobsters are a dark greenish-brown, and the more unique colors are the result of a genetic mutation that causes a color of pigment to be missing. When a lobster is cooked, only the red pigments in the shell can withstand the heat, resulting in the bright red shell most people are familiar with. Only albino, or white, lobsters retain their natural color after they are cooked because their shell does not contain any color pigments.

Lobsters Have Clear Blood

Unlike humans and other mammals whose blood is red, lobsters have clear blood. When cooked, their blood oozes out of the lobster meat, producing a thick opaque white substance. You can see this jelly-like substance along the inside of the shell when you crack it open.

Lobsters Have a Dominant Claw

Each lobster has two different claws, a larger crusher claw and a smaller pincher claw. The crusher claw has a ridged edge that resembles molars and is used to break up hard food such as clams and crabs. The pincher claw, or ripper claw, is used to tear apart softer prey such as worms or fish. These claws can be on different sides of a lobster’s body, as the crusher claw is always on the lobster’s dominant side.

Lobsters Can Regenerate Their Limbs

If a lobster loses a claw, antenna or leg, it is able to grow it back. However, it typically takes about five years for a lobster to regenerate a claw that is the same size as the one it lost. Lobsters that are missing a claw are referred to in the industry as “cull.” Cull can still be caught and consumed, and are often marked down in stores. However, if you are serving lobster a fancy dinner party, you may want to wait for its limbs to grow back.

Lobsters Smell with Their Legs

Lobsters use small chemosensory hairs on their legs and feet to identify their food. This is particularly useful for small creatures or food that is dissolved into the water. Lobsters also use the antennae on the front of their heads to smell food that is further away. Combined, these features make their sense of smell so precise that they can seek out a single amino acid just by smelling. When consuming their prey, the hairs on a lobster’s front walking legs allow them to taste the food.

Lobsters Have Poor Vision

Members of the lobster species have poor vision. They probably don’t see objects but can detect motion in dim light in the depths of the sea. They may be blind in bright light.

Lobsters use their excellent sense of smell to locate their prey. Their longer antennae and tiny hairs over their whole body are sensitive to touch. The shorter antennae detect odors and chemical signals in water. Those shorter antennae also help lobsters to find their food.

Lobsters Chew with Their Stomachs

Lobsters do not have teeth, but instead have a structure called a gastric mill that is located in their digestive track. The gastric mill has three grinding surfaces that break down food as it moves from the lobster’s mouth to its stomach. A lobster’s stomach is located right behind their eyes and is about the size of a walnut.

Lobsters Grow by Molting

A lobster’s shell does not grow, so they must molt their shell and grow a new one as they age. When lobsters molt, they wiggle out of their hard exoskeleton, leaving them vulnerable to predators. The molting process itself puts a lot of stress on a lobster’s body, and about ten to fifteen percent of lobsters die naturally while shedding their shell. As the lobster grows, each new molting requires even more energy. Lobsters molt very frequently in the first few years of their life, and then about once a year after they have reached a mature size. Typically, lobsters molt about 25 times in the first five to seven years of their life. After lobsters molt, they are starving and deficient in nutrients, so they often eat the shell they have just molted to replenish their calcium levels.

Lobsters Live on the Ocean Floor

Smaller lobsters typically live in rocky habitats or seaweed where they can find protection and food. Larger lobsters may explore further offshore in coastal habitats. Most lobsters do not migrate, and will only travel about a mile. Some larger lobsters that live in deeper waters are known to migrate closer to the shore in summer.

Lobsters Can Swim Backward

While lobsters most commonly swim or crawl forwards, they can swim backward just as easily. If a lobster feels threatened or startled, it will dart backward by curling and uncurling its tail. This allows it to keep its eyes on the predator or threat in front of it while escaping.

Lobsters Cannot Process Pain

Before dropping a lobster into a pot for the first time, many people find themselves wondering, “Do lobsters feel pain?” While it is impossible to come to a completely conclusive answer to this question, most scientists would agree that lobsters are not able to process pain. Lobsters do not have a cerebral cortex, which is what gives humans our perception of pain, so it is unlikely that lobsters can feel pain. The hissing noise that occurs when a lobster is boiled can often be mistaken for crying or screaming but is just steam escaping from the lobster’s shell.

Lobsters Are Cannibalistic

Lobsters typically dine on fresh food such as clams, crabs, snails, mussels, sea urchins and small fish. However, when these food sources are not available or are scarce, they will also eat other lobsters. Other lobsters are the biggest threat just after a lobster has molted when it is an easy target for all predators, including other hungry lobsters.

Lobsters Have a Fascinating Reproductive Process

Lobsters are only able to breed seasonally, right after the female lobster has molted. Once she sheds her hard shell, she releases a pheromone to attract male lobsters for breeding. This has the bonus of protecting her from being eaten by other lobsters before her new shell has grown because male lobsters would rather mate with her than eat her. Once the female lobster has mated, she can carry the sperm in her body and choose when she wants to fertilize her eggs. If the water is warm and conditions are fair, she can hold the sperm for up to a year. Female lobsters can produce more than eight thousand eggs which may be fertilized by several different males. Lobster eggs are carried under the female’s body in her swimmerets until they hatch nine to twelve months later.

Lobsters Never Stop Growing

As far as scientists know, lobsters continue to grow throughout their entire lives. Lobsters will continue to eat, grow and molt indefinitely until they die of natural causes or are caught. The largest lobster recorded so far was caught in Nova Scotia in 1977. The monstrous lobster was 3.5 feet long and weighed over 44 pounds. Since then, many Maine lobsters weighing nearly thirty pounds have been pulled out of the Atlantic Ocean. Theoretically, there could be massive lobsters living in the deeper ocean that we simply have not yet discovered.

Lobsters Are Biologically Immortal

As lobsters get older, they show no signs of aging. Older lobsters continue to eat, have a stable metabolism and have high energy. Lobsters also continue to mate and reproduce with equal vigor. In fact, older and larger female lobsters can carry more eggs than younger, smaller lobsters. This has caused scientists and lobster-lovers alike to ask, “Are lobsters immortal?” Because lobsters do not show characteristics of aging, or senescence, they are said to be biologically immortal. Most lobsters die from external causes, including predators, humans and disease, but it is still possible for a lobster to die from old age. This typically occurs when an aging lobster is unable to continue molting and rots inside of its shell.

Lobsters Can Live to Be Over 100 Years Old

Scientists do not have a method to accurately determine the age of a lobster. When lobsters molt, they also shed their gastric mill and digestive tract along with their shell. This means that no hard parts are left for scientists to sample to determine age. However, scientists can estimate the age of a lobster based on its size. Lobsters purchased in stores are typically about five to seven years old, but scientists estimate that lobsters can live to be over one hundred years old.

The First Lobster Catch Was Over 400 Years Ago

The first Maine lobster catch was recorded by James Rosier in 1605, but the lobster industry truly took off in the 1700s when lobster “smacks” were introduced. These traditional fishing boats continued to be used by lobstermen in the Northern Atlantic through the 1900s.

Lobster Was Once Poor Man’s Food

When lobster was first consumed, it was by servants and prisoners. Lobster was plentiful in oceans around New England, making it an extremely cheap food source. In fact, servants and slaves were forced to eat lobster so often, that prisoners in a town in Massachusetts fought to have a rule passed so they only had to eat lobster three times a week. Extra lobster was fed to pigs or used as fishing bait or fertilizer.

Lobster Used to Be Caught by Hand

Because lobster was so plentiful, they would wash up on the seashore in large piles after storms. Lobsters were then gathered by hand from tide pools and beaches. Lobster fishing and trapping did not develop until much later.

Egg-Bearing Lobsters Are Legally Protected

After the creation of smacks and trap fishing, the number of lobsters in the ocean began to decline. Lobster also became popular as a canned good in the mid-1800s, leading to a rapid decrease in population. In 1872, the first law was passed in Maine to ban the capture of egg-bearing females. This conservation is still in place, and lobster-fishers are required to cut a small v-shaped notch in the tail of an egg-bearing female lobster so other fishers can identify it. Female lobsters with a v-notch are illegal to catch and consume. These conservation methods have helped lobster populations grow again, so we can continue to enjoy this delicacy.

Lobsters Can Be Purchased Soft-Shell

While many people associate soft-shell with crabs, lobsters can also be purchased with soft shells. Soft-shell lobsters are caught just after molting, typically in July and October. While not as common as hard-shell lobsters, soft-shell lobster is said to have sweeter and more tender meat.

Lobster Meat Is Healthy

In addition to its rich and delicious taste, lobster is good for you too. Lobster is high in protein and low in fat. Three ounces of lobster contains about 76 calories, 16 grams of protein and less than one gram of fat. Lobster also contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids and iron. If you avoid smothering it in butter, lobster is a great addition to any diet and a healthy way to build muscle. When shopping for lobster, seek wild caught lobster that was not raised on a farm. Farm-raised lobster often contains antibiotics or hormones that many people want to avoid.

Maine Lobster Is the Best Lobster

While we may be a little biased on this “fact,” Maine’s massive lobster industry attests to the quality of our catch. Lobster represents 75 percent of Maine’s commercial fishery value and hauls in hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The largest catch on record occurred in 2016 when Maine’s 6,000 lobster-fishers landed more than 130 million pounds of lobster. This massive catch was valued at over $533 million. Maine lobster is iconic, not only for its economic value but also for its delicious meat. While spiny lobsters caught in the southern Atlantic and Caribbean are only eaten for their tails, Main lobsters boast large meaty claws as well as delicate and delicious tails. Some people will even crack into the delicate legs of Maine lobsters to enjoy every last bite of tender meat. Over the last 400 years, Maine’s long history of lobstering has shaped both the culture and cuisine of the state and thrilled taste buds across the country.

Graceful and stealthy, this North American cat is an extraordinary hunter and can thrive in regions from Canada to Mexico. And yes, their offspring are called bobkittens. Read on for more fascinating facts about bobcats.

Bobcats got their names because of their tails.

Though many felines have long, sinuous tails, an adult bobcat’s averages just 6 to 7 inches in length; the word bobcat is a reference to this stubby appendage. (In barbershop lingo, hair that’s been cut short is sometimes called “bobbed.”) Other names for these animals include bobtailed cats, wildcats or bay lynxes.

Bobcats and Canada lynx are not the same thing …

While bobcats are actually a type of lynx in North America, the term is more generally associated with the Canada lynx. On the surface, these two species look very much alike. Both, after all, are similarly proportioned, mid-sized cats with stumpy tails and pointed ears. Still, some noticeable differences do exist between them.

First, the Canada lynx is slightly bigger with longer limbs and larger feet. Another key dissimilarity lies in the fur: Bobcats have short, reddish-brown coats with well-defined spots while lynx are shaggy, gray, and have faded spots. If you were to compare their hindquarters, you’d notice that a bobcat has black bands on its tail, whereas a lynx’s tail only displays a solid, black tip. Also, lynx ears have longer tufts.

Bobcat

Canada lynx

But where these felines truly deviate from each other is in their lifestyle preferences. The lynx is a cold-weather cat that lives further north and at higher elevations. Their enlarged paws act like snowshoes, enabling these hunters to pursue such game as snowshoe hares with relative ease. Bobcats, in contrast, are built for warmer environments. Also, while lynx mainly eat hares, bobcats have a more varied diet and will readily hunt birds, small mammals, reptiles, and deer. Here’s another noteworthy tidbit: Bobcats tend to be much more aggressive—in fact, some zoo keepers call them the “spitfires of the animal kingdom.”

But bobcats and Canada lynx can mate.

The Canada lynx is found throughout its namesake nation and some northern parts of the U.S. (as well as Colorado). Since bobcats and lynx belong to the same genus (which, confusingly, is named Lynx), the two species are very similar at the genetic level. Over the past 15 years, a handful of confirmed hybrids have turned up in the northern U.S. The mix-matched predators tend to display a bobcat’s general build and the pointier ears of a lynx. In keeping with the tradition of giving delightful portmanteaux names to hybrid animals, these critters are now known as blynx.

Bobcats tend to hunt at dawn and dusk.

Wild bobcats do the majority of their hunting in low-light conditions. The animals usually wake up three hours before sunset and then go back to sleep around midnight; they wake up again roughly an hour before dawn. In the early morning, the felines return to their slumber and the whole cycle repeats itself.  Bobcats are at their most active during the twilight hours, when potential targets like eastern cottontail rabbits tend to forage. In the wintertime, though, food gets scarcer, which prompts some of the cats to change their schedules: Throughout the colder months, bobcats in northern states will often adjust their sleep regimen so that they can spend more time tracking down prey in broad daylight.

Adult bobcats can bring down animals that weigh much more than they do.

Fully grown bobcats can weigh up to 33 pounds. For the most part, they eat rabbits, birds, rodents, and other fairly small creatures. However, the cats are also extremely adept at killing adult white-tailed deer. Although they generally hunt fawns, they have been known to kill adults, which can weigh 250 pounds or more. To slay such a large herbivore, a bobcat will jump onto its back and bite through the throat.

Bobcats are excellent climbers and jumpers.

When threatened by a bigger carnivore, these cats will usually head for the safety of the nearest tree. Climbing among the branches also affords bobcats the opportunity to dine on nesting birds every so often. The felines have also been known to pounce onto unwary deer from overhanging tree limbs.

They’re also incredible jumpers. Able to clear 12 feet in a single bound, the cats can easily jump across narrow waterways. One of them went viral in 2020 after it was filmed leaping across a yawning gap in a Louisiana dock that had partially collapsed. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, bobcats can jump fences over 6 feet tall.

Bobcats like to cover their kills.

Bobcats can’t always consume their prey in one sitting. Sometimes, the carnivores use dirt, snow, leaves, or grass to bury the uneaten pieces of especially large corpses, and will return periodically to dig up their leftovers. This behavior is known as “caching,” and it’s also practiced by the North American mountain lion. Unfortunately, burying a corpse won’t guarantee that it won’t be discovered or nibbled on by other carnivores. Ravens, coyotes, bears, and those aforementioned mountain lions won’t hesitate to raid a bobcat’s secret stash if the opportunity arises.

Invasive pythons are a major threat to Florida’s bobcats.

Being a hunter doesn’t guarantee that you, in turn, will never be hunted. Owls, foxes, and coyotes regularly make off with bobcat kittens. Cannibalism is another big problem for these helpless infants, which are sometimes gobbled up by wandering adults (usually males) who belong to their own species. Fully grown bobcats don’t have many natural predators, although mountain lions have been known to kill those that encroach on their territory.

But in recent years, the short list of carnivores that eat bobcats has grown one entry longer. Since 2000, a Burmese python epidemic has been constricting the Florida Everglades. For decades, exotic pet owners have released a steady stream of these Asian snakes into the region, where they now thrive. Capable of weighing 200 pounds, the pythons are large enough to consume dogs, deer, and even alligators. Perhaps unsurprisingly, at least one euthanized specimen has been found with a bobcat corpse in its stomach.

Pythons are also devouring the animals that bobcats depend upon for survival, including rabbits, raccoons, and rodents. Not coincidentally, the number of bobcat sightings in the Everglades fell by 87.5 percent between 2003 and 2011.

Bobcats can run up to 30 mph.

Lynx rufus can sprint faster than any human being, but the cats also know when to slow things down. In 1966, two naturalists reported seeing a wild bobcat take 13 minutes to crawl across just 3.28 feet of ground. At the time, the predator was sneaking up on a cotton rat—which it was able to capture thanks to its patient approach.

Bobcats make a wide range of sounds.

We’re talking hisses, snarls, and meows, to name a few. When mating season rolls around, the cats may emit a screaming cry known as a “caterwaul” in a bid to attract partners. This vocalization is very loud, with the sound traveling as far as a mile away.

Bobcats can swim.

Bobcats don’t mind getting their feet wet while hunting beavers. The felines happen to be good swimmers overall, and they’ve been filmed or photographed paddling across lakes in such places as Illinois, Maine, and the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Bobcats and coyotes compete for some of the same food sources.

The two carnivores hunt some of the same prey animals, meaning the coyote-bobcat relationship can be hostile. An influx of coyotes into a given habitat may result in fewer bobcats living there. However, this doesn’t always happen. In certain ranges, it appears bobcats and coyotes peacefully coexist. Interactions between them are of great interest to field biologists.

Bobcat tracks usually don’t have claw prints.

Individual pawprints are about two inches long from end to end. At first glance, they might resemble the tracks of a coyote or domestic dog. But while those canids leave claw marks behind, the bobcat usually doesn’t. That’s because the felines have retractable claws, something dogs and coyotes both lack. Other differences include the general shape of each track; dog and coyote prints are more likely to be longer than they are wide—which isn’t the case with bobcats.

Bobcats come in different colors.

In Bobcat: Master of Survival, Kevin Hansen writes that in 1978, naturalist Stanley Young “described an albino bobcat that survived four years in the wild before being captured and placed at a Texas zoo.” On the other end of the color spectrum, there are melanistic bobcats with fur that’s almost entirely black. They mostly occur in Florida, where at least 10 black bobcats have been trapped over the years.

Bobcats are part of the same cat subfamily as cheetahs.

Of course, we’re talking about the Felinae.  This group includes bobcats, cheetahs, ocelots, cougars, and domestic house cats. The only other major cat subfamily is the Panterinae, to which the really, really big species—like lions and tigers—belong.

Autumnal leaves in vibrant hues are a beautiful part of the season, but those leaves are also a vital part of keeping trees alive.

Trees that have leaves that change color in fall are deciduous. (Evergreen trees with needles, which stay green to continue the photosynthesis process through the winter, are coniferous.) Deciduous trees usually have large, broad leaves.

Most of the year, these leaves are green because of the chlorophyll they use to absorb energy from sunlight during photosynthesis. The leaves convert the energy into sugars to feed the tree.

As the season changes, temperatures drop and days get shorter. Trees get less direct sunlight, and the chlorophyll in the leaves breaks down.

The lack of chlorophyll reveals yellow and orange pigments that were already in the leaves but masked during the warmer months. Darker red leaves are the result of a chemical change: Sugars that can get trapped in the leaves produce new pigments (called anthocyanins) that weren’t part of the leaf in the growing season. Some trees, like oaks and dogwoods, are likely to produce red leaves.

How much and how fast leaves transform varies by location on the globe. The best colors are produced when the weather is dry, sunny and cool. Places that are cloudy, damp or warm won’t see the same degree of changing color.

Then, of course, the leaves fall. Trees start building a protective seal between leaves and their branches as the weather turns. They take in as many nutrients as possible from the leaves, but leaves wouldn’t survive the winter and would make trees vulnerable to damage if they remained. When the leaves are cut off from the fluid in the branches, they separate and drop to the ground.

In the fall, trees put on a pretty impressive fashion show. Leaves that were green all summer long start to turn bright red, orange, and yellow. But where do these colors come from?

Leaves are green in the spring and summer because that’s when they are making lots of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is important because it helps plants make energy from sunlight—a process called photosynthesis.

The summer sunlight triggers the leaves to keep making more chlorophyll. But trees are very sensitive to changes in their environment.

As summer fades into fall, the days start getting shorter and there is less sunlight. This is a signal for the leaf to prepare for winter and to stop making chlorophyll. Once this happens, the green color starts to fade and the reds, oranges, and yellows become visible.

Most likely, oak trees evolved in North America, Europe, and Asia between 40 million and 60 million years ago.

There are about 600 existing species of oak trees.

On average, oak trees live about 200 years, but some can live over 1,000 years.

The Pechanga Great Oak Tree is the oldest oak tree in the United States and maybe even in the world. It is thought to be nearly 2,000 years old.

On average, oak trees reach between 50–70 feet in height.  They can have a spread nearly 150 feet from branch to branch.

During the tragic 2019 Notre Dame fire, the cathedral’s oak frame was destroyed. The oak beams were made from trees cut down between 1160 and 1170 AD and form one of the oldest parts of the cathedral. The cathedral’s structure contained about 13,000 trees in total.

One oak tree produces nearly 2,000 acorns every year. However, only one in 10,000 acorns will become a full-grown oak tree.

In 2019, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron gifted an oak “friendship tree” to Donald Trump; however, the tree died while in quarantine.

If eaten in large quantities, oak leaves and acorns are toxic to livestock, including cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. The tannic acid in the leaves and acorns can cause kidney damage and gastroenteritis. Only pigs seem to be immune.

Raw acorns contain tannins, which have a bitter taste and can be toxic to humans. However, leaching (soaking or boiling) the tannins makes the acorns safe to eat.

Acorns are an important part of many animals’ diets, including birds, small mammals, and larger mammals such as pigs, bears, and deer.

According to Norse legend, the god Thor took shelter under an oak tree, which has led to the belief that an acorn on a windowsill will protect against lightning strikes.

Acorns are nutritious and contain large amounts of protein, carbs, fats, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and niacin.

Because acorns are rich in fat, acorn flour can spoil or get moldy quickly.

Because acorns only ripen on adult oak trees, they are often a symbol of patience and endurance.

Koreans make edible acorn jelly called dotorimuk._[

Druids ate acorns, believing that they had prophetic qualities. In fact, the word “druid” comes from the Celtic word for acorn.

In some cultures, because an acorn is a “baby tree,” it is believed that wearing one around your neck will prevent premature aging.

In North America, there are about 90 species of oak trees. All oak trees have acorns.

An oak tree produces about 10 million acorns during its lifetime.

In Harper Lee’s iconic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the oak tree outside of Boo Radley’s house is a symbol for friendship and the way kindness can thrive despite difficult circumstances.

The National Geographic Society designated The Emancipation Oak in Virginia as one of the most important trees in the world. In the 1860s, Mary Smith Peake broke the law when she taught African American adults and children how to read under the oaks’ branches.

The national tree of America is the oak tree.

There are nearly 600 species of oak trees. They all fall into two categories: white oaks or red oaks. White oaks have rounded lobe leaves, while red oaks have pointed lobe leaves.

Oak trees can either be deciduous or evergreen. Oak trees are more often evergreens in warmer climates with mild winters.

Hug an oak tree today!

There are roughly 270 species of hawks across the world, but here in the United States, there’s approximately 25 species of hawks. These birds vary in size, shape, and hunting style; however, they all have one thing in common: they’re fearsome predators that use their sharp talons and razor-sharp beaks to capture prey. 

The Red-tailed Hawk is the most common hawk found throughout North America. They can be found all over the continent, and they are considered to be one of the few large hawks that make their home near human settlements.

A hawk is a bird of prey, and are part of the raptor family, which includes birds like vultures and eagles.​​​​​​​ A group of hawks is called a kettle, which describes the movement of a group of raptors flying in circles.  Hawks are very large birds that have passive soaring wings. Passive soaring is when a bird does not flap its wings, but uses the wind to glide for long periods of time. Hawks use this method to hunt and migrate across vast distances without exerting much energy.

Hawks will typically migrate thousands of miles every year. In fact, some hawks can travel up to 3,000 miles in a single flight. The distance they fly varies depending on the species and their need for food. Most migrations happen during spring or fall when weather conditions are favorable for flying long distances at high altitudes. 

All hawk species hunt their prey from the air, usually by catching it with their talons or catching it in midair with their sharp hooked beaks. Ahawk’s talons are a marvel of engineering reaching almost 2 inches in length. They are so strong that they can grip prey with a force up to 500 pounds per square inch (PSI). This makes them very dangerous. A single talon can exert an upwards pressure on the ground as much as nine times its own weight, and they are so sharp that it only takes one claw’s tip to puncture through skin.

Hawks are powerful predators that have binocular vision and can see 5x better than humans. Binocular vision is when both eyes focus on the same object at the same time. This gives hawks a great field of view to hunt prey in because they have an overlap in their sight lines.  Hawks also have keen color perception, which means they can tell red from green or blue very easily. They are able to pick out detail like hair or feathers from far away distances.

Hawks are known for their keen eyesight, and can see a field mouse from over a mile away. This is due to the fact that they have a field of view three times as wide as humans and up to twenty-eight times sharper.  What may be even more amazing, though, is how far away hawks can see something in detail – sometimes over a mile! A typical hawk’s eye has a visual acuity of about 20/2, meaning it can distinguish an object at 20 feet (6 meters) from 200 feet (60 meters).

Hawks are carnivorous birds that have a variety of prey, such as small mammals, snakes, fish, birds and amphibians. They feed on insects and other small animals too. Hawks can also be opportunistic hunters if the opportunity arises for them to do so!​​​​​​​ Red-tailed hawks are among the most common birds of prey in North America, and can eat as much as five pounds of food per day, which is twice their body weight!

Hawks typically nest high up off the ground to avoid predators, such as raccoons, squirrels, and humans. They do this by nesting on trees or other structures which extend from higher surfaces, like cliffs or utility poles.  In general, hawks live between 15 and 20 years in the wild.

The red-tailed hawk does not stray from its partner and usually lives with them until they die. Red-tailed hawks also have a strong desire to care for their young ones together with their mates, which makes them excellent parents. They will continue caring for the chicks until they become independent adults in two years or so.​​​​​​​

A baby hawk is called an ‘Eyas’. The word ‘eyas’ comes from the French language and means “nestling.” The hawks start off in a nest. As they grow, they need to be released so that they can fly around and learn to hunt on their own. This is usually done when the birds are about six weeks old. ​​​​​​​

Hawks have four types of vocalizations that they use to communicate with other hawks: screams, growls, hoots and screeches. These different sounds are important for a hawk to identify its own species, as well as potential threats from predators. A scream is often used when defending territory or searching for prey.

The sound of a growl can be heard during courtship rituals, where the male may try to impress the female by attacking her while screaming at her. (This would NOT impress me…lol) Hoots are typically used in interactions with other hawks, and screeches are used when a hawk feels threatened or angry.​​​​​​​

Male hawks perform courtship dances called sky-dances.  In a typical sky-dance, the male will fly at high altitudes while calling to attract attention from below. The female will respond by flying and making vocalizations of her own. Eventually, the male will land near the female and copulate with her on the ground or in a nearby tree.

Notable Hawks

The American Kestrel (Sparrowhawk) is the smallest hawk in North America. It lives throughout North America and parts of Central America, as well as Mexico.

The Ferruginous Hawk is the largest hawk in the world. They are found in North America, Central America, and parts of South America. 

The Peregrine Falcon is the world’s fastest animal. These birds can reach speeds up to 242 miles per hour when diving for prey, which is faster than any other creature on Earth. 

My favorite Hawk: Hudson