Suggestions??? OT

[A440A@AOL.COM]

Greetings, 
    Woodpeckers?  We want to talk about Woodpeckers?  Ok,  The net is a 
wonderful thing, no?  I found this on google, and figured the only place I 
could post it to good effect would be here.  

>>The woodpecker survives this head-bashing and these exceptional forces 
because of the design of the head, beak, and neck in a special way. 
For starters, the woodpecker has greatly reinforced  skull with bone. This is 
necessary if the head is not going to break into pieces. The woodpecker has a 
stronger bill than most birds. It must be strong enough to dig into a tree 
without folding up like an accordion. The bill is chisel-tipped, and when the 
woodpecker is chiselling away there is a lot of sawdust. Normally in birds, 
the sawdust would enter the nostrils, but the woodpecker has been designed 
with slit-like nostrils covered by fine wiry feathers to prevent the sawdust 
from entering. 
Also, the beak and brain itself have been cushioned against impact. In most 
birds, the bones of the beak are joined to the bones of the cranium—the part 
of the skull that surrounds the brain. But in the woodpecker the cranium and 
beak are separated by a sponge-like tissue that takes the shock each time the 
bird strikes its beak against a tree. The woodpecker’s shock-absorber is so 
good that scientists say it is far better than any that humans have invented. 
For added protection to its brain, the woodpecker has special muscles which 
pull its brain-case away from its beak every time it strikes a blow. But this 
is only part of the story. If the woodpecker’s head were to twist even 
slightly while hammering the tree, the rotation of its head, combined with 
the force of pecking, would tear away the bird’s brain. But God, the ultimate 
Designer, has created the woodpecker with superbly co-ordinated neck muscles 
to keep its head perfectly straight. Thus the bird can withstand the enormous 
shock it inflicts on itself year in, year out, many thousands of times a day. 
<<
 
There is a lot more, but this oughta be enough for a Friday with the beer.  , 
Regards, 
Ed Foote, (who sometimes wishes he had more sponge-like tissue around my 
brain....)