Animals are curious creatures. They can fly, swim, crawl, walk, dive, surf, climb, communicate in various ways, not eat for weeks, sing, strangle, run, lift heavy weights, poison, build, eat only what they need, hear beyond the human’s hearing range, change colour, make incredible speeds, see things differently or see at night, jump, lay eggs, hibernate, live in Antarctic temperatures, migrate thousands of kilometres crossing many countries’ land, air space and/or international waterways. Animals can do incredible things and I find it all fascinating.

Yesterday, I read about this cat that survived a 19-story fall by gliding. How great is that? See and read more through below tweet.

Cat Survives 19-Story Fall by Gliding Like a Flying Squirrel http://t.co/sNZQap8S

— Mirjam Goudsmit (@mirjamgoudsmit) March 26, 2012

The bird and the fish

The other day I witnessed a captivating spectacle. A bird, probably a cormorant, was diving for fish at the regatta centre in Penrith. One can see it regularly leave the water to allow its feathers to dry since the cormorant’s feathers are not as water-repellent as many other water bird’s feathers. This characteristic gives them actually the edge in diving for fish, eels and snakes because they can propel themselves even better with their webbed feet underwater and to deeper waters.

Also cormorants return to the surface with their catch to reposition it and swallow it headfirst. And this is what I witnessed. The repositioning did not really work, perhaps because the fish was too big. So the bird opted to dive back in and tried to drown the fish. Obviously this did not work. Moreover, it could not loosen grip or possibly face losing the fish. The cormorant resurfaced, seemed to consider its options, and flew off with the fish. It did not fly some 10 to 20 meters further to drop the fish on land and finish the job there. In the end, they separated ways. Was it a show? Was it play? Was it a performance to show us humans to stick to your diet or be peaceful? In any case, may they both live happily ever after.