Egg-Siting Adventures in the Great Outdoors
Humorous Educational Article Continued
Alligators & Crocodiles
All crocodilians are egg-laying animals. The eggs are deposited into nests prepared by the mother and she watches over them until they hatch, which can take from two to three months. The eggs are incubated by sun-warmed rotting vegetation placed on them by the mother. Talk about 'stinking kids'!
The baby crocodilians utter squeaking sounds from inside their shell when they are ready to hatch. Alerted by these sounds, the mother removes the debris covering the eggs and the babies emerge into the world by puncturing the egg with a horny growth located on the tip of their snout. After this, the mother does the crocodile walk and the babies are left to forage on their own.
Snake
All snakes hatch from eggs. Garter snakes, water snakes and rattlesnakes produce living young. Other species lay their eggs and can take up to four months to hatch. Baby snakes must take care of themselves from the beginning.
Penguin
Mother penguins lay one to two chalky-white eggs in a nest on the ground. The baby birds are born in a coat of down and require long-range care. In some species both parents, and other birds will feed and care for a single young penguin. Oh, the advantages of being born cute!
Butterflies
Butterflies go through a life history known as complete metamorphosis. The female lays many eggs, and from these hatch tiny larvae called caterpillars. Silken cases called cocoons are spun around the full-grown caterpillar where it will later emerge as a beautiful butterfly! It goes to show that silk really does make a body feel good.
Cuckoo Bird
Cuckoo, loosely translated, means crazy. However, this mom is one smart bird! She lets other birds do her work for her by depositing her eggs in their nests. After all, she hasn't got time to sit on a nest for weeks at a time; she has other things to do, like go shopping. For worms. This arrogance is passed along to her offspring. The young cuckoos usually hatch first and later push the other chicks out of the nest.
Other Egg-Layers Include:
- Emu
- Ostrich
- Pheasant
- Ducks
- Penguins
- Cotton Worm Moth
- Butterfly
- Flies
- Most Insects
- Ostrich
Some other 'bird' egg-layers include the Bluebird, Song Sparrow, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Wren, Flicker, Oriole, Cardinal, Catbird, Scarlet Tanager, Robin, Mockingbird, Red-Winged Blackbird, Brown Thrasher, Killdeer, Crow, Meadowlark, Starling, Mallard, Tern, and the Ring-Necked Pheasant.
Our final and truly amazing story centers on one species of lizard that has parthenogenetic reproduction. The females lay eggs that have not been fertilized by a male; however they produce normal young anyway! Who says, "It takes two, baby?"
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