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The Sixth Sense
Sent Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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Our Website About Us Shop Contact Us Subscribe The Sixth Sense Hi there , Today's Text: "Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10 The Sixth Sense by Daniel and Tammy Cinzio The bizarre egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed, river-swimming mammal, otherwise known as the platypus is definitely a creature that deserves a closer look. Platypuses like to live alone on the edges of rivers and freshwater lakes where they can dig burrows into the overhanging riverbanks. During the day platypuses often rest in their burrows, but may spend some hours near the entrance basking in the sun and grooming their dense fur, which interestingly has a similar structure to the animals found in the arctic regions - thick woolly fur near the skin and an outer layer of guard hairs that look like drinking straws which fill up with air and act like a raincoat so that most of the animal's body is dry even when diving. Platypus fur is extremely fine and even denser than that of polar bears and river otters, with 600-900 hairs covering each square millimetre of skin. Warmth is especially important considering a platypus spends up to twelve hours each day in water as cold as zero degrees Celsius. Platypuses are nocturnal and forage for food for every night. They dive for about thirty seconds, generally in shallow water less than about five metres deep, and often rest on the surface chewing for only ten seconds between dives and they can perform about seventy-five dives per hour. While diving, the platypus temporarily stores small food items in its special cheek pouches. When it returns to the surface to breathe, the food is ground up very finely between rough pads located inside their bill. The platypus' diet mainly consists of freshwater invertebrates such as shrimps, worms, yabbies, pea-shell mussels, and immature and adult aquatic insects. Small frogs and fish eggs are also eaten occasionally, along with some terrestrial insects that fall into the water from overhanging vegetation. Baby platypuses drink a rich milk that is secreted from two round patches of skin midway along their mother's belly - female platypuses do not have nipples. It is believed that a baby platypus feeds by slurping up milk with rhythmic sweeps of its stubby bill. Females' dig elaborate nesting burrows around twenty metres long with multiple chambers and earth plugs which they share with their unweaned young. A female platypus produces a clutch of one to three eggs in late winter or spring. The eggs are 15-18 millimetres long and have a thin, leathery shell, like those of snakes and lizards. The mother is believed to incubate them between her lower belly and curled-up tail for about ten days as she rests in an underground nest made of leaves or other vegetation collected from the water. When the juveniles first enter the water at the age of about four months, they are nearly as long as an adult. As the platypus hunts underwater and predominantly at night, hearing and eye-sight are of little use in detecting prey. Accordingly, the platypus closes both its eyes and ears and relies on its "sixth sense" - an electro-receptor system, located in its bill. Even though the platypus' bill is commonly said to be duck shaped it is not at all hard like that of a duck, it is in fact rubbery, flexible and covered with skin. The upper and lower bill surfaces are packed with hundreds of receptors which respond to touch and the tiny electric currents produced when invertebrates move in the water. These receptors are also believed to be vital to the platypus' ability to navigate successfully among rocks and other obstacles when submerged. So even though the platypus can't see or hear its potential food, it knows it's there - it can sense it. This is really a great picture of our relationship with God. We can't see Him with our eyes and we can't hear Him speak with our ears, yet we know He's there. If we are tuned in there are times when His voice seems as loud as a thunderclap and His love so clearly seen in the tiny opening flower bud or smile of an infant. Tuning in isn't easy - everything here is so noisy and we are so busy. But God begs us to be still and know that He is there. Turn off the music, step outside of the chaos and spend some time listening for God's voice - He's always talking to us, we aren't always listening. How do I know God is there and that He loves me - I can't really explain it, but I know that He is and I'm glad that His unseen hand is leading my life. He's leading you too, why not take the time to tune in to His voice To view - Does God exist? (Re:)ally click here To purchase this must have - click here To see a platypus on the move - click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New from... Check out our products Click here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did You Know? -Fish have a specialized sense organ called the lateral line which works much like radar and helps them navigate in dark or murky water. -Frogs do not need to drink water as they absorb the water through their skin. -Dairy cows can produce 20 to 35 gallons of saliva a day. Tammy's Tips Check out these fantastic bible animated videos http://www.nestfamily.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How do Ranger Dan and Mrs Tammy spend their day? Click to find out what they are up to. Ranger Dan Mrs Tammy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out Tammy's blog here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like This? Why not forward it to your friends, so they can learn more about God's love through nature too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Was this Forwarded to you? 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