Quote:
Originally posted by big al hunter:
I had to go back and watch the video again. And.... Your right!!!! The scientist said that the fox is doing complex math to calculate trajectory. BUT, it only works when facing north.
Really??? Why can the fox do math facing north but not south. Did he forget how? The statement in the video makes no sense to me.
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My grandpa always told me when I was young, that real men aren't ashamed to admit when they are wrong. Iffin he was still around you would've gained his respect.
I actually figured your reply would have still been about the influence of the glare affecting the hunt. I expected a statement that since the fox was continuously avoiding the glare, he would be hunting facing north the majority of the time. Since the prevailing winds at that latitude are from the west, the fox would have much more experience adjusting for them affecting his trajectory and thus his success rate would be higher when all those conditions were the same.
One must remember that part of the trajectory is thru 3 feet of snow. The arc of the foxes jump does not stop at the surface of the snow. The fox does not know exactly how deep the snow is at that spot........this is where I believe the magnetic field has an influence. It tells the fox how far the ground(and the mouse) is below the surface of the snow, and thus he can adjust his trajectory accordingly. I doubt very much if the fox knows how this works or even if it's aware it's doing it. I'm sure it's a skill/instinct that has evolved because those most successful doing it tend to live and breed. We as humans may use it or something similar also and just don't realize it. Or we may have lost it thru evolution because we didn't use it. One interesting theory I heard a while back had to do with why human senses are so limited compared to wild animals. Has to do with looks. We as humans many times pick our partner by the way they look. Because of this, attractive people get more attention and interest by others as potential mates. Thus attractive people tend to mate more often and at an earlier age. Big ears, big noses and big eyes with predominate overbrow giving protection from the sun/glare are features that give support to the senses. They are also features that most humans find unattractive. Thus over the ions, those traits have been lost thru evolution.