Tail tales can tell a lot about animals
February 10, 2002

The birds about the size of cardinals, blue jays and mourning doves, disappeared immediately when the Cooper's hawk zoomed into the bird feeder area looking for lunch. it was not looking for bird seed.

When describing how a hawk enters a feeding area, "zoomed " hardly seems appropriate. But that is what they seem to do as they effectively maneuver through tree branches and around and through shrubs. A rudder, in the form of a tail, is very important to birds that search for food with this type of twisting flight.

Most animals have tails. Fish, whales, porpoises, birds, kangaroos, otters and muskrats use their tails as an aid to locomotion. The skunk signals with its tail. If the skunk turns its back to you and raises its tail, back away---fast.

the flat, trowel-shaped, scaly tail of the beaver is not used as a trowel to carry mud but is used as a rudder and a powerful propeller while swimming, especially when towing branches. It uses its tail as a prop when cutting trees and, in the water, to signal an alarm with a resounding thwack.

The peaceful porcupine backs toward its enemy, lashing its tail back and forth driving the loosely attached, barbed quills into the face or body of the attacker.

Tails of alligators and crocodiles are used as weapons. Monkeys use their tails to help them swing through the trees. some animals like the Central and South American sloths and the Australian koala have no tails. Perhaps this is because they move so slowly.

At our backyard bird feeders we can watch how woodpeckers use their tails. As these birds move up the tree trunks in a jerking manner, they always use their tails as props.

the gray squirrel we see in our feeding area can manage without its bushy tail. How would the woodpecker do?