39. Even if You Don't Ask, You Receive.

 This morning when Bob and I were in the hot tub soaking out the kinks at 5:30 this morning, (thank you very little college kid who slammed on his brakes in front of us in October) we were surprised to hear the wood pecker pounding on the telephone pole across the driveway.  We haven't heard him in quite a while.    Woodpeckers find tall poles to use as sounding boards to mark their territory.  I don't know what they used before telephone and electric poles.  Maybe dead trees.  We could watch his silhouette against the sky as he pounded out his message and then raised his head above the pole looking in both directions.  You can hear it loud and clear against the quiet of the early morning.

It makes me wonder about their poor little brains.  Bob tells me that their brains are protected by a special cushioning.  By the magic of the internet, let's us curious people check Wikipedia and see what the great minds have to say on the subject.  Other than Bob's, I mean.  He's usually right and I don't need convincing, but not everyone is familiar with his track record.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picinae
Several adaptations combine to protect the woodpecker's brain from the substantial pounding that the pecking behavior causes: it has a relatively thick skull with relatively spongy bone to cushion the brain; there is very little cerebrospinal fluid in its small subarachnoid space; the bird contracts mandibular muscles just before impact, thus transmitting the impact past the brain and allowing its whole body to help absorb the shock; its relatively small brain is less prone to concussion than other animals'. ^[1]


The muscle control to contract the mandibular muscle with each peck must be amazing as their rat-a-tat-tat is like a jack-hammer in speed.  All that and a relatively small brain, must be autonomic.

After looking at the Wikipedia site and finding it general information, I went to the living room and got our Golden field guide.  We keep it and our binoculars on the window ledge.  On page 199 are illustrations of the most common woodpeckers.  We know our variety has a red head with black and white markings much like the Red Headed Woodpecker, but that particular bird is not common in the Western states.  On closer examination I find the Acorn Woodpecker.  A likely candidate because of the abundance of oak trees in our canyon.  It says in our book that it's call is a series of raucous laughs. Yup!  That's it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Woodpecker

Last summer one hapless fellow chose one of our bird feeders in which to save his stash of acorns.  Upon further reading, it turns out they like to create graineries.  He worked hard making a quarter sized hole in the side wall of the little wooden building.  Then he spent days poking acorns inside the beautiful hole.  I'm sure with each additional nut he chuckled with delight at having found such a wonderful storage place.   Soon he decided he had saved enough and went on to other tasks.  In the fall, however, he found retrieving his treasure a much more puzzling task.  We finally had to take pity on him and remove the roof for a much easier access.

We are hopeful that the Universe will return the favor.  We have every confidence it will, maybe not the Acorn Woodpecker, but sometime, somewhere we will need a hand and someone will be forthcoming.  I know because one time I was juggling my wallet and two hot dogs trying to fill two soda cups at Costco,  (God forbid I put something down.)  A gentleman came forward and said, "I'm going to help you, but I must admit it has been entertaining watching you try to go it alone."  See?  I told you.