Magpie Poop Traditional Cache
Hidden : 10/28/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

Enjoy the view while you stop and make this quick grap on top of the hill.

The yellow-billed magpie holds the honors for being the only bird found exclusively within California's borders. Bird watchers from around the world travel to the Central Valley and south coast ranges to see this flashy native. A relative of crows and jays, the yellow-billed magpie shares the family trait of being extremely gregarious. Shy and retiring they're not. Festooned with brilliant iridescent black and white feathers, a long tapered tail and a bright yellow beak, the yellow-billed magpie stands out in the farmlands and riparian forests it calls home. And, if their bright colors don't attract your attention, their scolding call will. They travel and nest in colonies, so disputes are frequent and their feeding habits are diverse. Magpies eat almost anything. The birds probe the soil for earthworms and insects, catch flying insects on the wing, rob other bird's nests of eggs and young and feed on road-killed animals. Throughout the Central Valley, magpies take full advantage of the fresh fruits, grains and berries grown by farmers. In the fall, acorns are an important food source. It seems the magpie goes all out in every aspect of its lifestyle and nesting is no exception. Magpies build huge, domed nests of loosely woven sticks. Mud and grass line the nest cup where six to eight eggs are laid starting in late February. In the winter when the trees are bare, the large nests are easy to spot 30 to 80 feet off the ground in sycamore, cottonwood and oak trees. By their size, you may first think they are hawk nests, but look for the tell-tale dome, a good adaptation to protect the young from predators. Heckle and Jeckle is a theatrical cartoon series created by Paul Terry, and released by his own studio, Terrytoons for 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical magpies] who calmly outwitted their foes in the manner of Bugs Bunny, while maintaining a mischievous streak reminiscent of Woody Woodpecker. However in a number of their cartoons (Moose On The Loose, Free Enterprise, The Power of Though, Hula Hula land) their foes win in the end. Their names were inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They are generally seen as the most entertaining and even funniest characters from the Paul Terry cartoons. The first Heckle and Jeckle cartoon premiered in 1946, the last in 1966. Their premiere short was entitled The Talking Magpies, which cast the duo as a husband and wife looking for a new home. New Heckle and Jeckle productions ceased in 1966. They then reappeared 1978 in their own segment of Filmation's The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle. An old rhyme about magpies went something like this: One for sorrow Two for mirth Three for a funeral Four for a birth Five for heaven Six for hell Seven's the Devil his own self Eight for a wish Nine for a kiss Ten for a bird that you won't want to miss.

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