The thread of learning something new every day
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<p>Another 'did you know'</p>
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<p>Apparently the wide eyed look while doing Pukana originates from the look of the Ruru. Tell your kids that when they are next watching the ABs haka.</p>
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<p>While they may look cute, people often forget that like other owls they are birds of prey. The night time versions of eagles and falcons and can be quite fierce with it.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Crucial" data-cid="491432" data-time="1432080818">
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<p>That could be good or bad news TR.<br><br>
Some believe that if Ruru enter your house or hang around nearby their will be a death in the family, others believe they carry the protective spirit of your family.<br><img src="http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/19/d3b0899b9bcb7d73150b9402b278d9b8.jpg" alt="d3b0899b9bcb7d73150b9402b278d9b8.jpg"></p>
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<p>"You just farted, didn't you!?"</p> -
<p>ha ha I see that more in a Gizzy context, bro that shits good man. I'm hungry yo, got any mice stashed round here!!?</p>
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<p>Ones on Coke/pilling and one is on weed! :)</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Paekakboyz" data-cid="491442" data-time="1432085025">
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<p>Had heard about the Ruru and fantail and what they might signal. I think you are sweet if the fantail flies in and out... but if it hangs about not so good? </p>
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<p>Shit - I might be fucked. I've had a fantail flying into the house all summer - and I thought he was just doing a good job eating daddy long legs off the walls. He's always gone outside again so maybe it's just... .arrrghhhhh...............</p>
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<p>As a supplement to several stories above, my mother told me they had a little bird fly into their sunroom windows just the other day and stun itself. While it was sitting on the grass recovering a Karearea swooped in and nabbed it.</p> -
<p>I've learned today that the Fern has no limits on its nerdiness .... ;)</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Paekakboyz" data-cid="491442" data-time="1432085025">
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<p>Had heard about the Ruru and fantail and what they might signal. <strong>I think you are sweet if the fantail flies in and out... but if it hangs about not so good? </strong></p>
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<p>Thanks for sharing the stuff about the Tui and Pukeko, will have a laugh next time I see a Puke...oh oh oh don't want to get my feet wet!!</p>
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<p>Where I'm from it's all good as long as it flies out the same way it came in - you can't let if fly out another way. I remember my Nan going nuts making all us kids close all the windows in the house one day.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="491495" data-time="1432111637">
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<p>I've learned today that the Fern has no limits on its nerdiness .... ;)</p>
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<p>So you visit a forum almost daily to talk Sports, movies, TV, Music, politics, finances and a multitude of other BS, and you just realised this? </p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="491495" data-time="1432111637">
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<p>I've learned today that the Fern has no limits on its nerdiness .... ;)</p>
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<p>Where I'm from it's all good as long as it flies out the same way it came in - you can't let if fly out another way. I remember my Nan going nuts making all us kids close all the windows in the house one day.</p>
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<p>Fantail hasn't got me yet - but it will be a test - maybe now I know this theory it will be like having a bone pointed at me. I'm going to work on the (slightly discriminatory) theory that it's not applicable to pakeha. But, if I sold my house to your Nan - with its trained fantail - could that be murder? </p>
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<p>A pair of them nested right outside my office window last spring...was pretty cool watching them raise the chicks.</p> -
<p>I always thought Piwakawaka were just holders of visiting spirits. I know when my mother in law died, we were going around her garden picking flowers and things and this piwakawaka followed us the whole time and everyone attributed it to that.</p>
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<p>But doing some searching it looks like the predominant legend is predicting the death of a male. The bit I was told was the aspect of being a messenger from the dead.</p>
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<p>Chris. You're fucked.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Crucial" data-cid="491633" data-time="1432191717">
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<p><span style="font-size:12px;">But doing some searching it looks like the predominant legend is predicting the death of a male. The bit I was told was the aspect of being a messenger from the dead.</span></p>
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<p>Chris. You're fucked.</p>
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<p>Bugger - better have another beer then. :)</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Crucial" data-cid="491414" data-time="1432071525"><p>Cool. <br><br>
The Karerearea should be our national bird. The Kiwi is a pathetic wuss in comparison. <br>
Much more regal as well. Here's a photo I took earlier in the year. <br><img src="http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/19/7d1c3718baa860a20f65682868e3e99e.jpg" alt="7d1c3718baa860a20f65682868e3e99e.jpg"></p></blockquote>
I dunno on the kiwi being too much of a wuss. I've seen doco footage of one putting a world of hurt on a possum. -
<p>She lays the egg then says righto, fuck that, I've done my bit now I'm off out with the girls, and the bloke sits on the egg for the entire incubation time.</p>
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<p>Apparently, kiwi divorce can happen.</p>
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<p>Ok, laughing hysterically at this description about kiwi mating from <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://www.kiwisforkiwi.org/about-kiwi/kiwi-facts-characteristics/kiwi-life-cycle/mating/'>https://www.kiwisforkiwi.org/about-kiwi/kiwi-facts-characteristics/kiwi-life-cycle/mating/</a></p>
<p> </p>Mating behaviour<p>With no colourful plumage or a beautiful song to attract his mate, the male kiwi has developed the strategy of persistence. He follows her about, grunting. If uninterested, she may run away, or use her greater weight and size to see him off. However, if she is interested, mating takes place, three or more times a night during the peak of activity.</p>
<p>The male taps or strokes the female on her back, near the base of her neck. She crouches low with her head stretched forward and resting on the ground. Because the female is the larger bird, the male needs her full co-operation. He climbs onto her back, which can be difficult with no wings or tail to help him balance. Often he will grasp her back feathers in his beak to help his balance.</p>
<p>The kiwi female calls the shots during mating. If she loses interest she may wander away, leaving the male in an undignified heap on the ground.</p>
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<p>holy fuck, i am a kiwi!</p>
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<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Mokey" data-cid="491725" data-time="1432241739">
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<p>The kiwi female calls the shots during mating. If she loses interest she may wander away, leaving the male in an undignified heap on the ground.</p>
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<p>Usually outside a bar on Courtney Place or similar - in my experience! :)</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="491631" data-time="1432190907">
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<p>Fantail hasn't got me yet - but it will be a test - maybe now I know this theory it will be like having a bone pointed at me. I'm going to work on the (slightly discriminatory) theory that it's not applicable to pakeha. But, if I sold my house to your Nan - with its trained fantail - could that be murder? </p>
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<p>A pair of them nested right outside my office window last spring...was pretty cool watching them raise the chicks.</p>
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<p>My Nan's long dead, and no it had nothing to do with me not being able to close the other door and window on time.</p>
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<p>I think other cultures can adopt (not adopt) things as they see fit. I wouldn't dare step in a cemetery with food in NZ, but if I was in Mexico attending a Day of the Dead celebration I'll happily chomp down on a burrito in the cemetery - after all, they're not my ancestors.</p> -
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Nepia" data-cid="491755" data-time="1432261510">
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<p>My Nan's long dead, and no it had nothing to do with me not being able to close the other door and window on time.</p>
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<p>In theory, you could accuse the fantails of slacking on the job - if they're going to be harbingers they've got to be consistent about it.</p>
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<p>Closest I've come to seeing a ghost was at the end of the 6th form when I got a job with the council mowing roadsides and cemeteries. I stopped for lunch in a cemetery one day - out in the countryside and glanced over my shoulder and there was a white figure looming about 20 yards away. I didn't stop for a second look and bolted. I ate my lunch on the other side of the fence that day.</p>
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<p>Some people might wear crucifixes to ward off ghosts, but based on that experience I reckon a big lawn-mower and a pair of ear-muffs will effectively ward them off. Once you've got a mower fired up it just seems highly unlikely that the undead are coming for you.</p>
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<p>In any case, I'm pretty sure I just saw one of those big spooky marble statues out of the corner of my eye.</p> -
Everyone's bigger than me
