A good friend put a fascinating little book in my hands with the words, “Thought you might enjoy this—I bought it to pass on to my grandchildren.” The title is “If Animals Could Talk,” written by Dr. Werner Gitt, a German scientist and believer in the Biblical account of creation. It immediately grabbed my attention because it is so full of amazing facts about his subjects.

In telling his stories, he leads his readers through imaginary dialogue of the creatures he chose to write about—the field sparrow, whale, dragonfly, and the glowworm (firefly or lightning bug), among others.

I have always been interested in lightning bugs because it was such fun to watch and sometimes capture them in my childhood. Even today, they still catch my eye. Dr. Gitt, in the role of the lightning bug, warns us to be careful not to “squash the daylights out of me.” Referring to the name “glow worm,” he explains it is neither a worm, nor does it glow. It generates cold light and 100 per cent of its input energy converts into light. If a frog gobbles up too many of them, it will actually glow in the dark. He explains there are two substances, luciferin and luciferase, that react with each other to produce the glowworm light. “I can only marvel at what great effort the Creator put into us tiny creatures,” he wrote, and praised God for making it such a small miracle.

Dragonflies have long been on my list of favorite creatures to watch because of the way they fly—hovering and moving backward for instance. In his voice as a dragonfly, Dr. Gitt notes that it rules the air near water, moving around like a silent helicopter. Large ones use their six thin legs to form a catcher’s mitt to grab insects like mosquitoes and moths. They can easily reach speeds of 25 mph without constantly beating their wings. Fireflies perform the courting ritual and mating while airborne. Here is one more fascinating fact: Dragonflies view the world with up to 30,000 six-sided individual eyes.

Dr. Gitt, taking the voice of a sparrow, says, “I find most of my nourishment in the air.” When the swallow leaves to find food for its offspring, it spends at least 15 hours in the air every day! He adds that the swallow ancestors fastened their nests on the building of the temple in Jerusalem, close to God, where they felt right at home.

Did you know certain whales’ tongues weigh as much as two grown horses? And that some other whales produce milk for their young with a butter-fat content of 42 percent? And there are whales that by breathing out, can blow a spout of water 50 feet high?

There are many more examples of the “unique design features of some of God’s captivating creations” in “If Animals Could Talk,” written in an enjoyable and easily understood style. I believe all ages would enjoy it.

 

Nina Keenam is retired from the newspaper business.