Fun Facts Friday ~ Sticky Toes

Wouldn’t it be fun to have the ability to crawl up the side of a building like Spider Man? Some animals and reptiles actually do have suction-powered feet that help them hunt, sleep and stay safe. Let’s explore the world of sticky toes.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

This unique fellow may be one of the coolest frogs on the planet. It has a neon-green body with bright blue and yellow markings, bright orange toes and bulging red eyes. It hunts at night and sleeps all day clinging to the bottom of a leaf using it’s suction feet to keep it in place. This frog lives in the tropical lowlands from southern Mexico, throughout Central America, and in northern South America. Besides their sticky toes, they also have a long sticky tongue that zaps up crickets, flies and moths.

Hairy Gecko Toes?

Did you know there is 1,450 species of gecko and 60 percent of them have sticky feet?
The gecko has evolved over the years to become one of the most powerful wall climbers around; however their feet aren’t sticky like tape. The bottom of a gecko’s foot has millions of teeny hairs. Each of these hairs, known as setae, has hundreds of even finer spatula-shaped split-ends. When the gecko presses his foot against a rough or smooth surface all these little hairs go to work and allow him to scurry, climb and stick. What a feat!

Sucker-Footed

The sucker-footed bat of Madagasgar has small suction cups on its wrist and ankles. A special gland on the bat dribbles a sticky goo onto their suction-cups, allowing them to climb and balance. They use these sticky adhesions to sleep inside of rolled palm leaves – where they are safe from predators – and hunt for food. Along with sticky feet, these bats are black or brown in colour, have large ears and weigh about .3 ounces.

For more information on these sticky-toed creatures visit your local library or the Internet.

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