More Than Just Weird: Why Ripley’s Orlando is a Must-See
From Nation, For Nation - Pulse of the Nation
5 Reasons to Visit Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Branson on Your Next Ozarks Getaway
Will Touching a Baby Bird Make the Mother Abandon It?
Were you the kind of kid who liked to get into nature, to handle things from the great outdoors in order to learn more about the world around you?
Then you probably heard the old saying from a parent or another adult at one time or another, the one that cautioned you from picking up baby birds found on the ground because, if they were handled by humans, their mothers would abandon them. Sounds legitimate, right? Well, this one’s actually not true for a number of reasons.
Birds Can’t Smell Humans
Most people, when asked about this commonly held belief, say birds will abandon their young after being touched by human hands because they can smell the scent of the human on their babies. This then causes the mother bird to become afraid of possible predators and to leave its children to the elements. One of the biggest issues with this concept is that birds are not particularly known for their keen sense of smell.
Of course, there are some types of fowl that have better noses than most. Turkey vultures, for instance, can find decaying matter by smell. However, most birds do not get by using their olfactory senses, as they just aren’t that sophisticated. So, if you’re worried a mother bird will smell you on her baby, you have nothing to be concerned about.
Birds Don’t Usually Abandon Their Young
This theory also ignores the nature of almost every living animal, which is to protect its offspring as much as possible. Sure, there are some instances where an animal may abandon its young, but this doesn’t happen very often.
In fact, you can do a quick search for “birds protecting their young” and find tons of articles and even videos attesting to this fact. The idea that the mother bird would up and leave at the slightest sign of danger discounts her instinct to protect the children she’s spent time and effort raising.
Should You Handle a Young Bird?
The story about how mother birds will abandon their babies if they are handled was most likely started by parents trying to prevent curious children from harming delicate and small animals. The truth is, however, although baby birds are sometimes seen outside their nests on the ground, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, nor does it always require human assistance.
Birds learning how to fly will likely spend some time hopping around until they get the hang of their wings. This means, if you see a small bird hopping or move about on the ground, it’s doing just fine. Another good indicator that the bird is right where it needs to be is that it has feathers. This means it’s old enough to fly and probably just trying to get the hang of it.
In the rare instance you do see a baby bird with weird, tufty feathers that haven’t fully come in or one that doesn’t seem to be able to move about on its own, it’s likely still a nestling. In this case, it is fine to carefully pick it up and place it back in its nest without any concern about its mother leaving it.
→
From Globe, For Globe - Pulse of the Planet
From a snippet of his hair to the back brace that might have played a role in his death, our collection of JFK memorabilia reflects the intrigue and tragedy of the late President’s life.
Dress to Impress
Marilyn Monroe’s dress from the birthday celebration is the world’s most expensive dress ever sold at auction. It was purchased for $4.8 million, but with taxes and fees, the dress surpassed $5 million! Believe it or Not!, the dress is currently valued at a staggering $10 million!
While this is Ripley’s most expensive item, it is only one of around 25,000 items in the Ripley’s exhibit collection valued at $125 million! Our collection includes historically significant artifacts, unique and incredible art, cultural relics, quirks of nature, pop culture memorabilia, and, of course Robert Ripley’s personal effects.
Let’s dive into some of the most fascinating artifacts of our JFK collection!
Another Year Older
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the New York birthday event, Ripley’s possesses the Madison Square Garden birthday gala ticket from 1962! The event functioned as a fundraiser for the Democratic Party, and according to newspaper and film accounts from the evening, the birthday celebration was attended by over 15,000 guests!
Our collection also includes an original Kennedy “birthday salute” poster which served to advertise the star-studded evening to the public around New York City.
Brace Yourself
Another unbelievable item in our John F. Kennedy collection is the back brace that was used throughout President Kennedy’s time in office. President Kennedy suffered chronic back pain starting in his early twenties and underwent multiple operations with little success.
Throughout his term, President Kennedy frequented the use of back braces to combat his chronic pain. Believe it or Not!, many believe that the use of his back brace played a fatal role in his assassination, with some experts pointing to the stiffness of the brace and President Kennedy’s inability to bend his body to avoid incoming fire.
Related to the unfortunate assassination of President Kennedy, Ripley’s owns the black and chrome 1954 sedan that was used by Lee Harvey Oswald on the day he shot the President.
Oswald did not have a driver’s license and would regularly have his neighbor and close friend, Buell Wesley Frazier, drive him to work.
On the morning of November 22, 1963, Frazier drove Oswald to the Texas School Book Depository. In the back seat of the car, wrapped in paper, was the rifle that Oswald would use later that day to assassinate President Kennedy. Frazier, at the time, believed that the wrapped package was nothing more than curtain rods.
Made The Cut
Ripley’s is proud to own hair clippings from President Kennedy obtained by the White House barber, Harry Gelbart - how extraordinary is that!
The clippings were cut shortly before President Kennedy’s fateful trip to Dallas and are framed against a white canvas showcasing the former President’s reddish brown locks.
John F. Kennedy is a figure showered in intrigue and tragedy and leaves behind a legacy of extraordinary proportions. Ripley’s is proud to forward that legacy by showcasing items that were not only a part of his intrigue, but in some cases, were also a genuine part of him!
Check out our episode of Ripley’s Up Close & Peculiar where Kurtis dives behind the scenes and into detail about some of President Kennedy’s artifacts mentioned above!
→
Referred by ripleys.com - where the world’s most extraordinary stories are discovered and celebrated.