Stripes

 

I like stripes, do you? You might wonder how this topic came up. It started with an email from our friends aboard Active Transport who visited Namibia not long ago. They mentioned zebras (pronounced zeh-bras there, as opposed to zee-bras in the USA), and then I read an article about zebras. The question was posed “Do zebras see only in black and white?” Hmmm. Then, of course, that leads to whether they're really black with white stripes or white with black stripes. See below for the answer to this mind boggling question.

Well, one thing led to another and I started thinking about stripes. I obviously have too much time on my hands (although it doesn't seem it). I wear striped socks all the time although I shy away from black and white striped socks as they remind me of the Wicked Witch of the East. As far as other clothes go, horizontal stripes are not good for people with “ample” hips and bums and vertical stripes just don't seem to cut it for me.

Nature really does a good job with stripes. Besides zebras, there are tigers and striped snakes and lizards and insects and plants. The Tasmanian tiger was striped and, of course, there are skunks. There's something about the sharp contrast from one color to the next that catches and keeps your attention. Put a jailbird in stripes and he sticks out like a sore thumb. But, for animals in the wild, the stripes act as camouflage. Mother Nature can be pretty tricky.

Then there's the ultimate heavenly stripes of a rainbow.

Just in case you were interested ... Zebras are black with white stripes.