What motivates the (grey) squirrels racing round my tree – sex/simple aggression/play? And do they get all that manic energy from nuts?



If they are chasing each other it might be turf wars, but it's probably sex. They can go at it for quite some time and there's a lot of chasing each other round trees. I've seen the male squirrel fall off in the middle of things, pick himself up, apparently unharmed, race back up the tree and carry on where he left off.

Thalia1

Some of it is mating chases – we hear them thundering across our flat roof in the proper season – and they probably breed twice a year, as they do here in Maryland. Some of it is territorial. Our town has big old trees and a high population of squirrels, and I sometimes see one with a big gash on its flank, or no tail, probably from fights among themselves.

RedPanda

In 1980s New York, drug dealers hid stashes of crack cocaine in Central Park. This sparked turf wars when it appeared that the stashes were being stolen by rival gangs. It was eventually discovered, after much bloodshed, that the park's squirrels were getting into the packs of drugs and becoming addicted – visitors to the park described highly active squirrels behaving aggressively. The phenomena of "crack-squirrel" was later observed in other areas and other countries. Have the police inspected your garden yet?

CrypticMirror

Their energy is not just from nuts. They eat birds' eggs, nestlings and tulip bulbs etc. I saw one recently eating a dead blue tit.

RobT132

Are they chasing a little ball?

Hodgie

It's the Olympic legacy.

CloudCastle

Pure joie de vivre.

HectorSnipe

Why do they have to have a reason?

pbendall

I'm 50-odd and it's high time I saw my first opera. Which one should I see?



When asked what he thought of his first visit to the opera, Mark Twain said he hadn't "heard anything like that since the orphanage burned down".

Ian Joyce, Milton Keynes, Bucks

My first opera was Madame Butterfly. I can heartily recommend the music (sublime!), the story and the whole experience. I still shiver when I hear The Humming Chorus or Un Bel Di. Have a wonderful time.

bbjohnston

The first one I saw was Rigoletto. I recognised a few tunes, didn't expect the full frontal nudity, and enjoyed the spectacle. I've also seen Terry Gilliam's staging of Faust as the rise of nazism, the Marriage of Figaro and Othello. I still don't get the weird singing, but enjoy much of the music and the whole theatricality of the show. I would suggest not going to anything minimalist or too long.

gbsteve1

Tosca, or perhaps Don Giovanni. Both musically stunning: the first is more of a totally bonkers sex melodrama, the second is also pretty raunchy – and surprisingly funny.

kathryn42

Why do chefs traditionally wear blue and white check trousers?



I asked my dad (a sometime chef) about this 30 years ago. He told me they may have to go into the dining room and look presentable; they can have a spare white jacket to change into, but not trousers, so they are checked to hide the stains/spillages. When I worked in a high end place, the head chef wore plain black trousers (and said all HCs do in France) to distinguish them from the other chefs.

mancuniangeek

I believe it goes back to the Ritz and Escoffier; things were run on an almost military basis and so the blue check evolved. Interestingly, there was a backlash against the Francophile influence and many English gentleman's clubs appointed a master cook who wore a black tunic and hat. This tradition still continues today.

Sparebulb

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