Category: Mammals – Deer

Problem: 

Houses are too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.

Biomimicry Idea: 

Mimic a brush rabbit. The Brush Rabbit solves this problem by growing a thicker coat when its cold and a thinner one when its warm. This helps keep the rabbit just the right temperature. Our houses will do the same thing. The insulation often gets compressed and therefore doesn’t work as well. We’ll invent a insulation fluffer-upper that fluffs up the insulation before winter and before summer. Therefore keeping our houses warmer in the winter and colder in the summer. When rabbits fluff up they shake their body. My invention will have a machine that vibrates the material, making it fluff up. This will fluff the insulation making it more efficient.

                                         Insulation Fluffer-Upper

How does nature help the brush rabbit stay cool?

When a brush rabbit get too hot, its ears come into action. Their large ears release excess heat from their body to make sure they don’t over-heat.  The ears release excess heat with the help of blood flow. This process is called vasodilation. Could we put bunny ears on our roof tops that expand in the heat and send some of the roof top heat back into the air.

 

Problem:

Heating and cooling control takes up a lot of energy. I would like to use more of natures way of circulating air.

Biomimicry idea:

Mimic how a beaver’s dam circulates air.  Hot air rises, cool air sinks. This causes convection currents that push air around. My idea is to naturally heat and cool houseboats. The cold air from the river come through vents enter the house and heat up as they rise then go out the top.

 

      Warm air goes out the top cool air from the water goes in the bottom.

 

How does nature help cool a beaver’s dam?

A beaver dam is on water which is colder than the ambient temperature. The cold air from the water enters the dam from many different tunnels   When hot air rises, the cool air fills in the space that hot air left. When cold air heats up it rises, then it cools down and sinks. This makes a wind, or what is called a convection current.

 

 

 

Problem:

Too cold in winter, too hot in summer.

Biomimicry Idea:

Building houses that make the cold air stay in summer and warm air stay in winter. During the summer, moles houses keep the cool air in and during the winter their little burrows help keep the warm air inside to keep warm.

Moles that have babies will often add vegetation to their nest which, while it decays, it will also generate heat which will help keep their den warm.

They take a lot of rotten vegetation to generate heat inside their dens.

My idea to apply this to humans would be to have people get a bunch of rotten vegetation and put them in large containers in the ceiling of their houses and they can get air filters to trap the smell.

Problem:

Staying warm and reusing greenhouse gas.

Biomimicry Idea:

Mimic a chickadee or a squirrel drey.

My idea is to create a dome that has the same concept as a greenhouse but for large groups of people to live in during winter seasons. I want it to be a self-mantained community growing crops, raising cattle, making clean water, and creating its energy with the help of its occupants.

 What if, during your cold winter, all of your friends and family and large groups of people were in a warm place to live during the season? Well, I asked nature and she gave me many answers on how to do this.  The black capped chickadee and squirrel do this, which led to me design a glass dome to help people in Alaska, Greenland or Northern Canada.

How does nature help black capped chickadees and squirrels?

The black capped chickadee has a bird group that it will live with through the winter to stay warm as they sit side by side to warm each other up.  The squirrels collect sticks and make a tree drey. They put leaves in them for insulation and waterproofing. They emit greenhouse gas and along with the body heat of the squirrels, the drey dome stays warm through  hibernation.

Problem:

Burn victims have sometimes large areas of destruction on their body that causes immense pain and that needs to heal. Much of the flesh could have been killed or could die due to lack of healing ability. There is a rick of infection and buildup of moisture prevents proper healing.

Biomimicry Idea:

Mimic a black tailed deer. Black tailed deer have velvet covering their antlers as they are growing. This velvet supplies blood vessels, thus nutrients to the newly growing antlers. Burn victims need medical solutions that allow for quicker and effective healing of their burns. Using a hydro colloid bandage covers and dresses the wound, as well as wicking away moisture and creating a barrier to prevent infection. The idea of the velvet covering an antler and allowing it to grow inspired my idea of a “second skin” type of idea for something like a burn to heal to allow skin to regrow.

This is a hydro colloid bandage. It is made of a clear gel type material that creates an air tight deal on the wound.

Here is a deer with young antlers. The velvet can be seen on the newly growing antlers.

How does nature help black tailed deer grow antlers?

The antlers of black tailed deer have a skin coating called velvet that supplies blood vessels and nutrients to the antlers, allowing them to grow. This velvet falls off when the antlers are done growing.

More about antlers: 

Antlers are not permanent. They are grown each year from the age of 6 to 8 months. Antlers are composed of minerals such as phosphorous, calcium, other minerals and the protein collagen. The antlers grow out from the skull of the animal from a spot called a pedicle. The antlers are covered in a skin that we know as velvet. This skin is present on the growing antler for the purpose of supplying nutrients and blood to the newly developing antler. At this stage, the antler is living. Eventually when the antler is fully grown, the deer will rub the antlers on trees and other rough surfaces in order to remove the velvet. It will also fall off on its own. Now, the antler is considered dead, as there is no longer nutrients being supplied to it. Now the antler is used for combat and mate garnering. The antler will fall off in late December to March.

Problem:

Good gardening tools are hard to come by. The need for sturdy, strong, and effective digging tools that everyone can use while having fun.

Biomimicry Idea:

Mimic a mole’s paws and claws by designing gardening gloves for the whole family. They have curved front paws that dig like shovels and can help get the job done faster and more effective than other gardening tools.

 

How does nature help a mole dig?

One of the most distinguishing features of a mole are their short, stout, and strong front legs. They are perfectly designed for digging and allow for quick digging through tunnels in a swimming motion. They can dig up to 18 feet in one hour digging long tunnels and underground homes.

Moles have a pretty bad reputation for being pests. Crazy enough, they provide some benefits for their ecosystem and have even been considered ecological engineers. Their passage ways can aid other wildlife in travel routes and protection. They help increase fertility of the soil, reduce amount of weeds and improve aeration of the soil in the occupied areas.