Why Birds Don’t Need Socks

Job 12:7, 9
“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?”

Have you ever wondered why it is that ducks can spend all day in near-freezing water, and it doesn’t seem to bother them? For that matter, birds never seem to be bothered about cold feet. If we ran around in the ice and snow with bare feet, it wouldn’t be very long before we had a good case of frostbite. So why don’t birds need socks?

Birds have a network of arteries that take the blood down to their feet. These arteries are interwoven with the veins that return the blood from the feet. This network of arteries and veins is called a “wonder net.” The blood going down the arteries is hot at 106 degrees, but the temperature of the blood returning in the veins may be as cool as 37 degrees as it leaves the foot. The warm blood reheats the cold blood coming from the foot before it enters the body. The result is that the bird loses very little body heat, and the blood going into the foot never becomes dangerously cold in normal winter weather.

The wisdom of this design is obvious. Could birds have survived having their feet frozen off before they learned to evolve this special arrangement? Hardly! The most reasonable conclusion is that there is a Creator Who cares for all His creation, including you and me!

Prayer: Dear Father, You have spared nothing for our good. I especially thank You that in Your wisdom You designed a plan of salvation for us even though it cost You the life of Your only Son to purchase me. Help me never to treat Your wise plan of salvation lightly. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

REF.: Why don’t duck’s feet freeze? Science Digest, Feb. 1984. p. 76. Photo: Penguin – Courtesy of Roux. (CC-BY-SA 3.0)