Grass Fit For A Falcon

Artificial grass has many applications and it's nice to occasionally cover some of the more unusual ones for the benefit of our readers. Previously we have talked about it being used as vivarium grass where owners of lizards and snakes find grass carpet ideal for vivarium lining. Well, here's another interesting use involving 'live' creatures - falconry.

Falconry displays are quite commonplace these days. You can either go to a falconry centre or even chance upon a display whilst out and about in the country, perhaps visiting a special event at a castle or country fair.

So where does artificial grass come in? Well, in between their flying, the birds have to sit and rest on wooden posts/perches and if you look closely you'll find many of them are covered in artificial grass. One of our team recently saw a falconry display where the posts were covered like this and so asked the event manager (Geoff of Frontline Falconry) why.

Apparently, artificial grass serves 2 purposes:

• it provides an undulating surface (as opposed to smooth wood) which is important for the birds' feet to have good circulation. Poor circulation can apparently lead to 'bumble foot'.
  
• it offers the birds a good surface grip when landing/moving on their posts
  

If you haven't seen what we're talking about here there's a falconry website that shows artificial grass on the posts: http://www.gallowayfalconry.co.uk/

Green Living In A Green House

We are all aware of the need to lead a 'green lifestyle'. Our New Year's Resolutions post touched on the subject at the beginning of this year and 8 months on, the lobby in support of the idea seems to gaining ever more ground. Tabloid press articles and tv news items seem to remind us every day and this is not just in the UK but all around the world.

In a recent Internet news article there was an interesting feature on an Austrian company of architects (GRID) who have taken the idea of 'living green' to a new level with the building of an artificial grass house.

The Amalia House as it's known has a 'skin' made from artificial grass panels covering a frame of wood panels. Described as: "the first artificial grass camouflage building in Austria", the reasons behind the concept are quoted as being "to give tribute to the nature around her and maximise the interchange between inside and outside. Looking at the picture it certainly seems to blend into its surroundings.

Could it be the first of many more?

Time alone will tell but it's just another example of the impact that artificial grass is making around the world. Not so very long ago, architects and constructions companies would never have considered such an idea. However, to quote Bob Dylan, "the times they are a changin' " ....