the Walnut Diary

“Thunnk” is the sound of a kiwi hitting a hardwood floor. It also proved to have too much mass for the scales, so the toy hedgehog (11 g) was drafted as a counterweight. Then the balance’s 100 grams of shiny brass weights with the help of the hedgehog lifted the kiwi above level. A 2 gram weight, once removed, allowed the balance to even out. The battered kiwi thus weighed 109 grams.

Earlier, with the aid of Sibley’s Field Guide to Birds, we had established that a chickadee has a mass of 11 grams. So does the little plastic hedgehog, and its cage-mate, the floppy-eared rabbit.

The reason that the balance scale appeared at our door was the failure of the teeter-totter which came with the hedgehog and rabbit to determine which was heavier. Trouble was that when the teeter was at the bottom, whoever was on it was heavier than the partner on the totter, and vice-versa. We needed a better measurement device. Amazon, of course, leaped to the rescue.

The current device, pointedly identified for ages 8+ and grades 3 and up, arrived in time for supper last night. Ada had her sleep to ponder its applications, so at 6:00 a.m. she decided that the hedgehog was no longer hibernating, and could be weighed this morning.

Then came the Kiwi.

Turns out the rabbit weighs exactly the same as the hedgehog, so their relative weights are no longer an issue.

Sibley says that a blue jay weighs 85 grams.