A Hard Nut to Crack
Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.
My life begins far above the ground,
Though below the ground life I may give.
When I come down to greet the ground,
A thunderous noise I will make.
A tasty treat to many I provide,
But only if they have the tools to get me.
The macaw is one,
The agouti is another.
Without the aid of the agouti,
My circle of life may never be completed,
And the forest I am part of would lose a valued member.
So watch out below when it's time for me to go,
Or an injury I will give you.
HintYou can find me mixed with others of my kind in the supermarket, but you don't have to work nearly as hard to get to me since all the work has been done.
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Answer
A Brazil Nut
When the castana pods, which hold the brazil nuts deep inside, reach maturity their weight will cause them to fall from their branches, some 150 feet above the ground. Each castana pod can grow to be the size of a grapefruit weighing as much as 5 pounds. When these pods fall from the tree tops they sound like a cannon ball ricocheting off of larger branches until they hit the ground below. Any animal that would be unlucky enough to get in the way of this falling pod could sustain serious injuries. The macaws and agoutis are two of the only animals with the ability to crack into the hard outer pod of the brazil nut. The agoutis find these nuts to be an especially tasty treat but due to their poor memory, they often forget where they hide their freshly shelled snacks, thus aiding to the life cycle of the castana trees, the producer of the brazil nut. Each nut that is forgotten and buried by the agoutis has the potential of growing into a new castana tree.
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Comments
rkaaland   
Nov 16, 2005
| I got the nut part!!- First  I loved the way you wrote this and the explanation!! Informative as well!!   |
bookworm91 
Nov 17, 2005
| good one! didnt get it but i never do |
Singer563
Nov 21, 2005
| I thought it was a tree at first. man i need to think better. . my mind is mostly in the gutter though |
IMCUL4E
Nov 23, 2005
| XD i thought it was a tree too!!! but i can't believe i didn't get it cuz mt science teacher JUST mentioned how they can hit the ground at like 50mph and stuff...*hits self on head* |
Lady_Lani
Nov 28, 2005
| yaya I got it right!! I saw this on the discovery channel once and its a good thing too. It is really interesting, though, how this species of plant's 'circle of life' works from birth to death. Great job!  |
sgtammo
Dec 23, 2005
| Good teaser even though it was a "hard nut" to crack... |
SPUTNIK2
Jan 17, 2006
| that was a hard nut to crack!
good teaser, thanks |
aaks94
Feb 13, 2006
| good one it gave me a challenge!  |
zonarita
Mar 16, 2006
| Princess great teaser. Loved that it was educational also. |
paul726
Apr 01, 2006
| nicely done! |
GebbieRose
Jun 19, 2006
| Love those Brazil nuts! Very nice teaser! |
Thel
Jan 06, 2008
| Yummy nuts and great teaser! |
twogross
Jan 06, 2008
| my favorite nut and now I have historical/biological background |
doehead 
Jan 06, 2008
| A very NUTTY teaser |
saleprice
Jan 06, 2008
|  thought it might be a coconut at 1st but reading realised I had no idea lol good one tho` |
auntiesis
Jan 06, 2008
| This was a reat teaser. At first I was thinking along the lines of pinecones or acorns, but when I saw the animals I knew that I was way off base. Good one, stumped me. |
bradon182001
Jan 06, 2008
| Once again I have to agree with Auntiesis, my first thought was an acorn, but had to rule that out. This was a very informative Teaser riddle, as I knew nothing about the Hazelnut and now I do. Thanks for posting;, Princess. |
AuthenticallyMe
Jan 06, 2008
| Awesome! I learned something new today. Thanks! Loved the teaser! |
mondayschild59
Jan 06, 2008
| That was a delicious teaser. Thanks for sharing. The information on the nut was helpful, since Brazil Nuts are my fav.
Thanks for posting.
Monday~ |
UptheHill
Jan 06, 2008
| Need more coffee to crack this one... |
bradon182001
Jan 06, 2008
| OOPS!! Sorry for the double post, obviously I still don't know anything about the Hazelnut, but I sure do know about the Brazil Nut.Thanks again, Princess. |
dogg6pound9
Jan 06, 2008
| I LOVE NUTS!!! (cause i'm one too )... great, informative teaser... the only thing i did not know was that agoutis had poor memory and thus assisted in the regeneration of castana trees... there's nothing i love more then learning something new while having fun!!!... thanx for the post |
Trishgal
Jan 06, 2008
| I knew it was a nut , but not knowing a thing about the Brazil nut I did not get it. But thanks to your teaser I now am well versed on the Brasil nut. THX.  |
avonma
Jan 06, 2008
| I also knew it was a nut, but I didn't know all about a brazil nut. That was interesting. Thanks! |
2ndhandrose
Jan 06, 2008
| My first thought was an acorn also Bradon, then I went with coconut & thought I was smart.  Boy did I learn something today. I must read this again. very interesting. GOOD ONE ! |
jcann
Jan 06, 2008
| This was really interesting! I also love to eat Brazil nuts, but I had no idea of how they grew and all the other intersting information. I just guessed "coconut" because it was the only one I could think of that might hurt someone when it falls. Thanks for the interesting info! |
breathesunshine
Jan 08, 2008
| I was with the coconut crowd. It was definitely fun to learn more about the brazil nut. (I still wish they were easier to open though!) |
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