Archive for the ‘Mammals’ Category

I guess I wasn’t able to convince anyone to appreciate the earwig last week.  Personally, I still think they are pretty cool but what can I say, I am a Wildlife Biologist, so I like all animals. I feel bad that I ended the week with such an “icky” Wild Fact so I thought I would make it up to all of you today with a cute, fuzzy animal.  There is something seriously wrong with you if you don’t like the Tree Kangaroo!!

As you can imagine the tree kangaroo is a relative of the regular kangaroo but it prefers to live in trees.  They can be found in the rain forests of New Guinea and Northeastern Queensland.  The tree kangaroo is similar to a turtle.  No, I don’t mean genetically! I mean in the sense that they are awkward, slow and clumsy on land but the minute you put them into their preferred environment (i.e. trees) they become nimble, agile and swift.  I am pretty impressed that I was just able to make a comparison between a kangaroo and a turtle!

So how did these kangaroos get to the trees? It is believed they evolved from animals similar to kangaroos and wallabies since they have retained the large legs. In order to survive in the trees though, they developed strong fore-limbs for climbing and incredibly long tails for balance.  Unlike, kangaroos which have long, narrow feet, which allow them to move quickly on the plains, the tree kangaroo has shorter and wider feet used for climbing.  These feet are even more adapted for life in the trees with their long claws and rubber soles.  Yes, they have rubbery soled feet which obviously provides them with better grip.  It is like they carry that anti-slip bathtub mat with them at all times!

If you have a bit of time then I recommend checking out the following video from National Geographic.  It explains how researchers are using “Critter Cams” to learn more about these mysterious animals.

So there is your cute and cuddly fact to start the week.  Have a good one!

I had so much fun yesterday writing about an animal that looks like a cat, which is named after a cat but is not a cat that I thought it would great to actually write about a cat! No, the Caracal isn’t your friendly, fluffy, neighbourhood cat but it is pretty interesting nonetheless.  Why don’t you hop on the Wild Facts Train and find out more about this medium-sized cat from Africa and the Middle-East.

Please ensure that your seats and tray tables are locked in the upright position because here we go.  Wait! I don’t think you have to worry about your seats and trays on a train, do you??  Oh well, moving on! The caracal has often been compared to the Eurasian Lynx and at one time was thought to be a close member to the lynxes. This is not the case as the caracal is more closely related to the serval (keep your eyes peeled for a Wild Fact on the Serval in the coming days).

Have you ever wondered where people come up with these weird names for animals? Who thought of the name “Caracal”?  Apparently, the term “Caracal” is turkish for black ear! Pretty original, eh?  If you are observant you may say to yourself that their ears are not that black so why are they named after it.  Then I will tell you that the young caracal cats ears are black on the outside but this colour disappears as they become adults.  Imagine what those awkward teenage years are like for the young caracal’s.  One black ear and one normal coloured ear!  The other cats laughing and pushing at poor Carl the Caracal just because he matured faster than the others.  Awww, that poor cat! Oh, before I forget I wanted to mention that the ears of the caracal are actually controlled by 20 different muscles. If I remember my human anatomy correctly, the human ear only has 2 muscles.  These ear muscles are significant for the caracal since it relies heavily on hearing to capture its prey.

For the record, they will prey on rodents, gazelles, antelopes and birds.  In my opinion the caracal is like most house cats that I am familiar with.  They are fussy and spoiled.  In fact, the caracal is such a fussy eater that it will actually use its claws to peel off the fur of the larger prey species.  The fur bothers them but apparently feathers are fine for them to eat.  I guess I am just a dog person since I have never understood cats.

This is the last stop for the Wild Facts Train.  I will be sure to pick you up the same time tomorrow.  Maybe we should just start car pooling?

Oh boy!  We are all in for a real treat today!  No I am not giving out candy although that might be a good idea.  Little Wild Facts chocolates in the shape of different animals! See how easy I get side-trac…..oooooh a shiny quarter! We are lucky today because we will be learning about the Binturong!  Anyone know what a Binturong is? Well, stick around and you will find out plus I will tell you some pretty cool things about this odd animal.

Good, you are still here!  That means you are as excited about the binturong as I am OR you are procrastinating from something important! Oddly enough the Binturong is also called the Asian Bearcat, although it is neither a bear nor a cat.  Apparently the culture that named this animal “Bearcat” is now extinct, which is sad since we will never know why they received that name.  If I had to guess, I would say it is simply because they have the face of a cat and the body of a small bear but that is just me!

So what is so darn interesting about the bearcat? These little guys love the trees so their legs have adapted to their living environment.  Climbing down trees can be tricky but the binturong is able to rotate their hind legs so the claws can still grip as they bolt down the tree head first.  Just think, you would never have to call the Fire Department to get this “Cat” out of your tree.

Communication plays a very important role in the binturong’s life.  They have been known to make a lot of different noises.  Believe it or not, when this bearcat is in a happy and playful mood, they will actually make a chuckling sound! Besides them laughing at you from the trees you may also hear them hissing, grunting or howling.  They will also use their scent glands for communication. They will wave their tail in order to spread their musky scent to the nostrils of other animals in the area.  You have any idea what this might smell like? Would you believe me if I told you the binturong actually smells like buttered popcorn!! Their scent glands give off a smell similar to Theatre Style Popcorn.  I wonder if you could get extra butter?  Imagine trying to research these little guys.  I would be so hungry and have such a craving for popcorn!

I told you that you were in for a treat today!  A popcorn-smelling treat!  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Happy Monday Everyone!  You all know I am going to start today’s post talking about the Olympics.  Currently I am typing this up just after the closing ceremonies.  My nerves are still shot from the Canada vs. USA hockey game, which by the way was one of the best games I have ever seen.  I wanted to take this opportunity to Congratulate all of the athletes and especially the Canadians for an incredible Olympic Performance!  Canada set a Winter Olympic record with 14 Gold Medals and managed to achieve the most medals in Canadian history.  Every one who had a hand in the Olympic Winter Games has made me proud to be Canadian.  The athletes, volunteers and of course the fans were absolutely spectacular.  Now, I don’t know what to do with myself! I really enjoyed watching and cheering on our Canadian men and women.  Oh well, I guess I will just have to focus on Wild Facts.  Speaking of Wild Facts, I suppose we should get on with today’s fact.  That pesky reader from Man Over Board (by the way, I like the new look to your site) mentioned something about not having a Killer Whale post.  Since, I never like disappointing my readers, today’s post is of course about the Killer Whale!

The Killer Whale or Orca is the largest member of the Dolphin family.  Yeah, I said dolphin! They can be found in all of our oceans ranging from the Arctic and Antarctic to the Caribbean Seas.  Now, don’t let the name fool you though, the killer whale isn’t really that vicious.  Oh wait, yes they are! Killer whales prey on seals, sea lions and even whales!  To make matters worse they travel in families of up to 40 individuals.  The hunting strategy of the orca has often been compared to wolves since they both use co-operative hunting techniques. Nothing better than the thought of 40 killer whales working together to catch you.  In all honesty, the attack rate on humans is very low so there is no need for you to have nightmares and wet your bed tonight.

Scientists are discovering that there may be 3 to 5 different sub-species or possibly different species of killer whales. For instance, their are resident killer whales which feed primarily on fish species and have the large, complex family structure I discussed above.  Then there are the transient killer whales which feed primarily on marine mammals such as seals.  The transient orcas have smaller families and don’t rely as heavily on each other as the resident species.  Finally, there are the offshore killer whales which may eat both fish and mammals.  They will travel in groups of 60 or more, however, little is known about this sub-species but they are genetically different then the other two mentioned above.  I never knew that the killer whales taxonomy was so complicated.

Well, I guess that is just about enough from me today!  I will carry on with my Team Canada Celebrations now!  Have a good day everyone!

I promised all of you that we would head back from Australia and I didn’t lie.  Today we land back into North America and the first animal we see when we get off the plane is a Collared Peccary.  I know it may seem weird to see a collared peccary hanging around in a city but they are actually well adapted to living in the suburbs.  Anyone know where in North America we just landed? We landed somewhere in Southwestern USA! Perhaps, Texas, Arizona or New Mexico.  The Collared Peccary can be found in Central and South America as well.

The collared peccary is often referred to as a pig, however, it is no longer classed in the pig family.  I still think it looks like a pig though! Anyone have ideas what this pig-like animal eats? Well, I can tell you that this little piggy doesn’t eat roast beef.  Instead it prefers to forage on fruit, roots, grasses, insects as well as small reptiles. One of the other main sources of food for this cute, little peccary happens to be prickly pears.  It may be a tough food item to swallow but the prickly pear has a very high water content which is crucial for an animal living in Southwestern USA.

The nice thing about viewing the collared peccary is the fact that you will get to see several at one time.  They actually like to form a band of 6 to 12 animals although a larger group of 50 has also been recorded. Interestingly enough, these bands have a hierarchy in which a male collared peccary will usually be dominant while the rest of the “pecking” order is determined by size. Only the old and the wounded animals don’t band up since they prefer to die in solitude.  Other than dying though, the group does everything together.

Collared Peccary Fast Fact: The collared peccary is also known as the “Javelina” which is Spanish for javelin or spear.  They received this secondary name due to their razor sharp tusks.

Another week of Wild Facts is in the books!  Have a great weekend everyone and I will see you back here first thing Monday morning.

Well we all had a very nice trip to New Zealand yesterday but I think it is time to make one last stop in Australia before heading out on our next adventure.  Today we are going to look at yet another marsupial called the Numbat.  I kid you not folks! I don’t even think I could make these names up.

The numbat is also known as the Banded Anteater.  My guess is they prefer to be called the banded anteater over the “Numbat”.  This little marsupial can only be found in small colonies in Western Australia.   Does anyone have any idea what the Banded Anteater prefers to feed on?  Of course, the majority of their diet is composed of termites.  What?!? Did you think I was going to say something else? Surprisingly enough the numbat is able to consume almost 20 000 termites in a day. In order to be able to catch so many little termites in a day the numbat has evolved a long, sticky tongue which seems to work quite well.

Unlike most marsupials, the numbat is active mainly during the daylight hours.  The numbat is required to wait until the termites are active in order to feed.  Although, they have fairly strong claws, they are no match for the concrete-like termite mounds.  The banded anteater is smart and applies the brains over brawn strategy for finding food.  You see, they wait until the termites are in the underground tunnels between their feeding sites and their protective mound.  The numbat is able to sniff them out and strike them while they are vulnerable.  Pretty smart of the little numbat isn’t it?

Numbat Fast Fact: Although the numbat is a marsupial, they do not have a pouch that the young can climb into.  For this reason the little numbats must cling to the belly fur.

Have a great day everyone!

The people that know me well will know that hockey games will often affect my mood.  After watching the Americans beat the Canadians tonight, you should all know that I am no longer in a very jovial mood.  I figure doing a little bit of research about a cool animal will do me some good.  In fact today’s animal is so cool, it needs a Coati! No that is not a spelling mistake, that is me trying to make pun since we are indeed going to learn about the Coati today. In reality though, the Coati is pronounced (ko-WAH-ti) so that wrecks the pun a little.

You may not have heard of the coati before but have you ever heard of a Snookum Bear, hog-nosed coon or Brazilian aardvark? These are just some of the other names that people call the coati. So what exactly is this animal? Well, they are members of the raccoon family which can be found in North, Central and South America.  They tend to be a diurnal species foraging for food throughout the day and hanging around in the trees at night.  During those blistering hot moments of the day the coati will seek refuge in their home high above the ground.  Although they are considered to be a terrestrial animal, the coati will sleep, mate and give birth in the trees.  The amount of time spent in the trees may help explain the need for such a long tail.  This tail provides the balance necessary to manoeuvre through those tricky branches.

The coati are an omnivorous species which means they like to eat both plants and animals.  They have adapted an excellent sense of smell as well as strong digging claws to help with find the meat component of their diet.  They will often be seen sniffing along the ground until they catch a scent of their prey.  At this point they will begin to dig into the ground and will move the dirt around using their special pig-like nose that can actually rotate 60 degrees in any direction.  Maybe the police force should hire a few Coati’s for their Canine Unit. Well, I guess it would then be called a Coati Unit!  Hmmmm, that actually has a pretty cool ring to it.

Writing up this post has definitely put me into a better mood which I can thank each and everyone of you for!  Have a great day!

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If you have been following Wild Facts all week (and I know some of you have been) then you may have noticed that we have talked about a couple of Australian animals such as the wombat and the koala bear.  I figured I would end the week with another Australian animal.  Actually, this animal is also a marsupial. Anyone else find it interesting that their are a lot of pouched animals living in Australia? By this point, I am sure you have read the title and realize that I am of course talking about the Wallaby!

Wallabies are smaller than their kangaroo cousins but have some very similar characteristics. Earlier this week I mentioned that the koala bear and the wombat were also related to the kangaroo.  It seems that everything in Australia is related to that hippity-hop animal.  Their family reunions would be a blast although I bet it would be tough to convince them to come out of their pouches long enough to enjoy the company.

If you look at the picture above (go ahead and look again) you will notice that the wallaby has a very long tail. In fact, their tail can be as long as their entire body.  The wallaby puts this long, powerful tail to good use as it helps balance them while jumping around all day.  As well, they can use this tail to prop themselves up into a sitting position.  How weird would it be to come around a corner and see a bunch of wallabies just sitting on their tails. This is actually possible since wallabies tend to be a social animal and will often forage with other wallabies.  It makes sense since nobody likes eating alone! While we are on the topic of foraging, I guess I should let you know what these critters like to eat. The majority of their diet is made up of grasses, however, when they feel like mixing up their diet they will also feed on leaves, shrubs and berries.  Personally, I would take berries over grass, leaves or shrubs!

If you are bored and feel like watching a baby wallaby at the zoo then check out the video below.

Well folks, that just about does it for me today!  Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday.  Although, if I can get motivated, you may see me around the site this weekend but we shall see!

I realized tonight that I am starting to get too many Wild Facts as I am now having a tough time remembering which animals I have already talked about.  You know I don’t want to repeat the same fact over and over again. I can’t believe that I haven’t done a Wild Fact on the Koala Bear.  That is enough of my babbling, lets get on with the fact!

The Koala Bear isn’t actually a bear.  In fact the closest living relative of the koala bear is the……are you ready for it? The Wombat! That’s right, Wild Fact #874 and #873 are actually related.  Just like the wombat and the kangaroo, the koala bear is a marsupial.  You remember what the means right? I don’t want you to have to go back to yesterday’s fact to look up the definition so I will remind you.  A marsupial gives birth to live young just like other mammals but then the young hops into the comfy pouch where it continues to grow. The baby (also called a Joey) is only about a quarter of an inch long when it heads to the pouch.  It will stay in this external shelter for about 6 months feeding solely on milk.  Interestingly enough the pouch of the koala bear contains a drawstring-like muscle that the mama bear can close and open at will.  To me that is a pretty cool way to ensure your little joey doesn’t fall out.

The koala bear feeds primarily on Eucalyptus leaves, which are low in protein, hard to digest and contain chemicals that are deadly to most other animals.  So why do they feed on such problematic leaves? Simply because other animals can’t suvive off of these leaves, so it ensures food availability.  The koala bear has a very low metabolic rate which allows them to be able to survive off of such low quality leaves.  Due to this low metabolism, the koala bear tends to laze around for about 16-18 hours a day. If you ask me, they are living the dream life! I wish my job was just to sleep all day!

Koala Bear Fast Fact: The fingerprints of the koala bear are incredibly similar to humans. Apparently, it is even difficult to distinguish the two apart using an electron microscope. This is an unverified fact but an interesting one to think about.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Good news!  I managed to find some time in between my Olympic watching to sit down and write up a Wild Fact.  I figured I would take advantage of the delay in Long Track Speed Skating (Go Canada!) to write up Wild Fact #874.  I know it may seem like I am just squeezing these Facts in whenever I have time but they actually do take precedence over many things.  I enjoy writing these facts so much that I will always find time to write about some interesting animal.  You are all in for a treat today since we will be learning about the cute and pudgy, Wombat.

The wombat is a marsupial, which means it gives birth to tiny little babies that will crawl into their pouch to continue growing.  Yes, that is the same thing a Kangaroo does! In case you are wondering, the babies will remain in the wombat’s pouch for about 5 months. I really hope those little guys are not claustrophobic!  These furry animals are nocturnal which means they head out at night to look for food. The wombat tends to feed on grasses, roots and bark. Perhaps if they foraged during the day they would find something a little tastier to eat!

The wombat has very long claws which they use to dig burrows for themselves. Their underground homes can be quite extensive with several chambers located throughout.  I bet the lady wombats have a huge walk-in closet in their chamber. I was surprised to find out that that certain species of wombats are actually very sociable. These species will form colonies and live together in their elaborate underground homes. Nothing better than the whole family getting together at home!

Like a lot of other animals, some of the wombat species are considered endangered due to habitat destruction. You may have noticed a recurring theme for endangered species that focuses in on habitat destruction. I guess this is to be expected as the human population and our demand for natural resources continues to grow.

Thanks for reading and hopefully learning something about the interesting Australian wombat.  I am off to watch some more Olympic events.  Go Jeremy Wotherspoon!