Photo Courtesy of http://bbs.chinadaily.com

I am going to assume that everyone had an amazing Canada Day. I hope my non-Canadian friends had a great day yesterday as well. We are going to end this shortened work week with a Wild Fact that stinks.  No I really mean it, we are talking about the Striped Skunk today.

The Striped Skunk can be found throughout most of North America and carries a strong stench with it wherever they go.  In fact the odour that they produce can be smelled from a kilometer away. I guess that isn’t that impressive since I can be smelled from 2 kilometers away after my annual camping weekend with the guys. The skunks pungent odour is created by a thick, yellow, oily fluid or musk and is secreted by two glands located at the base of their tail.  This musk is only discharged as a last ditch effort to thwart a potential enemy.  The striped skunk will growl and hiss at you long before spraying.  Heck, they will even try walking on their front legs with their tail raised to scare you.  So you know the Striped Skunk does not spray in this position.  They will need to put their body in a U-Shape so its face and tail are facing the attacker.  At this point they can spray their musk up to a distance of 6 m (18′) and are incredibly accurate within a 3 m (9′) range. The smell of the skunk is so bad that the skunk itself can’t stand it so they won’t use this defense mechanism in a confined space but I am not brave enough to test that theory.

The Striped Skunk will feed on a wide variety of food including insects, rodents, baby rabbits, bird eggs and plants.  They are especially fond of grasshoppers, crickets and cutworms but they will also feed on bees and wasps. They are the true definition of an omnivore.    By autumn the skunk has put on a nice layer of fat and are ready to begin hibernating in one of their deep dens. Some dens have been known to have 20 skunks curled up together but it is usually less than that.  Typically the female and babies will head to the den when the temperature reaches zero degrees Celsius.  The males will join in with their family or den alone once the temperature drops to minus ten degrees Celsius.  I wish I could start to hibernate once the temperature drops below zero degrees.

Well that does it for this stinky fact.  Have a great weekend everyone!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Photo by Cliff

Before we get into today’s entertaining Wild Fact, I wanted to take a minute to honour our great Country as well as the soldiers fighting for our freedom.  While I was in Ottawa last weekend I stumbled across a service for a couple of our recently fallen soldiers. I paid my respects and carried on my way but I haven’t been able to shake the sound of the trumpet bleating over and over in my head.  I wanted to thank all of the soldiers who have fought for our Country.  Without their courage and commitment, Canada would not be as strong, unified and free as we experience it today. So on Canada’s birthday I wanted to send out a heartfelt THANK YOU for everyone who has helped shape our Country and for those who have fought to keep it free.

Okay, onto other important matters. Canadians everywhere are celebrating Canada’s birthday today so in honour of Canada Day I am writing about our beloved Beaver! Nothing says Canada like the beaver, eh? After this I am going to play a game of hockey, eat a poutine, watch a terrible Canadian TV show and then apply a little bit more water to my igloo.  Please note that I am just making fun of the Canadian stereotypes, eh.  Although, I do have a craving for poutine now!

It seems like I have been talking about rodents this week and today is going to keep that trend alive.  That’s right, Castor canadensis, better known as the beaver, is actually a large rodent.  Let’s take a second to talk about the two prominent features of the beaver.  I am of course talking about their tail and their teeth.  We will start with the tail which just might be one of their most important body parts. They use their tail as a rudder and a propeller while swimming.  If you have ever startled a swimming beaver than you know they also use their tail to warn other beavers. The famous Beaver tail slap sends a loud noise above and below water warning all beavers in the area that danger is lurking. When they are hunting for trees on land they will use their tail to balance them while they are walking on their hind feet.  This gives them the ability to carry sticks, rocks and mud with their front paws.  When they are not walking around the beaver will use its tail to prop itself up while sitting.

The teeth of the beaver are just as fascinating.  One of the qualities of being a rodent means their incisors never stop growing.  The front of these teeth are hardened with a special orange enamel. As the upper and lower incisors are ground against each other they become razor sharp which obviously gives them the ability to cut down large trees.  In fact they are so proficient at this that an individual beaver may cut down as many as 216 trees in a single year. If the beaver feels like gnawing on twigs in the water than they will use their specialized lips to seal off their mouth behind their teeth.  This way they can still eat but not get a mouthful of water.

Beaver Fast Fact – The second toe on the hind feet of the beaver is double clawed. These two claws will come together and act as a set of pliers which they use for grooming their coat. They actually have a built-in comb!  I am telling you, beavers these days come with all of the extras.  I bet you will be able to hook your iPod into them soon enough.

Well I am off to enjoy Canada Day!  Have a great day everyone.

Photo by J.M. Garg

Earlier this week I recounted my harrowing encounter with an Eastern Gray Squirrel.  Today we are going to talk about another squirrel that I don’t think could frighten me. Perhaps it is the stripes that makes them less fearful.  The Indian Palm Squirrel is about 20 cm long and weighs about 100 grams.  To check out this squirrel we need to head to India, Sri Lanka or Western Australia.  Just so you know these little squirrels only naturally occur in India and Sri Lanka.  They were introduced to Australia and have become a minor nuisance since they don’t have any natural predators to keep them in check.

They aren’t the biggest animals in the forest which is probably why the Indian Palm Squirrel feeds mostly on fruits and nuts.  Although they will also supplement their diet with yummy tasting insects.  I am really tempted to start eating insects considering how many animals out there love to feed on them.  They must be delicious! The first person to try feeding solely on insects for a week will get 50000 Wild Fact Points!

Some squirrels are smart and tend to hibernate in the winter but this particular squirrel is not one of them.  Nope, they prefer to tough it out although they won’t leave the nice warm, comfy nest until the afternoon sun is shining.  To tell you the truth, I think I might try this method next winter.  Sorry boss! I can’t make it in until the sun is high in the sky.  Do you think he will go for it?

I think I will keep today’s fact short and sweet but before I go here is one last fact, well sort of!

Indian Palm Squirrel Fast Fact – An old Hindu legend explains how the Indian Palm Squirrel received the 3 stripes across its back.  Basically, this squirrel helped Lord Rama and Vanara Sena build a bridge. The squirrel would roll in the sand and then run over to the bridge site and shake all the sand off.  Lord Rama was very impressed with the dedication of the Indian Palm Squirrel and left 3 stripes across his back as he petted him. It is important to note that this association with Lord Rama could be part of the reason that squirrels are considered sacred in India.  Can any readers validate this legend?

Photo by J.M. Garg

Well I think I have finally recovered from my squirrel incident so we can get back on track with Wild Facts about obscure and interesting animals.  I think today’s Fact could be the poster child for obscure and interesting.  By now you have read the title and realize that I am talking about the Giant African Land Snail.  Doesn’t it just sound fun?  I think any animal that has the world GIANT in it has to be awesome.

So how big is the Giant African Land Snail.  Well they range between 15 to 30 cm (6-11.8″).  Wait a minute, that is almost a foot long!  Further proof that any animal with the word “giant” in their name is worth reading about. Could you imagine a foot long snail? That is the same size as my usual Roasted Chicken Sub from Subway!

I know the size of this snail is awesome but do you know what they do during summers of drought? Well they aren’t big fans of dry summers so during years of drought the Giant African Land Snail will go into aestivation, which is just a fancy word for “Summer Sleep”.  Basically the snail will seal itself inside of its shell in order to retain water.  Depending where the snail is living they may go to sleep about 3 times a year.  I guess it is like holidays for the African Land Snail.

Before we go I just wanted to touch on the reproductive strategies of the Giant African Land Snail.  Like most snails they have both male and female organs.  Usually they will mate with other snails, however, in isolated areas the African Land Snail will reproduce by themselves.  No matter which method they choose they will produce about 200 eggs per clutch.  For the record they have about 6 clutches a year. Since 90% of their eggs will successfully hatch that is about 180 new snails per clutch. Now to get into the higher math.  That is about 1080 new snails per year from one individual snail.  As you can imagine areas tend to get infested pretty quickly which causes major problems for the ecosystem.

That’s it for me folks!  Have a great day.

Photo by Ed Sweeney

So I am walking down a sketchy, gravel path in the heart of Ottawa today.  You know the type of path where you expect to find used needles and muggers at every corner.  I just start thinking that I should turn around and head back to safety when this big, black squirrel lunged out of the forest at me.  Alright, maybe he just jumped out onto a nearby log but nonetheless he managed to scare me.  I figured this would be a good time to write about my potential deadly predator, the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

I guess you may be confused since they are called the Eastern Gray Squirrel but I said it was a black squirrel that jumped out at me.  Well, this particular squirrel comes in two colour phases. Yep, you guessed it they can either be gray or black with the black colour phase being dominant in Ontario and Quebec regions.  Interestingly enough this black colour phase is not found in the Eastern Gray Squirrel as you head further south into the United States of America.  This has created some assumptions that the black colour phase is an adaptation to the cold weather climate we experience here in Canada.

The size of this squirrel is usually between 38 to 53 cm (15 to 21 inches) but I am sure the squirrel that scared me was at least 6 feet long and weighed about 150 pounds.  It is a good thing I didn’t try to run when I panicked since these squirrels are able to reach speeds up to 25 km/hr.  For the record I can’t run that fast.

The most prominent feature of the Eastern Gray Squirrel, aside from their death piercing, beady, little eyes, is obviously their tail.  As with other squirrels their tail serves many purposes.  It will act as a rudder when they are jumping from tree to tree or as a blanket in the winter and an sun umbrella in the summer.  The Eastern Gray Squirrel will also use this tail to let other squirrels know how they are feeling that day.  It acts as a very important tool for squirrel communication.

I am off to recover from my harrowing experience but I hope you enjoyed today’s post.

Photo by Mila Zinkova

I can’t believe it is the end of another exciting and fun filled week of animal facts.  We are going to end it with a common butterfly that can be found throughout Western North America.  The Western Tiger Swallowtail most likely gets the “Tiger” part of its name since it has a similar appearance as a tiger (sort of).  Don’t get me wrong, I highly doubt anyone would mistake this butterfly for a tiger.

The Western Tiger Swallowtail tends to hang out close to water, along canyons and even in our beloved city parks.  Although the adult version of this butterfly is beautiful, I find the larvae much more interesting. Let’s discuss how we get to the larvae stage first. The adult swallowtail will lay deep green, shiny, spherical eggs on the underside of a leaf. Four days later the caterpillars will emerge from these eggs.  Now this is the interesting part (well to me, anyway!)

Western Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar. Photo by J.B. Tatum

The caterpillar of the Western Tiger Swallowtail actually resembles bird droppings when they first emerge.  They will molt five times and as they molt they turn to a bright green colour with a pair of yellow eye-spots.  It is important that they turn green as it helps camouflage them with their food, leaves.  During the summer months the caterpillars can pupate into butterflies 15 days after they emerge from the eggs. If the eggs are laid in the fall though then the butterfly is going to have to wait until spring before getting to stretch their tiger wings.  If they over-winter in the pupae stage they will turn to a brown colour and simply look like a piece of wood.  Again, this is an excellent camouflage strategy. I find it fascinating how they have developed this mechanism for camouflage over the years.

Well that does it for me today folks.  Enjoy your weekend!

Photo by Tim Laman

Today’s Wild Fact was suggested by my brother, Clayton.  Thanks buddy for recommending such an awesome bird. So what bird are we looking at today? Well my friend we are going to explore the world of the Blue-Footed Boobie which as you can see are aptly named after their bright blue feet. The Blue-Footed Boobie can be found in Central and South America with half of the breeding pairs located on the Galapagos Islands.  As if I needed another reason to check out the birthplace of evolution.

Believe it or not the blue feet are actually a status symbol.  The males with the brightest feet are the most attractive.  During courtship the males will show off their feet with a nice little strut. The feet aren’t just for fashion as they play an important role during the brooding period.  These birds will use their feet to keep their eggs warm until they hatch.  Once the one to three babies are born, both parents will take care of them.  Awww, one big, happy, blue-footed, family.

Incubating the Eggs. Photo By RJ Hall

With so much emphasis put on these birds feet, I find it funny that they are incredibly clumsy and awkward looking on land.  For this reason they usually only come to nest on land at night.  Once that sun rises these birds hit the sky for some exciting hunting.  Their food of choice just happens to be fish and will fly out to sea in order to find large schools. Once they spot their prey the dive is on.  The Blue-Footed Boobie is an exceptional diver and will often plunge into the ocean from heights as high as 24 m (80′).  I guess they wouldn’t have  a problem jumping off the high diving board at the local pool.

Blue-Footed Boobie Fast Fact: The term “Boobie” is believed to come from the Spanish word “bobo”.  In English this term means “Stupid”.  Not the nicest name for these animals and it is believed they received this name for their lack of grace on land.

Photo by Manfred Heyde

I know diamonds are a girls best friend but since diamonds aren’t made by animals we are not going to talk about them today.  Nope, instead we are going to look at the Pearl Oyster.  Come on, I am sure you ladies would be happy to receive a nice shiny pearl for no reason.

It isn’t a myth, pearls are actually found in oysters and less commonly in other animals such as clams and mussels but we are only talking about the Pearl Oysters today. As well it is important to note that the oysters you find at your local “All You Can Eat” Oyster Bar are true oysters and are only remotely related to the pearl oyster.  Again, these edible oysters can also produce pearls but it rarely happens. Imagine finding a pearl in your oyster at the restaurant.  Talk about a “Happy Meal”.

Okay, so how do these oysters make pearls and more importantly, why do they make pearls? Would you believe me if I told you they make peals when they get irritated.  Can you imagine how many pearls you would have if you made one every time your brother or sister irritated you? As I was saying a foreign object such as a parasitic worm, small crab or any organic particle will enter the shell of the pearl oyster.  As a natural defense mechanism the oyster will begin to cover up the irritant with a substance called “nacre”.  This is the same material that the inside of the shell is made from.  The oyster will keep layering the nacre over the irritant until eventually a pearl forms.  We think of pearls as being a nice round jewel, however, not all pearls are perfectly round.  In some cases the pearls will be created in odd shapes which are commonly referred to as baroque pearls.

Pearl Oyster Fast Fact: Pearls will come in a variety of colours including green, white, gray, red, blue and even black.  Most of these can be found all over the world except for the black pearls.  In the wild they can only be located in the South Pacific.

The next time you are buying pearls, ask yourself what is in the middle of the pearl that started the whole process.

Have a great day!

Photo by Mono Andes

If you know me or as you may have picked up from the first 200 and some posts, I admire and respect the founder of evolution, Charles Darwin.  Therefore it only makes sense that I would respect and admire Darwin’s Frog, which just happens to be named after the famous naturalist.  Maybe this isn’t a good reason to admire this frog but nonetheless I think it is a pretty cool species and should entertain you on this beautiful Tuesday.

Darwin’s Frog is native to the streams found meandering through the forest of Argentina and Chile.  For my Geographically challenged friends, this is in South America.  This particular frog is fairly small ranging in size from 2.5 – 3.5 cm (0.9-1.4″) and slightly resembles a leaf.  As you can imagine this “leaf-like” look isn’t just a fashion statement.  Being so small these frogs will have numerous predators so when these dangerous beasts come looking for them, they simply hold perfectly still.  If the frog is lucky then the predator will assume it is just a leaf lying in the forest litter and will continue on its way letting Darwin’s Frog live for another sunrise.

I mentioned earlier that I admired and respected these little frogs.  You might have a greater appreciation for these guys when you find out about their brooding behaviour.  Usually, frogs will lay their eggs somewhere in their pond and just let them hatch on their own.  Darwin’s Frog dares to be different though. The female will lay about 30-40 eggs in which the male frog will guard until they hatch into tadpoles (about 2 weeks).  The male guarding the eggs may be different but it only gets weirder from here on out.  Once the eggs hatch the male will put all of the survivors in his mouth, well actually inside of his enlarged vocal sac, and keep them there until they are about half an inch long.  When they are ready they will simply hop out of their dad’s mouth.  Bizarre, eh? Now do you see why I like Darwin’s Frogs?

I hope you enjoyed today’s fun frog fact. Have a great day!

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luna_moth.jpg

So here we are again at the beginning of another week of exciting Wild Facts.  I thought we would start the week off with an insect but don’t worry it is a “pretty” one.  In my humble opinion the Luna Moth is one of the coolest looking moths out there.  Their nice green colour and large size has made the Luna Moth one of the most popular silk moths in North America. I am sure they are so popular that they get hounded by the paparazzi and have their photos landing on the cover of the tabloids.  A famous frog said “it isn’t easy being green” and I bet these moths would agree.  Okay, I am done clowning around, I will move onto the fact now.

The wingspan of the luna moth is about 4 and a half inches which makes it one of the largest moths in North America.  As you may have noticed they have pale green wings that have either pink or yellow margins.  Interestingly enough, it is the Southern moths born in the spring that will have the pink borders while the Northern moths and the Southern individuals born in the summer that have the yellow margins. I guess this explains why all the moths I have witnessed in Ontario had the yellow borders.

The adult luna moths are very strong fliers which makes sense considering the size of their wings.  Although, when they first exit the cocoon it will take them up to two hours to get their wings.  You see when they first emerge their wings are small and soft.  They have to pump bodily fluids to their wings and wait about 2 hours before they are able to fly.  Like a typical silk moth the adult luna moth has no mouth parts and as such, does not feed.  Therefore they will only live for about 1 week in the adult form and during this time their sole purpose is to find a mate. Mating will take place after midnight (I don’t know how they know the time) and the eggs will be laid the following evening.  The eggs will hatch in about a week and the caterpillars will go through about five in-stars before they create their cocoon and start the whole cycle over.  Well, they will start the cycle over in the south where they may have two or three generations.  In the north, however, they only have one generation due to the climate.

Well that is it for the luna moth on this wonderful Monday.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Photo by Benny Mazur