Wild Facts

Since it is the middle of summer for me and my Northern Hemisphere friends I figured we could all use a break from the heat and humidity.  Actually, I don’t really need a break since the Yukon hasn’t been unbearably warm but that is not the point.  In order to get some relief from the pesky summer sun we are heading to Antarctica to learn about one of the most fascinating birds, the Emperor Penguin.  You can’t tell me you are not excited to learn about the largest penguin species.

The Emperor Penguin is endemic to Antarctica and can weigh anywhere between 22 to 45 kg (49 to 99 lbs).  I am sure we can all see the problem with living in Antarctica, which is how the heck do you deal with the cold.  Just so you know these flightless birds will often have to put up with temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius (-76 degrees Fahrenheit).  Maybe taking a field trip here wasn’t such a good idea.  I am getting a chill just thinking about all of the snow and ice.  Luckily the Emperor Penguins are smart and will all huddle together to keep warm and block out the frigid wind chill.  Usually they will form a circle and they will take turns standing in the middle to warm up from the cold.  It is interesting how they realize the importance of helping each other so they can all survive.

The crazy thing about these penguins is they will even breed during this harsh season.  Talk about uncomfortable! The female will usually lay a single egg and immediately leave it behind while she goes out on an extended hunting trip.  In some case she may have to travel as far as 80 km (50 miles) just to reach the open water so she can feed on fish, squid and other aquatic animals.  While she is out hunting the male will stay home and protect that single egg.  Unlike most birds he will not sit on the egg.  Nope he prefers to stand and protect the egg from the harsh elements by balancing it on his feet and covering it up with his feathered skin, also known as the brood pouch.  There is no question that the male Emperor Penguin should win father of the year as they will do this for about 2 months without eating anything.  Once the mother returns with a belly full of food for her young the male will then take off for his own hunting trip. I can imagine it would be a nice break after spending two months babysitting an egg.  The moral of this Wild Fact is to be grateful that we are humans and don’t have endure the harsh life that the Emperor Penguin has been forced to deal with.

Emperor Penguin Fast Fact – The Emperor Penguin is able to dive up to 565 m (1850 feet) which makes them the deepest diving bird.  As well, they are able to stay under water for about 20 minutes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Diving Emperor Penguin - Photo by Glenn Grant, National Science Foundation

Photo by Pam Russell

This post is for all of the women out there that have a tough time convincing their husbands/boyfriends to renovate the house. I want you to go and wake them up from their nap so they can read about the Bowerbird with you.  I know they will be grumpy but trust me it will be worth it.  Before we get into the details of their unique mating behaviour I guess I will tell you a little about this bird.

The Bowerbird is a medium-sized passerine bird, which doesn’t help since more than half the birds in the world are passerine birds. This particular type though can be found around New Guinea and Australia.  As I alluded to the Bowerbird is best known for their unique mating behaviour so lets take the rest of the fact to explore this, sound good?

The male Bowerbird is the ultimate bachelor and should probably try out for a certain reality show. Come on what does Pilot Jake have that a male Bowerbird doesn’t, they can both fly! I am just not sure that this male bird would be able to live in such a hum-drum mansion during the taping.  You see the houses they build are much more extravagant.  That’s right, the Bowerbird is often called the “Avian Architect” since they build a lavish bachelor pad called a “Bower”.  They use twigs, moss and leaves to construct the nest but then decorate it with shiny baubles, berries, feathers, shells, and anything else they can find.  These beautifully built bowers are not at all like the nice house in the country with the white picket fence that is perfect for raising a family. No, they are more like the Penthouse suite in downtown New York. They are the ultimate bachelor pad designed to attract as many females as possible.

The Ultimate Bachelor "Bower"

Once an interested female bowerbird arrives to check out the finely constructed nest the male will begin to strut and sing hoping to convince her to stick around for a little bit.  You know, it is eerie how similar the bowerbird is to the human bachelor. I just picture the male “dumb-dancing” while trying out cheesy pick up lines on the potential mate.  After mating the female will fly off and build a nest close by while the male will work on convincing another female into his sweet bachelor pad.  You know, I am starting to think that it may not have been a good idea to wake up your husbands/boyfriends for this Wild Fact.  Sorry ladies, my bad!

Well folks I am off to collect some shells and feathers for my home.  I will check back in with you a little later.

Least Weasel Checking Out Wild Facts - Anonymous Photo

I am shocked that today’s animal managed to weasel its way out of our Wild Facts for this long.  Well my friends today is the day that the Weasel gets its moment in the spotlight. I want to thank Clayton for coming to my rescue with an idea tonight since I was unable to think  of an animal I wanted to write about. Well enough small talk let’s get right into the interesting stuff shall we?

The Weasel is a small mammal that can be found all across the world excluding Antarctica and Australia.  In urban and rural areas the Weasel has a bad reputation since they tend to feed on eggs, chickens and rabbits from the farms. I guess farmers just don’t understand how scrumptious their livestock is to the weasel.  Aside from angering the farmers the weasel will also feed on mice, birds and other small rodents.

The small size of the weasel means that they tend to have several predators such as owls, birds of prey, snakes, cats, and of course the wonderful fox.  Although they are small and look like an easy dinner the speed and agility of the weasel makes it difficult for the oncoming predator.  If this isn’t enough it has been said that the weasel actually smells worse than a skunk as a result of their musk glands.  Would you really want to attack and eat something that smells worse than a skunk?

Yesterday we talked about the “pronking” Springbok well not to be outdone the weasel has a similar trick.  Only theirs is called the “Weasel War Dance” and is usually occurs when the weasel is excited or frightened.  This special dance usually consists of a series of sideways or backwards hops and is accompanied with an arched back, hissing noises and a frizzy tail. Come to think of it that is pretty much the same way that I dance after a few too many beverages.  In the wild it is believed that this dance is used to confuse their prey.  If you have ever owned a ferret than you will understand this dance that is usually associated with playing.

I hope you enjoyed today’s Weasel Fact.  Make sure you stop by tomorrow for a new and exciting Wild Fact!

Photo by Thomas Schoch

I tried warning you awhile back that you will be seeing more and more African animals as I get more and more excited for my trip to South Africa later this year. I found out the other day that the Springbok is the National animal of South Africa so you knew it was going to find its way to Wild Facts at some point (although I did have to be reminded about it today).  As you can tell from the picture the Springbok is a type of antelope. In fact in Afrikaans or Dutch “Spring” means Jump while “Bok” means Antelope or Goat.

This brown and white antelope stands about 70 – 87 cm (28-34″) tall and can weigh up to 50 kg (110 lbs) with the males typically being larger than the ladies.  An interesting feature of the Springbok has to be the flap of skin lined with white hair that extends from the middle of their back down to their rump.  What in the world could this flap of skin be used for? I know it is weird, eh? Well I guess it isn’t too weird to the Springbok since this flap comes in handy when they are trying to attract a mate or ward off a potential predator. You see when they are trying to do either of these things they will perform a ritual called pronking. Yes, I said pronking! Basically, they will repeatedly leap in the air.  This leaping causes this white flap along their back to be exposed which shows off their strength and fitness to the onlookers. As well this action causes a honey-smelling odour produced by special glands under this flap to be exposed. It is a very distinctive odour and probably drives the lady Springbok crazy.  I wouldn’t want to try that honey trick in North America as you are liable to attract a big, hungry bear!

Pronking Springbok

If you are like me and want to watch these graceful antelope in action then I suggest you start planning a trip to Southwestern Africa.  They can be found through the northwestern portion of South Africa and extending through the Kalahari desert into Namibia and Botswana.

Springbok Fast Fact – If their pronking trick doesn’t work to get rid of a predator they will resort to the old fashion technique of running. Usually they will simply extend their necks, put their ears and horns back and start motoring out of danger at speeds of up to 80 km/hr (50 mph).  Personally, I would probably just start with the running instead of messing around with the whole pronking thing but to each their own.

Well I guess I will pronk on out of here.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Photo by Norbert Rosing - National Geographic

This weekend I was lucky enough to hang out with some pretty cool people that I met on a plane coming back from my Inuvik Adventure.  In order to entertain ourselves we decided to go for a nice hike at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.  Come on, who doesn’t want to check out all of the cool animals found in the North? Anyway, the point of this story is that one of my new-found friends is absolutely in love with the Arctic Fox.  Luckily we were able to watch this majestic fox up close at the Preserve. Unluckily, this was the only animal that didn’t have a nice information sign giving us all sorts of interesting facts about this cunning animal of the North.  Well, my friends, today’s Wild Fact is going to be our Arctic Fox Information Sign.

The Arctic Fox is incredibly hardy as it can withstand the unbearably cold Tundra winters, which can easily drop below -50 degrees Celsius.  I know I wouldn’t last long at minus 50 so how do these little guys manage it? Well they have a few adaptations including furry soles, a short muzzle and short ears.  Obviously the fur on the feet act like a nice warm pair winter boots and the shorter extremities means less heat loss.  The Arctic Fox has also learned that during a blizzard it is smart to create a tunnel in the snow where they can hang out until the weather gets a little nicer (well nice for the Arctic). It is these behavioural and physical adaptations that let the Arctic Fox thrive in this harsh environment.

Photo by Denis-Carl Robidaux

Usually, when we think about the Arctic Fox we think of a beautiful white coloured fox.  This is true during the winter months but once summer comes these guys take a page out of the snowshoe hares book and will become a brown or gray colour.  Obviously both of these colour phases help them blend into their background environment.  This camouflage is a definite asset when hunting for rodents and birds. As you can imagine finding food in the middle of winter could be difficult so this cunning fox will often follow a larger predator, a polar bear or wolves, around and feed off of its scraps. Now do you see the extreme importance of being able to blend into the environment? Pretty smart strategy but I wouldn’t want to get caught!

Arctic Fox Fast Fact – This particular fox species is the smallest wild canid in Canada.  It weighs between 2.5 – 9 kg (5.5 – 20 lbs) and is only 75 – 115 cm long (2.4 – 3.8′).  Interestingly enough their bushy tail makes up 30 to 35 percent of that total length.  This long, bushy tail plays an important role in the foxes life as they are able to use it as a nice warm scarf in the winter.

Well that does it for me today! I kind of have a chill after all of this Arctic talk so I am going to go and warm up.  Have a great day!

Photo by Parks Canada / James McCormick

Photo by Nick Garbutt at naturepl.com

Since it is the last day of the work week (for me anyways!) I thought I would entertain all of us by talking about a very odd animal.  Maybe I should make every Friday known as “Freaky Friday”.  Today’s animal is called a Colugo but is also known as the Flying Lemur.  Unfortunately there are two things wrong with this name.  First the Colugo does not actually fly and secondly it is not a Lemur.  I swear the people that make up names need to do a little more research.  You can’t just go picking names for animals at the drop of a hat!

So if this bizarre animal isn’t a lemur then what the heck is it? Well that is a good question.  They are actually a mammal from an ancient lineage which only has two species making up the entire Dermoptera Order.  To put this in perspective the Primate Order has roughly 394 species and this isn’t the most abundant order of animals. Basically, this just goes to show that the Colugo is an unique animal on this earth.

The Colugo is usually a mottled grey or green-grey colour and contains dark bands.  They are not very large as they only weigh about 1-2 kg (2.2 – 4.4 lbs) and can get up to 40 cm (16″) long.  They are often called Flying lemurs since they contain a very large gliding membrane, similar to a flying squirrel, which allows them to glide long distances between trees.  This gliding membrane is impressive as it runs from the Colugo’s shoulder to their fore-paw and continues to extend from their finger tips to their toes and finally runs from their hind legs to the tip of their tail.  Essentially, this membrane is a large as Colugolly possible.  How about that, I just made up a word, I am going to be famous! Just so you know this membrane is pretty effective since the “Flying Lemur” can glide up to 70 m (230′).  That is very impressive!

Photo by Norman Lim, National University of Singapore

Colugo Fast Fact – Although the Colugo is a tree dwelling animal they are actually awkward climbers. They are not very strong and don’t have an opposable thumb so it makes climbing difficult for them.  The Colugo will make its way up the tree using slow hops and gripping onto the bark with their short, sharp claws.

That does it for the Freaky Friday Wild Fact!  Have a great weekend!

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen!  Step right up and learn about the Asian Black Bear here at Wild Facts! That’s right animal fans, today we are going to figure out exactly what an Asian Black Bear is.  Well I am excited so let’s dive right in shall we?

The Asian Black Bear is in the same genus as the regular old Black Bear found in North America but it is a different species.  The Asian Black Bear is found in the mountainous regions of Asia. Just so you know this bear is also referred to as the Moon Bear and the White Chested Bear (I wonder how they came up with that name).  This particular species of black bear weighs about 70 – 200 kilograms (154 – 441 lbs) and can get as tall as 2.1 m (7′). The majority of Moon Bears are smaller than this but I still wouldn’t mess with them.

If you are super excited to see these bears than you better get your energy drink out since the Asian Black Bear is nocturnal.  Yeah, they sleep during the day and only come out at night to feed.  While they are out roaming in the night sky they are looking for prey items such as small mammals, birds, amphibians and of course berries, nuts and other fruit.  To assist with reaching the fruit waaaay up in the trees the Asian Black Bear has very sharp, hooked claws.  This allows them to be very proficient climbers so if you are trying to get away from one of these guys, I don’t recommend climbing a tree.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) identifies the Moon Bear as Vulnerable.  Some of the main threats to their livelihood include poaching and deforestation as a result of human settlement.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post and  I will see you back here a little later on.

Photograph by George Grall

Welcome to Wild Facts!  If this is your first time stumbling upon our crazy little place to learn all about animal facts than please feel free to snoop around.  As well you can leave a comment or send me an e-mail if you have any questions or would like some additional information about an animal.  If you happen to be one of the regular readers than welcome back and thanks for all of your support so far.  All of you reading this are in for a shocking post today.  No I mean it will literally be electrifying since we are going to look at the always interesting Electric Eel.  What can possibly be cooler than a fish that can give you a huge electrical shock? Well, I guess it would be pretty groovy if we had sharks with laser beams but let’s not get ridiculous (Bonus Wild Fact point if you caught the movie reference in that last line).

The first thing you need to know about the Electric Eel is they are not eels.  Yes they have the same “snake-like” appearance as our eel friends but they are actually more closely related to other fish such as carp and catfish.  As we all know the Electric Eel is able to produce an electric charge which they use to stun their prey or to defend against predators. Just how powerful is their electric charge? Good question and I had a hunch that you would ask this so I came prepared.  The Electric Eel actually has about 6000 specialized cells, called electrocytes, which store power like little batteries.  These cells are able to produce a charge of about 600 volts.  For the record a standard plug-in is only about 120 volts (in North America) so the Electric Eel can generate 5 times the power of a plug-in.  If you want to know what this feels like than stick a fork in the socket and multiply that by 5.  I AM KIDDING!  Where are you going? Geez, don’t actually stick a fork in the socket! Are you nuts? Luckily human deaths from an electric eel are very rare but repeatedly getting shocked could cause heart failure.  As well, some people have drowned after being stunned by these shocking eel-like fish. I recommend you try not to get shocked by an Electric Eel but I will let you decide what you want to do.

Electric Eel Fast Fact – The Electric Eel has relatively poor eyesight but is capable of producing a low level electric charge that helps paint a picture of their surroundings.  And we thought bats that used sonar were cool.  Eat your heart out Little Brown Bat!

Thanks for stopping by Wild Facts and I look forward to seeing you around.  Have a great day!

Photo by Stephen G. Johnson

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your day so far and are ready to learn about an interesting reptile.  I figured it has been awhile since we talked about a cool reptile so today we are learning about the Rhinoceros Iguana. No it isn’t related to the rhinoceros, although that would be pretty impressive.  Actually it gets this name because of the bony plate “pseudo-horn” growing out of its head.  I know, I wish it was because it was the size of rhino or something cool like that but we will just have to settle for a “pseudo-horn”.

The Rhinoceros Iguana can be found in the Dominican Republic and Haiti so it prefers the nice tropical locations. The Rhinoceros Iguana is not much different than other iguanas as far as their diet is concerned.  They are omnivores but focus their efforts feeding on fruit, leaves and other plant matter.  They will mix it up occasionally and feed on insects and small mammals so keep your pet beetle on a leash when you are in Rhino Iguana territory (I don’t know what’s wrong with me, it’s late!)

As with the males in other species (including humans) the Rhinoceros Iguana generally has to try hard to get the attention of a suitable mate.  They will have an elaborate courting dance which includes head bobbing and erecting the spines along their back.  For the record, it is not known for sure what the horns do but they believe they somehow play a role in this courting behaviour.  The Rhinoceros Iguana doesn’t just save their unique spine trick and head bobbing behaviour just for getting the attention of a lovely mate.  In fact when threatened the Rhinoceros Iguana will try a variety of elaborate head and neck movements to make themselves look bigger.  I am not sure how well it works but considering these iguanas are still around, I would say they are doing a find job tricking their predators.

Rhinoceros Iguana Fast Fact – The Rhinoceros Iguana are more terrestrial than some of the other iguana species.  This gives them the advantage for living in a rocky and dry climate.  These little guys will rarely been seen hanging out in trees or forested areas for that matter.

Well that is it for today.  I hope you all enjoyed the fact!

Photo by Detlef Buettner

I spent the last 3 days in a little town called Inuvik which is almost on the Arctic Ocean.  Actually, I was able to do a little fishing on the “Delta” which is formed when the McKenzie River enters the Arctic Ocean. Although we were technically fishing for northern pike I was hoping to land the infamous Inconnu.  For those of you that aren’t too sure what an Inconnu is then I suggest you keep reading.  You know what, even if you do know what they are I still suggest you continue reading!

The Inconnu is the largest member of the Whitefish family and in North America will typically grow to about 1 meter long (3′). The Inconnu found in Siberia are much larger and can weigh up to 45 kg (100 lbs).  You may know these fish by their other names including Coney, Sheefish or even Connie.  So what do these large Coney’s look like? Well they are bright silvery fish with green to pale brown backs.  They tend to have a long tapering body and a wide head with a lower jaw that sticks out further than their upper jaw.  This lower jaw contains tiny, densely packed teeth which actually feels like velvet to touch.  How cool would it be to have velvet teeth? They use these teeth to feed on other fish such as whitefish (eating their own family members….ewww), sticklebacks, burbot and of course insects and shrimp.

Inconnu will generally become mature between 7 and 10 years of age which is older than most fish species.  Some populations of Coney will make long migrations to over-wintering and feeding areas.  Incredibly they have been known to migrate up to 1600 km (994 miles).  That is one long road trip, in fact it is almost equivalent to driving from Toronto, Ontario to Halifax, Nova Scotia. This will put their migration distances into perspective for my Canadian readers.

Although I didn’t manage to catch an Inconnu this weekend I had fun trying and it gave me an idea for a Wild Fact so I think it was a successful fishing trip.

Have a great day!