Colors of indication

Creator has given every animal its own color. We do have our own colors. The colors help us to identify climate he/she lives, race etc. But, for animals colors are given for various purposes which can be really good indicators of many things which this post illustrates.

In case of some animals, the color on its body is an indicator of how much amount of food does it get which is with flamingos. They are born white. This makes people wonder how these birds which are born white get pink in color. Well, it is an indicator for how much shrimps they have eaten. Those who feed on more shrimps get pink in color but individuals who are malnourished or who get less shrimps remain as white as snow.

Age is another indicator of colors. Wondered why some giraffes have darker spots and some lions have darker manes. It isn't because of the area where scorching heat prevails or subspecies, but of age. As they get older and older
these body parts darken. 


Gender is also determined by colors. It is widely known that males of many species of birds have bright colors on their bodies to impress the mates. But,some mammals do boast them too for the same purpose. Two species of baboon are known for this quality. As naturalist Charles Darwin once proudly quoted ' No other animal in the whole class of mammals is colored in so extraordinary manner as adult male mandrills', male mandrills truly boast this quality. Another one is a male Gelada baboon which is a resident of Ethiopian highlands.

The kind of habitat where one lives is also determined on the basis of colors which is found in leopards and others. Leopards inhabiting forests boast bright yellowish orange and darker spots than those inhabiting open woodlands or plains.

The kind of genes which the animal boasts or has received also determines the color it will have. Melanin gene is responsible for black color which is the reason why an animal called panther is derived. In fact, there is no such animal called panther. Black panthers are actually leopards. Black form of leopards are like white tigers. They are only black instead of yellowish orange due to those black genes. Not only leopards, but even jaguars, pumas and surprisingly tigers do have black forms. White tigers are born if white genes are passed from their parents.

Getting rid of

Just as we get rid of many kinds of things from nature like insects,climate etc. ; we protect ourselves from such things like putting on the mosquito repellent for guarding from mosquitoes,wearing sweaters during winter etc. Like that many animals are also known to get rid of many natural agents and also insects and other animals by using varieties of techniques.

When it rains we open up our umbrellas or wear our raincoats (wind-cheaters). Forget about raincoats, since animals do not wear anything, they have to get rid of rains by taking a shed or using some smart methods. Orangutans are one of those who use these methods and they do it by taking large leaves or a branch of tree with leaves and covering the top of their heads akin to usage of umbrellas. Yes, it gives quite a resemblance to humans way of thinking.

For getting rid of insects like flies,mites animals have adapted their own ways of keeping them at bay. One of these methods is by dust bathing. Many animals which include zebras and bison do by rolling in dust. Elephants do so by spraying mud on their backs by their trunks and even wallowing in sticky mud. The latter method is done even by rhinos.
Grooming is another method of removing tiny insects like fleas from the hair/fur which is a reason for monkeys checking each others hairs or even cats licking their bodies by using rough part on their tongue.

Animals usually get rid of bad weather, insects and other animals (prey from predator). But, here is a predatory animal which gets rid of other predators just to shield its prey(carcass). Post catching its prey, a leopard will scale up a tree with its carcass getting rid of robbers like lions and hyenas who are strong enough to fight and rob it. Really nice opportunity for these spotted beasts to eat in peace up there. But for the other spotted beast i.e. the cheetah, such opportunities are absent as they aren't adept climbers and no other place to hide and eat in their open habitat i.e. savannas. Due to this, their prey carcasses are often lost to these robbers. How sad! Thus, it is a matter of luck for them while feeding.

It's sleeping time

We are sometimes told for being lazy as we keep on resting in our beds. But, we need not be as this post will tell about animals and their sleep duration and also reveal who are the real sleeping masters.

The large terrestrial herbivores namely elephants, giraffes, horses  aren't the longest sleepers as they require only 2-3 hrs of sleep. Large and tall statures but less sleep. Odd combination!

We (Homo sapiens) require only 7-8 hrs of sleep but sometimes vary depending on our lifestyles and schedules.

 Now, comes the list of those animals who are little lazy and who are the laziest. 

Giant pandas,squirrels, hippopotamuses are known to be little lazy resting in the range of 10-14 hrs a day.

Now comes the laziest animals in the range from 15-20 hrs a day. Yes, it is true that all nocturnal animals like bats,bush babies, slender lorises etc. are known to sleep in this duration thus making them the owners of the night.

But, there are some occasionally diurnal ones who are in this duration category. Large wild cats are the ones. Lions sleep for up to 20 hrs a day but here is a real catch which is going to leave you baffled. Lionesses are more active opting to sleep only for up to 16 hrs a day but it is the males who prefer to rest for full 20 hrs  making him one of the laziest beasts. Its no wonder that the king of the beasts is known for being so sleepy.

Image courtesy of [by Rob D] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Finally, the laziest animal in the world is Australia's lovely koala bear resting up to 22 hrs. Really cuddly scene when we see them busy lost in sleep on the branches of the Eucalyptus tree. 

Tales of booby birds

One of the readers has requested to throw some insight on booby birds. These birds are sea birds like gulls, albatrosses, gannets etc. But gannets are their closest relatives.


Being coastal residents of Pacific ocean, blue footed boobies boast brightly blue colored feet implying their name. When night falls, they nest on land and spend rest of their day flying and looking for fishes like anchovies etc. Along with their brightly blue foot, other remarkable qualities include ability to dive not only from great heights around 80 ft (24 meters) but even do so from sitting position.





Like that, the red-footed booby does boast various similar lifestyles which its cousin (blue-foot) boasts. They too dive from towering heights to scoop out fish nesting on land etc. Being agile flyers by flying up to 150 kilometers in quest for meal, nesting on other places like coastal trees and nearby bushes and of course red color are their distinguishing factors from its cousin.

Their colored feet seem to be of some relevance to their mating habit. Blue-footed boobies shake their legs as a part of their mating ritual while red-footed boobies emit shrill squawks during mating along with performing rituals like dancing, showing brighter body parts including its feet.

Memory power

It is true that humans have really amazing memories. We can remember and recall almost anything. But, we aren't the only animals with such amazing memories. Other animals with this characteristic are illustrated in this post.

Lets start with our relatives- the primates. Apes notably gorillas and orangutans have memories akin to humans. They do can form long lasting bonds.

Our faithful best friends- dogs have known to remember people like who treated them nicely keeping the negative ones at bay.
The same is true for horses too.

Elephants do boast one of the strongest memories. They are known to remember up to 60 commands and even people too as they boast a special skill of recognizing people from far away by their voices.For instance, an elephant will really get angry if a person who used to treat it cruelly arrives in its domain.

The taller beasts like giraffes (female cows) have been known to remember certain things like the place where they were born to give birth.

Now, friendliest marine mammals dolphins have the best memory span in the entire animal kingdom. Not only they have names for each other but also remember their pals even after seeing each other for a long time.

Shields of survival

In the world of animals, there are animals who have certain features to withstand from the nature's harsh features or conditions. This post will tell about animals with their amazing shields.

As we all know, that camels are known as the ships of the desert for the right reason. Along with its ability to go for longer periods without water, ability to feed on rough vegetation, hooves to even carry over rough terrains, they possess three eyelashes to shield their eyes and keep the blowing desert sand at bay.

Towering beasts- giraffes do boast one of the toughest skins in the animal kingdom which shields them from the sharp Acacia tree's thorns while feeding on its leaves.

 











Along with camel, there is another xerocole (desert resident) which does have other shielding features.. One of these is the Fennec fox. This fox has the largest ears which enable to release lot of heat. Also, its feet have thick fur around their paws to shield is feet from the warm desert sand from burns.


Blubber is an ideal element that is found to keep warm in polar marine animals like walruses,whales,seals,penguins and even polar bears. It is weird to mention a bear in this category, but polar bears  are both bears as well as marine mammals depending much on ice floes and spend lot of duration of their time swimming.

Similarly, the terrestrial polar animals like polar bears, foxes,
wolves, hares have fur in between their toes to shield from the frosty grounds. Without this fur, they would become victims to frostbite (a medical condition affecting skin and tissues which are far from heart due to freezing).

Time to express- 2 (Meanings in the sounds)

To continue from where I stopped my last post, let's talk about how do animals express their feelings or generally communicate in terms of their sounds. It is true that just as we talk for a reason, animals do make sounds which have many purposes. 

Big cats like lions roar not only to shield their territory from other lions but also to communicate and bring back the scattered members of the pride. But, when these predators roar, they can even extend their duration and this voice can be heard far away.In case of tigers, roaring duration is shorter compared to lions. They roar to communicate with other  tigers, after bringing down their prey and even during mating. Also, these pantherines (big cats) have a wider vocal repertoire compared to other wild cats. They make sounds like  'prusten' or chuffing' which sounds like a rattling snort through the nose. Other sounds used are grunt while charging, woof when startled, hiss when getting in an attack mode etc.

Elephants usually make low rumbles to communicate within the herd. They trumpet when they are surprised or excited. Quite surprisingly, giraffes too aren't silent actors in the animal kingdom. These towering giants do make sounds and some voices vary among sexes for different purposes like bulls ( males ) will cough while courting whereas does ( females ) will bellow to call their calves back and calves will bleat and moo for simply communicating. In 2014, scientists have revealed in their research that giraffes do make a strange humming sound at night which is akin to motor bike's engine and the purpose is still a puzzle for scientists whether they are communicating with other giraffes or in their dreams.

Image courtesy of [Humpata1] at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For some animals, their vocalizing time comes only during the mating season to attract females. Like deer species like moose, red deer, fallow deer during the rut where the males bellow loudly to attract females. The same is evident even in reptiles like crocodiles, alligators where the bulls (males) also bellow to attract cows(females)  as well as to convey sexual readiness. Even, the largest species of birds, ostriches follows the same ritual where the males make booming sounds akin to lion's roar to impress the mates. 

But, some make sound for their meal quest. It is evident in micro (small) bats and only one species of mega (big) bat- the Egyptian fruit bat, dolphins, sperm whales where this process called echolocation is used.