Thank God!

Well, we all thank God almighty for those species which were on 
the verge of extinction, but they are still present with us on this
planet in large numbers. So, each creature has its own recovery story. 

1. The Alligator- Also known as gators in short, have a uniqueness of being the noisiest reptiles. They make lots of noises like bellows, hisses, coughs and roars. Along with that, they have the capability of surviving in colder climates than any other crocodilian. Once upon a time in the U.S.A., these croc siblings were hunted mercilessly for their skins for leather products. Habitat loss too was a trouble. It was an endangered specie at that time.

Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But, people were resilient for protecting these reptiles. Breeding centers were established and strict laws were made. From that point of time, the gators' numbers started rocketing. 

Thus from that time onward, the American alligator became a 
protected specie and its name was removed from rare creatures'
list. It's a fantastic thing that these apex predatory reptiles are still with us. 

2. The Grey wolf- Simply called as wolf; people think they are ferocious and it also reminds people of the bad wolf from 'Little red riding hood'. But they are loyal and intelligent animals. Also, they are apex predators and also the largest species of dog family.

   Image courtesy of James Barker / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  They are native to North America and Eurasia and homes are
colder habitats like Tundra and Taiga and their diet menu includes not only rabbits, hares, squirrels and other small rodents, but also heavy meats like bison, moose, elks (wapitis), wild boars and caribous.

They were extensively hunted for their soft fur and they were
also considered  nuisance to livestock (cattle). Their abodes (habitats) were also destroyed.

Later, people realized that these furry creatures are plummeting
in numbers and they were good enough to protect these furry creatures. Now, there are large populations of wolves found in North America, Europe and Russia where they are kept in different areas like, one, where they may have human conflict and the other, their real home.

This made the animal to come out of the rare creatures' list. But in some areas, some subspecies and species are still considered as endangered and critically rare, e.g. Indian wolf, Red wolf.

And, finally comes the most popular protected species of the history. And that is none other than...

3. The American bison ( Bison)- Of course, it is the largest and the bulkiest herbivore of the American Prairies, it has been hunted in the beginning of 1900's for their skins being used for leather and other products. Secondly, they were also considered as a delicacy for their meats. As millions of them were hunted, their dead bodies lied and foul smell used to come. Due to that, passengers travelling inside the trains had to shut their windows to avoid the smell enter.

That time, bison were nearly extinct. But thanks to the efforts
made by people like, establishing breeding centers, taking some
animals and increasing their numbers in private estates and making tougher laws. And as the last law was established, this beast was fully protected and their numbers rocketed  from 300's -500's and from 500's -1000's making the animal to disappear from the endangered list.

Along with that, other animals which disappeared from the endangered list are the trumpeter swan, rabbit- eared bandicoot,
raptors (birds of prey like golden eagle, bald eagle and many
vulture species of India and elsewhere), duck-billed platypus etc.

So after hearing these success stories, all of you and other people
will definitely get motivated for conserving wildlife. And let's
see and hope that these success stories should happen with tigers, rhinos, snow leopards and many other rare creatures.    

White House Pets

With US elections behind us, it's time to talk about US presidents and their love for the animals! Most of the US presidents had regular pets like dogs & cats. But some of them had some strange animals too.

Apart from dogs, Calvin Coolidge possessed a goose, a donkey, a bobcat(a small wild cat), 2 lion cubs, a wallaby( a small kangaroo like marsupial), a raccoon, a black bear and a pygmy hippopotamus.

The "great" Theodore Roosevelt possessed 5 bears, snakes, lizards, a zebra, a hyena, a coyote, a badger, a lion and a raccoon which were kept in the White House!!

 John Q. Adams had reportedly possessed an alligator and reared some silkworms.  James Buchanan had reportedly boasted a herd of elephants and a pair of bald eagles. And, well, Martin Van Buren was contented with his two tiger cubs.

Image courtesy of Free Stock Photos.

Edendates - the ultimate pest controllers.

Image: indiafreeimagesdownload.com
This is a quite a while ago, when we were going to dip our Ganesha idol, the ritual followed at the end of the Ganesha Chaturthi festivities.  Once we reached the pond, while taking out the idol, we look at the car seat and we find ants - the red ones - all over it. We were thinking about how we drive the whole colony out of our car and I wittily suggested, we should get an anteater. A win-win formula!

Well, this blog is going to talk about edentates (armadillos, pangolins and others). Their diet is special as they feed on insects and termites. Isn't it strange?

They also posses a strange defensive technique like rolling themselves into a ball when a predator comes.This is common among all edentates. But armadillos can also walk underwater and are also capable of floating on water. Of course, small anteaters can also escape into a pit. Another peculiar aspect of Armadillos is that they are the only wild animals, other than  humans, who could get leprosy! Nothing to worry - just don't cuddle or eat them.

Giant anteaters have sharp claws for defense and breaking open anthills. Pangolins don't need to break open the anthills that often as their tongues could enter the anthill holes all the way down. Pangolins  have very long tongue, probably longest in the entire animal kingdom - how about 40 cm! Well, giraffes do have long tongues, which they use to clean their ears, but not as long as pangolins.


There are some animals that are not edentates but feast on ants. I have heard of  a hyena specie - the aardwolf - whose food menu consists only of ants and termites, while the other hyena species are scavengers. Talking about hyena, do you know that hyena is not from the dog suborder, unlike jackals, foxes and wolves, but belongs to the cat suborder! There are only four species of hyenas, one of the smallest family, not only under the cats suborder, but under entire mammals class!!

Image: markuso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net



 

Hello! Hello!!

So, as we all know that animals communicate with each other by making various sounds. But, animals also communicate with each other by many other methods to express their feelings and emotions and also to keep in touch with their group.

Let's start with the most common & (in)famous lamp-post act by our canines! Many creatures urinate on the tree or on the bushes. Cats, dogs, rhinos, pandas etc. communicate by Scent Marking method to protect their territory or to call someone.

Infra sound communication with a low frequency range can be heard over long distances. This type of communication is found in elephants when they emit a noise of low frequency range which can be heard over miles. Other animals which communicate by this method are whales, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, giraffes and surprisingly also some reptiles like alligators.
Image: africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net





Scratch marking method is mostly found in animals like cats, bears etc. It is also used in the same way as scent marking i.e. to communicate with other members of the group.

Image: Michael Elliott / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Dinosaurs seen in jurassic park

The other day my sis was watching Jurassic Park for the first time on TV and was bothering me all the time asking about these giant reptiles who romped on the earth millions of years ago. Let me talk about them in my blog today.

Brachiosaurus ! It's the one that startled Dr. Alan Grant and the kids who were resting on a giant tree. It was the largest of all the sauropods i.e dinosaurs with long necks. It ate plants!

Remember the dinosaurs that ran in packs in the movie, when Grant and kids had to hide themselves behind a log. It's Gallimimus ! Now, this is a small theropod i.e. meat eating dinosaur.

Then comes Velociraptor, the large theropods  which made mess of the whole kitchen. Velociraptors were digitigrades, the animals that walk on toes, unlike us who are platigrades, who walk on the soles of the feet! The other living digitigrades are jackals, dogs and wolves!

Of course any piece of writing on dinosaurs cannot complete without mentioning about the grand T-Rex! It is the one who saves Grant and others from the raptors and gives a victorious roar to reach the crescendo. T-Rex (aka Tyrannosaurus) were one of the ferocious bipedals of the Cretaceous period. Cretaceous period followed Jurassic period, which in turn followed Triassic period! Cretaceous period saw the extinction of the dinosaurs!

Image: domdeen / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Now, let me give you a shocker - the dinosaurs were warm blooded creatures unlike modern reptiles that are cold blooded. Sounds botherly!

Considering vegan?

By all means, go on! Something that will inspire you is here -

A recent study has shown that some crocodilians like American alligators [Alligator missisipiensis] and caimans  [Caiman crocodilus] have been observed to take foliage and fruits along with their normal diet of meat. :-)

Image: Michael Elliott / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Changing colours!

How do creatures blend themselves with the environment?And why?

Creatures blend in the environment either to hide from predators or to hide themselves so that they can catch their prey.

Let me mention some of the creatures who try to hide themselves from predators -
The desert red bat normally tries to hide by blending itself with the dead leaves of trees in the forest to trick predators. Many amphibians and reptiles are skilled in changing colours. Even the skins of various animals acts as a protection. For example, the stripes of a zebra are useful to blend itself in the dry savannas of Africa from big cats.

The most prominent of all creatures which blend in their surroundings to catch their prey are all the ferocious meat eating cats like tiger,panther and lion. They have such type of coats to easily blend in the environment which helps in catching their prey. Even many reptiles like chameleon ,alligator and crocodile camouflage with their environment only to catch their prey. The best known example is that of a polar bear.This bear blends itself with the arctic snow so that it can get ready to grab seals with its paws.

Image: Hal Brindley / FreeDigitalPhotos.net