My Science School

Bull sharks head-butt their prey before attacking it. They got their name from this tendency. Bull sharks are found in coastal waters all over the world. Unlike many other sharks, bull sharks can survive in fresh water for a surprisingly long time. Occasionally they even migrate to inland lakes.

Bull sharks hunt both during the day and at night. They are fast and agile and they eat anything that comes their way. The list of their prey includes large fish, dolphins and even other sharks.

Bull sharks prefer to occupy shallow coastal waters where they can come in contact with humans. Though humans are not on their menu, they are known to attack humans time and again. This might be out of curiosity. The number of bull sharks is steadily declining as they are hunted heavily for meat, hide and oil.

The tiger shark has a reputation of being a man-eater. It is large, voracious and is only second to the great white shark in attacking people. Also, it is an established scavenger.

The tiger shark has a blunt nose, a long, pointed upper tail lobe and large, saw-edged teeth that are deeply notched along one side. This solitary shark is a nocturnal hunter. It has a sharp sense of sight and smell that aid in hunting. A tiger shark feasts on fish, other sharks, sea turtles, molluscs, seabirds, carrion, and garbage. It is known to swallow coal, tin cans, bones, and clothing. Though considered an apex species, it is sometimes preyed on by killer whales.

The tiger shark gets its name from the dark stripes down its body, which resemble a tiger’s pattern. But these stripes fade as the shark matures. Populations of tiger shark are found in many tropical and temperate waters, especially around the Central Pacific islands.

The great white shark is always viewed with fear. It is the largest predatory fish in the world. It is known to be an aggressive predator.

It preys on huge marine mammals including large seals, dolphins and even large baleen whales. It sometimes feeds on dead whales too. It is interesting to note that a great white shark does not chew its food though it has 300 teeth.

Great white sharks have white underbellies and slate-grey upper bodies that blend in with the rocky coastal sea floor. With their muscular bodies they can chase down some of the fastest swimmers in the ocean. They even have organs that can sense the tiny electromagnetic fields generated by animals. While feeding, they rip their prey into mouth-sized pieces which are swallowed later.

It is not easy to keep great white sharks in captivity; they need to travel long distances for seasonal migration and have an extremely demanding diet which make it difficult for them to survive in captivity. Great white sharks are not preyed on, except by killer whales on rare occasions.

It is not difficult to spot an orca. It has a very distinctive black body with a few white patches. Also known as the killer whale, the orca belongs to the family of oceanic whales. It is one of the prominent predators of the ocean.

A family of orcas might include up to 40 individuals and they hunt together. They use cooperative hunting techniques that are similar to the behaviour of wolf packs to an extent. They use a variety of sounds for communication; each group has its own distinctive noises that its members will recognize even at a distance.

Orcas have a diverse diet; they feast on fish, penguins, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales. They also eat seabirds and squids. Their teeth are four inches long and help them with catching prey.

Orcas can be found in each of the world’s oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas, absent only from the Baltic and Black seas.

Picture Credit : Google

Also known as gator or common alligator, the American alligator is a large crocodilian reptile endemic to the South-eastern United States. It is built for an aquatic life and can get really clumsy on land. It has webbed feet that aids in swimming. In addition to that, it has a strong tail that propels the gator in water.

The American alligator feeds mainly on fish, turtles, snakes, and small mammals. It is an apex species and plays an important role in maintaining the biodiversity of its habitat. Apart from hunting in water, it can also hunt on land at night.

While hunting a terrestrial prey, American alligators ambush them from the edge of the water. They grab the prey and pull it into the water, like many other crocodile species. They are also known to lure birds, mostly by balancing sticks and branches on their heads. Poor birds looking for nesting material fall in this trap. American alligators are one of the few animals that use tools to lure their prey.

Picture Credit : Google

A gharial can be distinguished by its long, thin snout. It is an Asian crocodilian that lives in clear freshwater river systems, congregating at river bends where the water is deeper. A gharial gets its name from ‘ghara’, a Hindi/Urdu word for pot.

Gharials are not suited for living on land. They spend most of the time in water and generally leave the water only to bask in the sun or to nest. They bask in the sun to regulate their body temperature. Gharials are experts in hunting fish underwater. They have sharp interlocking teeth and long narrow snouts, which meet little resistance in the water. Their snouts contain sensory cells that can detect vibrations in the water, which help them locate their prey. They mainly feed on crustaceans, small fish and frogs.

Gharials do not chew their prey, they swallow it, but they tear apart large fish before swallowing. Young gharials jerk their heads back to manoeuvre fish into their gullets, sliding them in head first.

The Nile crocodile is one of the top predators in the African waters. It is an apex predator with no natural enemy in its range. It is the second-largest crocodilian species in the world. It grows up to a size of five meters and weighs up to 750 kilograms. It can take down anything ranging from a hippo to a human. It also has the reputation of being a man-eater!

Though they are capable of living in saltwater, Nile crocodiles rarely do so. They prefer rivers, freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps. Though they mainly feed on fish, they catch anything that crosses their path including zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, and other crocodiles. They can eat up to half their body weight in a single sitting. Imagine how much a Nile crocodile that weighs 750 kilograms eats in one go!

Like the saltwater crocodile, the Nile crocodile too is an ambush predator. It waits for hours, days, and even weeks for the suitable moment to attack. Even a swift prey is not immune to its attack.

The saltwater crocodile is the Earth’s largest crocodilian species in existence today. It sometimes eats humans as well. Sounds pretty scary, right? Saltwater crocodiles have an enormous range; they populate the brackish and fresh-water regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. They are good swimmers and are often noted to swim up to the seas.

Saltwater crocodiles are opportunistic predators; they lurk patiently beneath the surface near the water’s edge, waiting for potential prey to stop for a sip of water. They ambush their prey and then drown or swallow it as a whole. Adult salties feed on crabs, turtles, snakes, birds, buffaloes, wild boars, and monkeys while baby salties usually go for small insects, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, and small fish.

A saltwater crocodile is capable of fighting and prevailing over almost any animal that enters its territory, including apex predators like sharks. They have the strongest bite of any living animal!

Aardvarks are ant-eating animals found in Africa. Ant-eating animals are toothless mammals that feed on thousands of ants, termites, and insect larvae on a daily basis. They are nocturnal animals; they dig holes during the day and forage at night.

The most noticeable feature of an aardvark is its long, extended pig-like snout. It is a good swimmer and can swim even in strong currents.

Though they have a poor sense of vision, they have a sharp sense of smell and hearing. An aardvark uses its front claws to pry open hidden insect colonies, and lap up the insects and the larvae with its long sticky tongue. With its strong claws, an aardvark can rapidly open a cement-hard termite mound! Its diet is made up of ants and termites.

At nights, an aardvark travels a distance of 10-30 kilometers in search of food. It moves in a zigzag fashion, occasionally stopping to sniff the ground with its snout.

Its keen hearing warns it of predators as well.

Picture Credit : Google

Quolls look adorable, but don’t let their pink noses and thick, soft fur fool you! Quolls aren’t much like cats at all; they are tree-climbing, den-dwelling marsupials and are skilled hunters.

Quolls are nocturnal; they sleep off most of the day in their dens and actively forage at night. They are carnivorous in nature. While the smaller quolls primarily eat insects, birds, frogs, lizards and fruits, the larger species prefer to eat birds, reptiles, and mammals, including echidnas and possums.

Stalking is the technique used by quolis to hunt. They might leap or pounce on the prey depending on its size. They jump onto larger prey, sinking in their claws and closing their jaws around the neck. If the prey is of a smaller size, they pin it down with their front paws. Remember the Tasmanian Devil that we talked about earlier? Quolls even snatch food from the Tasmanian Devil.

It is interesting to watch a reticulated python catch its prey. It usually hides near a water body and waits for the prey to come. At an opportunistic moment, usually when the prey is busy drinking water, it launches a surprise attack, swiftly ambushing the prey. Therefore, the reticulated python is known as an ambush predator.

An ambush predator is also known as a sit-and-wait predator. Rather than strength, an ambush predator uses strategy to catch prey. The diet of smaller ambush predators is usually made up of small mammals, birds and rodents like rats. The reticulated python however is also known to prey on pigs that weigh more than 60 kilograms.

The reticulated python is one of the heaviest snakes in the world. An average reticulated python grows to a size of five meters and weighs around 160 kilograms. Some are recorded to grow up to nine meters in length. As we already know, it is closely related to the anaconda. It is a non-venomous constrictor usually found in south-eastern Asia, some parts of Bangladesh and Vietnam, and the Indo-Pacific islands.

Picture Credit : Google

Do you know what a marsupial is? Marsupials are pouched mammals. The Virginia opossum or the common opossum is the only marsupial found in the United States and Canada. It is a solitary nocturnal animal.

The Virginia opossum’s diet is quite interesting; it eats anything including fruits, insects, earthworms, eggs, nestlings and birds, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals. It sometimes feeds on carrion as well. Insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles make up the bulk of its diet. It is interesting to note that it also eats venomous snakes; it is immune to pit viper venom. The animal is resistant to rabies as well.

It would not be wrong to say that Virginia opossums are good actors. If caught on the ground and is not able to escape, a Virginia opossum may become catatonic. That is, it would appear to be unconscious or dead, though most of its bodily functions would remain normal.

Picture Credit : Google

Weasels are present almost everywhere; they live anywhere they can find cover and prey. They occupy a range of habitats including sand dunes, grassland, woodland and mountains. They are furry animals and different species of weasels vary in colour, size and behaviour. The least weasel is the smallest carnivorous mammal in the world.

Most of the waking hours of a weasel are dedicated to hunting and storing excess food. They are equipped to hunt even in deep snow. Weasels do not have the ability to store fat in their body. So, they need a constant supply of food to provide enough energy. These animals need to eat every 24 hours in order to avoid starving.

Weasels prey on rodents, such as voles and mice. They also eat birds or eggs when available. Weasels have evolved to prey on small animals as well. When rodents are scarce, they prey on rabbits too. Weasels are found in North America, northern South America, Europe, Asia, and the extreme north of Africa.

Picture Credit : Google

Minks are valued for their luxurious fur. There are two types of minks - the European mink and the American mink. The American is more popular among the two.

The American mink is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America. It is a carnivorous animal. It has a long body, which allows the species to enter the burrows of prey. Apart from this, it is an agile swimmer and often dives to probe underwater nooks and crannies.

The American mink preys on rodents, fish, crustaceans, amphibians, and birds. It kills vertebrate prey by biting the back of the head or neck.

It also eats birds, including larger species like seagulls and cormorants. It occasionally searches for terrestrial prey such as hares and rabbits.

If you want to see a black-footed ferret, you should go to North America. It is a member of the weasel family and is endemic to North America.

A black-footed ferret has short legs with large front paws. It has strong jaws and teeth that are adapted for eating meat, and claws equipped for digging. The skull of this animal is usually large. It travels up to 18 kilometers a day in search of food. It preys on squirrels, mice, and other rodents.

Prairie dogs are essential to the survival of black-footed ferrets, as much of their diet consists of prairie dogs. The majority of their diet is constituted by prairie dogs. It is interesting to note that these ferrets hunt them in their own burrows, and take shelter in abandoned prairie dog dwellings. In fact, the population of black-footed ferrets was significantly affected when there was a decline in the population of prairie dogs.

Golden eagles, great horned owls, coyotes, American badgers, bobcats, prairie falcons, ferruginous hawks, and prairie rattlesnakes prey on black-footed ferrets.