Sunday, September 22. 2019What is in the weasel family? which animals are related to mongoose?Do raccoon live in family?
Some of the most effective hunters among the carnivores are actually the smallest. The weasels, for example, are fearsome fighters, able to kill prey much larger than themselves. The fisher marten of North America preys on the formidable porcupine, while a wolverine can bring down a reindeer. The weasel family includes weasels, polecats and martens, skunks, otters and badgers. They are generally small animals, though the giant otter can measure over 1.8 metres from nose to tail. They have long bodies with short legs and often a long tail, and can be found on and under the ground in the trees and in the water. Most members of the weasel family feed on smaller mammals, especially rodents, but some will also eat worms, fruit, and insects. The honey badger breaks open beehives to reach the honey inside, while otters feed on fish, frogs and other water creatures. The sea otter uses a stone to crack open shellfish. Many members of the weasel family can produce a foul-smelling liquid called musk, both to mark their territories and to defend themselves against predators. The best-known of these is the skunk. If threatened, it will turn its back on its attacker and spray musk for distances of up to seven metres. Apart from some otters and badgers, members of the weasel family are solitary mammals, keeping to their own territories and fight. Males and females usually come together only to breed. Although hyenas look as though they should belong to the dog family, they are actually a separate group of carnivores. Most hyenas are meat-eaters. Some live in groups and hunt or feed together. They can kill large prey such as wildebeest after chasing them for several kilometres. A hyena’s strong jaws and large teeth can crush even large bones, horns and hooves, making sure there is little left after a kill. The aardwolf differs from other hyenas because it is nocturnal, solitary, and feeds not on meat but on termites.
The carnivore group also includes the mongoose family and the raccoon family, many of which do not rely on meat in their diets. The mongoose family (civets and genets and mongooses) are mostly solitary animals, but some, such as the meerkats, live in large groups. While feeding above ground they all watch out for predators, and will even band together to drive them away.
Raccoons and coatis feed on a wide range of foods including rodents, insects, frogs, plants and fruits. Red pandas, the smaller, lesser-known relatives of the giant panda, feed on fruit, bamboo and other plant material, while giant pandas them-selves usually feed only on bamboo. Giant pandas are solitary animals that live in bamboo forests in the mountains of China. Although the small areas where they live are protected, the surrounding forest has been cut down. This means that giant pandas cannot move to a new area to breed or to find fresh supplies of bamboo. Giant pandas also breed very slowly, raising only one young at a time. Both of these factors make them among the rarest mammals in the world. Picture Credit : Google
Sunday, September 22. 2019What are Carnivores animals?
The word carnivore usually describes animals that feed on meat, but not all meat-eaters belong to the carnivore group, nor do all carnivores eat meat. Carnivores include cats, dogs, and bears as well as weasels, raccoons and mongooses. Most are meat-eaters, but others feed on insects and fruit and some eat only plants. They are grouped together because they are all descended from mammals that had specially shaped teeth for cutting through flesh. Many of the meat-eating carnivores still have these teeth, but in others they have been adapted for grinding plant material. Carnivores have keen senses, especially their sense of smell. Scent is used to mark their territory or to communicate with others. Many live in packs, hunting together and even helping to raise the young.
The cat family is made up of the big cats such as lions, tigers and leopards, and the small cats, such as the ocelot, bobcat and the domestic cat. They feed only on meat, and are superbly adapted for hunting. Cats have excellent hearing and vision, and can see in the dark. Their feet have soft pads for creeping up silently on their prey. Their sharp claws can be drawn in when walking to stop them from becoming blunted on the ground. Although lions are well-known for living in groups, or prides, most cats in the wild are secretive animals that usually live and hunt alone.
The dog family includes wolves, foxes and wild dogs. Domestic dogs are descended from wolves. Like the cats, dogs are built for hunting. Their long, strong legs can carry them great distances in search of food. Small prey are grabbed in the jaws or pounced on first with the front feet. Larger prey are chased down then pulled to the ground and killed. Dogs are able to adapt easily to different conditions, living in the hottest and the coldest of environments. They also have a more varied diet than the cats, feeding on almost anything they can find, including fish, fruit and even insects, as well as meat. Most kinds of dogs live together in family groups. A pair of Arctic wolves will form a breeding partnership that can last for life. Their young leave to make their own family groups when they become adult. African wild dogs form large packs where young males are allowed to stay with the pack while their sisters must leave to find a new one. Pack hunters work together to hunt down large prey, and also help to feed and look after the young.
In contrast, another group of carnivores, the bears, led a mainly solitary life. Bears are large, heavily built mammals which, despite their short legs, can run at speed. They include the largest carnivores on land, the polar bear and grizzly bear. Bears have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell. Most bears are mainly plant-eaters, but they also feed on fish, small animals and insects. They will eat meat killed by other carnivores, and even catch some prey themselves. The exception is the polar bear, which feeds mostly on seals since there is little vegetation in the icy Arctic. Most bears live in forests, and the smaller bears such as the black bear or sun bear are good climbers. Bears that live in northern climates spend the winter in caves or in dens dug under the snow. They live off the food they stored as fat in the summer. During the winter, the females give birth. Picture Credit : Google Sunday, September 22. 2019What do you know about ruminants? Why they ruminate? What are bovids? How deer is different from antelope?
Many of the ungulates are able to digest their food more efficiently than other animals. This means that, despite their large size, they can get the nourishment they need from their plant-eating diets. These animals are known as ruminants, and include camels, giraffes, deer and bovids (cattle, antelopes, sheep and goats). Their stomachs are divided into compartments that break down tough food in stages. In some ruminants, such as cattle, the food is sent back to the mouth to be chewed again after the first stage of digestion. This efficient process of digestion means that the ruminants are able to spend less time eating than do other ungulates, such as horses. They also do not need to drink as often, so they can roam more freely in harsh conditions such as deserts. Giraffes live in open wooded areas of the African grasslands. With adult males measuring over five metres in height, they are the tallest animals on land. They have long legs, sloping backs and extremely long necks, which means that they can feed on leave and shoots from trees that other animals cannot reach. Giraffes wander across large home ranges, moving in constantly changing groups for protection. They have excellent eyesight and can see for several kilometres. They are also able to run at over 50 kilometres per hour with a strange lopsided gait, both legs on the same side moving at once. Females will lash out with their huge, powerful feet if a predator threatens their calves.
Wild cattle, sheep, goats, antelopes and gazelles are known as bovids. The first three groups of bovids have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years, but they still have many wild relatives. Small bovids, such as gazelles, feed on higher-quality plant material such as fruits, leaves and bark. The large cattle are grazers, breaking down their poorer diet of grass by chewing the cud (partially digested food). Many bovids live in herds, which in the African buffalo can number hundreds of individuals. Cattle and antelopes are preyed upon by big cats or wild dogs. The predators usually target young or sick cattle, but adult cattle are sometimes able to drive them away by forming a defensive group or attacking with their horns. Antelopes of all ages are vulnerable to attack. They hide from predators, or escape from danger by running and leaping at top speed. Sheep and goats live in rocky, mountain environments. Some are solitary and will fight fiercely for territory, while others group together in herds. They have stocky but agile bodies, and are able to run and leap over dangerous terrain without falling. Males and females both usually have horns, though those of the male are larger. During tights the males clash their horns with great force. Goats also stab violently while sheep bang their heads together. Deer look very similar to antelopes, but, unlike antelopes, deer do not have a permanent set of bony horns. A deer’s antlers (possessed only by males except in the reindeer) are shed and regrown every year, as they are often damaged in fights. Picture Credit : Google |
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The raccoon family includes raccoons, coatis and pandas. All except the giant panda are quite small animals with long tails. They are good climbers, and some feed and nest in trees. Most members of the raccoon family live alone and are nocturnal, apart from coatis which form groups of females and feed during the day.
