SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY # 21

SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY# 21

My, what big ears you have! We have found a special little mammal with very LARGE ears for today’s Super Surprise Thursday! Get out your sunglasses and sunscreen, because we’re heading to the African desert!

MEET THE FENNEC FOX!

Range/Habitat: Northern Africa-Asia/ desert

Diet: Omnivore: seeds, fruit, termites, eggs, lizards

Length/Weight: 9 ½-16”/ 2 ¼-13lb

Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

• Fennec foxes are the smallest member of the fox family.
• Fennec fox are nocturnal (active at night).
• They have unusually large ears that help them keep cool in the desert heat and warm at night.
• Fennec fox also have fur on the bottom of their paws that protects them from the hot desert sand.
• They live in small groups in underground dens.
• They can survive several days without water, but will happily drink it when they find it.
• Little is known about wild Fennec fox, most of what we know about them is from captive populations in zoos.
• Fennec fox are the national animal of Algeria! Neat!

Wow, aren’t these little foxes really adorable with their large ears? We bet they have excellent hearing too! Did you know other animals use their ears to help them keep cool? Can you guess who that animal is? NO? It’s elephants!!