Giant in the Rainforest!

Giant in the Rainforest!

Date: 9/6

Location: Amazon rainforest

Observations:

• The giant anteater has no teeth. They have 2 foot long tongues that extract termites and ants.
• One giant anteater can eat up to 35,000 insects a day.
• They can flick their tongue up to 160 times per minute. Giant anteaters must be fast to avoid ant bites.
• Giant anteaters have a keen sense of smell. They use it to find the ant mounds.

• Giant anteaters walk on their wrists. They have long sharp claws (about 4 inches) that they can not walk on.
• Those claws are used for ripping into ant and termite mounds.
• Giant anteaters are excellent swimmer. Their long snouts make great snorkels!
• They can use their long sturdy tails to help them stand on two legs. They do this to look for predators or to fight off a predator!

We had a wonderful time waiting on the edge of the forest to see a giant anteater wander up. They look so clumsy when they move, but we think they are awesome! Those claws not only help them break-in to breakfast, but they are critical in helping them protect themselves. Mother anteaters carry babies on their backs, so they use those small claws for holding on! These may be our favorite animal, but we have a whole month here in the rainforest. Time to head back to camp and figure out who we can find tomorrow!