Posts Tagged With: mammals

MAMMAL MONDAY # 28

Happy Mammal Monday! We’re extra excited for you to meet today’s primate! We’re heading to the rainforests of Central Africa! These monkeys have brightly colored faces! Grab your bug spray and your rain gear and let’s head into the forest to see these majestic animals!

MEET THE MANDRILL!

   Range/Habitat: Western Central Africa/ rainforests

   Diet: Omnivore: fruit, seeds, invertebrates

   Length/Weight: 25-32”/24- 82 lbs

  Conservation Status: vulnerable

Fun Facts:

• Mandrills are the largest of all monkeys.
• They have brightly colored faces with red and blue.
• Mandrills also have brightly colored rumps with short tails.
• Mandrills have large 2 ½ inch canine teeth. They will bear them to other mandrills; it is most often a friendly gesture.
• They are related to baboons, but are not baboons.
• Mandrills store food in their cheeks while they’re foraging.
• They spend most of their lives on the ground, but sleep in the trees.
• Female mandrills are much smaller than the males.
• They live in troupes. The troupes are led by a dominant male and include females, young and non-ranking males.  Troupes will also join other groups and form large hordes.

We just love the colorful Mandrill. They have a very interesting social structure and are very intelligent. Unfortunately their rainforest home is disappearing. Doing things like recycling paper can really help protect our rainforest homes! Who’s up for recycling as much paper as they can? We are!

HAPPY PLATYPUS DAY!

Happy Mammal Monday! We have traveled to the land down under-Australia to find today’s animal! Australia is a large continent with wild and strange animals that are found no other place on earth and today’s mammal is no exception! In fact this mammal is a rare exception to the rule, instead of giving birth to live young it lays eggs! WHAAAAT? You heard right, this mammal lays eggs! Let’s meet… (This was Mammal Monday #15)

MEET THE PLATYPUS!

   Range/Habitat: Eastern Australia-Tasmania/rivers-streams-rainforest

   Diet: Carnivore: worms, shrimp, crayfish

   Length/Weight: 16-23 ½”/ 1 ¾-5 ½ lbs

   Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

• Platypus are strange looking mammals, with long slender bodies, webbed feet and a duck-like bill for a mouth.
• They have long tails that look like beaver tails.
• Platypus are built for water. They are excellent swimmers and can dive to deep depths looking for prey.
• They eat about 20% of their body weight a day (about 2lbs), so they can spend up to 12 hours a day feeding.
• Platypus have no teeth!
• Male platypus have venomous spurs in the back feet. The venom is not fatal to humans, but can be very painful.
• Platypus can detect the electrical fields of other animals. They use this extra sense to find their prey!
• They are one of two mammals on earth that lay eggs. Do you know the other one?
• Platypus moms to provide milk to their offspring.

Platypus are one of our favorites, with their crazy looking bill mouths and their webbed feet! They are much loved in Australia too! You can find a platypus on the back of their 20 cent coins! Neat! Edmond wants to be on a coin! Ellie told him he’d have to learn to lay eggs first!

SUPER SURPRISE

THURSDAY# 26

Woohoo! It’s time for another Super Surprise Thursday and we found a member of the pig family for you! You better be ready to head to the African, because this pig likes the warm grasses of the savanna! Who’s ready?

MEET THE WARTHOG!

    Range/Habitat: Africa/ grasslands

   Diet: Herbivore: grasses, seeds

   Length/Weight: 3-5 ft/ 110-330 lbs

   Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

• Warthogs have four “warts” on their faces.
• They also have two pairs of tusks (lower and upper) that point upward.
• Warthogs have a mane of hair down their neck and back.
• Warthogs live in mixed groups called sounders.
• They are the only member of the pig family that is made for grazing.
• They kneel on padded front “wrists/elbows” when they bend down to eat grass.
• They are diurnal (active during the day).
• Warthogs live in burrows.

What’s not to love about warthogs? Look at those cute faces and those neat manes of hair and those warts! Ok, maybe they’re not the cutest animal on the planet, but they are special none the less!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL POLAR BEAR DAY!

Do you have your coat on for this Mammal Monday? Well, if you don’t you better grab it because all this week we are heading to the chilly arctic circle! In honor of the holiday and the fat guy who lives at the North Pole, we’ve decide to spotlight animals who live there too! First up, a large and in charge bear! Are you all bundled up? Let’s go! (This post was originally posted on Dec 19th as Mammal Monday #19)

MEET THE POLAR BEAR!

   Range/Habitat: Arctic/ice, shoreline

    Diet: Carnivore: seals, carrion

   Length/Weight: 7-11ft/800- 1500lb

   Conservation Status: Vulnerable (In Canada)

Fun Facts:

• Polar bears are the largest members of the bear family and the largest land carnivore on earth.
• They have two coats of fur, an outer translucent coat that absorbs the sun’s heat and a dense undercoat.
• Polar bears have black skin that helps them absorb heat.
• They also have a thick layer of blubber to help them stay warm.
• Polar bears have rough pads on their paws that help prevent them from slipping and sliding on the ice.
• They are excellent swimmers and are often seen in open waters.
• They use their large front paws to swim.
• Polar bears can smell a seal from a half mile away.
• Female polar bears dig dens in winter and stay there to give birth to 1 to 3 cubs.
• Polar bear cubs stay with their moms until around the age of 2. They spend that time learning to hunt and be polar bears!

Polar bears are amazing animals! They are built to live in the cold arctic! These large and in-charge bears are a protected species! We hope to have them around for a very long time!

MAMMAL MONDAY# 25

Happy Mammal Monday! We’re back to our regular scheduled mammals! We sure hope you enjoyed our Valentine’s week! We’re heading to the land down under today to meet today’s animal! These members of the dog family are pretty cool! Are you ready to meet them? Let’s do this!

MEET THE DINGO!

    Range/Habitat: Australia/ wetlands-grasslands-forests

    Diet: Carnivore: rodents, rabbits, birds

    Length/Weight: 28-43”/ 20-47 lbs

    Conservation Status: Vulnerable

Fun Facts:

• Dingoes are likely descendants of domestic dogs.
• It is thought that came to Australia around 4,000 years ago.
• Dingoes are often found alone, but will hunt in pairs and small family groups or packs.
• Dingoes are mostly nocturnal (active at night).
• They do not bark, but howl.
• They have long bushy tails.
• Dingoes often breed with domestic dogs, so pure dingoes are vanishing.

Dingoes are really cool members of the dog family. They are often considered pests in Australia and many ranchers build dingo fences. These predators are very important to their ecosystem though, because they keep prey populations in check!

SUPER SURPRISE THURSDAY# 24

Who’s that mammal with the big antlers? It’s our Super Surprise animal! We’re heading back to Europe to meet a woodland dweller! Are you ready to head into the woods? We are!

MEET THE FALLOW DEER!

   Range/Habitat: Europe-Asia/ woodland, grassland

   Diet: Herbivore: grasses, acorns

   Length/Weight: 4 ½-6 ¼ ft/ 77-300lbs

   Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

• Fallow Deer live in large herds of up to 100 individuals.
• Their coloration varies by where they live.
• Fallow deer are most active at twilight.
• Male fallow deer have large broad antlers.
• They can run up 25 mph.
• Fallow deer fawn hide in vegetation to protect themselves from predators.  This behavior is called lying-up.

Wow! Aren’t these deer magnificent with their broad antlers? We love them! And how about lying-up? We hadn’t heard that term before! We thought lying-up meant laying around doing nothing- like the cat we live with does all the time!