Posts Tagged With: mammals

TOOTHY TUESDAY # 19

Well, well, well, did you know that there are no reptiles in the arctic? It seems it is too cold for our cold-blooded friends in the arctic! Instead of having Reptilian Tuesday we’re going to have Toothy Tuesday! Do you have your coats on? It’s time to meet an animal with big teeth!

MEET THE WALRUS!

Range/Habitat: Arctic/water, shoreline

Diet: Carnivore: shrimp, sea-snails, fish

Length/Weight: 9 ¾-12 ft/ 1 ¼ -2 ¼ tons

Conservation Status: data deficient

Fun Facts:

• Walrus are large marine mammals with flippers.
• Walrus eat prey off the bottom of the oceans and use suction to eat.
• They can stay underwater for up to 25 minutes and can dive down to 330ft deep.
• They are highly social and often are seen in large groups, called herds.
• Male walruses are twice the size of females.
• They have rough wrinkly skin and very whiskery faces.
• Walruses have tusks of ivory. They can grow up to 3 ft 3” long.

Walruses sure are huge and cute! How can you not like their whiskery faces? These blubbery mammals are loud, social and full of personality! They are one of our favorites!

Here’s some walrus sounds:

MAMMAL MONDAY# 19

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!

MEET THE POLAR BEAR!

Range/Habitat: Arctic/ice, shoreline

Diet: Carnivore: seals, carrion

Length/Weight: 7-11ft/800- 1500lb

Conservation Status: Vulnerable

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# 18

Happy Mammal Monday! We had such a fabulous adventure last week, but we’re ready for a whole new week of animals! Be sure to look out tomorrow- we’re doing something special! Today’s animal is a cute prosimian! What’s a prosimian you ask? Well, they are primates, but they don’t have all the adaptations that monkeys and apes do! Prosimians include, lemurs and aye-ayes! Are you ready to meet this furry primate?

MEET THE GREATER GALAGO!

Range/Habitat: Central-Southern Africa/woodlands

Diet: Omnivore: fruit, tree sap, insects

Length/Weight: 10-16”/2 ¼-4 ½ lbs

Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

• Greater Galagos are the largest of the galago family.
• Greater galagos are also known as Thick-tailed Bush babies.
• They are called bush babies because of their childlike cries.
• They are nocturnal (active at night) and have large eyes and ears that help them navigate and find food in the dark.
• Greater galagos are arboreal (spend most of their time in trees).
• Greater galagos have strong feet with pads to help them climb and jump.
• They have brownish-grey fur!

Wow, these little primates have perfect adaptations for a life in the trees! But you won’t see one unless you are willing to head into the woods at night. Is anyone up for a nighttime adventure? Bring your night vision goggles and let’s go!

SUPER SURPRISE

THURSDAY# 16

Happy Super Surprise Thursday! We’ve featuring a very special mammal and a member of the canid (dog) family. This mammal looks like a raccoon, but they’re not! So let’s get to it and meet…

MEET THE RACCOON DOG!

Range/Habitat: Europe-Central Asia-Japan/rivers, lakes, woodlands

Diet:  Omnivore: fruit, mice, crabs and fish

Length/Weight: 20-23 ½”/ 17lbs

Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

• Raccoon Dogs are members are the canid family. They are related to wolves and foxes.
• They look like raccoons with their dark fur mask on their face.
• Raccoon dogs live in pairs or small family groups.
• Raccoon dogs are nocturnal (active at night).
• They have two coats of fur in the winter, an under coat and a top coat to keep them warm in cold climates!
• They are excellent climbers.
• Raccoon dogs are the only members of the canid family that hibernates (a long sleep).  They can increase their body weight by 50% for winter.

Raccoon dogs are a cool mammal. They are built to live in cold weather climates with their think fur. And isn’t it cool that they hibernate! Sometimes we wish we could hibernate all winter and wake-up in time for spring! Can you name another animal that hibernates?

MAMMAL MONDAY# 16

We’re back! We hope everyone had a lovely holiday! We sure did! We’re starting out this week with a primate! Don’t know what a primate is? Well if you can read this- than you’re probably a primate J! Primates include lemurs, monkeys and apes and people are apes! Neat, huh? Today’s mammal is a monkey and a pretty cute one too. Are you ready to meet them?

MEET THE CELEBES MACAQUE!

Range/Habitat: Southeast Asia-North Sulawesi/rainforest

Diet: Omnivore: fruit (up to 70% of their diet), seeds, bird eggs

Length/Weight: 20-22 ½”/up to 22lb

Conservation Status: critically endangered

Fun Facts:

• Celebes Macaques are all black with hairless faces.
• They have crests on their heads. They look like they have mohawks J!
• Celebes macaques live in troupes of up to 50 individuals with 3 to 4 dominate males.
• Celebes macaques are also called black crested macaques.
• They spend most of their day on the ground looking for food.
• They spend their nights in trees.

These funny looking monkeys are very curious and awesome. A photographer recently had an encounter with them in the wild where they took photos of themselves! Pretty smart!

Read all about that here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/04/shutter-happy-monkey-photographer

MAMMAL MONDAY# 15

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…

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!

MAMMAL MONDAY# 14

Is it chilly outside or is it just us? We’ve traveled up into the cold arctic to find today’s animal! So put on your coats, gloves, scarves and hats and let’s meet this very furry mammal! Snow shoes ready? Come meet…

MEET THE MUSK OX!

Range/Habitat: Northern Canada-Greenland (Arctic)/tundra

Diet: Herbivore: grasses

Length/Weight: 6 ¼-7 ½ ft/450-900lbs

Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

• Musk Ox get their names from their strong odor.
• They have double coats to keep them warm in the cold arctic. The outer coat protects them from snow and rain. The soft undercoat provides insulation.
• Musk Ox look larger than they are, because of their thick fur coats.
• Both female and male musk ox have large, broad, curved horns.
• Musk Ox are more closely related to goats and sheep than other oxen.
• They live in herds that are led by a dominant female.
• Musk ox form circles around their calves when threatened by predators.

Musk ox are large extra furry mammals! You need all that fur to stay warm in the cold arctic winters! They are not animals you want to challenge either, being charged by a musk ox does not look like fun!

MAMMAL MONDAY# 13

Happy Mammal Monday! We’re extra excited for today’s animal, because it is BIG! And when we say big we mean bigger than elephant big! So are you ready to meet this extreme mammal? Let’s do this…

MEET THE BLUE WHALE!

Range/Habitat: Oceans worldwide except the Mediterranean-Arabic Gulf

Diet: Carnivore: eats only krill

Length/Weight: 66-98 ft/110-176 tons

Conservation Status: endangered

Fun Facts:

• Blue Whales are the largest animal on the planet!
• Blue whales have baleen. Baleen is a hair like structure in their mouths that filter out tiny krill from the water. Baleen is made of keratin (the same stuff that makes up your nails and hair).
• They can eat up to 40 million krill a day! Whew, that is a bunch of tiny little animals.
• Blue whales throats can swell to 4 times their normal size when taking in water and krill. They expel the water and swallow the krill.
• They feed mostly in the summer in cold waters and migrate to warmer waters in the winter.
• Blue whales have slender bodies with one small dorsal fin.
• Blue whales can dive to depths of 655 ft.
• The calves (babies) are up to 23ft long and 2 ½ tons when born! That’s about the weight of a car!
• Blue whales also produce the loudest sound of any animal on earth at 180 decibels. That is louder than the jet engine of an airplane. WOW! It’s so loud that it could cause damage to your eardrums!
• Blue whales produce many different sounds, calls and songs!

We could go on all day about the largest animal on our planet Earth! These special giants are endangered, but are protected now! Our oceans wouldn’t be the same without these amazing singing creatures! You can find a few really neat models in museums around the world! The one at the American Natural History Museum even tweets (@NatHistoryWhale).

Here’s a video of researchers catching the songs of blue whales from National Geographic! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8MTsgdWuU0