Cheetah

Social behavior:-
Unlike other animals which have gender specific names - 'bull' and 'cow' for elephants; 'rooster' and 'hen' for chickens - humans apply the name 'cheetah' to both sexes. Cheetah in the wild may be divided into 2 groups: the family group/females and males.


Females/Family Group:-
Young females usually occupy the same range as their mother although ALL females are solitary except when they have a litter. Average female home ranges extend to 833 square kilometers (322 square miles). A female raises her cubs alone since adult male and female cheetahs mix only to mate. The average life span of wild radio-collared female cheetahs is 6.9 years which compares to 11.7 years for females in captivity.


Males:-
Only rarely will a male cheetah live alone. Generally 2 or 3 cheetah males, often brothers, will form a coalition. This small group will live and hunt together for life and usually claims a large area or range which may overlap several female territories. The average size of male territories is 37.4 square kilometers (14.4 square miles).  Young males seek out an area at a great distance from their parent; sometimes as far as 482 kilometers (300 miles).


Food & Hunting:-

A cheetah is carnivorous and eats a variety of small animals. While most cats are nocturnal predators, the cheetah is primarily diurnal, hunting in early morning and late afternoon. Since it depends on sight rather than smell, it likes to scan the countryside from a tree limb or the top of a termite mound. Other big cats chase only a few hundred meters: the cheetah chases 3.4 miles (5500 meters) at an average speed of 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour). Stalking is as important as the fast sprint: usually it will creep within 50 yards (46 meters) of an intended victim before the final acceleration. Full sprints last about 20 seconds and almost never exceed 1 full minute. If it succeeds in catching an animal the cheetah will suffocate it by clamping the animal's windpipe, sometimes holding a clamp as long as 5 minutes. Very small animals like hares are killed by a simple bite through the skull. But whatever the meal - large or small -  cheetah eats quickly for if challenged it will most often lose. Cheetahs have unusually clean eating habits: they do not return to their kill nor do they eat carrion; they leave the skin, bones and entrails of their prey. At 6 weeks the young are strong enough to follow the hunt and when they are about 6 months old the mother will capture live prey for them to practice killing.

Habitat:-

Not so long ago cheetahs inhabited an area from North Africa to India, but they are now commonly found only in sub-Saharan Africa (south of the Sahara Desert). Their range includes sparse sub-desert, steppe (a treeless plain), medium and long-grass plains. They need an environment with bushes, tall grass and other large plants in order to hide from predators.

Snow Puma

Type:Mammal

Diet:Carnivore

Size:Head and body, 3.25 to 5.25 ft (1 to 1.6 m); Tail, 23.5 to 33.5 in (60 to 85 cm)

Weight:136 lbs (62 kg)

Protection status:Endangered

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

This powerful predator roams the Americas, where it is also known as a puma, cougar, and catamount. This big cat of many names is also found in many habitats, from Florida swamps to Canadian forests.

Mountain lions like to prey on deer, though they also eat smaller animals such as coyotes, porcupines, and raccoons. They usually hunt at night or during the gloaming hours of dawn and dusk. These cats employ a blend of stealth and power, stalking their prey until an opportunity arrives to pounce, then going for the back of the neck with a fatal bite. They will hide large carcasses and feed on them for several days.

Mountain lions once roamed nearly all of the United States. They were prized by hunters and despised by farmers and ranchers who suffered livestock losses at their hands. Subsequently, by the dawn of the 20th century, mountain lions were eliminated from nearly all of their range in the Midwest and Eastern U.S.—though the endangered Florida panther survives.

Snow Owl

This yellow-eyed, black billed white bird is easily recognizable. It is 52–71 centimetres (20–28 in) long with a 125–150 centimetres (49–59 in) wingspan. Also, these birds can weigh anywhere from 1.6–3 kilograms (3.5–6.6 lb).It is one of the largest species of owl and in North America is on average the heaviest owl species. The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; the young are heavily barred, and dark spotting may even predominate. Its thick plumage, heavily-feathered taloned feet, and coloration render the Snowy Owl well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle.

Snowy Owl calls are varied, but the alarm call is a barking, almost quacking krek-krek; the female also has a softer mewling pyee-pyee or prek-prek. The song is a deep repeated gawh. They may also clap their beak in response to threats or annoyances. While called clapping, it is believed this sound may actually be a clicking of the tongue, not the beak.

Ecology:-

The Snowy Owl is typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. During the last glacial, there was a Central European paleosubspecies of this bird, Bubo scandiacus gallicus, but no modern subspecies are recognized.

This species of owl nests on the ground, building a scrape on top of a mound or boulder. A site with good visibility, ready access to hunting areas, and a lack of snow is chosen. Gravel bars and abandoned eagle nests may be used. Breeding occurs in May, and depending on the amount of prey available, clutch sizes range from 5 to 14 eggs, which are laid singly, approximately every other day over the course of several days. Hatching takes place approximately five weeks after laying, and the pure white young are cared for by both parents. Both the male and the female defend the nest and their young from predators. Some individuals stay on the breeding grounds while others migrate.

Range:-

Snowy Owls nest in the Arctic tundra of the northermost stretches of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia. They winter south through Canada and northern Eurasia, with irruptions occurring further south in some years. Snowy Owls are attracted to open areas like coastal dunes and prairies that appear somewhat similar to tundra. They have been reported as far south as Texas, Georgia, the American Gulf states, southernRussia, northern China and even the Caribbean. Between 1967 and 1975, Snowy Owls bred on the remote island of Fetlar in the Shetland Isles north of Scotland, UK. Females summered as recently as 1993, but their status in the British Isles is now that of a rare winter visitor toShetland, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms.In January 2009, a Snowy Owl appeared in Spring Hill, Tennessee, the first reported sighting in the state since 1987.

Hunting and Diet:-

This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other small rodents for food during the breeding season, but at times of low prey density, or during the ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to juvenile ptarmigan. They are opportunistic hunters and prey species may vary considerably, especially in winter. They feed on a wide variety of small mammals such as meadow voles anddeer mice, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Some of the larger mammal prey includes hares, muskrats, marmots, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, prairie dogs, rats, moles, and entrapped furbearers. Birds preyed upon include ptarmigan, ducks, geese,shorebirds, ring-necked pheasants, grouse, American coots, grebes, gulls, songbirds, and even other raptors, including other owl species. Snowy Owls are also known to eat fish and carrion. Most of the owls' hunting is done in the "sit and wait" style; prey may be captured on the ground, in the air or fish may be snatched off the surface of bodies of water using their sharp talons. Each bird must capture roughly 7 to 12 mice per day to meet its food requirement and can eat more than 1,600 lemmings per year.

SNOW FOX

The arctic fox lives in some of the most frigid extremes on the planet. Among its adaptations for cold survival are its deep, thick fur, a system of countercurrent heat exchange in the circulation of paws to retain core temperature, and a good supply of body fat. The fox has a low surface area to volume ratio, as evidenced by its generally rounded body shape, short muzzle and legs, and short, thick ears. Since less of its surface area is exposed to the arctic cold, less heat escapes the body. Its furry paws allow it to walk on ice in search of food. The arctic fox has such keen hearing that it can precisely locate the position of prey under the snow. When it finds prey, it pounces and punches through the snow to catch its victim. Its fur changes colour with the seasons: in the winter it is white to blend in with snow, while in the summer months it changes to brown.


Reproduction:-
The arctic fox tends to be active from early September to early May. The gestation period is 53 days. Litters tend to average 5-8 kits but may be as many as 25. Both the mother and the father help to raise their young. The females leave the family and form their own groups and the males stay with the family.Foxes tend to form monogamous pairs in the breeding season. Litters are born in the early summer and the parents raise the young in a large den. Dens can be complex underground networks, housing many generations of foxes. Young from a previous year's litter may stay with the parents to help rear younger siblings.The kits are initially brownish; as they become older they turn white. Their coat of fur also changes color when summer arrives but in winter it is white.

Diet:-

The arctic fox will generally eat any small animal it can find: lemmings, hares, owls, eggs, and carrion, etc. Lemmings are the most common prey. A family of foxes can eat dozens of lemmings each day. During April and May the arctic fox also preys on ringed seal pups when the young animals are confined to a snow den and are relatively helpless. Fish beneath the ice are also part of its diet. If there is an overabundance of food hunted, the arctic fox will bury what the family cannot eat. When its normal prey is scarce, the arctic fox scavenges the leftovers and even feces of larger predators, such as the polar bear, even though the bear's prey includes the arctic fox itself.

Size:-

The average length is 85.3 cm (33.6 in), with a range of 83 to 110 cm (33 to 43 in), in the male and 82.1 cm (32.3 in), with a range of 71.3 to 85 cm (28.1 to 33 in), in the female. The tail is 31 cm (12.2 in) long in the male and 30 cm (11.8 in) long in the female. It is 25–30 cm (9.8–11.8 in) high at the shoulder.On average males weigh 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), with a range of 3.2 to 9.4 kg (7.1 to 21 lb), while females average 2.9 kg (6.4 lb), with a range of 1.4 to 3.2 kg (3.1 to 7.1 lb).

White Ermine

Geographic Range


Ermine have a circumpolar distribution. They are found in the north temperate regions of Eurasia and North America. In the New World, they range from east to west in a broad belt from the Arctic Ocean and adjacent islands of the Canadian Archipelago southward into the northern United States. Ermine are absent from the Great Plains. 


Habitat
Ermine prefer riparian woodlands, marshes, shrubby fencerows, and open areas adjacent to forests or shrub borders. Although ermine are primarily terrestrial, they climb trees and swim well. Tree roots, hollow logs, stone walls, and rodent burrows are used as dens. Dens are usually around 300mm below ground. Ermine line their nests with dry vegetation, and fur and feathers from prey. Side cavities of burrows are used as food caches and latrines. (Ruff and Wilson, 1999)


Physical Description
Mass: 25 to 116 g (0.88 to 4.08 oz)
Length: 170 to 330 mm (6.69 to 12.99 in)
At full adult size total body length from head to rump is 170mm to 330mm. Males are generally twice as large as females, with males weighing from 67 to 116 grams and females from 25 to 80 grams. The tail length is about 35% of the total body length, ranging from 42mm to 120mm. Ermine have the typical weasel form: long body, short legs, long neck supporting a triangular head, slightly protruding round ears, bright black eyes, and long whiskers. Their short, moderately fine fur is white in the winter and the tip of the tail is black. In the summer, the dorsal fur is chocolate brown while the ventral fur extending to the upper lip is yellowish white.


Reproduction
Breeding interval: Ermine generally breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Ermine mate in late spring to early summer.
Number of offspring: 3 to 18; avg. 4-9
Gestation period: 280 days (average)
Time to weaning: 8-10 weeks (average)
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 60-70 days (average)
Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 2 years (average)
Ermine are a polygynous-promiscuous species, with males and females mating opportunistically.
Ermine mate in late spring to early summer. Females are polyestrous, but produce only 1 litter per year. Young are born in April or May after an average gestation period of 280 days, which includes an 8-9 month period of developmental delay. Longer days beginning in March trigger the resumption of fetal development. Litter size ranges from 3-18 offspring and averages 4-9. The sex ratio is unequal. Young are blind and helpless. They are covered with fine white hair, and a prominent dark mane of dense fur develops around the neck by the third week (function unknown). The young grow quickly and are able to hunt with their mother by their eighth week. Although females do not reach adult size until a least 6 weeks after birth, they are able to mate when they are 60-70 days old, often before they are weaned. Males do not breed or gain adult dimensions until their second summer.
Females exclusively care for their offspring, nursing and protecting them until they become independent. The young are born blind and helpless.Females in nature may survive for at least 2 breeding seasons, while males generally do not survive this long. Reproductive success is highly dependent on food availability.

Lifespan/Longevity
Longest known lifespan in wild
7 years (high)
Expected lifespan in wild
1-2 years (average)

Behavior
The ermine's lithe, agile body allows it to move swiftly both above ground and through underground burrows. Females hunt in tunnels more than males, which may explain the higher number of males that are trapped. Ermine can also run easily across snow. This ideal predator hunts in a zigzag pattern, progressing by a series of leaps of up to 50 cm each. Ermine investigate every hole and crevice, often stopping to survey their surroundings by raising their heads and standing upright on their hindlegs. They may travel up to 15 km in one night.
Adult males dominate females and young. Females tend to remain in their birth place throughout their lives. Males disperse and attain large territories that usually encompass or overlap females' territories.
Male and female ermine only associate with one another during the breeding season.

Home Range
Ermine population densities fluctuate with prey abundance. When conditions are good, an individual may occupy a 10ha area. The maximum home range size is about 20ha. Home ranges of males are usually twice the size of female home ranges. These solitary mammals maintain exclusive boundaries that are patrolled and marked by scent. (Ruff and Wilson, 1999)

Communication and Perception
Ermine have keen senses of smell, vision, hearing, and touch that help them to locate prey. Most mustelids are fairly quiet animals, but some vocalizations may be used in intra-specific communication. Chemical cues are probably the main means of communication reproductive readiness to potential mates.

Food Habits
Ermine are carnivores that hunt primarily at night. They are specialist predators on small, warm-blooded vertebrates, preferably mammals of rabbit size and smaller. When mammalian prey is scarce, ermine eat birds, eggs, frogs, fish, and insects. In severe climates, ermine frequently hunt under snow and survive entirely on small rodents and lemmings. Daily meals are essential to meet the ermine's exhorbitant energy and heat production demands. Ermine cache leftover meals as a way of dealing with these demands. (Ruff and Wilson, 1999)
Once a potential prey is identified, the ermine approaches as closely as possible. With incredible speed it grasps the back of the victim's head and neck with sharp teeth, and wraps its body and feet around the victim. The victim dies from repeated bites to the base of the skull. Ermine have keen senses that help them locate prey. Hares and rodents are mainly followed by scent, insects by sound, and fish by sight. (Ruff and Wilson, 1999)

Predation
Ermine are fierce and agressive, although diminutive, animals. Potential predators are larger carnivores including red fox, gray fox, martens, fishers, badgers, raptors, and occassionally domestic cats. 

Wolves

Type:Mammal

Diet:Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:6 to 8 years

Size:Head and body, 36 to 63 in (91 to 160 cm); Tail, 13 to 20 in (33 to 51 cm)

Weight:40 to 175 lbs (18 to 79 kg)

Group name:Pack

Protection status:Endangered

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

here are lots of different types of wolves. There are artic wolves, gray wolves, red wolves, Mexican wolves, Persian wolves, Indian wolves and Chinese wolves. On our website, we talk about the timber wolf, also known as the gray wolf. Gray wolves live in the Artic, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Minnesota, Idaho, Montana and Europe.Wolves are carnivores that live in the more wild parts of the world. They are great and majestic animals. They have been around for centuries and centuries. Wolves are very intelligent. They have a keen sense of smell and hearing. They know how to hunt together, bring down large prey, play to sharpen their hunting strategies, establish their own hierarchy, and many other things. Wolves are the great ancestors of the very animals many of you have at home, dogs. Dogs and wolves genetically diverged 135,00 years ago. Some dogs look like wolves, and some look nothing like them!

Wolves function as social predators and hunt in packs organised according to a strict social hierarchy and led by an alpha male and alpha female. This social structure allows the wolf to take prey many times its size. The size of the pack changes during the year and is controlled by factors such as mortality and food supply. Generally it's between 2 and 12, even if packs with more than 30 has been recorded. The hierarchy of the pack is strict, with the alpha on top and the omega at the bottom. The hierarchy controls all activity in the pack, from which wolf eats first to who is allowed to breed (generally only the alpha pair). Between the extremes of the alpha and the omega there is generally a beta pair, contesters for the alpha position that will take it if any of the alpha wolves are killed. Also, depending on the season there might be a number of pups and yearlings.

New packs are formed when a wolf leaves its birth pack and claims a territory. Wolves searching for other wolves to form packs with or suitable territories can travel very long distances. Packs frequently break apart when the alpha pair is killed.

Hunting:-

The wolf is somewhat opportunistic and will eat what it comes across as long as it is reasonably fresh. Packs of wolves hunt any large herbivore in their range, while lone wolves are more prone to take eat anything the come across, including rodents. The hunting methods ranges from surprise attacks on smaller animals such as rabbits and rodents to long lasting chases. Wolves can chase large prey for several hours before giving up, but the success rate is rather low.

Platypus Neither birds nor mammals

It lays eggs. This is usually reserved exclusively for birds, reptiles, dinosaurs, etc. And these eggs are tiny! Mammals gestate with the eggs inside of them, giving birth to live young, but here’s a mammal that lays eggs! 

It’s furry. Like mammals are — no feathers for this guy — the platypus is not only covered in fur, it’s got such a nice coat that it has historically been hunted for its fur! 

It is venomous! This is extremely rare for mammals, and the platypus itself has three venomous compounds in it that are unique in all of nature to the platypus itself. The venom is emitted through a spur in the platypus’ foot, right around its ankle. And speaking of feet… 

It has a beaver-like tail. Mammalian, I got it. I suppose we can go on and on, listing all the ways this animal is neither bird nor mammal, all of which I find fascinating. But this animal can do something that you and I cannot, no matter how hard we try. Your skin, your epidermal layer, is fantastic for sensing temperature, pressure, and pain. These three types of sensor suit us remarkably well, and allow us to experience all sorts of interesting sensations, like itch and ticklishness. But the platypus has us beat, because in addition to these, the platypus can detect electricity.

Bird of Paradies Part-3

The Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise, Seleucidis melanoleucus or Seleucidis melanoleuca, is a medium-sized, approximately 33 cm long, velvet black and yellow Bird of Paradies. The male has a red iris, long black bill and rich yellow plumes along its flanks. From the rear of these plumes emerge twelve blackish, wire-like filaments, which bend back near their bases to sweep forward over the birds hindquarters. The female is a brown bird with black-barred buffy underparts. Its feet are strong, large-clawed and pink in color.The sole representative of the monotypic genus Seleucidis, the Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise is a bird of lowland forests. The male displays on an exposed vertical perch with its breast-shield flared. Its diet consists mainly of fruites and arthropods.Widely distributed throughout new goinea and salawati Island of lrian jaya, the Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Least Concern on the iucn red list of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of cites. However, it has not been easy to breed this bird in captivity. It has only been successfully bred in Singapore's jurong birds park.

Bird of Paradies Part-2

Ribbon-tailed Astrapia


The Ribbon-tailed Astrapia also known as Shaw Mayer's Astrapia, Astrapia mayeri is a medium-sized, up to 32 cm long (without including the tail of the male, which can be over 1 meter), velvet black Bird of Paradies. The male has an irridesescent olive green and bronze plumage, and is adorned with ornamental "ball" plume above its bill and two extremely long, ribbon-like white tail feathers. The female is a brown bird with an irridesescent head. Hybrids between this species and the stephaniesastrapia, in the small area where their ranges overlap, have been named barnes astrapia.One of the most spectacular Bird of Paradies , the male Ribbon-tailed Astrapia has the longest tail feathers in relation to body size of any bird, over three times the length of its body.

The Ribbon-tailed Astrapia is distributed and endemic to subalpine forests in western part of the central highlands of papua new guinea. Like many other ornamental birds of paradise, the male is polygamous. The Ribbon-tailed Astrapia is the latest bird of paradise to be discovered.

The scientific name commemorates the great naturalist and new guinea explorer fred shaw mayer, who was believed to have discovered the bird in 1938. However, it is now believed that explorer jack hides discovered the bird, while Mayer became interested in it later.

Due to habitat lost and hunted for its plumes, the Ribbon-tailed Astrapia is listed as Near Threatened on the iucn red list of Threatened Species

Leopard Seal

Leopard seals are large members of the seal family reaching between 2.41-3.4 m in length and weighing between 200-591 kg. Females are slightly larger than males. Their massive bodies have large heads and long broad foreflippers. Unlike other seal species that swim by moving their hind limbs side to side, leopard seals swim gracefully using long, powerful, simultaneous strokes of the forelimbs simultaneously. Adults are dark gray to black in color with varying dark spots on the dorsal side and pale on the ventral side. Pup's have soft, thick coats with a dorsal stripe and black spots on the light gray ventral side. Adults have well developed canine teeth, and three tubercles or lobes on the sides of their jaws that allow them to filter krill from the water.

Leopard seals eat a varied diet. They are the only pinnipeds whose diet includes a significant amount of warm-blooded animals. They have been known to attack  and fur seals. They prey on krill (estimated at 45% of their diet), other seals (30%) particularly young crabeater seals,penguins (10%), and fish and cephalopods (10%). Proportions vary according to age and availability. Like other seals, they are also known to scavange the carrion of whales and other sealscrabeater.Leopard seals can dive up to 15 minutes, however because their diet includes warm-blooded animals they are not deep diving seals. Leopard seals are awkward on land, however, their unusually large fore-flippers give them speed and agility in the water. They are sometimes preyed on by orca mens killer whales

Snow Leopard

Body Length(mm) -900-1350

Weight (kg) - 50 average

Litter Size - 2-3 average

Life Span - 15-18

Status - Endangered

U.u.uncia - Asia, Mongolia, Russia

U.u.uncioides - China, Himalayas

There are three main reasons that snow leopards are in trouble. The first reason is that the bones, skin and organs of large cats are valuable in traditional Asian medicine. Tigers are the prefered species for this purpose, but tigers are so rare that it is almost impossible to find one in the wild so snow leopards are substituted for tigers. When you consider that the people who live near snow leopards often earn less than 300 dollars per year and that a poacher can get perhaps $200 for a dead snow leopard (though a middleman can resell it for up to $10,000), it isn’t hard to understand why snow leopards are at risk.

Due to the often-harsh weather conditions that prevail, cubs are always born in the spring, with mating taking place some three months earlier in late winter. This ensures that a food source is abundant and less effort is needed to secure a kill. The litter size is usually between 1-4 (typically two) cubs and they are born after a gestation period of approximately 98 days. The cubs weigh between 320-708g at birth - have a daily average weight gain of approximately 48g per day and stay with their mothers until they are over 18 months old.

Mammoth

Mammuthus primigenius is more commonly known as the Wooly Mammoth. This Ice Age mammal is similar to a mastodon, but with larger tusks and a sloping back. Even at nine feet tall, it is small for a mammoth.
Mammuthus primigenius has a trunk that is somewhat shorter that that of its cousin the elephant. The trunk ends in two fingers, which the Wooly Mammoth uses to bring food to its mouth. The tusks are larger than those of either an elephant or a mastodon and can be used to clear the snow off of its food. These tusks are curved and extend almost down to the ground to reach low-lying bushes.
The Wooly Mammoth's ability to find food beneath snow and ice made it possible for it to live on the tundra of Europe, Asia, and North America during the Ice Age. Even during the harsh winters, the Wooly Mammoth could find grass and moss under the snow. Wooly Mammoths can also forage for tree bark and other foods typically found above the snow.
Since the Wooly Mammoth prefers to live in colder climates, its coat is made up of a double layer of thick, coarse fur over a three-inch layer of fat. The Wooly Mammoth sheds its fur at the beginning of the summer and regrows it in time for the next winter. An extra hump of fat just behind the animal's skull is built up over the summer and used for nutrition when food is scarce during the winter.

Horseshoe Crab

Horseshoe crabs, common along the Delaware coast, have evolved little in the last 250 million years. Still, they have survived because of their hard, curved shells, which have made it difficult for predators to overturn them and expose their soft, vulnerable underbellies. The horseshoe crab has also survived because it can go a year

without eating and endure extreme temperatures and salinity.The Delaware Bay region is home to the largest population of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus),which is found along the western shores of the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to the Yucatan. Another three species live in the coastal waters from Japan to Indonesia.Once called "Horsefoot Crabs" because of the resemblance of its shell to a horse hoof, the Horseshoe Crab isn't really a crab. Related to scorpions, ticks and land spiders, horseshoe crabs have their own classification (Class Merostomata).
Horseshoe crabs, common along the Delaware coast, have evolved little in the last 250 million years. Still, they have survived because of their hard, curved shells, which have made it difficult for predators to overturn them and expose their soft, vulnerable underbellies. The horseshoe crab has also survived because it can go a year
without eating and endure extreme temperatures and salinity.The Delaware Bay region is home to the largest population of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), which is found along the western shores of the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to the Yucatan. Another three species live in the coastal waters from Japan to Indonesia.Once called "Horsefoot Crabs" because of the resemblance of its shell to a horse hoof, the Horseshoe Crab isn't really a crab. Related to scorpions, ticks and land spiders, horseshoe crabs have their own classification (Class Merostomata).Click here to visit a new website from the University or Delaware College of Marine Studies devoted to the Horseshoe Crab.

Each spring during the high tides of the new and full moons, thousands of horseshoe crabs descend on the Delaware Bay shoreline to spawn.
Males, two-thirds the size of their mates, cluster along the water's edge as the females arrive. With glove-like claws on its first pair of legs, the male hangs on to the female's shell and is pulled up the beach to the high tide line.
The female pauses every few feet to dig a hole and deposit as many as 20,000 pearly green, birdshot-sized eggs. The male then fertilizes the eggs as he is pulled over the nest. After the spawning is complete, the crabs leave and the waves wash sand over the nest.

Walruses

Type:Mammal

Diet:Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:Up to 40 years

Size:7.25 to 11.5 ft (2.2 to 3.5 m)

Weight:Upto1.5 tons (1.4 metric tons)

Group name:Herd

Protection status:Endangered

Habitat:Russia,coastal areas from northeastern to Alaska.          

                                                                                                                                       

                

 Appearance-The Walrus's skin is dark brown and wrinkled with little stiff hairs sticking out.Young calves usually have more hair then adults. A walrus's skin is very tough and thick and a polar bear must work very hard to chew through the skin of a dead walrus for food. Walruses molt their skin. Walrus tusks can be very big. Male tusks can be up to 4 ft. and females can be up to 2 ft. Adult males weigh 900 kg. and measure about 3.1m. Female adults weigh about 560 kg. and measure about 2.6m. The Pacific walrus is slightly bigger than the Atlantic. A Walrus is actually an overgrown seal.Walruses are surrounded with wiskers and they smell their food around them with their whiskers. A walruses eyes are very small and it's head looks like it's too big for it's body.

Habitat-Most walruses live in the Alaskan Sea, the Chuckuchi Sea, Bristol Bay, the Bering Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Sea, the Arctic Sea, Rocky shores, icefloats and icecaps. Most walruses migrate in the spring and fall so they can follow the food.

Grizzly Bear

The range of the grizzly bear once covered most of the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. Relentless human expansion and hunting has diminished the bears habitat to Alaska, western Canada, and a handful of northwest states. In the United States there are grizzly bears in reserves in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington.Grizzly bear habitat includes a wide range of territories. They can be found in valleys, brush meadows, mountains, and dense forests. They also live near rivers and coastal areas since they like fish.

The grizzly bear is a North American subspecies of the brown bear.These awe-inspiring giants tend to be solitary animals—with the exception of females and their cubs—but at times they do congregate. Dramatic gatherings of grizzly bears can be seen at prime Alaskan fishing spots when the salmon run upstream for summer spawning. In this season, dozens of bears may gather to feast on the fish, craving fats that will sustain them through the long winter ahead.Brown bears dig dens for winter hibernation, often holing up in a suitable-looking hillside. Females give birth during this winter rest and their offspring are often twins.

Grizzly bears are powerful, top-of-the-food-chain predators, yet much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, and roots. Bears also eat other animals, from rodents to moose.Grizzlies are typically brown, though their fur can appear to be white-tipped, or grizzled, lending them their traditional name.
Despite their impressive size, grizzlies are quite fast and have been clocked at 30 miles (48 kilometers) an hour. They can be dangerous to humans, particularly if surprised or if humans come between a mother and her cubs. Grizzly bear paw prints will have partial or full nail prints with the tips measuring up to 4 inches. The print of the base will be more oval versus a rounded base.

Bird of Paradies Part-1

 There are more than three dozen species in the family Paradisaeidae, more commonly known as the birds of paradiseMost are distinguished by striking colors and bright plumage of yellow, blue, scarlet, and green. These colors distinguish them as some of the world's most dramatic and attractive birds. The facts about these birds are as extra-ordinarily as their mythology. All in all there are 43 species and they live in the remote mountainous jungle of New Guinea. Any self-respecting highlanders used these feathers for his or hers decoration. Scientist think they are distance cousins of starlings. Their sizes are from thrush to crow.These birds also lend their name to a colorful flower. South Africa's bird-of-paradise (Strelitzia reginae) is a member of the banana family. It sports a beautiful flower believed to resemble the avian bird of paradise in flight.The name 'Birds of Paradise' came from the idea that they floated in heavenly paradise and therefore don't need any wings or limbs. Because the birds were so illusive that they were only found when they died and fell to earth. That is when the highlanders of New Guinea found the birds, hence the belief. A further reason gave the belief credibility that the highlanders presented the birds with the feathers on the skin and no wings . These birds are rarely seen and especially when they display their plumes in courtship.Birds of paradise are found in New Guinea and surrounding islands. The manucodes and riflebirds species also dwell in Australia. Birds of paradise are so attractive that their appearance once made them the target of skin hunters, who decimated some species.

Colossal squid

Colossal Squid,is also known as the Giant Cranch or Antartic Squid.Measuring longer than a school bus it measured around 26 feet (8 meters) long and weighed about 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms), but scientists believe the species may grow as long as 46 feet (14 meters),Sporting tentacles covered in razor-sharp hooks, the colossal squid is the stuff of nightmares. However, new research suggests the enormous sea creature may not be the fierce hunter of legend.Colossal squid lives some 3,000 to 6,000 feet (914 to 1,830 meters) beneath the Antarctic sea.

Squid is a effective predator:-The colossal squid is a predator, and it hovers in the dark depths of the ocean looking for prey. We know that colossal squid eat toothfish the squid on display was hauled up on a toothfish, still attached to the fish it had been eating. Toothfish caught on longlines often show signs of squid damage. Adult toothfish can grow up to two metres long, so the colossal squid is clearly a capable hunter, even in the dark.

Neither Lion nor Tiger but LIGER, Confused?

The liger is a big cat born from the cross breeding of a male lion and a female tiger. This combination produces an offspring with more lionistic features than if the reverse pairing had occured. That would produce a more tigeristic creature known as a tigon. Both are members of genus Panthera.There is no scientific name assigned to this animal because of it’s human assisted ancestory.

A liger looks like a giant lion with muted stripes but like thier tiger ancestors, ligers like swimming. This goes against the nature of a lion but is what makes creature special. It gets the best of both parents. That is not always the case though with crossbreeds. Sometimes the results go the other way and the animal gets the worst of both parents. That would suck! Enjoy the site and I hope you fall in love with the liger, even if you don’t agree with the science… remember it’s not the liger’s fault.

Male ligers are sterile but female ligers can reproduce. The 10 feet Liger who’s still growing…

On a typical day he will devour 20lb of meat, usually beef or chicken, and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting.Ligers are not able to live in the wlid,because of there huge body structure,they are not able to hide in the forest.They can't run fast as compared to lion or tiger.Normally,seen that the average speed is 50mph.Normally,they are depend on human.

Humpback Whales an endangered species

Humpback Whales are endangered species on the earth,there are only between 30,000 and 40,000 humpback whales remain in the world. This is about one-third the number of whales that originally roamed the seven seas. It is important to protect humpback whales.

 Humpback Whales belong to the group of whales known as rorquals, a group that includes the Blue Whale, Fin Whale, Bryde's Whale, Sei Whale, and Minke Whale.

Rorquals have 2 characteristics in common:

dorsal fins on their backs, and ventral pleats running from the tip of the lower jaw to the navel area.They are characterised by the possession of baleen plates for sieving the krill upon which they feed.Humpback Whales are regular visitors to the waters between Hervey Bay and Fraser Island.Many humpback whales arrive in Hervey Bay from late July and remain until November when they begin their return to the southern ocean.Mothers and calves are a common sight for whale watching visitors. Responsible cruise operators are dedicated to keeping whales off the endangered species list.Humpback whales eat krill, which is a tiny shrimp.