Thursday, November 29, 2012

Dingo

 Dingo
       
       A dingo is a wolf that mainly lives in Australia. It can survive in deserts, grasslands, and forests as long as there near water. They communicate by howling and whimpering. Barking is usually a warning signal. In warm climates they are nocturnal and in cooler climates they stay awake during the daytime. Dingos have a broad head and a pointed muzzle.There canines are long and sharp and there eyes tend to be yellow, orange, or brown. There fur's length and thickness depends on where the dingo lives. It could be sandy, reddish-brown, tan, black, light brown,and sometimes white.

A dingos diet is made up of 170 species. They eat red kangaroo, swamp wallaby, cattle, rats, geese, possum, rabbit, pig, lizards, wombat, fish, crab, beetles, seal, and even penguin. 

Dingos usually travel alone but some actually have packs made up of three to twelve.

 The causes of death for these animals are humans, crocodiles, dogs, other dingos, starvation, dehydration, snakebite, and injures during hunting. Sickness is another way. Dingos can get the same diseases as domestic dogs. 38 different kinds of parasites can be found on a dingo. this can cause canine distemper, heart worms, hook worms, lung worms, whip worms, hepatitis, ticks and lice.

  Usually dingos are very shy towards humans. But sometimes awful thing happen. Dingos were fed by humans so they got used to them. In past reports it show attacks on small children. It is now illegal to feed them

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Blue Poison Dart Frog

    Blue Poison Dart Frog

      The Blue Poison Dart Frog was discovered in 1968. It weighs about 8 grams and live up to 4 to 6 years in the wild and 10 years in captivity. Its skin color is a warning to predators around it. It has alkaloid poison covering its entire body. This poison can paralyze  and even kill its predators. The insects it eats allows it to have the poison to protect itself. Its only predator is the snake leimadphis epinephdus. This snake developed a kind of resistance to the frogs toxin. Indigenous people of Brazil use the poison to coat there arrows which can last up to two years.
                                                                      

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Golden Poison Frog

GOLDEN DART FROG

     The golden dart frog is one of the most poisonous animals on earth. It has Alkaloid poison covering its body. This poison causes nerves to stop transmitting impulses, it puts muscles in an inactive state of contraction. Which can lead to heart failure. To set one thing clear, animals like the golden dart frog are not venomous. For an animal to be venomous it has to have something to inject the venom like fangs or spikes. Poisonous animals and plants don't have those things so it relys on transference of the toxin. Unlike some animals that are poisonous it only uses its poison for self defense. The average golden dart frog contains one milligram of poison. This is enough to kill 10,000 mice, 10 to 20 humans, or 2 African bull elephants. The Embera people expose this frog to fire and collect its poison and soak there arrows in it. This can be good and deadly for up to 2 years.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Saltwater Crocodile

SALTWATER CROCODILE

     
     The saltwater crocodile is the largest reptile still living. There ranges are from Australia to Africa to even the Americas. This animal is in the least concern column. When this animal is born is can only eat little things like birds and insects and sometimes small fish. When its older it has a better variety. It can eat monkeys, kangaroos, wild boar, dingos, snakes, turtles, birds, livestock, pets, humans, water buffalo, bats, and even sharks. In 2011 a very big saltwater crocodile killed a Bengal tiger. This is the only record of this kind of attack. The only species that cross there territory that cannot be consumed or killed, at least there are no records of it, is Asian elephants and Asian rhino species. The biggest capture of a saltwater crocodile to be living was in September 2011. This crocodile was 21ft long. It was captured in the Philippines and has a possible man killer past.
It is rare for a saltwater crocodile to attack humans in Australia. There are at least 1 or 2 a year. When this happens it will most likely be on the news. Durring the Japanese retreat in the battle of Ramree Island on February 19, 1945, saltwater crocodiles may be responsible for over 400 deaths. The British soldiers had them surrounded and they had to spend the night in saltwater crocodile territory. Gustave is a saltwater crocodile that was estimated to be 60 years old in 2004. He has consumed over 300 people from the banks of Ruzizi river and Lake Tanganyika. The people in this area show much fear over him. Many attempt to find him have happened over the years. The last time he was spotted was in 2008 by National Geographic. This crocodile is known for the bullet scars that mark his body. There is one on his head and three on his right side.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Devil Horned Lizard Facts


DEVIL HORNED LIZARD

      The Devil Horned Lizard is a lizard that can reach up to eight inches and is covered by thorns on the entire upside of its body. Its camouflage colors are mainly tans,yellows,and brown. These things help protect itself from predators. They can eat thousands of ants each day. They get some water form these ants and some they get over night. At night they collect dew on there backs. Then the water is guided by the thorns to its mouth. The devil horned lizard has a strategy that helps confuse predators. When a predator is trying to eat the lizard the lizards first tactic is to run and stop really fast. If this doesn't work its second option is to make its self puff up and show off the thorns. Some of these lizards have the option to squirt blood from its eyes. This works by having the lizard build up the blood pressure in its head to make small vessels in the eyes to rupture. When this happens its blood can shoot as far as three feet. Most predators get confused at this point if they haven't already and and run away. The blood is also said to be disgusting to taste so that's another reason the predators may run away. Go here if you want to see the blood shoot.

Friday, November 9, 2012

golden tiger

GOLDEN TIGER


     The Golden tiger, also known as a golden tabby tiger or a strawberry tiger, is extremely rare. Like White tigers, they have a recessive gene that today is only found in captive tigers. Right now there are currently fewer than 30 Golden tigers in the world. The earliest records were recorded in the early 1900's. The difference between other tigers and the Golden tiger is Golden tigers have more fur, which is much softer, their striping is paler and could fade into spots or large patches. And like the White tiger they are much bigger than normal tigers. If a golden tiger is born in the wild it might have a hard time for it doesn't have good camouflage. The last known Golden tiger was shot outside of Mysore Pradesh, India, in the early 20th century.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

white tiger facts

WHITE TIGER FACTS

      The first modern discovery of  a white tiger was on May 21, 1951 in central India. It was captured by the Maharaja Martian Singh of Rewa. White tigers are much bigger than normal Bengal tigers. They weigh over 500 pounds and are over 8ft long. 
       Like most animals the threats to the white tiger is because of humans. Although it's illegal, people hunt them for their furs and body parts which can be used in traditional Chinese medicine.  Habitat destruction is another problem. One problem for the white tiger is inbreeding.                                                                                                                               
     White tigers aren't a different species of tiger. They are actually a Bengal tiger that inherited two copies of recessive genes, that control the skin pigment color. The chances  of a cub to be white is 1 in 10,000. People like to breed white tiger for money and because they thank their "saving" them. But doing this is causing problems to the offspring. These cubs most likely will have a distorted spine, mental deficiency, crossed eyes, and even a low tolerance against illnesses and disease. These problems ruin any chance for them to be released into the wild. The tiger on the left has had a mental problem since the time of his birth. 
       

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Ocelot Facts

OCELOT FACTS
     Ocelot is the best known cat in South America. Its name comes from the Mexican Aztec word tlalocelot, meaning field tiger. This cat has blotched brown spot that are outlined by black. Ocelots only have canines to help them eat. This cat sounds as if its purring and roaring at the same time. The ocelot population is only about 2,300.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

snow leopard facts

SNOW LEOPARD FACTS


Snow leopards are beautiful cats. They have soft grey coats with blotched rings that are black. These cats are hunted for there coats and organs. There organs are used in traditional Chinese medicine. For these reasons they are rare to spot. There's only 6,000 left in the wild and 370 in captivity. Unlike other cats they cannot roar or purr. They make a sort of hissing sound. 
Go here to hear what they sound like.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Clouded Leopard

CLOUDED LEOPARD FACTS

     CLOUDED LEOPARDS are rarely seen in the wild. There last estimated population was about 230 individuals and 100 in captivity. There lifespan isn't known in the wild but in captivity they live for about 17 years. Clouded leopards are the best climbers out of all wild cats. Its ancestry is closer to the saber tooth (smiledon) than any other cat. It also has the biggest and sharpest teeth.