Leopard Cats

Despite their name, leopard cats are not closely related to the big cats known as leopards. Their common name comes from the fact that they have leopard-like spots, though the color and patterns can vary greatly over the different subspecies.

Photo: F. Spangenberg

Leopard cats can be found throughout Southeast Asia from as far north as Russia and Pakistan to the Philippines and Indonesia in the south; they are the most widely distributed of all small Asian cats. On average, leopard cats are slightly larger than most domestic cats and have longer legs.

The preferred habitat for the leopard cat is tropical or subtropical forest, though they can often be found in agricultural areas as well. They are excellent climbers and commonly rest in trees; swimming is possible as well, but leopard cats prefer to avoid water.

Photo: Pontafon

As with most small wild felines, leopard cats hunt a wide variety of birds, small rodents such as hares and shrews, as well as insects such as beetles. They are solitary animals, but males usually have larger individual ranges that overlap the ranges of several females.

Due to the tropical climate, there is no specific breeding season throughout much of the leopard cat’s range, and mating will occur any time the weather is mild enough to support newborns. Most litters consist of 2-4 kittens that will become independent after 7-10 months. Leopard cats are known to live for up to 13 years in captivity.

The Crab-Eating Fox

The crab-eating fox is a small wild canine native to northern and eastern South America in the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Most are about 2 feet in length and weigh 10-17lbs.

Photo: David Monniaux

The crab-eating fox gets its common name from its feeding habits. The fox often hunts on muddy floodplains during the rainy season, at which time crabs can make up nearly one third of its diet. Far from just a seafood lover, the crab-eating fox also hunts a variety of small rodents, lizards, amphibians and will dine on carrion whenever it is available.

Most crab-eating foxes live in mated teams and spend their leisure time resting in abandoned burrows. Crab-eating foxes pose no danger to livestock and are not actively hunted; in fact, they are known to be quite easily domesticated.

Backyard Nature - The Meadowlark

Meadowlarks are the eight species birds that make up the Sturnella genus. Though most are referred to as meadowlarks, two members of the genus are commonly called blackbirds; the red-breasted blackbird and the white-browed blackbird, though neither is closely related to other blackbirds.

Photo: Kevin Cole

The most common members of the genus throughout North America are Western and Eastern meadowlarks. They can both be identified by their yellow undersides and a prominent black “V” just below the throat. Though similar in appearance, the two species have different songs and do not hybridize regularly when their ranges overlap.

Most meadowlarks nest in fields, meadows or abandoned pastures on the ground, often in a depression if possible. These nests are made out of local material the bird can gather and sometimes have a complete roof with a tunnel leading to the nesting area. Because meadowlarks often nest in agricultural areas they can be disturbed or lose eggs to commercial mowing operations. Meadowlarks are not tolerant of a human presence and may abandon a nest if disturbed too often.

Meadowlarks are primarily insectivores, but they do also eat grains and seeds when food is scarce. Meadowlarks forage for insects on the ground by inserting their beaks into soil or a tree and using unusually strong jaw muscles to make a wider hole. This technique is called “gaping”, and allows the birds to access insects that others cannot. The meadowlark’s copious insect consumption makes its presence beneficial to both farmers and homeowners. 

The Barreleye - Spook Fish

Yes, this photo is real; this fish has a transparent head. The Pacific barreleye, AKA spook fish, is one of fourteen species of barreleye fish that can be found in tropical and subtropical waters at depths of 1,300 to 8,500 feet.

Those green orbs you see are actually the fish’s eyes. They protrude outside the skull but are encased inside a transparent dome. Though they can be aimed forward, the eyes are usually pointed up searching for the silhouette of prey (usually small zooplankton) in near total darkness.

Photo credits: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

The Tomato Frog

This appropriately-named frog may look somewhat like a tomato, but the tomato frog is not an animal anyone - or any snake would want to eat.

Tomato frogs are native to the island of Madagascar where they feed on a variety of larvae and insects. If the tomato frog is threatened it will puff itself up into a ball to appear larger. If a predator attempts to eat the frog anyway, it will secrete a glue-like substance from its skin. This toxin will begin to gum up the predator’s mouth and eyes, forcing it to release the frog. Though this substance is not deadly, it can take several days for a snake to clean it out of its mouth. 

The Gray Whale - Bottom Feeder

At 40 feet in length and weighing up to 40 tons, gray whales certainly look similar to other giant whales such as the humpback and blue whale. However, gray whales feed in a manner that it very different from other baleen whales.

Instead of teeth, most large whales have comb-like plates in their mouths called baleen. These plates are made from a material that is similar to human hair and fingernails, and serve to trap small animals such as plankton and krill between their rows when the whale feeds.

Baleen plates

Whereas other baleen whales feed by swimming through schools of plankton with their mouths agape, the gray whale feeds by diving to the sea floor, turning on its right side and scooping sediment into its mouth. The tiny crustaceans and tubeworms in the sediment become entangled in the baleen plates, and then the water and sand in the whale’s mouth can be expelled. Being as almost all gray whales feed by turning on their right sides, it is common for older whales to lose sight in their right eyes due to damage from the sea floor.

The Hyrax

Though the hyrax may seem to resemble a rodent or guinea pig, it is actually more closely related to elephants.

Yellow-spotted rock hyrax

Hyraxes can trace their history back some 37 million years, and in prehistoric times were dominant animals in Africa. The largest of these ancient animals were nearly the size of horses, but over time began to be pushed out of their ecological niche by more advanced animals such as antelope. Today there are four living species of hyrax, most of which are between 1-2 feet long, weighing 5-11lbs.

Western tree hyrax

Hyraxes are herbivores that feed on a variety of grasses, shrubs, fruits, and berries. Unlike more highly-evolved mammals, hyraxes have poor thermoregulation abilities, meaning they are unable to completely regulate their body temperatures. Like reptiles, hyraxes must bask in the sun upon emerging in the morning to warm up before becoming active.

Rock hyrax basking in the sun

Hyraxes live in herds of up to 80 individuals and must defend themselves against a large variety of African predators such as leopards, eagles, and cobras. Despite these dangers, hyraxes are not considered endangered, and are numerous enough to be considered pests in some areas due to their noisy nature.

Axolotl – The Salamander that Never Grows Up

Most salamanders are born as aquatic animals without legs or lungs and must undergo a metamorphosis to develop these essential body parts on their way to becoming land-dwelling adults. While the shape, size and characteristics of adults vary greatly over the roughly 500 species of salamanders, most undergo dramatic changes from birth to adulthood.

However, one salamander native to a few Mexican lakes never really grows up; the axolotl. Even after reaching adulthood axolotls still remain aquatic with gills and underdeveloped legs, usually resembling the larval stage of several other salamanders that eventually grow to live on land such as waterdogs.

Though there are other salamanders that keep their youthful shapes throughout life, the axolotl is the only species that is able to transform itself into a land-dwelling salamander with working limbs and lungs if conditions warrant. In most cases this will never happen, however if the animal’s water habitat starts to slowly drain and it is no longer able to submerge itself, it can transform in a matter of weeks. Scientists have also been able to induce this by injecting captive axolotls with iodine.

Though many exist in captivity, the axolotl is critically endangered in the wild. Lake Chalco, one of its two native habitats, has already been drained. The only remaining body of water in which it lives, Lake Xochimilco, has been largely drained and heavily polluted by the growth of Mexico City; though a protected area on the lake has been established to hopefully save this very unique animal. 

Marmots, Groundhogs & Rock Chucks

Marmots are large ground squirrels of the Marmota genus. There are 14 species of marmots split among two sub-genera. The marmota sub-genus contains all European and Asian marmots as well as the American woodchuck (or groundhog). The remaining American marmots, sometimes referred to as rock chucks, are contained within the petromarmota sub-genus.

Yellow bellied marmot

Marmots can be found throughout North America, Europe and Asia in mountainous regions such as the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Himalayas and the Carpathians up to elevations of 14,000 feet. The one exception to this is the woodchuck, a lowland-dwelling marmot found in the eastern United States and most of Canada.

Woodchuck

Most marmots can be up to 22 inches in length and weigh 7-18lbs. Fur color differs by species and molting occurs each spring. Marmots usually live in self-dug burrows, or in the case of the yellow-bellied marmot, under rock piles; they hibernate 7-8 months out of the year.

Marmots are primarily herbivores and eat a wide variety of plants, flowers and seeds. However they have been known on rare occasions to eat insects as well. .

The Alpine marmot of central and southern Europe

Marmots are social animals and usually live either in mated pairs or in a harem consisting of one breeding male, several female mates and their young. They communicate with each other using a variety of visual and audio signals such as whistles, screams and tooth chattering. Scent glands are also used for territorial marking and conflict resolution between males.

Marmots usually mate and give birth in the spring after emerging from hibernation. Litters of four are average, and all will be expected to disperse and find their own territories at one year of age.

What is a Sloth Bear?

Despite its confusing name, the sloth bear is not a sloth. A member of the bear family, this animal gets its name from its long and thick claws, and the fact that it lacks upper middle incisor teeth, both sloth-like traits.

Sloth bears have a total body length of 5-6 feet and weigh 120-310lbs, with males being slightly larger than females. They can be identified by their shaggy brown coats, white muzzles, and a splash of white fur on their chests in the shape of a “Y”, “O”, or “U”. Sloth bears are native to India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal; their range has shrunk considerably in recent decades due to habitat loss.

Sloth bears are primarily solitary and nocturnal. They spend their nights feeding on termites and ants, using their massive claws to rip apart nest mounds or rotting logs, then sucking the insects into their mouths between the gaps in their front teeth. This whole process is very noisy, and the slurping can be heard over 300 feet away! In addition to insects, sloth bears are known for climbing trees to eat honeycomb as well as a variety of fruits and flowers.

Despite their preferred diet of bugs, sloth bears have a reputation for being aggressive animals and are still illegally hunted in India. Although altercations between sloth bears and humans have occurred, these animals are usually not a threat unless confronted, and their noisy habits make them quite easy to steer clear of.