It's a Monster! A Gila Monster

With a name like the Gila monster, this is one lizard you would expect to be fearsome, and in some respects you would be right. For one, the Gila monster is the largest land lizard in the United States and can reach lengths of up to two feet. It’s also one of only a handful of venomous lizards in the world.

Although the Gila monster might look and sound scary, it’s really not all that dangerous. Named for the Gila River basin in Arizona where they were first discovered, these lizards spend the majority of their lives underground in abandoned mammal burrows. They only emerge sporadically to feed and can survive on as little as five meals per year. The Gila monster mainly eats eggs and small mammals, secreting venom through its teeth while chewing to stun its prey.

Despite their venom and large size, Gila monsters pose almost no threat to humans. On the rare occasions that they are above ground they are extremely slow-moving. Bites can be painful, but rarely occur unprovoked. Gila monster venom is powerful, but is produced in much smaller amounts than snake venom; it is rarely fatal to humans.

Their fearsome size and venomous reputation has led to many Gila monsters being unnecessarily killed. This, combined with loss of habitat due to urban sprawl has led to the Gila monster becoming a species on the cusp of being endangered.

The Great Horned Owl

As the leaves start to change and autumn begins to arrive in North America, one of the most common and haunting woodland sounds is the mating call of the great horned owl.

Photo: Arthur Morris

Though they can be heard as year-round residents throughout North and South America, great horned owls begin calling to potential mates as early as October in North America. The mating call is slightly quicker than the usual “ho-ho-hoo hoo hoo” call heard at other times and is often done as a duet, with the higher-pitched female’s call overlapping that of her mate’s.

Because they are nocturnal, great horned owls are heard much more often than they are seen. They are quite intimidating birds in both size and appearance, with five foot wingspans and large, yellow eyes.

Great horned owls are fearsome hunters that prey on a large variety of animals including rabbits, birds, other owls and even reptiles as large as small alligators! With spectacular binocular vision and superb hearing that can pinpoint the location of sounds, great horned owls are perfectly adapted to hunting at night. Their massive talons have over three times more crushing strength than a human’s hand, allowing them to take prey much larger than themselves.

The World's Smallest Monkeys

At only about six inches long and weighing four ounces, pygmy marmosets (also called Finger Monkeys) are the smallest true monkeys in the world.

Baby pygmy marmosets. Photo: FactZoo.

Native to mature evergreen forests in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, pygmy marmosets are usually found in areas near streams or floodplains. Although they are primarily tree-dwellers, pygmy marmosets rarely venture higher than 65 feet into the upper part of the forest canopy.

Pygmy marmosets feed primarily on tree sap and gum. They have sharp incisors and claw-like fingernails to dig into tree bark and access untapped sources of food. Other food sources include butterflies, moths, beetles and ants.

Photo: Pablo Yépez

Pygmy marmosets are extremely social animals that feed and sleep together. Communal roosts consisting of tangles of vines and branches in trees function as sleeping sites. These marmosets spend their daylight hours feeding together in the mornings, midday’s and evenings with bouts of play, rest and grooming in between.

Despite their small size and undeniable cuteness, pygmy marmosets do not make good pets, as they do bite and throw feces. The species is currently not endangered, but as with all rainforest animals they do face threats from habitat loss.

Anoles - The Chameleons that Aren't

The anole is a lizard that can climb walls like a gecko and change colors like a chameleon, but it isn’t closely related to either.

Green anole with dewlap extended.

Found throughout the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, anoles represent a family of lizards in the Iguana suborder. There are over 300 known species of these lizards, several of which have been introduced to non-native areas. The most well-known species, the Carolina anole, has been driven out of much of its native range due to competition from the introduced brown anole.

Brown anole

Anoles can be found living in trees and shrubs from ground level up to twenty feet high in warm climates. Their diet of insects makes them ideal natural pest controllers, and at less than seven inches long, anoles are not dangerous or aggressive towards humans.

Most anoles are green or brown in color and can change their pigmentation based upon mood. For example, the Carolina anole, usually bright green, can change to a dark brown color if distressed. Males have large dewlaps on their throats which they can inflate for courtship purposes.  Most anoles live 4-8 years in the wild and up to 14 years if raised in captivity.

Surfing with Sharks

Some pictures taken in San Diego last weekend may be a little bit shocking for those with a fear of sharks. They show surfers waiting to catch a wave just a few feet away from what scientists agree is a 12 foot great white.

Lifeguards at the beach originally dismissed the sighting as a duck-diving surfer, but as these photographs were studied more closely it became apparent that it was a shark after all.

While great white sharks can certainly be dangerous to humans, fatalities from shark attacks are extremely rare and great whites do not purposefully hunt humans for food.

Since 1670 there have only been 43 fatal shark attacks in the United States. Surfers and swimmers are statistically more likely to be struck by lightning or win the lottery than be attacked by a great white shark.

All photos via.

World Record Steer

The Ankole-Watusi, a breed of cattle native to Africa, is not particularly large for a cow. Usually weighing no more than 1,600lbs, many cattle breeds can grow larger and heavier. What makes Watusi cattle distinctive are their large, usually upswept horns that are used for self defense. And although many breeds of cattle have horns, none have ever topped those of a Watusi steer named Lurch in terms of sheer mass.

Photo: Rocky Ridge Refuge

Lurch was adopted at 5 weeks old in 1995 by Janice Wolf, founder of the wonderful Rocky Ridge Animal Refuge in Arkansas. By the time he had reached three years of age Lurch had already broken the Guinness World Record for largest horn circumference, but he wasn’t done growing. Before his passing in 2010 Lurch’s horns had exceeded 38 inches in circumference and measured nearly eight feet tip to tip. It is estimated that each horn weighed over 100lbs.

Photo: Rocky Ridge Refuge

To find out more about Lurch and the Rocky Ridge Refuge where he spent his life you can visit their website.

Backyard Nature - The Whitetail Deer

By far the most common large animal in North America is the whitetail deer. Now a regular sight in all but five U.S. states, the whitetail was surprisingly once much less numerous. Due to overhunting and deforestation, whitetail deer only numbered about 300,000 in the 1930s. Since then, large-scale conservation efforts and strict hunting regulations have seen whitetail populations soar to a current estimate of 30 million in the United States alone.

Part of the reason for the whitetail’s success has to do with its adaptability. These deer are capable of eating a wide variety of grasses, legumes, fruits and vegetables; even some that are poisonous to other animals. Though once confined mainly to forested areas, loss of habitat due to agriculture and urban sprawl has forced the whitetail to adapt to life in more open areas, even moving into the territory of its close cousin the mule deer in its eastern range.

Another reason whitetails thrive is because they have few natural predators. Large carnivores such as gray wolves and mountain lions have been forced into extinction in the eastern United States, and the remaining coyotes, bobcats and lynxes are too small to prey on adult deer. The only current means of whitetail population control is their popularity as a game animal.

Of course, the massive increases in both whitetail deer and human populations over the last 80 years have made interactions between the two species quite common. Deer are frequently spotted in suburban areas, and are all-too-often involved in vehicle collisions. According to the CDC, there were 247,000 deer-vehicle collisions in the United States in the year 2000 alone, resulting in over one billion dollars in property damage.

Fall marks the beginning of the mating season for whitetail deer, and is traditionally the time of year when they are most often spotted crossing roadways, often around dusk. Especially in autumn, motorists are urged to pay attention to deer crossing signs, use their high beams whenever possible and keep a sharp eye out on the road for these beautiful animals.

Flying Squirrels - Animal Hang Gliders

Despite their name, flying squirrels not actually capable of powered flight. Instead, they use a furry patch of skin between their wrists and ankles as a sort of parachute, allowing them to glide hundreds of feet between trees.

There are 44 species of flying squirrel spread throughout almost every temperate climate in the world. Though habitats vary by species, most can be found in woodland areas where tall trees can help the squirrels avoid ground-based predators.

Unlike ground squirrels and tree squirrels, flying squirrels are almost completely nocturnal. This behavior is one of necessity as they are unable to escape from large birds of prey such as hawks and eagles during the day. However, they are still exposed to predation from several species of owls at night.

Flying squirrels are omnivorous and vary their diet based upon what is available. Common food sources include many types of nuts, fungi and berries as well as small insects and bird eggs. Like all squirrels, flying squirrels do not hibernate and can live in dens of up to 50 individuals during cold winter months, usually in hollowed out trees or abandoned bird nests.

Conching - The Dolphin Version of a Spork?

It’s well documented that dolphins are among the smartest animals in the world, but bottlenose dolphins in Australia’s Shark Bay may be taking tool use to a whole new level.

Photo: Murdoch University

The picture above shows a dolphin doing what scientists call “conching”. Basically, the dolphins will turn over these large conches on the sea floor, making an attractive habitat for small fish. Once the fish swims inside, the dolphin will carry the conch to the surface and tilt the shell back, emptying the water out and dropping the fish directly into its mouth.

Though this hunting technique has been observed for several years, the frequency at which it is happening has increased dramatically since last May, leading Murdoch University researchers to believe that more dolphins are learning how to do it from watching their friends. If this is the case, it would be the first documented case of a learned behavior spreading this quickly in marine mammals.

Source.

Tapirs - Not Your Average Ungulates

Though they are similar in appearance to pigs, tapirs are actually most closely related to rhinoceroses and horses. There are four living tapir species, all with similar trunk-like prehensile snouts that are capable of gripping items. The Baird’s, Mountain, and Brazilian tapir are all native to South or Central America; the Malayan tapir is only found in Thailand and Sumatra.

Baird's tapir - Photo by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen

Tapirs are the largest land mammals in South America and can weigh more than 800lbs. They live mainly in forests, and all except the Mountain tapir usually live close to water. Despite their bulky builds, tapirs are excellent swimmers and spend much of their time in the water cooling off, feeding or hiding from predators.

Tapirs are foragers and eat a large variety of terrestrial and aquatic plants, fruits and berries. Their extended snouts can be used to strip plants and pluck certain berries. When on land the majority of this feeding is done on well-worn forest trails, usually leading to a water source.

Malayan tapir - Photo by Sasha Kopf

Tapirs are very solitary animals; other than when mating or rearing young they will spend most of their lives in complete isolation. Tapirs can begin reproducing at 3-5 years of age, but with a gestation time of up to 400 days, reproduction only occurs every two years or so. However, tapirs are fairly long-lived, and even in the wild can live over 30 years.

Baby tapirs are covered in spots and stripes.

Due to their imposing size, tapirs have few predators. Big cats such as tigers and leopards have been known to hunt them, but this is rare. Other occasional predators include American crocodiles and anacondas.

Due to hunting and habitat loss, all species of tapir are currently considered vulnerable or endangered.