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.
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.
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.
Though not as large as some domesticated cattle, gaur are the largest wild cattle on earth. In fact, the only land animals that regularly grow heavier than gaur are elephants, rhinos and hippos. The largest male gaur can be ten feet long, stand over six feet tall at the shoulders and weigh well over 4,000lbs!
Gaur are mostly dark brown in color with older bulls appearing nearly black. Males can be identified by the large dorsal ridge on their backs which can extend several inches higher than the rump. Both sexes feature horns that can be over two feet long connected on the head by a grey ridge of fur.
Once common throughout most of southern Asia, gaur populations have seriously declined and fragmented over the last fifty years. Overhunting, poaching and destruction of habitat are the main causes of this, leading to these animals currently being classified as vulnerable and nearly endangered. Their current ranges included portions of India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
Gaur are not known to be particularly aggressive animals and rarely fight even amongst themselves. Fully grown males are far too large for any natural predator except for tigers, and have even been known to kill tigers in self defense. However, herds near human populations can be short tempered towards both humans and livestock animals.
Like any large city, Moscow is home to a lot of stray animals. Amongst a population of over eleven million humans exists an estimated 35,000 stray dogs; and some have adapted especially well to life in the urban jungle.
Just as their wolf ancestors learned the best hunting routes over time, some Moscow strays have learned to use the city’s massive subway system to commute to the urban core where the best food begging opportunities exist.
Strays in Moscow have traditionally lived in large industrial complexes that provide plenty of shelter with little human disturbance. When Russian capitalists elected to move these industrial areas from the city’s center to its outskirts to make room for restaurants and other private businesses in the 1990’s, the dogs moved along with them.
However, this created a problem as the dogs were now required to live many miles from the best food sources. The smartest strays solved this quandary by learning to use the subway to commute to the city each day, allowing them to live where they want without giving up begging opportunities.
Not only are these dogs tolerated by commuters, they are actually celebrated by some. They are not aggressive and usually allow people to pet them or sit next to them. After all, being polite is the first step to getting a handout. These dogs are so beloved by some that there is even a subway dog statue honoring them.
Once the dogs have reached the appropriate stop, they’ll exit the train and go to work searching for a meal in the streets above. They do this by either scaring people into dropping their food by sneaking up behind an unwary target and barking, or by simply acting so cute and nonthreatening that it’s irresistible to offer them a bite.
At the end of a hard day the subway dogs will descend the stairs, find the right train and get in a nice nap for the ride back home.
Wildlife officials had originally planned to leave the young penguin alone in the hopes that his natural instincts would guide him back home. However, intervention was deemed necessary after the confused bird ingested over 7 pounds of beach sand and sticks, likely mistaking it for the snow he would usually eat to stay hydrated.
After being transported to the Wellington Zoo, the penguin, affectionately named Happy Feet, underwent three medical procedures to remove debris from his stomach and had since been living in a special temporary habitat while he regained weight and strength.
Today, Happy Feet is finally headed home as a passenger aboard the New Zealand oceanic research ship Tangaroa. An iced-down compartment and a diet of fish will keep him comfortable on the four day journey back to his native range. He will be released into the water by using a special slide or inflatable boat depending on his mood and the weather.
Fans of Happy Feet shouldered much of the cost of the penguin’s two month stay, donating over $28,000 to cover care and feeding costs. Happy Feet is currently wearing a GPS tracking device to allow scientists to keep tabs on his progress. As emperor penguins can live for up to 50 years, we are all wishing Happy Feet a long and happy life back home.
Arctic terns may be considered seabirds, but they don’t spend very much time on the ground. In a single year an arctic tern may fly over 44,000 miles, an amazing but necessary feat for a bird that spends its summers and winters on opposite ends of the earth. Arctic terns may fly over 1.5 million miles in their 20+ year lifetimes.
During the northern summer arctic terns can be found throughout coastal regions of northern Europe, Asia and North America nesting. Once the northern winter draws near, the terns will set out for their southern home in Antarctica. Because they fly with prevailing winds, the journey south may be up to 14,000 miles long. Whereas terns will stay on coastal land during the northern summer, they spend their time in Antarctica on and around pack ice during the rare times they’re not in the air.
Arctic terns are primarily carnivores and feed most often on small varieties of fish such as herring and cod, usually diving down to the surface to snatch the fish out of the water. In addition, they will also feed on crustaceans, berries and insects during the northern summer.
Once they have reached their third or fourth year of life arctic terns will begin breeding; pairs will usually mate for life. Chicks are born after about a month of incubation and must quickly learn to fly and hunt before making the long trek south for the winter. It is likely that all birds in the family will return to the same nesting site for the rest of their lives.
The most common venomous snake in the eastern half of the United States is known by many names. Depending on the region you’re in you may hear it referred to as the highland moccasin, the death adder, chunk head, pilot snake or red snake; but most often it is called the copperhead, and it may live in your backyard.
Copperheads are a species of pit viper and are related to North American rattlesnakes and moccasins. Growing to a maximum length of about three feet, copperheads are amongst the smallest North American vipers. Coloration varies from brown to pinkish tan in color with 10-18 distinct crossbands that are light tan to pale brown in the center and darker towards the edges. They do not have rattles on their tails like many other pit vipers.
Copperheads can usually be found in forested areas and are particularly common near rock outcroppings and ledges in mixed woodlands. Though primarily nocturnal during hot weather, copperheads are active during the day whenever the weather cools. During the winter months they can be found in dens often under ledges. These dens are sometimes shared with other species of snakes, even larger vipers such as timber rattlesnakes.
Most venomous snakes strongly prefer to avoid confrontations with animals that are too large for them to eat. Their venom is a precious commodity and they prefer not to waste it on anything that won’t become a meal. If threatened, a pit viper’s first reaction is usually to flee. If this is not possible, most vipers attempt to make their presence known to the intruder through either an audio display (a rattlesnake shaking its rattles) or a visual display (a cottonmouth opening its jaw to show its fangs). These actions are usually enough to convince a hiker (or deer) to choose another route.
However, the copperhead isn’t like most other vipers. Instead of making its presence known to an intruder, a copperhead that is unable to flee will usually stay motionless, using its camouflaged coloring to make itself nearly impossible to see on the forest floor. This often leads to hikers unknowingly stepping on the snake and provoking it to bite.
As common as copperhead bites are, they are usually not life-threatening. Many self-defense bites are “dry bites” in which little or no venom is injected. Even if the bite is venomous, the copperhead’s venom is considerably weaker than that of most vipers, and use of an antivenin is usually not required. However, fatalities can occur and immediate medical attention should be sought for any copperhead bite.
Though most people probably picture a wild tiger living in a warm climate, the largest of cats, the Siberian tiger, actually lives somewhere much colder.
The Siberian tiger is almost identical to the now-extinct Caspian tiger that was present across most of central Asia until recently. Caspian tigers were hunted aggressively during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries throughout Russia and China as forests were converted to farmland. The last confirmed Caspian tiger sightings occurred in the 1950’s, though unconfirmed reports still occur in the Middle East.
The current Siberian tiger can only be found in the birch forests of eastern Siberia, far northeastern China and North Korea. The wild population is estimated to be around 500 individuals. It is thought that they continue to exist in these areas because of the low human population density.
At nearly four feet tall at the shoulders and weighing nearly 700lbs, Siberian tigers are taller and heavier than Bengal tigers. They grow shaggy winter coats to deal with cold temperatures and tend to be less brightly colored than other tigers.
The Siberian tiger is an apex predator that feeds almost exclusively on red deer and wild boar. Both black and brown bears are occasionally hunted, but this is very rare. Brown bears have been known to hunt Siberian tigers as well; an equally rare occurrence. Siberian tigers also occur in the same habitat as wolves, though wolf populations tend to be much sparser in areas where the tiger is present.
Photo: Jelenia Sika
Despite their massive size, attacks by Siberian tigers on humans are rare. They are known to be extremely solitary animals that prefer to avoid human interaction. Most attacks throughout history have been either by wild tigers that were provoked or captive-raised tigers that did not possess an instinctual fear of humans.
The vaquita holds the distinction of being both the smallest and rarest marine mammal in the world. Also referred to as the desert porpoise or gulf porpoise, the vaquita (Spanish for “little cow”) lives only in the northern half of the Gulf of California, the small wedge of ocean between mainland Mexico and Baja, California.
Vaquitas are less than five feet long and weigh about 100lbs as adults. They are smaller but similar in appearance to the better known harbor porpoise, with their most distinctive feature being the dark circles around their eyes and dark coloration around their mouths. They live in much shallower and warmer water than other porpoises and appear to swim and feed leisurely on a variety of small fish and squid.
Illustration: William Shepard
Vaquitas are critically endangered. From 1997 to 2008 the vaquita population dropped from an estimated 500 animals to fewer than 200. Though they have no natural enemies in their isolated habitat and have never been actively hunted, vaquitas are extremely prone to becoming entangled in gillnets used for commercial fishing. Conservationists and government agencies from Mexico, the United States and Canada are currently working together to establish vaquita sanctuaries and limit commercial fishing to save this unique animal from extinction.
