Mountain Goat Mortality Rates

The mortality rate of mountain goats is rather high.

Picture from Outdoors International

It is a struggle for mountain goats to survive in such high alpine regions, resulting in an average 60-70 percent mortality rate within the first year of life.  By the second year the rate drops to 50 percent.  Avalanches, falls, predators, parasites and stressful winter conditions are the main causes of death in mountain goats.

Otter Eating Habits

Otters sometimes use tools to hunt and catch their prey.

Picture from Archies

An otter will sometimes use rocks to smash open clams, mussels, or other small shellfish. They also will sometimes dive up to 330 feet to find their prey.  Adult sea otters can eat 25 to 30 percent of their body weight per day in order to stay warm. Feeding is a very important activity for sea otters, and occurs mainly in the morning and afternoon.

Lazy Lounging Lions

Lions lie around for approximately 21 hours a day.

  

Picture from San Diego Zoo

A lion has a busy schedule of sleeping, napping and resting.  In a 24 hour period, a lion will have several short bursts of intense activity, following by long periods of rest.  A lot of the times you will find lions sleeping in trees, or in a crazy pose, like on their backs with their feet in the air.

A lion’s life is filled with sleeping, napping, and resting. Over the course of 24 hours, lions have short bursts of intense activity, followed by long bouts of lying around that total up to 21 hours! Lions are good climbers and often rest in trees, perhaps to catch a cool breeze or to get away from flies. Researchers have often noticed lions lying around in crazy poses, such as on their backs with their feet in the air or legs spread wide apart! - See more at: http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/lion#sthash.ZHZR68FM.dpuf

A lion’s life is filled with sleeping, napping, and resting. Over the course of 24 hours, lions have short bursts of intense activity, followed by long bouts of lying around that total up to 21 hours! Lions are good climbers and often rest in trees, perhaps to catch a cool breeze or to get away from flies. Researchers have often noticed lions lying around in crazy poses, such as on their backs with their feet in the air or legs spread wide apart! - See more at: http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/lion#sthash.ZHZR68FM.dpuf

A lion’s life is filled with sleeping, napping, and resting. Over the course of 24 hours, lions have short bursts of intense activity, followed by long bouts of lying around that total up to 21 hours! Lions are good climbers and often rest in trees, perhaps to catch a cool breeze or to get away from flies. Researchers have often noticed lions lying around in crazy poses, such as on their backs with their feet in the air or legs spread wide apart! - See more at: http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/lion#sthash.ZHZR68FM.dpuf

Killer Whales: Powerful Predators

An Orca, or killer whale as they are often known, is one of the most powerful predators in the world.

Picture from National Geographic

They feast on marine life such as seals, sea lions, fish, squid, sea birds and sometimes even whales.  They have been known to grab seals right off the ice.  They make use of their teeth that can be up to four inches long to snag their prey.

Long Live The Komodo Dragon

The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard in the World!

Picture from Earth Times

There are over 3,000 lizard species in the world, but the Komodo dragon is the largest living one.  It's ancestors date back more than 100 million years.  They were an unknown species until discovered in 1912.

Huge Humpback Whales

It's hard to tell the size of a humpback whale due to the fact that we never get too close to them, however, for comparison's sake, a humpback whale is about the size of a city bus.

Picture from The Sea Monster

Fully grown, most humpback whales measure 40 to 50 feet in length and weigh between 20 and 40 tons.  Females are slightly larger than males and newborn calves are roughly the length of their mother's head.

Hedgehog Health Problems

Hedgehogs suffer from many diseases common to humans, including cancer and fatty liver disease.

Picture from Rose City Hedgehogs

Cancer is very common in hedgehogs. The most common is squamous cell carcinoma which spreads quickly from the bone to the organs in hedgehogs, unlike in humans.  Fatty liver disease is believed by many to be caused by bad diet. Hedgehogs are known to eat foods that are high in fat and sugar. Having a metabolism adapted for low-fat, protein-rich insects, this leads to common problems of obesity.

Roadrunner's Dating & Mating Bribery

 Food is an important component of the mating ritual for roadrunners.

 Picture from Birding Information

Courtship behavior between roadrunners involve the male’s foot pursuit of the female, with frequent rests. The male will tempt the female with a morsel such as a lizard or snake dangling from its beak. If the female accepts the offered food, the pair will probably mate. Often times roadrunners will mate for life.

Grazing Gazelles

A gazelle's diet consists of grass, scrub and leaves keeps them constantly grazing.

Picture from Bite

The Grant’s gazelle obtains the moisture it needs from its food, so they have little use for water.  It has unusually large salivary glands, possibly an adaptation for secreting fluid to cope with a relatively dry diet.

Dense Dove Population

The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America.

 Picture from All About Birds

Every year hunters harvest more than 20 million mourning doves, but the it remains one of the most abundant birds with a U.S. population estimated at 350 million.  They are at least part-time residents throughout the entire continent as well as Central America, and live year-round in most of the United States.