Vole

Vole

Voles are mouselike creatures who commonly die in their first month alive. The bigger they are, the slower they die. It has been said that only 12% of voles live to see their first month. 88% die within that month. Voles can usually be found near water, but are common and are found everywhere.

One time, my Dad set out a mouse trap because we were having mouse problems- so he thought. What he caught wasn't a mouse, it was a vole that had lived to see it's second year. It's SECOND YEAR- and Dad killed it.

Litters of voles typically range from 5-10 young- so just having one pregnant vole in a yard can result in over a hundred of the little pests running back and forth in your yard and your home. How obnoxious!!!

Orca

Orca, porpoising to swim faster.

Orcas, or killer whales, are meat eaters. They commonly survive off of sea lions when in the wild, and fish when in captivity. They can be trained, but even with the best of training can backflip into old habits easily. A few trainers from SeaWorld have been killed by orcas.

Killer whales are very big. They can weigh up to 6 tonnes minimum, and their dorsal fin is as tall, if not taller, than a human. They are black and white, and from a distance are mistaken as Rosso's dolphins, or false killer whales. They have very large and sharp enamel covered teeth.

Female orcas mature at around age 15. They can then have babies. Gestation period is about a year-year1/2. Babies are fed milk until about one year old, and are then weened from it. Weening takes about one year to complete.

Peacock

Ever heard the joke about the farmers who split land and such evenly but one day a peacock sits in the middle of their fence and lays an egg? Who keeps the egg, no one does because peacocks don't lay eggs! Only peahens can lay eggs. And the babies are called peachicks. Most peahens are easily told apart from peacocks by their awful coloring. Males have extravagant colors in their feathers, and females have brown feathers.

Only green peahens look exactly like the male except for the size. Green peahens have the color (Score one for female color-deprived animals) of the males. They even have a beautiful tail fan as well. Tail fans have been thought of as a mating sign from male to female. To get the female's attention, the peacock will strut around opening and closing his feathers.

Peacocks are very strange animals. They will sleep in trees (As forests are their natural habitat,) and nest on the ground. During mating season, they will usually give off strange, high-pitched calls to one another. Peacocks are also omnivorous, and will eat almost anything from bugs to leaves to slop.

Flamingo

Flamingos are very strange birds. They usually are found standing in shallow water in Africa on one leg. This is thought to be a state of rest for half of the flamingo's body, and that when they switch, it is because the other half is resting. A more likely reason is to stir up the food near the bottom of the water so that it comes to the surface where the flamingo can easily eat it.

Flamingos have a special way of filter feeding, and can separate mud from the food they eat. If not given enough food with color, flamingos become a sickly pale salmon color. Flamingos who feed on dark colored algae are typically darker in color than the average flamingo. It has been shown that zoo flamingos are usually paler in color than ones left to feed in the wild.

Flamingos hang in flocks of up to 2000, and do this to limit predators, maximize food, and have easier nesting ground. These birds nest down in mud to hatch their young, and a spot is (as usual) chosen by the female. Groups are now split into 10-20 birds. After a few weeks, the baby birds are released into groups of other young, where they grow up without parents.

Toucan

The toucan, in reality

Our inner child....

Oh follow your nose... It always knows... la-da-da-dee-da-doo-da-da... Oops. Sorry, the toucan reminds me of froot loops... and I just watched an ad for them on youtube. Well, here is some info for you about breakfast's favorite bird. You can spot this bird from a mile away- or maybe you could just spot his beak. Toucans are known for their big, colorful beaks.

Female toucans, though shorter than males, are fatter, giving a bulky appearance. Both birds are colorful, not just the male. Feathers are typically black, with hints of red and yellow here and there. Both male and female have large beaks, sometimes which are half of their length and weight. Toucans weigh around 1.5 pounds.

Toucans are social and lazy birds. They stick in small groups, and never work for themselves. Instead of making their own home with their lousy, good-for-nothing bill, they search out the holes of laborous woodpeckers and chase them away. They also never migrate. Lazy, lazy birds!

Narwhal

Narwhal

Oh look, it's a unicorn Mummy! Only it's fat- and fishlike- and its- its- Oh. It's not a unicorn, it's a narwhal! Part of the whale family, a narwhal is easily distinguished by it's unicornlike horn. They are near threatened, no thanks to the ivory in their horns. Many people shoot and kill narwhals just for the tusk. You'd think they'd get enough from elephants!

Narwhals live in the Arctic year-round. They feed on fish and eggs, among other things, and sometimes rocks are even found in their guts from feeding near the bottom of the ocean near wintertime. How something that big can be stupid enough to ingest a rock, I don't know. But then again, my dog does the same thing, so I can't complain.

Narwhals are special in ways though. In winter, they make the deepest dives ever recorded by a sea animal, sometimes diving below 2000 feet. Guess all of those rocks in their gut help after all ... but to get back to their diving. They can stay 2000 feet below for up to 25 minutes, which doesn't include the transition up and down from the top to the bottom.

There is some interesting stories behind narwhals. Some people say they were created when a woman with the harpoon rope around her waist was dragged off to sea by the creature she caught, and transformed into a whale, and since she was wearing her hair in a twisted braid, it became the narwhals' horn. Another legend says that the horns are magical, and can cure illness. Regardless, they are still worth a TON of money.

Warthog

Warthog

And now presenting- the wild pig! Or, as we commonly know it, the warthog! This pig doesn't reside on the farm, however- it resides in sub-Saharan Africa! It is very easy to tell a warthog from a pig just by its tusks. It has 2 pairs, one on top, one on bottom. The bottom ones, more important than the top, are sharpened by grinding against the top teeth whenever the mouth opens and closes. Ouch!

Warthogs are thin, unlike their close relative, the pig. Guess that takes the fun out of saying "you pig!" when your little brother stuffs his face at the table, huh? They are light weight, and have thin fur. This makes it easier for them to stand warm weather. Their tail has no fur on it, just a little fluff at the end. The color of the fur is usually either black or brown.

Warthogs are the only pigs to cope with savanna eating. Instead of Ol' Farmer Brown's table scraps, these pigs have to rough it on whatever they can find, even bugs and eggs. Though warthogs are not territorial, they WILL defend themselves if you come to close to their den. They are like living security cameras. They even back themselves into their den so that their head faces forward, ready to awake and defend if needed.

Gestation period lasts 5-6 weeks. Before giving birth, a female warthog will completely desert her family for a new burrow, where she raises the 2-8 piglets all by herself. Warthogs have been known to take in stray piglets, especially if they have previously lost their own litter. As babies are always kept nearby, warthogs never run when there is danger around.

Bull

Bulls are the male version of cows. They play a large role in supplying beef and milk. Bulls, as males usually are, are very strong and are bigger than the female, the cow. Their bones are typically larger and thicker. They have a very strong neck, which upholds their big horns.

Being big helps them herd the females, as that is often their job. Most people make the common mistake at bullfighting games that it is the color red that angers the bull and signals it to charge. This, however, isn't true, as the bull is color blind like the rest of animals. It is actually the movement of the cape and/or flag that triggers the bull.

A copper ring is usually inserted in the bulls' nose to help keep it under control. The rings is then tied to a bull staff, which is almost always used in handling bulls. One magazine states:  "Handle [the bull] with a staff and take no chances. The gentle bull, not the vicious one, most often kills or maims his keeper". 
*Taken from Wikipedia, no copywrite infringement intended
Bulls have held a place of significance in human culture since before the beginning of recorded history. They appear in cave paintings estimated to be up to 17,000 years old. The mythic Bull of the Heavens plays a role in the ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, dating as far back as 2150 BC. The importance of the bull is reflected in its appearance in the zodiac as Taurus, and its numerous appearances in mythology, where it is often associated with fertility. In Hinduism, a bull named Nandi, usually depicted seated, is worshipped as the vehicle of the god Shiva. Symbolically, the bull appears commonly in heraldry, and, in modern times, as a mascot for both amateur and professional sports teams.

Poodle (canis lupis familiaris)

Poodles are show dogs. Though they are bred water dogs, they typically stay out of water. They easily are trained to do fancy tricks, like agility courses, jumping through hoops, etc. It has also been named best in show 2 years at the World Dog Show in 2007 and 2010.

Many poodles look very different. This is so because they, unlike other dogs, come in a few sizes: Miniature, Toy, and Standard. They also come in just about any realistic dog color you can think of ( Not pink ). They are mischievous dogs, and when they are bored tend to cause trouble. This is not good, as they are described as tempered, highly energetic dogs.

Some poodles can live up to 20 years. The oldest poodle there was died on August 26th, 1937. She was aged 28 years old. WOW. Pretty old, huh? The different death rates have been measured, and the three things that mostly kill poodles are cancer, old age, and cardiac disease. In toy and miniature poodles, the 2 main killers were old age and kidney failure.

Poodles are the least concerned with dog allergies. They often need to be bathed because of their coat, and this removes excess hair and allergens.  Many dogs have been bred with poodles to produce new breeds. These include: The goldendoodle, labradoodle, schnoodle, and pekepoos.

Liger ( Panthera Tiglon )

Liger ... or panthera tiglon!



What do you get when you mix a tiger with a lion?  A liger, of course! A liger is born when you mix a male lion with a tigress.  Ligers take their swimming skills from their mother, the tigress, and take socialism from their father, the lion. They tend to be bigger than either parent, and a male liger in India was reported to be about 800 pounds.

 The oldest recorded liger was 24 years old when she died. A rare species of liger can be produced by mating a lion with a liger. It is called a litigon.  The largest liger on record was over 1000 pounds when he died. It's horrible to think of how big the parents were, huh? If they were average sized, they probably lived their life in fear of their baby- I mean, 1000 pounds is huge!

Another rare breed of liger can be produced by mating an albino tiger and lion together. Sometimes this creates a liger without stripes, just plain white. Usually, a liger takes after its mom with the white underbelly and faint stripes. It occasionally gets rosettes from its dad. It depends on genes on if it gets a mane or not. 

Hyena

Hyenas are wild dogs. They are relatively small though. Their midsections are very small with short hind legs, and have a very decided hump on their back. They have a much wolf-like build. Spotted and striped hyenas are very different. Striped hyenas, or brown hyenas, will fake death when attacked by a lion, dingo, etc. However, spotted hyenas will attack viciously and defend themselves.

Striped and spotted hyenas are different in mating too. The striped hyena, the father, will leave after his cubs are born. He takes no part in raising them. However, the spotted hyena dad sticks around and helps the mom take care of the kids. There IS one thing that they both don't do- neither of the hyena moms regurgitate food for their young ones.

Hyenas have been known to have been man-killers ever since they were discovered, dating back B.C. Human hair has been found inside fossilized hyenas, and they have been known to attack people. Hyenas have a weird way of knowing who is weak in defense, who is sick- because this last paragraph explains that:

Hyena victims tend to usually be women, young children, and sick people. In one case, just 2 hyenas managed to kill 27 people in one spree. In another, 19 children 4 years old and under were killed. And also, in a 6-week spree, 9 other children were thought to be killed and taken away by hyenas. You definitely  don't want to cross paths with these guys when they're in a mood!!!