Snapping Turtle

The snapping turtle's face matches it's temper perfectly- snappy and harmful! It attacks anything that disturbs it, and can snap a broom handle in half with one bite. These turtles are found in North America, and prefer calm, muddy water to live in. Maybe this contributes to their mood- if I had to live in muddy water, I'd be pretty crabby too!

These nasty turtles eat fish and waterfowl, and are very snappy. They should never be handled without extreme caution. The way a snapping turtle lures food to itself is it attracts them with it's long, pink, wormlike tongue. Then, the fish automatically think "food", and get eaten promptly.

As for the mating season of the snapping turtle, they are active from April to November, though they often mate in the warmer months. While they are most comfortable in the water, they lay their eggs on land far away from the water. The female turtle makes a nest, often in sand or dirt, and lays 20-40 eggs there. Unfortunately, 84% of the nests are destroyed by racoons and other predators looking for an easy meal. The eggs that do make it through hatch after around 95 days, and then make their way to water.

Fun Fact: There is a stage during the egg's development where incubation is crucial to determine whether the egg will be a boy or a girl. Cooler and unincubated eggs are boys, and warm and incubated eggs are girls.

Gecko

There are 1500 different species of gecko, or gekkota. The smallest ever discovered, Jaragua Sphaero, is less then two centimeters long (though the largest in that species was just over 60 centimeters). The largest species, the Kawekaweau, found in New Zealand is now extinct. The word gecko comes from an ancient language word 'gekoq'. While it is not in our dictionary today, it IS the sound that geckos make when interacting with other lizards of their species.

Some geckos are poisonous and can defend themselves, but what about your average gecko? Many geckos do not defend themselves by attack, but by distraction and escape. Almost all geckos can detach their tail and live. The tail, after it is removed, wriggles on the ground for a minute, giving the gecko a chance to escape while the predator is fooled by the tail.

The tail regrows after time, but only in cartilage, not bone like the original tail. Most geckos, after the predator is gone, will return to see if their tail is still there. If it is, the creature will eat it to store its nutrients for times when food is scarce. Geckos also do this when they shed their skin- they eat it for nutrients.

Geckos, unlike most lizards, are very friendly with humans and most people like them, as they love to eat mosquitoes and many other bugs. They have very special toe pads, and can climb up and vertical surface, as long as it is smooth. They can even, to the amazement of many, walk across ceilings with no problem!

As for gecko mating season, geckos can sometimes reproduce WITHOUT mating! A female can reproduce without a male- but only with a genetic disorder that leaves her prone to many diseases, illnesses, and a shorter lifespan. The eggs take 40-60 days to hatch, and after that, a year before the cycle starts all over again. The babies learn to survive without any help from the mother.

Stargazer Fish

The stargazer fish is a very ugly fish. The reason I have decided to blog about it is because it has been recently identified as the "Ugly Monster Fish" found. It was described in the article as "one fish you wouldn't want to mess with", and I agree.

The stargazer, though it sounds like a fancy type of fairy, really is an ugly, poisonous and electric fish. YIKES! The fish has eyes on the top of it's head (Hence it's name) and a big, gaping mouth that covers most of its face.

While stargazers are not endangered and can be found in most shallow waters of the world, they are rarely ever seen, let alone caught by humans. This is because stargazers burrow themselves down in sand, and attack fish that swim above. The eyes on top of their heads come in handy for this reason. Since stargazers are a muddy brown, they are not usually seen by humans.

These fish are very sneaky. Not only do they have good camouflage, but they have a worm like lure growing out of the bottom of their tongue that they can waggle to get their prey's attention. When a fish comes over to investigate- CHOMP!

These fish can get pretty big, too... from 18cm to 90cm. Here is a picture of the monster that was recently captured:

Lionfish

What is a lionfish?
Lionfish are a grumpy looking type of fish with long dorsal fins that warns you to keep away from them- and for good reason. If anything gets to close to a lionfish, it will inject a poison into the animal/human.

While the venom is fatal to most small animals, it is not to humans, but will cause nausea and breathing difficulties. Lionfish are red and white striped, and look very pretty. Their fins also have these stripes, and are always very long. They are nicknamed the "turkey fish".

Where can lionfish be found?
Well, lionfish can be found in the water, of course. But to be more specific, lionfish are native to the reefs and rocky crevices of the Indo-Pacific. However, over time lionfish have spread their population and have moved into warmer reefs. In some parts of the world, lionfish are valued as food, but are more prized as aquarium trade.

They are easy to find, and they are always growing in population, and have started moving into the US. This causes some concern among people who worry that these dangerous fish pose environmental dangers. I wouldn't be too scared- these fish stay in the water and can only grow up to be 1 foot long.

The Silky Anteater

Silky Anteaters are exactly their name- ant eaters! These slow, slothlike creatures' main and only source of food are ants. Normal Anteaters use their long, trunklike nose to consume the ants and suck them out of their hills, but the silky anteater has a short snout, and nibbles on ants instead.

Anteaters are very slow creatures, as I mentioned above- luckily their food is NOT very fast and is usually found in swarms. Your average anteater consumes about 5,000 ants every day.

Silky anteaters can be found in Central and South America. They are the smallest member of the anteater family, and are very hard to spot. In fact, it is very rare that you see them, as they are an endangered species, very small, and are nocturnal.

These tiny creatures can only grow up to be 1 foot long and typically weigh 14 oz- smaller than your average bottle of soda. Their small size definitely adds to their cuteness factor- but they have other cute points too, such as their gorgeous gold/tan colored fur and tiny snout. They have the tail of a monkey and live in the canopy of rainforests. This is another one of the things that makes this animal so unique- most anteaters live on the ground.

Fire Ant

Fire ants are probably one of the more dangerous yet un-noticed insects there are- because they are often mistaken for normal ants. The only differences between regular ants and fire ants are their coloring and hill size. Normal ants are black in color and have relatively small hills, only about and inch or two tall. Fire ants are usually a reddish brown color and have hills that grow up to over a foot tall.



So what's so dangerous about a fire ant?

Well, let's start with the name. They must be called FIRE ANTS for a reason, right? While a normal ant will typically flee at the sight of a human, fire ants are very feisty and aggressive. They will attack you if you get too close to them, and automatically attack anyone who steps too close to their hill. A fire ant sting is far worse than a bee sting. The ants crawl up to the most annoying place, and then sting you with their razor shark pincers, leaving a stinging red welt. You can treat a fire ant bite by getting an over-the-counter cream at a local drugstore.

What fire ants eat

Fire ants are omnivores and will eat almost anything to keep alive. They typically live off of seeds, small plants, and animals that are left dead. Like other ants, they use teamwork to collect food to eat. However, instead of carrying the food, worker ants eat the food, bring it back to the nest, and then regurgitate it for all of the other ants to eat.

The nest is usually run by a queen ant, who breeds all the other ants in the population. Breeding and hatching usually takes place in the summer. If the eggs get fertilized they hatch as girls, and become worker ants or queens. If the eggs aren't fertilized, they become male ants.