Using Chillies to Protect Maize Fields and Elephants | Stories | WWF.
Pretty cool story about a simple way to deter elephants! Great to have people who care about the animals around them as well as themselves. WWF is assisting in this country’s production of chillies in the hope that it will help those in need by becoming a cash crop.
Pitiful Posting and the Alphabet Challenge
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Hairless and Coated Xoloitzcuintles side by side. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Xoloitzcuintli, often shortened to Xolo, is pronounced show-low-eats-queen-tlee. They were removed from the American Kennel Club in 1953 then re-recognized in 2011. For AKC standards click here. Xolos are a rare breed that comes in three sizes; toy, miniature and standard. Hairlessness is a recessive trait, so some members of the breed can come out with a full coat. These dogs were initially used as healers since their intense body heat could soothe some ailments. Health issues for the Xolo revolve mainly around their skin.
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Pitiful Posting and the Alphabet Challenge
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ARKive – Wolverine videos, photos and facts – Gulo gulo.
Those cute litte buggers up there are wolverine cubs.
Wolverine Dansk: Jærv (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Wolverines have a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere, and are found from the western United States, Canada, and Alaska to Siberia, Russia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
Pitiful Posting and the Alphabet Challenge
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Vaquita calf
Vaquita | Basic Facts About Vaquitas | Defenders of Wildlife.
ARKive – Vaquita videos, photos and facts – Phocoena sinus.
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How ridiculously cute are these things?!?!
English: Two toed sloth named Herman, taken at Detroit zoo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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I want a forest of them.
Two-Toed Sloths, Two-Toed Sloth Pictures, Two-Toed Sloth Facts – National Geographic
ARKive – Southern two-toed sloth videos, photos and facts – Choloepus didactylus.
Pitiful Posting and the Alphabet Challenge
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ARKive – Spotted-tailed quoll photo – Dasyurus maculatus – G18251.
Who wouldn’t wanna squeeze this angry little face?? It’s probably not a good idea since the Spotted-tailed Quoll is one of the most vicious animals in the Australian bush.
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Eastern Quoll female with young
ARKive – Eastern quoll videos, photos and facts – Dasyurus viverrinus.
And, since one species of quoll isn’t enough, here’s the Eastern Quoll!
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The eastern quoll occurs in a wide variety of habitats, including open forests, heaths, wet scrub, moorlands, woodlands, alpine habitats and grasslands (1)(2)(3)(4)(6), at elevations from sea level to around 1,500 metres (3). It is also found on agricultural land, being particularly common where pastures occur adjacent to forest(2)(3)(4)(5)(6).
Pitiful Posting and the Alphabet Challenge
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When put in terms of eyesight, myopia is nearsightedness. As an adjective, myopic means “lacking understanding”, or “shortsighted”. Personally, I don’t understand how people treat one another. How can you go from sweet to completely ignoring someone? Not something I felt like going through recently, but I did. You make a decision (or pretend to…who knows) and follow through to the annoyance of the other person. In this situation, I was the adult. Not sure how that one happened. I’ve always sought to be sweet to people. It’s just who I am. In this case, I could have thrown the book at him, but chose to avoid it. He can go ahead and make an ass of himself. And now we’re back to square one. On the prowl again. And better for it.
Now this may not be the best post…but here’s a picture of a manatee to make it better…cause everyone loves manatees…
Manatee at the Sea World Exhibit in Orlando Florida (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pitiful Posting and the Alphabet Challenge
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Look at how freakin’ cute this thing is. Pictured is a Long-eared Jerboa.
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This nocturnal mammal is listed endangered on the IUCN Red List. They are a desert animal with one of the largest ear-to-body ratios. No doubt this helps them dissipate heat in their environment. Jerboas get around by hopping and feed on insects and plants. Unlike other small mammals, such as those we might keep as pets, they do not store a food cache. Their tail can be longer than their head and body and is used both for balance and propping itself upright. Since not a lot is known about them due to the difficulty of studying them, looking at the species within the family suggests that their reproductive strategy may be polygynous. Jerboas live about 2-3 years, and have 2 or 3 litters a year consisting of 2-6 young.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Mysterious mammal caught on film.
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A picture of a male Black and Rufous Elephant Shrew at the National Zoo. The Elephant shrew is part of the small mammals exhibit at the zoo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
AWF: Wildlife: Elephant Shrew.
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Elephant shrews, also known as sengis, are small mammals that do not even classify as shrews. They were named for their trunk-like nose and have been found to be more closely related to the group of African mammals which includes elephants, hyraxes, sea cows, aardvarks, and tenrecs. Within the single family, Macroscelididae, there are four genera and 19 living species. Elephant Shrews are diurnal and feed almost the entire day on invertebrates. They have a gland on the underside of their tail that produces a scent with which they mark their territories. Since they are seldom with other elephant shrews the scent comes in handy for keeping track of one another. They form pairs to defend their territory and do so violently.
With a lifespan of only 3 to 4 years, they can have four or five offspring a year and can lactate and gestate simultaneously. Gestation is under 2 months. The fully haired newborn is hidden for about 3 weeks, follows its mother for a week and is allowed to stay in its parent’s territory for 6 weeks before it must go off to establish its own. This period of time is the most vulnerable for the young elephant shrew.
The elephant shrew may be used as a food source for humans, but its biggest threat is the habitat in which most of the population is found. The fragmented forests make mate searches difficult and limits access to resources. Elephant shrews are also a target of reptiles and birds of prey.
You can check out the speedy elephant shrew in action in this clip from LIFE:
The Rushin Safari 