Animals

Awesome Animals

Mountain Goat Facts, Pictures, Information

Surefooted on rocky slopes, mountain goats have a thick coat that protects them from cold temperatures and biting winds.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore   

Average life span in the wild: 9 to 12 years

Size: Height at shoulder, 3.5 ft (1 m)

Weight: 100 to 300 lbs (45 to 136 kg)

Group name: Herd

Mountain goats are not true goats—but they are close relatives. They are more properly known as goat-antelopes.

These surefooted beasts inhabit many of North America's most spectacular alpine environments. They often appear at precipitous heights, from Alaska to the U.S. Rocky Mountains, showcasing climbing abilities that leave other animals, including most humans, far below. Mountain goats have cloven hooves with two toes that spread wide to improve balance. Rough pads on the bottom of each toe provide the grip of a natural climbing shoe. Mountain goats are powerful but nimble and can jump nearly 12 feet (3.5 meters) in a single bound.

Mountain goats have distinctive beards and long, warm coats to protect them from cold temperatures and biting mountain winds. Their dazzling white coats provide good camouflage on the snowy heights. During the more moderate summer season goats shed this coat.

Female goats (called nannies) spend much of the year in herds with their young (called kids). These groups may include as many as 20 animals. Males (known as billies) usually live alone or with one or two other male goats. Both sexes boast beautiful pointed horns, and in mating season billies will sometimes use them to battle rivals for prospective mates.

In the spring, a nanny goat gives birth to one kid (sometimes two), which must be on its feet within minutes of arrival into its sparse mountain world. Mountain goats eat plants, grasses, mosses, and other alpine vegetation.

 

Mountain Lion Facts, Pictures, Information

Mountain lions do not like to share their territory and are constantly on the lookout for invaders.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Carnivore

Size: Head and body, 3.25 to 5.25 ft (1 to 1.6 m); Tail, 23.5 to 33.5 in (60 to 85 cm)

Weight: 136 lbs (62 kg)

Protection status: Endangered

This powerful predator roams the Americas, where it is also known as a puma, cougar, and catamount. This big cat of many names is also found in many habitats, from Florida swamps to Canadian forests.

Mountain lions like to prey on deer, though they also eat smaller animals such as coyotes, porcupines, and raccoons. They usually hunt at night or during the gloaming hours of dawn and dusk. These cats employ a blend of stealth and power, stalking their prey until an opportunity arrives to pounce, then going for the back of the neck with a fatal bite. They will hide large carcasses and feed on them for several days.

Mountain lions once roamed nearly all of the United States. They were prized by hunters and despised by farmers and ranchers who suffered livestock losses at their hands. Subsequently, by the dawn of the 20th century, mountain lions were eliminated from nearly all of their range in the Midwest and Eastern U.S.—though the endangered Florida panther survives.

Today, whitetail deer populations have rebounded over much of the mountain lion's former range and a few animals have appeared in more eastern states such as Missouri and Arkansas. Some biologists believe that these big cats could eventually recolonize much of their Midwest and Eastern range—if humans allow them to do so. In most western U.S. states and Canadian provinces, populations are considered sustainable enough to allow managed sport hunting.

Mountain lions require a lot of room—only a few cats can survive in a 30-square-mile (78-square-kilometer) range. They are solitary and shy animals, seldom seen by humans. While they do occasionally attack people—usually children or solitary adults—statistics show that, on average, there are only four attacks and one human fatality each year in all of the U.S. and Canada.

Mountain Gorilla Facts, Pictures, Information

Male silverback mountain gorillas gain their distinctive silver tinge at about 13 years old, when they reach adulthood.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 35 years

Size: Standing height, 4 to 6 ft (1.2 to 1.8 m)

Weight: 300 to 485 lbs (135 to 220 kg)

Group name: Troop or band

Protection status: Endangered

There are roughly 700 mountain gorillas remaining on Earth, and nearly half live in the forests of the Virunga mountains in central Africa. These gorillas live on the green, volcanic slopes of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—areas that have seen much human violence from which the gorillas have not escaped unscathed.

Many conservation initiatives are meant to aid mountain gorillas, and it is believed that their numbers may be steady or slowly increasing. Still they continue to face major threats from habitat loss and poaching.

Mountain gorillas have longer hair and shorter arms than their lowland cousins. They also tend to be a bit larger than other gorillas.

Gorillas can climb trees, but are usually found on the ground in communities of up to 30 individuals. These troops are organized according to fascinating social structures. Troops are led by one dominant, older adult male, often called a silverback because of the swath of silver hair that adorns his otherwise dark fur. Troops also include several other young males, some females, and their offspring.

The leader organizes troop activities like eating, nesting in leaves, and moving about the group's 0.75-to-16-square-mile (2-to-40-square-kilometer) home range.

Those who challenge this alpha male are apt to be cowed by impressive shows of physical power. He may stand upright, throw things, make aggressive charges, and pound his huge chest while barking out powerful hoots or unleashing a frightening roar. Despite these displays and the animals' obvious physical power, gorillas are generally calm and nonaggressive unless they are disturbed.

In the thick forests of central and west Africa, troops find plentiful food for their vegetarian diet. They eat roots, shoots, fruit, wild celery, and tree bark and pulp.

Female gorillas give birth to one infant after a pregnancy of nearly nine months. Unlike their powerful parents, newborns are tiny—weighing four pounds (two kilograms)—and able only to cling to their mothers' fur. These infants ride on their mothers' backs from the age of four months through the first two or three years of their lives.

Young gorillas, from three to six years old, remind human observers of children. Much of their day is spent in play, climbing trees, chasing one another, and swinging from branches.

In captivity, gorillas have displayed significant intelligence and have even learned simple human sign language.

Mosquito Facts, Pictures, Information

A mosquito sucking blood

Type: Bug

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 2 weeks to 6 months

Size: 1/8 to 3/4 in (0.3 to 2 cm)

Weight: Average 0.000088 oz (2.5 mg)

Group name: Swarm

Did you know? The red bump and itching caused by a mosquito bite is actually an allergic reaction to the mosquito’s saliva.

Few animals on Earth evoke the antipathy that mosquitoes do. Their itchy, irritating bites and nearly ubiquitous presence can ruin a backyard barbecue or a hike in the woods. They have an uncanny ability to sense our murderous intentions, taking flight and disappearing milliseconds before a fatal swat. And in our bedrooms, the persistent, whiny hum of their buzzing wings can wake the soundest of sleepers.

Beyond the nuisance factor, mosquitoes are carriers, or vectors, for some of humanity’s most deadly illnesses, and they are public enemy number one in the fight against global infectious disease. Mosquito-borne diseases cause millions of deaths worldwide every year with a disproportionate effect on children and the elderly in developing countries.

There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes, but the members of three bear primary responsibility for the spread of human diseases. Anopheles mosquitoes are the only species known to carry malaria. They also transmit filariasis (also called elephantiasis) and encephalitis. Culex mosquitoes carry encephalitis, filariasis, and the West Nile virus. And Aedes mosquitoes, of which the voracious Asian tiger is a member, carry yellow fever, dengue, and encephalitis.

Mosquitoes use exhaled carbon dioxide, body odors and temperature, and movement to home in on their victims. Only female mosquitoes have the mouth parts necessary for sucking blood. When biting with their proboscis, they stab two tubes into the skin: one to inject an enzyme that inhibits blood clotting; the other to suck blood into their bodies. They use the blood not for their own nourishment but as a source of protein for their eggs. For food, both males and females eat nectar and other plant sugars.

Mosquitoes transmit disease in a variety of ways. In the case of malaria, parasites attach themselves to the gut of a female mosquito and enter a host as she feeds. In other cases, such as yellow fever and dengue, a virus enters the mosquito as it feeds on an infected human and is transmitted via the mosquito’s saliva to a subsequent victim.

The only silver lining to that cloud of mosquitoes in your garden is that they are a reliable source of food for thousands of animals, including birds, bats, dragonflies, and frogs. In addition, humans are actually not the first choice for most mosquitoes looking for a meal. They usually prefer horses, cattle, and birds.

All mosquitoes need water to breed, so eradication and population-control efforts usually involve removal or treatment of standing water sources. Insecticide spraying to kill adult mosquitoes is also widespread. However, global efforts to stop the spread of mosquitoes are having little effect, and many scientists think global warming will likely increase their number and range.

 

Moose Facts, Pictures, Information

The largest deer species, moose grow huge antlers that can eventually span more than 6 feet (1.8 meters).

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 15 to 20 years

Size: Height at shoulder, 5 to 6.5 ft (1.5 to 2 m)

Weight: 1,800 lbs (820 kg)

Group name: Herd

Moose are the largest of all the deer species. Males are immediately recognizable by their huge antlers, which can spread 6 feet (1.8 meters) from end to end. Moose have long faces and muzzles that dangle over their chins. A flap of skin known as a bell sways beneath each moose's throat.

Moose are so tall that they prefer to browse higher grasses and shrubs because lowering their heads to ground level can be difficult. In winter they eat shrubs and pinecones, but they also scrape snow with their large hooves to clear areas for browsing on mosses and lichens. These hooves also act as snowshoes to support the heavy animals in soft snow and in muddy or marshy ground.

In summer, food is far more plentiful in the northern regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. When the ice melts, moose are often seen in lakes, rivers, or wetlands, feeding on aquatic plants both at and below the surface. Moose are at home in the water and, despite their staggering bulk, are good swimmers. They have been seen paddling several miles at a time, and will even submerge completely, staying under for 30 seconds or more.

Moose are similarly nimble on land. They can run up to 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour over short distances, and trot steadily at 20 miles (32 kilometers) an hour.

Males, called bulls, bellow loudly to attract mates each September and October. The usually solitary bulls may come together at this time to battle with their antlers for mating supremacy. After mating, the two sexes go their separate ways until the following year. Though they may occasionally feed in the same grounds, they tend to ignore each other.

Females give birth to one or two calves in the spring—each weighing some 30 pounds (14 kilograms). These calves grow quickly and can outrun a person by the time they are just five days old. Young moose stay with their mothers until the following mating season.

 

 

Elk Facts, Pictures, Information

Common across North America hundreds of years ago, wild populations of elk are now concentrated in the western, mountainous portions of the continent.

Type: Mammal

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 8 to 12 years

Size: Height at the shoulder, 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 m)

Weight: 325 to 1,100 lbs (147 to 499 kg)

Group name: Gang

Elk are also known as wapiti, a Natural U. s. term that means "light-colored deer." Elk are related to deer but are much larger than most of their family members. A fluff (male) elk's antlers may arrive at 4 toes (1.2 meters) above its head, so that the pet systems 9 toes (2.7 meters) high.

Bull elk lose their antlers each Goal, but they begin to develop them back in May in planning for the late-summer reproduction period.

In early summer time, elk move to high hill grazing argument where the cattle (females) will give beginning. Each cow generally has a single leg, which can take a position by the time it is 20 minutes old.

During the overdue summer time reproduction period the bugling of fluff elk reflects through the hill ranges. These highly effective creatures remove the purple velvet off their new antlers using them in chaotic situations that figure out who gets to friend with whom. Men with the larger antlers, generally older creatures, usually win these challenges and control little herds.

In winter season, wapiti reconvene into larger herds, though individuals generally continue to be individual. The herds come back to lower area pastures where elk spend the period pawing through snowfall to look through on lawn or reducing for bushes that take a position clear of the snowfall cover.

Elk were once found across much of South The united declares but they were murdered off and pushed to take sanctuary in more distant places. These days they live mainly in american South The united declares, especially in tremendous hill scenery such as Wyoming's Nationwide Elk Refuge and Yellowstone Nationwide Playground. Some southern U.S. declares have reintroduced little elk herds into intensely forest wilds areas.

American Alligator Facts, Pictures, Information

Saved from the brink of extinction, the American alligator now thrives in its native habitat: the swamps and wetlands of the southeastern United States.

Type: Reptile

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 35 to 50 years

Size: 10 to 15 ft (3 to 4.6 m)

Weight: 1,000 lbs (453 kg)

Group name: Congregation

Protection status: Recovered

Did you know? The largest American alligator ever reported was supposedly 19.8 ft (6 m) long, although there are doubts about the claim.

The National gator is a unusual success tale of an vulnerable pet not only stored from extinguished but now blooming. State and government rights, environment maintenance initiatives, and reduced demand for gator products have enhanced the species' outrageous inhabitants to more than one thousand and growing today.

One look at these dangerous predators—with their armored, lizard-like systems, muscle tails, and highly effective jaws—and it is apparent they are envoys from a time long ago. The types, experts say, is more than 150 thousand decades of age, handling to avoid extinguished 65 thousand decades ago when their primitive competitors, the dinosaurs, passed away off.

American alligators stay nearly only in the water estuaries and rivers, ponds, swamps, and wetlands of the southeastern United Declares, mainly California and La.

Heavy and ungainly out of water, these animals are extremely well designed bathers. Men regular 10 to 15 toes (3 to 4.6 meters) in length and can think about 1,000 pounds (453 kg). Women grow to a highest possible of about 9.8 toes (3 measures.)

Hatchlings are 6 to 8 in. (15 to 20 centimeters) long with black and yellow-colored lines. Juveniles, which are on the list for many should, such as wildlife, raccoons, bobcats, and even other alligators, usually stay with their moms for about two decades.

Adult alligators are best should significant to the bio-diversity of their environment. They feast mainly on seafood, turtles, snakes, and small animals. However, they are opportunists, and a starving gator will eat just about anything, such as carrion, household pets and, in unusual circumstances, people.

Frilled Lizard Facts, Pictures, Information

Hood expanded and mouth wide open, the Australian frilled lizard displays its threatening posture.

Type: Reptile

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in captivity: Up to 20 years

Size: 3 ft (0.9 m)

Weight: 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg)

Did you know? Besides defense, this lizard's colorful frill may be used to help regulate body temperature.

Certainly, one of the quirkiest places in dynamics is the gangly getaway of an Modern australia frilled reptile. When this unique being seems confronted, it goes up on its back toes, starts its yellow-colored lips, unfurls the vibrant, pleated skin flap that encircles its go, and hisses. If an enemy is unintimidated by these tricks, the reptile simply changes longest tail, lips and frill open, and products, toes splaying left and right. It carries on its talk run without avoiding or looking back until it actually reaches the protection of a shrub.

Frilled reptiles, or "frillnecks," are associates of the monster family that live in the exotic and warm moderate jungles and savanna jungles of south Modern australia. They spend most of their life in the plants, but come down sometimes to feast on bugs and little reptiles. Other list items include robots, cicadas, bed bugs, and little animals.

They differ in coloring and size from location to location. On regular, the bigger people arrive at about 3 toes (0.9 meters) from go to longest tail and think about up to 1.1 weight (0.5 kilograms).

Their main should are wildlife of food, bigger reptiles, snakes, dingoes and feral felines. They are currently not confronted or secured, but environment decrease and predation in some areas, particularly by feral felines, is impacting their numbers.

Females lay 8 to 23 small egg in an undercover home, and hatchlings appear completely impartial and capable of tracking and employing their frill. Their life in the outrageous is mysterious, but types in captivity have resided 20 years.

Krill Facts, Pictures, Information

Integral to the food chain, tiny shrimp krill are the primary food source for many marine mammals and fish.

Type: Invertebrate

Diet: Herbivore

Average life span in the wild: 5 years or more

Size: 2.4 in (6 cm)

Weight: 0.035 oz (1 g)

Group name: Swarm

Did you know? Scientists estimate that the total weight of all the Antarctic krill is more than the total weight of all humans on Earth.

The lowly krill averages only about two inches (five centimeters) in length, but it represents a giant-sized link in the global food chain. These small, shrimp-like crustaceans are essentially the fuel that runs the engine of the Earth’s marine ecosystems.

Krill feed on phytoplankton, microscopic, single-celled plants that drift near the ocean’s surface and live off carbon dioxide and the sun’s rays. They in turn are the main staple in the diets of literally hundreds of different animals, from fish, to birds, to baleen whales.

Simply put, without krill, most of the life forms in the Antarctic would disappear.

Alarmingly, there are recent studies that show Antarctic krill stocks may have dropped by 80 percent since the 1970s. Scientists attribute these declines in part to ice cover loss caused by global warming. This ice loss removes a primary source of food for krill: ice-algae.

Pink and opaque, Antarctic krill are among the largest of the 85 known krill species. Their estimated numbers range from 125 million tons to 6 billion tons in the waters around Antarctica. During certain times of year, krill congregate in swarms so dense and widespread that they can be seen from space.

Antarctic krill can live up to 10 years, an amazing longevity for such a heavily hunted creature. They spend their days avoiding predators in the cold depths of the Antarctic Ocean, some 320 feet (100 meters) below the surface. During the night, they drift up the water column toward the surface in search of phytoplankton.

 

 

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Facts, Pictures, Information

Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are capable of accurately striking at up to one-third their body length. Although feared as aggressive, attacks on human beings are rare.

Type: Reptile

Diet: Carnivore

Average life span in the wild: 10 to 20 years

Size: 5.5 ft (1.7 m)

Weight: 5 lbs (2.3 kg)

Did you know? Baby rattlers can actually be more dangerous than adults because they have less control over the amount of venom they inject.

The lower diamondback rattlesnake is the greatest venomous lizard in South The united states. Some arrive at 8 toes (2.4 meters) long and think about up to 10 weight (4.5 kilograms).

These stout-bodied pit vipers usually stay in the dry, wood flatwoods, exotic nature, and seaside detail environments from lower South Carolina to California and western side to La. Their design of yellow-bordered, light-centered dark-colored gemstones makes them among the most specifically ornamented of all South U. s. animals. They are natural exterminators, remaining on such family pest infestations as subjects and rats, as well as squirrels and wildlife.

Feared as dangerous and competitive, diamondbacks are actually incredibly adverse to contact with others and only assault in immunity. Most articles happen when people taunt or try to take or wipe out a rattlesnake. They can effectively arrive at at up to one-third their body duration.

Diamondback venom is a effective hemotoxin that eliminates red system skin cells and causes injury. Bites are incredibly uncomfortable and can be lethal to people. However, antivenin is accessible throughout the snake's variety, and articles seldom result in loss of life.

When cornered, rattlers feverishly move their well-known tails as a last caution to back off. Rattles are made of usually linked, hard, useless messages. Snakes add a new move section each time they reduce. However, rattles separate off regularly, and snakes may reduce their skin several times a year, so it is not possible to figure out a snake's age by its move size.

The lower diamondback is not vulnerable, but because of infrequent eliminating, wide-spread loss of environment, and tracking, its statistics are reducing throughout its variety.

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