Jackals are medium sized members of the canine family. There are four main species of jackal: the side-striped jackal, the golden jackal, the black-backed jackal and the Ethiopian wolf jackal.

Jackals vary in color and size. They have golden, rust or silver-colored black fur and bushy tails. Jackals inhabit deserts, grasslands, savannas, marshes, mountains, bush-lands and woodlands. The golden jackal inhabits open deserts, savannas and arid grasslands. The side-striped jackal lives in moist savannas, marshes, mountains and bushlands. The black-backed jackal, or sliver-backed jackal, is found primarily in woodlands and savannas.

Jackals are opportunistic omnivores. They eat mostly a carnivorous diet and have adapted to hunting small mammals, reptiles and birds. Being opportunistic feeders, they eat whatever is available. Some species of jackal eat poisonous snakes. Jackals also scavenge the remains of carcasses killed by other larger predators. Many jackals, especially those in the tropics of Southeast Asia, also eat plants.

Jackals are usually nocturnal mammals, active at night. Some jackals in remote areas are more diurnal, active during the cooler times of the day. Jackals sleep in crevices in rocks and dens made by other animals. Jackals are fast running predators and can run for long periods.

Jackals live singly or in pairs, or in tribes called packs. 10 to 30 jackals can reside in a pack. Jackal community members work together to protect each other. Jackals who live in packs often hunt alone or with only one other jackal. Fewer jackals hunting together increases the chance of ambushing prey as they can be more stealthy and silent.

Jackals are territorial and defend their marked territories. Using a wide range of vocal sounds specific to each jackal family, they successfully keep other jackals away from their community. It is uncommon for jackals of other tribes to enter the territory. Verbal communication among jackals includes yips, howls, growls and owl-like hoots. Yipping calls are made when the family gathers. A siren-like howl is used to announce a food source has been found. Only family members respond to their own family's calls – ignoring the calls of other jackals.

Jackal mating season varies based on their location. African jackal mating season occurs in October. Southeast Europe jackal mating season takes place in December. Jackals in India mate throughout the year. Jackals are monogamous, mating for life. The gestation period lasts about 2 months. Typically 2 to 4 babies are born, but litters can be up to 9 cubs. Jackal babies are kept in underground dens, caves or rock crevices. Jackal mothers move the location of the den about every two weeks to prevent predators from finding the babies. Jackal babies are blind the first 10 days. They feed on their mother's milk and regurgitated meat provided by family members for the first couple of months. By the age of 6 months, young jackals are taught to hunt. Older pups help to take care of younger jackal babies.

Jackals are preyed upon by leopards, hyenas and eagles. Jackal babies are an easy target of eagles.

Jackals live up to 9 years in the wild.

Some jackals are endangered due to habitat loss, animal agriculture and hunting. As jackal habitats are lost, jackals increasingly infringe on human settlements where they can be viewed as a threat to livestock and poultry and are killed as pests.

Reptiles are cold blooded animals, covered with scales, and mostly lay eggs. Some reptiles eat plants, some eat animals and some eat both.

Reptiles are tetrapod vertebrates, meaning they have four limbs or, like snakes, they descended from four limbed ancestors. They usually have limited means of maintaining a constant body temperature and rely on external sources of heat. Being cold blooded requires far less fuel to function. A crocodile needs a fraction of the food a lion of the same weight needs, and can live half a year without eating. Due to their slow metabolism, reptiles can do well in areas where food sources are too low for most mammals and birds to live.

Four major groups of reptiles include crocodilians, snakes, turtles, lizards and ttuatara – a lizard-like reptile that is the only surviving member of an order which flourished around 200 million years ago. The study of reptiles, historically combined with that of amphibians, is called herpetology.

Reptiles lay eggs on land, and the eggs musts stay dry. Many reptiles bury the eggs. Mother pythons, mud snakes and some skinks wrap their bodies around their eggs to protect them. Alligator mothers carry newly hatched babies in their mouths. Some reptiles abandon their eggs and do not care for the babies. About a fifth of snake species give birth to live young. Warmer egg temperatures produce females for some turtles, cooler temperatures result in males, and temperatures in the middle will produce a combination of genders. With crocodiles, the results are reversed – with males usually born at higher temperatures. The sex of snakes is determined by chromosomes, as it is with mammals and birds. Once hatched, most reptiles are independent and able to care for themselves. Babies look like miniature adults, though their colors may be different.

More than one fifth of all known reptile species are considered endangered or close to becoming extinct. This has been particularly pronounced for island reptile species, counting at least 28 island reptiles having disappeared so far. This pattern of extinction, commonly seen in the islands, is finding its way toward the mainland as well. This crisis is mainly due to human intervention causing fragmentation in the continental habitats, which results in island-like territories, isolating species among each other. Reptiles are especially threatened by non-native species that compete for resources or feed on them, and habitat loss.

The longest reptile is the reticulated python, measuring over 32 feet. The heaviest is the leatherback sea turtle, weighing over 1,900 pounds.

Leaf chameleons of Madagascar measure only an inch from nose to tail.

Green sea turtles are the fastest reptiles, reaching speeds of 22 mph.

The Aldabra tortoise lives the longest, to over 150 years.

Reptiles are capable of solving complex problems and remembering what they have learned. They share the same level of intelligence as birds and mammals. They change techniques when presented with new challenges and learn from other reptiles. They possess advanced social skills and flexible behavior – behavior that can be adapted to meet a particular situation. In captivity, they learn how to open hinged doors, open jar lids, have the ability to interpret and anticipate common activities such as feeding time and cage-cleaning time, and can even navigate mazes. In the wild they exhibit advanced social behavior including recognition of their family, pair bonding and loving care of their children. They exhibit social learning, play behavior and cooperation. Studies show they are capable of counting, advanced learning and problem solving. They are able to reverse course in addressing problems, unlearning incorrect approaches almost instantly. They have individual personalities.

Shingleback skinks are often monogamous. They court for months with the male strutting, licking and nudging the female affectionately before mating. The reptilian couple will mate every breeding season for as long as 20 years. When one dies, its surviving partner will stay beside the body for days, tenderly touching it.

Australian monitors plan ahead and arrange ambushes when pursuing fast-moving prey. Monitor lizards have been shown to count snails at feeding time and learn to use their forearms to help extract insects from logs.

Alligators gather together in large groups during the spring, usually one to three hours after sunrise, to sing and engage in “alligator dances” for courtship. Mothers defend their nests from predators. Shortly before hatching, baby alligators call their mother to the nest and begin vocalizing to synchronize the hatching of their siblings. Mother alligators gently assist with opening the eggs and carry the babies to a special pool called a nursery. Young alligators will stay close to their mother and form social groups. They follow her wherever she goes, hop on her head to bask and follow her around on land like little ducklings. When in distress they call out for her, bringing her to their aid. They stay with their protective mother for up to 2 years after being born.

Crocodiles are behaviorally complex creatures that live and work as members of a group. They can be incredibly tender and affectionate. They play together, exhibit complex social interactions and gaze recognition, use tools, pair-bond, practice monogamy, hunt together and have good memories. Expecting mothers guard their nests and protect their young until they are old enough to survive on their own, up to 3 years old. Babies are carried around in their mouths to protect them. Crocodiles have community nurseries where one mother watches over the hatchlings of many. Crocodiles have excellent communication skills, using body language and sounds, and even vibrate to make water ‘dance’, producing sounds that humans cannot hear. 

Wild turtles who are caught and later released will head in the direction of the nearest water source. Captive turtles recognize the sight of their food container and sound of food rattling in it.

Green iguanas share nesting areas with as many as hundreds of other iguanas and construct complex burrow systems that are continuously improved upon. Babies hatching from eggs look around and duck back into the egg while observing other babies to determine if it is safe to emerge. They get excited and jump up and down when they see other babies emerging. Siblings will stay together for months, rubbing against each other frequently and wagging their tails like dogs. They sleep together and groom each other and walk in a line with a chosen leader. They rub each others' heads before returning to their family's territory, watching for predators together and protecting each other.

Sharks are members of a group of almost exclusively marine and predaceous fishes. There are about 250 species of sharks, ranging from the 2 feet pygmy shark to 50 feet giants. They are found in all seas, but are most abundant in warm waters. Some may enter large rivers, and one ferocious freshwater species lives in Lake Nicaragua. Most are predatory, but the largest species, the whale shark and the basking shark, are harmless plankton eaters. Dogfish is the name for members of several families of small sharks; these should not be confused with the bony dogfishes of the mud minnow and bowfin families.

Sharks are heavy fishes, possessing neither lungs nor swim bladders. Their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than bone, and this, along with large deposits of fat, partially solves their weight problem. Nevertheless, most sharks must keep moving in order to breathe and to stay afloat. They are good swimmers; the wide spread of the pectoral fins and the upward curve of the tail fin provide lift, and the sweeping movements of the tail provide drive. Their tough hides are studded with minute, toothlike structures called denticles. Sharks have pointed snouts. Their crescent-shaped mouths are set on the underside of the body and contain several rows of sharp, triangular teeth. They have respiratory organs called gills, usually five on each side, with individual gill slits opening on the body surface. These slits form a conspicuous row and lack the covering found over the gills of bony fishes.

Like most fishes, sharks breathe by taking water in through the mouth and passing it out over the gills. Usually there are two additional respiratory openings on the head, called spiracles. A shark's intestine has a unique spiral valve, which increases the area of absorption. Fertilization is internal in sharks; the male has paired organs called claspers for introducing sperm into the cloaca of the female. Members of most species bear live young, but a few of the smaller sharks lay eggs containing much yolk and enclosed in horny shells. Compared to bony fishes, sharks tend to mature later and reproduce slowly.

Only a small number of the predatory species are definitely known to occasionally engage in unprovoked attacks on humans. The largest and most feared of these is the great white shark, which may reach 20 feet in length and is probably responsible for more such attacks than any other species. Other sharks reputed to be slightly dangerous are the tiger and blue sharks and the mako. Sharks are extremely sensitive to motion and to the scent of blood. Swimmers in areas where dangerous varieties occur should leave the water quietly if they are cut. In some places bathing areas are guarded by nets. A number of substances have been used as shark repellents, but their effectiveness is variable. Sharks usually circle their prey before attacking. Since they seldom swim near the surface, an exposed dorsal fin is more likely to be that of a swordfish or ray than that of a shark.

Sharks can range from being just inches in length (like the tiny cookie cutter shark) to being larger than a school bus (like the giant plankton-eating whale shark). Though sharks perform the same role in the ocean ecosystem that is performed by well-known predators such as lions, tigers, and cheetahs on land, the fact that they live in such an alien world makes it hard for us to know about their lives. What we do know is pretty fascinating.

Sharks shed their teeth. A single shark may lose thousands of teeth over its life and this accounts for the many shark teeth found by beach combers throughout the world. Their teeth are connected to a membrane in their mouth that is constantly being pushed forward as new teeth form. New teeth are generally slightly larger than the ones before. This allows the size of the shark's teeth to keep pace with the growth of the rest of the body.

Sharks are picky eaters. Some sharks eat only plankton, others eat small fish or squid, and still others eat large fish and marine mammals. The type of teeth a shark has will show you what it eats. Great white sharks have teeth with serrated edges for slicing off pieces from larger prey, the teeth of mako sharks are thin and pointed for grabbing onto slippery fish. Nurse sharks and other bottom dwellers tend to have thicker teeth for crushing shellfish. No matter the tooth shape, sharks never chew their food.

You're more likely to die as a result of being electrocuted by holiday lighting than being attacked by a shark. More deadly than shark attacks each year are crocodile attacks, hippo attacks, and even attacks by pigs.

Many sharks are warm blooded. Unlike the rest of the fishy world, many large sharks can maintain their body temperature higher than the ocean temperature around them. We don't know whether sharks sleep. Sometimes they seem to rest, but their eyes don't close and if they sleep, they certainly don't sleep the way that mammals can.

Don't be afraid OF sharks; be afraid FOR them. There are more misunderstandings and untruths about sharks than almost any other group of animals on the planet. While many people fear sharks, it is the sharks who should be fearing us.

According to the shark attack file, maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History, on average 5 people die worldwide from shark attacks. Up to 70 million sharks are killed by humans each year, mostly for their fins. This is a devastating death toll for a long-living species that is as slow to reproduce as sharks.

Sharks have roamed the oceans far longer than most land animals have been here. They were here before many of the dinosaurs and have outlasted them. But an international assessment of sharks undertaken by the World Conservation Union reveals that their future is in doubt. Of 546 shark species assessed, 111 species were at significant risk of global extinction. Twenty species are listed as critically endangered and 25 as endangered. Some shark species have lost 80% of their populations just in the past 40 years including hammerhead sharks, thresher sharks, and porbeagle sharks. While hammerhead shark is a name familiar to most, most people have never heard of porbeagle sharks; some of the lesser known sharks are in even greater danger.

There is a lot we don't know about sharks, but we DO know that if we don't act soon to stop overfishing, some of the most ancient and magnificent animals on the planet may soon disappear.

Members of one of the most diverse groups of lizards, skinks are reptiles with cylindrical, streamlined bodies, functioning eyelids and tight, smooth, scaly skin. They belong to the family Scincidae, and their name comes from the Greek word skinkos, which was a name that was used to refer to lizards in a specific region of the country. Over 1500 distinct species of skinks have been described, living in a wide range of habitats worldwide, from dry deserts, to mountains, grasslands and forests.

Although skinks are close in appearance to ‘true lizards’ (such as wall lizards, for example), they don’t have a distinct neck, and their legs tend to be smaller. Interestingly, some species of skink actually have reduced limbs or even no limbs at all, making their movement appear far more like a snake than a lizard - which is what many people may mistake them for. A few certain skink species, like the blue-tongued skink, also tend to be more broad-headed and wider-bodied than their relatives.

The particular living environment of a skink can often be determined merely by its toe length – generally, the longer a skink’s digits (toes), the more likely it is to spend most of its time climbing in trees.

These unusual reptiles tend to be small to medium sized, on average, depending on the species. They can range from specimens as tiny as the little brown skink at 3 inches, to as large as the Solomon Islands skink at 14 inches, though their tails usually make up more than half of that length.

Many skink species are escape artists. They can shed their tails when necessary if predators grab them, and can re-grow the lost part. The shed tail will actually wiggle for a short period of time after being lost, which serves to distract any potential predators while the skink makes its escape. Skinks may also return to the lost tail and ingest it in order to regain lost nutrient value.

Active, quick, and agile little lizards, skinks can dart rapidly from place to place when they’re not found basking on warm rocks or logs. Offspring-bearing females or mating pairs tend to be slower, however. Some species of these lizards are tree-climbing, but for the most part, most tend to live in ground habitats (so they’re terrestrial, in other words), or prefer to burrow through sand. They’re most active in the daytime.

Skinks like to stay safe and out of the reach of predators or bad weather, and make their nests in secure, hidden areas. For some, this can mean a nest in the dirt or under heavy brush cover. For other skinks (especially those in and around urban areas) rotting boards, garages or spaces under structures like sheds can be suitable nesting areas. Some nests can contain anywhere from 10 to 30 skinks at a time, and it’s not unusual for skinks to actually ‘guard’ their territory. A small number of skink species are also water-dwelling, but these tend to be the exception.

Skinks are fairly predictable eaters. Being carnivorous lizards, their menu choices tend to run to insects like flies, beetles and caterpillars, but some may even eat snails or small rodents. They sniff out prey using their tongue, and then chase it down, corner it, and usually swallow it whole.

The method of producing young can be different from species to species of skink. Male skinks will sometimes fight each other for the privilege of mating with a certain female by biting each other on the head, neck or tail. Male-female pairs in some species will form monogamous relationships from year to year. Just under half of all skink species birth live young, nourishing their offspring though a placenta-like organ. Other species hatch their eggs internally instead, and then give birth to young after that. Still others lay eggs which hatch outside their body.

Females tend to be protective of their eggs, coiling around them and guarding against predators, and will often stay to protect their new offspring for the first few days until they leave the nest. Skinks can have significant gestation times, typically several months and as long as one year in some species. They have been noted to have as few as 1 or as many as 67 young born at one time.

Although many skinks are highly adaptable when it comes to their nesting situation, they also have a large number of natural predators. Raccoons, snakes, crows, herons, hawks and other lizards may see skinks as a tasty meal.

Because the skink’s long gestation period means that they can’t replenish their population numbers as quickly as other animals, overhunting by larger invasive predators like the mongoose has caused skink species in some areas to approach extinction. The Anguilla Bank skink in the Caribbean is one example.

Beetles are a group of insects which are biologically classified in the order Coleoptera. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek, koleos, meaning "sheath"; and pteron, meaning "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Most beetles have two pairs of wings, the front pair being hardened and thickened into a shell-like protection for the rear pair and the beetle's abdomen.

There are more beetles on the planet than other other animal. Almost 25% of all known types of animal life-forms are beetles. About 40% of all insect species are beetles (about 400,000 species), and new species are discovered frequently. Some estimates put the total number of beetle species at as high as 100 million. Weevils, or snout beetles, and rove beetles are the most common.

The diversity of beetles is very wide. They are found in all major habitats, except the polar regions. Beetles live in freshwater and marine habitats and everywhere vegetative foliage is found - from trees and their bark to flowers, leaves, and underground near roots. They even live inside plants, in every plant tissue, including dead or decaying ones.

Particular species of beetles are adapted to practically every kind of diet. Some break down animal and plant debris; some feed on particular kinds of carrion such as flesh or hide; some feed on wastes such as dung; some feed on fungi; some on particular species of plants and others on a wide range of plants. Some beetles are pollen, flower and fruit eaters and help to pollinate flowers. Others are predatory, usually on other invertebrates; some are parasites or parasitoids. Many of the predatory species are important controls of agricultural pests that damage crops. Conversely, beetles are prey of various invertebrates and vertebrates, including other insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Beetles have a hard exoskeleton, particularly on their forewings, distinguishing them from most other insect species. Like all armored insects, beetles' exoskeletons comprise numerous plates, some fused and some separated by thin sutures. This combines armored defenses with flexibility. All insects' bodies are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

Beetles are endopterygotes; they undergo complete metamorphosis, a biological process by which an animal physically develops after a birth or hatching, undergoing a series of changes in its body structure. The typical form of metamorphosis in beetles passes through four main stages: the egg, the larva, the pupa, and the imago or adult.

Beetles may display extremely intricate behavior when mating. Pheromone communication is likely to be important in the location of a mate. Another way species of Coleoptera find mates is the use of biosynthesized light, or bioluminescence. This special form of a mating call is used by fireflies by the use of abdominal light-producing organs. The males and females engage in complex dialogue before mating, identifying different species by differences in duration, flight patterns, composition, and intensity.

Before mating, males and females may stridulate, or vibrate the objects they are on. In some species, the male climbs onto the female and strokes her with his antennae. Conflict can play a part in the mating rituals of some beetles. Many male beetles are territorial and will fiercely defend their small patches of territory from intruding males. In such species, the males may have horns, making their overall body lengths greater than those of the females, unlike most insects. Pairing is generally quick, but in some cases will last for several hours. During pairing, sperm cells are transferred to the female to fertilize the egg. A single female may lay from several dozen to several thousand eggs during her lifetime. Parental preparation varies between species, ranging from the simple laying of eggs under a leaf to constructing underground structures complete with a supply of dung to house and feed their young. Other beetles are leaf rollers, biting sections of leaves to cause them to curl inwards, then laying their eggs, thus protected, inside. Some beetles will patrol the eggs and larvae and apply a burrowing behavior to keep them from flooding and from asphyxiating. The mother will protect the eggs and larvae from predators.

The larva is usually the principal feeding stage of the beetle lifecycle. Larvae tend to feed voraciously once they emerge from their eggs. Some feed externally on plants, while others feed within their food sources. The larvae of many beetle families are predatory like the adults. The larval period varies between species, but can be as long as several years. Like adult beetles, the larvae are varied in appearance, particularly between beetle families.

All beetle larvae go through several instars, which are the developmental stages between each moult. In many species, the larvae simply increase in size with each instar as more food is consumed. In some cases, however, more dramatic changes occur. Among certain beetle families, particularly parasitic beetles, the first instar is highly mobile and searches for a host, while the following instars are more sedentary and remain on or within their host. Beetle larvae pupate, and from these pupae emerge fully formed, sexually mature adult beetles. Adults have extremely variable lifespans, from weeks to years, depending on the species.

Beetles have a variety of ways to communicate, some of which include a sophisticated chemical language through the use of pheromones. Some beetles stridulate to communicate, rubbing body parts together to create sound. They have a "scraper" on their abdomens that they rub against a grooved surface on the underside of their left wing cover to create a sound that is not audible to humans. Female beetles will stridulate and produce pheromones to attract other unmated males and females. New females arrive and do the same. As the males arrive, they enter the galleries that the females have tunneled, and begin to stridulate to let the females know they have arrived, and to also warn others that the female in that gallery is taken. At this point, the female produces a different pheromone to deter more beetles from coming.

Since species of beetles use environmental stimuli to communicate, they are affected by the climate. Microclimates, such as wind or temperature, can disturb the use of pheromones; wind would blow the pheromones while they travel through the air. Stridulating can be interrupted when the stimulus is vibrated by something else.

Like most animals, the primary threat to beetles is the destruction of their habitat. Human development has taken an alarming toll on the environment. Impact from land use practices such as agricultural conversion, deforestation, and urban sprawl continue to degrade and fragment remaining pockets of habitat and accelerate biodiversity loss. Pesticides and other forms of pollution are also of serious concern, as well as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Spring rains and warmer temperatures bring out the spotted salamander. These amphibians are purple, with yellow spots, and grow up to 8 inches long.

The spotted salamander is normally secretive, living beneath rocks or under logs. They spend only two weeks or so above ground every year, feeding at night on worms, slugs, spiders and millipedes. They can secrete a noxious milky toxin from glands in their backs and tails to discourage would-be predators.

The spotted salamander offers a unique lesson in procreation. When mating, males circle a female, often so many that they form a grapefruit-size ball of animals in the water. Males drop sperm packets that the female will then choose from. When she has made her choice, she will bring the sperm into her body to fertilize her eggs. Breeding finished, the salamanders move back into the woods and hide themselves again. 

Spotted salamanders are among those amphibians, programmed through evolution, to return to the water where they were born to breed. They breed in “vernal pools”, a temporary gathering of water that is too shallow to support fish that would eat the salamander’s eggs. When conditions are right, you might see hundreds of them making their way, up to a half-mile, through the woods to reach their birth pool. Vernal pools derive their name from the Latin “vernus”, meaning “belonging to spring”. Every spring, these small wetlands fill with water and blossom into life, only to dry up and disappear into the forest floor by autumn.

The multifarious organisms that inhabit a vernal pool race against time and compete with each other to flourish in a fragile environment, where rain one day too late can mean the end of their genetic survival. Each pool is a self-contained microcosm. With a single dip of the net, a student of nature can find an incredible wealth of life forms and adaptations. It is a world full of beauty and drama, close to our homes, yet one that most of us have never seen. Sadly, as development destroys our green spaces and woodlands, these pools are becoming one of nature’s most rapidly disappearing natural gems.

A general decline in amphibian species has been linked with the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. A higher proportion of salamander species than of frogs or caecilians are in one of the at-risk categories established by the IUCN. Salamanders showed a significant diminution in numbers in the last few decades of the 20th century, although no direct link between the fungus and the population decline has yet been found. Deforestation, resulting in fragmentation of suitable habitats, and changes in climate are possible contributory factors.

The Chinese giant salamander, at 6 feet the largest amphibian in the world, is critically endangered, as it is collected for food and for use in traditional Chinese medicine. The hellbender is another large, long-lived species with dwindling numbers and fewer juveniles reaching maturity than previously. Habitat loss, silting of streams, pollution and disease have all been implicated in the decline.

Of the 20 species of minute salamanders in Mexico, half are believed to have become extinct and most of the others are critically endangered. Specific reasons for the decline may include climate change, chytridiomycosis, or volcanic activity, but the main threat is habitat destruction as logging, agricultural activities, and human settlement reduce their often tiny, fragmented ranges.

Lobsters are found in all oceans and found on land. They live on rocky, sandy, or muddy bottoms from the shoreline to beyond the edge of the continental shelf. They generally live singly in crevices or in burrows under rocks. Like most arthropods, lobsters must moult in order to grow, which leaves them vulnerable. During the moulting process, several species change color.

Lobsters are invertebrates with a hard protective exoskeleton. In general, lobsters are 10 to 20 inches long. Lobsters have 10 walking legs; the front three pairs bear claws, the first of which are larger than the others. The lobster's head has antennae. Because lobsters live in a murky environment at the bottom of the ocean, they use their antennae as sensors. Lobsters “smell” chemicals in the water with their antennae, and they “taste” with sensory hairs along their legs.  They have no vocal chords and possess two stomachs.

Lobsters move by slowly walking on the sea floor. However, when they flee, they swim backward quickly by curling and uncurling their abdomen. A speed of 11 mph has been recorded.

Lobsters, like snails and spiders, have blue blood due to the presence of hemocyanin which contains copper. In contrast, vertebrates and many other animals have red blood from iron-rich hemoglobin.

Lobsters urinate from openings located at the base of their second antennae, and also excrete from other places on their bodies including their gills and digestive glands.

Lobsters carry their young for nine months and can live to be more than 100 years old. Research suggests that lobsters may not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age, and that older lobsters may be more fertile than younger lobsters. Lobsters, like many other decapod crustaceans, grow throughout life, and are able to add new muscle cells at each molt. Lobster longevity allows them to reach impressive sizes. The largest known lobster weighed 44.4 lb.

Female lobsters lay thousands of eggs, each about the size of a raspberry segment. Mother lobsters carry their eggs under their abdomens. Baby lobsters can be from multiple fathers. Lobsters are serial monogamists, having one exclusive, but very short-term, relationship after another.

Lobsters are omnivores and typically eat live prey such as fish, mollusks, other crustaceans, worms, and some plant life. They scavenge if necessary and eat their shed skin after moulting. Their teeth are in their stomachs, located a very short distance from the mouth. They chew their food in their stomach between three grinding surfaces that look like molar surfaces called the “gastric mill.”

Lobsters use complicated signals to explore their surroundings and establish social relationships. They take long-distance seasonal journeys and can cover 100 miles or more each year. They can regenerate lost claws, walking legs, and antennae, though it can take several years.

Symbions are tiny aquatic animals, less than ½ mm wide, that live on the bodies of cold-water lobsters.

Lobsters are threatened by overfishing. They are commonly harvested for human consumption. More than 20 million are consumed each year in the United States alone. They are among the most heavily harvested creatures in the sea.

Lobsters can feel pain. The most common way of killing a lobster is by inhumanely placing it live in boiling water. They are sometimes also placed in a freezer for a period of time before being boiled alive. Another method is to split the lobster or sever the body in half lengthwise. Lobsters may also be killed or rendered insensate immediately before boiling by a stab into the brain (pithing), in the belief that this will stop suffering. However, a lobster's brain operates from not one but several ganglia, and disabling only the frontal ganglion does not usually result in death or unconsciousness. When kept in tanks, lobsters suffer from stress associated with confinement, low oxygen levels, and crowding. There is no humane way to kill a lobster.

Pollution is causing shell rot and other illnesses in normally disease-resistant species of lobster.

Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous (poisonous) snakes that live in a wide range of habitats, and have the scientific name Crotalus cerastes. There are 32 known species of rattlesnakes, and they can be found all over the Americas, ranging from Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, to as far south as Argentina.

These fascinating snakes get their name from the rattle at the end of their tails – when the snake shakes the rattle, it makes a loud noise that helps to defend the snake by warning off predators or passing larger animals. It’s basically the snake’s way of saying ‘watch your step!’

The living environment that rattlesnakes prefer can be different from species to species, though many types of rattlesnakes live near open, rocky areas that can give them protective cover from predators that might eat them. Rocks are also a great place for rattlesnakes to warm themselves by basking, and also for them to find the types of prey that they need to eat. Rattlesnakes can also be found in many other types of habitats as well, however, including prairie, marsh, and forest homes. They tend to prefer to live in temperatures between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but they’re also fairly hardy, tolerating short periods when temperatures go below freezing, and they’re even able to survive for days at a time when the temperature is as cold as 37 degrees Fahrenheit.

Rattlesnakes are predators, meaning that they hunt and eat small animals like birds, mice, rats and lizards. They lie in wait for their prey, and sense small animals using heat-sensing ‘pits’ on their faces. They kill prey by quickly striking and biting it, injecting a large amount of venom through their fangs into the animal, which causes rapid internal damage and bleeding. Some types of rattlesnakes, like the tiger rattlesnake and the Mojave rattlesnake, can actually paralyze using their venom, too.

As well as using their eyes to find their bitten prey as it runs away, rattlesnakes find and follow an animal’s scent. They then check for signs of life using their odor-sensing tongue and touch before eating their meal headfirst. It might surprise you to learn that a rattlesnake’s gastric juices are powerful enough to digest even the bones of their prey! If the snake has found a large enough meal, they’ll usually find a warm, hidden place to curl up in for a rest while they digest.

Although rattlesnakes get most of their needed moisture from the animals that they eat, they do need to drink some water as well to stay hydrated. They have a few different ways of drinking that probably look quite strange to us. In bigger bodies of water, like creeks or ponds, they put their entire head under the surface and open and close their jaws to suck in water. With small puddles or dewdrops, though, they ‘sip’ the water, or flatten their lower jaw and allow the water to run into their mouth.

These snakes have many other distinctive features as well. Their skin is made up of overlapping scales that protect their body from head to tail, and unlike their flashier relatives, rattlesnakes tend to be intricately patterned in earth tones to provide the best camouflage from their predators.

A rattlesnake can feel changes in air temperature though its skin, which is important for helping it to find warm locations or protective shelters. Rattlesnakes are ectotherms, meaning that they can’t keep themselves warm – instead, they have to exchange heat with their environment to change their body temperature, basking on rocks and warm earth to absorb heat.

The sound of these snakes is unmistakable. A rattlesnake’s rattle is actually composed of scales that are made of keratin, creating several hollow, interlocked tail segments at the end of the snake’s body. The snake ‘rattles’ by squeezing and relaxing special muscles in their tail, making the segments vibrate together to make a loud noise. A rattlesnake can contract these muscles up to fifty times per second, for as long as three hours! Rattlesnakes travel with their rattles in the air to protect them, and a new tail segment is added each time the snake sheds its skin.

Interestingly, rattlesnakes also have a very good sense of smell, and use their tongues to carry smells into their mouths to their Jacobson’s organs – special organs that detect chemicals called pheromones. Although they tend to rely more on scent than sight, rattlers also have enough sight ability to spot movement during both the day and night, and they even possess some amount of color vision, too.

As adults, male rattlesnakes tend to have longer, thicker tails than females, and most rattlesnake species mate either in the summer or fall.

Female rattlesnakes, who tend to mate every three years, secrete a pheromone trail that allows males to follow them using their tongues and Jacobson’s organs, and once a male actually finds a female, he follows her around for days before mating. The males of some rattler species, like the timber rattlesnake, fight with each other to compete for a certain female during mating season too. Rattlesnakes are one of the snake species that give birth to live young snakes after carrying the eggs inside them, and female rattlesnakes actually stay in the nest with their young for weeks, some even sharing mothering duties with other female rattlers as well. Who knew snakes were such good parents? 

As rattlesnakes usually take several years to reach adulthood, while still young they’re vulnerable to danger from predators like ravens, raccoons, skunks and weasels, as well as king snakes, a predator that’s immune to rattler venom. Occasionally, even ants will prey on very young snakes.

Some species of rattlesnakes will gather together in large groups to hibernate in cooler weather, (though they’ll usually stay dormant during drought and extreme heat) and rattlesnake dens have been counted to hold well over 1,000 snakes at a time! They often return to the same den each year.

Rattlesnakes are threatened by a variety of human activities. Some areas host mass exterminations like rattlesnake roundups, and car accidents and destruction of rattlesnake habitats due to human development have caused some species, like the Timber, Massasauga and Canebrake rattlesnake, to become threatened or endangered in some areas.

Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated creatures with series of body segments, with one pair of legs per body segment.

Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of legs, therefore there is no centipede with exactly 100 legs. They have a pair of venom claws and are a predominantly carnivorous.

Centipedes normally have a drab coloration combining shades of brown and red. Cave-dwelling and subterranean species may lack pigmentation and many tropical species have bright colors. Size can range from a few millimeters to about 12 inches.

Worldwide, there are estimated to be 8,000 species of centipede. Centipedes have a wide geographical range, reaching beyond the Arctic Circle. Centipedes are found in an array of terrestrial habitats from tropical rainforests to deserts. Within these habitats, centipedes require a moist micro-habitat because they lose water rapidly through their skin. Accordingly, they are found in soil and leaf litter, under stones and dead wood, and inside logs. Centipedes are among the largest terrestrial invertebrate predators.

Centipede reproduction does not involve copulation. Males deposit a sperm capsule for the female to take up. In some species, the male undertakes a courtship dance to encourage the female to engulf his sperm. In other cases, the males just leave them for the females to find. In temperate areas egg laying occurs in spring and summer but in subtropical and tropical areas there appears to be little seasonality to centipede breeding.

Some centipedes lay their eggs singly in holes in the soil; the female fills the holes with soil and leaves them. The number of eggs laid ranges from about 10 to 50. Time of development of the embryo to hatching is highly variable and may take from one to a few months. Development to adulthood is also highly variable within and among species. For example, it can take 3 years for S. coleoptera to achieve adulthood, whereas under the right conditions Lithiobiomorph species may reach a reproductive period in 1 year. In addition, centipedes are relatively long-lived when compared to their insect cousins – some living up to 6 years.

Some centipedes provide parental care to their babies. The mother stays with the eggs, guarding and licking them to protect them from fungi. Some mothers stay with their young after they have hatched, guarding them until they are ready to leave. If disturbed, the female will either abandon the eggs or eat them; abandoned eggs tend to fall prey to fungi rapidly. Some species are matriphagic, meaning that the offspring eat their mother.

Centipedes are predominantly predatory animals. They are generalist predators, which means that they have adapted to eat a variety of different available prey. Centipedes are mostly nocturnal. What centipedes actually eat is not well known because of their cryptic lifestyle and thorough mastication of food. Centipedes are eaten by a great many vertebrates and invertebrates, such as mongooses, mice, salamanders, beetles and snakes. They form an important item of diet for many species. Centipede defenses include their speed and venomous forcipules, as well as the secretion of defensive chemicals.

Like most animals, the primary threat to centipedes is the destruction of their habitat. Human development has taken an alarming toll on the environment. Impact from land use practices such as agricultural conversion, deforestation, and urban sprawl continue to degrade and fragment remaining pockets of habitat and accelerate biodiversity loss.

Pesticides and other forms of pollution are also of serious concern, as well as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Like all arthropods, the tarantula is an invertebrate that relies on an exoskeleton for muscular support. Like other Arachnida a tarantula’s body comprises two main parts, the prosoma (or cephalothorax) and the opisthosoma (or abdomen).

Spiders are invertebrates but are not considered insects because they only have two main body parts instead of three, eight legs instead of six and no antennae. Most spiders also have eight simple eyes, while insects have large, compound eyes. Some have no eyes and others have as many as 12. Spiders, along with ticks, mites, harvestmen and scorpions, are called arachnida.

Tarantulas of various species occur in the southern and western parts of the United States, in Central America, and throughout South America. Other species occur variously throughout Africa, much of Asia and all of Australia. In Europe, some species occur in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, and Cyprus. Their natural habitats include savanna, grasslands such as the pampas, rainforests, deserts, scrubland, mountains, and cloud forests.

Tarantulas sizes range from as small as a fingernail to as large as a dinner plate when the legs are fully extended. Most species of North American tarantulas are brown. Elsewhere species are cobalt blue, black with white stripes and greenbottle blue. Some have yellow leg markings or metallic blue legs with vibrant orange abdomens.

A tarantula has four pairs of legs and two additional pairs of appendages. Two or three retractable claws are at the end of each leg. These claws are used to grip surfaces for climbing. Also on the end of each leg, surrounding the claws, is a group of hairs. These hairs help the tarantula to grip better when climbing certain surfaces.

The tarantula's mouth is a short straw-shaped opening that can only suck, meaning that anything taken into it must be in liquid form. Prey with large amounts of solid parts, such as mice, must be crushed and ground up or predigested, which is accomplished by coating the prey with digestive juices.

A tarantula perceives its surroundings primarily via sensory organs called setae (hairs or spines). Although a tarantula has eyes, touch is its keenest sense, and in hunting it primarily depends on vibrations given off by the movements of its prey. A tarantula's setae are very sensitive organs and are used to sense chemical signatures, vibrations, wind direction, and possibly even sound. Tarantulas are also very responsive to the presence of certain chemicals such as pheromones. Most tarantulas are not able to see much more than light, darkness, and motion. Arboreal tarantulas generally have better vision compared with terrestrial tarantulas.

Tarantulas have also evolved specialized hairs to defend themselves against predators. Besides the normal "hairs" covering the body, some tarantulas also have a dense covering of irritating hairs called urticating hairs, that they may use as protection against enemies. These hairs are present on New World species but not on tarantulas from the Old World. Urticating hairs are usually kicked off the abdomen by the tarantula, or rubbed against the target. These fine hairs are barbed and serve to irritate. They can be lethal to small animals such as rodents. Tarantulas also use these hairs for other purposes such as to mark territory, to line their shelters, and to discourage flies from feeding on the spiderlings. Urticating hairs do not grow back, but are replaced with each moult.

All tarantulas are venomous. Before biting, tarantulas may signal their intention to attack by rearing up into a "threat posture". They may then slap down on the intruder with their raised front legs. If that response fails to deter the attacker, the tarantulas of the Americas flick urticating bristles toward the pursuing predator, and then retreat. If there is no line of retreat, their final response may also be to whirl suddenly and bite. Some tarantulas are well known to give dry bites; not pumping venom into the wound. Old-world tarantulas (from Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia) have no urticating bristles and are more likely to attack when disturbed. Old-world tarantulas often have more potent venom.

Once a male spider reaches maturity and becomes motivated to mate, it will weave a web mat on a flat surface. The spider will then rub its abdomen on the surface of this mat and in so doing release a quantity of semen. It may then insert its pedipalps (short leg-like appendages) into the pool of semen. The pedipalps absorb the semen and keep it viable until a mate can be found. When a male spider detects the presence of a female, the two exchange signals to establish that they are of the same species. These signals may also lull the female into a receptive state. If the female is receptive then the male approaches her and inserts his pedipalps into an opening in the lower surface of her abdomen. After the semen has been transferred, the male will swiftly leave the scene.

Females deposit 50 to 2,000 eggs, depending on the species, in a silken egg sac and guard it for 6 to 8 weeks. During this time, the female will stay very close to the egg sac and become more aggressive. Within most species, the female turns the egg sac often, which is called brooding. This keeps the eggs from deforming due to sitting too long. The young spiderlings remain in the nest for some time after hatching where they live off the remains of their yolk sac before dispersing.

Like other spiders, tarantulas have to shed their exoskeleton periodically in order to grow, a process called molting. A young tarantula may do this several times a year, while full grown tarantulas will only molt once a year or less, or sooner in order to replace lost limbs or lost urticating hairs.

Tarantulas may live for many years. Most species take two to five years to reach adulthood, but some species may take up to ten years to reach full maturity. Upon reaching adulthood, males typically have less than 2 years left to live and will immediately go in search of a female with which to mate. Male tarantulas rarely molt again once they reach adulthood. Females will continue to molt after reaching maturity. Females have been known to reach 30 to 40 years of age, and have survived on water alone for up to 2 years.

Some tarantulas hunt prey primarily in trees; others hunt on or near the ground. All tarantulas can produce silk – while arboreal species will typically reside in a silken "tube tent", terrestrial species will line their burrows with silk to stabilize the burrow wall and facilitate climbing up and down. Tarantulas mainly eat insects and other arthropods, using ambush as their primary method of prey capture. The biggest tarantulas can kill animals as large as lizards, mice, birds and small snakes.

Regardless of their fearsome reputation, tarantulas are themselves an object of predation. The most specialized of these predators are large members of the wasp family Pompilidae. In the Americas, these insects are termed "tarantula hawks". The largest tarantula hawks will track, attack and kill large tarantulas. Humans can also be considered predators of tarantulas, as tarantulas are considered a delicacy in certain cultures. Some other arthropods, such as giant centipedes, are also known to prey on tarantulas.

Like most animals, the primary threat to tarantulas is the destruction of their habitat. Human development has taken an alarming toll on the environment. Impact from land use practices such as agricultural conversion, deforestation, and urban sprawl continue to degrade and fragment remaining pockets of habitat and accelerate biodiversity loss. Pesticides and other forms of pollution are also of serious concern, as well as genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Tarantulas are also threatened by the pet trade. Regulations are in place to prevent importation of tarantulas into the U.S., but there are few measures to prohibit the overcollection of tarantulas. Captivity is cruel for wild animals. Animals are captured from their native habitat and transported to various countries to be sold as “pets”. Backyard breeders also supply exotic animals. The sellers of these animals often disregard the dangers, difficulties, physical and physiological needs of the animals they peddle. The suffering of the animals in the hands of unqualified and hapless buyers appears to be of no concern in the lucrative exotic pet trade.

Known for their highly effective and tremendously pungent defensive tactics, skunks are some of the most infamous animals around. Members of the family Mephitidae, the name of these distinctive little mammals likely originated from 1600’s Algonquian language. Although they can vary in appearance, almost all species of skunks are found in the Americas (ranging from Canada to central South America), with the exception of Asian stink badgers, which are generally found in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Differing in size and weight depending on species, these odiferous creatures can range from around 15 to 37 inches in length and weigh from around 1lb up to around 18 lb in weight – on average, around the size of a typical housecat. Although they’ve been known to live as long as 10 years in captivity, most skunks in the wild don’t live past the age of one or two, since many fall victim to pest control campaigns or collisions with vehicles because of their poor vision. They’re generally thickly furred and short-limbed with fairly compact bodies, including well-muscled forelegs and sharp claws that are well suited to digging for food or building burrows in the earth. Although skunk coat patterning and coloration is unique to specific species, every skunk is striped from birth, acting as a built in visual warning for predators who might consider the skunk an easy meal. Most skunk species are typically black and white, but coat colors for certain species might include brown, grey, or even cream colored. Some even have a series of spots and stripes combined, or stripes on their legs as well.

The scent of a skunk is its most renowned characteristic, as well as being one of the most effective existing defensive tactics within the animal kingdom. Skunks produce a very obnoxiously scented mixture of chemical oils within two small organs known as anal glands, found on either side of their anus. Strong muscles beside these glands allow a skunk to accurately spray their target as far as 10 feet away. As well as being extremely repulsive; skunk spray is extremely irritating and can even cause temporary blindness in some cases. Because these glands only produce a limited amount of spray, skunks are usually reluctant to use their spray as an initial protection, so they’ll go through a warning routine of foot-stamping, hissing and tail flagging postures before resorting to spraying as a last resort defence. The pungency of skunk spray is so strong that skunks are often able to deter bears and other predators from attacking them, and most people can smell a skunk from as far as ½ a mile away.

Because of their tenacious nature when survival is on the line, it’s not surprising that many skunks have learned to live and thrive in urban environments. Besides being omnivorous, these unique animals are opportunistic foragers and occasional scavengers, changing their diet with the availability of their food. They’ll use their sharp claws to dig holes in search of food, and a meal for a skunk might range from berries, leaves and grasses to insects, bees, worms or grubs. Some skunks may also eat lizards, frogs, snakes, moles, birds and bird eggs, as well as pet food and human refuse if available.

Not usually seen during daylight hours, skunks are most active at dawn and dusk, usually preferring to forage alone assisted by their highly developed senses of smell and hearing. Daylight means rest time for these small creatures, and they tend to shelter in self-made burrows until the sun sets. In colder weather, they’ll stay in their dens for increased periods of time, and groups of female skunks usually like to winter together to stay warm. They aren’t true hibernators, as they will emerge from their den during winter, but they do enter a more dormant phase feeding only occasionally and staying fairly inactive.

Like many other mammals with less active winter cycles, these small creatures mate in early spring and typically give birth to litters of four to seven kits around two months later. Males generally mate with more than one female to ensure successful genetic distribution. Skunk kits are born helpless, blind and deaf, and stay in the den for the first several weeks as they nurse from their dam. Male skunks don’t play any part in the raising or care of their kits. Around the age of three weeks, their eyes open, and around the age of two months, they become weaned and leave the den, though they tend to stay with the female until they’re sexually mature which happens around one year of age. Skunk mothers are particularly protective, too; a female who senses any threat to her kits won’t hesitate to spray potential predators.

Despite their smelly defences, there are still one or two predators who dare to hunt these small striped opponents. Domestic dogs tend to be the most numerous predators, with some even hunting skunks repeatedly despite retaliation. Wolves and other wild canids rarely hunt skunks themselves unless they’re desperate for food. The great horned owl is a skunk’s only consistent predator, swiftly killing them from the air and bringing them back to their nests to feed.

Although most skunk species are fairly populous, there are a variety of hazards that pose a danger to them. One species in particular, the Eastern Spotted skunk, is currently listed as endangered is some states because of population decline due to farming practices that eliminate ground cover. Some species have traditionally been hunted to harvest their pelts, while pesticide use in many areas has decreased the food supply that’s available for skunks. As a skunk’s foraging nature often leads it to roam across roads in search of food, collision with moving vehicles is a common occurrence for almost all skunk species.

True old world lizards with evolutionary roots that date back as far as 61 million years ago; chameleons are some of the most unique reptiles on earth. There are around 180 different species of chameleon belonging to the family Chamaeleonidae, which can come in a myriad and dazzling range of colors and sizes. Many species have the astounding ability to change colors in order to blend into their environment.

Naturally preferring warm climates, chameleons live in habitats that range from rainforest to dry desert, and chameleons have been found to occur, depending on species, in Africa, Madagascar, Europe, and southern Asia (as far as Sri Lanka). The word chameleon derives from Latin and Greek languages, roughly meaning ‘lion of the ground.’

It’s difficult to even begin to describe a chameleon’s curious appearance. They can range from 0.6 inches up to 27.5 inches in length, and their size and body structure can be very different from species to species. Some have unique decorative features, such as horn-like nasal protrusions or crests on top of their heads, while others have crests of small spikes along their spine that help break up the outline of the chameleon so it blends into its surroundings. The males of many chameleon species tend to be more decorative than the females.

Since most chameleons are tree dwellers, they have developed prehensile (grasping) tails and a highly functional foot structure, often referred to as a zygodactyl foot. On each of their feet, the toes are grouped into either two or three separate, flattened bundles, which give the feet the appearance of tongs. These specialized feet allow chameleons to grip tightly onto narrow branches, and the sharp claws at the end of each toe help these little lizards to readily climb rough surfaces like bark. Even those species that have moved to more terrestrial movement have kept the same toe structure as their tree-top dwelling counterparts.

Continuing to break the mold when it comes to unusual animals, chameleons also have the most distinctive eyes of any reptile. Their upper and lower eyelids don’t move separately, but are completely joined together, leaving only a pinhole opening large enough for the pupil to see through. A chameleon can keep just one eye on you while watching a tasty bug at the same time. Each eye can move, pivot and focus in complete independence, giving them a 360 degree field of vision. In addition, their actual eyesight is excellent in comparison to other reptiles, allowing them to see their prey from as far as 5 to 10 meters away. Their eyes can also detect both visible and ultraviolet light – in fact, ultraviolet exposure plays an important role in regulating a chameleon’s social, feeding, and reproductive activities.

The most renowned characteristic belonging to many species of chameleon is their ability to change their skin color and pattern, usually in combinations of pink, blue, red, orange, black, brown, light blue, yellow, turquoise or purple. Chameleons have two layers within their skin structure, placed on top of one another, that control color change by using a lattice of a substance called guanine nanocrystals. When the chameleon’s body ‘excites’ the lattice, the distance between the nanocrystals increases, changing which wavelengths of light are reflected and absorbed by their skin (therefore changing their color and pattern).

Chameleons will change color not only to camouflage, but also to communicate with others in social situations like courting before mating, or conflict. One species, the Namaqua chameleon, changes color in order to help regulate its body temperature too, turning black in cooler weather to absorb heat, and then lighter grey to reflect light in warmer daytime temperatures. In general, a chameleon will usually show darker colors if they’re angry or trying to scare off other chameleons or animals, but shows lighter and more multicolored patterns when they’re courting to mate.

In order to fuel all of this brilliant body structure, chameleons need to be fairly efficient hunters. They eat mainly insects, though some larger species will also hunt other lizards and sometimes even small birds, catching them by rapidly projecting their long, sticky tongue to capture their prey from afar and bring it into their mouth to eat. Some chameleons can actually project their tongues more than twice the distance of their own body length, and can capture prey in as fast as 0.07 seconds. Many chameleon species will also munch on tender leaves, plant shoots and berries as well to supplement their diet.

Chameleons are mainly external egg-layers (oviparous), though some species retain eggs inside their body until they are ready to hatch (oviviparous). Chameleons who lay eggs will do so three to six weeks after mating, digging a hole in the ground to lay anywhere from two to two hundred eggs, depending on the particular sizes and species. Although eggs of these chameleons generally hatch after 4 to 12 months, the eggs of one species, the Parson’s chameleon, are believed to have an extremely long gestation period of over 24 months.

Oviviparous species, on the other hand, have a gestation period of five to seven months, after which the mother chameleon presses each sticky-surfaced egg onto a branch. The egg membrane then bursts, freeing the new young chameleon to move away, hunt, and hide from predators. An oviviparous female can have up to 30 live young from one gestation period.

THREATS TO CHAMELEONS

There are several species of chameleons that are inhumanely kept in captivity. Every year, a variety of sources provides millions of animals to the exotic pet trade. Animals are captured from their native habitat and transported to various countries to be sold as “pets”. Others are surplus animals from zoos or their offspring. Backyard breeders also supply exotic animals. The sellers of these animals often disregard state or local laws regulating private possession of exotics,  and the dangers, difficulties, physical and physiological needs of the animals they peddle. The suffering of the animals in the hands of unqualified and hapless buyers appears to be of no concern in the lucrative exotic pet trade. Reptiles pose safety risks to humans. Many incidents have been reported of escapes, strangulations, and bites from pet reptiles across the country.

Many species of chameleons are threatened with extinction in their natural habitats because of human pollution and deforestation.

These small lizards can also be host to a number of different parasites as well; nematode worms and protozoan parasites like Plasmodium (the parasite that causes malaria) and coccidia have all been noted to be carried by various chameleon species.

Although eels look like snakes, they are fish and belong to the order Anguilliformes, of which there are about 800 species. The term "eel" is also used for some other similarly shaped fish, such as electric eels and spiny eels, but these are not members of the Anguilliformes order.

The main species of true eels include American eels, European eels, moray eels and conger eels. Most eels are predators and feed on fish, snails, frogs, octopuses, crabs, lobsters and mussels. Eels feed during the night and rest during the day. These aquatic creatures rely on their excellent sense of smell to hunt for prey.

Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from 2 inches in the one-jawed eel, to 13 feet in the slender giant moray. Adults range in weight from 1.1 oz to well over 55 lb. The heaviest true eel is the European conger. The maximum size of this species has been reported as reaching a length of 10 feet and a weight of 240 lb. Other eels are longer, but do not weigh as much.

Eels possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal. Many eels have scales beneath their thick skin.

Most eels live in the shallow waters of the ocean and burrow into sand, mud, or amongst rocks. A majority of eel species are nocturnal, thus are rarely seen. Sometimes they are seen living together in holes, or "eel pits". Some species of eels also live in deeper water on the continental shelves and over the slopes as deep as 13,000 feet. Only members of the Anguilla regularly inhabit fresh water, but they, too, return to the sea to breed.

Some eel species travel up to 4,000 miles to breed. The journey can take over seven months to complete, during which time the eels do not eat. During mating, eels open their mouths wide and wrap their bodies around each other for hours. They separate only after the female has laid her eggs, which are then fertilized by the male. After the eels breed, they die. It takes three years for an eel to become an adult.

Baby eels begin life as flat and transparent larvae, or leptocephali. Eel larvae drift in the surface waters of the sea, feeding on marine snow, small particles that float in the water. Eel larvae then metamorphose into glass eels and then become elvers before finally seeking out their juvenile and adult habitats. Freshwater elvers travel upstream and are forced to climb up obstructions, such as weirs, dam walls, and natural waterfalls.

Eels can reverse metamorphosis. As temperatures cool and eels make their way downriver in their migration to spawn in the ocean, they undergo physical changes to prepare their bodies for spawning and for the transition from freshwater to the marine environment. One of these changes is gut degeneration as the eels cease feeding and rely on fat stores to make the lengthy journey back to the sea where they spawn and die. Eels that are delayed, for example due to barriers or rises in temperature, and are unable to complete their downriver migration can actually reverse that physical change and regenerate their guts.

Eels move through water with an undulating motion. Eels can swim backwards and forwards, and can travel on land for short distances.

Pollution, changes in the environment, over-fishing, drainage and hydro development are the main threats to eels. Eels lose habitat and migration corridors when waters are obstructed by dams and other mechanisms. Because many eels are catadromous (living in fresh water but spawning in the sea), dams and other river obstructions can block their ability to reach inland feeding grounds. Since the 1970s, an increasing number of eel ladders have been constructed in North America and Europe to help the fish bypass obstructions.

Localized population declines are also attributed to mortality in hydropower plant turbines, degradation of current habitat, and overharvest. Freshwater eels and marine eels are threatened by the seafood industry, with some eel populations decreased as much as 99%.

European eel populations are threatened by a foreign parasite from East Asia which appeared in European eels in the early 1980s. Since 1995, it also appeared in the United States (Texas and South Carolina), most likely due to uncontrolled aquaculture eel shipments. In Europe, eel populations are already from 30% to 100% infected with the nematode. The parasite inhibits the function of the swimbladder as a hydrostatic organ. As an open ocean voyager, eels need the carrying capacity of the swimbladder (which makes up 3–6% of the eel's bodyweight) to cross the ocean on stored energy alone.

Eels, particularly the moray eel, are also victims of the pet trade and animal entertainment industry. Captured from their native habitat and transported to various countries to be sold as aquarium "ornamentals", the dangers, difficulties, physical and physiological needs of the animals appears to be of no concern in the lucrative pet trade and animal entertainment industry. Removed from their natural habitat they are deprived of the ability to freely engage in instinctual behaviors. Even under the best of circumstances, captivity is cruel for fish. Confined to tiny tanks, captive fish endure constant stress and boredom. With little room to exercise, they become listless, their immune systems are weakened, and they become prone to sickness; many resort to self-mutilation in reaction to stress or boredom. Mental illness is rampant among confined animals.

Mammals are animals that have warm-blood, fur or hair and usually have live babies. A few mammals lay eggs rather than giving birth to live babies, including the platypus and the spiny anteater. All mammals have some type of body hair or fur, though marine mammals, like dolphins and whales, are almost hairless. Over 5,500 species of mammals have been recorded to date, compared to more than 28,000 species of fish and over 1,000,000 species of insects.

Many mammal babies are helpless when first born, but a few species, including zebras and moose, can walk from the day they are born. Marsupial babies, like kangaroos and opossum, are born as small as a pinkie nail and move to their mother's pouch to mature. All mammal babies drink milk from their mothers.

Mammals maintain their body temperatures to just about the same temperature all the time, despite the temperature outside their bodies. Warm blood allows mammals to be very active and live in a wide variety of environments. Fur and fat help protect mammals in the cold, while sweating or panting releases extra heat for mammals in hot conditions.

Probably the most characteristic element of the current extinction crisis is that most of our primate relatives are in serious danger. Almost 90% of the primate population lives in the tropical forest, which are disappearing fast due to animal agriculture, deforestation and development. About half of all the primate species on Earth are at the brink of extinction. 50 percent of all known mammals see rapidly decreasing populations, and almost 20 percent are close to extinction. Marine mammals – including dolphins, whales, and porpoises – are particularly close to becoming extinct.

The blue whale, measuring up to 110 feet long and weighing up to 419,000 pounds, is the largest mammal living today. It is also the largest mammal to have ever lived....larger than even the biggest dinosaur. The largest land animal today is the African elephant, standing up to 13 feet tall and weighing over 15,000 pounds. The extinct Paraceratherium, a hornless rhinoceros which stood around 17 feet at the shoulder and weighed about 33,000 pounds, is thought to have been the largest land mammal to have ever roamed the earth. The tallest mammals are giraffes, towering up to 20 feet tall.

The smallest mammals are tinier than many insects. The bumblebee bat is only about 1.14 inches long and weighs a mere 0.07oz or less, while the white-toothed pygmy shrew, the smallest land mammal, is only .09oz or less.

The fastest land animal is the cheetah, reaching speeds of 70 mph. The fasted flying mammal is the big brown bat, flying at speeds of 15.5 mph. The fastest mammal in water is the orca, swimming up to 34 mph.

Human beings can live longer than any other mammal, while whales can live up to 100 years.

Desert rats do not sweat or pant. They bury seeds until they’ve dried, then use them as sponges to gather humidity from the air.

Bears use tools, play with objects and have been known to use weapons against other animals. Bears enjoy staring at scenic vistas such as sunsets, lakes and mountains. They grieve when a family member dies, moaning and crying for weeks.

Like computers, rats have short-term, random-access memories that store information used in ongoing processes. They are empathetic to each other, help other rats in distress and share food. They respond with their whiskers to vibrations. Rats take care of injured and sick rats and without companionship they become lonely and depressed. Rats laugh when they play and chatter or grind their teeth when happy. They groom themselves and their friends and family members for several hour each day. Rats can go longer than a camel without water. Their tails help them to balance, communicate and regulate their body temperature.

Squirrels have been observed hiding their odors from snakes by chewing on the outer layer of snakeskin and smearing it all over their fur. They also pretend to bury food in one spot, then store the food elsewhere, to fake out potential thieves. Mother squirrels are so protective of their babies that they kick the fathers out of the nests for the spring and summer, but may allow them back to bunk with the family during winter.

Prairie dogs speak to one another in a language which includes nouns and verbs and has different dialects depending on where they’re from. Wolves cry out from distress when they miss an absent member of their pack. They communicate not only by sound, but also by body language. They use social cooperation and  generalized rules to conduct and plan coordinated attacks.

Much of elephants’ complex language is based on infrasound – below the level of human hearing – and enables separated family members to communicate with each other over vast distances. They can also imitate human speech, despite having a trunk instead of lips. When an elephant is stressed, other elephants offer physical and vocal comfort, including hugs, kisses and soothing sounds. They mourn the deaths of their loved ones and perform rituals, holding vigils over the body for days and covering the deceased with leaves and branches. They react the same way when mourning humans. Elephants have been known to die of broken hearts after the death of a family member, friend or mate. They have the ability to use different objects in creative ways without being taught. They have been known to clean their food and use tools in various ways in the wild. Elephants self-medicate, play with a sense of humor, perform artistic activities, use tools and display compassion and self-awareness.

Apes and other primates use a special sign language to communicate with each other, and are also able to use standard sign language to communicate with humans. They have been taught to be fluent in English, some understanding over 2,000 words and able to sign over 1,000 words. They understand the meaning of the signs and use them in creative ways. They can comment on abstract ideas, express self-awareness, intelligence and emotions. Apes remember people, names, places, tasks and puzzles. They make and use tools, including spears for hunting, and have impressive problem-solving skills. They cooperate on projects like seeking food and making shelter, live in highly organized societies, can appreciate a beautiful sunset and mourn the death of loved ones. They have even been known to keep "pets".

Orangutans recognize themselves in mirrors. They make and use a variety of tools for foraging, honey collection and protection against insects. They drape large leaves over themselves like a poncho and use sticks to “fish” for branches or fruit that are out of reach and to extract seeds from fruit. They use leaves as napkins and gloves and fashion seat cushions from natural materials. Males plan their travel route in advance and communicate it to other orangutans. Cultural traditions are learned and passed down. They are capable of whistling music, opening locks, communicating with humans through sign language, using fork and spoons, blowing out candles, washing clothes, rowing boats, cooking and using Ipads.

Chimps have traditions that are often specific to only one group. They communicate with body language, exhibit self-awareness and express emotions, including laughing when they play and crying when they grieve. They outperform humans on numerous short-term memory tests. Orphans are adopted by their aunts, older siblings, or other members of their tribe who teach them how to find natural antibiotics, avoid poisonous plants and build tree nests.

Marine mammals include cetaceans and  pinnipeds. Dolphins, whales and porpoises are "cetaceans." Walruses, sea lions and seals are "pinnipeds". While they must breathe air like all mammals, marine mammals can stay underwater for up to two hours before surfacing for air. Dolphins and whales breath air through blowholes, while walruses, seals and sea lions breath through their nose and mouth.

Seals have scored better than adult humans at logical reasoning tests. Ringed seals build snow caves above their breathing holes in the ice to protect their young from predators.

Orcas brains are more emotionally developed than those of humans. The limbic system — the layers of interconnecting tissue that processes emotions — have grown elaborately compared to those in the human brain. They have a level of social culture that rivals humans.

Dolphin brains are larger and, in some ways, more complex than human brains. Dolphins have been taught to speak human words. Their own language allows them to trace other dolphins up to six miles away. They even have names for one another. They have such significant brain power it stops them from sleeping. They use tools and pass their knowledge through a family line. They reason, problem-solve and comprehend ideas. They use nonlinear math formulas when catching prey. They blow bubbles that vary in exact amplitudes to detect fish, then subtract values found with their echolocation to confirm the target. They follow ships to collect fish churned up their wake, and ride bow-waves like human surfers. They play catch, tag and other games with each other, and also enjoy playing with other animals. Dolphins swim onto the nose of humpback whales, who then raise themselves out of the water so the dolphins slide down their heads - both animals enjoy the game. Dolphins form complex social groups. They plan ahead. They crave physical attention and stroke each other with their flippers.

Dolphins and whales communicate with a variety of low sounds that humans cannot hear. They also use echolocation – sending sounds through water to bounce off objects to determine their shape, size and distance.

Water-dwelling members of the family Salamandridae, newts are some of the most fascinating types of amphibians. Their name is derived from variations of the Old English word efte, evolving to newt (to refer to the adult animal) during the time of Shakespeare. These unique salamanders can be found in water-rich regions throughout Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan, and both east and west of the Rocky Mountain range in North America. Some species live out their entire life cycle in the water, while others dwell on land as adults, returning to water in order to breed. Depending on the species of newt, they can have a lifespan that ranges from 2 to 15 years of age, and may range from 5-10 cm in length, and 10-50g in weight.

Much like other kinds of salamanders, newts have a lizard-like appearance, with four limbs, a distinct tail and skin that tends to be more pebble-textured in appearance in comparison to the smooth, wet skin of other salamanders. Their sensitive skin is semi-permeable, which allows them to absorb oxygen and other necessary substances, but this also means that that they’re extremely sensitive to water pollutants and changes in the water pH where they dwell. (Newt populations may be assessed as part of natural water quality assessments - serving as biological indicators of environmental health.)

Newt larvae possess gills, as well as teeth on both their upper and lower jaws. The most amazing characteristic of these small amphibians is that they have phenomenal regenerative abilities – cells at the location of an injury can transform into non-distinct cells, multiply rapidly, and then differentiate themselves again in order to regenerate a new organ or limb. Newts can actually regenerate their eyes, limbs, spinal cords, hearts, intestines, and jaws multiple times!

Many newt species are also able to produce toxic skin secretions as a method of defense against predators that see them as an easy meal. The rough-skinned newt, Taricha granulosa, lives in the Pacific Northwest and is capable of producing a secretion that's toxic enough to kill an adult human. Newt toxins are only dangerous if they’re ingested, however, and species of newts that produce dangerous secretions tend to be more brightly colored, serving as a warning system of their poisonous nature to hungry predators.

They can be fierce hunters themselves. Omnivorous by nature, adult newts will travel up to one kilometer in order to find worms, beetles and snails. In the case of larger newts, sometimes other smaller amphibians serve as a meal. Newt larvae survive on algae, small insects or other tadpoles. Natural predators to newts and newt larvae include fish, snakes, foxes and herons.

June and July tend to be the most common breeding months for newts in the Northern Hemisphere, with some species performing complex courtship displays. A male Great Crested Newt will actually develop a wavy crest down his back during the mating season, and will stand on his front legs and wave his tail around to attract the attention of a female. The male then mates with an accepting female by transferring a capsule of sperm, fertilizing the eggs. The eggs are laid by the female newt one by one, usually on the leaves of aquatic plants, which she then folds over to hide and protect them until hatching. The newly hatched young appear in around three weeks, and slowly change over the next few months, growing legs and developing air-breathing lungs. Once their metamorphosis is complete, the young newts, called efts at this stage in their development, leave the water and live on land. Only when they’ve grown into fully mature adults do newts return to the water to live and breed.

Interestingly, North American species typically tend to spend their adult lives almost exclusively in the water, rarely venturing out of it after they reach maturity, while European species remain on land as adults, only returning to water during the mating season. In colder weather, newts generally tend to hibernate, finding hidden spots under logs, rocks, or at the bottom of ponds like other amphibians.

Many populations of newt species have been threatened by human activity. The draining of wetlands, waterfront development, and deforestation in particular are all dangerous for newt populations. For instance, exposing more ground area to direct sunlight can dry up small ponds and pools of water that are vital sites for newt breeding and spawning. Fragmentation of their habitat because of human development is also an issue for many species; if newts can’t safely travel to mate, the gene pool in a specific region can become more narrow, making the newts there more vulnerable to the side effects of inbreeding. Newts that make the attempt to move across fragmented territories may also fall victim to collisions with moving vehicles.

Water contamination is another enormous problem for newt populations. Since newts are highly sensitive to pollutants in water, temperature changes, and increased sediment in the water from runoff, species in areas where water degradation happens are at serious risk. 

Finally, the capture of newts for the pet trade poses a third hazard for newts, as millions of these little amphibians are taken from the wild for commercial sale, even being sold as part of cruel living ‘keychain’ ornaments.

While sponges may look plant-like, they are multi-cellular animals that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them. Sponges are bottom-dwelling sea creatures. They do not have nervous, digestive or circulatory systems. Instead, they obtain nourishment and oxygen from water constantly flowing through them. The flowing water also carries out waste products.

There are many different types of sponges in the world's oceans. Sponges come in two basic types: encrusting or free-standing. Encrusting sponges typically cover the surface of a rock in the same manner that moss covers a rock on land. Free-standing sponges have more inner volume compared with their outside surface area and sometimes grow into strange shapes, often reaching gigantic proportions.

All sponges are sessile (they are not able to move about) and aquatic animals. Although there are freshwater species, the great majority are marine (salt water) species, ranging from tidal zones to depths exceeding 5.5 miles. Most sponges live their lives attached to a reef.

Sponges are similar to other animals in some ways, but unlike most animals they lack true tissues and organs and have no body symmetry. The scientific term for sponges is Porifera which literally means "pore-bearing." They are covered with tiny pores which lead to a system of canals and out to one or more larger holes. Within the canals of the sponge, chambers are lined with specialized cells that have a sticky, funnel shaped collar and a hairlike whip. The collar cells force water through the sponge. The water brings in nutrients and oxygen, while it carries out waste and carbon dioxide. The sticky collars of the collar cells also pick up tiny bits of food brought in with the water. Another type of cell takes the food to other cells within the sponge.

Sponges are very effective filter feeders, since they are able to capture and eat particles as small as bacteria as well as much larger particles. The "skeleton" of the sponge is composed of tiny needle-like splinters called spicules, a mesh of protein called spongin, or a combination of both.

Most sponges are hermaphroditic (both male and female), but play either the male or female role during reproduction. Sperm is released into the water by "male" sponges and travels to "female" sponges, where fertilization occurs internally. Baby sponges are released from the female sponge and float around in the water column as plankton for a few days. They then settle down and start growing. The next time the sponges reproduce, they may change sexual roles.

Sponges are also known for regenerating from fragments that are broken off, although this only works if the fragments include the right types of cells. A few species reproduce by budding. Budding is a form of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth, or bud, due to cell division at one particular site. Since the reproduction is asexual, the newly created organism is a clone and is genetically identical to the parent organism. Some species of sponge produce "survival pods" that remain dormant until conditions are right, and then either form completely new sponges or recolonize the skeletons of their parents.

While most of the approximately 5,000–10,000 known species feed on bacteria and other food particles in the water, some host micro-organisms as endosymbionts (organisms that live within the body or cells of another organism). These alliances often produce more food and oxygen than they consume. A few species of sponge that live in food-poor environments have become carnivores that prey mainly on small crustaceans.

Sponges are susceptible to damage by fishing, especially bottom trawling and dredging. In typical trawling, a large net is dragged across the ocean floor, its mouth held open by two 2-ton doors called otterboards. The siliceous skeleton of the sponges is fragile, and these organisms are easily broken by physical impact. Sponges in the vicinity of trawl tracks are shattered or completely removed.

While less harmful, hook and line fishing, as well as crustacean trapping, may also damage sponges. When the fishing gear is hauled to the surface, the lines and traps drag along the ocean floor and have the potential to break corals and sponges. Breakage of reef sponges may have dire consequences for the recruitment of new sponges, as sponge larvae require the siliceous skeletons of past generations as a substrate. Without a hard substrate, new sponges cannot settle and regrow broken parts of the reef. It has been estimated that broken sponge reefs may take up to 200 years to recover.

In addition, offshore oil and gas exploration threatens sponge reefs. Even if exploratory drilling is not done on or immediately adjacent to the reefs, it may still have a negative impact by increasing the amount of sediment in the seawater, or through hydrocarbon pollution.

The iconic toucan is known the world over for its large, colorful bill. Found only in the tropical forests of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, there are more than 40 species of toucans alive today.  The most common and recognizable species of toucan bears the scientific name, Ramphastos toco. All species of toucans are of the Order Piciformes, to which woodpeckers also belong.

Toucans acquired their name from the sound that they make. Their song often resembles frogs croaking. Other species of toucan have a variety of chirps, barks, growls, croaks, and even donkey-like braying as part of their songs. Toucans combine their vocal range with different taps and clicks from their bills. The females of the species tend to have higher vocal ranges than males.

In comparison to North American birds, toucans grow to be quite large. They average just over two feet in height and 20 ounces in weight. The smallest toucan species, the tawny-tufted toucanet, is only about 12.5 inches in height at maturity. Toucans are most recognized for their oversized bill. A full grown toucan, male or female, has a colorful bill seven and a half inches in length, nearly half the size of the bird.

The toucan’s bill serves many functions. Because of its colorful appearance, it was first believed that male toucans used their bills during breeding competition. However, since females possess the same dramatic trait, it is not likely that males are chosen for mating based on their bills. Toucans do use their bills in a particularly fascinating mating ritual in which they toss fruit back and forth to one another.

Although the large, colorful bill may be daunting in size and appearance to rivals, it does not provide much in the way of weaponry. The structure of the bill actually resembles a honeycomb of bone-like material called Keratin. Keratin is what makes up the hair and nails of humans. Much of the structure is made up of air, making it a useless defense mechanism against potential prey. The inside edges of the bill are serrated to aid in catching, grasping and tearing food.

The bill of the toucan may be an ineffectual weapon, but it certainly serves many other important functions. They use it for picking fruit from branches too small to support their considerable weight, and as a tool for stripping away the outer rind of their findings.

Toucans are omnivorous and eat a combination of fruit, vegetation, nuts, seeds and insects. They may even eat small lizards, frogs, birds or the eggs of other birds from time to time if available. Toucans have a long, narrow, feather-like tongue with bristles along the sides. This helps them catch and taste their food before moving it down their throats.

The brightly colored aspect of the birds may be seen as a potential weakness for defense against predators, but because toucans reside in the colorful tropical forests of South America, their coloring actually affords them adequate camouflage. Toucans are mainly black and white, but have variations of yellow, orange and green depending on the species. Toucans are known as particularly vocal birds suggesting that they are not too concerned about predators finding them.

Toucans have a relatively small wingspan, about the length of their own bodies. They are capable of flight, but only for small distances. This is not an obstacle or a risk to the toucan’s safety, as they spend nearly all their lives high in the forest canopy. They seldom make trips to the forest floor.

Toucans navigate the canopy by hopping from branch to branch, gripping with their long, curved toes and sharp claws. Toucans are actually Zygodactyls, meaning they have two toes pointing forwards, and two toes pointing backwards. This foot design aids the toucan in maneuvering up and down tree trunks and in and out of tree cavities.

Toucans reside in flocks of about six birds, although they often forage for food alone. They nest in hollowed out tree cavities, which may seem like a strange choice for birds with such large bills. However, the toucan has an interesting method of getting comfortable in its narrow, enclosed nest. Toucans sleep with their heads against their backs, tucked under one wing. The bird then flips its tail up over its head and settles in for the night.

The toucan is known as a social, playful bird. They travel in search of food in loose groups of up to 22 birds. Preferring fruit over all other food sources, toucans usually begin their day by visiting the fruit trees in their home territory. From there, they may make longer treks in search of new fruit trees. As toucans are digesting they enjoy playful sparring with one another before returning home to roost for the night.

Toucans have approximately two to four eggs each year that both parents care for. Eggs are incubated for about 15 – 18 days before hatching. Young toucans are not born with the signature large bill. It develops as they grow, reaching full size after several months. The birds are considered mature at three to four years of age. The lifespan of the toucan is not known in the wild, but birds in captivity can live to be up to 18 years old.

THREATS TO TOUCANS

Large birds of prey and wildcats native to the tropical forests of the toucan’s habitat also prey upon them. Smaller mammals are likely deterred by the deceptively menacing appearance of the toucan’s bill. Snakes, rats and weasels seek out toucan eggs, but are not known as predatory threats to the birds.

The major threat to the toucan is humans. Aside from hunting the birds, humans also capture the toucan and sell them as pets. Captivity is cruel for wild animals. Animals are captured from their native habitat and transported to various countries to be sold as “pets”. Backyard breeders also supply exotic animals. The sellers of these animals often disregard the dangers, difficulties, physical and physiological needs of the animals they peddle. The suffering of the animals in the hands of unqualified and hapless buyers appears to be of no concern in the lucrative exotic pet trade.

Majestic, beautiful and graceful, swans are large aquatic birds closely related to geese and ducks. Swans inhabit both sides of the Equator across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. There are several species of swan, differing in size, color and behavior: the Black swan, Mute swan, Black-necked swan, Trumpeter swan, Tundra swan (which includes the Bewick’s swan and Whistling swan), and the Whooper swan.

Northern swans are white with orange beaks. Southern swans are white and black with orange, red or black beaks. The legs of swans are usually a dark blackish gray color, except for two South American species that have pink legs. Black swans are known for swimming with one leg – tucking the other above their tails to change direction more smoothly and quickly when they spot predators or prey.

Swans have streamlined bodies, long necks and webbed feet. Their wings are very strong, making them able to fly short distances despite being such heavy birds. Their incredibly strong wings can cause fatal injuries to other animals.

A male swan is called a cob, a female swan is a pen, and a baby swan is a cygnet.

Swans are omnivores, but eat a mostly vegetarian diet. Swans eat aquatic plants, seeds, insects and sometimes small fish. Swans do not have teeth, but their beaks have serrated edges that look like teeth and aid in catching and eating food. When threatened, swans engage in busking - rearing up with flared wings and hissing, snorting, grunting and flapping.

Some species of swan are migratory, either wholly or partly.

Swan couples establish strong bonds. Some mate for life. Swans often touch beaks to kiss. When they kiss, their necks form a heart.

Swans can sleep on land or in the water. When sleeping on land they stand on one leg.

Swans molt each summer. When molting they are unable to fly for about 6 weeks. Breeding couples do not molt at the same time as they, and their babies, would be too vulnerable to predators.

During mating season, courtship dances are accompanied by a variety of hissing and grunting sounds. Some swans sing and honk during mating, and engage in synchronized swimming and head bobbing.

Swan couples build their nests on land with twigs and leaves. Unlike most ducks and geese, male swans help with nest construction and egg incubation. Female swans lay 3 to 9 eggs. Baby swans hatch following an incubation period of a little over a month. Baby swans are usually swimming in the water with their mother in a couple of days. They stay close to their mother for warmth and protection. Swans are known to aggressively protect their nests and babies.

Due to their large size, swans have few natural predators. Natural predators include wolves, foxes and raccoons that prey on swans and their eggs.

Swans can live 30 years in the wild.

Swans are a threatened species due to hunting, habitat loss and pollution. Some species are endangered. Swan populations are declining.

Swans are also victims of the animal entertainment and pet industries – used as decorations in ponds and lakes.