Karen Hill

In the play Rhinoceros by Eugène Ionesco, Berenger watches as the people in his life turn into rhinoceroses, including his coworkers, his best friend, Jean, and his secretary, Daisy. Berenger is left alone to fight all of the rhinoceroses. In the classic play that bolstered the playwright’s career in America, Engene Ionesco was illustrating his … Read more

The mystery of the behemoth mentioned in the Bible has stumped quite a few. In modern Hebrew, the word translates to “cattle,” but it’s unlikely this is what the author meant, as cattle are named very specifically in other parts of the Bible. What do we know for sure? The behemoth was a large beast, … Read more

The oxpeckers are two species of bird from the Buphagidae family which live in the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Their names come from their habit of perching on large mammals such as cattle or rhinoceroses, and eating ticks, botfly larvae, and other parasites. The oxpeckers are related to mockingbirds and starlings, and possibly evolved from … Read more

Many experts in the scientific community disagree on whether the second biggest animal is the white rhinoceros or the hippopotamus. Since the debate rages on, we’ll throw in our two cents. On average, the rhinoceros measures taller than the hippo, making it the second largest land animal by height. However, on average, the hippopotamus weighs … Read more

For the longest time, scientists thought there were only two different species of elephants, the African and the Asian. They believed that the African elephant had two subspecies, the savannah elephant and the forest elephant. However, some scientists began to doubt that classification. For one thing, forest elephants are smaller than savannah elephants. Furthermore, their … Read more

Elephants make several sounds when communicating, and are famous for their trumpet calls made by blowing through its nostrils. Trumpeting is often made when an elephant is excited or startled. Researchers have known for years that elephants use their trunks to interact socially. However, they’ve more recently discovered that elephants use low-frequency verbal communication as … Read more

Elephants love to paint, and many would put the smugs in expensive arts schools to shame. We have also known since ancient Roman times that elephants have a keen ear for musical notes. For instance, they are able to follow complicated musical cues when working in the circus. Their natural musical ability inspired Richard Lair … Read more

The elephant as a symbol and mascot for the Republican Party started out in 1874 as a cruel joke by political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Four years earlier, Thomas Nast had revived the equally demeaning Democrat donkey symbol, which was threatening to fade into historic oblivion, decades before, Democrat Andrew Jackson had been compared to an … Read more

Elephants are not afraid of mice, it’s a myth, and there are quite a few. The one about the “elephants’ graveyard,” where all pachyderms go to die is also a myth. The myth about elephants never forgetting is also quite popular, despite their obvious intelligence. Still, Westerners aren’t the only ones who have given the … Read more

Dr. Seuss came up with the idea of putting an elephant in a tree for his book, Horton Hatches the Egg, more haphazardly than you might think. Theodore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, was drawing one day at his cluttered desk. As fate would have it, he left his window open, and a big gust of … Read more

The average African forest elephant consumes over 300 pounds of leaves, bushes, and grasses every day. Of that, about 45 percent is fully utilized by the elephant, leaving about 165 pounds of excrement to be dumped on the ground. Now, that’s a lot of poop, but luckily for us it’s really good poop. Thanks to … Read more

Civil War General John Sedgwick didn’t say anything about an elephant before he died. He was talking about the Confederate enemy’s inability to hit a target, even a big one, like an elephant. Here’s an excerpt from The Death of General John Sedgwick, an account recorded by Martin T. McMahon, Brevet Major-General, U.S.V. Chief-of-Staff, Sixth … Read more

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession which its owner cannot get rid of, and whose cost of ownership is way more than what it’s worth. Similarly, a white elephant sale isn’t just your standard yard sale, but a sale in which you get rid of things have become a burden but … Read more

Giraffes have long necks which enables them to browse tree leaves which they love to eat. The African plains giraffe is the tallest mammal on earth. This giraffe has a neck that extends up to eight feet above its shoulders. The giraffe’s neck has seven highly lengthened vertebrae, the exact same number of vertebrae that … Read more

The giraffe heart is quite a powerful pumping machine. A giraffe’s heart can weigh up to 22 pounds and about 2 feet long in size. It must produce about double the normal blood pressure compared to other large mammals to maintain blood flow to the brain. The giraffe’s heart has to be big enough to … Read more

A giraffe holds its legs out straight to the side when bending to get a drink of water. Giraffes have a unique circulatory system, and its heart, which can weigh up to 22 pounds, must generate about twice the normal blood pressure for an average large mammal to maintain blood flow to the brain. The … Read more

Giraffes are herbivores and love to browse and eat the twigs of Acacia trees, and they also eat grass and fruit. The giraffe has developed a specially-adapted tough tongue and lips due to their diet, which may occasionally include tree thorns. As a ruminant, the giraffe first chews its food, then swallows for processing and … Read more

There are only two different species in the family Giraffidae on earth. One is the okapi, also called a forest giraffe, which looks like a cross between a zebra, a mule, and a giraffe. The other is the steppe giraffe, the one we’re most familiar with. But there are seven different subspecies of steppe giraffes, … Read more

The giraffe has one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal. Giraffes sleep between ten minutes and two hours in a 24-hour period, averaging about 2 hours per day. Since an adult giraffe would make a good supper for a lion on the African plain, they’ve evolved some very interesting sleep patterns. When they … Read more

The name the giraffe calf that was born in 2001 at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington is Jana, which means “large child” or “fine child” in Swahili. Jana was the second girl offspring for Griff. Griff has also birthed four males. The survival rate of a baby giraffe in the wild is relatively low. … Read more

A giraffe calf is born into this world by experiencing gravity and a shocking thud. The 5 foot plus baby giraffe must drop 6 feet or more from the mother’s womb to the ground because giraffes give birth standing up. Giraffe gestation lasts between 400 and 460 days and usually a single calf is born. … Read more

Miniature horses are bred for their small size, and are found in many nations, particularly in Europe and the Americas. Miniature horses are the size of a very small pony, most have regular horse characteristics and are considered “horses” biologically. They are usually friendly and have good people skills, which makes them good household pets, … Read more

Mister Ed was an American television sit-com that first aired on January 5, 1961 and ended on February 6, 1966 on CBS. The stars of the show were Mister Ed, an intelligent horse who could talk, and his owner, an eccentric and klutzy architect named Wilbur Post. Mister Ed’s real name was Bamboo Harvester, and … Read more

Zebras and Horses can indeed mate and produce offspring, and they do this regularly. And Zebras can mate not just with horses, but with donkeys as well. Zebras and horses are crossbred, usually a zebra stallion with a horse mare, not just for curiosity’s sake but because they also make good pack animals. They’re usually … Read more

Jack is the diminutive or short form of the common name John, although it is also often used as a proper name. The name Jack was so common at one point that it was used for addressing any male. It was eventually used to designate any male person, male animals, and even a variety of … Read more

Braying is the characteristic sound made by donkeys and most mules. Donkeys use braying to communicate with other donkeys and they will bray more frequently when a new donkey is encountered. Braying usually lasts for twenty seconds, and may be written onomatapoeically as “eeyore”. Eeyore is also the name of the donkey in Winnie-the-Pooh. Braying … Read more

Mules are not native to America. The mule made it from Europe to America because George Washington developed an interest in the animal. He had heard that farms throughout Spain were using an amazing work animal that was stronger and more surefooted than either the horse or the donkey. Best of all, it ate less, … Read more

The term megafauna comes from the words mega, meaning “powerful, big,” and fauna, which means “animals.” While megafauna is most often used to describe the huge and now extinct Ice Age creatures like the woolly mammoth or the mastodon, the term can also be applied to the large African and Asian animals which are actual … Read more

Elephantiasis is sometimes mistakenly spelled elephantitis, and it’s not actually a disease but a condition. It’s a condition caused by a malfunctioning lymph system. When the body’s lymph system is taxed or not working correctly, it can’t effectively fight off bacteria. Sometimes this can lead to swelling in various body parts and a hardening of … Read more

Big elephant ears are all the better to hear you with my dear. But seriously. Elephants have big, floppy, oversize ears that can be six and a half feet long and nearly as wide. They have several functions, but helping them hear is not one of them. One is to make the elephant look even … Read more

It’s not true that elephants love to eat peanuts. Spending most of the day eating the leaves, bark, and fruits of trees and shrubs, Elephants are herbivores, and they may also eat grasses and herbs. Digesting about half of what they eat, Elephants are browsers in the wild, and are known to love pumpkins and … Read more

It is possible to cross a llama with a camel, but not easily. First, the basics. Camel sex is difficult, as far as these things go. The male can’t do the do unless he is all the way into the she-camel’s cervix, not just the outside. The female has to be totally receptive to sex, … Read more

The word “Jerky” comes from the Quechua or Amerindian word “Charqui”, which means dried llama meat, or llama jerky. Charqui or charque, is a form of jerky popular in South America made from dried and salted horse or llama meat, and sometimes beef. The people of the Inca Empire used a freeze drying process that … Read more

People of the Inca Empire in the Andes mountains have been using llamas for at least 5,000 years, probably making them the first large domesticated pack animal, or beast of burden. The llama were of symbolical significance to Inca royalty and llama figures were often buried with the dead. Even the Inca deity Urcuchillay was … Read more

The vicuña is a wild South American camelid which lives in the high alpine areas of the Andes. It is a relative of the llama, and the vicuña is believed to be the wild ancestor or relative of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their fibre. The vicuña is smaller and more graceful than the … Read more

There are four variants of Peru’s national coat of arms. They are, the Coat of Arms per se, the National Coat of Arms or National Shield, the Great Seal of the State, and the Naval Coat of Arms. All four versions of Peru’s national coat of arms include the vicuña, because it is the national … Read more

Llamas are not too picky about their food and will eat hay, grass, and grain. Domesticated Llamas are usually fed a mixture of bromgrass hay, alfalfa hay and corn silage, and a llama owner has a wide variety of commercial and farm based food products to choose from. Young llamas, which are still growing, require … Read more

Llamas give quite a few warning signals before they actually spit, and when properly raised, spitting at a human is a rare event. If you’re not sure, ask yourself, “If I were a llama, would what I’m doing scare me or make me so angry I could spit?” If the answer is yes, there’s your … Read more

Many people use llamas for packing, and they are perfect for long backpacking trips. Because of the llama’s easy-going nature, many people are enjoying wilderness treks that they would not be able to with other pack animals. Most places don’t allow you to rent one of their animals without a guide and a specific trek … Read more

It is highly unlike that you will hurt or injure a llama if you pack too much load on it. However, Llamas have this great mechanism that kicks in when you load them with more weight than they can handle. They just sit down and refuse to budge. In the Inca empire llamas were the … Read more

The only Llama we know of in Tibet would be the Dalai Lama, although he currently doesn’t live there anymore. Llamas are believed to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago, and by the end of … Read more

The water buffalo is a large bovine animal, and is commonly used as livestock in southern Asia, and in South America, north Africa, and even southern Europe. The domestic variety of the water buffalo is the product of thousands of years of selective breeding in South Asia and descend from one common ancestor, the Wild … Read more

There are no wild reindeer on earth, but that’s only by a technicality. Reindeer are by definition smaller, domesticated caribou, which means technically that there are no “wild” reindeer in the world. So what do people do with captive reindeer, you may be wondering? Think of them as an arctic camel. Their feet are wide … Read more

Reindeer got their name because they belong to the deer family, and they can wear reins, but that’s the simple version. More likely, the name rein (deer) is of Norse origin from the Old Norse word “hreinn”, which goes back to Proto-Germanic hraina and Proto-Indo-European kroino, meaning “horned animal”. In Finnish the reindeer is known … Read more

The name Caribou is believed to have come from its Micmac Indian name xalibu, “the one who paws,” hinting at the caribou’s trait of pawing in the snow for lichen. Caribou is a term used in North America for wild reindeer. Originally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Russia, and northern China. Large … Read more

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer made his debut in 1939. Not surprisingly, Rudolph was originally created as part of an ad campaign. The Chicago-based Montgomery Ward department store asked an employee, veteran copywriter Robert May, to come up with a character the store could use in holiday coloring books to pass out at Christmas. As he … Read more

In Clement Moore’s 1822 Christmas poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which we call ” ‘Twos the Night Before Christmas,” the reindeer is named Donder, from the Dutch word meaning “thunder.” However, in the popular song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the reindeer is called Donner. Donner means “thunder” in German, so it’s not such a … Read more

Some elephants are still used as transportation in India and Asia, but not nearly as many as in the past. This is primarily because most forests have been cut away, reducing the number of elephants needed for logging, a once dependable job for the beast. Also, motor vehicles are rapidly displacing elephants as transportation in … Read more

The African Elephant is hardly ever used as a working animal. In the Congo, people have had some small success training African forest elephants. But as a rule African Elephants are difficult to train, and even then are never fully docile, so the practice never really caught on in other parts of Africa. If you … Read more

There is no record of American silversmith and Patriot Paul Revere owning a horse during the American Revolution, although many argue he probably did. What did happen was this. He was rowed across the Charles River to Charleston, just north of Boston, to begin the ride, so naturally he had no horse with him. The … Read more

George Washington had several horses throughout the American Revolutionary War, but his two prized steeds were Nelson and Blueskin. Mongolia, another favorite horse of Washington’s, was a white Arab. A few of his other horses were Samson, Steady, Leonidas, and Traveller, all good and hearty horse names. Washington, however, wasn’t so straight-faced when it came … Read more

Captain Miles Keogh’s horse, Comanche, who was found wounded but still breathing, survived Custer’s Last Stand. After being rescued and nursed back to health by the U.S. Army in 1876, he was put to work trotting in parades and making other heroic public appearances. In April, 1878, Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis issued a humane order … Read more

Before there were engines, the only power available in the Western world, besides brute human strength, was the power of a horse. Engineer James Watt coined the term when making improvements to the steam engine in the 1760s. Watt needed to be able to place a value on the energy produced by the mechanical steam … Read more

There is the obvious reason why the camel called the “ship of the desert”. Camels can make it across a desert carrying goods, as a ship crosses an ocean. That said, if you’ve ever ridden a camel, you will see another very clear similarity between a camel ride and a ship voyage. Camels move the … Read more

The Bedouins of the Middle East call the camel Ata Allah, or “God’s gift”. The Bedouins are a previously nomadic desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group and have over 160 distinct words in their language to describe camels and their traits. They are divided into five related tribes and are organized on several levels. Several tents of … Read more

We can’t speak for the donkeys, but their presence at the manger when Jesus was Born would have been likely. After all, it was a hotel stable, and we can assume there were all sorts of manger using animals hanging around and wondering what the heck was taking place in their food dish. Even if … Read more

Camels actually have quite a long history in the United States. Many natural history experts believe camels actually originated in North America 40 million years ago and migrated north and west through Alaska and into Asia along with many other large animals prior to the Ice Age. More recently, though, camels were used as pack … Read more

Mange is a fairly common problem with camels, dogs, and a few other animals. It’s caused by a skin mite that burrows into the skin and results in itching, loss of appetite, hair loss, and white sores. This condition is very difficult for the camel and can ultimately lead to death if untreated. The good … Read more

We don’t know what the local aborigines thought when they first saw what they called a tambreet, or boonaburra in the Mallangong language. Although an aboriginal myth about how the platypus evolved has to do with a teenage duck disobeying her father by going ashore and getting raped by a water rat. The name “platypus” … Read more

The platypus has a rubbery bill which makes it possible to shovel up mollusks and other food from the water. It has been discovered recently that the platypus’s bill has thousands of touch-sensitive and electro-sensitive pores. The latter can detect weak electric currents from the muscle activity of prey and perhaps even electric fields from … Read more

The Budgerigar or Common Pet Parakeet, is often called a budgie or parakeet. The Budgie is a small parrot and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus. The Budgerigar has been bred extensively with a profusion of color forms resulting. Their real name is budgerigar, or “budgie” for short. Found throughout the drier parts … Read more

The kiwi fruit is not called kiwi because it has to go through a kiwi bird’s digestive system to sprout. The kiwi fruit isn’t even a native of New Zealand like the bird. The fruit really comes from southeastern China. It was called the Chinese gooseberry until it was transplanted to tropical places around the … Read more

There aren’t any Fightin’ Emus at EMU, nor are they the mascot of the other significant EMU, Eastern Mennonite University. That’s too bad, because the name would sort of make sense, and not just because of the EMU initials. After all, Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti is overshadowed by its larger, more prestigious relative, the … Read more

There are more than 13 sheep for each of the 3,853,116 people who live in New Zealand. Sheep are an iconic part of New Zealand’s culture and economy and it has the highest density of sheep per capita. In New Zealand, February 15th was declared official National Lamb Day in 2007 to celebrate the country’s … Read more

The Kookaburra song, “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree” is a popular Australian nursery rhyme and round about the Kookaburra bird, and was written by Marion Sinclair. The Kookaburra got its name from name from the Wiradjuri word “guuguubarra”, which sounds like its call. The gum tree is another name for the eucalyptus tree … Read more

The koala is an herbivorous marsupial that lives in Australia, and is also known by it’s scientific name Phascolarctos cinereus. Although cute and teddybear-like, koalas are no more related to bears than they are to elephants. Koalas are marsupials, and their closest living relative is the wombat. English-speaking settlers from the late 18th century first … Read more

Koalas eat Eucalyptus leaves and shoots, and Koalas are herbivorous marsupials, even though they look like bears. But they’re fussy, eating only a few of the 500 species of eucalyptus in Australia. They obtain liquid from eucalyptus leaves and rarely drink water. It’s not true that the word koala comes from an Australian Aborigine word … Read more

Most of Australia’s 140 Species of Native Snakes are Poisonous. Of the world’s top twenty-five most poisonous snakes, twenty-one of them are in Australia, including sea snakes that are two to ten times more poisonous than cobras. Sea snakes are venomous snakes that have evolved from terrestrial ancestors, and live in marine environments for most … Read more

Dingoes are wild dogs native to Australia the size of English setters, and hunt wallabies, sheep, rabbits, and anything else they can catch and drag away. In 1998 a dingo was accused of dragging a baby a few feet toward the bush before being chased away by the infant’s parents. In a celebrated murder case … Read more

The dingo was the first non-native animal species imported to Australia by people, and as with subsequent importations, the results have been somewhat disastrous to the native animal populations. The Dingo is a domestic dog which has reverted to a wild state and currently lives independent from humans in most of its habitat. Dingos love … Read more

A bandicoot is a species of small marsupial omnivores that look very much like rats. The word bandicoot is an anglicised form of the Telugu word pandi-kokku, which means pig-rat, and originally referred to the unrelated Indian Bandicoot Rat. There are twenty-one different species of bandicoots which live in Australia and New Guinea, including the … Read more

Despite what you might have heard, camels don’t really store water in their humps. Instead, the humps are big chunks of fat. Sure, it looks funny, but it’s a system that works. In the desert camels may have to go for days and weeks without food, so the humps act as a storehouse of energy. … Read more

The camel eye is very well adapted for its desert existence. Camels have three eyelids. The upper eyelid and lower eyelid each have eyelashes, and the third eyelid is thin, transparent and moves from side to side like a windshield wiper. During sandstorms, camels often keep their third eyelids closed and can still see where … Read more

Camels are very territorial, and if they feel threatened, they do spit, mostly at each other over food, but sometimes at humans if angry or hurt. Fair warning, if you do get caught in the crossfire, it can be pretty smelly, as camel spit consists of bile from its stomach mixed with saliva. Contrary to … Read more

Camels have many features that help them conserve water in the dry desert heat. They have very efficient cooling systems which reduces the amount of water lost through perspiration. Camels are able to withstand huge changes in body temperature and water content that would kill most other animals, and they may not sweat at all … Read more

If food is hard to find, a camel will eat anything, bone, meat, leather, and even garbage. Camels usually eat grass, various plants, hay and dry grains, and can eat up to 9 pounds per day. Camels seem to always be chewing something don’t they. Camels do ruminate, or chew their cud, but they are, … Read more

There are two types of camel hair. Camel hair from the camel’s protective outer coat is coarse and inflexible, but camel hair or fur the pure under coat are soft and plush. Pure camel hair which is often used for coats, is gathered when camels molt in warmer seasons, and this undercoat is very soft … Read more

Camels can be pretty fast runners. At the beginning of races, camels have been clocked upward of 40 mph. This pace slows considerably as the race progresses, however. The average speed of a racing camel is about 25 mph. A camel usually averages about 2 to 3 miles an hour when simply walking, 9 or … Read more

Unleash the speed debate between horse and camel in a riveting exploration. Discover which animal claims victory in a hypothetical 100-mile race, unraveling the science behind their strides. Key Takeaways: Explore the factors influencing the speed of horses and camels. Understand the biomechanics and adaptations that contribute to their racing capabilities. Find out the surprising … Read more

In their native habitat, it’s estimated that there are only about 500 wild Asian camels and no Arabian ones at all. The Bactrian camel is now reduced to about 1.4 million animals, mostly domesticated, and there are only about 1000 wild Bactrian camels left in the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia. However, outside the … Read more

A camel is an even-toed ungulate with fatty deposits we know as humps on its back. There are two species of camels. The Dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and is found in North Africa and the Middle East. The Bactrian camel has two humps, and the few remaining in the wild in … Read more

Wallabies, Wallaroos, and Kangaroos are all macropods of the Macropodidae family. The word macropod comes from the Greek word meaning “long foot”. Macropods have very large hind legs and a long, powerfully muscled tail, and most are herbivorous grazers and have specialized teeth for cropping and grinding up fibrous plants. There are about 55 different … Read more

Tree kangaroos are macropods that live in trees in the mountainous rainforests of New Guinea, northeastern Queensland Australia, and a few islands nearby. Tree-kangaroos evolved from animals similar to modern kangaroos, and have strong hind legs and very long tails for balance, and stronger forelimbs with longer claws for climbing. On the ground, tree-kangaroos are … Read more

Kangaroo rats are small rodents that live in North America, and their name comes from the way they hop like a kangaroo, although they are not related. There are currently 19 kangaroo rat species and they have highly developed hind legs, live in deep burrows to protect them from the desert heat, and do not … Read more

Captain Kangaroo was the longest-running children’s television program when it aired weekday mornings from October 3, 1955 until 1984 on CBS. Bob Keeshan played Captain Kangaroo, and the show was set in “The Captain’s Place” where the Captain Kangaroo would tell stories, meet guests and perform silly stunts with puppets and regular human characters. Despite … Read more

The Wombat is not a bat at all, but a short-legged, muscular marsupial with a very short tail that lives in south-eastern Australia and Tasmania. The Wombat’s name comes from the Eora Aboriginal people who were the natives of Sydney, Australia. A backwards pouch which helps keep the dirt out while digging makes the Wombat … Read more

The Tasmanian devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world and can only be found in the Australian island state of Tasmania. Stocky and muscular and the size of a small dog, Tasmanian devils have black fur, smell bad when threatened, and has an extremely loud and disturbing screech. Just like the cartoon, Tasmanian … Read more

There are sometimes odd exceptions to rules in the animal kingdom. For example, virtually all mammals give birth to their young. However, take careful note of the “virtually” in the last sentence, of the 4,500 known species of mammals, 4,498 of them deliver their babies live. The two that don’t are related to each other, … Read more

The Box jellyfish is a cube-shaped jellyfish known for its potent venom and can be found in northern Australia, Indonesia, Hawaii, and other tropical waters. The Box jellyfish uses its venom to catch prey and as a defense against predators. Its sting is extremely painful and sometimes fatal to humans, making it one of the … Read more

From the 16th century Portugal was a world naval power, and the man-of-war was a large war ship armed with cannons and propelled mainly by sails and not by oars. The man-of-war was developed in England in the early 1600s from the carrack ship design, which later evolved into the galleon. The man-of-war was designed … Read more