Animals

Once, long ago in the course of their evolution, snakes had legs. They are actually descended from the same family as lizards. However, they gradually lost their legs as it became more efficient for them, in terms of energy conservation, to slither. Some primitive snakes, like the boa constrictor and the python, still have remnants … Read more

A group of legless lizards erroneously called glass snakes lives in grassy and forested areas all over the world. Although they are called snakes, and even look like snakes with ears, if you pick them up, their bodies are much more rigid, like lizards, than bendable, like snakes. By the way, they get the “glass” … Read more

The Pit Viper is actually just another name for the common rattlesnake, which has highly sensitive pits located between its eyes and nostrils. These pick up even minute changes in temperature, so that the snake’s ability to locate prey is very good. Viper is just a shortened version of Viperidae, the scientific name for the … Read more

Rattlesnake rattles are not, as many people believe, tiny pebbles or other rattling things inside the snake’s tail. A baby rattlesnake is born with a tiny, keratin-based hard shell at the end of its tail. Every time the baby sheds its skin, a new shell, slightly bigger, appears below, loosely attached to the one before … Read more

In all seriousness, the basilisk lizard got its nickname because it can walk on water. Its feet are webbed just enough that when it’s running at fast speeds, the lizard can skate above the water line. If the other lizards had sufficient faith, perhaps they could do it, too. The Common Basilisk is a lizard … Read more

Snakes don’t have ears, they can hear you coming though. They “hear” by being close to the ground, and feeling vibrations move up through their bones. Other than that, their main method of gleaning information from the world around them is by smelling with their tongues. The tongue darts out, picks up chemicals and other … Read more

It’s a pretty impressive act, those snake charmers. From the cobra basket, the snake rises as the crowd shrinks back. The charmer plays his pungi, swaying to the music, and the snake undulates with him, seemingly entranced. The crowd, equally mesmerized, throws coins into the snake charmer’s basket. Like other street performers with a good … Read more

Out of every 10 million people who are bitten by snakes, only 2.9 will die from snakebites. That’s roughly a 1 in 3,448,276 chance. Your chances increase if you live in a jungle in the tropics. Of course, if you did, you’d know what to do if you were bitten by one. And perhaps more … Read more

As far as we know, the turtles and tortoises live longer than any reptile, or any other animal, for that matter. An adult turtle found on the island of Mauritius in 1766 by the French explorer Marion de Fresne lived for another 152 years. Since the turtle was thought to have already been in its … Read more

The turtles in our local parks are more than likely the same species, the red-eared terrapin, as those little guys everyone kept as a kid. Those kept as pets usually never reach maturity and die while still young, due to poor environment and nutrition. The ones in your local pond are full-grown adults, who may … Read more

Like the skunk, the stinkpot turtle, and other turtles in the musk turtle family, have musk glands located on the fronts of their legs. If threatened or scared, they will release foul-smelling musk as a defense. While they’re not uncommon, you just don’t see them very often. When they emerge from the murky stream bottoms … Read more

Eagles do sometimes catch tree monkeys, swooping down and grabbing them with their powerful talons. That’s about it for predators for monkeys in the trees. Other than ants and bugs, and the occasional snake, nothing really bothers monkeys when they’re hanging out or sleeping in the trees. It’s where they’re safe and seek refuge from … Read more

The pygmy marmoset is the smallest monkey in the world, and is about the size of a small squirrel and weighs about as much as a Quarter Pounder, bun and all. In fact, marmosets clamber up trees like squirrels, they’re one of the few monkeys that have claws instead of fingers and toenails. While up … Read more

The howler monkey is the Loudest Monkey and animal in the World. A small band can make as much noise as a stadium full of people and can be heard three miles away. That’s really loud. Better bring your earplugs. The howler monkey’s loud sound or call is a form of communication and is an … Read more

It’s sad but true, male Chimpanzees have bigger testicles than humans, and they’re even bigger than a Gorillas. Most people think that a gorilla would be hung like an ape, and they’re surprised to find out that they’re wrong. Despite being the largest primate, weighing in at 350 to 450 pounds, the gorilla has testicles … Read more

The Gibbon normally walks on Two Legs only, holding its arms up and out for balance, and is the only ape that does so. Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae, and can be found in tropical and subtropical rain forests in northeast India, Indonesia, China, and even the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java. … Read more

Baboons are adapted to living on solid ground. They generally avoid forests, spend little time in trees, and are most comfortable traveling in herds on open land. Gorillas are also ground dwelling apes and do not hang out or live in the trees. Another great ape species, the Orangutan, spends more time on the ground … Read more

Tail-Twining is an affectionate practice of the tiny titi monkeys of the Amazon. Two, three, or four titis sit on a branch while resting or sleeping and wrap their tails together into a friendly, loving spiral. Titi monkeys are the New World monkeys of the genus Callicebus. They are tiny creatures and grow to only … Read more

Do crocodiles really cry without meaning it? Most do, and that’s where the phrase and expression “Crocodile Tears” came from. Saltwater crocodiles shed tears often, and sea turtles and a number of seagoing birds do the same. It’s how they’ve adapted to drinking briny sea water, they shed the salt through their tear ducts, which … Read more

Mugger Crocodile, or Mugger for short, is the name of a crocodile species that lives in India and Pakistan. The name eventually got generalized to include human predators, as well. The mugger crocodile’s scientific name, Crocodylus palustris literally means “crocodile of the marsh”. It is also called the Indian, Persian, or Marsh crocodile, and is … Read more

The Crocodile’s name comes from the ancient Greek krokodilos, meaning “worm of the pebbles.” Why they thought this was a good name instead of something like “monster lizard of the water” is quite unclear. Maybe the crocodile looked like a worm when it was first discovered, and the name stuck.

Although the brain of a crocodile or alligator is quite small, zigzagging when one is chasing you probably won’t outsmart it. The most important thing to do if there’s a huge reptile following you is put distance between you and the crocodilian, refers to both alligators and crocodiles. Logically, the fastest and easiest way to … Read more

In the book Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, the crocodile hooks his supper in the end. Seeing that he had been bested by Peter and overrun by all of the boys, Captain James Hook goes overboard to be consumed by the hungry crocodile. If only Disney would stop changing the true endings of classics, … Read more

Here’s the thing. If you’ve encountered any crocodilian in Florida, chances are it’s an American alligator. While American crocodiles do live in the salty, brackish waters of the southernmost tip of Florida, they are extremely secretive and almost never spotted in the wild. In contrast, alligators live in fresh water along riverbanks and in swamps, … Read more

Delve into the fascinating realm of alligator anatomy as we explore the size of an alligator’s brain. Uncover the mysteries behind these reptilian cognitive wonders. Key Takeaways: Understand the relative size of an alligator’s brain compared to its body. Explore the significance of brain size in relation to alligator behavior and survival. Gain insights into … Read more

You might not be able to make an alligator let go if it’s chomping on your arm. An alligator’s jaws are extremely strong and once it bites down, it’s a real pain to get it to let go. The opposite is true and when the alligator’s jaws are closed, it takes relatively little power to … Read more

This is sort of strange. Alligators, like many other reptiles, don’t have sex chromosomes. As a result, gender isn’t determined by the genes of the parents. Instead, whether Mama gator will be blessed with a baby girl or boy is completely decided by temperature. When it’s egg-laying time, the female finds a nice large area … Read more

At its loudest, when it bellows, an alligator about as loud as a small plane. At a distance of sixteen feet, that measures about 92 decibels. Bet that’s louder than you can scream. Bellowing occurs throughout the year to attract mates and is also a show of hostility among males, but is most frequent during … Read more

An alligator chews its food only to break the food up into pieces it can swallow. Although the alligator sports very strong jaws and teeth sharp enough to crush bones and other hard matter, it prefers prey it can swallow whole. Inside the alligator’s belly are small pebbles it has swallowed that help grind up … Read more

Alligator Pear is another name for an avocado. The avocado, aguacate or palta in Spanish, also known as butter pear, is a tree native to Mexico, the Caribbean, South and Central America. It is technically a berry, and originated in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The oldest evidence of avocado use by man was found … Read more

Digging through a list of New York Times stories over the years will turn up a dozen instances in which alligators or crocodiles have mysteriously shown up in the New York City area, usually in Westchester County, for some reason. However, almost none of the stories has anything to do with sewers, and most or … Read more

There are only four main groups of reptiles left on earth: Crocodilians, snakes and lizards, turtles and tortoises, and the tuataras, an old lizard form found in New Zealand. All of them run the risk of extinction due to human encroachment, and due to humans wanting to turn them into pets, food, and ornaments. Of … Read more

Although the Roosevelt White House had a number of exotic and unusual pets, the alligator belonged to an earlier president, John Quincy Adams. Adams explained that he kept it around because he enjoyed “the spectacle of guests fleeing from the room in terror.” His foreign policy was only slightly better. In 1826, the Marquis de … Read more

A few lizards have tails that can break off when predators attack, and then grow an extension back again. The new growth is cartilage, not bone like the original tail. While this may seem like a cool thing to show to the neighborhood gang of kids, this parlor trick comes at great cost to the … Read more

Two of the primates are major meat eaters, humans and chimps. You already know what people eat. A study of chimpanzee populations found that about 75 percent of the meat that chimps consumed consisted of red colobus monkey babies taken from their mothers. But researchers found that a chimp’s main motivation for hunting is often … Read more

Don’t give up the ship yet, mate, we’re not all war mongers and violent. Even if you believe that our natural selves cannot be completely transcended, we have another, gentler side of the family to look to for comfort. Bonobos are a subspecies closely related to the chimps, in fact, they’re sometimes called pygmy chimpanzees. … Read more

Bonobos copulate face-to-face, looking deeply into each other’s eyes. This occurs about a third of the time during sexual encounters. Humans once thought that they were unique in engaging in this especially intimate activity. In fact, Western scientists once believed that face-to-face sex was not even a natural position for humans but was a more … Read more

The Gorilla from the Tom and Jerry cartoons was Grape Ape. Who was that cartoon gorilla with the hat, bow tie, and suspenders from The Magilla Gorilla Show? The cartoon gorilla with the hat, bow tie, and suspenders was The Magilla Gorilla. What is the Latin name for the western lowland gorilla? The Latin name … Read more

The Rh in Rh factor stands for Rhesus, as in the monkey that was once widely used in medical research. When Dr. Karl Landsteiner discovered some of the esoteric properties of blood in 1940, he decided to honor the rhesus monkeys that, in the process of making this discovery, were deprived of their freedom, blood, … Read more

Koko the Signing Gorilla does indeed watch Television. At some point, she went positively ape over Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Eventually Mr. Rogers came to visit Koko. Her response to seeing him in the flesh was interesting indeed, boys and girls. She wrapped her powerful arms around him, and then, as she had seen him do … Read more

Chimps and, to a lesser extent, orangutans so far have also learned sign language. Washoe, the most accomplished chimpanzee, has a vocabulary of at least 240 words. He and his fellow chimps have so incorporated signing into their lives that they converse with each other by signing, and even “talk” to themselves when alone. While … Read more

Koko the Gorilla was taught to use Sign language, and may also use Slang to Communicate with Humans. Koko, the most adept signing gorilla ever, started using the sign for “nipple” for “people,” perhaps because of the rhyme. She also started using “stink” for “flower.” Another linguistic oddity she initiated is referring to any woman … Read more

Gorilla arms are longer than their legs. Measured from fingertip to fingertip on outstretched arms, the longest span measured was nine feet, two inches. However, a more typical adult male arm span is about eight feet. Because of their long arms, Gorillas can move around by knuckle-walking. They also live on the ground instead of … Read more

Gorillas don’t drink water, but they sure eat a lot. Gorillas get all the moisture they need from the leaves, tubers, flowers, fruit, fungus, and insects they eat, roughly fifty pounds of food a day. That’s a lot of food. Gorillas spend most of the day eating. They have long canines that allow them to … Read more

First of all, complain to your credit card company, okay, okay, so it’s an old joke. Being charged by a gorilla can be a very serious thing, so let us not digress any further. The good news is that gorillas are normally very shy and amiable, the bad news is that if you wander into … Read more

Calling some big hairy guy a gorilla isn’t as much an inter-species insult as you would imagine, at least not to the person, although gorillas might have a different opinion. That’s strange, because although we usually can safely assume that the animal had the name before we twisted it into a derogatory description of a … Read more

All good things must come to an end. A typical gorilla band is led by one silverback male, a gorilla old enough that some of its back hair has turned gray. Traveling in his entourage are several mature females, one or two subordinate males, and young gorillas of both genders. Eventually, though, he gets old … Read more

There are fewer than 650 Mountain Gorillas left in the wild, and not a single one in zoos anywhere, even in the U.S. It’s difficult to transport mountain gorillas from their remote homes in central Africa. More significant, though, is that they don’t survive well outside their native habitat. Unlike their common lowland cousins, and … Read more

Capuchin monkeys do indeed have something in common with Cappuccino, the coffee drink, and it has to do with the origin of their names. Both were reportedly named after the distinctive robe and cowl worn by Capuchin monks who originated in Rome, Italy. The cappuccino coffee drink was named because it’s the same distinctive color, … Read more

“Did”? Wild monkeys still live in Europe. Barbary apes live on the Rock of Gibraltar, a British colony at the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea on the southern tip of Spain. Despite the name, this “ape” is really a monkey related to the rhesus monkey of India, and should probably be renamed, more accurately, the … Read more

No, gorillas don’t swim, and in fact, will drown if put in water deep enough. In case you’re ever chased by one, which admittedly doesn’t happen that often, face it down. Short of that, head toward the river, a gorilla won’t follow you into the water. Maybe it’s because they’re so big and heavy, and … Read more

The question of evolution and why apes and moneys still exist today is most commonly asked by creationists, mostly well-meaning Christians who wish to hold up their Bibles as absolute and literal truth in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Still, it’s an intriguing question, because on the face of it, it sounds … Read more

The phrase “I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” was a socially acceptable substitution for the shockingly blasphemous phrase “I’ll be damned!” It became popular around 1925 during the famous Scopes “Monkey Trial,” in which Tennessee history teacher John Scopes was prosecuted and convicted for the crime of teaching about the theory of evolution. The phrase was … Read more

Chimpanzees do not make good house pets. Don’t even think of keeping a chimp as a pet. For one thing, they can live more than fifty years, which is quite a commitment. For another, even a toddler chimp is stronger than you’ll ever be, and an adult can easily lift 600 pounds without straining much. … Read more

John Thomas Scopes was born on August 3, 1900 in in Paducah, Kentucky, and was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee. He was charged on May 5, 1925 with violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of evolution in schools. The trail was also known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. It was a crime to … Read more

A chimpanzee’s brain is about half the size of a human’s. Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, which include humans gorillas, and orangutans. The two chimpanzee species, Pan troglodytes, and Pan paniscus, are the closest living relatives to humans, split from the human evolutionary line about 6 million years ago. The two Pan species … Read more

Michael Jackson claimed he rescued the chimpanzee Bubbles from a cancer-research lab in Texas. For a few years the two cute little primates were inseparable, and the chimp was pampered. Bubbles reportedly had twenty matching designer outfits and got his own hotel room when he traveled, and Jackson talked baby talk to him while changing … Read more

From various estimates of intelligence among animals, it’s clear that primates rule in the smartness scale, at least on this planet. Of the top ten, seven are in that category. However, keep in mind that primates came up with the concept of being measured, so maybe you should take this ranking with a grain of … Read more

Homo Sapien means “Wise human” in Latin. That’s already a fairly ironic joke, considering. However, it gets better. Because anthropologists have identified other ancient subspecies of Homo sapiens, for example, Homo sapiens neandertalensis, modern humans are now known as Homo sapiens sapiens. That, of course, means “wise wise human,” which seems to be really overstating … Read more

The first fossils of our long-dead relative Neanderthal were discovered in 1856 in the Neander Thal, or “Neander Valley” in Germany, so he became known as Neanderthal Man. The Neander Thal was named in honor of a minister and hymn writer, Joachim Neumann, who used to frequent the valley on nature walks in the late … Read more

The word Orangutan means “person of the forest” in the Malay language, and is actually 2 words. “Orang” means man and “Utan” means forest. Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian living genus of great ape, and are the largest living arboreal animals. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they have longer arms than other great apes, … Read more

Although the practice of cannibalism is uncommon among primates, chimpanzees have been known to eat other chimps. To be fair, this only occurs under unusually dire circumstances like starvation, similar to times when humans have engaged in the practice. However, like some human groups, some chimps ritualistically eat the flesh of their dead opponents after … Read more

You’re not alone, my anthropoid friend. Let’s lay out the differences between the different Primates with a minimum of screeching, howling, and chest-beating. Primates are human beings and all of the other animals that resemble us most closely. Primates have two main groups: anthropoids, or simians, and prosimians. Anthropoids include: Monkeys. New World monkeys live … Read more

Are Monkeys and Apes as evil as some Humans and do they Murder and Commit Crimes against their own Species? In this regard, we’d have to confer with some of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. Thanks to the work of researchers like Jane Goodall, we know a lot about chimpanzee behavior, both the best and … Read more

A few decades ago, when people came to the conclusion that brown bread, brown flour, and brown sugar were more nutritious than their white counterparts, many also extrapolated that brown eggs must be healthier, too. Conversely, many lovers of white eggs figured there must be something alien and weird about the brown ones. In reality … Read more

An animal is said to be “charming” when it is prancing around, doing somersaults, acting silly, or just doing something very different from what it usually does. Scientists used to think that when a fox acted this way, it was trying to get the attention of the animals it liked to eat. They thought it … Read more

In a rain forest in Indonesia in the 1990s, a group of scientists attempted to teach sign language to orangutans. According to recent research, orangutans are the world’s most intelligent animal other than humans, with higher learning and problem solving ability than chimpanzees. Orangutans regularly use tools for activities such as feeding. They have also … Read more

The chipmunk, like the squirrel, has a habit of burying enough food to last all winter. Although Chipmunks hibernate, they periodically dip into their stash of food throughout the winter instead of storing fat. Chipmunks are wonderful collectors of nuts, berries, and grain. A chipmunk never makes the mistake of trying to store something that … Read more

When a baby brown bear or grizzly bear is born, it weighs about a pound and a half and is eight inches long. Fully grown, they are nine feet tall and weigh over 500 pounds. These huge animals live in wild mountainous areas and in forests and wander about either in family groups or singly. … Read more

This is the charming, cute little animal called the cacomistle, which is a Mexican word meaning “half mountian lion.” This furry little creature is a relative of the raccoon and has the same kind of eye rings. A cacomistle can be as long as 30 inches, but half that length is taken up by a … Read more

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep use their curled horns as weapons in epic battles across the Rocky Mountains. These fights are for dominance or mating rights and can very loud as they clash their horns. Of course, what you hear is not their voices, but the clang their horns make when they bang against one another. … Read more

If people have summer camps, why shouldn’t dogs? As a matter of fact, they do. And lots of dogs get a chance to go there if their owners can afford it. Of course, their owners have to know that there is such a place as a dog’s summer camp. Camp Lindo is located in Margaretville, … Read more

The Dickin Medal for Gallantry is awarded to brave beasts in Great Britain. Before World War 1I, it had never been given to an animal that wasn’t English. But that was before the English met G. I. Joe. In October 1943, the English and Americans were fighting the Germans. English soldiers were trying to capture … Read more

Jackals are fast, wiry little animals that grow to the size of an Irish terrier. Because they are so fast, they are unafraid of animals even six times their size. Jackals live in Africa and are closely related to dogs. They are one of the few mammals that mate for life and share their food … Read more

Some female elephants seem to know what to do when a member of their family has a bleeding wound. Two scientists, Oria and lain Douglas-Hamilton, reported seeing an old female elephant being doctored by a young daughter. The mother had been jabbed with a spear, and the would in her side was bleeding badly. The … Read more

Like many animals, tigers will attack people in self-defense. Otherwise, the only tigers that will attack people are those that have been wounded or are very ill or old. Most of the time, tigers ignore people, even when they intrude on the tiger’s home territory. Although the tiger’s original home was the open, snowy fields … Read more

Tasmanian Devils can make marvelous pets and become very attached to the people they live with. In the wild, Tasmanian devils will allow themselves to be picked up and handled even when they are feeding. This is amazing, for most animals, even a family dog, do not like to be disturbed when eating. Tasmanian devils … Read more

The gray fox does it all the time, and the red fox does it occasionally. Although the gray fox lives all over the United States, it is seen most often in the forests of the Southwest and Mexico. The gray fox climbs trees so often it is also called the “tree fox.” The odd thing … Read more

The Mandrill baboon is recognized by its olive-colored fur and the colorful face and rump of males. If you don’t believe it, pay a visit to the zoo and see for yourself. It isn’t a very big ape, just 33 inches long with a tail only four inches long. Scientists are usually able to provide … Read more

Elephants and cats both purr. It was once thought that the purr of an elephant was in some way connected with the way they digest food. Recently, the purring has been proven to be a means of communication. The low, soft sound normally comes when an animal is near but out of eyesight of other … Read more

Although native to the Americas, Armadillos can be found in the central southernmost states, particularly Texas. Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of these animals in the State of Florida. Most of these ant eating diggers are relatives of some that escaped when a circus truck turned over, spilling its cargo. Others are related … Read more

The flying phalanger of Australia is a small, furry marsupial related to the possum. Although it looks like a flying squirrel, it is not. When this small, fuzzy creature wants to collect materials for a nest, it gathers a bundle of leaves together, wraps its tail around them, and takes them home. The phalanger looks … Read more

Also known as the Tasmanian Tiger because of its striped back, the Tasmanian Wolf is assumed to have become extinct in the 20th century. Very few people have heard of such an animal, and, in truth, there is no absolute proof that they exist. Some scientists believe them to be extinct. However, there are fossils … Read more

Chesapeake Bay retrievers trace their history to two Newfoundland dogs, the male “Sailor” and female “Canton”. In 1807, an English ship found itself in rough seas off the coast of Maryland. The ship was in trouble and would have sunk had another ship, an American vessel called Canton, not come to its rescue. The crew … Read more

Crocodiles and alligators are members of the same family. They range in size from 3 to 25 feet in length. The very largest of these is the saltwater crocodile. Some fishermen in Australia caught one of these monster creatures that was half again as long as most of his relatives. It measured 33 feet. While … Read more

Chimps use tools more than any other animal except man. One chimpanzee actually used an empty kerosene can as a tool to help him become “king.” In the wild, chimpanzees live in small family groups that are part of a larger community ruled by a male. Dr. Jane Goodall, who spent many years living with … Read more

What is a wildebeest? It is a kind of antelope known as the gnu and has a large head, shaggy mane, pointed beard, and sharp, curved horns. It eats only grass and is what people call a grazing animal. Found on the the grassy plains of Africa, Wildebeest often travel in huge herds of 200,000, … Read more

Deer shed their antlers late in the fall or early winter, and a new set of antlers begins to grow in the spring. Deer shed their antlers as they are no longer needed after the mating season. Most of these antlers are eaten by small forest animals, particularly rodents, for their valuable calcium, salt, and … Read more

The tiniest fish in the world known in the 1990s are only one-half-inch long when they are fully grown. They come from the waters of the Philippines and are the pygmy goby and the Luzon goby. Gobies like to live in waters close to shore. The waves would continuously knock them about unless they had … Read more