Cape Crested Porcupine
Hystrix africaeaustralis Status: Least Concern Range: North, South & East Africa Habitat: Savannah or Grassland Diet: Fruit, roots, bulbs, small mammals & rodents. Creature Feature: ...Cape Crested Porcupine
Hystrix africaeaustralisStatus: Least Concern
Range: North, South & East Africa
Habitat: Savannah or Grassland
Diet: Fruit, roots, bulbs, small mammals & rodents.
Creature Feature: Porcupines are nocturnal rodents found in Africa. Both the males and the females are approximately 2 feet in length and can weigh 18- 30 Kg. On average the females are around 1 Kg heavier than the males. In the wild a porcupine can live to 12-15 years old.
Porcupines tend to travel alone or in small family groups. They feed at night and have long mobile whiskers to find their way around in the dark. Their main predators are big cats, large predatory birds and hyenas. When cornered, a porcupine will become very aggressive and will run sideways or backwards to embed it's sharp quills into the attacker. Some of the spines are hollow and will make a rattling sound when shaken. The rattling noise acts as a deterrent to any predators. Porcupines have extremely good hearing. They are also very good swimmers.
Porcupines live in holes under the ground and keep an assortment of bones and twigs in their nests to gnaw on.
Capybara
Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris Status: Lower risk- least concern Range: Extreme south of South America & North of South America. Habitat: grasslands & forests near ...Capybara
Hydrochaeris hydrochaerisStatus: Lower risk- least concern
Range: Extreme south of South America & North of South America.
Habitat: grasslands & forests near water
Diet: grasses, aquatic plants.
Creature Feature:Capybaras are the largest species of rodent found alive today. On average they weigh 100 pounds and measure 2 feet tall and 4 feet long. Their scientific name means "Water Pig". Capybara's are semi- aquatic and can stay submerged for up to 5 minutes. They are close relatives of guinea pigs, chinchillas and mara.
Their bodies are specially adapted for swimming including webbed feet and the location of their eyes, ears and nostrils on top of their heads. They have coarse hair that is sparsely spread over their bodies so unfortunately they can sunburn very easily. For this reason they tend to be active at twilight, early morning and sunset. During the day when the sun is at its hottest they will rest in water.
Capybaras live in small groups of 10 to 20 individuals with 1 dominant male. They have a home range of approximately 25 to 50 acres and are very territorial. The main predators of capybara are jaguars, anacondas and caiman. Humans also hunt capybara for their meat and their skin that can be turned into leather.
Children's Python
Antaresia childreni Status: Vulnerable Range: Northern Australia Habitat: Forest and desert Diet: small mammals, birds and reptiles Creature Feature:This snake was named after the Victorian ...Children's Python
Antaresia childreniStatus: Vulnerable
Range: Northern Australia
Habitat: Forest and desert
Diet: small mammals, birds and reptiles
Creature Feature:This snake was named after the Victorian zoologist called J. G. Children. The children's Python is one of the smallest pythons in the world growing to approximately 1 metre in length. It is light to reddish brown and paler on the underside. Males generally have longer, thicker tails than the females. Juveniles have darker markings on their bodies than the adult pythons. These are non-venomous snakes.
10 to 15 eggs are laid inside a hollow tree or in an underground chamber. The female stays with the eggs, wrapping her body around the clutch to regulate the temperature until they have hatched.
The Children's Python prefers to stay on the ground spending much of its time hidden in caves and rock crevices. They prey on a large selection of small animals such as birds, reptiles and mammals including bats. These snakes are nocturnal, hunting at night.
Chipmunk (Siberian)
Tamias sibiricus Status: Lower risk (least concern) Range: Scandinavia, W. Russia & Asia Habitat: Taiga & temperate forests Diet: Nuts, seeds, berries, fruit, vegetation. Creature ...Chipmunk (Siberian)
Tamias sibiricus
Status: Lower risk (least concern)
Range: Scandinavia, W. Russia & Asia
Habitat: Taiga & temperate forests
Diet: Nuts, seeds, berries, fruit, vegetation.
Creature Feature:With a body length of 12 to 17cm, these chipmunks have brightly coloured fur with bold, dark stripes. They have small rounded ears and large cheek pouches. There are 5 stripes across the back and sides that start at the neck and end at the base of the tail. They have needle- like claws that enable them to climb extremely well, although they spend the large majority of their lives on the ground. The tail is light brown in colour and is used for balance.
Burrows can be found on the ground and are referred to as Lodges. They can be as big as 3.5 metres in length and have several concealed entrances. There are several chambers inside the lodge, all of which are kept immaculate by the inhabitants as they leave shells and faeces in separate refuse tunnels. Gestation takes 42 days after which a litter of 4 to 6 young are born. The average lifespan of a Chipmunk is 8 years. The chipmunks spend most of the winter inside their lodges although they are not true hibernators as they will leave occasionally to retrieve some of their pre-buried food.
Coati
Nasua nasua Status: Lower risk- least concern Range: S.W. North America- North Argentina Habitat: Dense forests, grasslands, and bushy areas. Diet: Insects, snails, small, ...Coati
Nasua nasua
Status: Lower risk- least concern
Range: S.W. North America- North Argentina
Habitat: Dense forests, grasslands, and bushy areas.
Diet: Insects, snails, small, reptiles, rodents, fruits and nuts.
Creature Feature:Coatis are the South American relative of the raccoon. They are very agile creatures with a coat of reddish brown fur. Coatis have fairly long, bendy noses that they use along with their long sharp claws to dig around in the forest floor for insects and grubs. Just like a raccoon they have rings around their tails.
Female coatis are very social animals and travel around in groups of up to 20 individuals. A group of coatis is called a Band. Male coatis travel alone and will only join a band during the mating season. Coatis are very good climbers and females will make nests in trees where they give birth to 2- 6 young after a gestation period of 2.5 months. A coatis ankles can reverse completely so that they can climb down trees backwards. The average lifespan of a coati is 8- 10 years.
The main predators of a coati are large cats, boa constrictors and humans. Locally in Belize the coati is known as a "Quash". Although coatis are not threatened in the wild they are protected in Uruguay.
