My Science School

The Porcupine looks most like a prickly beaver! Its long strands of brown hair looks soft, but thousands of quills are tucked inside. The longest quills are found on their back and behind, while the shortest ones are on their face. Each quill is hollow – it is yellowish in colour, with a black tip and is covered in tiny barbs. Roughly 30,000 quills cover the whole body except for the stomach, nose and bottom of their feet.

The porcupine has a small face, small ears, short legs and a thick, small tail. Its flat feet and sharp, rounded claws make it well adapted to climbing trees. Porcupines rely heavily on smell as they are short-sighted.

Porcupines stick close to the trees. Beyond forests, you may find them alongside river undergrowth and maybe in the trees by a rocky ledge. They live in dens found in rock piles, caves, fallen logs and trees. Generally, they stay close to home leaving their dens for food — porcupines eat a variety of shrubs, bark, water plants and they love anything salty.

A peaceful animal, the porcupine will try to run away if it feels there’s danger. They’ll make loud chattering noises as a warning for predators to leave. If they can’t get away, their muscles tighten forcing their quills to come out. It will tuck its head in, lean forward and thump its back feet while swinging its tail as a warning. Sometimes loose quills fly out of the tail or if a predator tries to get too close, the quills will stick them. The quills are an amazing defense mechanism — when they get lodged in the skin, body heat makes the barbs swell, making it even harder and more painful to pull them out.

Animals like bears, bobcats, lynx, wolves and coyotes have also been known to be big predators, but the biggest of them all is the fisher. Thought of as the “expert” in hunting porcupines, the fisher will flip its prey onto its back to avoid getting pricked by the sharp quills.

Credit : Canadian Geographic 

Picture Credit : Google

North American beavers have stocky bodies with a yellow-brown to almost black coat and a broad, flat, scaly tail. Their large, orange incisors grow continuously throughout their lifetime. They have webbed rear feet and digitated front paws. The beaver's stocky body enables it to conserve heat.

A beaver's long, dark-orange, visible incisors grow continuously throughout its life and are worn down through daily use. These teeth are self-sharpening and can cleave a willow the size of a person's finger in a single bite! If the incisors become too long, they can prevent the beaver's mouth from closing enough for its grinding molars to meet, which could lead to starvation.

Beavers regularly move between aquatic and terrestrial environments. Their small, dexterous front feet are well adapted to working on land. They walk on five digits, grasp sticks with their front paws and have well-developed digging claws. Their larger hind feet are webbed for swimming and void of fur, except on the dorsal surface.

The hind feet also have a preening toe, the second from the inside, with a unique double toenail. Beavers are meticulous groomers. They use the preening toe as a comb to prevent their fine, soft fur from matting to maintain its waterproofing and insulating properties. These flexible toes also remove burrs and parasites.

On land, a beaver's movements are extremely awkward, making them vulnerable to predators. In water, however, beavers can swim up to 6 mph (10 kilometers per hour). Their oversized lungs allow them to stay submerged for up to 15 minutes while traveling over half a mile.

Whiskers help detect objects around a beaver's face and head, which is especially helpful in narrow passageways and dark water. The beaver's eyes have a thin, transparent membrane, called a nictitating membrane, which is pulled over the eyeball for underwater work. A beaver's sight is good only for short distances and at close range. Its ears are external, small and rounded, with valves that also close while submerged, and the beaver's auditory sense is well developed.

The shape of the tail is an individual and family trait, varying from short and broad to long and narrow. It is practically hairless and covered with black scales. There is a sharp demarcation between the fur and the scales, the fur remaining at full length and density right up to this line. The tail is used as a rudder in swimming, as a balance prop while working on land and to signal danger when slapped on the water. Beavers will also store fat in their tails, eating more in the fall so they can survive off the fat stored in their tails through winter if food is not available. The beaver's vertebrae continue into and almost to the end of the tail.

Credit : Smithsonian National Zoo

Picture Credit : Google

Chipmunks are rodents that are a type of squirrel. These small, furry animals are identified by their stubby legs, bushy tails and the white, black and brown stripes that run down their backs.  

Chipmunks are the smallest members of the squirrel family, according to National Geographic. The biggest species of chipmunk is the Eastern chipmunk. It grows to 11 inches (28 centimeters) and weighs up to 4.4 ounces (125 grams). 

Chipmunks typically grow to around 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) and weigh 1 to 5 ounces (28 to 142 g). Their tails can grow as long as 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 cm).

There are 25 species of chipmunk, according to National Geographic. Only one of those species, called the Siberian chipmunk, lives outside of North America. The Siberian chipmunk lives in Asia and is expanding into parts of Europe, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In North America, chipmunks can be found almost anywhere there are trees. Chipmunks make homes for themselves by creating burrows that consist of an underground tunnel system or by making nests in logs or bushes. Their tunnel systems can be 10 to 30 feet (3 to 9.1 m) long.

Chipmunks are omnivores, and they aren't picky about what they eat. Part of their diet consists of vegetation such as mushrooms, berries, nuts, seeds and grains. Chipmunks also eat other creatures such as insects, baby birds, frogs and bird eggs, according to the Wildlife Hotline. 

Credit : Live Science 

Picture Credit : Google

Prairie dogs excavate elaborate burrow systems with many entrances marked by low or volcano-shaped mounds. The common black-tailed (C. ludovicianus) and Mexican (C. mexicanus) species live in large, dense colonies that early explorers described as “towns.” Colonies are divided by topographic and vegetational features into semidiscrete wards formed from smaller extended family groups, or coteries. Colonies usually cover about 100 hectares (247 acres), but the largest ever recorded was a black-tailed prairie dog colony in Texas that formerly stretched across 65,000 square km (25,000 square miles) and contained an estimated 400 million individuals.

During the day, foraging above ground is the principal activity. Succulent parts of herbs and grasses, leaves, and new shrub growth are eaten in the spring, and seeds are the primary component of the summer diet, with stems and roots being the mainstay in fall and early winter. The black-tailed and Mexican prairie dogs do not hibernate and are periodically active during winter; they do not store food in their burrows. During winter when food is scarce, black-tails remain in their burrows for long periods without food or water, using physiological adaptations to control their metabolism. The other three species become torpid in October or November and emerge in March or April. Late winter or early spring is the breeding season for all species, and after about a month’s gestation, females drop a litter of up to 10 young. Communication takes the form of alarm calls (repetitious barks and chuckles), threats (snarls, growls, and tooth chatters), and distress calls (screaming); individuals enhance group cohesion by greeting one another upon contact, using vocalizations that are specific to each species.

Natural predators of prairie dogs include badgers, wolves, coyotes, bobcats, black-footed ferrets, golden eagles, and large hawks. Once abundant, prairie dog populations have been drastically reduced in range and number by poisoning programs of ranchers who have considered them as pests and by conversion of habitat to cropland. The black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) is the most widespread, living throughout the Great Plains from Canada to northern Mexico; Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) occurs where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet; the white-tailed prairie dog (C. leucurus) is found from eastern Wyoming through intermontane Rocky Mountain valleys to the eastern margin of the Great Basin; the Utah prairie dog (C. parvidens) is restricted to the southern part of that state; and the Mexican prairie dog (C. mexicanus) occurs in northern Mexico.

Credit :  Britannica 

Picture Credit : Google

Capybara, (genus Hydrochoerus), also called carpincho or water hog, either of two species of large semiaquatic South American rodents. Capybaras inhabit forests and wetlands from Panama to Argentina. The larger of the two species, the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), is the largest living rodent in the world, growing up to about 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) long and weighing up to 79 kg (174 pounds). The lesser capybara (H. isthmius) is smaller, growing to about 1 metre (about 3 feet) in length and weighing about 28 kg (62 pounds). Some classifications list capybaras as the only members of family Hydrochoeridae, whereas others place them within the subfamily Hydrochoerinae of the family Caviidae. Capybaras resemble the cavy and the guinea pig.

Capybaras are short-haired brownish rodents with blunt snouts, short legs, small ears, and almost no tail. They are shy and associate in groups along the banks of lakes and rivers. They normally feed in the morning and evening and spend most of the day resting under cover along the banks. They are vegetarian and in cultivated areas sometimes become pests by eating melons, grain, and squash. They swim and dive readily and commonly enter water to elude predators such as jaguars and anacondas. The female bears a single litter of three to eight young each year; gestation takes about 100 to 110 days.

Capybaras are short-haired brownish rodents with blunt snouts, short legs, small ears, and almost no tail. They are shy and associate in groups along the banks of lakes and rivers. They normally feed in the morning and evening and spend most of the day resting under cover along the banks. They are vegetarian and in cultivated areas sometimes become pests by eating melons, grain, and squash. They swim and dive readily and commonly enter water to elude predators such as jaguars and anacondas. The female bears a single litter of three to eight young each year; gestation takes about 100 to 110 days.

Credit : Britannica 

Picture Credit : Google

It is great Indian bustard, a bird native to the Indian Subcontinent. It prefers open grasslands.

It has a large body and long legs. The black crown on the forehead is among its unique features. It is among the heaviest flying birds.

Its diet includes a wide range of things - grass, seeds, insects such as grasshoppers and beetles, and sometimes small rodents and reptiles.

With less than 200 individuals left in the wild, it is considered critically endangered.

Great Indian bustards are tall birds with long legs and a long neck; the tallest individuals may stand up to 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. The sexes are roughly the same size, with the largest individuals weighing 15 kg (33 pounds). Males and females are distinguished by the colour of their feathers. Feathers on the top of the head are black in males, which also possess a whitish neck, breast, and underparts, along with brown wings highlighted by black and gray markings. Males also have a small, narrow band of black feathers across the breast. In contrast, females possess a smaller black crown on the top of the head, and the black breast band is either discontinuous or absent.

Picture Credit : Google

Malabar pit viper is a venomous snake species endemic to southwestern India. It inhabits moist- evergreen and deciduous forests.

It comes in all colours - yellow, green and brown – and patterns. The tail is prehensile, adapted for grasping or holding (say, trees). It is nocturnal, sometimes seen basking on rocks or trees near streams. It is specifically active during the monsoon season.

It preys on tree frogs, geckos and small animals. It is slow-moving, but capable of fast strikes.

Pit Viper is a slow-moving snake and nocturnal. They rely on camouflage for protection. Although slow to defend themselves, they are capable of fast strikes and bites if disturbed. The food of this snake consist of small mammals like rodents, lizards, birds and frogs. The females give birth to 4 or 5 living young. This is also Viper speciality as other snakes lay eggs. The eggs develop inside the mother’s body surrounded by transparent bags, called membranes. While the baby snake is developing inside the mother, it gets its food from the yolk of the egg. The female viper usually gives birth in a hidden place, where the young are safe from enemies.

Picture Credit : Google