What is a kangaroo rat?

Kangaroo Rat

The kangaroo rat is a little burrowing rodent that jumps about like a tiny kangaroo on long, powerful hind legs.

The kangaroo rat is a harmless little burrowing animal that lives in the deserts of the Southwestern united States.

Through it is neither a kangaroo nor a rat, this small tan-and-cream rodent shares certain of their features.  It can leap about on its powerful hind legs like a tiny kangaroo, and is capable of jumping six feet into the air.

A kangaroo rat may be about 7 inches long, plus an equal-length tall which ends in a furry tuft.

The kangaroo rat spends the hot daylight hours in its cool burrow, emerging only at night to feed on seeds and other plant food.

It uses its tiny front legs to stuff food into fur-lined pouches in its checks, to be carried to its burrow and stored against lean time.

Unconcerned by the lack of water, the creature does not need to drink.  Most of the moisture it needs is produced within its body from the seeds it eats.

Photo courtesy:  cwsd  

How did the moose get its name?

Moose

The moose is the largest deer in the world.  Its name comes from an American Indian word which literally means “eats off,” from the animal’s habit of stripping bark and branches off trees.

A moose is a creature of the forested parts of northern North America and Europe.  If feeds chiefly on the leaves, twigs and bark of trees.  Travelers in the northern forests occasionally see a moose standing by the roadside.

Moose are easy to identify by  their long, knobby legs and high shoulders that look like a hump.  A hairy fold of skin hangs under the throat of the bull (male).  The largest moose live in Alaska.  A fully grown Alaskan bull moose may stand 7 feet at the shoulders, weigh 1,500 pounds or more and carry a six-foot span of antlers (horns), but he can move through the dense forest silently.

Outside of America, these animals are called elk.  But the American elk is different.  Its correct name if “wapiti”.

Visual source:  fwi

 

Why do we say the stork brings new babies?

Stork

When a new baby is born, people sometimes like to say they have had “a visit from the stork”.

The familiar legend that the stork brings new babies from heaven arises from the fact that storks are devoted parents.  They take loving care of their own young.

The only member of the stork family living in North America is the wood ibis, or wood stork, that lives in marshes along the southern coasts of the United States.

White storks live throughout Europe and Africa.  They are large, white birds with long, red legs and long necks.  They have no voice except for an occasional hiss.

They “speak” to one another by noisily rattling their long, red bills.

These are the storks that like to build large twig nests on chimney and rooftops.

Many Dutch and German families build stork nests on rooftops and chimneys to attract storks.

A house that storks nest on is considered a lucky house.  Each spring, the birds often return to the same nests to raise their young.

Visual source:  animalwebguide

How far a flea jump?

Most of us think of fleas as small, annoying creatures that live on cats and dogs and cause pets to be constantly scratching. 

A flea is a small insect that gets its food by sucking the blood of other animals.  Fleas have no wings, but their long, strong, hind legs make them wonderful jumpers. 

In fact the common flea is the best jumper of all creatures in relation to its size.  Some can long jump as far as 13 inches and high jump over a tall building, or across a wide street. 

Fleas are troublesome pests.  They puncture the skin with their sharp beaks to get blood.  The bite of a flea can cause some discomfort.  Fleas can carry serious diseases, too.  Fleas have hitchhikers, too.  Tiny insects called mites are known to live on fleas and suck their blood! –Johnny Wonder 

Photo courtesy:  lushlawn

What is a roadrunner?

The roadrunner is a curious bird that lives in the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. 

It is a slender, brown bird nearly two feet long, about half of which is tail, and has long legs. 

As its name tells, the roadrunner prefers to travel by running along the ground and by fast, gliding jumps at speed clocked at 15 miles per hour. 

It enjoys racing down a road in front of travelers and presents a comical sight as it sprints along with wings outspread, neck stretched forward and its long tail jerking up and down.  People on foot cannot hope to get ahead of it. 

When it tires, the bird abruptly turns aside and disappears in a clump of bushes. 

Nicknamed the “snake-killer,” it is more than a match for a rattlesnake.  Its diet includes lizards, mice and insects. -Johnny Wonder

Photo courtesy:  pinker

How did the secretary bird get its name?

  

 

 

The odd-looking secretary bird is a South African bird of prey.  The reason for this bird’s name is easy to guess because of the tuft of long, stiff feathers that stick out from the back of its head.  The tuffs resemble the quill pens that old-time secretaries and clerks once carried behind their ears.  The secretary bird has a long neck and very long legs .  it is about four-feet tall and its plumage is gray and black.  It usually prefers to run instead of fly and is the only bird of prey that hunts on foot. 

 

An inhabitant of Africa’s grassy plains, the secretary bird feeds chiefly on snakes, which it kills by stamping on the snake with its strong  feet and biting it with its hooked bill.  In their native home, farmers often tame secretary birds and keep them to kill rats and mice.  Another name for the secretary bird is “serpent eagle.”

Photo courtesy:  wildanimalsonline

What Is A GNU?

  

Gnus are large, ox-like African antelopes.

 

A gnu (pronounced noo) is a large, ox-like African antelope with high shoulders, a pushy, horse like tail and a long, sad-looking face.  Long, thin legs and a tuft or chin whiskers add to its queer appearance.

 

There are two kinds of gnus – the silvery-gray brindled gnu and the smaller dark-colored white-tailed gnu.

 

Brindled gnus are found living on the open grassland of Central Africa.  When frightened, the gnu prances about leaps into the air and kicks its heels, then dashes away with a toss of its head.

 

Like other antelopes, gnus are fast runner and can run a speed up to 40 miles an hour to escape an enemy.

 

The white-tailed gnu is nearly extinct.  Once found in vast herds roaming the plains of South Africa, white-tailed gnus today are kept and protected in zoos and in special parks so they won’t disappear from the earth.  Gnus are also known as wildebeests.

 

Reference:  Dick Rogers