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Bottlenose Dolphins

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Bottlenose dolphins send messages to one another in different ways. They squeak and whistle and use body language—leaping as high as 20 feet (6 meters) in the air, snapping their jaws, slapping their tails on the surface of the water, and even butting heads.

So what are they trying to tell each other? They can alert each other to possible dangers, let others know there is food nearby, and keep track of others in the group. Nasal sacs inside the dolphin’s head make it possible for the dolphins to “talk.” Blowholes located in their heads open and close, allowing the dolphins to breathe. (Dolphins are mammals, so they have to come to the water’s surface to breathe, just like you.)

Each individual dolphin seems to have its own “whistle,” but the sounds we can’t hear may be the most important. Dolphins also produce high frequency clicks, which act as a sonar system called echolocation (ek-oh-low-KAY-shun). When the clicking sounds hit an object in the water, like a fish or rock, they bounce off and come back to the dolphin as echoes. Echolocation tells the dolphins the shape, size, speed, distance, and location of the object.

Bottlenose dolphins also have a sharp sense of hearing. Scientists believe that the sounds travel through the dolphin’s lower jaw to its inner ear and then are transmitted to the brain.

Can we talk with these animals? Scientists don’t think so but continue to monitor “dolphin talk” as a way to better understand what makes bottlenose dolphins tick (and click!). -Text by Marion McGrath

Polar Bear

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Polar bears live along shores and on sea ice in the icy cold Arctic. When sea ice forms over the ocean in cold weather, many polar bears, except pregnant females, head out onto the ice to hunt seals. Polar bears have been spotted on sea ice hundreds of miles from shore. When the warm weather causes the sea ice to melt, polar bears move back toward shore.

In fall pregnant polar bears make dens in earth and snow, where they’ll stay through the winter and give birth to one to three baby bears (cubs). In spring the mother emerges from her den followed by her cubs. Generally, she will nurse them for two and a half years. During that time she will protect them and teach them how to hunt.

Polar bears primarily eat seals. Polar bears often rest silently at a seal’s breathing hole in the ice, waiting for a seal in the water to surface. Once the seal comes up, the bear will spring and sink its jagged teeth into the seal’s head.

Sometimes the polar bear hunts its prey. It may see a seal lying near its breathing hole and slowly move toward it, then charge it, and grab it with its massive claws. A polar bear may also hunt by swimming beneath the ice.

The U.S., Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the Soviet Union signed an agreement in 1973 to protect polar bears. Each of these countries either banned hunting or established rules for how many polar bears could be hunted within its own countries. These rules help keep polar bear populations stable. Today, 25,000 to 40,000 polar bears live in the Arctic.

Coyote

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While populations of many animals decrease, coyote populations increase. Coyotes once lived only in prairies and deserts of the western United States and in Mexico. Now they live everywhere in North America.

A coyote is naturally adaptable because it eats such a wide variety of food. If it can’t find mice to eat, lizards, insects, or even garbage will do. It can easily change its behavior to survive in a new place.

In Native American stories coyotes are clever and tricky. This reputation is based on fact. Coyotes may look at the sky for ravens, or black birds, flying in circles. Coyotes know that the birds often hover over a dead animal, so finding the birds can lead to finding a free meal.

Coyotes are clever enough to trick other animals. A coyote might jump crazily near a group of birds to distract them, and then its partner might surprise the birds and get a few of them for dinner.

People have helped coyotes to spread across North America. How? By killing off the coyote’s number one natural competitor: the wolf. Wolves eat many of the same small animals that coyotes do. And like many other predators, wolves know how to kill coyotes. With the wolf practically gone in many areas, the coyote has quickly moved in.

Some coyotes kill calves and lambs on people’s ranches and farms. For a century people have tried to kill coyotes by using poison, traps, and guns. Still coyotes continue to thrive. - by Christina Wilsdon

Gorilla

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For a long time the image most people had of a gorilla included chest pounding, roaring, charging, and big, bared teeth. But researchers studying gorillas show a very different picture of mountain gorillas. The animals are peaceful, gentle, social, and mainly vegetarian creatures. The occasional ferocious-looking, impressive displays are generally from a male gorilla protecting his family group.

The biggest and strongest mature male gorilla leads a group. He’s called a silverback because the hair on a male’s back turns from black to silvery gray as he matures. This happens when he is between 11-13 years old. A group normally includes a young male or two and a few females and their young.

Mountain gorillas wander around a home area of up to 15 square miles (39 square kilometers). They spend much of their time eating. Their food includes a variety of plants, along with a few insects and worms. At night the animals make a nest to sleep in. Many lightweight gorillas nest in trees, making beds of bent branches. The heavy individuals may nest in grasses on the ground. Babies sleep with their mothers at night.

Life for mountain gorillas isn’t all peaceful. They are endangered, threatened by war in a small area of Africa where they live. Hunters kill them for food or trophies. Their forests are chopped down for farmland, fuel, and housing. But many people are working hard to protect mountain gorillas, their forests, and their way of life in the mountains.

-Text by Catherine D. Hughes

Brown Bear

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As winter approaches, brown bears—often called grizzly bears—prepare for a long hibernation. During the fall, a brown bear eats all the time, stocking up for the 4-7 months when it will have to live off stored body fat. A grizzly may eat 90 pounds (40 kilograms) of food each day.

As winter comes, the fattened bear goes into a den like a cave or one it dug out in between the roots of a tree. It falls asleep and all the bear’s body functions slow down. Its heart beats 8 times a minute instead of 40.

The female brown bear enters her den pregnant with one ( or sometimes 2-3) baby bears. If she found enough food to have a lot fat stored in her body, the embryo, or tiny developing baby bear, continues to develop and is born after a few months. If the mother didn’t fatten up, the baby might die.

The “Mama bear” doesn’t even wake up as her cub is born. The cub is blind and hairless and is born midwinter. The tiny bear, about the size of a mouse, moves into a position where it can nurse and drink its mother’s milk. A female brown bear’s milk has a lot of fat and calories, so the cub grows quickly. By the time the mama grizzly wakes up in the spring, her baby is strong enough to follow her out of the den.

Nearly half of all brown bear cubs born die before they’re a year old. Disease, starvation, and predators such as wolves, mountain lions, and adult male bears—even a cub’s own father—are threats. But mother brown bears are very protective, so many cubs do survive. They live with their mothers for up to 3 years, and then they’re ready to face life on their own.

-Text by Catherine D. Hughes

Emperor Penguins

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Once they’ve had a chance to warm up, they take their turn back on the circle’s edges, giving other penguins time in the warmer center.

The emperor penguin is the only animal that spends the winter on the ice of Antarctica. These birds have babies in the winter (unlike most birds, which breed in the springtime). After a being together with a male penguin of several weeks, a female emperor penguin lays one egg then leaves! Female emperors go to the sea to feed. They travel up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) across the ice.

Each father keeps the egg the mother left on his feet and covers it with a very warm layer of feathered skin under his stomach, called a brood pouch to keep it warm. The males stand in icy temperatures, winds, and storms for 65 days. And they eat nothing that whole time! They can’t leave the egg.

After about two months the females return from the sea, bringing food to feed the now hatched chicks. The males leave to go fish, and the mothers take care of the chicks. The youngsters stay sheltered in their mother’s brood pouch for two months. If a young chick falls out of that warm spot, it can freeze to death in less than two minutes.

As the young penguins grow, adults leave them in groups of chicks while they leave to fish. They return with food for their young. In December, when the weather has warmed, the ice begins to break up. This brings water closer to the nests. Now the chicks are old enough to swim and fish for their own food. -Text by Catherine D. Hughes

Red-Eyed tree Frog

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On a leaf in this rain forest, there is a special treasure. A female red-eyed tree frog lays her eggs on it. She chose the spot carefully—the leaf hangs over a pond, for a special reason.

When the eggs are ready to hatch, the tadpoles (baby frogs) inside start swimming around vigorously. The activity breaks each egg open, freeing the little tadpoles. All the tadpoles wash down the leaf in a little stream of moisture from the hatching eggs, and they land in the pond below.

Feeding on tiny insects, the tadpoles live in the water they fell into until they metamorphose, or develop, into little brown baby frog. At this point they leave the water and climb up nearby trees to live as tree frogs. By the time they’re adults, the frogs have turned bright green, with blue-and-yellow striped sides, orange or red feet, blue on their legs, and big red eyes.

Being green helps the red-eyed tree frog blend in with tree leaves. This keeps it hidden from both the insects it eats and the predators that want to eat it. Red-eyed tree frogs are nocturnal, or active at night. During the day they rest. When one of these tree frogs sits still on a green leaf, legs tucked in and eyes shut, it is practically invisible.

The brightly colored bodies and huge red eyes are a defense mechanism. If the green camouflage fails a predator is often so surprised by sudden flashes of color from the eyes or legs of the frog that it is confused and hesitates. And while it does, the frog has a split second to make its escape! -Text by Catherine D. Hughes

Great White Shark

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The pup (which is what a baby shark is called) will live its life at the top of the ocean’s food chain. As the largest predatory fish in the ocean, great white sharks are the top predators of the sea. But before it grows larger, the pup must avoid predators bigger than it is—including other great white sharks. Many baby sharks do not survive their first year.

Young great white sharks eat fish (including other sharks) and rays. As it grows, the shark’s favorite prey becomes sea mammals, especially sea lions and seals.

Sharks use surprise to help them hunt. When they see a seal at the surface of the water, sharks will swim underneath the seal. Then they swim upward quickly, bursting out of the water in a leap, and falling back into the water with the seal in their mouths.

Sharks don’t chew their food; they rip off pieces of meat and swallow them whole. After eating a seal or a sea lion the great white shark can survive a month or two without another big meal.

Female great white sharks usually have their first babies when they are 12 to 14 years old. And if the pups survive their youth, they, too, become predators at the top of the food chain.

-Text by Catherine D. Hughes

Chimpanzees

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Chimpanzees live in central Africa. They can hit tree trunks and use their voices with a mix of grunts and barks to communicate to other members of their community, some as far as two miles (three kilometers) away!

Chimpanzees are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals—they feed on fruit, leaves, seeds, buds, bark, stems, insects, and occasionally the meat of small mammals such as young baboons.

Young chimpanzees learn from watching their mothers and other adults which foods are safe to eat and where ripe food is located. For the first few months of its life a baby chimp clings to the hair of its mother’s stomach as she travels with it everywhere. After that, young chimpanzees will spend the next seven to ten years at their mothers’ sides learning how to groom, make nests in trees, find food, and use tools.

In the wild a chimpanzee may live to be 50 years old and weigh up to 121 pounds (55 kilograms). They live in Africa’s dense rain forests, open woodlands, and broad grasslands.

No other animal uses so many different objects as tools. For example, chimps often fish for termites using a long piece of grass. The chimp sticks the grass into the entrance of a termite nest, moves it around, then slowly withdraws it—without losing any tasty termites attached to the grass stem. The chimp eats the insects quickly. Chimpanzees also sometimes use stones and sticks as missiles or clubs, and in West Africa chimps use stones as hammers to open hard-shelled nuts. -Text by Michaela Ahern

Lion

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In prides the females do most of the hunting and cub rearing. Usually all the lionesses in the pride are relatives—mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters. Many of the females in the pride have babies at about the same time. A cub may nurse other females as well as its mother.

Each pride generally will have no more than two adult males. While the females usually live with the pride for life, the males often stay for only two to four years. After that they go off on their own or are evicted by other males who take over the pride.

When a new male becomes part of the pride it is not unusual for him to kill all the cubs, insuring that all future cubs will be his. The main job of males in the pride is defending the pride’s territory. A male’s loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can be heard five miles (eight kilometers) away! The roar warns off intruders and helps find stray members of the pride.

Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses. They often hunt in groups of two or three, using teamwork to stalk, surround, and kill their prey.

Lionesses aren’t the most successful of hunters, because they usually score only one kill out of several tries. After the kill the males usually eat first, lionesses next—and the cubs get what’s left.

Males and females fiercely defend against any outside lions that attempt to join their pride. -Text by Marion McGrath

Tigers

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Tigers wait until dark to hunt. Once a tiger has seen its prey, it sneaks as close as possible to its victim. Then the tiger runs quickly to the unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck.

Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds (5 kilograms) during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it’s full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. When it’s hungry again, the tiger comes back to feed some more, until the meat is gone.

Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers seem to enjoy water. They swim well and often soak in streams or pools of water to cool off.

Some tigers live where it gets very cold—in parts of North Korea, eastern Russia, and China. Other tigers live where the climate is generally warmer—in India and parts of southeast Asia. The whole species is endanger. Tigers have been hunted for their fur as well as for other body parts that many people use in traditional medicines. Tigers’ habitat has also dwindled seriously as humans have used land for farming and logging.

-Text by Catherine D. Hughes

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Dog Facts for Kids

Did you know?

• Light-coloured dogs can get sunburn.

• The average lifespan of a giant dog breed is only half as long as the average lifespan of small-to-medium dogs.

• Early spay and castration surgery, in addition to helping control the pet population, benefits dogs by protecting against certain cancers and reproduction organ infections later in life.

• Basenji breed dogs are called "barkless" dogs because they cannot produce a true bark. They can make other sounds including gurgles, yodels and yowls.

• The canine species has the greatest variation in size, lifespan and body type between different breeds. Think Chihuahua versus a Scottish Deerhound. This is due to centuries of careful selective breeding that carried out by humans to make  over 150 breeds of dogs.

• Dogs are omnivores like people and pigs. This means that they can get their nutrition from food of both animal and plant origin. Dogs do not digest raw fruit and vegetables very well, but in small amounts, these act as laxatives.

• Raw meat and fish are a potential source of harmful germs and parasites, so dogs should have their meat cooked.

• Over 25 per cent of pets in North America are overweight (obese).

• Chocolate is toxic to dogs and can be deadly if fed in large amounts.

• Feeding bones is not good for dogs. Hard bones can break off teeth, and bone slivers, splinters and chips can get caught in the digestive system, causing punctures or blockages.

• Human toothpaste is not tasty for dogs, and some ingredients can cause them to feel ill. Pet toothpastes are available and should be used to brush your pets’ teeth. Tasty varieties such as tuna, beef and seafood are available. 

• Dogs cool themselves through their tongues, and sweat only through their nose and footpads.

• When dogs are hot, they pant and their tongues may swell two to three times its normal size to help release excess body heat.

• Never buy dog toys that look like “off limits” household items. For example, shoe-shaped chewies should be avoided.

• Guide dogs should not be petted without permission from their handler/trainer.

• If consumed in large amounts, onions can be toxic to dogs.

• The dog was first domesticated 10,000 years ago!

• The proper scientific term for the domestic dog is Canis familiaris.

• Puppies are attracted to and love to play with electrical cords. However, electrical cords can cause shocks and electrical burns and should be kept out of a puppy’s reach.

• Fleas can jump 150 times their height. If we could jump that far, it would be 650 feet or a few hundred metres!

• Normally dogs shed spring and fall, but the electric lighting in our homes causes indoor dogs to shed year round.  

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Did you know?

• Light-coloured cats can get sunburn, especially on their nose and ear tips.

• Cats do not always land on their feet if they fall, but they do have a strong reflex that helps them to right themselves most of the time. This righting reflex is well developed in animals that climb trees.

• Black cats do not bring bad luck, good luck or any kind of luck!

• Almost all calico (orange, black and white) cats are female. This is because the gene coding for this type of colour pattern is on the female chromosome (the X chromosome).

• The normal heart rate of cats is about 2 times the normal adult human heart rate.

• The Turkish van is a breed of cats that loves water and swimming. A lot of cats don’t like water.

• Early spay and castration surgery, in addition to helping control the pet population, benefits cats by protecting against certain cancers and reproduction organ infections later in life.

• When a cat’s hair stands on end, it appears bigger than it really is, and this helps to keep potential enemies away. Foes will generally back off at the sight of such a big, tough looking kitty!

• Cats are pure carnivores. This means that they must eat a meat diet to obtain proper nutrition.

• Raw meat and fish are a potential source of harmful germs and parasites, so cats should have their meat cooked. Cats fed raw liver or fish diets risk vitamin imbalance.

• Over 25 per cent of pets in North America are overweight or obese.

• Cats do not have a sweet tooth.

• Feeding bones is not good for cats. Hard bones can break teeth, and bone slivers, splinters and chips can get caught in the digestive system, causing punctures or blockages.

• Human toothpaste is not tasty for cats, and some ingredients can cause them to feel ill. Brush your pet’s teeth with pet toothpaste, available in tasty varieties such as tuna, beef and seafood.

• Kittens need to learn how to hunt rats and mice from their mothers. This is not an inborn behaviour.

• Purring occurs when a cat is happy. However, fear and illness can also be associated with purring.

• Cats sleep almost all of the time! They are awake about 4 or 5 hours every day.

• Cats sweat through their noses and paw pads.

• Cats eat grass, and though it is not part of their normal diet, it may be important to help them bring up parasites, or help them vomit hairballs.

• Some cats are born with one or more extra toes. This is called polydactyly.

• Kittens are attracted to and love to play with electrical cords. To avoid shocks or electrical burns to your kitten’s tongue and mouth, keep electrical cords out of reach. 

• Fleas can jump 150 times their height. If we could jump that far, it would be 650 feet or a few hundred metres!

• Next time "Kitty" rubs its whiskers against you or scratches a surface, be aware that pheromones are being left behind to tell everyone just who is king or queen of your household!

• Though cat eyes appear to glow in the dark, the glow is just the reflection of the light going into the eye through their large pupils and hitting the back of the eye (retina) and bouncing back to our eyes.

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Emperor penguins are the largest of the 17 kinds of penguins, and they spend their entire lives on the cold Antarctic ice and in its waters. They survive by relying on a number of clever adaptations.

Emperors stand together in a huge circle. They take turns moving to the inside of the group, where they’re protected from the cold temperatures and wind.

A rain forest teems with life—birds chirp, monkeys chatter, snakes slither, and frogs croak. The warm air is heavy with moisture. Leaves on bushes and trees sag, weighed down by drops of water.

When a great white shark is born, along with up to a dozen siblings, it immediately swims away from its mother. Baby sharks are alone right from the start, and their mother may see them only as prey. At birth the baby shark is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long already; as it grows it may reach a length three times that.

Lions are family animals and social in their own community. They usually live in groups of 15 or more animals called prides. Prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals. In a pride, lions hunt prey, raise cubs, and defend their territory together.

Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat weighs up to 720 pounds (363 kilograms), stretches 6 feet (2 meters) long, and has a 3-foot- (1-meter-) long tail. The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope.

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