Today I came to know about an interesting behavioral pattern of the California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) and rock squirrels (Spermophilus variegates).

Actually young squirrels are the favorite dish for rattlesnakes. In order to suppress their odor from rattlesnakes, these tiny creatures chew on old snake skin and smear it on their fur. This behavioral pattern was noticed by Barbara Clucas, a graduate student in animal behavior at the University of California, Davis.

This act of application of sloughed-off snake skin is considered to be a perfect defensive package of squirrels against rattlesnakes. The snakes get persuaded that another snake, not squirrel, is in the area.

Rattlers and other snakes usually prey the pups (Squirrel young one) and females while they fall asleep in the night. Mostly the adult squirrel won’t get affected by the snake poison as the blood proteins of them contains immunity against snake venom.

Another study confirms that squirrels are not only limited to the use of snake skin, they get used to take the snake odor from surfaces (tree branches, tree hole, etc) and soil, where the snakes have been resting.

So, the squirrels are turning the tables on the snakes. How wise they are…

Many species of animals have the capacity to produce venom. The venom has a passive defensive function in frogs, toads and salamanders, in which the venom glands are distributed in the skin. The venom reaches the highest development in snakes and is a weapon for capturing prey, for defense and also a digestive aid.

The venom glands are actually specialized salivary organs and inoculation of the venom is through the canalized or grooved teeth. The salivary secretion of the harmless snakes is equally effective against their prey species. The venom not only immobilizes the prey but aids the subsequent digestion of animal tissues. snake venom is a mixture, chiefly of proteins, varying in composition from species to species. Studies so far undertaken indicate that the biological significance of snake venom is primarily in their digestive role.

Snakes cannot chew and mix the products of their salivary glands with the tissues of their prey. Instead, they use a highly developed injection apparatus to apply digestive aids to their food.

These powerful and concentrated enzymes are extremely poisonous. For instance, the lethal dose of Russel’s viper venom for a rabbit in the body, compounds in the poison break down the connective tissues and destroy blood vessels, causing the spread of erythrocytes and serum into the tissues.

Necrosis at the site of a bite is due to the digestive properties of snake venom. A non-toxic component of the snake venom, not always present, liberates proteolytic enzymes into the victim’s body and hastens putrefaction.

I have visited a zoo as a undergraduate veterinary student as a volunteer. I searched the tongue of the basking crocodile. I asked the zoo vet about the missing tongue of the crocodile. He laughed and explained about the crocodile tongue.

Generally mouth of the crocodile makes up 15% of its body length. All the crocodiles are having a long thin forked tongue, but fused at the bottom of its mouth. So we can’t either see the tongue while it is basking or opening its mouth to capture its prey.

Length of the Crocodile Tongue

I measured the length of the tongue while performing postmortem of the same as a Zoo vet after my graduation. The length of the crocodile tongue is more or less 300-350 cms (this is a measurement of a crocodile of a 3 meters in length).

Additional Facts

The crocodile possess salt glands on their tongue, which is a modified salivary glands. The main purpose of this gland is to secrete excess salt from its body. Thats why salt water crocodile can spend weeks together in salt water.

As bottom line, I would like to conclude that this massive creature cannot stick out the tongue.

It was really a surprise for the San Francisco Zoo officials about the kill of a Siberian tiger that managed to escape from its high walled enclosure. They are also suspecting whether miscreants helped the big cat to come out on its own.

This Siberian tiger (Tatiana) killed a person and mauled two more brothers who visited the Zoo on December-26, the day after Christmas rampage.

They could manage the tiger to rest on peace only after shooting at a short range(This is a big blow to wildlife conservation). This tiger managed to escape from an enclosure, which is surrounded by 18-foot wall and 20-foot moat.

The same tiger pulled the flesh off a woman zoo keeper while feeding her through bars just before Christmas a year ago.

Police is still investigating on this issue- is there any carelessness involved in the escape of this big cat. Some times the unlocked door may predisposing factor for the escape of this wild cat.

Wildlife expert- Jack Hanna opined that it is virtually impossible for a tiger to leap a such a wide distance, even with a running start.

Humpback whale hunt has suspended in Antartica first time by Japan since the 1960’s after widespread criticism.

Japanese whaling officials confirmed that they had not harpooned any humpbacks yet. They told that the government suspended the hunts of humpback whales would last a year or two.

Japanese scientific whaling research program costs nearly 1,000 whales -mostly minks- a year in the pacific.

The whale meat is sold in specialty restaurants of Japan under this program.

Still waiting my fingers crossed, what will happen to their research program that costs voiceless creatures life…

The world is filled with weird and wonderful creatures, and a good proportion of them are found deep down in the ocean. We actually know more about the surface of the moon than we know about the deepest parts of the ocean here on planet earth.

Some marine species are of course very carefully studied and can even be found in marine aquariums in living rooms and public aquatic parks around the world. These species are however mostly the ones that are found close to the surface in the wild, e.g. the colourful reef fishes that never ventures further down than 30-40 meters.

For a creature that lives deep down at depths never explored by man, the risk (or chance) of ending up in an aquarium is slim. One of the most interesting beasts to surface from the depths during the 20th century is the Coelacanth.

Coelacanths are bony fishes from the order Coelacanthiformes. What makes them so interesting is the fact that before a living specimen was found during the 1930s, they were believed to have become completely extinct together with the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period.

In 1936, a museum curator named Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer befriended a Captain Goosen who worked on a trawler off the African coast. Goosen began saving interesting fish specimens for Courtenay-Latimer, and eventually he brought her a primitive looking fish caught about 70 meters (77 yards) from the mouth of the Chalumna River in the Indian Ocean. This strange looking fish turned out to be a true, living Coelacanth.

The finding proved that some Coelacanths had actually survived the through the Cretaceous period and continued to reproduce deep down in the ocean. Who knows what else we might find down there as we continue to explore the mesmerizing depths of the world’s oceans.

The Missing link between the whale and land animal was recently found out. It was nothing but a Raccoon like animal which looks like a long-tailed deer without antlers, or an overgrown long-legged rat.

In Kashmir region fossils recently dug up revealed the fact that the creature that bridges the whale and land animal is called as Indohyus.This creature revealed that there is crucial evolutionary similarities between it and water-dwelling cetaceans, such as porpoises, dolphins and whales.

This Indohyus can be considered as a closest relative of whale as thousands of fossils are recently dug in Kashmir, which is a part of India.Hans Thewissen, Professor of Anatomy at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine confirmed that this animal is a “missing link” to the sister species to ancient whales. He added- Morphologically this raccoon like animal won’t resemble whale at all. But anatomically speaking both of them are having same thickened ear bone.

“The earliest Whales didn’t resemble the current one” Professor Thewissen said. “It looked like a cross between a dog and pig”. The whales lost their legs and walking ability on land about 40 million years age, he said.

Previously most of the scientists believed that the hippopotamus has been the perfect candidate for the closest land relative as it closely resemble the whale not only in its features but also similar DNA.

In the yester years (say, million years ago), whales were natural descends of India and Pakistan. But Hippos are native of Africa. So there is no possibilty of evolution of Hippos from whales.

Below is the image of the suspected Indohyus

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) — When Jody Fabry descended the basement stairs to her seasonal home and saw broken glass on the floor, then spied what caused the mess, she didn’t know who was more frightened — her, or the deer that was the culprit.

A young doe apparently got into the basement through a window, then couldn’t get out. Fabry called officers to her home, but it was more difficult than it looked to remove the animal.

Officers eventually ended up chasing it around the basement until it jumped back out the way it came, then bounded off.

The deer, which Fabry guessed had been in the unoccupied home for a day, appeared to be unhurt.

BOLIVIA, N.C. (AP) — An unknown predator mauled a pit bull and killed two puppies in Brunswick County, and residents fear it’s the same animal that killed three dogs in September. No one has reported ever seeing the animal.

The county’s animal control agency investigated the animal’s tracks, droppings and other clues but couldn’t determine what attacked the dogs. Locals call the unknown animal the Beast of Bolivia.

Some residents and experts said the predator may be a bear, a wayward panther or cougar, or even a wolf because 3-inch paw tracks were found at the scene.

Many suggest the predator came from the nearby Faircloth Zoo, which had a lion and a tiger before it closed more than a year ago. Animal control officials said the animals were sent elsewhere.

Information from: The Star-News, http://starnewsonline.com

Habitat

Distributed whole of India. Mayanmar and Thailand and part of Malay peninsula. Common in Srilanka.

Breeding

They are prolific breeders and breed in all seasons. Sexual maturity- 2 to 4 years. Gestation period-115 days. Litter size- 4to 6 young ones.

Life span

15 to 20 years.

Feeding At Captivity

Wheat bran 1 kg
Carrot 250 gms
Cabbage 250 gms
White Bengal gram 100 gms
Potato 250 gms
Salt 10 gms
Tapioca 100 gms

Housing

Housing consists of a sleeping chamber and an outer open moated enclosure.