animals

The Gentle Giants of the Insect World

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:51:18 +0100

What is worst than coming face to face with a creepy crawly? Coming face to face with a giant creepy crawly!

New Zealand’s Giant Weta is the heaviest insect on the planet; weighing more than 71 g, this arthropod is heavier than a swallow. There are eleven species of giant weta, which are significantly larger than other weta or any other insect. The largest species of giant weta is the Little Barrier Island giant weta also known by the Maori name ‘wetapunga’, which means ‘god of ugly things’. These heavyweights have a body length of up to 10 cm, excluding their lengthy legs and antennae. They often live under rocks and bush floor debris and prefer a vegetarian diet. At approximately two years of age the female will lay anything between a hundred and three hundred eggs. Unfortunately, the parents of the ‘little giants’ will die before the eggs hatch three to five months later. However spine-chilling they seem, they are in actual fact gentle giants and need to be respected and protected. Weta are at risk from being eaten by rats, trampling by stock and killed by forest fires.

Read more:
cafeterra

Spiders that decorate their webs

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:51:46 +0100

Nature's true web designers

When you look at these pictures you can draw your own conclusion as to way some spiders decorate their webs in these elobarate ways.

Author EB White noticed the web of the Banded Garden Spider when looking for inspiration for his second novel. It was from this natural inspiration that he would come up with the idea of a writing spider and would go on to write one of the world’s most cherished children’s books, Charlotte’s Web.

These peciliar web decorations is called stabilimentum. The name came about because of a mistake. When first studied the decorations were believed to be used to stabilize the web of a spider. This theory is generally dismissed these days – although it is obvious why early scientists may have thought this.

The decorations are mostly made out of silk, however some will spiders will use the remains of their egg sacs and any debris that are close by. The web decorations can be found among a number of species of spider – but the best known example comes from the Argiope genus better know as the Saint Andrew’s Cross spider. They are so called because of their habit of resting in their webs, legs outstretched in the shape of the cross of Saint Andrew.

The decorations, often at almost mathematically precise forty five degree angles seem to extend the length of the spider and, potentially, making it seem more threatening for predators. Self protection is one of the many explanations for this phenomenon. Some scientists believe that these web decorations acts almost like a stop sign – it making the spider more visible, the web itself will be seen by animals like birds that are then less likely to inadvertently damage the web, partially wrecking or even destroying the painstakingly built structure.

Some scientist states that the most obvious reason for the stabilimentum is to attract potential mates. Whatever the reason might be it is clear that spiders arenature's true web designers. It is a pretty cool idea to think that spiders have for millions of years been using something as a weapon that we only recently discovered for ourselves.

Read more:
scienceray.com

Man's best friend – a giant croc

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:52:58 +0100

The Real Crocodile Dundee

Chito made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Central American state's Parismina river 20 years ago. He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death. But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat.

He says: "When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house". "He was very skinny, weighing only around 150lb I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover. "I stayed by Pocho's side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad. It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals - especially ones that have suffered."

It took years before Chito felt that Pocho had bonded with him enough to get closer to the animal. He says: "After a decade I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more. "Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me."

At one point during his recovery, Chito left the croc in a lake near his house. But as he turned to walk away, to his amazement Pocho got out of the water and began to follow him home. Chito recalls: "That convinced me the crocodile could be tame." But when he first fearlessly waded into the water with the giant reptile his family was so horrified they couldn't bear to watch. So instead, he took to splashing around with Pocho when they were asleep.

Four years ago Chito showed some of his tricks to friends, including getting the animal to close his eyes on command, and they convinced him to go public with a show. Now he swims and plays with Pocho as well as feeding him at the lake near his home in the lowland tropical town of Sarapiqui. The odd couple have now become a major tourist attraction, with several tour operators, including Crocodile Adventures, taking visitors on touring cruises to see the pair.

On the Crocodile Adventures website it describes the spectacle as: "One of the most amazing things that no cruise ship passenger will want to miss, the adventure show between the man and the crocodile."

www.dailymail.co.uk

Stunning shots of bats drinking in flight

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:53:31 +0100

How amazing are these pics? The amazing shots were taken after months of painstaking planning by wildlife photographer Kim Taylor. They are so detailed you can even see the night creatures slurping from the pool with their little pink tongues. Kim, 76, rigged ropes across the pond which encouraged the bats to drink from a certain point. Then, using special sensors designed by himself, he managed to get the perfect shots.

Read more:

www.dailymail.co.uk

A million snow geese stopover at a wildlife resort

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:54:27 +0100

These pictures – taken by Mike Hollingshead in Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge near Mound City, Missouri – show one of nature's most amazing displays as more than a million snow geese stop for a rest during their annual migration. Every autumn the snow geese head from their main breeding grounds in central Canada to their wintering grounds in the Gulf of Mexico. The noisy birds migrate in unusually large flocks of 100 to 1,000 that are made up of many family groups.

Read more:
www.dailymail.co.uk

Never seen before footage: leopard vs. croc

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:55:15 +0100

A series of incredible pictures taken at a South African game reserve document the first known time that a leopard has taken on and defeated a croc. The photographs were taken by Hal Brindley, an American wildlife photographer, who was supposed to be taking pictures of hippos from his car in the Kruger National Park. The giant cat raced out of cover provided by scrub and bushes to surprise the crocodile, which was swimming nearby. A terrible and bloody struggle ensued. Eventually, onlookers were amazed to see the leopard drag the crocodile from the water as the reptile fought back.

With the crocodile snapping its powerful jaws furiously, the two animals somersaulted and grappled. Despite the crocodile's huge weight and strength, the leopard had the upper hand catching its prey by the throat. Eventually the big cat was able to sit on top of the reptile and suffocate it. In the past, there have been reports of crocodiles killing leopards, but this is believed to the first time that the reverse scenario has been observed.

www.telegraph.co.uk