Kind rescue of three-toed mama sloth, and her baby
A traffic police officer assists a three-toed sloth in crossing a busy asphalt road, but later he discovers her baby hiding timidly in the tall grass on the other side of the road!
It's autumn, and the Porcupine caribou (so named after their calving grounds, namely the Porcupine River, that runs from Canada's Yukon territory to the U.S. state of Alaska) will be starting their annual migration from their wintering grounds in the Alaskan and Yukon boreal forests, over the mountains and to the coastal plain and their calving grounds on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain. The caribou (also known outside North America as reindeer) are seen here crossing Alaska's Kobuk River in Kobuk Valley National Park, both when the river is shallow, as well as when the river becomes deep such that the caribou have to swim through.
(Click on an image for full view.)
Water anoles are semi-aquatic lizards found in the tropical forests and wetlands of southwestern Costa Rica and far southwestern Panama. The water anole is unusual in that it is able to stay underwater for long periods of time – a behavior that is described as "scuba diving". Experiments have confirmed that this species has the ability to remain underwater for up to 20 minutes.
These pencil-long lizards can survive underwater by breathing through a bubble that forms on their nostrils. When water anoles take the plunge, they exhale to produce a bubble that covers their nostrils. Additionally tiny bubbles form naturally on the lizard’s hydrophobic, or water-repellent, skin, and these join up with the larger bubble, potentially raising the amount of oxygen available to breathe.
By submerging themselves underwater for prolonged periods of time, the water anole is able to remain invisible to its predators. The water anoles also use this "scuba diving" ability to hunt prey that live underwater and would otherwise be inaccessible to the lizards. Therefore, the anoles can both escape predators and forage for food with this unique "scuba diving" behavior.
Here's eight images of our favourite soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc, namely the octopus. Octopi have nine brains and three hearts. They also can use tools and recognise people.
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Wild carrots are small, spindle-like, white, and slim. They are both aromatic and acrid making their flavour undesirable and therefore wild carrots are not a popular dietary option and are considered weeds in most countries. Nonetheless they was originally cultivated some 5,000 years ago in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, for their aromatic leaves and seeds, for medicinal purposes, rather than for their roots.
However the cultivation of the carrot resulted in a significant change in both colour and taste, as they were selectively bred over the centuries to reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core; this process eventually produced the familiar garden vegetable.
Up to the 17th century, the domesticated varieties of the wild carrot were purple or yellow, but at the turn of the 18th century Dutch growers created the orange variety that we eat today. This replaced the purple and yellow varieties, which had a tendency to brown soups and soups, thereby reducing the visual appeal of food.
Many animals prefer to avoid the icy winter, either by migrating, or by hibernating, but not the river otter, who can often be seen playfully sledding down hills on their stomachs, or playing in the snow. Otters have a special coat of fur with guard hairs to keep out the elements, and wavy underfur to trap in warm air. This special fur, combined with oil to keep out water, acts as a splendid winter coat for the otters. With all the protection from the cold, otters can freely swim and dive through the icy waters, which is very useful as their diet comprises of fish.
When the surface of water bodies freezes over, otters just need to find a way to access the water below. Getting below the ice isn’t a problem for otters, as they’ll mainly stick near rivers or streams, places with flowing water, since the flowing water won’t freeze over like a lake or pond. And should a hole is made in the ice, otters will make sure that the hole doesn't freeze over again!
See also our interesting previous post on otters: zafoid.com/post/view/11139
Yelkouan Shearwaters (Garnija in Maltese, the local language) are seabirds endemic to the Mediterranean, that is endangered, and vulnerable to extinction. The LIFE Arċipelagu Garnija is an ongoing project working hard for the protection of these seabirds, and for securing their future within the Maltese islands, where up to 10% of the species' current population can be found.
