The fun encyclopedia of animals is here! See pictures, wallpapers and videos and read fun reviews of products for animals, how tos, and fun stories about our animal friends here.
Have you ever thought of signing your dog up to volunteer for a job? Dogs are not only great pets, they also help us make work a bit easier. Letting them volunteer is a great way for them to get enough exercise and avoid developing degenerative myelopathy. Many organizations and industries need dogs to when completing tasks and workloads. You might be interested in helping out or you could also be working in a field where your dog can serve together with you.
Below are common jobs for dogs and how your four legged friend can help. Police/military dogs
Most police and military tasks are given to dogs because of their agility, speed, and sense of smell. Dogs are used for search and rescue, bomb and narcotics sniffing, and attack dogs. Most dogs used by the police and the military are German Shepherds, Labradors, Belgian Shepherd Dog or Malinois, Dobermans and Rottweiler. These powerful dogs are trained to serve and protect and are taken to the field.
Therapy dogs
If your dog is loveable, approachable and friendly, it can be a big help as a therapy dog. Many hospitals, clinics and rehabilitation centers use these therapy dogs to help their patients get well faster. Therapy dogs bring joy and a smile to anyone’s face. There are no common breeds for therapy dogs, as long as your dog is supper approachable and friendly, it can be trained to be one. Guide dog
Dogs can be used as eyes and ears as well. Training your dog to become a guide dog is scary, since the person’s life is placed in the dog’s hands. You dog needs to be smart, fast and attentive to become a guide. They also need to be a bit big. Most guide dogs are medium to large sized dogs since it’s easier for the person to feel their presence. Search and rescue
You’ve probably heard of the stories of dogs who go up to mountains and forest to look for lost trekkers or people who have been covered in the snow. With this job, people will depend on your dog to save the people who got stranded or lost along the trail. If you have a dog that’s loyal, easy to train, healthy and has a big build, then it can be trained as a search and rescue dog.
The down side of having dogs work is that they will need to retire someday. You dog could be too old to work or might develop degenerative myelopathy because of age. Either way, most retired dogs are well taken care of and are placed in special programs.
Have you seen those large spiny and hairy caterpillars abundantly crawling on sidewalks, pathways, bicycle paths and roadways during summer? These are Wooly bear caterpillars, simply called the Wooly Bears. They belong to a large group of moths called tiger moths and usually begin existence during spring as a plant-eating caterpillar.
The moth is known to have two different names depending on its two main stages of life. The adult is named Isabella Tiger Moth and the larva is called the Banded Wooly Worm or in most cases, the Banded Wooly Bear. The larva of the Banded Wooly Bear usually comes from the egg during the season of fall and during overwinters in its caterpillar form when it usually becomes frozen solid. It actually stops with its heart at a standstill, then, followed by its guts, its blood and then the rest of the body. The caterpillar form usually survives by producing cryoprotectant in its tissues. Eventually, when spring comes, it melts out and begins to pupate then becomes a moth and has a few remaining days to search for a mate before it finally expires.
In places with temperate climates, Caterpillars normally become moths within months of hatching. However, in the Arctic it is so much different. The summer time is shorter with only very limited time for growing and nurturing vegetation, hence making feeding time so short, allowing the Wooly Bear caterpillar to feed and look for food for several winters. The process becomes repeated from freezing to thawing, then feeding, then freezing again before finally coming to become a pupa. Some Wooly Bear Caterpillars have been known to go through 14 summers before finally pupating.
The banded wooly bear caterpillar has two black bands, one at each end and has an interesting orange band somewhere in the middle. Some people say that the presence of the wide orange or brown band in the middle determines what kind of winter is coming. In fact, some would even believe and interpret it identifying the Wooly Bear Caterpillar as the forerunner of the ruthlessness or perhaps unkindness of winter.
True or not, the presence of Wooly Bear welcomes the coming of winter.
Among the living anteaters that are existent today, the Silky Anteater is the smallest one there is of its kind. Also known as pygmy anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), the Silky anteater is a species of anteater found in South America as well as in Central America.
The Silky Anteater is different from the species where it belongs because it has rather a proportionately shorter face and larger cranium compared to the others. Most adult anteaters are quite long having a length measurement that ranges from 360-450 millimeters, approximately 14 to 18 inches long.
They have thick and quite dense, soft brown fur but sometimes they also have grey to yellowish color with a silvery gleam on it. Although many subspecies have generally darker fur, often with some appearance of brownish streaks and much lighter somewhere on the limbs and under parts, what is interesting to note is that their eyes are generally black and the soles of the feet are red.
The scientific name Cyclopes Didactylus actually means “two-toed circle-foot” which basically means the presence of two claws on the forefeet. Another innate feature a Silky Anteater has is, they have the ability to encircle a branch, twig or tree to which it is carefully clinging. The fourth toe, on the other hand is quite small and does not have claws while the other two toes are absent or cannot be visibly seen. The hind feet have four toes with exactly the same length, each toe having long claws and an invisible hallux.
Most Silky Anteaters are found in Mexico, Central America, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. Some are also seen in the parts of eastern Brazil and the island of Trinidad. According to Wikipedia, there are seven recognized subspecies:
• Cyclopes didactylusdidactylus, Linnaeus, 1758 - the Guyanas, eastern Venezuela, Trinidad, Atlantic Forest
• Cyclopes didactyluscatellus, Thomas, 1928 - northern Bolivia, southeastern Peru, western Brazil
• Cyclopes didactylusdorsalis, Gray, 1865 - extreme southern Mexico, Central America, northern Colombia
• Cyclopes didactyluseva, Thomas, 1902 - western Ecuador, southwestern Colombia
• Cyclopes didactylusida, Thomas, 1900 - western Brazil, eastern Ecuador and Peru
• Cyclopes didactylusmelini, Lönnberg, 1928 - northern Brazil, eastern Colombia
• Cyclopes didactylusmexicanus, Hollister, 1914 - southern Mexico
Among Tasmanian’s native animals, it seems to be that the least understood is theThylacine (ThylacinusCynosephalus). Also known as the Tasmanian tiger because of its striped back, it is native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. It has been believed that Tasmanian tigers had been already extinct in the 20th century.
Due to its queer look and appearance, one which looks like a large and long dog with a big head coupled withthe body having short soft brown fur with a combination of dark brown-black stripes that extended from the base of the tail to almost the shoulders. It has a heavy stiff tail and a big head, this particular animal has been greatly feared by early European settlers pushing them to kill this species no matter what the cost.
The scientific name, ThylacinusCunocephalus means pouched dog with a wolf’s head which earned its other name, Tasmanian wolf. When fully grown, the Tasmanian tiger can stand as tall as 2 feet, approximately about 58 centimeters and a body length of about 6 feet equivalent to 180 centimeters. Weight varies although it can reach to a maximum of 30 kilograms.
The Tasmanian tiger is generally shy and quiet and does not usually produce a sound. It can sometimes be mistaken as mute. However, when it becomes excited, a husky and seemingly cough-like bark is produced. When a Tasmanian tiger is at the wild while hunting for prey, it usually produces a distinctive terrier-like yap or cry which is done repeatedly at least every few seconds.
At the same time, there had not been recordings and studies made about this enigmatic marsupial carnivore primarily because the Tasmanian tiger is low profile, secretive and easily gets nervous. Some even die struggling because of too much fear and apparently from shock. Despite this weakness, it has a strong and persistent stamina that can withstand exhaustion and can pursue its prey ruthlessly and uncompromisingly.
This mysterious Tasmanian tiger, although threatened and even extinct has a keen sense of smell, primarily relying on this strong sense to search for prey and to survive in the wild. Its diet revolved mainly on wallabies and rabbits, also including animals and some birds. It also hunted down sheep and poultry that belonged to early European settlers causing a revengeful hunt on the side of the farm owners.
It is a fact that the United States used to be the home and habitat of such a bounty and overflow of avian populace with colorful and eye-catching birds that travel its wonderful skies. Due to many years of hunting, human encroachment and more land development plus numerous migration of people, the birds in the United States have slowly disappeared, resulting to extinction of some unique birds and most of all, threatened the status of many birds.
Just recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has an existing record to date, that as many as 91 species are extremely threatened and on the verge of extinction. In case you see the grace and elegance of these birds hovering, the friendly skies, you might at least know some of these almost endangered and highly extinct birds.
California condor
This bird has become a symbol, an icon of the American West. The endangered California condor was known to be a teeming bird, one of the largest birds flying in North America but sad to say, there are only 25 or less left in the wild. However, there are certain organizations that actively captive-bred the California condor making the numbers grow to about 150 wild birds, but the number is still not enough because their kind has remained vastly threatened brought about by habitat destruction, use of pesticides and poisoning of lead bullets.
Golden- cheeked warbler
This small bird that lives and breeds in Central Texas particularly somewhere around the Edwards Plateau, Lampasas Cut Plain and Central Mineral Region. The main reason of the threat and decrease of this small bird’s population is mainly because of ranching, agriculture and land development. At present, there is no known record of the number of Golden-cheeked warblers remaining.
Hawaiian Goose or Nene
Many who has been to Hawaii find this bird attractive and amusing. The Hawaiian Goose or Nene is the official state bird of Hawaii and was already identified to be endangered as earl y as 1967. Its scientific name is Brantasandvicensis. These Nenes thrive in the Hawaiian islands, namely Maui, Kauai and Hawaii. The main reason for its threat is because of human encroachment and the current threat of erratic golf balls that hit their habitat where there are grassy areas and knolls, most commonly found in golf clubs and greeneries. While there are still Nenes present in Hawaii, they are at risk and needs to be protected.
Whooping Crane
The endangered Whooping crane has been threatened since the year 1941. The Grus American is a tall bird that is continually being threatened and at risk but with the support and help of biologists, their population has increased a bit, reaching to about 214 in the year 2005. Since there is a continuous laskof adult birds for mating, the population is still decreasing, resulting to only 77 whopping cranes in the year 2009.
As a horse breed, the Lipizzan Horse (also known as the Lipizzaner) has long been linked with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna in Austria, one of the world’s longest forerunners of “high school” movements and haute ecole when talking about horse movements, actions, mannerisms and activities.
The 1963 Walt Disney released feature entitled Miracle of the White Stallions is one of the few movies to have featured the Lipizzan, with the movie telling the story of how the Spanish Riding School of Vienna had evacuated their horses during the course of World War II.
The Lipizzan horse breed’s origins dates back to the 16th century, where they were kept mostly to suit the tastes of the nobles of Hasburg. Described to be a muscular and compact horse, they were also utilized as “war horses”, with a number of them found in military operations at the time.
One unique thing about the Lipizzan horse breed is how their color changes from the day they are born through their adult stages. With most adult Lipizzan horses sporting a grey hued coat, they are actually born either dark grey or black, with their coats changing to a lighter hue as they grow older.
Though considered to be white horses, Lipizzan horses are not actually white, in the sense that a white horse is actually born all-white, which is quite the opposite when talking about newborn dark colored Lipizzans.
With the Miracle of the White Stallions including the live-action involvement of Lipizzan horses, the film had ideally captured the allure of the Lipizzan horse breed, one of the highly valued and treasured horse breeds known ever to be.
The problem with having a family that loves to take care of pets is that you might have one or more type of pets in your home. A common combination would be dogs and cats, but in some households, they keep both dogs and birds under the same roof.
Is it safe to have birds and dogs in the house at the same time? Well if you train them properly then yes. This might sound like an unlikely combination but birds and dogs can get along very well as house pets.
Below are a few tips on taking care of dogs and bird together. Keep their sleeping areas separated
You don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night finding your dog braking up at the bird’s cage or post. If you let your pet bird fly around freely at home, make sure that their resting post is found far way or in another room from the dog’s sleeping area. During the first few days, your dog will be curious about the bird, so you want to keep it as far away as possible when you’re not watching over them. Store food separately
Don’t mix bird seed with dog food. Dogs and birds have very different nutritional needs, and you don’t want to mix their meals up so keep both of these in separate containers. To make it easier, use those affordable plastic containers that you can purchase in home and hardware stores and just label them with markers. You can also go organic on pet food for both your bird and dog. Some people would just give their pet bird natural seed and fruits and give their dog homemade dog food to prevent dm in dogs from developing.
More time together
The more time they spend together, the more they get used to each other’s company. Let you’re approach the bird and watch over them carefully. Your dog might frighten the bird and they might end up hurting each other. Older dogs, especially the ones who have developed illnesses like dm in dogs and don’t move around that much might even loose interest of the bird and just let it be. Bottom line is, never live them alone, especially if they’re still new to each other. Once they’ve become more familiar with each other, then you can relax. It might take some time but sooner or later, they’ll learn to live with each other.
Discovered early 2005 somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, this unique, quite large- sized decapod grows to a maximum of 15 centimeter long and is distinguished from the rest of the crabs because of its prominent silky blond hair which largely resembles to fur all covering its legs including the claws.
Formerly known as the Kiwa Hirsuta, this crustacean was first found along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, 1,500 kilometers south of Easter Island at a depth of 2,200 meters, approximately 7,200 feet. Then shortly after, a second species, Kiwa puravida was discovered in 2006.
Dubbed as the “yeti crab” or “yeti lobster”, scientists have enough reason to name it as it is although recent discoveries have found out that apart from significant hair growing on the legs and claws, there are similar specie with hair, but this time there are certain mats of hair found on the abdomen prompting a more apt moniker, “the Hoff” which is obviously derived after the Baywatch star’s name, David Hasselhoff, known for his tall physique and hairy chest.
During a 2010 expedition venturing into the deep-sea vents in the Antarctic pioneered by British scientists, it was found out that apart from unique octopuses and new starfish, there were multitudes of crabs with long hairs on its abdomen, practically piled upon each other prompting the Hasselhoff name.
With the recent findings, there has been a clamor to continue to protect the deep ocean during the exploration. Most often than not, the attempt to explore can be overtaken by the effects of exploration, eventually exploiting the deep sea marine life. According to Dr. Jon Copley, an author on a research paper, he said, "The exploitation of the deep ocean is overtaking its exploration. We're fishing in deeper and deeper waters, oil and gas is moving into deeper waters and now there's mining starting to take place in deep waters."
Copley elaborated further, “Until we understand what governs the patterns of life at deep-sea vents, how interconnected their populations, how well life disperses from vent to vent, we can't make responsible decisions about how to manage these deep-ocean resources."
Yes, it may be hairy, scary, creepy and crawly, but this Yeti crab may just reunite the Baywatch fans out there.
Have you ever seen an octopus with two ears? Although not functioning as the hearing sense, the Dumbo Octopus has ear-like fins virtually protruding from the top of their head-like bodies. Obviously, the extra-large and queer looking ears of the Disney elephant character, Dumbo have been likened to this unique octopus that poses the exact resemblance, hence the name.
This wonderful yet weird looking sea creature thrives in the bottom of the ocean and in depths up to 7,000 meters below sea level, approximately 23,000 feet the deepest so far for any known octopus to reach, identifying them as one of the rarest octopus from the Octopoda family.
Now, you might ask which ocean? They actually live in all 7 oceans of the world but still unique in the sense that they are not easily found and caught because of the depth of their habitat particularly the pelagic zone of the sea, one in which it is dubbed as the invisible water column that goes from the surface of the sea almost to the bottom. The Dumbo Octopus is a deep-sea creature, typically one that lives on or just close to the bottom of the ocean floor.
It can grow in length up to 20 centimeters long with 8 tentacles and have an existing 37 species known. They have the special ability to flush the most transparent layer of their skin and feeds on their prey (mostly crustaceans, worms, bivalves, pelagic cope-pods and other deep sea creatures that are smaller than them) by swallowing it whole, a characteristic that makes them different from any other kind of octopus.
They usually maneuver and move around in the deepest and most mystifying part of the ocean in three ways. They use their arms by pushing and making a vibration; they shoot water through their funnel or just flapping their ear-like fins can do the job. However, they can do these singly or separately it would not matter as they move and wave along the seabed with ease of movement.
Male and female Dumbo octopuses differ in their size and the patterns of feeding and sucking. For female reproduction, there is no typical breeding season, they just lay eggs constantly and consistently, continually making cute baby Dumbos in and out of season.
As one of the world’s smallest primates, the Pygmy Marmoset is known to weigh somewhere between 120 to 140 grams, measuring between 5.5 to 6.3 inches in length.
Found in the rainforests of South America, mostly in river edge forest areas, Pygmy Marmosets are known to be found in the southeastern portions of Colombia, eastern areas of Ecuador, eastern portions of Peru, northern areas of Bolivia and in western Brazil.
A quadruped, the species remains to be a member of the New World monkey order and is quite well documented, a status which hails from its rather unique small size. Known to have a diet that is specialized on tree gum, they are known to gnaw holes on trees, from where they can extract their primary diets from.
In relation to its small size, the Pygmy Marmoset is known by different names, with the name “pocket monkey” or mono de bolsillio and “little lion” or leoncito being the two most popular.
Revealed to have lifespans that range somewhere between 11 to 12 years old, captive Pygmy Marmosets kept in zoos are known to live as long as 20 years, saying something about the general longevity of smaller sized creatures, a status which stays true with toy dogs known to live longer than bigger sized dogs.
Given their small size, Pygmy Marmosets are known to live in groups, with father Pygmy Marmosets typically taking the role of safeguarding their infants from predators. Other Pygmy Marmosets also take a hand in helping rear an infant, yielding to the “collaborative” setup of Pygmy Marmoset groups.
With their small size, the Pygmy Marmoset is certainly an interesting species, one which stands out from the rest of its cousins and distant relatives.
One look at the rarely seen Blobfish would readily explain why the deep sea fish species is named as such, with the fish species bearing a blob-like form that makes it look like a creature from out of this world.
Found in the deep waters surrounding Tasmania and Australia, the Blobfish is one of the world’s deep sea fishes, currently at risk of extinction due to bottom trawling or deep sea fishing activities.
Known to be found in deep sea depths of up to 2,000 to 3,9000 feet, the most definitive characteristic of the Blobfish is in its gelatinous mass, one that bears a slightly less than water density which allows it to remain in deep undersea depths where the pressure is incredibly different.
Also, unlike other fishes, the Blobfish doesn’t have the same muscle mass found in other fish species. How it “swims” is quite unique without the relative presence of muscles, as it actually maximizes on its gelatinous body’s properties in effortlessly moving about in deep undersea pressures.
How it also eats is also unique, in the sense that the Blobfish simply swallows food in large gulps, with its diets typically consisting of deep sea invertebrates like crabs. As its name would somewhat imply, Blobfishes are known to just “lounge about” and let their food simply come before their mouths before they swallow them.
As pets, keeping a Blobfish pet is practically impossible, given the deep undersea pressures their physical forms require. That, plus issues related to their feeding and dietary needs would certainly cause a dent on their care and maintenance costs.
Being deep sea fishes, one would think they are safe from the fishing and trawling activities of human beings. Sadly, the fact remains that due to deep sea fishing and trawling activities in Australia, the Blobfish is greatly at risk of facing extinction.
Though they do bear certain similarities with llamas, Alpacas are different in these sense that they are significantly smaller in shape and size, with Alpacas not kept as “beasts of burden”.
Typically found in domesticated enclosures and habitats in South America, Alpacas are more favored for their “fiber source” purposes, with Alpaca fibers generally used in the making of various fabrics and textiles, just as with wool.
With the average Alpaca weighing somewhere between 48 to 84 kilograms, the Peruvian Alpaca is quite famous in the textile industry, with the general Alpaca fiber category known to come in more than 50 natural color shades and hues in Peru.
Alpaca herds are typically found in the Andes in Peru, northern Chile and in northern Bolivia, at above sea level heights of up to 3,500 meters. Sociable and generally easy to domesticate, they are known to have issues with being physically touched, but this doesn’t mean that they are impossible to keep.
Also known for being “tidy”, Alpacas are also known to eat just about anything, with different accounts telling of Alpacas actually chewing through tins and cans, though their staple diets would mostly consist of hay and grass.
As already mentioned, the Alpaca’s physical characteristics are quite similar with llamas, leaving many in associating the llama and Alpaca as one and the same, without realizing that they are actually different from each other.
With their distinct looks and the variations of their coat colors, Alpacas are certainly interesting creatures, whose fleeces are often shorn on regular intervals, used in making different textile-based items such as blankets, scarves, hats, gloves and more.
Known for being the world’s largest nocturnal primate, the Aye-aye is one of the more interesting of lemurs found in Madagascar, with its way of finding food being most its most notable trait.
As a lemur, the Aye-aye’s features mirror the base physical characteristics which have defined lemurs as a whole, but it is unique with a thin middle finger that simply stand out from its hand, along with a set of rodent like front teeth.
With the use of its rodent like front teeth, the Aye-aye finds grubs by gnawing holes on wood, then uses its long and thin middle finger to pick and pull the grub out. There are only two known creatures which find their food this way, the Aye-aye and the Striped Possum.
With its eating habits likened with that of woodpeckers, the Aye-aye and the woodpecker are typically viewed from a similar ecological point of view, in the sense that they both hollow out grubs from trees.
Aye-ayes are typically found alone, which has led experts to conclude that they are solitary. Adult Aye-ayes are known to sport a thick coat of multi-hued fur, but they are generally born with a silver-hued coat of fur, that is complemented with a stripe that runs down their back.
Most Aye-aye measure up to three feet in length, with their tails generally as long as the rest of their bodies are. Though they are considered to be the largest type of nocturnal primate, it is their long and thin middle finger which has made them popular as an intriguing and interesting member of the lemur species.
