Archive for November, 2006
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Rooks are birds of the crow family. Rooks are distinguished from similar members of the crow family by the bare grey-white skin around the base of the adult’s bill in front of the eyes. The feathering around the legs also looks “shaggier” and laxer than the congeneric Carrion Crow. The juvenile is superficially more similar to the Crow because it lacks the bare patch at the base of the bill, but it loses the facial feathers after about six months.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Rhinoceros are characterized by large heads, broad chests, thick legs, poor eyesight, excellent hearing, and a fondness for rolling in the mud. Rhinoceros also have acute hearing and sense of smell, but poor eyesight over any distance. Most rhinoceros live to be about 50 years old or more. For ages, rhino horn has been used to treat illnesses, especially fevers. Yet like our fingernails and hair, is made of Keratin. Because they are very nearsighted, they often charge when they are startled. This has given them an undeserved reputation for having a bad temper.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Raptors are birds of prey that hunt food with their talons. They are characterized by a curved tip at the end of the beak and a superb vision.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Ravens are large black birds. Ravens have a varied diet. They will eat a wide number of foods, including insects, berries, fruit, other birds’ eggs, carrion, wolf or dog faeces, and human-produced foods such as bread. They also may kill small birds and mammals, including young rabbits and rats, but do so mainly as opportunists.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Rats are small omnivorous rodents. Wild rats living in good environments are typically healthy and robust animals. Wild rats living in cities may suffer themselves from poor diet the rat makes a fine pet, known for its intelligence, playfulness and sociability. They are extremely clean. Rats can be taught entertaining tricks, in the same way as many other domesticated animals. It has been observed that rats can actually last longer without water than camels. Rats have a normal lifespan ranging from two to five years, though three years is typical.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Rattlesnakes are vipers and highly venomous snakes. Rattlesnakes feed on rodents and other small animals, subduing their prey by striking them quickly with a venomous bite. The rattle found at the tip of the tail is used as a warning device when threatened.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Wild reindeer are mostly found in North America, Greenland and Iceland. Domesticated animals (reindeer) are shorter-legged and heavier than their wild counterparts (caribou). The caribou of North America can run at speeds of almost 50 miles per hour and may travel 3,000 miles in a year.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Raccoons are omnivores, eating berries, insects, eggs and small animals. Raccoons can live in the city or in the wild, but are not normally kept as pets. They average 2 to 3 feet long (including the tail) and 12 inches high, weigh 8 to 22 pounds (heaviest in autumn), and live for 10 to 13 years.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Raccoons are omnivores, eating berries, insects, eggs and small animals. Raccoons can live in the city or in the wild, but are not normally kept as pets. They average 2 to 3 feet long (including the tail) and 12 inches high, weigh 8 to 22 pounds (heaviest in autumn), and live for 10 to 13 years.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Rabbits are clearly distinguished from hares in that rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless; all rabbits, except the cottontail rabbit, live underground in burrows or warrens. Hares are generally bigger, have longer ears and have black markings on their fur. They also live in simple nests above the ground, just as the cottontail rabbit does, and usually do not live together in groups.
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Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
Once found in great numbers in South Africa, this extinct species of plain zebras is nowhere present on the planet. It was distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid marks on the front part of the body only. In the mid-section, the stripes faded and the dark, inter-stripe spaces became wider, and the hindquarters were a plain brown. The quagga had been hunted to extinction for meat, hides, and to preserve feed for domesticated stock. The last wild quagga was probably shot in the late 1870s, and the last specimen in captivity died 1883.
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