Thursday 16 May 2013
Marbled Polecats - The Introverts
The small mammal, the
Marbled Polecat (
Vormela peregusna), belongs to the monotypic genus Vormela and is a member of Mustelinae subfamily. The word 'Vormela' comes from the German word 'Würmlein' depicting the size of the marbled polecat. The word 'Peregusna' has come from 'pereguznya', the Ukrainian word for 'polecat'. Marbled polecats can be found in the grasslands and dry areas of western China to the southern-eastern regions of Europe. When threatened, the anal sacs under its tail emit a secretion with a very strong smell.
The length of the polecat is generally between 29 and 35 cm. It has short limbs, short muzzle, very large ears, and long but strong claws. The polecat has a short structure as compared to its long, hairy tail. The face has black and white marks on it. There are black stripes across its eyes and white markings on its face. The other species of this family dorsally is yellow in color and there are brown and reddish spots all over its body. The color of the tail is dark brown and in the middle of the tai,l there is a yellowish band. The weight of the female polecat is generally 295g to 600g and the male polecat weighs about 320g to 715g.
The marbled polecat is generally found in China, Russia, and south-east Europe. The other regions where polecat is found include Romania, Lebanon, Syria, Bulgaria, Jordan, Palestine, Armenia, Israel, Iran, Asia Minor, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, China, Mongolia, northern-western Pakistan, Altai Steppes in Siberia, and Kazakhstan. Marble polecats are also seen in Sinai Peninsula in 1998.
Marbled polecats are very active during the morning and the evening times. Since their eyesight is weak, their movement depends a lot on their powerful sense of smell. Their vocalization is quite limited and usually consists of shrill grunts, submissive long shrieks, and alarm cries. By nature, they prefer being alone and move in a radius of about 0.5 - 0.6 km from their homes. They generally do not stay at one place for more than once and are quite aggressive when encountering with other polecats.
When they sense any kind of danger, marbled polecats lift their legs, while at the same time, arch their back and curl their tail on their back with their long tail hair standing erect. They also given short, shrill hisses, cover their teeth, and lift their head. When threatened, marbled polecats sometimes release an extremely foul smell from their inflated anal glands located under the tail.
When digging or excavating dens, marbled polecats use their forelegs to dig the earth and anchor themselves using their hind legs and chin. They make use of their teeth to weed off obstacles like roots and grass while digging.
Marbled polecats generally feed on ground squirrels, Armenian hamsters, mole rats, voles, Libyan jirds, frogs, lizards, hares, fish, birds, pigeons, chickens, house mice, and insects such as crickets, beetles, snails, and so on. They have also been found to stealing cheese and smoked meat in houses.
Picture of the marbled polecat, Courtesy of Photographer: Laszlo Szabo-Szeley ©AVESTOURS
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Wednesday 15 May 2013
The Health-Conscious Jamaican Fruit-eating Bats
The
Jamaican fruit-eating bat (
Artibeus jamaicensis) is also known as the Mexican or Common fruit-eating bat. The Jamaican fruit-eating bat is found in South and Central America. Although not very common, it is found in the Southern Bahamas as well. Its most distinctive feature is that its external tail is missing and it has a U-shaped and a very minimal interfemoral membrane. It has a grayish brown coat and its underside is slightly pale. It leaves mild and soap-like odor and has a nose that looks like its third ear. Unlike other bats, its ears are pointed at the ends. The Jamaican fruit-eating bat is 9 cm (3.5 inches) in length.
It mainly dwells in deciduous scrub or rainforests. With the help of the leaves of Palmae and Araceae plants, it builds a type of tent. It is also found in caves, forest foliage, and hollow trees.
The Jamaican fruit-eating bat belongs to the set of nocturnal animals. As its name suggests, it likes eating fruits. It mainly feeds on cecropias, figs, papayas, bananas, and guavas. Sometimes, when fruits are not available, it also feeds on pollen, nectar, leaves and even insects as well. Sometimes, it has to fly for 10 to 15 miles at a stretch in search of fruit trees. After finding a fruit, it carries the fruit in its mouth and flies off to a dining perch to eat it. It bites into the fruit and to break it and get the juice, it presses it in the mouth. The rough roof of its mouth helps it to squeeze out the juice. After squeezing the juice, it breaks the fruit to eats its flesh. Fruits with big seeds are left, since it generally swallows small seeds.
One important fact about the Jamaican fruit-eating bat is that among mammals, it is considered quite efficient in food digestion. It takes this bat just fifteen minutes to process the food. This is the main reason that the small seeds which had been swallowed earlier are left undigested. The seeds are re-released which helps in the dispersing of seeds.
A thorough research is being carried out on the ecology of different bat species on Barro Colorado Island, a natural reserve run by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Under the supervision of the scientist Elisabeth Kalko, over 10,000 individuals of the bat species were examined, measured and marked for the BCi project on bats being carried out under the supervision of Elisabeth Kalko.
The female of Jamaican fruit bat is known to bear only one young at a time. At higher elevations, the birth takes place only once a year while in Panama, it happens twice a year. Bearing two young ones at a time is very uncommon. February to July is usually the breeding period of the Jamaican fruit-eating bat. Usually, when it is its mating season, the birth of young ones is very rare and there is a very short period in a year when the birth is at its peak. Life expectancy of this species is very short, only two to three years on average.
Picture of the Jamaican Fruit-eating bat by Tobusaru, licensed under
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.
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Monday 13 May 2013
Silky Shrew Opossum - Tiny, Nocturnal Marsupial of The Andes
The
Silky Shrew Opossum (
Caenolestes fuliginosus) is a unique animal native to the cool, wet, heavy vegetated forest regions of the Andes Mountains of South America. Their live at altitudes from 4,500 feet to 12,000 feet (1,500 to 4,000 meters). The Silky Shrew Opossum is also called the Dusky Shrew Opossum, the Dusky Caenolestid or the Ecuadorean Shrew-Opossum. Its range extends from
Ecuador and
Colombia, across the northwestern forests of
Venezuela.
The Silky Shrew Opossum is a member of the marsupial family, in that, like kangaroos, they carry their young in a pouch.
It is a tiny animal, with a head and body measuring just 3.7 to 5.3 inches (9.3 to 13.5 centimeters) and tail length of 3.7 to 5.3 inches (9.3 to 12.7 centimeters). Unable to grasp with his tail, it will use it as a kind of third leg for balance, while standing upright. The animal is covered with a thick, soft fur of dark brown, with the undersides turning to a lighter tan color. The females are smaller, weighing in at .58 to .79 ounces (16.5 to 22.4 grams) and the males weighing .88 to 1.43 ounces (25 to 40.8 grams).
Silky Shrew Opossums thrive on a diet of caterpillars, spiders, centipedes and other insects, and some fruit. The animals forages for food on the ground at night, hiding in burrows or logs by day.
When threatened, a Silky Shrew Opossum will open his mouth wide and hiss at the intruder. Because of their nocturnal, solitary life in the mountains, they do not have very much interaction with humans. Therefore, not much is known about these tiny, nocturnal creatures.
The Silky Shrew Opossum is probably the most well known of the shrew opossum species. Because of their small size, any larger animal in its region could potentially be a predator. Although other Shrew Opossum species are endangered or threatened because of loss of habitat from deforestation, the Silky Shrew Opossum does not have any conservation standing at this time.
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