Tuesday, October 29, 2013

some of World's rarest animals

Most of these animals are critically endangered...





1.

The nelson's small eared shrew

tsin-art.blogspot.com


Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List, this fuzzy mammal is harmed as a result of habitat destruction:(


2. 
Red river giant soft-shell turtle 

latimesblogs.latimes.com


There are only 4 of these animals, all of which in captivity which makes it Extinct in the Wild

3.

Angel Shark

swfsc.noaa.gov


Again, this shark is critically endangered

4.

Antiguan Racer
www.speciesconservation.org


This snake is probably the world's rarest snake. The male and female look different from each other.

5.


Baiji

www.whaletrackers.com
This fresh water dolphin is probably extinct already, but it is not exactly confirmed. As of 2006, the baiji dolphin was said to be Functionally extinct which means that there were not enough dolphind to reproduce.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Giant isopod

Name: Giant isopod

Scientific name: Bathynomous

More information:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

What's that giant tick-like creature?!

This is probably the first reaction when people first see the giant isopod.

It's size ranges from 30.5cm - 40cm
source: twistedsifter.com
the giant isopod can be found world wide under waters with a depth of at least 600 m.
And guess what? Some people in Taiwan boil them and serve them with rice. Poor isopod.

Giant isopods are carnivorous animals which eats mostly dead sea creatures which fall from above as the food in its deep sea is scarce. However, the isopod can not eat for a long time.

Enjoy this video by Christine Dell'Amore



Friday, October 25, 2013

Finding out more about my 'neighbours' .Part 1.

Animals are all around us-- spiders, lizards, ants, butterflies and more. These animals are usually common and we usually just give them a glance before striding off. Well, don't underestimate these creatures !

For a thing, I live very closely to a forest, by the central catchment area. Thus, monkeys, bats, squirrels and moths don't awe me and my family plus our neighbours as much as others may be. All this while, I barely give these animals a glance. Well, I do love them and observe them from my window but I never really tried to find out what they really can do and their unique abilities. Hence, i have decided to find out a little more about my neighbours!


The Long Tail Macaque

source: thomashoven.com
This group of mammals do irritate us. They sneak into my house, stealing fruits and food! Although they are a nuisance, I want to find out a little more about them...

1. Their population is growing because they have no predators,

2. They have become brave and not afraid of human beings because some people have been feeding them illegally. that is wrong as the monkeys would grow to become ' pampered ' and not search for their own food. Furthurmore, the food those people feed may not be appropriate for the monkeys to feed on.

Rain Flies

source: www.flickr.com
I'm sure most people will know this bunch of insects. They are attracted to light and are quite fragile. I do find them quite annoying when it's dinner time and a million of them decide to make a temporary home in my lights. Most of them would land on the dinner table and most of the time... into my food. 

1. They are short lived flies which come to life during the rains.

2. They normally do not live beyond 24 hours after their metamophorsis into adult flies.

:o

Plantain Squirrels

Source:www.flickr.com
1. they are mostly a solitary animal

2.Threats they face are habitat destruction :(


Thats it for now!
Part 2 coming soon...

Thursday, October 24, 2013

My pet Dog, Floss

Floss is my pet dog, and she has been with the Liam family for over 5 years already. She is a mini white schnauzer ( although my family thinks she isn't exactly 'pure'. But pure or not dosen't matter cos she is still a very lovely dog and that's what counts :) )

Floss is a very loyal dog. However, like most dogs, she loves , to eat! She is also a very playful dog and loves to play 'catch'. As she is a really good runner (and leaper) it's really hard to get the toy back from her as she runs like a...well cheetah! 

Flossy!
Flossy is a timid dog. Although she puts on a brave front whenever the long tail monkeys sneak into my house, she's still scared of them. Thunder , loud noise, balloons and hair dryers also scares her out of her wits. Loud noises being said, she is even freaked out by dogs who are hyperly scary and bark like mad!

The attention seeker

Floss loves to play. However, when I am not available to play with her, (e.g. studying, having tuition, having piano lessons) she would find anything that's left on the floor and come up to me, with the object in her mouth, willing me to play with her. By saying 'anything that's left on the floor' I also mean poor living organisms like a dragon fly

Adventures & playtime
(Adventure time?!  :))) )

Whenever Floss sees something moving, she will thing that that is her toy and want to catch it. Like I mentioned above, the dragonfly and other poor organisms like butterflies/moths (which cant fly cos their wings are broken) , FROGS, and... I'd better not mention it. Thankfully,she just leaves it in her mouth without biting or chewing and will open her mouth eventually. We try to safe these poor victims most of the time!

The accidents

Floss is one very luck lucky lucky lucky dog.
She's had quite a number of accidents so far! Let me list 2 of them...

1. The Construction Lorry
2008
floss-still a puppy!
"Bzzz!"
that's the sound of my back gate opening. Floss, being super hyper as a puppy became delirious and sped out of the house before anyone could stop her-- right when this construction lorry came speeding through. Fortunately,floss stooped low so no wheels when over her and she was fit between the under surface of the lorry and the road.However, she fractured her right arm. Once bitten twice shy, we added gates to our door so Floss will not run out anymore. Floss too, learnt her lesson . For awhile, she even had a phobia of vehicles.

2. The Rat Poison
2010

2010 was the year my house was severely infested with rats. There were holes in our stuff and we wasn't sure if our food was safe to be consumed.Thus, my parents rang up a pest control to stop the infestation. 
The pest exterminators planted rat poison all around the house and we did not know that. One fine day, Floss was having adventure time in the garden when she came across on green pellet of rat poison. When we noticed, she had already swallowed half of it! AHHHHHHHHHH! We immediately brought her to the animal hospital where they flushed the poison out . She was discharged days later. The pest control team felt bad as they should have consulted us before they planted the rat poisons.


conclusion

Floss again!
Floss is the bestest dog and my bestest friend! I really wished she could talk to me sometimes...
Well, that's all for now!


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Zebra Duiker

Name:  Zebra Duiker

Scientific name:  cephalophus zebra

diet: Fruit, seeds leaves and some animal matter

More information:

Wow! It looks like a half zebra half deer!

The zebra duiker is an antelope which weigh from about 9 -- 20 kg and its length is around  85-90 cm.

source:  www.bite.ca

They have a life span of about 11 -- 13 years when in captivity and its main predators are leopards.

They can be found in closed canopy forests in WestAfrica.

These mammals are under the vulnerable status in the IUCN Red list :( the reason for their near-endangered status is because of over hunting.

Thanks for reading !


Monday, October 21, 2013

Irrawaddy Dolphin

Name: Irrawaddy Dolphin

Scientific Name:  Orcaella brevirostris

Habitat: some isolated islands in South-east Asia 

More Information:



The irrawaddy dolphin is indeed odd looking and yet cute. Unlike the usual bottle-nosed dolphins that we see, this dolphin's face is more flat and round. It measures around 180cm - 275cm.
An irrawady dolphin! Source: popbitch.com


The irrawaddy dolphin is under the 'vulnerable' status due to degrading of its habitats. It eats bony fishes, fish eggs and more!



Sunday, October 20, 2013

lamprey

lampreys--- credit:www.theepochtimes.com   

Name: lamprey

Scientific name: Petromyzontiformes

More information:


There are many types of lampreys, some are parasitic while some aren't . they are jawless creatures which feed on blood. they latch on to other fishes, sometimes even for weeks to suck blood. eeeks!

Lampreys were present on Earth even before the dinosaurs! They are quite a pest as they feed on a lot of fishes, causing a great drop in the population of fishes.

here is a video i got from YouTube by NorthAmericanFishing:)