Goliath Tigerfish

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Imagine yourself swimming peacefully in a lake or a river in a sunny afternoon day in Africa, and then there's this fierce predator fish with distinctive protruding teeth took a big chunk of flesh out of you! You look down and saw this huge piranha looking fish swimming away with that flesh it took from you... You would tell me it's a nightmare or a scary story that I'm trying to sell you, but unfortunately, that's not the case. It's a kind of predator fish called the "Goliath Tigerfish".

Now, just a bit of the Biblical history before I continue, there was a war going on between the Israeli and the Philistine in ancient times, and in the team of Philistine's was a giant called Goliath, who threatened the Israelis to make them slaves if they lose and they can make the Philistines slaves if they win and he challenged the Israelis everyday for 40 days. Anyway, long story short, David, who was a young shepherd and not a giant, killed Goliath with a stone in a slingshot with one shot.

Well, not the story time is over, here comes the fun animal fact, like the Goliath in the Bible, the Goliath Tigerfish is a giant fish that weighs over 45 kg and over 1.5 meters in length.

Tigerfish can be considered Africa's piranha though the South American's piranha and the Tigerfish belong to a completely different family, as they are famous for their ferocity when hunting. They have razor-sharp teeth that are interlocking, which means their teeth are tightly joined together from back to back when biting, along with streamlined, muscular bodies built for speeding.

Tigerfish are very aggressive and brilliant predators. A tigerfish has a gas-filled sac in its body that it uses as a sound receiver. This transmits vibrations from the water, enabling it to detect any animals nearby and respond accordingly. A school of juveniles can tackle animals of almost any size, including any land animals that stray too close to the water's edge. Adults tend to travel in smaller groups of four or five to probably avoid too much competition for food, but they are no less dangerous. Even an individual can take down prey as large as itself. When food is scarce or the competition for food is too great, tigerfish may resort to cannibalism, that means eating the same species like themselves. This is particularly common during the dry season though. Tigerfish have also been known to attack humans, these attacks can be devastating owing to their sharp teeth and aggressive hunting tactics. So simple description of the Tigerfish? Dangerous fish!

Bighorn Sheep

My husband and I went to Banff and Jasper national parks a few times when we were still in Calgary (Calgary is one of the cities in central Canada, in the province of Alberta.) from the years 2002~2005. I took a few beautiful animal and nature pictures during those times of visits. It amazes me how plentiful wild animals are throughout Canada, from earthworms to the flying eagles, one of them happened to be one of the most common mammals that can be seen in mountains and national parks, it is called the Bighorn Sheep.

The bighorn sheep are known for head-to-head battles between males for mates. There are records and observations on fights between the rams that last for more than 24 hours!! In order to fight off competitors and show off the male's status and rank, the horns can weigh as much as 30 lbs.

The big horns also have a very complex 9 stages of digestive procedures that can allow them to make the best use of their food, even if it's a marginal quality. Meaning they can still get nutrients from poor quality vegetation. Their typical diet are usually grasses, sedges and forbs. Although they get their moisture from their food but those sheep still need to drink from time to time, so they go to the water hole every few days during the summer time.

As I mentioned before, males fight for the right to mate, but this doesn't happen all year 'round, their mating season only occurs from November to December and the female's pregnancy period is approximately 180 days and have 1-2 young per year, but the young usually don't survive long due to the harsh condition of the weather, predators or viruses that domestic livestock carries. Their sexual maturity is about 2 years old for females and due to competition, the males won't mate until 7 years old and they can live up to 15 years, more if they are in captivity.

The big horns distributions are from Canada to North of Mexico, because they inhabit the alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes and foothill country near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs for quick escape. They also prefer slopes of 2,500 - 5,000 ft. where snowfall is less than 60 in. a year during the winter, because they cannot paw through deep snow to feed. Their summer range is between 6,000 - 8,500 ft. in elevation.

When "communicating", the bighorn rams will snort very loudly, while the lambs bleat and the ewes (that's the female sheep.) respond with a "baaaa...". But they also have an utter throaty rumble or a "blow" when scared.


Bighorn sheep are gregarious, which means they live in groups, sometimes forming herds of over 100 individuals, but small groups of 8-10 are more common. Mature males usually stay apart from females and young for most of the year in separate bachelor herds. They migrate seasonally, using larger upland areas in the summer and concentrating in sheltered valleys during the winter.

Males do not defend territories but rather engage in battles over mating access to a particular female. Age as well as horn size determines male dominance status. Although not as well built for climbing as mountain goats, Bighorn Sheep zigzag up and down cliff faces with amazing ease. They use ledges only 2 inches wide for footholds, and bounce from ledge to ledge over spans as wide as 20 feet. They can move over level ground at 30 miles per hour and scramble up mountain slopes at 15 m.p.h. They also swim freely, despite their massive bulk and the weight of their horns.

Bighorns are generally active during the day, feeding morning, noon and evening, then lying down to chew their cud. They retire to their bedding areas for the night, which may be used for many years.

Desert Bighorns utilize two mechanisms for cooling -- perspiring, and also panting, which is a fairly uncommon adaptation for desert animals. When the summer rains finally arrive, they resume the more common behavior of their species.

A worldwide cullinary delicasy: The Crab

There are more than 4,000 species of crabs worldwide, including the world's largest crustaceans to ones that are not bigger than a pea. Most crabs live in or at least close to water, though some only return to the water to breed, like salmons. Crabs usually can swim very well, but many shore-dwelling species can also scuttle (Scuttle means moving very quickly away.) sideways away from danger at high speed.

Despite their different shapes, sizes and their way of moving, crabs are actually very close relatives to the lobsters! Which sadly happened to be a delicious gourmet entree as well. Just a side note on the subject on food here for a second, the lobster pasta, called the Capelli D'Angelo with Lobster, and the crab spaghetti, known as the Linguine with Crab, are very yummy Italian noodles served before the main course meal.

Anyway, back to the subject on crabs, a crab's body looks as if it has been stretched sideways and, in the most species, is covered by hard and chalky shell. Speaking of shells, here's a crab that's quite interesting, it's called the Decorator Crab. You might ask "What's a Decorator Crab, Tammy?" Well, a decorator crab is a kind of spider crab. Like many Spider Crabs, those crabs doctorate themselves to match themselves just like the environment to hide from predators, this is called camouflage.

What the Decorator Crab does is it takes everything, such as sponges and seaweed, and start draping all over its body. I'd say this guy is an expert at its work! Since it is its self-defense mechanism, so it has to work. And it works like a magic all right. Because we won't be able to see them even during the daytime as it can sit very still, especially when it's among weed covered rocks. Like other camouflage carrying spiders crabs, it fastens its camouflage in place with the hundreds of tiny hooks that covers its body. The only time when they lose its "protection" is when it's molting, which means they lost their old smaller shell behind because they got bigger, and the crabs have to rebuilt their new covering again.

The annoying bugger: The Mosquito

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For some people, insects are a precious jewel, but for some, they are pure menacing pests! As for myself, I take a balanced point of view, for example, insects like bees, dragonflies and butterflies are apples in my eyes since they are both useful members of the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom by spreading pollen from flower to flower and let beautiful flowers to grow in to fruit and let other bigger animals to feed on those fruit.

On the other hand, black fies and mosquitoes are a bunch of blood-sucking fiends that feed on blood like vampires, and like vampires, they are relentless and very durable for their own existence. Well, perhaps I'm a little harsh on them, since at least in the mosquito world, only the females suck blood in order to have protein for the next generation, while the males only take liquids, like nectar, from plants.

Although mosquitoes don't fly as fast or as far as eagles, but mosquitoes can fly at about 1 to 1.5 miles per hour, of course each species are different from another, as much as mosquito species preferring to breed around the house, like the Asian Tiger Mosquito, have limited flight ranges of about 300 feet. Most species have flight ranges of 1-3 miles. Certain large pool breeders in the Midwest are often found up to 7 miles from known breeding spots. The undisputed champions, though, are the saltmarsh breeders - having been known to migrate up to 100 miles in exceptional circumstances, although 20 to 40 miles are much more common when hosts are scarce. When caught up in updrafts that direct them into winds high above the ground, mosquitoes can be carried great distances,

Smaller species found around houses commonly weigh about 2.5 milligrams, the largest ones can weigh at a thumping 10 milligrams!!

While feeding to repletion, mosquitoes can imbibe, which means drink, up to anywhere from 0.001 to 0.01 milliliter of liquid.

And as much as I hate those tough little bastards, they still have their uses on dear old Earth, mosquitoes still have their uses which still fill a variety of places which nature provides. As such, placing a value on their existence is generally inappropriate. Although the fossil record is incomplete, they have been known from the Cretaceous time, which is about 100 millions years ago, in North America. Their adaptability has made them extraordinarily successful, with upwards of 2,700 species worldwide!! Mosquitoes serve as food for a variety of organisms but are not crucial to any predator species.

Just a bit of a food for the mind, what if we wipe out the whole mosquito nation? Wouldn't that be nice? Well, sadly, that won't be as nice as it sounds. because other species from mother nature will take up their spot and the new ones can be a lot meaner, tougher and much more unpredictable.

Now you might as, "Hey, Tammy, so what is the lifespan of a mosquito?", well, it all depends on the species, but most females live from 2 ~3 weeks, and some, which might hide in a warmer place, like in a garage or an attic, can live as long as 6 months.

By the way, do you know how high mosquitoes can fly up to? Generally speaking, mosquitoes that feed off humans prefer to fly at heights of less than 25 ft. Asian Tiger Mosquitoes have been found breeding in tree holes over 40 feet above the ground. In another country, like in Singapore, they have been found in apartments soaring 21 stories above ground. And in other cases are even more astonishing is those buggers are even found a way to breed up to 8,000 feet in the Himalayas and 2,000 feet underground in the minds of India!!!

All and all, they are really tough as nails!!