Christmas Announcement.

Dear All:

First of all, Merry Christmas to you and your family!! And of course, a very big THANK YOU to everyone of you for supporting this blog, all your comments and questions are precious to me. Even if you're just dropping in to read the animal information represents every ounce of encouragement and inspiration.

Secondly, I will be taking a break for about 3 weeks from writing my blog, due to the obvious reasons of Christmas, New Year, my trip on returning to Taiwan in early January and getting over my jet lag.

So, having said all that, have a great holiday season and see you all in 3 weeks!


Remember to take care of the animals around you and Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!!
Tammy

Cats: The Hunters that Charms us all.

This photo is taken from a good friend of mine who was kind enough to share her kitty's "portfolio" with me. http://www.wretch.cc/album/album.php?id=yiling9999&book=2


For those who have seen the Shrek's movies, we will know there's an adorable kitty with a sword, a hat with a feather and a pair of boots and goes by the name of "Puss". Although cats can be skillful hunters, like their other relatives, but they tend to sleep up to 12~16 hours, much like their other relatives as well.

Domestic cats, no matter their breed, are all members of one species. Felis catus has had a very long relationship with humans. The Ancient Egyptians may have first domesticated cats as early as 4,000 years ago, if you have seen the movie called "The Mummy", you'll now that they even considered cats as their guardian of the dead! Of course, with plenty of rodents, such as rats and mice, probably also the main reason why the wild felines were drawn to human communities. The cats' skill in killing the rodents may have first earned the affectionate attention of humans. Like I said before, the Ancient Egyptians loved the cats to the extend that they worshiped a cat as their goddess and even mummified their beloved pets for their journey to the next world—accompanied by mummified mice! Cultures around the world later adopted cats as their own companions.

Like their wild relatives, domestic cats are natural hunters able to stalk prey and pounce with sharp claws and teeth. They are particularly effective at night, when their light-reflecting eyes allow them to see better than much of their prey. Cats also enjoy acute hearing. All cats are nimble and agile, and their long tails aid their outstanding balance.

Cats are actually quite communicative, they spread their messages around by marking trees, fence posts, or furniture with their claws or even their natural waste, such as urine, I'm so sure, so please don't take my word for it, but maybe even feces, that's poo in simple word. These scent posts are meant to inform others of a cat's home range. House cats employ a vocal repertoire that extends from a purr to a screech.

Domestic cats are still carnivorous, which means they meat eaters, no matter how tame we might think we have tamed them, and they have evolved a simple gut appropriate for raw meat. They also retain the rough tongue that can help them clean every last morsel from an animal bone (and groom themselves). Their diets vary with the whims of humans, however, and can be supplemented by the cat's own hunting successes.

Harry Potter's Snowy Owl: Hedwig

The picture is taken from http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=https://bcsengage.wikispaces.com/file/view/Snowy_Owl_Pic.jpg/52102825/Snowy_Owl_Pic.jpg&imgrefurl=https://bcsengage.wikispaces.com/Tundra%2BZoology&h=290&w=310&sz=30&tbnid=BJmEichs2AORfM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=117&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsnowy%2Bowl&zoom=1&q=snowy+owl&usg=__E4B6uR1YMTtmSi7z27z6-bHnSLw=&sa=X&ei=44YNTdKnIIm6sQP6w-3yCg&ved=0CB4Q9QEwAA

Harry Potter's book series first came out on June 30, 1997 and, since then ,there are more and more of the Potter's fans throughout the years (I'm actually one of them.) who strongly supported the franchise that the film industry had to make the books into the worldwide blockbusters as we know it today.

Hedwig, Harry's spectacular snowy owl, played an important role in both the books and in the movies. Although many of us might think keeping an owl as a pet could be a cool idea, but unfortunately owls don't make it a good pet since they need lots and lots of room that can reach up to miles on radius to hunt their unique food, such as catching ducks in midair and lemmings (lemmings are a small rodent that lives in the arctic.) for their special diet.

There are 19 owl species in North America, and more than 150 species worldwide. Many of them are in decline and face possible extinction due to human activities like logging and urban development.

Here are some fun facts about owls, just to make my blog straight to the point and easier to read:

• Owls mate for life, just like wolves.
• Owls are found on all continents except Antarctica.
• Female owls are larger and heavier than the males of their species, but the males are more attractive in order to find mates.
• Most owls can twist their heads almost three-quarters of the way around without moving their bodies.
• Owls' eyes do not move.
• Owls have three eyelids: One for blinking, one for sleeping, and one for cleaning the eye.
• Some owls have one ear higher than the other, giving them excellent hearing that allows them to pinpoint the location of their prey.
• Most owls are nocturnal, except for a few species such as the snowy owl which hunts during daylight hours. Most owls hunt at night so they do not cast shadows that could alert rodents and other prey as they descend from the sky.
• Owls' feathers are designed to act like muffler to mute the sound of their flying, enabling them to sneak up on their prey.
• Owls are raptors, and they hunt other living things for their food. They are extraordinarily helpful to humans because they control the rodent population.

Are Llamas Religious Saints?

This photo is taken from http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://kingsofwar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/llama.jpg&imgrefurl=http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2010/01/llamas-airborne/&usg=__UfQYjsCsSWce5IlaE24q0bFLS5I=&h=450&w=650&sz=106&hl=en&start=0&sig2=1Mrdjw4SKYUy7tk5oTo39A&zoom=1&tbnid=e6EeOjKveZkvrM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=170&ei=BE4ETcPyBYOVnAfHzrToDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dllama%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D601%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=309&vpy=272&dur=325&hovh=187&hovw=270&tx=146&ty=121&oei=BE4ETcPyBYOVnAfHzrToDQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0


I believe there are a lot of people who confuse the Lama monks, such as the Dalai Lama, and the llama as the animal with one another, well, if you didn't get mixed up from the beginning, at least you are smarter than I was when I was younger, 'cause I though how come the animal can be monks? Or the monks be the animal? It never accord to me that they were two different species and with just a little spelling difference all together.

Anyway, that was just a bit of my childhood experience trying to figure things out myself. I saw a Disney animation movie called "The Emperor's New Groove" and I was pleasantly amused on the fact that one of the characters turned into a llama due to mistakenly drank a llama potion! Now llamas are from Andes Mountains in South America, and they are a domesticated form of the guanaco, with a larger body and more powerful legs. Its thick fur can be brown, black or white. Like the guanaco, the llama is sure-footed, which makes it ideal for journeys along narrow mountain paths. Before horses and donkeys were introduced to South America, it was the only animal that could be used to carry food and goods. It was also used as food, leather and fur, which could be made into something useful, like ropes.

As I have mentioned before that a character got turned into a llama in "The Emperor's New Groove", it turns out that llamas can indeed grow up to as big as a human can be! A full-sized llama is between 1.7 meters (5.5 ft) and 1.8 meters (6 ft) tall at the top of the head. They can weigh between approximately 130 kilograms (280 lb) and 200 kilograms (450 lb).

Do you know how long can a mama llama is pregnant for before giving birth to her baby? It's a grueling and painful period of 11½ months (350 days)! Dams (female llamas) do not lick off their babies, as they have an attached tongue which does not reach outside of the mouth more than half an inch. Rather, they will nuzzle and hum to their newborns. A baby llama (called a cria) can weigh between 9.1 kilograms (20 lb) and 14 kilograms (30 lb) at birth.

Rabbit Fact.

Ok, readers, first of all, I have to apologize on the fact that it's currently winter time at the moment and the rabbits haven't been as active as I would like them to be, so I have very slim chance to observe and approach them, by saying all that, the Rabbit Diary probably won't be going on as fast and steady as I would hope it to be. I guess it'll have to be working with mother nature instead of working against mother nature. So, instead of the Rabbit Diary for today's topic, I will write some fun facts about them and probably write some of the ways to take care of domestic rabbits.

So, Rabbits, hares and pikas are a group of plant eating mammals contains about 65 species, which scattered across many regions around the world. All of them live on the ground, where they nibble food with their sharp front teeth. They are very athletes, and their specialty happened to be sprinting and running, which perhaps is a very good idea since they are the ultimate bottom of the food chain where everyone wants to eat them. Also due to the fact that they are the prey instead of predator, they also need and have very good eye site and hearing - which usually give them the advantage of spotting danger and run away before anything happens.

Now rabbits and hares usually live in open country of all kinds, from grasslands to desserts, while pikas can often been found on the rocky mountain slopes.

Both domestic and wild rabbits are gregarious, which means they live in a group, and there can be as many as hundreds of rabbits living underground in the wild. As we can all imagine living with such a big group can be chaotic without a leader and organization, so there will be a rabbit king or queen to sort everything out, including leading a group of soldier rabbits to defend their territory when danger comes. But of course, living in such high responsible and stressful state also gave the leaders the benefit of living in the safest spot in their den.

Now, if you have rabbits as pets, here are some ways to take care of them. First of all, rabbits are very fragile creatures, they can get sick or hurt very easily, so please do pay lots of attention to them and observe them to see if they are acting weird due to being sick or having a hard time on something. Just a bit of reminder, it is the best for yourself and the rabbit to have a general health check-up with the vet twice a year to see if your rabbit is healthy and happy.

One thing for sure is that rabbits can definitely drink water but be sure that it is clean, boiled and cooled. They can also take baths, but it doesn't have to be often, because they are really clean animals by cleaning themselves and also because they tend to get very nervous about being in water. Rabbits cannot eat carrots only, they also need other nutrient which are found in grass, leaves, vegetation, fruit and rabbit food, just be sure that the rabbit has lots of grass to eat so they can grind their front teeth, if they don't have grass or something hard to rub their front teeth down, then the font teeth can grow so long that it will punch a hole through their heads, it's very painful!! Lastly, but not the least, please do not pull the rabbit ears, I know it's what most people would do, but just think, if you are pulled by your ears, well, you get my point, it hurts like hell and it's not good for the body either.

Ok, I guess it's enough for one post, I will be writing some more facts on rabbits later on, that is if I still don't have observations on rabbits this coming week. Wish me luck!