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

The picture is taken from http://tw.image.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http://tw.image.search.yahoo.com/search/images%3Fp%3Dmosquito%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp%26fr2%3Dtab-web&w=201&h=150&imgurl=www.timolson.com/Comm.%2520Disease%2520Movies/mosquito.gif&rurl=http://www.timolson.com/Comm.%2520Disease%2520Movies&size=11k&name=mosquito+gif&p=mosquito&oid=76acc141cc9d7cfa&fr2=tab-web&no=2&tt=891287&sigr=11goleg3a&sigi=11m0fqhok&sigb=12lqek45c&type=gif

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!!

Canada Goose

Swans, geese and ducks are also known as the waterfowls, which means they are birds that spend their lives on or near water for a living. Because they are waterfowls, or water birds (that is if you're putting words into direct meaning.), that puts them in a typical physical appearance, which includes flat, shovel-shaped beaks, webbed feet and waterproof feathers. Most of the waterfowls get their food either from the water itself or from underwater mud, except for geese, who are exceptions to this rule - they feed on land, pulling up grass and plants with their beaks.

Most waterfowls nest on the ground, and their chicks can swim just only a few hours after they are hatched. There are more than 150 species of these birds. Ducks are found all over the world, but most geese live in the Northern Hemisphere and breed in the Arctic.

Now the Canadian Goose is a handsome goose has a brown and white body and a black head, with white "chinstrap" on its throat. It breeds near lakes and in wetlands throughout Canada and the Northern United States, and its size varies according to where it lives. The largest geese, from the American Great Plains and be seven times heavier than the ones in Alaska - a record difference for the same species of bird. In the early evening, Canada Geese usually return to water to roost. They make a loud, honking noise as they fly.

Migrating birds, or gees, also have a ranking status while flying, the leader always is the head of a upside down V shape, or the front of a whatever shape the flock might form, depending of the group number, and the rank follows to the end whereas the lowest or the least experienced ones wrap up the rear.

The Canadian Geese's distribution are in the North America, but then introduced into Northern Europe and New Zealand and their size can go up to 3.5 ft or 1.1 m long.

Snake: The Anaconda

The photo is taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Green-anaconda.jpg

The fear or adoration for snakes rooted way back from the beginning of time. Not only that, snakes are a symbol of the devil in the Biblical sense. Satan, the most beautiful angel amongst all angels, took the form of a snake and decided to tempt Adam and Eve to take the fruit of knowledge back in the day when God created them as first humans. Amongst of all snakes, the anaconda is one of the largest and heaviest snakes on earth.

Although scientists don't know the exact maximum length of an anaconda (since they tend to grow until to their death.), but it has been recorded of a massive size of 28 ft. (8.6m) long and can weigh up to 450 lbs. A new born baby is already a hugely over-sized 3 ft. (1 m) long! Their location is in tropical Sough America, so people don't have to worry about those big snakes in other regions.

When anacondas and humans clash together can indeed be quite dangerous, and there are some incidents when one of those huge snakes swallows a human, but those attacks are very rare. When attacking a prey, usually aquatic animals, including fish, river fowl, cayman, and capybaras, the anacondas use their super strength muscles through out their whole body to wrap around the animal and strangle them to death or faint. How in details? Well, each exhale of a prey gives out, the tighter the snake wraps... well, you know the ending of this story. Imagine when a prey just faints and then wakes up in the stomach of a snake's belly? It's a slow and painful death!

Anyway! Here comes a new fun fact about hunting for anacondas, the most common knowledge that we have is that preys die from lack of oxygen because they were strangled, which is true! But since strangling can cause blood pressure to rise quickly, and a lot of times preys die from high blood pressure or a stroke.

Snakes do regurgitate when they feel they are threatened, but it's unlikely they will do that very often due to conserving energy. It's hard to get a meal in the wild, so unless the threat is definite, they will continue their meal. Besides, it's even a harder work throwing up than swallowing for them and, also, their teeth are hooked backwards and snakes don't like to risk damage to their teeth.

Giraffe

This photo is taken from www.flickr.com/photos/hypergurl/3757726776/

"Riddle me this, riddle me that..." This is a quote from the villain character, The Riddler, from Batman. Unlike Riddler, I'm not evil, but like him, I am indeed going to give you an enigma for you to guess. Here are the clues:

1) It has 7 very long neck bones. (Every mammal has 7 neck bones, from a small rat to a big elephant.)

2) It has such high blood pressure that if humans have it, we will die from high it.

3) Its hoofs are so powerful that a fully developed male lion can die from just one kick from this animal.

4) It lives in Africa.

5) It has a leopard's spots.

6) It is a herbivore, which means it eats grass and leaves.

Give up yet? Well, the answer is the "Giraffe"! Anyway, the average weight for an adult male giraffe is about 1,200 kilograms (2,600 lb) while the average weight for an adult female is 830 kilograms (1,800 lb). It is approximately 4.3 meters (14 ft) to 5.2 meters (17 ft) tall, although the tallest male recorded stood almost 6 meters (20 ft).

Although giraffes in the wild have a lifespan close to 13 years, but those in captivity can live up to 25 years, considering the fact it's a harder life in the wild.

Can you imagine if your arms are 10% longer than your legs? Well, that's how it is with giraffes, their front legs are longer than their hind legs and they walk like a camel!! What I meant was, unlike dogs, who walk something like front right paw first, then hind left paw, fallowed by left front paw and right hind paw wraps it up; where as giraffes walk like right front and right back walk together and then fallowed by left front and left back. That's kind of like a moon walk for me.

As we all know that we have women's group in the human society to support women. Giraffes also have them, female giraffes associate in groups of a dozen or so members, occasionally including a few younger males. Younger males tend to live in "bachelor" herds, with older males often leading solitary lives.

When it comes to pregnancy, giraffe's pregnancy period lasts between 400 and 460 days, after which a single calf is normally born, although twins do occasionally occur. The mother gives birth standing up and the embryonic sack usually bursts when the baby falls to the ground. Newborn giraffes are about 1.8 m (6 ft) tall. Only about 25 to 50% of giraffe calves reach adulthood.

Rabbit Diary III

I finally caught Regular eating apples, it is really cute, if you listen carefully, you could actually hear the sound of it chewing on its food.

But these days I found that he became a scared rabbit, even with me! I have no idea why it became so nervous.I guess I need to approach it more often again.