Wild Cat

Wild Cat or Catamount, a wild animal belonging to the same family as the domestic cat, but of larger size than the latter. The European wild cat once common, but now seen only in the most isolated regions, has a very long body and legs and a short, thick tail. Its fur is yellowish-gray, with a dark marking down the back and other dark stripes on the sides and rings on the tail. In the United States the name is often applied to the lynx.

More About Wild Cats From The Web:

• The Catamount Is Officially Extinct In The Northeast & People Are Mourning The Beloved Animal
• What do we mean by extinction?

Whip-poor-will

       Whip-poor-will, a North American bird of the goatsucker family. The name is an imitation of the bird's peculiar call of three shrill notes ending in a rising inflection.  This weird cry is repeated many times in close succession. The whippoorwill makes its home in the midst of thick woods, rarely visiting the haunts of men. It is active at night, feeding on night insects, which it catches on the wing. During the day it sits lengthwise on a limb, where, owing to its mottled plumage, it is not easily seen.

More About Whip-poor-wills On The Web:

• Tracking the Mysterious Whip-Poor-Will
• Eastern Whip-poor-will Release

Vulture

Vultures are characterized by their
featherless necks.

       Vulture, the common name for a class of carrion-eating birds, characterized by necks destitute of feathers and by elongated beaks, with curved upper mandibles. Their talons are not relatively strong, and in tearing prey apart, they make more use of their beaks than of their claws. Vultures are usually of a cowardly disposition and will not attack live animals, unless the latter are seriously wounded or dying, as they feed almost entirely on decaying animal flesh. They fly high in the air and detect their prey from great distances. They are valuable scavengers in all warm and tropical countries. 

Two More Vulture Types:

       The California vulture has a long, flat, orange-colored head and dull black plumage, with a grayish wing band. It builds a loose nest of sticks, in a hollow in a tree or cliff, and lays one round, greenish-white egg. 

       The Egyptian species, called "Pharaoh's hen," is found in the countries bordering the Mediterranean.

More From The Web About Vultures:

• Vultures: The acid-puking, plague-busting heroes of the ecosystem by Kenny Coogan
• Vultures: Crime Scene Clean-Up Crew
• Vultures - Africa's Wild Wonders - Secrets of Nature

Wagtail

Courtship of wagtails caught on

 video by Shirishkumar Patil.

       The wagtail are a group of birds so called from their habit of jerking their long tails when running or perching. Though several species are common in Europe, rarely is the bird seen in the United States. The wagtails frequent muddy lands and pastures, running rapidly along the edge of water and catching the insects they find there. A species of wagtail breeds on the coasts of Alaska in summer, making its nest of woven roots and grasses on or near the ground. The eggs are white with brown spots.

Learn More About Wagtails From The Web:

• White Wagtails - Motacilla alba from Audubon.org
• The Pied wagtail in the United Kingdom
• White Wagtail Breeding in Teller, Alaska

Whales: 12 Facts About Whales

Whales come in two classifications:
those with teeth and those without.

   The whale, a large marine animal, some species of which are the largest animals in existence. Though often classed as a fish, the whale bears only a superficial resemblance to the fishes. The tapering body terminating in a finlike tail and the fin-shaped paddle on each side of the body are the only points of similarity, while the dissimilarities are numerous and fundamental.

12 Facts About Whales:

1. The whale first of all, is a mammal, bearing its young alive, and suckling it in infancy.
2. It has well-developed brain and lungs, and warm blood, which circulates through veins and arteries. 
3. Its bones, joints and muscles are like those of the higher land mammals. 
4. The forelimbs contain the same bones as do those of other mammals. These are proportionately short, and, instead of toes, there is a paddle, about seven feet long, formed by a continuous skin; while in the rear part of the body are rudimentary bones which indicate the existence of hind legs in remote ancestors. 
5. The organ of locomotion is the fin-shaped tail, which is also used for purposes of defense. 
6. The whale is a shy creature and becomes combative only when attacked. 
7. When aroused it can capsize a large vessel with its tail, which is from five to six feet long and twenty to twenty-five feet broad, and destroy smaller craft by ramming it with its blunt nose.
8. Two distinguishing characteristics of whales are the proportionately large head, which is usually a third of the entire length of the body, and the thick layer of fat beneath the skin, which protects the animal from the cold. 
9. This fat, called blubber, was cut from the captured animal and reduced to oil many years ago. Before mineral oils came into general use, whale oil was burned in lamps in every part of the world.
10. The eyes of whales are small and there is usually only one nostril, frequently S-shaped, situated on top of the head. It is closed by a plug-like valve, opened only by pressure from inside. 
11. When the whale comes to the surface it expels the air from its lungs with great force through this nostril; and the hot, moisture-laden breath condensing in the cold air produces a column of vapor several yards high. 
12. The notion that a whale takes water into its mouth and blows it out through this hole is erroneous. The whale's mouth is large, but the throat is very small; however, a species known as the Greenland whale has a throat large enough to admit a man's body.

Two Classes of Whales:

       Whales usually are divided into two classes - the whalebone whales and those having teeth. The toothless whales were commercially the more important, and are hunted for both oil and whalebone, which latter is taken from the animal's mouth. The roof of the mouth is provided with vertical horny plates, called baleen, about 500 in number. These plates hang from the roof of the mouth in a fringe ten or twelve feet long. This equipment serves as a sieve for straining out the minute animals on which these whales feed. The surface waters of the ocean teem with animal life, and whales in feeding swim with open mouth at high speed near the surface, traveling in this way until hunger is satisfied. The manufacture of cheap substitutes for whalebone greatly decreased the commercial importance of whalebone whales.

       The toothed whales are the larger, attaining a length of ninety feet and a weight of seventy tons. The young when born are from ten to fourteen feet long. Of these the sperm whale was the most valuable to hunters. The blubber produced sperm oil, while the oil of the head yielded spermaceti, used in making candles and cosmetics. Other valuable products made from this whale long ago were ambergris, found in the intestines and used in making perfumes.

Learn More About Whales From The Web:

• James Nestor Speaks About Sperm Whales
• A Man Among Orcas - documentary
• Closest Whale Encounters
• The Giant Blue Whale
• See 40 Ton Humpback Whale Leap Entirely Out of The Water!
• A Magical Day with A Right Whale
• Why Right Whales Were Named "Right"

       Before the middle of the eighteenth century whaling was an important industry, but since the discovery of petroleum it has rapidly declined. Modern whaling operations are conducted with swift vessels, and the whales are killed by harpoons shot from guns. On every coast where whale fishing is conducted there are stations along the shore to which the carcasses are towed and cut up and prepared for market. Since 1986, IWC, has banned the fishing for whales except by aboriginal peoples.

Save The Whales From Extinction:

• Save The Whales
• Endangered whales: North American right whales are dying in record numbers

See People Work Hard To Save These Endangered Giants:

• See people save a whale on the Santa Barbara beach
• 7 Orcas stranded in La Caleta
• New Zealanders Race to Save 400 Stranded Whales

Now People Perform For Whales:

• 7th Regiment Small Brass Ensemble Performs for Beluga Whale
• Mariachi Connecticut Serenades a Beluga Whale

Bat: 11 Facts

A bat is a furry mammal having the fore limbs peculiarly modified so as to serve as wings. Bats are animals of the twilight and darkness and are common in temperate and warm regions, but they are most numerous and largest in the tropics. 

11 Facts About Bats:

1. All European bats are small and have a mouselike skin. 
2. The body of the largest British species is smaller than that of a mouse, but its wings stretch about fifteen inches. 
3. During the day it remains in caverns, in the crevices of ruins, hollow trees and other lurking places, and flits out at evening in search of food, which consists of insects. 
4. Several species of the same genus are common in North America. 
5. Many bats are remarkable for having a curious growth on the nose shaped something like a horseshoe. In some bats these growths resemble leaves, and in one species the entire nose looks like a flower. 
6. The eyes in most bats are very small, but they are keen.
7. Bats may be conveniently classified in two sections: the flesh-eating, comprising all European and most African and American species, and the fruit-eating, belonging to tropical Asia and Australia, with several African forms. 
8. At least two species of South American bats are known to suck the blood of other mammals, and hence they are called vampire bats, though the name has also been given to a species not guilty of this habit. 
9. As winter approaches, in cold climates bats seek shelter in caverns, vaults, ruined and deserted buildings and similar retreats, where they cling together in large clusters, hanging head downward, and sleep until the returning spring recalls them to life. 
10. The brown bat of the United States, the heavy bat of the Eastern states, the big-eared bat of the Mississippi valley, the leaf-nosed bat and the lyre bat are common species. 
11. Bats belong to the order Chiroptera

More Bat Facts From The Web:

• The Bats Are Ace Fliers!
• Batty About Bats!
• "B is for bat" alphabet coloring page
• Batty About Bats by ABCeducation

The types of bats pictured above with corresponding numbers.

1-2: Brown Long-eared Bat

3: Lesser Long-eared Bat

4: Lesser False Vampire Bat

5: Big-eared Woolly Bat

6-7: Tomes's Sword-nosed Bat

8: Mexican Funnel-eared Bat

9: Antillean Ghost-faced Bat

10: Flower-faced Bat

11: Greater Spear-nosed Bat

12: Thumbless Bat

13: Greater Horseshoe Bat

14: Wrinkle-faced Bat

15: Spectral Bat

Scotch Terrier

       The Scotch Terrier is a small dog weighing from fourteen to twenty pounds, with a long head, dark eyes and upright ears. The hair is rough and coarse, and may be black, reddish, brindled or sandy. The tail is carried erect. The dogs are intelligent, gentle and active and were favored pets seventy years ago.

More About Scotch Terriers From The Web:

• Scottie dog facing Extinction!
• Scottish Terrier Puppies by agilityscottie
• Scottish Terrier Myths Busted
• Read About All Kinds of Dogs Here

Ground Squirrel

       A ground squirrel is a squirrel in that they possess cheek pouches and retreat into burrows. They are well known in America, but species are also found in Asia and Africa. 

More About Ground Squirrels From The Web:

• Pests in Gardens and Landscapes: Ground Squirrels
• How Ground Squirrels Keep Cool in The Summer
• 5 Ways to tell apart a chipmunk and a ground squirrel

Babirussa

Indian wild hogs have teeth that grow outside of their mouths.

       The babirussa or babyrussa is a wild hog which inhabits Celebes and other East Indian islands. It is an active animal, with a nearly naked skin, and does not root in the ground as do other members of its family. The upper canine teeth do not grow downward, but upward, through openings in the skin of each side of the snout, and they curve backward nearly to the eyes. The natives still hunt the babirussa for its delicately flavored flesh.

More From The Web About Babirussa:

• Wild pigs with dental problems?
• The Bizarre "Pig Deer" of Wild Indonesia
• Not Just Another Pretty Face
• Setting the Standard for Bizarre

Waxwing

Waxwings survive primarily on fruits.

       A waxwing is a handsome singing bird, distinguished by its high, pointed crest, yellow band across the end of the tail and red spots on the wings, which have the appearance of sealing wax. The body plumage is reddish-brown above, yellowish underneath. 

       The cedar waxwing is found in nearly every part of North America, and may be seen in summer as far north as Southern Alaska. It feeds on insects and fruits, and nests in trees. The eggs are putty-colored, with black specks. 

       The Bohemian waxwing, a familiar bird in both eastern and western hemispheres, also migrates to high latitudes in the nesting season, traveling, like the cedars, in small flocks.

Learn More About Waxwings From The Web:

• The Cedar Waxwing or Bombycilla cedrorum from Missouri Dept. of Conservation
• Beautiful Waxwing Call by ESL and Popular Culture
• Waxwings - The Peaceable Flock Bird by LesleytheBirdNerd

Wolf: 6 Fun Facts

Wolves are allied to the dog.

A wolf, a carnivorous animal, allied to the dog. 

6 Fun Facts About Wolves:

1. The common European wolf, was found almost everywhere in North America, also, is yellowish-gray, with a blackish band, or streak, on the fore legs.
2. The ears are erect and pointed. 
3. The hair is harsh and strong, the tail straight, bushy and drooping. 
4. The height at the shoulder is about two and a half feet. 
5. The wolf is swift of foot and crafty, a destructive enemy to sheep and poultry. 
6. It runs in packs, to hunt the larger quadrupeds, such as deer and elk. 

       In general, however, wolves are timid and stealthy. They were once plentiful in some parts of Europe and the United States. They probably ceased to exist in England about the end of the fifteenth century. The small prairie wolf or coyote, living on the American plains of the United States, is a burrowing animal.

More About Wolves From The Web:

• Teaching about wolves in the world
• The Fight for Northern Rocky Gray Wolves
• Living With Wolves by The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game

Zebra

The zebra is a wild animal of South Africa, closely related to the wild ass and the horse, and having habits similar to those of the latter. It is grayish or cream-white in color, and is conspicuously marked with dark stripes on head, legs and body. 

       In Africa zebra-hunting was once a popular sport. Native people once ate the flesh of zebras and used their hides for leather and as rugs. Until recent times great herds of zebras were common in Southern Africa; today the animals are rare. The zebra most frequently seen in Africa and in menageries.

Learn More About Zebras From The Web:

• Habitat loss and competition with livestock threaten plains zebras
• 17 Things You Didn't Know About Zebras

A paper jointed zebra toy for students to print, cut and assemble.