Animals

bobcats in the United States

These beautiful cats are members of the lynx family and are recognizable for their short bobtails, often just two inches (5 cm) long, which have black fur on top and a white underside.

There are plenty of bobcats throughout the United States, southern Canada, and Mexico, so they are not endangered, but it is still unusual to see them. This is partly because people are just not used to spotting them. Bobcats, like many other members of the cat family, like to use human paths and trails to avoid long grasses and irritants, such as ticks. Several times a bobcat will hear someone coming along a path and flatten down at the side of the path while the person walks past, often just ten feet (3 m) away, unaware.

Like all cats, they are carnivorous, eating rabbits, birds, lizards, snakes, carrion, and — as we discovered — gophers

Bobcats are elusive and nocturnal, so they are rarely spotted by humans. Although they are seldom seen, they roam throughout much of North America and adapt well to such diverse habitats as forests, swamps, deserts, and even suburban areas.

Bobcats, sometimes called wildcats, are roughly twice as big as the average housecat. They have long legs, large paws, and tufted ears similar to those of their larger relative, the Canada lynx. Most bobcats are brown or brownish red with a white underbelly and short, black-tipped tail. The cat is named for its tail, which appears to be cut or "bobbed."

Fierce hunters, bobcats can kill prey much bigger than themselves, but usually eat rabbits, birds, mice, squirrels, and other smaller game. The bobcat hunts by stealth, but delivers a deathblow with a leaping pounce that can cover 10 feet (3 meters).

West Indian Manatee

Most manatees spend half their day sleeping in the water and the other half grazing on underwater plants. They are generally solitary creatures, unless mating, caring for their young, or sheltering in warm springs.

Description: Manatees can grow up to thirteen feet (4 m) long, weigh fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred pounds (680 to 816 kg) and live up to sixty years. They have grayish-brown thick wrinkled skin and propel themselves along with flippers and a large, flat tail. They evolved over millions of years from land mammals, and their closest living relatives are the elephant and the hyrax.

Habitat and Range: Manatees can be found in shallow, slow-moving rivers, estuaries, saltwater bays, canals, and coastal areas — particularly where seagrass beds or freshwater vegetation flourish. Manatees are a migratory species. Within the United States, they are concentrated in Florida in the winter. In summer months, they can be found as far west as Texas and as far north as Massachusetts, but summer sightings in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina are more common. West Indian manatees can also be found in the coastal and inland waterways of Central America and along the northern coast of South America

American Alligator - the crocodiles

Alligators, despite their fierce reputation and fearsome appearance, are reasonably easygoing creatures (Not to get confused with their snappier and more aggressive neighbors, the crocodiles).

Alligators can withstand dramatic drops in temperature and even remain locked in ice for up to three weeks, with just a small breathing hole. All a bystander will see is the tip of its snout poking through the ice and it will slow its body functions to virtually shut down

Heavy and ungainly out of water, these reptiles are supremely well adapted swimmers. Males average 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 meters) in length and can weigh 1,000 pounds (453 kg). Females grow to a maximum of about 9.8 feet (3 meters.)

One look at these menacing predators—with their armored, lizard-like bodies, muscular tails, and powerful jaws—and it is obvious they are envoys from the distant past. The species, scientists say, is more than 150 million years old, managing to avoid extinction 65 million years ago when their prehistoric contemporaries, the dinosaurs, died off.

American alligators reside nearly exclusively in the freshwater rivers, lakes, swamps, and marshes of the southeastern United States, primarily Florida and Louisiana.

Hatchlings are 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 centimeters) long with yellow and black stripes. Juveniles, which are on the menu for dozens of predators, including birds, raccoons, bobcats, and even other alligators, usually stay with their mothers for about two years.

The American alligator is a rare success story of an endangered animal not only saved from extinction but now thriving. State and federal protections, habitat preservation efforts, and reduced demand for alligator products have improved the species' wild population to more than one million and growing today.

Spadefoot Toad in North American

Spadefoot toads are burrowing frogs that have large spade-like feet they use to dig tunnels under the sand, where they spend more of their lives in a dormant state that is similar to hibernation. But as soon as a rainstorm approaches, they spring into action the sound of thunder and the vibration of the raindrops hitting the ground are believed to be the cue that stirs the spadefoots into action.

They emerge from underground and travel towards large rain puddles. Here, males will attempt to attract the females with loud calls, competing with one another. At times, they are so desperate to reproduce that occasionally they will seize another male or a frog from a different species. Even when the male has found a female spadefoot, other males will pile on top to create a writhing heap of frogs.

The male will stimulate the female to lay up to two thousand eggs, which submerge and attach themselves to vegetation in the water. The male will then deposit his sperm on them and, within as little as fifteen hours, tiny tadpoles will emerge. To survive, the tadpole must develop into a frog before the desert sun swallows up the rainwater pools. This happens in only twelve to thirteen days, the fastest development rate of any frog or toad. The young frogs will then fill up with food and bury themselves under the sand to await the next downpour.

Spadefoot toads are rarely seen because of their unusual habits. They are usually found in Western North American deserts like the Mojave, Chihuaha, and Sonoran. Normally this would be a problem for an amphibian, but spadefoot toads are able to deal with the hot and dry weather as spadefoot toads spend most of their time underground.

The spadefoot toad is a burrowing species of toad and they use their large front feet to make tunnels in the sand. Spadefoot toads are able to spend weeks underground but will come to the surface at night time after heavy rain when the air is moist, so that they can feed.

There are two main types of spadefoot toad, those that live only in North America and those that live in Europe, Northern Africa and WesternAsia. The spadefoot toad is an amphibian and anurans. Anurans are frogs and toads.

Spadefoot toads are omnivorous animals and have a primarily vegetarian dietwhen they are young. As the spadefoot toad gets older, they begin to eat largeinvertebrates such as snails, grasshoppers and caterpillars.

The spadefoot toad tadpoles develop very quickly. They can also dig holes and bury themselves until the next desert rain, when they will spawn and turn into the larger, rounder adult toads.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn males, called rams, are famous for their large, curled horns. These impressive growths are a symbol of status and a weapon used in epic battles across the Rocky Mountains.

Fighting for dominance or mating rights, males face each other, rear up on their hind legs, and hurl themselves at each other in charges of some 20 miles (32 kilometers) an hour. The resounding clash of horns can be heard echoing through the mountains as the confrontation is repeated—sometimes for many hours—until one ram submits and walks away. The animal's thick, bony skull usually prevents serious injury.

A Rocky Mountain bighorn ram's horns can weigh 30 pounds (14 kilograms)—more than all the bones in his body combined. Females (ewes) also have horns, but they are of smaller size.

Rocky Mountain bighorns inhabit the mountains from Canada south to New Mexico. They are relatives of goats, and have balance-aiding split hooves and rough hoof bottoms for natural grip. These attributes, along with keen vision, help them move easily about rocky, rugged mountain terrain.

The bighorn sheep can be found across the mountain ranges from Canada to Mexico. Their huge curved horns weigh up to thirty pounds (14 kg) and when the mating season arrives in the fall, the rams, charged with testosterone, fight to find a champion who will claim a group of females.

The males rear up on their hind legs and launch themselves at one another, charging at twenty miles an hour (32 kph). The clash of their horns can be heard echoing through the mountains. They will repeat the confrontation again and again, sometimes for hours, until one ram submits and walks away. Luckily their bony skulls usually prevent serious injury.