Thursday, August 31, 2006

How polar bears communicate

Have you ever thought of how polar bears communicate? well, here is a clue!
A. Vocalizations.
1.Adult polar bears vocalize most when they're agitated or threatened. Sounds include hissing, growling, champing of teeth, and soft chuffing.
2.Cubs vocalize more often and for diverse reasons. Sounds include hissing, squalling, whimpering, lip smacking, and throaty rumblings.
3.Mothers warn cubs with a chuffing or braying sound.

B. Other communication.
1.Polar bears also communicate through sight, touch, and smell.
2.A male polar bear initiates play fighting by approaching another male with its head down, mouth closed, and eyes averted. The bears usually make contact by gently touching or "mouthing" each other around the face and neck. They then proceed to rear up on their hind legs and try to push each other over with their forepaws.
3.A mother polar bear can comfort, protect, or punish her cubs by using her body, muzzle, or paws.


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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

How to care for young Polar bears

Have you ever considered this topic? well, looking at nature, one thing borders me;which is, how these creatures survive. So, I decided to search for some facts about them. Here are some of them:
1. Nursing.

• Female polar bears have four mammary glands. Mothers nurse their cubs in a sitting position, or lying down on their side or back.

• During their first few weeks of life, polar bear cubs nurse most of the time and stay close to their mother to keep warm.
• For the next three or four months the cubs nurse as often as six times a day. The length and number of nursing bouts gradually decreases as the cubs grow older.
• Mother polar bears nurse their cubs for as long as 30 months. Some cubs stop nursing as young as 18 months of age, but remain with their mothers for survival until they are 30 months old.
• The average fat content of polar bear milk is 33%, similar to the milkfat of other marine mammals.


2. Mother polar bears are extremely protective of their young, even risking their own lives in their cubs' defense.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

There is a bird that barks instead of sings!

I was surfing the net and i saw something really interesting so i thought to share it with you. It's about a bird that barks instead of sing. Is'nt it funny?

The Antpitta avis canis Ridgley is a bird that looks like a stuffed duck on stilts and barks like a dog. The bird was discovered by ornithologist Robert S. Ridgley in the Andes in Ecuador in June 1998. Thirty of these long-legged, black-and-white barking birds were found. It apparently had gone undetected because it lives in remote parts and, of course, doesn't sing. The size of a duck, it is one of the largest birds discovered in the last 50 years.
There also are dogs that do not bark! The basenji, smallish dog with a silky copper coat, does not bark. Instead, it yodels when it get excited. Wild dogs like the African Wild Dog also do not bark.

VIA: www.didyouknow.com

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