Turtle

Here is a link to some pictures I took at the JMU Arburitum on 5/27/2010.

I don't know very much about turtles...it's something I'm looking into. I think this is a mud turtle.

Fainting Goats

The first time I heard of fainting goats I thought it was a joke. A friend was telling me about his uncle who raised them and i didn't believe him at all. I went home and looked it up and amazingly enough they are real. I forgot all about them until I was watching TruTV and saw a show about them. What better for my last entry for class then goats that faint? Fainting goats have a recessive gene that causes them to stiffen up and fall over whenever they are startled or scared. And it is pretty funny to watch. The goat isn't hurt whenever this happens but I do feel kind of bad for the goats when people chase them around to see them fall over. If I could stop laughing long enough I would probably be pretty sad about it. After awhile the goats body goes back to normal. The saddest part is that the goats have no control over when it happens but since the condition, called Myotonia, only affects the external muscles they aren't affected in any other way. All their organs work and they are completely conscious. They even have their own association called the International Fainting Goat Association (IFGA). The IFGA has bylaws and competitions. It is legit. There are breed standards and defects, not just any goat that can faint is allowed into the fainting competitions. I highly recommend going on Youtube and looking these goats up.

Aye-aye

As far as ugly creatures go, in my book there is a definite winner--the aye-aye. I think it is the long fingers and huge eyes that creep me out the most. They live in the rainforest of Madagascar in nest made of twigs and leaves. These nests are giant balls with small a small opening as the entrance/exit. They only leave the nests at night to go look for food. When they do venture out of their nests they still spend most of their time in the trees looking for bugs under tree bark. Aye-ayes find these guys by using echolocation and are the only mammals known to do so. They also eat fruit and use their freakishly long fingers to scoop out the fleshy fruit insides.

In Madagascar they are thought to be bad luck (it apparently brings death) so there has never been a fight to protect them by the natives. They are now endangered and the government has finally protected them under the law. A strange thing about the aye-aye is that it seems to be unafraid of humans, even in the wild. They aren't usually a social animal and tend to live alone so it is unnatural for them to be so comfortable around other animals. 

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/aye-aye/

Wombat

I see wombats as some of the cutest looking animals on the planet. They are covered in soft brown fur and looked kind of like a puppy dog. I've once again chosen an animal that can only be found in Australia, I tend to like the animal species there I guess. Wombats like to burrow and since they are nocturnal they are usually only seen at night. Even then it isn't often that you can see one. Even most natives of Australia haven't seen a wombat in the wild. Not that I can say I've seen every North American animal in the wild, I don't suppose many people could. They live off of a diet of roots and grasses. I'd love too see one waddle past me with some root stuck in its teeth. Wombats also snore when they sleep, something most other animals don't do. If they are somewhere that they feel comfortable they have been known to sleep on their backs with their little feet up in the air. If it wasn't mean, dangerous, illegal, and I had the money, I would love to have a pet wombat. They don't have many natural predators but some larger carnivores will eat them if they can't find anything else. Most wombats die of starvation and loss of habitat.

They are very vocal creatures and have a wide range of sounds squeal, grunt, growl, cough, click, and hiss. Listen here. Wombats also love to play and have been seen in both the wild and in captivity playing together. There is even a comic book about wombats that can be found here. If you want to buy a shirt or other merchandise supporting the wombat you can get it here. Personally I want a "Wombat Fever" shirt.

http://www.wombania.com/wombats/

Naked Mole Rat

Naked mole rats aren't one of the best looking animals in the world. The wrinkled skin and lack of hair turns most people off. Honestly, they kind of look like poop with short stubby legs and buck teeth. I guess beauty isn't very important when you live underground in darkness your whole life. I know I wouldn't exactly curl my hair if I knew no one would ever see me. Oddly enough, like most badly named creatures, their names are bad descriptions. They are neither moles nor rats; they are related to guinea pigs(described in an earlier blog) and porcupines. Unlike most other rodents they have a social system that is insect like consisting of a queen and workers. A single colony of naked mole rats can have up to 300 members. If a mole rat gets lost, even with food and water, they will die of loneliness. They can be found in the Horn of Africa almost exclusively. Naked mole rats weren't discovered by Western biologist until the 70s since they are almost never found above ground.

The life of a naked mole rat isn't very fun. Unless you are the Queen most of your life is spent digging. Since the Queen is also in charge of producing all the children, they don't even have to worry about their family. Each of their two front teeth can move independently for digging. They can actually control individual tooth movement. Digging keeps their teeth filed. In captivity the teeth sometimes have to be trimmed with nail cutters because they grow at such a rapid rate.

One thing I find very cute about these animals is how they love to share. They will share any bit of food with any other member of their colony and will sometimes bring back food they find especially for others (kind of like when i pick up a surprise slurpee from the 7-11 on my way home from work for my roommate). Another cool thing about naked mole rats that is kind of cool, but not quite as sweet, is what happens when one queen dies. All the other high ranking females have a fight to the death and the best woman wins.

Naked mole rats are pretty cool even if they aren't the cutest.

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2002/3/nakedmolerats.cfm

Platypus

I've decided to do another request from my roommate. One of our favorite shows to watch is on the Disney Channel, laugh if you want. It's about two brothers called Phineas and Ferb who spend their summer building crazy contraptions. Their awesome pet, who doubles as a secret agent, is named Perry and he is a green platypus. The platypus(Ornithorhynchus Anatinus) is one of two animals that are considered monotremes, the other is the echidna. It is about the size of a small dog and has a thick waterproof fun covering its whole body and webbed feet that help propel it through the water. It has characteristics of both reptiles (lays eggs) and mammals (hair, warm blooded). When it dives underwater it can close its eyes,ears, and mouth all at the same time. It stores excess fat in its tail so a fat tail is a sign of a healthy platypus. It has a low body temperature so it is less affected by cold waters. They also have more hemoglobin in their red blood cells. This allows it to stay underwater longer than most mammals. The male platypus even has poisonous burs on its back feet. Personally I think the platypus is one of the most interesting creatures I've written about so far. They have so many hidden secrets that make them interesting. They keep gravel in their mouths to help break up food since they don't have teeth. The platypus can be found on the east coast of Australia. They have super dense fur, denser than the otter's and the polar bear's.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/platypus.html

http://www.genevaschools.org/austinbg/class/gray/platypus/

Tasmanian Devil

The first thing most people think about when they hear tasmanian devil is the Loony Toon character more commonly known as Taz. He runs around in a tornado cloud of biting, slobbering, and crazy noises. As far as tasmanian devils go, that is a pretty accurate description of the real animal. If it gets in a situation in which it feels threatened or protective it will snap and completely go off on anyone or anything near. If food is its reason for fighting, they will usually fight to the death. It has a very scary growl that sounds almost maniacal. A video can be seen here. The look almost like a cross between a small dog and a baby bear. It is black and brown with a little white tuff on hair on its chest. It has a large head full of teeth that it isn't afraid to use. They store fat in their tail when they have had plenty to eat. They will eat anything they can kill and eat every bit of their prey. Tasmanian devils can only be found in Tasmania, a state in Australia. They dropped in numbers on the mainland due to dingos, being killed my farmers because they kill chickens, and a disease that creates tumors in their mouths and around their faces. They are considered prehistoric because fossils have been found of the almost exact creature of today thousands of years ago. Since they are nocturnal, they usually feed at night. This means that all of their snarling and fighting is going on in pitch black darkness in the eucalyptus forest. I know personally I would enjoy watching one from a distance, but coming out of nowhere in the middle of the night would scare me senseless. Although they may not be one of the sweetest animals, they are still one of God's creatures and should be taken care of. Even of the nastiest creatures should have an opportunity to survive.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/tasmanian-devil.html

http://australian-animals.net/devil.htm