Pine Marten

Pine Marten

The pine marten is a mustelid and a member of the weasel family. It has a heart-shaped face, big brown eyes, a slim sinuous body, a rich chestnut-brown coat turning darker in summer, flamboyant apricot-colored bib and long tail, bushy in winter.

They are amazing climbers and run through the trees very fast to catch their favorite prey, the red squirrel which is also an amazing climber. Their sense of smell plays an important role in hunting prey.

ng lean body which makes them look like a 4 legged snake slithering through the trees. Their retractable claws and great balance that helps them rin through the tress very fast. These arboreal gymnasts can leap 4 meters between tree branches.  They can land unhurt after jumping from a hight of around 20 meters. They are omnivores. They eat eggs, squirrels, rabbits, and insects and fruits like cherry, hazel, and rowan.

Female pine martens give birth to litters having 2 to 5 kits(that is what baby pine martens are called).

Pine martens are helping the population of red squirrels. Usually, the population of grey squirrels is more than red squirrels. But places where pine martens are present, there are more red squirrels. This is because the grey squirrels are more heavy and slow compare to red squirrels hence making them easy targets for Pine martens.

They make their dens and breeding nests in tree hollows and abandoned animal homes. They kill by biting into the neck, behind the head, and at the top of the spine. Their bite is very strong that they usually decapitate the bird. Pine martens are prey for animals like golden eagles, red foxes, and wolves. Their largest threat is humans.

Aye Aye

Primarily natives of Madagascar, the Aye Aye look more like weird  rodents, but are a type of lemur. They are sparsely scattered along the west coast and northwestern forests of Madagascar.

The only primate with ever-growing teeth, perhaps the most marked trait of the Aye aye is their really long, sharp and flexible middle finger which is three times bigger than the other fingers.It is also the only primate to use echolocation to find its prey.
They catch their food the same way as a woodpecker.They continuously tap on the branches in the trees with their long middle finger and listen closely with their bat-like ears (echolocation). They figure out where small grubs lie in the tunnels in the trees. They then bite through the wood with their sharp teeth and use their flexible middle finger to feel through the tunnel and then grab the grub and eat it.

The Aye-Aye is named after its cries.Its tail is longer than its body.
They are nocturnal, solitary creatures (it means that they spend most of their lives without others of the same species). They are with other primates of their species only for mating.
As they grow up, there will be some color changes in their body.They are arboreal which means that they spend most of their lives in the tree and rarely come to the ground.Aye-ayes have territories that are marked by their scent. Sometimes, a male territory can overlap another male territory.
Baby Aye-Ayes are known as ‘infants’

Aye-ayes are believed to be bad omens for their native residents who believed that it must be killed on sight to avoid bringing bad luck.In 1933, they were believed to be extinct.There used to be giant aye-ayes. It is an extinct form of the aye-aye. It used to weigh between 3 times to 5 times the amount of an average present Aye-aye.

Aardvark

Aardvark

This nocturnal, African Mammal with long ears and elongated snout has the honor of being the first word in the “Oxford English Dictionary”( other than the indispensable indefinite article” a” and some lexical entries like “aa”)

They are insectivorous animals which means that they eat bugs and termites. They use front claws to dig the dirt or mud, back feet to clear the earth and the tail for flattening the dirt.

Their nickname is earth pigs but they are related to elephants. If predators approach the aardvark and the aardvarks cannot go back to their burrow, they dig a hole underground to escape. They can make this hole in about 5 minutes. When Aardvarks dig holes and leave them, other non-digging animals move into these holes. Animals such as warthogs, python, etc live in these holes and these holes also protect themselves from predators.

As the Aardvarks eat termites and termites make very tall and strong mounds, it uses its strong claws to break the mound to eat the termites. They have long tounges and can grab about 100 termites in one slurp. Their tongue is up to 12 inches. They can close their nostrils to keep out dust and ants while digging. Aardvarks don’t chew their food. It gets ground up in their muscular stomachs.

Some animals like aardwolves also eat bugs like termites but cannot break into the termite mound. So they always follow aardvarks so that when they break the termite mound, the aardwolf can also enjoy a meal.

They are digitigrades which means that they walk on their toes and not on the soles of their feet. They have 4 toes on their front feet and 5 toes on their back feet. The tips of their snout are mobile. The only fruit they can eat is aardvark cucumber, in case you are wondering what the picture is about. 

They don’t make much noise unless they are frightened. Baby aardvarks are called cubs. Aardvark teeth are made into good luck charm bracelets by some African tribes.

An aardvark was the star character of a long rime running comic book. The characters name was ‘Cerebus the Aardvark’