Amazing and intelligent creature Spotted hyenas are the largest of three hyena species. Brown and striped hyenas are the other two. Spotted hyenas are famed scavengers and often dine on the leftovers of other predators. But these dangerous beasts are also skilled hunters that will take down wildebeest or antelope. They also kill and eat birds, lizards, snakes, and insects. Hyenas usually hunt at night, sometimes they set off in small groups of two or three and then a wildebeest is likely to be their intended prey. They test the herds the prey on by charging them and then slowing down to watch the fleeing animals closely, as if trying to detect any weakness among individuals. In the end, they appear to select one animal and begin to chase it doggedly, following closely after it, snapping …show more content…
Due to this hyenas and humans come into frequent contact. It is hard for us in the USA to imagine that the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania actually leave their dead to be consumed by hyenas! However, these highly intelligent and aggressive animals will raid food stores and crops and are blamed for many livestock and even some human deaths. In some areas they have been heavily hunted as destructive pests. Although hyenas appear similar to dogs, they are actually more closely related to cats. They live throughout much of Africa and eastwards all the way to India. Spotted hyenas live together in large groups called clans that may include up 80 individuals and are led by females. Spotted hyenas have good hearing and sharp eyesight at especially at night. They are fast and can run for long distances without tiring. Packs work together effectively to isolate a herd animal, sometimes one that is ill or injured, and pursue it to the death. (1) The irritable victors often squabble over the carcass, either among themselves or with other powerful animals like
The Northern White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is one of the largest wild animals in the northeastern area of the United States. This species can be upwards of four feet tall and weigh over 300 pounds. Typically, this animal is found in forests, fields, and brush areas in the Northern region. In warmer months the White-tailed deer have a reddish brown coat with a white belly. In the winter months this deer’s coat changes to a gray-brown color. The male deer in this species are known as “bucks” and have antlers on their heads that can span upwards of three feet across. The female variety is known as “does” and the young deer are known as “fawns” both do not have horns. They typically are nocturnal and feed usually in the early morning or late evening. The White-tailed deer is an herbivore and they eat a variety of green plants, acorns, fruits, nuts and even twigs if need (bioweb, nd).
As the deer fed at the marsh's edge, it's tail flickering as it nibbled tender and ripe green growth. Then the nervous animal pauses in it's feeding and lifted its head to listen. Whatever hint of danger the deer had sensed was ignored once the threat could not be located. It stamped a forefoot, lowered its head and began to eat once more, this deer had failed to detect a Florida panther that was downwind (going into the wind) crouched low in the underbrush. Amber eyes however, estimated the distance between himself and the deer. Then at the right moment attacked the deer, with bounds at over twenty feet at a time the panther exploded out of the underbrush pouncing on the deer and forcing it to the ground. Within fifteen seconds that panther stood breathing heavily over his unfortunate victim of life and death. This scene has been going on for many years, the battle of predator and prey, but know the new predators are humans almost virtually wiping out the entire population leaving only an estimated 30 - 50 Florida panthers left.
Elizabeth Cashdan addresses the question of territoriality among human forager groups, specifically comparing four Bushman groups. She argues that territoriality should occur only in places where the benefits will outweigh the costs. Introducing the scientific definition of territoriality in animals, she first claims that animals tend to be the most territorial when they have adequate food and other resources. It is when there is a severe lack of or abundance of resources that animals are not territorial. With a lack of food, territoriality tends to waste too much energy. In the case of an abundance of food, it is not worth defending that which is plentiful for animals. She points out predictability as another environmental factor: if a resource is unpredictable, then it is not economical to defend it. It is only worthwhile to defend a territory if there is high probability that the resources will still be available when they are wanted. However, the costs and benefits of being territorial not only depend on the environment, but also on the species and its characteristics.
The media’s attack on pit bulls started when drug dealers were chaining them up using them as a weapon against police. In the media Pit Bulls and portrayed as vicious dogs that attack owners, strangers, and children without warning. There are several other breeds that bite and attack, however you only hear about the pit bulls. For example if on day one a Lab mix bites a child you will see it in the newspaper the following day; day two when a Great Dane bites two adults you will see it on the news the next day; day three a Rottweiler attacks an elderly woman in her backyard and it is aired on all network stations; day four a Pit Bull Terrier bites a mailman and you will hear and see it on every station in the country. This is a good example
They are a parasite; like a flea on a dog, or ringworm on a cat. They attach themselves to a location like other parasites attach to a host animal, roaming free to do damage as they please. Wild hogs are a nuisance animal that have quickly become overpopulated and under hunted. Many animal rights activist want to end or strictly regulate the hunting of these destructive creatures; however, these animals were not meant to wander wild the way that they do, once domesticated animals released for sport have quickly adapted to their environment and become the beasts they are today. Many states already allow hunters to go out all year long and hunt for the feral swine; however, in Arkansas, the current hunting law is that a hunter can take a wild hog while legally hunting another animal. Hunters should be able to go out and hunt for wild hogs, not be limited to killing them as they cross their paths or if they are spotted on their land. The only stipulations that should be placed on hog hunting are that the hunter must have knowledge of hunter’s education and a valid state
Patterson and Starling first try to track the paw prints to no avail, next they try setting traps to lure the huge beasts to them, but the lions are smarter than expected and didn’t fall for the traps but went to different spots each night to feast. A quote to describe this would be,”...six nights,nothing but more dead bodies. Patterson and Starling had been up the whole week waiting for those lions, and still no sign of them… nothing they have done has stopped them from killing the workers.”(Dewey Gram, P.123). This shows that The Ghost and The Darkness are more crafty than the average Tsavo lion. As the two hunters begin to see a pattern to the attacks they begin to develop a stratagem to kill the ions, putting all their hope and effort into one final plan to finish the lions’ reign of
Word count includes Annotated Bibliography. Throughout the world, there are many different countries that contain diverse cultures, religions, and lifestyles. There are however certain aspects within these countries and cultures that act as a common ground between one another. One dominant aspect is the existence of dogs within these cultures.
White-tailed deer, also known as the whitetail, is native to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. What are the things called antlers and what are they made of? Deer antlers are made of bone. They grow from pedicles, bony bumps found on the heads of all deer, and they drop off after the mating season ends.
Lazarus begins her review first, by informing us that the hyenas lived in an elephant graveyard that was dark and impoverished and compared it to living in a ghetto (118). She does not tell us where she obtained her knowledge of how a ghetto is like an elephant graveyard. It was a dark and sinister place but her comparison of it being a ghetto has no justification. Actual hyenas are scavengers by nature and do not exactly hang out with the rest of the animals out in the middle of the Pride Lands. Disney by all accounts, typically has a location in almost every movie that is dark and sini...
Brown Hyenas are one of the rarest carnivores on Earth. They are nocturnal, which mean they hunt at night. Brown hyena has an interesting social system because they stay in a clan; however, they hunt alone. Star was named because of the small white star on her forehead. She taught Mark and Delia a lot about the unique brown hyenas social system. Star rely on her sense of smell to find food nearby.Usually, she hung out in the riverbed, sniffing some remaining of the leftover carcass from the lion. Just like the lions, hyenas also use scent-making or pasting as a chemical communication or to track other hyenas because in the dry Kalahari their sound don’t travel very far. Muzzle-wrestling and neck-biting are important to gain a particular social
The impact a wild animal has on a community is severe. In 2009, Sandra Herold, the owner of a 200 pound chimpanzee, called her friend for help. Sandra needed assistance from Charla Nash to get her money back into its cage. Unexpectedly, the chimpanzee mauled Charla. In a 911 call Sandra frantically told the dispatcher what was happening, “He ripped her apart. Shoot him, shoot him”(Copeland 1).
For years studies and observations have been made on the relationship between body size and physical orientation of an animal. In 1847 Carl Bergmann was one of the first to do observations with this phenomenon (Dictionary of Theories 2002). Bergmann noticed that warm-blooded animals living at climates high in latitude are bigger in size than those living in climates of lower latitudes (Dictionary of Theories 2002). Research has shown there is a correlation of surface area to volume in animals that are located in different parts of the globe. Animals living in a cooler climate have a larger volume, but decreased surface area to retain as much body heat as possible. The inverse is true for animals living in warmer regions; these animals have a smaller volume and larger surface area to allow the body to cool efficiently (McNab 1971). Bergmann’s rule has brought valuable insight into the study of character traits and how we identify where animals originated. One example that I came across is with the Andean passerine bird, a study was done in 1991 by G. R. Graves. He noticed the size of ...
In the savanna there is a wide variety of animals from predator to prey and there is always large herds’ of animals around.
The Hyena natural enemies are the lion, wild dogs, leopards, cheetah, and jackals. The Hyena is very competitive with the lion. They both try to take bit of each others kills, but most of the time a Hyena kills its prey, the lion comes and starts eating and the Hyena has to wait. Like the lion hyena tries to take bit of meat from the leopard and cheetah kills. Jackals often annoy Hyenas and try to take bits of meat from the Hyenas kills.
Stray animals are dangerous reason being is children or elderly people can be bit while walking or playing around at parks. I live in Mercedes and at one point when I was walking from stars to the high school, and stray dog for no reason started growing at me and my instinct was to run until I got the a building. This can happen to anyone, they can be attacked trying to touch a stray or just simply walking by, or even worse a child can catch a disease. Also owners with their pets are also getting attacked by stray animals because they strays tend to be over protective of their territory, or they just want to fight with the pet of the owner.