This little guy might look cute, but he’s a killer. Also known as the short tailed weasel or ermine, this critter has been known to have a devastating effect on bird populations.
The fur from the stoat, is used in British coronation robes, and often in the robes of the Catholic Pontiffs and Cardinals.
The raccoon is a medium sized, North American mammal that can adapt readily to living conditions – whether in the wild or urban setting. This masked marauder is adept at getting lids off garbage cans and scavenging through the contents looking for tasty tidbits that we, humans, have tossed aside.
The Quokka is a marsupial native to Southwestern Australia, particularly the islands off the coast. This little mammal is an herbivore and primarily nocturnal.
It has no fear of humans and will approach, however, it’s illegal for members of the public on Rottnest Island to handle the animals in any way. A$300 fine can be issued by the Rottnest Island Authority for doing so and prosecution of the offense can result in a fine of up to $2,000.
The porcupine is a prickly mammal belonging to the rodent family. It eats leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants and in the winter, the North American variety will eat bark.
The orangutan is an exclusively Asian ape. They are currently only found in the Borneo and Sumatra rainforests.
The reddish-brown orangutan spends most of its time in trees and primarily eats fruit but other things like vegetation, bark, honey, insects and bird eggs are consumed.
Orangutans are highly intelligent and one featured as Clint Eastwood’s sidekick “Clyde” in the movie Every Which Way But Loose.
The nilgai is the largest Asian Antelope. It’s found primarily in India although can also be found in southern Nepal and eastern Pakistan and is often spotted in scrub forest or farmland.
Mother and calves
Moose are the largest members of the deer family. These large herbivores eat shoots from trees, grass, nuts and aquatic plants.
Quite often during the winter, moose are drawn to the roads to like the salt that has been used to melt ice.
On a trip home from up north one summer, we decided to drive through Algonquin Park and are so glad we did. At one spot, the shoulder of the road was lined with cars so we knew there was an animal of some kind (moose, deer, bear) in the woods by the roadside. Parking the car, we ventured closer and there it was – a solitary young bull moose.
As people pushed toward it from behind, my husband and I moved in the direction is was going and I was rewarded with some fantastic pictures of the large animal. We watched it for a long time before it took any interest in us and slowly ambled off further into the woods.
The leopard is one of the five “big cats”. It is native to Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. It looks like the jaguar but is smaller and has been mistaken by times for the cheetah.
In the film, Bringing Up Baby, “Baby” was a pet leopard.
The koala is often referred to as a “koala bear” which is inaccurate. These marsupials are herbivores and native to Australia – primarily along the east coast.
Their diet consists almost completely of eucalyptus leaves, which also provides them with water.
Koalas sleep about 20 hours a day, leaving them 4 hours to forage for food and other physical activities.
The jackal is a small carnivorous member of the Canis family. It’s native to Africa and South-Central Eurasia. They are well suited for running. When jackals hunt, they either hunt alone or in pairs.
