Featured Animals

Mudpuppy

Necturus maculosus

Location:

Their range runs from southern central Canada, through the midwestern United States, east to North Carolina and south to Georgia and Mississippi.

Habitat:

They live on the bottoms of lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams, and never leave the water, hiding in vegetation and under rocks and logs.

Size and Appearance:

Among the largest of the salamanders, mudpuppies can exceed 16 inches in length, although the average is more like 11 inches. They are easily distinguishable by their bushy, red external gills, which they grow as larva and never lose. They have flat heads, wide tails, stubby legs, and feet with four distinct toes. Their bodies are gray or brownish-gray with blue-black spots.

Lifespan:

Their average lifespan is about 11 years.

Diet:

Mudpuppies are opportunistic feeders that will eat anything they can catch. They rely more on smell than eyesight to locate prey. Crayfish are a staple of their diet, but they also eat plenty of other things, including worms, fish, amphibians, fish and amphibian eggs, aquatic insects, and other aquatic invertebrates.

Predators:

They are most likely to be eaten when they are small. Many animals feed on mudpuppy eggs and hatchlings, including insects, fish, other salamanders, other mudpuppies, and leeches. Mudpuppies have several predators to beware of, including large fish, large turtles, water snakes, herons, and some mammals.

Reproduction:

Mudpuppies mate in the fall but females do not deposit their eggs until the following spring. Females prepare rudimentary nests – usually nothing more than a hollowed-out depression beneath a large, flat rock or log in relatively shallow and quiet water. Females then turn upside down and deposit their eggs singly along the bottom of the overhanging rock or log. The eggs attach to the rock or log. One female will deposit from 30 to 200 eggs.

Females stay in their nests, guarding their eggs until they hatch, which occurs within 1 to 2 months depending on the temperature of the water.

Interesting Facts:

mudpuppies, also called waterdogs, are one of only a few salamanders that make noise. They get their name from the somewhat embellished notion that their squeaky vocalizations sound like a dog's bark
they are solitary animals that come together only during breeding season
they are active year-round, and are most active at night when they forage for food in the sand and leaf-litter of shallow water
they have been known to surprise ice fishermen by grabbing bait on their lines! Unfortunately for mudpuppies, fishermen often kill them out of fright and the mistaken belief that they are poisonous.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/m/mudpuppy/

https://www.marylandzoo.org/animal/mudpuppy

Swimming with a Mudpuppy

Red-Tailed Hawk Call

Red-Tailed Hawk Hunting

Location:

They are found throughout the United States and Canada, and into Mexico and Central America.

Habitat:

They live in a variety of habitats in nature: scrub desert, grasslands, farm fields, pastures, parks, woodlands, and tropical rainforests. They require open areas for hunting and several scattered perches.

Size and Appearance:

They average 48 to 65 centimeters in length. Their wingspan is approximately 122 centimeters or 4 feet. Females are 25% bigger than males. Feather colors range from light auburn to deep brown, with an underbelly that is lighter than the rest of the body that contains a dark belly band across it. The most distinctive feature is their red tail.

Lifespan:

Most live less than two years but their average lifespan is around 15-20 years. In the wild and in captivity, the longest-lived red-tailed hawk lived 29.5 years.

Diet:

85% of their diet consists of small rodents, while reptiles and other birds make up the rest of it.

Predators:

They have few predators, including great horned owls and crows, however, most of their predation occurs to eggs and nestlings.

Reproduction:

They begin breeding when they are three years old. They are monogamous, meaning they mate with the same individual for many years. Their nests are about 4-21 meters above the ground and can be 28 to 38 inches wide and 3 feet tall. They breed every spring and lay 1-5 eggs each time.

Interesting Facts:

the ones that live in the far north migrate south to escape the harsh winter
they only change mates when their original mate dies
both parents incubate eggs
they are very territorial and soar over their territory, mostly on clear days, looking for intruders
they can dive up to 120 mph
they are considered sacred for many Native Americans
almost half of them don't even make it to one year old

Red-Tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus

bottlenose-dolphin-closeup.ngsversion.13

Bottlenose Dolphin Sound

Bottlenose Dolphin Intelligence

Bottlenose Dolphin Swimming/Jumping out of water

Location:

They are found in tropical and temperate waters throughout the world.

Habitat:

They live in a variety of habitats, including harbors, bays, gulfs, and estuaries, as well as nearshore coastal waters, deeper waters over the continental shelf, and even far offshore in the open ocean.

Size and Appearance:

They grow up to 13 feet long and 1,300 pounds. They get their name from their short, thick snout (or rostrum). They are generally gray in color but can range from light gray to almost black on top near their dorsal fin and light gray to almost white on their belly.

Lifespan:

They live from 40-60 years.

Diet:

They eat squid, small fish, and crustaceans.

Predators:

Generally, they are top ocean predators, but occasionally orcas and large sharks may prey upon them. They are also very vulnerable to fishing gear and are even hunted by humans

Reproduction:

They generally begin to reproduce when they are between 5 and 15 years old. Female bottlenose dolphins can reach sexual maturity before males and are pregnant for about 12 months. Once calves are born, they nurse for up to 20 months and generally stay with their mothers for 3 to 6 years. On average, females give birth every 3 to 6 years.

Interesting Facts:

they eat 13-15 pounds of food per day
they swim just under 12 miles per hour
juveniles are able to swim from the moment they are born, but they are totally dependent on nursing their mothers’ milk for nearly two years
they are often considered to be some of the smartest animals in the world
they develop individualized whistles to communicate with each other
they live in small groups and organize complex, group behaviors when mating and hunting
in the United States, they are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act
they use breeding, playing, aggression, and gentle body contact (such as rubbing) as ways to have social interactions with one another
females as old as 45 have given birth

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/common-bottlenose-dolphin

https://oceana.org/marine-life/marine-mammals/common-bottlenose-dolphin

Grizzly Bear

Ursus arctos horribilis

Location:

They are found in Alaska, south through much of western Canada, and into portions of the northwestern United States.

Habitat:

They can be found in woodlands, forests, alpine meadows, and prairies. In many habitats, they prefer riparian areas along rivers and streams. Additionally, they need a lot of space—their home range can encompass up to 600 square miles.

Size and Appearance:

They average from 5-8 feet long and weight 800 pounds but males are heavier than the females and can weigh up to 1,700 pounds. A large female will weigh up to 800 pounds. They range in color from very light tan (almost white) to dark brown. They have a dished face, short, rounded ears, and a large shoulder hump. The hump is where a mass of muscles attach to the bear’s backbone and give the bear additional strength for digging. They have very long claws on their front feet that also give them extra ability to dig after food and to dig their dens.

Lifespan:

The average lifespan for a male is estimated at 22 years, with that of a female being slightly longer at 26.

Diet:

They are omnivores. The most commonly eaten kinds of plants are fleshy roots, fruits, berries, grasses, and forbs. If grizzly bears are on the hunt, their prey can include fish (especially salmon), rodents like ground squirrels, carrion, and hoofed animals like moose, elk, caribou, and deer.

Predators:

Adults have no predators but cubs may fall predator to wolves, mountain lions, and adult grizzlies.

Reproduction:

Females produce 1-4 (usually 2) young that weight about 450 grams and the mother cares for the cubs for up to two years. They do not reach sexual maturity until they are at least five years old and their gestation period is approximately 180–250 days.

Interesting Facts:

the name "grizzly bear" comes from their fur which can appear to be white-tipped, or grizzled
they are protected by law in the continental United States but not in Alaska
in the Summer, they can be seen at prime Alaskan fishing spots when the salmon run upstream for summer spawning
they dig dens for winter hibernation, often holing up in a suitable-looking hillside. Females give birth during this winter rest
they can run at speeds of up to 30 mph