Animal Facts & Photos
It’s fun to learn about animals, and there are several websites I’ve stumbled upon this week that you might enjoy looking at.
Eastern Bolivia is one of the most biologically diverse areas on Earth, according to BoliviaBella.com which has an online gallery of wildlife. Are flamingo’s born pink? What animal gave the financial security industry the idea to use iridescent images on paper currency and credit cards to make them difficult to counterfeit? And how many bear species are in South America? Answers to these and other questions can be found on this website, together with some wildlife photos.
If you like facts, read this next paragraph. If facts don’t work for you, and you prefer photographs, skip to the following paragraph.
From Bolivia to India. IloveIndia.com has a list that will delight anyone who really likes information. They have 3 pages of lists of “Facts About –“ animals, ranging from Facts About Lobster to Facts About Red Wolf to Facts About Echidna. They also answer questions such as Why do Horses Sleep Standing Up? and discuss Different Types of Whales.
If you’re more visually based, you may enjoy Buzz Inn’s page of photographs of the Strangest And Rarest Animals In World. The animals include the venomous, nocturnal, burrowing, insectivorous mammals called solenodons. Sea pigs and Vampire Squids make a certain impression, while personally I think the Ocelot and the Red Panda are among the cutest animals on the website. The writers share some interesting animal facts, such as that the brain of the river dolphin is 40% larger than a human brain. An okapi has a tongue that is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears. And the Pig-Nosed Frog is the dinosaur of the frog species – about 50 to 100 million years old, it survived past environmental changes by living deep underground.
Have fun checking out the websites. Happy Friday!
Tags: animals, Bolivia, facts about animals, flamingos, India, red panda, strangest animals, Wildlife
March 31st, 2011 at 5:05 am
I have enjoyed Buss Inn’s photograph before but stumbled across yours and really enjoyed the pics.
Thanks
March 31st, 2011 at 10:14 am
Is it true Flamingos turn pink because of their diet? Similar to if we eat too many carrots we could turn orange. The animal kingdom is a crazy, fun, exciting thing. Thanks for sharing.
April 3rd, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Hi Rob,
Many people think flamingos are pink because of what they eat, which is mainly algae and crustaceans like shrimp. Apparently flamingos that eat mainly algae are deeper colored. Captive flamingos are fed a special diet to maintain their pink color. Thanks for asking!
Alison
April 5th, 2011 at 12:12 am
@Rob.Thank you for giving us idea about the flamingo pink color. There are many cute wildlife I really admire the flamingo is just the one of them.
April 6th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
Alison, thanks for spreading interest in wild life across the globe. Having watched the bird life in England decline drastically, it is so refreshing to life on a tropical island now in a place that only 30 years ago was residual rainforest. Many of the trees still stand. My only problem is being able to recognize all the birds that come into the garden! And not knowing which snakes are venomous or not!
Keep up the great work.
April 11th, 2011 at 8:03 am
Hi Roy, Thanks for your comment. It’s sad that the English birds declined so much. Hopefully the conservationists there will be able to save them. Enjoy your island!
Alison
April 13th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
@Alison
Wow! I’m not that into animals so it really came as a surprise for me that flamingos are fed certain things just to maintain their colors. I thought their colors (and ours) have been with them the day they knew life. It appears there are still a lot to learn for me.
Thanks for the info anyway!
Amiel
Shisha Guy
Hookah Set: Real Taste of Adventure
April 14th, 2011 at 7:06 am
Hi Amiel,
Perfect! One reason I started this blog was to help educate people about our world and its wildlife and people. Thanks for commenting.
Alison
April 14th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Allison, Just visited Buzz inn’s page of photographs. The first two pictures were of a Solenodon and an African Civet. Reading the descriptions reminded me of Jim Fowler of Wild Kingdom who used to come on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with all kinds of crazy animals.
Was wondering if you or anyone else remembers enjoying those t.v. moments growing up?
Sean Cavanaugh
April 14th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Hi Sean,
Yes, I remember watching Wild Kingdom regularly when I was a kid. Between that and reading lots of animal books, my lifelong interest in wildlife showed up early! Thanks for the memory.
Alison
April 15th, 2011 at 4:23 am
I was interested by Roy’s comments on the decline of birds in England and his own “migration” to a tropical island. I live in Hertfordshire and am fortunate to be able to work on my computer in the garden weather permitting. I am always amazed at the variety of birds that I see simply by sitting quietly in one place. But its not only the rare ones that I love. A few days ago a tiny wren took a bath in some rainwater only a couple of feet beside me. It was the most surprising and wonderful sight. Close up the wren appeared just as exotic and beautiful as any humming bird. I think it ignored me only because a “tame” blackbird was perched on top of my computer screen!
April 15th, 2011 at 6:59 am
Hi Kevin,
It sounds like you have developed a wonderful lifestyle. Enjoy it! Thanks for sharing.
Alison
April 16th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Alison, it’s such a very good cause. Really, understanding is the first step before we can even preserve and take care of what’s there!
Amiel
April 17th, 2011 at 8:57 am
Hi Amiel,
Thanks! Yes, step one is to learn what needs saving. And as Oscar Wilde once said, “You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.”
Alison
April 17th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
He nailed that one there! Say, i just noticed that the first part of what Wilde said, in this context, would really apply to all those people who know but are still doing nothing.
Keep up the good work Alison!
April 18th, 2011 at 7:34 am
Hi Amiel,
Yes, you make a good point. There are those people who know and do something, those who know and don’t do anything, those who don’t know, and those who don’t even know they don’t know!
Alison
April 19th, 2011 at 12:27 am
i learn this post about the writers say’s,like share some interesting animal facts, such as that the brain of the river dolphin is 40% larger than a human brain.
April 19th, 2011 at 7:48 am
Hi Betsy,
Yes, the animal world is filled with fascinating facts.
Thanks,
Alison
May 14th, 2011 at 2:11 am
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July 6th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Perfect! Yes, I remember watching Wild Kingdom regularly when I was a kid. Between that and reading lots of animal books, my lifelong interest in wildlife showed up early! I have discovered it extremely useful.
July 7th, 2011 at 4:39 pm
Yes, I watched animal shows and read animal books a lot as a kid, too. My love for animals showed up when I was 3 years old and saw the tigers at Toronto Zoo. I have loved animals ever since.