The coyote is a wild member of the dog family. The name coyote comes from the Aztec name Coyoti. The Latin name for the coyote is Canis latrans which means barking dog. The coyote is sometimes called the little wolf God’s Dog, brush wolf, prairie wolf, and the Songdog.
It is known for its cleverness and its nighttime howls. They live throughout the continental United States.
Coyotes are similar to wolves, but they are smaller and more lightly built. Most adult coyotes weigh 9-23 kilograms and are 1-1.2 meters long, including the tail. Most coyotes are grayish brown with white on the throat and belly. Coyote fur is long and soft and grows heavier in the winter to protect it from the cold.
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In those distant times when the alarm clocks were in huge deficit, the workers woke up in the morning with the buzz of their factories, the peasants – with the roosters crowing. But the Australian aborigines understood that a new day had come thanks to kookaburra laughter.
Actually, kookaburra is a bird from the family of kingfishers. It lives exclusively in Australia and New Guinea, and does not make long flights.
It sleeps at night and gets food as much as it can. These birds eat lizards, insects, snakes and all sorts of rodents. When there is not enough food it can steal chicks.
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Muskrats are rodents that look like a cross between a rat and a beaver. They live in water. The animal has two musk glands under its tail. It produces a strong odor that smells like musk. Muskrats were originally found only in North America. People took them to Europe and Asia in the early 1900s. The scientific name of the muskrat is Ondatra zibethicus.
Muskrats build their houses in water, using mud, cattails, and other plants. These structures are typically more than one meter high and several meters broad. Muskrats dig narrow channels through the surrounding plant growth.
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The wolverine is a mammal of the weasel family. It can give off an unpleasant smell like its relative the skunk. The scientific name of the animal is Gulo gulo. The wolverines live mostly in the northern parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is very strong animal with big appetite.
The wolverine looks like a small bear. It ranges from about 66 to 91 centimeters in length and has a long, bushy tail. Its weight is from 9 to 30 kilograms. It has a thick neck and big claws. This nocturnal animal lives alone. It can travel up to 60 kilometers a day looking for food.
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The term elk refers to different animals in different parts of the world. In Europe it is used for the mammal known in North America as the moose. The American elk is more properly named the wapiti. They live in Canada, Alaska, the Rocky Mountain region of the United States, and in the northern forests of Europe and Asia. They like to be near rivers, ponds, and lakes.
Moose are the largest animals in the deer family, weighing as much as 800 kg and standing as tall as about 2 m. They have a long and large head, long legs, a short neck and tail. They are good swimmers.
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Dolphins look like big fishes, but they are actually mammals. They belong to a large group of animals called whales.
There are two groups: true dolphins and river dolphins. True dolphins live throughout the world and the most widespread species are the common dolphin and the bottlenose dolphin. The River dolphins live in freshwater in South America and Asia. There are thirty-two species of dolphins.
Most dolphins are 2 to 3 meters long, but some species can reach a length of 4 meters.
A dolphin breathes through a single nostril, called a blowhole, on the top of its head.
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Geckos are small lizards known for their incredible climbing ability. There are about 650 species of gecko. They live in warm areas of the world.
They are 3 to 15 centimeters long, including the tail. Geckos are gray, brown, dirty white and green. The texture and color of a gecko’s skin provides excellent camouflage.
They can climb very well. Each of its toes has thousands of tiny hairs on the bottom. At the end of each hair are hundreds of even tinier pads. As a gecko climbs, these pads spread out to create a strong sticking power. They are able to climb up polished glass walls and even run across ceilings. Unique legs of geckos allow them to hold weight, which is ten times greater than their own. Thus, a lizard weighing only 50 g can hold a load of 2 kg on its legs.
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