Alpacas!

Since this is going to be my last blog, I thought I would do something special, something spectacular, something I personally love myself, Alpacas!!
There are two different types of Alpaca, the Huacaya and Suri. The only difference is in the fur, or fleece. Their fleece comes in 16 different natural colors. White, beige, light fawn, medium fawn, dark fawn, light brown, medium brown, dark brown, bay black, true black, light silver grey, medium silver grey, dark silver grey, light rose grey, medium rose grey, and dark rose grey.
Like all animals, alpacas show individual personality. They are herd animals, preferring the companionship of their friends and their established community, and will become stressed if separated from their buddies.
The oldest known records of the Alpaca were 1,000 years before the great pyramids of Giza. The Incas showed their wealth by the number of alpacas they owned and by showing off their beautiful tops woven by the Alpacas fleece.
“What's the difference between alpacas and llamas?” you may ask.
Well the difference is size and fiber quality. Llamas were primarily bred to be beasts of burden, and alpacas were bred primarily as fiber producers. An average alpaca stands 34"-36" at the shoulders, whereas a llama stands 42"-48" at the shoulders. Alpacas weigh 125-175 pounds on average. An adult alpaca will generally produce 5-8 pounds of high-quality fiber each year.

Ferrets!

An unspayed female ferret is called a Jill and a spayed female is called a Sprite. An unneutered male is called a Hob and a neutered male is called a Gib.
Baby ferrets are called Kits, and when they’re newborn, they have pure white hair and, they’re so small that they can fit into a teaspoon!
After kit-hood (6-8 weeks of age) ferrets make very few sounds, and the average ferret lives to be 6 or 7 years old. The average ferret has 8 Kits, but it can vary from 1-18 in a litter.
Ferrets like to crawl into dark places to sleep, and they can squeeze into a hole just over 1 inch in diameter! Also, ferrets can sleep so soundly that they can’t be woken up even when picked up and shook around.
Ferrets are also born blind and deaf, their sight and hearing begin at about 34 days. Their baby teeth come in at 14 days, adult teeth at 47 days, and full sized teeth by 70 days!
Female can grow to 1.5 – 2.25 lbs in weight and up to 18 inches in length. Males on the other hand, grow 1.75 – 6 lbs in weight and can grow up to 24 inches in length.If you don't find this interesting enough for you, you can always click here to find out more.

Donkeys!

They’re like horses, but smaller and not as much color, and bigger ears. Can you guess what it is? It’s a donkey. The donkey is a herbivorous animal and the smallest member of the horse family.

 The correct term for the animal known as the donkey, is a burro, or jack stock. The young of a donkey is called a foal. A young male is a colt and a young female a filly. The correct name for a female donkey is jenny and the correct name for a male donkey is jack.

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. A hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey.

There are three categories of donkeys. Miniatures are 36 inches and under. Standards are between 36 and 54 inches. Mammoths are over 54 inches. All measured to the shoulder. (Meaning not including the head)

Donkeys can live for 25 to 35 years of age. However, donkeys in third world countries live over 10 years.

Jennies are pregnant for one full year and usually give birth one foal. Twins are very rare for a donkey.

Donkeys are used as guard animals for goats and sheep against the threat of coyote attack. They are also used to protect cows while calving. The coyote is the only natural threat to donkeys. Donkeys therefore do not like any canines.

Donkeys can easily carry 30% of their body weight in live load and 20% in dead weight.

Cockatoos!

There are five common species of the white cockatoo, the Galah/Rose-Breasted, Goffin’s, Moluccan, Sulphur-Crested, and the Umbrella.

The Galah/Rose-Breasted are one of the smaller ones of the cockatoo family, they’re only 14 inches tall. They have gray wing feathers and a white and pink crest (head).

The Goffin’s bird is one of the smallest, standing at 11 inches tall. Their feathers are white and yellow, and they may seem like the quietest but they can make noise when they want to!

The Moluccan’s are the largest of the cockatoos. They are about 20 inches tall and have salmon and pink colored feathers and a white crest.

The Sulphur-Crested birds are the same size at the Moluccan standing at 20 inches tall. They’re white with a yellow crest and yellow tail feathers.

The Umbrella bird is slightly smaller than the Sulphur-Crested and the Moluccan, but has the personality of the Moluccan. They have a broad-feathers white crest, and have a touch of yellow under its wings and tail.  

The cockatoo is a very affectionate companion bird if raised properly. They bob their heads and dance for attention and they find great joy in showing off their tricks if you’ve taught them.

Turtles!

Today, my third blog post is going to be about turtles. Turtles have been on the earth for more than 200 million years. They evolved before mammals, birds, crocodiles, snakes, and even lizards. 

Turtles live on every continent except Antarctica. Turtles will live in almost any climate warm enough to allow them to complete their breeding cycle. Turtles, along with water snakes, crocodiles, alligators, dolphins and whales, will drown if kept underwater for too long, and turtles can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Some turtles can reproduce up to 4 years after mating, and they don’t lay eggs in water, only on land. Male and female turtles have different sounds and you can tell their gender by their sounds because males grunt and females hiss. Turtles will live in almost any climate warm enough to allow them to complete their breeding cycle. Turtles can go from a 1 inch baby turtle, to 500 pound Giant Tortoise.  Giant tortoises can live to be 300 years old.

Sea turtles live in the sea, but can’t breathe underwater, the just hold their breath for long periods of time. Adult sea turtles can grow to weigh from 150-1000 pounds! They use their jaws to cut and chew food. Some turtles can live for more than a year without food. The shell of a turtle is made up of 60 different bones all connected together. When in danger the green turtle can swim almost 20 miles an hour to escape.

If you want to learn more about turtles, you can click here and find out!

Giraffes!

This week, my blog is going to be about giraffes.
Giraffes are the world’s biggest mammals. Their legs alone are taller than humans. These legs allow giraffes to run as fast as 35 miles an hour over short distances and sprint comfortably at 10 miles an hour over longer distances. Males sometimes fight one another by slamming their long necks and heads together. These “contests” aren't usually dangerous and end when one animal gives in and walks away.
Giraffes mainly eat acacia leaves. They eat up to 47 pounds of food a day. The giraffes tongue is 18 inches long and they have a four chambered stomach so they can regurgitate their food for more chewing – kind of like a cow. The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world, males stand between 16-18 feet, and females stand between 14-16 feet.

A giraffe's heart has the task of pumping blood at high enough pressure so that it can flow up the giraffe's neck to the brain. To accomplish this task, a giraffe's heart is specially adapted. It can weigh up to 22 pounds and generates twice the blood pressure of other large mammals. Having enough blood pressure to pump blood to the brain when the giraffe's neck is formed upward is one challenge, but when the animal lowers its head it risks injury due to excessive blood pressure. "The total number of giraffes in Africa was estimated by IUCN in 1999 to exceed 140,000." To learn more about this, click on the sentance and it will take you to the website.

Pandas!

I’ll be blogging about animals. Today, I’ll be blogging about Pandas! In my opinion pandas are very innocent and precious creatures.

They are black and white (unless you go to a different species of pandas which can be red) and have blue eyes when born and brownish black when they get older. Pandas have an appetite for bamboo! This animal eats from 12 hours to 24 hours a day. It takes 28 pounds of bamboo to satisfy giant pandas dietary needs.   

Giant pandas are alone in the wild. Since there are only about 900 in the wild, there aren’t a lot in just one place. They have an amazing sense of smell. So, if there are other pandas around, males use to avoid each other, and to find females for mating in the spring. After a female being pregnant for five months, they give birth to a cub or two, though they can’t care for both twins. The blind infants weigh only 5 ounces at birth and can’t crawl until they are 3 months old. They are born white, and develop their black spots as they age. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/giant-panda.

Here are just some interesting facts that not a lot of people know about. They're mostly about their habitat, their reproduction, and their diet and other things:

v  Adult pandas weigh between 160 and 300 lbs. A male is usually a little bigger than a female panda.

v  A panda can live for about 20 years in the wild. A panda can live over 30 years in captivity.

v  A panda named “Du Du” in Wuhan Zoo in China lived to be 37 years old. Du Du holds the record for the oldest panda that has ever lived.

v  The giant panda has five fingers.

v  Pandas like old-growth forests with nourishing undergrowth bamboo on a gentle slope, where streams are not too far away. Whereas Polar Bears like the arctic better.

v     In the wild, pandas usually spend 11 to 14 hours each day foraging for food.

v  Pandas usually have children once every two years.

This is my first blog but certainly not my last. Hope you had fun reading it!