Mammals Archives - Interesting Animals for Kids

Zebra

Posted by Maryn on January 10, 2014

Have you ever wondered if zebras are black with white stripes, or white with black stripes? Well, the answer is that they are both! What is interesting is that each zebra has a unique stripe pattern. That means that no two look exactly the same.

Zebras are mammals, and members of the horse horse family. Â Like wild horses, zebras live in herds which are groups of mammals with hooves. Â Because they live in herds, they are very social and work together like a big family. Â When the herd senses danger is approaching, Â the zebras all run together to try to find safety. They might have stripes to confuse their preditors. A herd of Zebras live together all there life, and sometimes work with other herds.

Zebras are pray to lions, cheetahs, and other carnivores. Zebras sometimes have have plans if they are attacked by a predator.

Zebras’ teeth grow all their life because they graze all day long and wear them down.

Filed Under: Grasslands, Mammals, Z | Tagged:

Orca

Posted by Maryn on November 30, 2013

Did you know orcas are also called Killer whales? Orcas get the name “Killer Whale” because they are very violent to other animals in the wild.Â Another native name for an orca is called Blackfish.

Orcas live in pods. Pods are groups of marine mammals of the same species. If another animal that is not a part the pod comes into the pod the males will kill that animal. Orcas can swim 100 miles a day in their pods.

In captivity orcas are kept in 1% of their natural spaces andÂ they are slaves to entertainment. They also die at the age of 25-30 years old.

Female orcas can live up to 100 years old while the males live to 50 years.

Orcas dorsal fins can be up to 6 and a half feet tall!

Filed Under: Mammals, O, Ocean, Uncategorized | Tagged:

Beaver

Posted by Maryn on November 29, 2013

Have you ever herd the term ” Busy as a Beaver”? Well beavers are busy through most of the adulthood life. There are 2 types of beavers, found in forests of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Beavers build domelike homes out of sticks and mud. They are often made in the middle of ponds. The home can only be reached by an underwater entrance. The home can fit up to a family of 6 beavers!

Beavers have flat leathery tails to help them swim up to 5 miles per hour. They can stay underwater for 15 minutes with one breath. Their fur is dark brown and waterproof.

Filed Under: B, Mammals, Rodents | Tagged:

Tiger

Posted by Maryn on November 29, 2013

The tiger is the biggest cat in the world. They love to swim, unlike most cats. Â They grow thick, long, reddish, orange coats with black stripes, and white underbellies. There were once 9 species of tigers: Bengal, Siberian, Indochinese, South Chinese, Sumatran, Malayan, Javan, Caspian, and Bali. Sadly, the last three of these tigers are now extinct. Tigers are very rare. There are about 4,500 living in the wild! That may seem a lot but it is not.

Tigers mainly eat ambar deer , wild pigs, water buffalo, and antelope. As you can see tigers are carnivores.

Tigers can be white or orange. White tigers live in snowy biomes, and the orange tigers live in forests and other biomes.

Tigers are my favorite animal because they are pretty and strong.

Filed Under: Alphabetical List, Mammals, T | Tagged:

Cheetah

Posted by Maryn on December 29, 2012

Did you know a cheetah can run 70 miles per hour? That’s how fast we go on the freeway. When a cheetah is chasing it’s prey, it runs half it’s normal speed. When it runs,Â it has it’s tail up to help them keep balance and only one paw hits the ground at a time

Cheetahs are carnivores, which means they eat only meat. Cheetahs eat gazel, zebra and more. Cheetahs can carry their prey all the way up a tree.

To tell a cheetah and leopard apart, the cheetah has spots and leopards have a flower like pattern.

Filed Under: Animals, C, Mammals | Tagged:

Bottlenose Dolphins

Posted by Maryn on February 25, 2011

This post is for my big brother, Decker. He loves dolphins!

You probably guessed that Bottlenose Dolphins got their name because of the shape of their beak, but did you know that they can’t smell? Nope. But they make up for that
because they have great eyesight and hearing skills!

Bottlenose Dolphins can make there own music by the sounds they make. They send messages in many ways. Using clicks and whistles, they can alert each other if they smell danger or if fish are swimming by.

Bottlenose dolphins use echolocation to find food and other things, just like bats! First, they make a high-pitched sound. Next, that sound travels through the water and hits it’s target. Then the sound returns to the dolphin like an echo. This echo tells the dolphin how far away something is, how big it is, and how fast it is moving. Their great hearing helps! Some scientists think that the sounds travel through their jaws and into their inner ear.

Dolphins are mammals like us, so that means that they have to breath air. They breath through their blowholes, and these blowholes open and close to let air in and keep water out.

Filed Under: Cetaceans, D, Mammals, Ocean | Tagged:

Manatee

Posted by Maryn on January 26, 2011

: Â© NICOLAS LARENTO – Fotolia.com

Two weekends ago, my friends Trey, Victoria, Brooklyn, and I put up a lemonade stand. We wanted to raise enough money to adopt a Manatee from the Save the Manatee Club, because Manatees are endangered. My brother helped us by making colorful signs that said “Save the Manatees.”Â When we were done, we had raised $24. My mom gave us an extra dollar so we would have enough money to adopt a Manatee named Whiskers.

Did you know that manatee’s closest relative is the elephant?Â They can grow 13′ long and can weigh up to 1,300 pounds?Â They are pretty big, and they are good swimmers. They swim about 5 miles per hour. They swim by flapping their tails up and down, and steer with their stretchy flippers. If they’re in really shallow water, they use their front flippers to walk on while they eat sea plants and grasses. Because they are so slow, and like warm, shallow water, Manatees often get hurt by boat propellers when the drivers don’t see them.

Manatees are sea mammals like whales and dolphins. They live in water, and go to the surface to breathe air. They can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes, if they are resting.

A long time ago, people used to hunt Manatees for their meat, skin, and oil. Today, there are laws to protect them. If you would like to adopt a Manatee, or learn even more about them, you can go to www.SaveTheManatee.org.

Filed Under: Animals, M, Mammals, Ocean | Tagged:

Giraffe

Posted by Maryn on December 9, 2010

This post is for Victoria who loves animals, especially giraffes.

: Â© Martinan – Fotolia.com

Did you know that the giraffe is the tallest animal in the world? They can grow up to 18 feet high! Their long legs and neck help them eat leaves from tall trees. Their favorite food is the thorny leaves of an acacia tree.

The predators giraffes have to look out for the most are lions. If a giraffe senses danger he or she sends a signal to the rest of the herd. Then they all take off running at up to 35 miles per hour! If a lion tries to catch a baby giraffe, and the mom sees this, she will get ready for a fight with the lion! Her strong legs could kick and kill a lion. When they are fully grown, most lions won’t mess with giraffes.

Filed Under: Animals, G, Grasslands, Mammals | Tagged:

Coyote

Posted by Maryn on November 17, 2010

This is for my friend’s mom, Miss Shari.

: Â© outdoorsman – Fotolia.com

Did you know that coyotes live all over the United States? This might be really hard to believe but coyotes even live in big cities like Los Angeles and Dallas, Texas.

Coyotes can have up to twelve pups. Coyote pups are born in spring, and when their mom thinks they’re ready, they come out of their den to play and learn. To teach their pups to hunt, a mother coyote catches a mouse very carefully, then she lets the pups chase after them until they catch one.

Coyotes are very good tricksters.Â Sometimes they jump around like goofs while birds watch. Then his or her partner will catch them for diner.Â That’s a good hunting trick.

In the hills by my house, where my family and I like to run and hike, there are a lot of coyotes. My school’s mascot is even a coyote.

Filed Under: Animals, C, Desert, Grasslands, Mammals, Tundra | Tagged:

Gray Wolves

Posted by Maryn on November 10, 2010

My friend Aedan wanted to learn about Wolves.

Did you know that wolves howl to send a messages to other wolves? They might howl to warn that there are other wolves in their territory. Howling skills are very important to a pack, because if a wolf is lost from the pack the other wolves can send him a signal to find his way back home. They also communicate by whimpering, whining, growling, barking, and yelping.

When a wolf wants to play, it dances around happily. Playing might look a lot like fighting, but you can tell playing and fighting apart because fighting has growling and yelping, but playing has jumping onÂ each other.

Wolves and dogs are closely related.

Filed Under: Animals, Mammals, W | Tagged:

African Elephants

Posted by Maryn on November 1, 2010

This post is for my brother’s friend, Ian. He might be a wildlife biologist someday!

Do you know the difference between African and Asian Elephants? Asian Elephants have smaller ears, and both male and female African Elephants have tusks. Only male Asian Elephants have tusks.

African Elephants have very useful trunks! Since they live where it’s almost always really, really hot, they get a trunk full of water and spray it on their backs. Then, they do the same thing with dust. It works like sunscreen. The ends of their trunks work like little fingers. They use them to pick berries, grass, and other plants to eat.Â To drink, African Elephants can suck up to two gallons of water in their trunks, then curl them up and squirt it into their mouths. If they sense danger, they use their trunks to make a loud warning sound. They even hug other elephants with their trunks.

African elephant tusks are ivory teeth that grow their whole life. Their tusks can grow as long as seven feet. They use them to dig up roots and other things for food. They also use them to fight and protect themselves and their babies.

African elephants can live a long time. Some live to be around 70 years old.Â They can grow to be twelve feet tall and weigh more than 6 tons! The best thing about being so big is that they don’t have predators, but sometimes people kill them and take their ivory tusks. That makes me sad.

Filed Under: Animals, E, Mammals | Tagged:

Lions

Posted by Maryn on October 28, 2010

For Jordan.

Lions are one of the only cats that live in a pride. A pride is a group like a human family or a wolf pack. Sometimes they live in a group of 3 but usually in a group of 15 or more. Sometimes, when a male lion leaves and goes to live with another pride, he kills all of the cubs in the new pride.

Lions are very good hunters. Food for the pride is almost always caught by the female lions. They only eat meat witch means they are carnivores. Their favorite foods are gazelles, zebra, hares, and other small animals. They can eat 50 pounds of meat in one meal!

Did you know, that Lions are really good swimmers? Most cats don’t like water.

Full grown males can way between 330-550. They can run 35 miles per hour.

Filed Under: Animals, L, Mammals | Tagged: