Tiger Quoll: Rare and Adorable

The Tiger Quoll is a super cute and slender marsupial that only lives in Australia. They are very rare, and sadly are endangered. Tiger Quolls are related to Tasmanian Devils, and are in a family with animals that look like mice.

"Tiger Quoll" seems like a silly name for an animal that is spotted, instead of stripey like a Tiger. But rest assured, they can also be called Spotted Quolls. These fuzzy guys have really cute little heads with adorable noses, and small ears, as well as short legs. A cool thing about this animal, is that their spots continue on the long tail.

Whatcha looking at?

Look at that cute nose!

Tiger Quolls live in Eastern Australia in rainforests. They like to hang out in trees, where they hunt for food, such as birds, and possums. They also eat other animals, like rodents, lizards, snakes, and insects. These fuzzy mammals are mostly active at night, when they can hunt for prey and not become food for bigger animals who are active during the day.

Cuddly.

Tiger Quolls sleep in dens, which means any cozy place they can find, like holes in trees, caves, burrows underground, hollow trees, or even under houses.

These cute marsupials often greet one another by sniffing noses together! Adorable!

Further Reading

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Australian Threatened Species: Tiger Quoll
• Research into Threats to Eastern Quolls
• Otway Ranges Environment Network: Tiger Quoll Action Statement

Fuzzy Little Bats!

Leading up to Hallowe'en, I'll be profiling animals that are not normally considered cute. In fact, many people are often afraid of these animals, and I'll be showing how cute they can be! 

So fuzzy!

Many people are afraid of Bats, but they are really cute and fuzzy! Also, the Bats found in Canada, such as the Little Brown Bat, are pretty small, so there is nothing to be afraid of. Bats are Mammals, just like us, which means that the mothers feed their babies milk.

I've seen Bats in Stanley Park, Vancouver, flying around at dusk! They swoop over the Lagoon, catching bugs to snack on. Bats also help pollinate plants, such as Bananas!

Bats love to cuddle one another. They often sleep in giant cuddle piles, consisting of millions of bats!

Sleeping upside down!

Most Bats sleep during the day and are active at night. One of the cool thing about Bats is their ability to sleep while hanging upside down! They curl up into a little ball by wrapping their wings around their body, and then doze off to sleep.

Because Bats often fly around in the dark, they have a special skill, called echolocation, to find their prey. It's too dark at night for Bats to see their food, such as insects, so they make high-pitched noises which bounce back off objects, just like an echo. Bats can understand the echoing noises to figure out where objects are, like trees and bugs. How cool! There are some Bats who do not have this special skill, called Old World Bats. They are bigger in size and like to eat fruit!



Further Reading: Investigating the Role of Bats in Emerging Zoonoses

Momongas: the Cutest Ball of Fluff You'll Ever See!!

Cuddly Momongas!

I've just discovered Momongas, super adorable, tiny, fluffy Squirrels! They are a type of flying Squirrel, which means that when they jump and spread out their arms and legs, they have, what looks like, furry wings! They are not actually wings, but skin, similar to webbed toes.

Sleepy nap.

Momongas love sleeping in trees! They live in forests in Japan and like to sleep in tree holes during the day, but wake up at night to do cute things, like glide from tree to tree.

Their big, super cute, eyes help them see at night when they are gliding and collecting food.
Momongas like to eat leaves, berries and fruit, seeds, and tree bark. They use their tiny little paws to hold their food.

Peek-a-boo!

Momongas make their nests using moss and lichen (both plants) that they collect. These chubby, furry Rodents have about 1 to 5 babies once or twice a year. The babies are born between May and July, which means a lot of cuteness during the Summer!

MOMONGAS ARE MY NEW FAVOURITE ANIMALS!! :D

Baby Skunks!

A few days ago I discovered that there are seven baby Skunks living on my street in Vancouver! They live in a cute burrow with their parents, but are often out and about in the evening, playing with one another. Here's a little video of them:


Baby Skunks! from Nico Collins on Vimeo.

Look at those holes the Skunks made!

Skunks are known for their ability to spray a smelly liquid when threatened, but Skunks don't often spray! If you get close to a Skunk, it will hiss at you before spraying you, so don't be afraid of them, but do keep a respectful distance. Skunks also don't have great eyesight, so unless you get super close, they probably cannot even see you.

Digging for worms!

Skunks dig burrows to live in, where they cuddle with their family, and also dig in the ground to find food, like wormies. These baby Skunks are still pretty small, but very active in playing with one another and digging a lot! Skunks had tiny little legs with claws, long bodies, and of course, a big pouffy tail. Skunks eat a lot more than just worms, and in fact, will eat almost anything! They are not very picky eaters.

3 baby Skunks hanging out together.

Skunks sleep during the day and wake up around sunset to look for food. In Vancouver, I usually see adult Skunks in the nighttime, around midnight, but the babies are active starting around 8pm. Skunks also sleep more and eat less in the Winter, although they don't usually hibernate, like some bears. Sometimes, many lady Skunks will sleep in a den together to stay warm!

The Slow and Cuddly Sloth!

Today I visited the Vancouver Aquarium. I have an annual membership and I love visiting to film the cute animals. Today I saw the new African Penguins for the first time, although it was too hard to film them because of the glass barrier. Instead, I visited the "Amazon" exhibit, which isn't aquarium based, but filled with super cool tropical animals. It reminds me of when I worked at a tropical plant and animal exhibit at Bowring Park, in St. John's. I took lots of photos and some short films of the very fuzzy Sloth!

Just hanging out, being cute. (Photo credit: Nico Collins a.k.a Me!)

Sloths are mammals that spend most of their time sleeping in trees in the jungles of Central and South America. They are very fuzzy and cuddly looking, as well as slow moving, hence their name!

When I first arrived, this lazy guy was having a snack of leaves. Sloths also eat the buds and shoots of certain trees, but that's pretty much it for diet variety. Some sloths might eat insects or birds, but not very often.

After eating, the Sloth went climbing!

He climbed along the wall to find a tree to sleep in.

When he found the right tree, he slowly climbed down.

Sloth getting ready for a nap. (Photo by Nico Collins)

Sloths have long claws to grab tree branches in order to hang while napping, just like this guy.

Lots of little bugs and friendly critters live in the Sloth's thick fur! Even bacteria make their home in this fuzz and change the color of the Sloth, which helps it camouflage!

A Cool, New Animal Discovery: the Tenrec!

I recently discovered a really cool animal while reading a book about Sea Otters (by John A.Love). The beginning chapter discusses aquatic mammal evolution, and mentions that some Tenrecs live in water. I had never heard of a "Tenrec" before, so I decided to do some research, and I found a super cute and cool animal! Tenrecs are mammals that look like Otters, Hedgehogs, Shrews, and Mice. Because Tenrecs are a pretty big group of animals, with lots of different features, I'm going to share one species in particular that are really great: the Lowland Streaked Tenrec.





spikey and furry!

These tiny mammals looks like a cross between a Hedgehog and a Shrew. It's black and yellow striped, with a mixture of spikey quills and fur! The yellow spikes on his head are for defense against animals trying to eat him! These quills will stick into the predator, and will be very ouchie, causing the predator to run away and leave this cute little guy alone.








nibbling on a worm.

These particular Tenrecs have long snouts for munching on earthworms, which are their favorite snack. The Lowland Streaked Tenrec is really tiny and likes to scurry around in Madagascar searching for food. The coolest thing about these tiny mammals is the way they talk to one another. You know how Crickets rub their legs together and make that high pitched noise? Well, these Tenrecs rub their quills together and produce an even higher pitched noise, so high that humans cannot hear it! They are the only mammal known to communicate this way.

Madagascar is an amazing island located to the East of Africa. While it is geographically part of Africa, the animals on the island differ dramatically and are some of the most unique animals in the world! Islands usually have very special and unique animals because they are so isolated from the rest of the world. It's easy for animals to move around on the continents, but pretty tricky for most animals to get to an island, unless they can swim, fly, or walk across if the water freezes. This means that the animals on Madagascar look and behave very differently from similiar animals in other parts of the world. The Lowland Streaked Tenrec is only found on Madagascar!

This particular Tenrec likes to snuggle with its family in burrows. These burrows are made by the animals themselves. Tenrec families can be pretty big, with up to 40 members spending time together! The Lowland Streaked Tenrec also likes to search for food with its family. I guess they really don't like to be lonely!

Squirrel Appreciation Day!

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day! 

The word "Squirrel" means "shadow-tailed" and Squirrels are Rodents, like Mice, Rats, and Chipmunks. Rodents are mammals (just like us humans) but have special teeth that keep growing. Rodents must nibble and chew on things to wear down their teeth! Squirrels love climbing trees and have great toes and claws for holding on tight. Squirrels often find food in trees, such as nuts and berries, although its easier if they wait until the food falls to the ground. Then they scurry around, collecting all the delicious treats, and stuff them into their mouth for storage!

Squirrels can be lot of different colors, such as black, red, or brown, with different striped patterns on their tails. Black Squirrels are not a different species, and are actually Eastern Grey Squirrels. They just have a dark pigment to their skin and fur.

Squirrels have pretty big eyes, which means they have great vision, for avoiding predators and finding yummy food.

Squirrels love hiding their food in the ground, and will use their cute little feet to dig holes for burying their treats. These fuzzy creatures will come back for their food when they're hungry. Sometimes they forget where they have hidden their nuts, seeds, and berries, and a new plant will grow from the ground. This means, that Squirrels help plants reproduce by planting their seeds!

Feel free to share any of your Squirrel stories!

A Special Post for my Hamster, Little Panda.

I have sad news: on December 24th, my Syrian/Teddy Bear Hamster, named Little Panda, passed away due to a stroke. He was an adorable, fuzzy, little creature who liked running on his hamster wheel and nibbling cute food.



April 2nd, 2011

This is Little Panda on his first day in my home. He was only a few weeks old and was very tiny, and a little apprehensive. He shred the newspaper into little tiny bits to make a comfy nest for himself.








Little Panda's First Adventure

After a couple of weeks of getting to know Little Panda, I let him venture out of his cage to explore my living room. He was very excited and ran very quickly around! Hamsters are very good runners.









Me and Little Panda :)

Little Panda also liked to climb on me! The sweater I'm wearing has deep pockets that he liked to explore.

In the wild, Syrian Hamsters are active at dawn and dusk, when they awake to run around and collect food. Pet Hamsters are often active all throughout the night because they have no predators to hide from.






Little Panda climbing

Hamsters are Rodents and are related to Mice, Rats, Squirrels, and Beavers. They are great climbers as seen in this photo of Little Panda! He loved to climb all over his cage and had little tiny feet with claws to grip on tightly.

A New Cage!

When I moved into a bigger house in May, I set about building a big cage using old window screens that I found on the sidewalk. I decorated the inside with grass and pebbles, and also made a really cool house for him with medium-sized rocks. It had multiple entrances and levels because Hamsters like to be protected. In the wild, Syrian Hamsters are considered "vulnerable" because people are starting farms on the land where these fuzzy guys live.

I fed Little Panda grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and some treats of cheese and milk. Hamsters have special cheek pockets that they store food in, which makes their face look really chubby and cute!

In September, I embarked on a cross-Canada adventure. I got Little Panda a new travel cage with a wooden house, a water dispenser, and lots of privacy. He traveled with me on the train across all the provinces (except P.E.I), making him a very well-educated and cultured little Hamster.

Little Panda was buried in a cute park on the beach on Salt Spring Island, close to a farm with Alpacas and Sheep. I think this will be a quiet and nice place for him.

Travels

Since the end of September, I've been travelling across Canada, from the East Coast to the West. I saw a lot of cute animals along the way, especially considering I stopped into the Toronto Zoo!

Here are some of my favourite animals that I've seen during my travels:

Tortoise
(at Natural History Museum, Halifax, NS)

I met this Tortoise named Gus in Halifax. He is 89 years old! Tortoises are related to Turtles, but unlike a lot of Turtles, Tortoises live on land and do not swim. A lot of Turtles either live in water (coming up for air) or close to water. But Gus here prefers the grass outside the Natural History Museum.

He also loves to munch on bananas and is quite a messy eater. Tortoises also like grass and flowers, and some like an occasional worm or insect.

A super cool things about Tortoises (and Turtles) is their amazing shell! It's connected to their bodies and acts as protection from predators, weather, and also provides a great place to sleep. Tortoises can retreat completely inside their shells, while some Turtles, such as Sea Turtles, cannot go inside their shell at all.

Gus, the Tortoise!

Black Squirrel
(in Lafontaine Park, Montreal, QC) 


I saw a lot of super cute and fuzzy Black Squirrels while in Montreal. These dark colored animals are actually Eastern Grey Squirrels, but with a different color pigment. This is the opposite of an albino animal, which are all white.

These Black Squirrels were quickly scurrying all over the park, up and down trees, and even checking out trash cans for food.

The word Squirrel can be translated into "Shadow Tail", which is equally as cute!

Deer
(on Wolfe Island, Kingston, ON) 

While visiting friends on Wolfe Island, I saw these cute wild deer in their backyard! The sun was setting and these adorable creatures were jumping about on the grass.

These are White-Tailed Deer, hence their cute little white bums and tail undersides. I love when they jump and their tail flops in the air! Male Deer have antlers and are generally bigger than female Deer. The name for a female Deer is "doe", while baby Deer are called "fawns.

Elephant
(at Toronto Zoo, ON) 

The Toronto Zoo had a lot of spectacular animals, many of which I have already written about on my blog (Red Pandas, Sea Otters, Hippos). This Elephant really enjoyed scratching themselves against this pole and shortly after this photo was taken also had the biggest pee I have ever seen!

I believe this is an Asian Elephant (as opposed to an African Elephant) because African Elephants have much larger ears. I think the coolest thing about Elephants is their trunks! With their trunk, they can pick up things, like branches to eat, as well as drink water, bathe themselves, and even greet their friends with a sort of handshake (wrapping their trunks together).

Raccoons
(in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC) 

I haven't seen many Raccoons in my life until I went to Stanley Park and saw a bunch! These two, in particular, were hiding from the rain under a boardwalk. There were signs all over the park warning against petting or feeding them, but I still really wanted to pet a Raccoon. Of course, I know all the reasons not to approach wild animals, but that doesn't mean I want to cuddle them any less. Ultimately I did not pet any Raccoons but took some cute photos instead.

I saw another pair of Raccoons swimming across a river! I couldn't believe what great little swimmers they were.

Raccoons have very sensitive little front paws, which they use for a lot of important tasks. They can inspect their food using these fuzzy paws and will even remove bits and pieces that they don't want or like. These super cuddly looking animals eat a lot of different foods, including plants and animals. 

Raccoons are also fantastic climbers.

Llama Llama!

 A few weeks ago I visited a petting zoo at Lester's Farm! There were a bunch of adorable animals such as, bunnies, baby goats, sheep, cows, baby chicks, a pig, but my favorite of all was the baby Llama!

Baby Llama!

A baby Llama is also called a "cria", which is the Spanish word for "baby". Llama moms are pregnant for about 11 months and stand up while giving birth. The baby Llama can usually walk and eat within an hour of being born!

I was very excited to meet this baby Llama! I pet him and his fur was super fuzzy and soft. I also fed him some grass, which is one of their favourite snacks.



Mommy and Baby Llama!

Llamas like to be around lots of other Llamas! These animals are domesticated, meaning there are no wild Llamas. They are related to camels and were domesticated from a wild camel called a "Guanaco".

The Poll Winner: the Aye-aye!

A few weeks ago I posted a poll asking which animal you wanted to see next. Here's some info about the winner: the Aye-aye.

(Photo credit: Tom Junek)

The Aye-aye is a primate, and more specifically, a lemur. These fuzzy animals are  nocturnal and primarily live in rainforests on the East coast of Madagascar.

(www.madagascarpartnership.org)

This lemur searches for food during the night, starting shortly after sunset. Aye-ayes eat nuts, seeds, fruit, fungi, and nectar, but the main parts of their diet are insects and larvae. The Aye-aye taps on the tree bark to listen for hollow areas. After finding the perfect spot, the lemur will tear open the tree bark and stick its long skinny finger inside to grab its food.

Aye-ayes are great jumpers and climbers, and barely spend any time on the ground. They usually only leave the forest canopy in times of deforestation, so they can look for food. This means that Aye-ayes sometimes wander into human villages, which normally results in a bad situation for the lemur. Locals consider the Aye-aye a bad omen, and often kill any they come across. For these two reasons, Aye-ayes are considered threatened, in terms of conservation status.

Raccoon Dog!

You voted on the poll and the Raccoon Dog won! I first heard about this super cute animal from the television show Life of Mammals, hosted by David Attenborough. Raccoon Dogs are not actually related to Raccoons, they just look alike. Raccoon Dogs are found throughout Asia and Eastern Europe.

Raccoon Dog mommies can have a lot of babies at one time, about a dozen and sometimes more! The babies have short fur when they are born and cannot open their eyes for about a week or so. They usually stay at home with their dad, while the mom looks for food.

Raccoon Dogs like to hibernate in the winter. Before it becomes too snowy the Raccoon Dogs eat a lot of food to become chubby. During hibernation they live from their stored fat. They sleep and cuddle in burrows all winter long to stay warm. The babies, who are not as fluffy as the parents, sleep in the middle of the cuddle pile.

So fluffy!

These fluffy animals like eating a variety of food, such as insects, rodents, birds, fish, eggs, frogs, berries, nuts, fruit, and plants. It all depends on what is available around them. Raccoon Dogs are not picky eaters!