Circle of Animals

I’m a Platypus  You will have to travel a far distance if you wish to see me in my natural habitat. I am native to Australia and Tasmania. I live in rainforest waters, streams, ponds and freshwater lakes and rivers.  I have a unique look with a long duck beak-like bill and a steam lined body.   I have webbed feet, short limbs, small eyes and a fur covered tail.  Platypus weigh anywhere between 1 and 7 pounds and range in size from 15 to 25 inches in length.  Male platypus are venomous having spurs that are attached to their hind legs and are used for production of venom to disable a would be predator from threat or possible attack. Platypus are shy animals and will avoid confrontation but if forced to the male will use their spurs to poison their attacker.  Platypus have a mouth pouch to store their food. They do not possess teeth so they have to grind down their food in their mouths.  Females do not produce venom.  Females lay eggs and are repres...

I’m a Coyote I’m a cross between a wolf and a dog. I’m similar to the wolf in how I appear in the wild and different in other aspects of my life such as behavior and size. Whereas wolves huddle in packs we huddle in pairs or go solo. I can run with the best of them. I may not be as fast as the wolf but I’m fast enough and I can survive in the cold weather and in the heat of summer. Coyotes are smaller than wolves and although they’re predators they have a lesser range of prey they select from than wolves who are apex predators that are at the top of the food chain.  Coyotes have lighter coats than their wolf counterparts and are thinner in size, weight and height. They are generally grey in color with some more tan or red similar to wolves. Adult male coyotes weigh around 50 pounds while adult wolves weigh up to 120 pounds. Wolves are stronger than coyotes by nature of their size and speed. Wolves live in more isolated regions in the world compared to coyotes who have found their w...

I’m a Snail People ask who is slower The snail or the turtle  If there was a race between the two who would win Well according to animal experts the snail is slower and smaller than the turtle.  So if you held a race for both of them the turtle would cross the finish line first but the snail would persist and cross it as well in time. You as spectator would need patience to watch such a race. Snails are amazing little shelled creatures. The shell serves for their protection and they can hide within their shell from potential predators.  Some snails however are too big to retract their head into the shell given their shell size.  Snails seek out damp living environments with plenty of moisture and an abundance of food to forage. Their food of choice are plants and vegetation usually with occasional insects and worms they come upon in the soil. Snails have two pairs of tentacles on their head to help them in finding food, in navigating their terrain and for alerting th...

I’m a Wasp I fly and make buzzing sounds in flight  I have two sets of wings that continuously buzz when I’m flying. I have two sets of eyes, compound eyes and simple eyes. My compound eyes allow me to see from many directions and angles so I’m aware of movements from potential predators. I can also see ultraviolet light.  My simple eyes allow me to navigate my surroundings and fly.  I have a hard exoskeleton to protect me against dangers I might encounter in my navigating this fascinating place we call earth.  I have antennae to help me detect if I’m encountering any danger in my immediate surroundings.  I have six legs that help me in getting around in my daily routine. I have a stinger and I can sting multiple times unlike the bee that stings only once. A wasp will survive after stinging.  A honeybee that stings will die shortly after they sting because the bee can’t pull its stinger out from the pierced skin and the poor bee will be torn apart trying to...

I am a Walrus  Not to be confused with the Beatles hit song I Am The Walrus which is a catchy song that is a bit fantastical and psychedelic. I suggest you give it a listen as it’s a Beatles song that enlightens the senses and has you coming back for more. It’s up there with Octopuses Garden, another hit song by the 4 lads from Liverpool. There is one species of walrus and two subspecies, Atlantic walrus and Pacific walrus. The walrus is a marine mammal known as a pinniped and is included among seals, sea lions and walruses.  The walrus like his counterparts can live on land and in the ocean. They live most of their lives in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  Walruses are social animals that live in large groups of hundreds and there is a hierarchy and separation of males and females to their respective herds.  Walruses do mate but since males and females live in separate groups the males will fight for the honor of mating with several females and then the sole male w...

I’m a Lizard  I am a reptile  Once I hatch from the egg I’m on my own I never meet my mother  Most people think gecko when they think of a lizard  They see those tv commercials for Geico and they see cute little old me Geckos are lizards too They’re small in size The smallest lizard in the world is the male Brookesia nana or nano-chameleon which measures from head to tail 22 mm or approximately an inch in length while the female measures 29 mm, 1.1 inch. It’s so small that it can hide in a blade of grass.  The Brookesia nana lizard lives in the mountainous rainforests of Northern Madagascar in Africa and was discovered in 2012. It feasts on mites and springtails.  The largest lizard in the world is the Komodo dragon measuring in length of 10 feet and weighing in at 330 pounds.  The Komodo dragon is native to Indonesia and is an apex predator listed at the top of the food chain and will eat animals that it preys on as large as deer and buffalo and will ...

I’m a Chinchilla  I am a furry little animal of the rodent family. I’m tiny in size and weight with soft hair, expressive eyes, long ears, paws and a bushy tail.  I am native to South America and lay claim to the Andes Mountains which is my natural habitat.  Baby chinchillas, known as kits are nurtured up to 3 months of age when they become mature enough to go on their own. They start their adult stage at 1 year old and grow to about 8 to 11 inches in length with a bushy tail 6 inches long.  In the wild chinchillas eat nuts, seeds, twigs, tree bark, stems and roots of plants, fruits and vegetation.  Chinchillas in the wild live in large colonies as they are very social animals but they do have shorter lifespans than those living in captivity in some of the zoos that showcase them or in households as family pets. Chinchillas must be properly cared for in domestic settings because they are prone to anxiety and depression and must be treated with tender loving care...

I’m a Chimpanzee  I’m related to the ape family  Sometimes I’m confused with the monkey  If you compare us you’ll see that monkeys have tails and chimpanzees don’t. Chimpanzee love to climb trees and can swing from the branches if they’re sturdy enough. They have long arms and short legs so they prefer the trees to the ground but if they have to they will navigate on the ground. Chimpanzees are mainly vegetarian and prefer fruits, leaves, seeds, berries, blossoms and vegetables but occasionally will eat small birds and insects. Chimpanzees are very social animals and gather in small circles in their development within their habitat and as young chimps they are dependent on their mother through age 4 when they start to grow up eventually going out on their own becoming more independent. Chimpanzees nest in the trees where they sleep for approximately 10 hours a day and during the day they’re out foraging for food, caring for their young while the young are at play swinging...

I’m a Centipede I have many pairs of legs with many segments. The amount of legs I have varies based on how many segments making up my body.  I can have as many as 191 pairs or as few as 15 pairs of legs. It’s an odd number when it comes to how many pairs of legs I have.  I’m an anthropod, an invertebrate and am grouped among insects, spiders and crustaceans. I have a hard exoskeleton to protect me from predators.  Centipedes and millipedes have a distinctive head with two antennas, small eyes and burrow through the soil similar to earthworms.  Some species of centipedes and millipedes are unable to see and rely on their sense of touch and smell to navigate their way.  Centipedes range in size from 4 to 300 millimeters, a fraction of an inch to 1 foot in length.  Millipedes range in size from 2 to 300 millimeters in length.  There are nearly 8,000 species of centipedes and 80,000 species of millipedes in the world collectively. They are found on every ...

I’m a Hamster I still live in the wild but my lucky friends that are domesticated live as family pets in loving homes. For those of us that live in the wild we usually habitat in deserts, grasslands, farmlands, meadows, sandy areas, soil rich areas and steppes in warm climate conditions.  We are rodents that love to burrow into the ground similar to mice, rats, ferrets and badgers.  We build tunnels and caves for our shelter and to store our food in the wild.  Wild hamsters can be found in Europe and Asia.  In the wild, hamsters live solitary lives minding their own business to assure their survival as they search for food and shelter. They eat insects, seeds, grasses, vegetation, nuts and fruits in the wild.  Hamsters communicate through body language and enjoy being treated well by their owners if they’re lucky enough to have one but they are not happy being held. That’s how they differ from cats because many cats do like to be held when they know and trust th...

I’m a Worm I wiggle to move forward and backwards though I’m usually moving forward forging ahead to get to food sources and hideouts.  I’m always navigating my way under ground and on the earth’s surface  I don’t have eyes to see with I’m able to get around with my receptors which helps me distinguish between light and dark. Under ground is dark  Above ground is light and dark Worms can sense their surroundings and threats through vibrations. Their bodies are sensitive to vibration and so if there are would be predators around the worm will move away to safety.  Worms are vulnerable so they must seek places to hide. Worms have to stay clear of birds as they know the early bird catches the worm. Worms dig their way on soil eating through it where they feast on insects and nutrients as they build tunnels. Worms have existed on this great earth for over a billion years according to scientists who have discovered fossils in their research going that far back. Worms come...

I’m an Octopus  I’m one of the most curious creatures of the sea. My favorite song is from the legendary British band, the Beatles. It features me, an octopus and my garden under the sea.  It’s titled  Octopus’s garden It’s a whimsical song in traditional Beatles fashion. Ringo wrote the song as a member of the Beatles based on his experiences on a vacation trip while snorkeling underwater and seeing an octopus’s garden and feeling in awe and inspired.  An octopus is a mysterious creature of the sea and is unique in its appearance and how it lives in the water. An octopus has eight long arms, a round head, bulging eyes, 3 hearts and lives on the bottom of the ocean. Octopuses can change their colors to blend in with their surroundings as a form of camouflage.  There is a real life underwater Octopus’s garden 80 miles out from the coast of central California where as many as 20,000 pearl octopuses come to nest two miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean on r...

I’m a Ferret  I’m a very cute little animal with a long outstretched body and a tail. Baby ferrets are kits and are extremely tiny little cuties that are completely dependent on their mother as they are born blind, deaf and without hair. They weigh less than an ounce and are no more than an inch or two in size.  By 6 weeks old baby kits are weaned off their mother and at 10 weeks they start developing growth of their adult teeth after their baby teeth fall out as they can start eating soft foods.  Ferrets come in all different colors; white, tan, black, brown with eyes that are very small in size.  Ferrets in the wild eat small rodents, birds, fish, frogs, small snakes, turtles and insects. At maturity ferrets can weigh up to 6 pounds though that is on the heavier side and can grow to between 9 and 15 inches.  Wild ferrets habitat near water sources and in grasslands, prairie lands, dens and underground burrows.  Ferrets are very fast in burrowing undergrou...