#868: Yonahlossee Salamander

The Yonahlossee Salamander is a large species of woodland salamander. He inhabits the southern Appalachian Mountains of North America. Here he favours deciduous woodland, and can be found at relatively high altitudes. During the day he takes cover in damp, shaded areas, becoming most active on humid or rainy nights, when he forages for insects and other invertebrates.  As the weather grows colder, he migrates underground.

#852: Xerces Blue

The Xerces Blue was a member of the gossamer-winged butterfly Family and endemic to the coastal sand dunes of San Francisco. Here she suffered due to urban development, her habitat disappearing and taking her with it. It is thought that introduced ant species may have contributed. Gossamer-winged butterfly rely on ants in the early stages of larval development. The larvae release a sweet-tasting honeydew which the ants find attractive. They then tend for the caterpillar and are rewarded with the honeydew. Introduced ants may have displaced the naturally occurring ants but not replaced them in the juvenile-care stage.

You can colour the butterfly if you like - the colour is in the name :)

#837: Wolf

The Wolf is a large canine, historically spread across the Northern Hemisphere, although now some subspecies are Extinct or Critically Endangered. She is a pack animal, living in family groups led by a male and a female, and consisting of her growing offspring.  Pups remain with their parent pack for up to 4 years, before dispersing to form their own. Wolves hunt cooperatively, and share their kills, with the adult pair dining first. The Wolf has been shown to morphologically share a common ancestor with the domestic dog, and the two readily interbreed.

#778: Uma

As I near the end of the alphabet, you will notice that I start to "cheat" a little. Until now, I've more-or-less avoided scientific names, unless the critter has no common name - but there are precious few creatures beginning with U - and even less with X.

This fellow is an Uma, a Genus of fringe-toed lizards. There are six species, who occupy the low desert areas of North America. They are named for the fringe of scales along their hind toes. These help the lizard to move swiftly across the shirting sand dunes of his desert home. He is specialised in other ways too: his upper jaw overlaps the lower, he can close his nostrils and flaps close his ear openings. His upper and lower eyelids interlock. These adaptations stop the intrusion of sand into his body.

#774: Turkey

The Turkey is a large gamebird native to North America. He lives in hardwood and mixed hardwood forests with good leaf cover. His diet consists mainly of seeds and plant matter, but he will also eat small vertebrates and insects. The male, much larger and bulkier than the female, struts to attract a mate, puffing out his feathers and gobbling and booming. He mates with as many females as he can and plays no role in the raising of the chicks. Turkey has become a staple in the human diet, and domesticated Turkeys are farmed throughout the world.

#762: Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse is a diminutive songbird found in the eastern United States. He is common in both the urban environment and deciduous woodlands. While he mainly eats insects, he also forages for seed, nuts and berries, and the popularity of bird feeders in gardens is helping him to spread north. curious by nature, he is known to peek through windows to investigate what's behind. Nests are build in natural tree cavities, lined with soft materials - including fur plucked directly from dogs.

#758: Tiger Salamander

The Tiger Salamander is one of the Mole Salamanders. He lives in North America. Whilst the larvae are aquatic, the adults are terrestrial and live in burrows. His diet consists predominantly of worms and small insects, but he is also known to eat baby mice and smaller amphibians. Juvenile Tiger Salamander resemble axolotls and if terrestrial conditions are not suitable, some may become sexually mature while still in the larval form. This is known as Neoteny. 

#724: Star-nosed Mole

Star-nose Moles are perhaps one of the strangest looking mammals in the world. She lives in the north-eastern areas of North America, and inhabits wet lowland areas. Many of her tunnels exit underwater, and she is a strong swimmer. Her most identifiable features are the 22 fleshy appendages surrounding her snout. These act as sensory receptors, helping her navigate and find prey in her subterranean home. These are extremely sensitive, and she is even able to scent underwater.

#707: Snapping Turtle

The Common Snapping Turtle of North America is named for his hornery disposition. He commonly makes his home in shallow ponds and streams, lurking beneath the mud, only his head exposed. His diet is a variable one; he scavenges on plant and animal matter, actively eating any living thing that comes within his range. Long-lived, he does not reach sexual maturity until 12-20 years old, depending on climate. Females travel long distances over land, seeking a suitable substrate - sandy soil - in which to lay her eggs. She will lay up to 80 eggs a year, but survival rates are low and predation by herons, mustelids and other predators common.

#679: Pronghorn

Despite his appearance, the Pronghorn is not an antelope. He is the final surviving species of a Family of artiodactyls that once roamed the plains of North America, filling a similar niche to their Old World counterparts. The fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere, he can reach speeds up to 56 km, second only to the Cheetah.

(I do not like this picture, so I shall have to try again)

#635: Raccoon

The Raccoon is a carnivore of the Procyonide family, found in North America, with two related species occuring in South America. She is characterised by her facial mask and dextrous front paws, which are adept at manipulating objects. Although generally a solitary creature, she will share her territory with other females and gather together occasionally to feed or rest. Males also form loose social groups, especially around breeding season, to help defend their territory from intruders. Originally found in deciduous woodland, Raccoons are very adaptable and have colonised urban areas - including attics. Their diet is equally adaptable and she is known to raid rubbish bins and even slip through cat doors, as well as feeding on invertebrates, plant matter and small vertebrates.

#602: Porcupine

The Porcupines are rodents, characterised by their long spines, modified from hair follicles. They can be classified into two Families: the Old World and the New World. This Crested Porcupine is an Old World Porcupine. He can be found in parts of Africa and also in Italy. When threatened, Porcupine will raise their quills, shaking them ominously. If this does not deter predation and the predator attempts to attack, he will be rewarded with a face-full of painful barbs. Contrary to folklore, Porcupine cannot fire their quills, however they dislodge very easily, to become embedded in the potential predator. 

Creature Feature #572: Passenger Pigeon

Once there were a billion passenger pigeons
So many flew by, they darkened the sky
But they were clubbed and shot
Netted, Gassed, and Burned
Until there was nothing left
But vines of empty nests
I can't believe how easily
A billion birds can disappear                                 - Handsome Family "Passenger Pigeons

The Passenger Pigeons story is as tragic as that of its hapless, flightless relative, the Dodo.
It began as a success story - the most abundant bird in North America, accounting for more than 25% of the total bird population across the continent. Yet, within 50 years, the entire population consisted of one bird, Martha, in the Cincinnati Zoo. She died on September 1, 1914 and with her came extinction. The Passenger Pigeon was an extremely social bird, travelling in vast flocks and leading a nomadic, migratory existence. His preferred diet was the seeds of beech and oak trees, and during the mast seeding seasons, the population boomed. Deforestation likely contributed to their abrupt decline. They were also massacred: adults shot in flight, fledglings killed on the nest, nesting sites destroyed. Such a full-scale slaughter caused a dramatic decline in the population.


So saying, there is still some hope for the Passenger Pigeon, it is considered a candidate for de-extinction/cloning and there are still a few folks in various parts of the eastern US that claim to have seen this reasonably large, pink bellied pigeon. So, who knows, she might make a comeback yet.

Creature Feature #523: Nuthatch

The Nuthatch are small passerine birds found in the woodlands of the northern hemisphere. He follows an omnivorous diet, dining on a mix of insects, seeds and nuts. When foraging, he hops vertically up and down the trunk of the tree, using his slender, but strong, bill to probe into crevices. Larger food will be wedged in a crevice, then pecked at repeatedly until it splinters enough to be consumed. Nests are constructed within a tree hole, and some species will reduce the size of the entrance with mud and resin, offering some protection from woodpeckers. Another species smears blister beetles about the entrance, the stink is thought to deter squirrels.

Creature Feature #488: Muskrat

The Muskrat is a medium-sized rodent more closely related to lemmings and voles than to rats. His preferred habitat is wetlands, and he is native to North America. With his thick, short pelt, he is favoured in the fur industry, which has seen populations introduced into Europe. Muskrats live in family groups of a mated pair and their offspring. They live either in a hole in the bank, or by constructing a "push-up" from vegetation and mud. In snowy areas, the entrances are plugged with vegetation for insulation. His diet is largely vegetarian, supplemented with small animals.

Creature Feature #485: Mudpuppy

The Mudpuppy are a Genus of aquatic salamander, native to the eastern United States and Canada. The best known is the Common Mudpuppy. He undergoes paedomorphosis, retaining his external gills (rather like an Axolotl). He is heavily reliant on these gills for respiration and Mudpuppies living in stagnant pools have larger, feathery gills than those inhabiting fast-flowing streams. He follows a nocturnal lifestyle and is an opportunistic carnivore, eating anything he can get in his mouth, including annelids, crustaceans, molluscs and insects.

Creature Feature #479: Moose

The Moose is the largest extant member of the Deer Family. During rutting season, the male sports a pair of fine antlers. These project out at right angles from his skull, with an average spread of around 200 cms. These antlers are used in territorial demonstrations and occasional fights. The cows favour males displaying a bigger rack. Outside of breeding season, he discards his antlers to conserve energy. Weighing up to 700 kg, he requires a large amount of fodder to sustain his strength and thus spends much of his day foraging. Whilst mainly terrestrial, Moose will enter the water to graze on  sodium-rich aquatic plant life. Moose are native to North America and around the Arctic Circle, including northern Europe and Russia.

An effort was made to establish the Moose in Hokitika, and then in Fiordland, New Zealand. Ten were released: four bulls, six cows, and subsequently disappeared into the dense forest. Although they are thought to have all perished - it was hardly ideal habitat (as a lecturer once told us, the moose would wander into the fiords to feed, discover they were much, much deeper than expected, and drown) - rumours still persist and occasional signs of their continued existence have been found, albeit nothing concrete (such as an actual sighting).

Creature Feature #475: Monitor Lizard

There are 77 species of Monitor Lizards, characterised by their sturdy limbs, powerful tails and claws and their long necks. Most favour a terrestrial lifestyle, although some species are arboreal. They occur naturally in Africa, Oceania and Asia. The Nile Monitor has established itself in Florida, where it is regarded as an Invasive Pest. Monitor Lizards are considered intelligent and have been known to hunt cooperatively to raid crocodile nests, with one lizard luring the mother crocodile away whilst the other breaks open the nest. The decoy then returns to help devour the eggs before the crocodile returns.

This speciman is an Australian Monitor Lizard, also known as a Perentie.

Creature Feature #465: Mink

There are two extant species of Mink, a semi-aquatic mustelid. The third, the Sea Mink, was the largest. He was hunted to extinction to fulfil the demand of the fur-trade, around 1870. Of the two living species, the European Mink is Critically Endangered, in part due to the establishment of the other species, the American Mink in Europe (due to escapees or releasees from fur farms). Minks are sleek, alert carnivores characterised by their thick, soft pelt and webbed toes.

Creature Feature #461: Merganser

Merganser are several species of carnivorous ducks characterised by their crested heads and slender bills. They are diving ducks, pursuing fish, crustaceans or other invertebrates, underwater. Their bills have a serrated edge to help grip their slippery prey. For this reason, they are sometimes known as "sawbills". There are four species of extant "typical" Mergansers, and two that are considered "aberrant", that is to say - closely related but not of the same Genus. This species, the Hooded Merganser, is one of the aberrant species. It occurs naturally in North America, although vagrants have been found in Europe.