FROG (poisonous)

THIS POST IS SUGGESTED BY ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND

There are over 175 species of poisonous frogs in the world but the most deadliest is the poison dart frog. These amphibians are called "dart frogs" due to the amerindians indigenous use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of blowdarts. The poison dart frog has been used by tribes people for hunting animals for the last few centuries, rubbing their dart tips off the frogs’ skin. The venom from one of these darts could kill a man in seconds, each of these frogs holds enough venom to kill 10-20 men.and they are considered one or the most toxic animals on the planet. They have this venom gland to prevent predators from eating them, most animals of the jungle have learned to avoid them.

Most species of poison dart frogs are small, sometimes less than 1.5 centimetres in adult length, although a few grow up to 6 centimetres in length. They weigh about 2 grams, depending on the size of the frog. Most poison dart frogs are brightly coloured, displaying aposematic patterns. Their bright colouration is associated with their toxicity and levels of alkaloids. Frogs like the ones of Dendrobates species have high levels of alkaloids, whereas the Colostethus species are cryptically coloured and are nontoxic. When born and raised in captivity, poison frogs do not produce the skin toxins which they attain in their native habitats.

The Golden Dart Frog is gold in colour but there are other species that can range from blue, red, orange, yellow, and green, they could even come in a combination of these colours. These beautiful colours are warnings to potential predators that the frogs are poisonous. Other species, such as monarch butterflies, sport bright colours to advertise their toxicity. The Golden Dart Frog is the most toxic. These frogs can live up to be ten years old in the wild and only live around 5-8 in captivity. Some scientists think that the reticulated pattern of the frogs also acts as camouflage among the forest shadows.

Scientists have discovered how to use the venom as a powerful pain killer that is used around the world in operation rooms. They are currently working on other uses such as anti-venoms for snake bites and spider bites, and many others.

DIET : Their diet consists of basically what other frogs eat such as spiders flies, crickets, termites, ants and beetles that live in the rainforests. They capture their prey by using their excellent vision and their long sticky tongues. Whatever these frogs eat is what produces the poison, the combination of other toxins from the insects that they eat, makes up this deadly venom. A poisonous Golden Poison Dart Frog in captivity would not be poisonous because it doesn’t feel threatened in its surroundings and wouldn’t be getting the same diet as it would in the wild.

You will find these frogs in the Amazon rainforest on the Pacific side of Columbia where the humidity is high and the air is moist all year round. Unlike other frogs they spend most of their time amongst the trees. This climate allows them to travel deep into the forests away from the river banks and indulge on the insects that lay in the trees.

RABBIT

THIS POST IS FOR ONE OF MY BEST FRIEND

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are eight different genera in the family classified as rabbits, including the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), cottontail rabbits (genus Sylvilagus; 13 species), and the Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi, an endangered species on Amami Ōshima, Japan). There are many other species of rabbit, and these, along with pikas and hares, make up the order Lagomorpha. The male is called a buck and the female is a doe; a young rabbit is a kitten or kit.

DIET : Rabbits are herbivores that feed by grazing on grass, forbs, and leafy weeds. In consequence, their diet contains large amounts of cellulose, which is hard to digest. Rabbits solve this problem by passing two distinct types of feces: hard droppings and soft black viscous pellets, the latter of which are immediately eaten. Rabbits reingest their own droppings (rather than chewing the cud as do cows and many other herbivores) to digest their food further and extract sufficient nutrients.

Rabbits are often known as bunnies to people around the world. Rabbits have been a part of human culture for 1000 years, and are kept as pets worldwide. Rabbits are clearly the species which has been domesticated as you would be hard pressed to find someone keeping a hare as a pet. .

The most obvious difference between rabbits and hares is how their kits are born. Rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless. In contrast, hares are born with hair and are able to see (precocial). All rabbits except cottontail rabbits live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares live in simple nests above the ground (as do cottontail rabbits), and usually do not live in groups. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares have not been domesticated, while European rabbits are both raised for meat and kept as pets.More than half the world's rabbit population resides in North America. They are also native to southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, some islands of Japan, and in parts of Africa and South America. They are not naturally found in most of Eurasia, where a number of species of hares are present

Domestic rabbits can be kept as pets in a back yard hutch or indoors in a cage or house trained to have free roam. Rabbits kept indoors are often referred to as house rabbits. House rabbits typically have an indoor pen or cage and a rabbit-safe place to run and exercise, such as an exercise pen, living room or family room. Rabbits can be trained to use a litter box and some can learn to come when called. Domestic rabbits that do not live indoors can also serve as companions for their owners, typically living in a protected hutch outdoors. Some pet rabbits live in outside hutches during the day for the benefit of fresh air and natural daylight and are brought inside at night.

Meet the world's biggest Easter bunny, Darius the enormous Continental Giant, who weighs a whopping three-and-a-half stone and is 4ft 4in.

Darius, aged three, munches through an incredible 12 carrots a day to keep up his strength and fuel his amazing growth spurt. He already held the title of world's biggest rabbit but has now smashed his own record after vets measured him a month ago and realised he had had grown another inch.

It is a double celebration for Darius who shares his birthday, on Easter Sunday, with his beloved owner Annette Edwards. Ms Edwards, from Worcester, has bred big bunnies before but Darius is the largest in the history of rabbit-kind. The 60-year-old, who also holds the Guinness World Record for Oldest Page Three Model, said: 'He is from a dynasty of giant rabbits and now he's smashed his own record and fittingly his birthday falls on April 8 - so he really is the Beast-er Bunny. 'He was officially measured by the vets last month and it's now been confirmed he's even bigger than before. Darius is the son of former record holder Alice and the grandson of earlier owner of the crown, Amy. Ms Edwards, who splashed out £10k on surgery and diets to turn herself into a real-life Jessica Rabbit, said she was stunned by Darius who just kept growing. She said: 'I think it's nice that the record is being kept in the family. 'Obviously his mum Amy died a couple of years ago and that was upsetting, but I think she would like to know her son had taken the record. 'People ask me what my secret is, but there really isn't one other than just treating them well and really looking after them. A spokesman from Guinness World Records said: 'This is the biggest bunny in the world.
'Darius is bigger than all the previous record holding rabbits.
'It's unbelievable that a rabbit could grow to over 4ft long.'

ELEPHANT

MY FIRST POST IS ABOUT MY FAVOURITE ANIMAL

Elephants form deep family bonds and live in tight matriarchal family groups of related females called a herd. The herd is led by the oldest and often largest female in the herd, called a matriarch. Herds consist of 8-100 individuals depending on terrain and family size. When a calf is born, it is raised and protected by the whole matriarchal herd. Males leave the family unit between the ages of 12-15 and may lead solitary lives or live temporarily with other males.

Elephants are extremely intelligent animals and have memories that span many years. It is this memory that serves matriarchs well during dry seasons when they need to guide their herds, sometimes for tens of miles, to watering holes that they remember from the past. They also display signs of grief, joy, anger and play.

Recent discoveries have shown that elephants can communicate over long distances by producing a sub-sonic rumble that can travel over the ground faster than sound through air. Other elephants receive the messages through the sensitive skin on their feet and trunks. It is believed that this is how potential mates and social groups communicate. Defenders of Wildlife is working through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to maintain a ban on the sale of ivory as well as on regulations that govern worldwide elephant protection.

Of these two species, African elephants are divided into two subspecies (savannah and forest), while the Asian elephant is divided into four subspecies (Sri Lankan, Indian, Sumatran and Borneo). Asian elephants have been very important to Asian culture for thousands of years – they have been domesticated and are used for religious festivals, transportation and to move heavy objects.

DIET : Grasses, leaves, bamboo, bark, roots. Elephants are also known to eat crops like banana and sugarcane which are grown by farmers. Adult elephants eat 300-400 lbs of food per day.

Kerala has more than nine hundred elephants in captivity. Most of them are owned by temples and individuals. They are used for religious ceremonies in and around the temples, and a few elephants work at timber yards.

Gajarajan Guruvayur Kesavan (death: December 2, 1976) is perhaps the most famous and celebrated captive elephant in Kerala, southern India. Kesavan was donated to the Guruvayur Hindu temple by the royal family of Nilambur in 1916. It is a common Hindu custom in Kerala to donate elephants to the deity of the temple as an offering, Guruvayur temple have a very good facilities to maintain all of these elephants now totaling 60 in number at Punnathurkotta.

Standing over 3.2 meters tall, Kesavan was known for his devout behavior. Kesavan died on Guruvayur Ekadasi, considered a very auspicious day. It fasted for the entire day and dropped down facing the direction of the temple with his trunk raised as a mark of prostration. The anniversary of its death is still celebrated in Guruvauyur. Many elephants line up before the statue and the chief elephant garlands it. Kesavan was conferred the unique title "Gajarajan" (Elephant King), by the Guruvayoor Devaswom.

The Guruvayoor Devaswom erected a life-size statue of Keshavan in its precincts as tribute to the services he rendered to the presiding deity of the temple. Its tusks, along with a majestic portrait of the elephant, can be still seen adorning the entrance to the main temple enclosure.

Aranmula Raghunathan (death: year 2000) was a legendary figure.

Sorry friends this is not his best photo, this was clicked when he was old.

According to the Experts he is the most beautiful elephant Kerala has ever witnessed.
He was an elephant of Sri parthasarathi temple, aranmula, Pathanamthitta.

His Best feature was his trunk and tusk. Many experts say that Raghunathan had the lengthiest trunk, and his tusk was so wide, long and heavy that they had to cut it in half .He was the king of an era. In his prime time he ruled the whole area of Thiruvithamkoor. He was the 2nd ever elephant to get the Gajarajappattam (king of elephants). He got it in 1997.