Wildlife - Animals

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A burrowing, gregarious, plant-eating mammal with long ears, long hind legs, and a short tail.

There are many species of rabbit.

More than half the world's rabbit population resides in North America.

Male rabbits are called bucks and females are called does.

Rabbit's long ears can be more than 10 cm (4 in) long.

Average sleep time of a rabbit in captivity is about 8.4 hours.

Grazes on grass, forbs, and leafy weeds.

Rabbit is sold in United Kingdom butchers and markets.

A rabbit's foot is carried as an amulet      believed to bring good luck.

An agile tree-dwelling rodent with a bushy tail, typically feeding on nuts and seeds.

Members of this family consists of small      or medium-size rodents.

Are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa, and have been introduced to Australia.

Have slender bodies with bushy tails and large eyes.

The hind limbs are longer than the fore limbs, and they have four or five toes on each paw.

Have an excellent sense of vision.

Young are born naked, toothless, and blind.

Early spring is the hardest time of year for squirrels, because buried nuts begin to sprout and are no longer available      for the squirrel to eat.

Some squirrels consume meat, especially when faced with hunger.

Some 285 species including flying squirrel, white squirrel & chipmunk.

A grayish-brown American mammal that has a foxlike face with a black mask and a ringed tail.

Most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask.

Are noted for their intelligence.

Their life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years.

22 subspecies.

Can stand on its hind legs to examine objects with its front paws.

Short legs compared to their compact torso.

Can swim with an average speed of about 5 km/h (3 mph) and can stay in the water for several hours.

For climbing down a tree headfirst, a raccoon rotates its hind feet so they are pointing backwards.

Most important sense for the raccoon is its sense of touch- five digits of the paws have no webbing between them.

A hoofed grazing or browsing animal, with branched bony antlers that are shed annually and typically borne only by the male.

Almost all deer have antlers.

Deer do not make nests or dens.

They stay close to where they can find food.

They do not store their food for the winter.

Have many predators. Wolves, cougar, dogs and people will eat deer.

Indigenous representatives in all continents except Antarctica and Australia.

Teeth of deer are adapted to feeding on      vegetation.

Evolution of deer took about 30 million years.

Have been an integral part of fables and other literary works since the inception of writing.

One famous fictional deer is Bambi.

A cat-sized American mammal of the weasel family, with distinctive black-and-white-striped fur. When threatened it squirts a fine spray of foul-smelling irritant liquid from its anal glands toward its attacker.

Known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong odor.

Vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown or cream colored.

All skunks are striped, even from birth.

Eating both plant and animal material and changing their diets as the seasons change.

Skunks also seek garbage left by human.

Are one of the primary predators of the      honeybee, relying on their thick fur to protect them from stings.

Are not true hibernators in the winter, but do den up for extended periods of time.

They have excellent senses of smell and      hearing.

They carry just enough of the chemical for five or six sprays and require some ten days to produce another supply.

Are common in suburban areas.

Rare for a healthy skunk to bite a human.

Can legally be kept as pets in the UK.

A North American marmot with a heavy body and short legs.  Also known as a groundhog.

Is a lowland creature.

Are found from Alaska to Georgia.

Are well adapted for digging, with short but powerful limbs thick claws.

In the wild, groundhogs can live up to six      years.

Are accomplished swimmers.

They prefer to retreat to their burrows when threatened.

Primarily eat wild grasses and other vegetation.

One of the few species that enter into true hibernation.

To survive the winter, they are at their      maximum weight shortly before entering hibernation.

Serious nuisance animals around farms and gardens.

Dens of groundhogs provide homes for other animals.

A carnivorous mammal of the dog family with a pointed muzzle and bushy tail, proverbial for its cunning.

Species differ in fur color, length, and      density.

Coat color and texture may vary due to the change in seasons.

Typical lifespan of a fox is one to three      years.

Foxes cache excess food, burying it for later consumption, usually under leaves, snow, or soil.

Tend to use a pouncing technique to land on top of their prey.

Fox species are endangered in their native environments.

Are often considered pests or nuisance      creatures for their opportunistic attacks on poultry and other small livestock.

Attacks on humans are not common.

Hunting with dogs is now banned in the United Kingdom.

Have been inhabiting and breeding in      human-populated areas since the twentieth century.

A large semiaquatic broad-tailed rodent that is native to North America and northern Eurasia. It is noted for its habit of gnawing through tree trunks to fell the trees in order to feed on the bark and build dams.

Are the second-largest rodent in the world.

Colonies create one or more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators.

Population decline is the result of extensive hunting for fur.

Known for their natural trait of building dams on rivers and streams.

Use powerful front teeth to cut trees and      other plants that they use both for building and for food.

When startled or frightened, a swimming beaver will rapidly dive while forcefully slapping the water with its broad tail.

Are slow on land, but are good swimmers.

Do not hibernate, but store sticks and logs in a pile in their ponds, eating the underbark.

Have webbed hind-feet, and a broad, scaly tail.

Teeth grow continuously so that they will not be worn down by chewing on wood.

Continue to grow throughout their lives.