Top Tips When Watching the Enigmatic Jaguar

One of our planet's most revered animals, the Jaguar is still shrouded in an aura of mystery for many. While afforded deity status by ancient cultures, and associated with raw power and prowess in our modern world, they have behavioural patterns and social structures like any other animal, and are an important conservation species. For those thinking of going on a Jaguar tour, a journey of discovery awaits. Learning more about these magnificent creatures can help you to understand their habits and relationship with their habitat, which in turn can help to enhance the experience of sightings. Read on for a guide to the animal's behaviour, and to glean some pointers about what to look for while on your Jaguar tour.

Hunting Habits

Jaguars are such successful hunters in part because of their powerful physiques and strong jaws, but also because they use almost every aspect of their habitat. 

Red-Eyed Tree Frog: Amphibian or Reptile?

Some people mistakenly believe that reptiles and amphibians are one and the same or they simply do not know how to tell the difference. Amphibians are born as soft eggs in water and then hatch into tadpoles. Living out the start of their life in the water they then grow legs, lose their tails, and become frogs.

On the other hand reptiles are born as shelled eggs laid on land and hatch as a smaller version of what they will eventually become at maturity. Reptiles never morph into a new form as do amphibians. There is another way of telling the difference between an amphibian and a reptile: reptiles are capable of living in dry areas whereas amphibians cannot.

Belize has many tree dwellers with the Red-Eyed Tree Frog being unique and definitely the most interesting. This beautiful green frog has extremely large bright red eyes, hence its' name. Agalychnis callidryas is the scientific name for this fascinating little creature. 

Belize: The Magnificent Booby Birds

The Red-Footed Booby is a species within the Pelican family that lives in tropical coastal areas. This Booby Bird is also found on tropical islands in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, excluding Africa's Atlantic side.

In Belize the Booby is most often found out on the Cayes, most notably Half Moon Caye, part of which, in 1928, was gazetted as a Crown Reserve Bird Sanctuary under the Crown Land Ordinance. The Crown Sanctuary Reserve was specifically dedicated to protecting the Red-Footed Booby Bird. The Crown Reserve was the first and still is the oldest area designated for the protection of wildlife in Belize.

Half Moon Caye is currently home to a colony of about 4,000 plus birds including the Booby Bird. Boobies like to nest in very large colonies among the orange-flowered Ziricote thicket. At the western end of Half Moon Caye one has a spectacular view of the Boobies from an observation deck.

Bird Watching in Treasure Island Florida

Treasure Island, Florida is a wonderful place to observe some of the most magnificent wildlife in the country. Bird watching or birding is a very popular attraction to many people because of the variety of species that call these shores home. Actually, the area can serve as a good place to observe birds that may not be indigenous to the area. Many birds' migration patterns run through this region. There are some lovely shorebirds that can be spotted along this stretch of coast and it is recommended that every birder take some time to enjoy these species.

There is also a collective effort in the community to make sure these birds last for future generations, so always make sure to be careful and never disturb these creatures' natural habitats. Many of Florida's species are on the brink of peril and people should always make sure to enjoy the wildlife, while making sure to preserve the natural order.

Are Whales at Threat of Extinction?

It is common knowledge that rampant overfishing (whaling) in the 18th - 20th centuries nearly drove many whale species to extinction. While whaling certainly existed prior to this, technological improvements allowed the industry to become much more efficient in harvesting whales. Now that the global whaling industry has nearly disappeared, whale populations have been able to slowly recover. Conservation efforts and eco-tourism (centered around whale watching cruises or dolphin interaction tours) are working to fund recovery efforts, but is it too late?

The majority of the great whale species are still on the endangered species list. The United States Endangered Species Act (ESA) still lists the northern right, southern right, bowhead, fin, blue, sei, humpback, and sperm whales as endangered species. The population of the northern right is reported to be less than one thousand animals remaining. One big problem is that, even without a major impact from commercial whaling, many interactions between humans and whales mean further losses in the population.

A Little Bit Of Information About Primates

What do you have in common with a chimpanzee, a mountain gorilla, and a spider monkey? You are all closely related mammals - you are primates.

As you might have already guessed there is a wide diversity among primates, but there are some traits that all share. Most primates have "opposable thumbs", which means that their thumbs can rotate to touch the fingertips on the same hand. This helps primates climb trees and grasp food. Also, primates can see in color, and their brains are generally longer than those of other mammals. They range in size from the tiny mouse lemur, which weighs only 2 ounces, to the gorilla, which can weigh 600 pounds.

The more primitive primates, called prosimians include the strange aye-aye, lemurs and the sifakas. There three-dwelling primates live on the island of Madagascar. Galagos, lorises, pottos, and tarsiers are also prosimians. Scientists believe that the earliest primates that appeared on Earth some 70 million years ago were similar to some of the mammals in this group.

Ghana Life: Still More About Ghana's Snakes

Readers of these EzineArticles may find it surprising that someone who knows almost nothing about reptiles should post three pieces about snakes, but on reflection it does seem that life in Kumasi in the 1970s and 1980s was a long sentence punctuated by serpents. That is not to say that one was tripping over the snaky substances every day, or emulating the Leaping Nuns of Norwich, but only that they were never far away. Our two species did our best to avoid one another but inevitably early warning systems broke down and close encounters became inevitable.

Living on the expansive pastoral campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology the staff houses were effectively sealed, but one was aware of the green mambas in the trees in the garden. Fortunately these creatures seemed to prefer to stay in the trees and were not included in the varieties of fauna that invaded our living space. 

Raccoon Behavior in Residential Areas

Living with Raccoons

Raccoons are medium-sized breed mammals that have made their homes in the woods and forests of North America for over 500 years. Once our society began claiming land and building cities, industrial complexes, roads, and highways, overtime, the raccoons and other wildlife were forced to leave their habitats and live among us in our residential communities. Today, it is common for someone to see a raccoon, squirrel, or rabbit running through the trees and bushes of a neighborhood. In fact, that person wouldn't think twice about it. This is because we have become so accustomed to living side-by-side with these animals; consequently, sharing our porches, crawl spaces, attics, garbage, backyards, flowerbeds, and more with these critters, particularly raccoons.

Raccoons Are Mischievous