Interesting Facts about Vervet Monkey

The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) is one of the most common monkeys found in eastern Africa, ranging from Sudan to the southern tip of South Africa. They abound in savannas, forests and even lofty mountains. Being highly adaptable, they can even be found close to human dwellings and urban habitats. This species is also found in the Caribbean islands of Barbados and St. Kitts where they were originally introduced as pets.

Adult vervet monkeys are larger than the females, and weigh approximately 12 lb, whereas females weigh somewhere between 10 and 12 lb. Vervet monkeys eat many different types of fruits, flowers, and seeds. Figs are their favorite fruit. If vegetation is scarce, they will even eat birds' eggs, small chicks and birds, and small insects like grasshoppers. Vervets living close to human populations can be a pest and are known to raid fields of maize and destroy other crops.

Interesting Facts about the Vervet Monkey

• Vervet monkey is distinguished by its characteristic black face, bordered by a white fringe.
• These animals are gregarious and live in groups called troops of 40-80, mostly made up of adult females and their offspring. Social hierarchy is very strictly followed in troops. A juvenile's status in a troop is determined by its mother's. Even adult vervets are relegated to lower ranks and have to obey younger monkeys with a higher social status. This hierarchy is very important for the vervets' survival because it controls the relationships, and mating and feeding habits.
• Vervet monkeys are born with a pink face and black hair. They take on the grayish-green color like that of the adults after 4 months.
• Male vervets have a blue scrotum and bright red penis.
• Young vervet monkeys can be mischievous and purposefully give wrong calls and wait and watch how the adults will respond to such behavior! Female monkeys are known to discipline the young ones for such conduct.
• Young monkeys are very playful, and their favorite activities are chasing one another and pushing each other down from the branches of trees.
• Vervets are excellent jumpers and swimmers.
• Vervets have evolved a unique alarm call, wherein they alert members of their troops of impending predators with clear-cut calls for different animals of prey, like eagle or leopard. Juvenile vervet monkeys inherit an inborn ability to mimic these warning signals.
• Male vervets emit a shrill sound when marking their territories, and females produce a high-pitched squeal to reject any unwanted advances from males during mating.
• Immediately after birth, the female licks the baby clean and eats up the placenta.
• Adult females look after their young ones, and do not have another offspring till the baby grows up and is mature enough to fend for itself. If she happens to lose her baby, she will mourn for days together, and try to conceive as soon as possible to revive the mother-child bonding experience.
• Female vervet monkeys form close social bonds with other females from an early age. As they attain maturity, they even look after and care for a newborn provided the mother readily agrees to leave it in their care.
• As with other monkeys, grooming is an important aspect of vervets. They groom each other by removing lodged dirt and bugs from other vervets' fur.
• Vervet monkeys are hunted down for bushmeat.
• These monkeys are used in laboratory and biomedical research and tissue of the vervet monkeys is used to prepare polio vaccines.

Even though vervet monkeys are not an endangered species, their population has seen a decline in recent years. Troops living close to human habitation are sometimes killed by high-tension power lines, and people are known to poison them and even shoot them. They are captured for their use in medical research. The bushmeat trade has also contributed to the dwindling population. Deforestation should also be avoided, so we do not disturb their natural habitat. A lot of organizations are involved in conserving vervet monkeys. Together, we should work to safeguard their habitat so these animals can rightfully live and thrive in the African forests.

Important Facts About Gopher Tortoise

The gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyohemus, is a species of tortoise native to the Southeastern United States. They are a member of a group of tortoises that originated in North America some 60 million years ago and hence are one of the oldest living species on the face of this planet. The gopher tortoise is often seen as a keystone species because they dig out large burrows which provide shelter for various species of animals.

Interesting Gopher Tortoise Facts

As mentioned before, this species of tortoise originated in the western region of North America and can now be found in various states which lie to the east of Mississippi river. The majority of the population can be found in Southern Georgia and North Central Florida. Due to the rise in deforestation, these tortoises have decreased in numbers and this breed currently is an endangered one. Let us see some more interesting facts on gopher tortoise.

Description
This tortoise can reach to a length of 16 inches ant the weight of this animal is about 30 pounds. The color of the top part of its shell is dark brown to grayish and the bottom part of the shell is yellowish in color. Many people find it very difficult to distinguish between the males and females. The best way to tell them apart is by observing their plastron. Males have a concave plastron and a longer tail than the females.

Habitat
These tortoises prefer living in dry climates. They prefer dry prairies, live oak hammocks and longleaf pine savannas. They can live a healthy life in captivity provided they are given their preferred environment. These tortoises are expert diggers and they dig deep burrows to escape hot temperatures and to hide from various predators. The size of their burrows vary, some of the burrows have measured more than 30 feet. The size of the burrows usually depend on the water table. Another amazing gopher tortoise fun fact is that this animal shares its home with many other animals such as mice, snakes, frogs, lizards, skunks, burrowing owls and armadillos.

Reproduction
Gopher tortoises can live up to 40 years and they reach sexual maturity at about 10 to 15 years. Their mating season falls in between the months of April and November. Female tortoises prefer laying eggs in the open and they can lay about 1 to 25 eggs at once. Temperature of the nest plays a very important role in determining the sex of the baby. Usually the nest is made by the females below sand. Incubation period can last from 80 to 90 days in Florida and almost 110 days in South Carolina.

Diet
Unlike other tortoises, gopher tortoises mainly depend on vegetation and their diet consists of different types of plants, flowers, vegetables and fruits. They will eat almost every kind of plant but they prefer broad leaved glasses, wire-grass and terrestrial legumes. They also eat mushrooms, paw paw, blackberries, gopher apple and saw palmetto berries. Young tortoises prefer eating more legumes as they are more rich in protein. Some wildlife experts have also observed gopher tortoises scavenging on dead animals. Gopher tortoises never drink water as their body makes water with all the food that they eat. However, in cases of extreme drought, gopher tortoises are known to consume water.

Conservation
Due to frequent deforestation, the US Fish and Wildlife Services have listed the gopher tortoise as a 'Threatened Species'. In addition to deforestation there are various contributing factors such as natural and human predation which have lowered their numbers considerably. Due to their decreasing numbers, today gopher tortoises are considered safe only in captivity.

Hope this article on gopher tortoise facts was an interesting read. It is very sad to see that such primitive animals are not safe in their natural habitat mainly because of human invasions.

Identifying Depression in Your Pets

The boss wasn't benevolent enough all day. Umm, nor was the girlfriend. It was a hard day, and to top it all, it rained heavily, drenching and disgusting you to the core. But… the moment you step inside the house after a long day at work, you see a pair of those luminous eyes sprinting towards you to ask you about your day, in a language that only you two understand. Those cuddly licks on your face bear off all tensions magically, and you look forward to dinner with ease now. How on earth did you forget the hard knocks you faced at work in a jiffy? Perhaps, it's your fur-ball that brings out the best in you every time you're with it. You sigh in relief, and pour all your love onto the four-legged cutie resting on your lap.

But from quite some time, you find something strange in your pet. It doesn't run to you the way it used to after you came back from work. Instead, there it lays, in a lonely corner, with its eyes expressing all the plight. Too bad, you take time to figure out what's wrong. But you don't leave your family and loved ones alone in misery, do you? The moment you notice the slightest change in your pet's behavior, it's time you do something about the aching emptiness that has made your pet's life difficult. Sometimes, you just have to look for the most obvious signs of depression in pets. Following indications of stress and despair are worth mulling over.

Signs of Depression in Pets

Unexplained Lethargy
How many instances did you knock your pet out for creating a ruckus around the house! No matter how much of a hullabaloo your sweetheart created, you loved it. But things changed, and so did your pet's emotions. The uproarious brute all of a sudden became a loner, resting alongside the door-sill all day, greeting no new guests with its usual acts, and making no sounds that mark a cheerful lifestyle. It's disturbed. Maybe your pet lost a mate, or isn't able to cope up with the new environmental settings? Who knows. All that's known is, this unexplained lethargy and involuntariness to savor life can be fatal to your pet's health.

Aggressive Conduct
Anything below or above normal behavioral conduct is a sign of stress for your pet. Your pet, which had always been a trouble-free brute, has started wailing at a high pitch, has become inexplicably aggressive in nature, wants to hurt every second person that passes by, and has become point-blank abnormal in nature. This may be due to a sudden change in the surroundings, chemical imbalance, or a strange sense of uneasiness, that leads your furry loved one to behave unbelievably unnatural.

No Burps - No Belches
Yet another symptom of depression in your pet could be a sudden change in its eating habits. Out of sadness and stress, pets lose their appetite, leading to starvation and dehydration. Loss of appetite could also be a result of a chronic ailment in your pet that you might be unaware of. Such signs and symptoms in pets are similar to that in humans. It's advisable to take your fur-ball to a veterinarian at the earliest, so that you successfully avoid further complications in your pet's health. On the other hand, some pets start overeating out of depression, and create a nuisance when they don't get enough food. This sudden abnormality in eating habits should instantly be discussed with a specialist.

Lost Inner Self
Where did its only friend at home vanish? Why do you witness a feeling of misery in your pet's eyes every time you make eye contact? When social contact is lost, any living being feels their self-worth vanished. Soon, the feeling of loneliness overpowers them, and they become a victim of desolation. You might not be able to spot the symptoms of a lost inner self in your pet, but in your surroundings. Find out what or who was your pet most attached to at home, and what made your pet extremely happy. When you see that the very reason for your pet's happiness is to be found nowhere, you know your pet is depressed and unhappy.

Clearly, whatever made your furry ally cheerful is nowhere. It's time you connect with your pet, and pull it out of the rut. Take it out for a stroll, let it breathe in the fresh air, introduce it to new friends, if you know what I mean. Pets need attention and immense love – you need to take out time for yours, understand its problems, keep it healthy and happy. After all, your pets represent all that is best in you, don't they?