STOP ANIMAL ABUSE! ... ( this post may be upsetting or very graphical for some people watching).

Please act on animal abuse.
Help stop it.

Ammonite / Ammonoidea

Ammonites are named after the Egyptian god Ammon, who is often 

depicted with rams' horns behind each ear.

The ammonites are actually pre-historic and also extinct. They went extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Ammonites first appeared about 240 million years ago. Surprisingly they are Carnivore's.

When they are in a group they are called a school.

Ammonites constantly built new shell as they grew, 

Ammonites were predatory, squid-like creatures that lived inside coil-shaped shells. Like other cephalopods, ammonites had sharp, beak-like jaws inside a ring of tentacles that extended from their shells to snare prey such as small fish and crustaceans.

Their size relative to a 6ft man is:

Some ammonites grew so big they were 3ft!

American Crocodile / Crocodylus acutus

The american crocodile is a prehistoric reptile, carnivore which is living in a shrinking environment.

This large crocodile lives for around 70 years old, when they are in a group on 

land they are called a bask and in water a float.

Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, birds, fish, crabs, insects, 

snails, frogs, and occasionally carrion. They have been known to attack people, but are far 

more likely to flee at the sight of humans.

Most countries in the American crocodile's range have passed protection laws, but unfortunately, few governments provide adequate enforcement.

Relative size to 6ft man ...

American Bullfrog / Rana catesbeiana

  AMERICAN BULLFROG...
American bullfrogs will ambush and eat just about anything they can fit in their giant mouths.

This frog can live for 7-9 years, they are amphibian and surprisingly carnivores!
They eat literally anything from insects, mice, fish, birds, and snakes. They sit quietly and wait for prey to pass by, then lunge with their powerful hind legs, mouths open wide.

Size of frog relative to tea cup:


Did you know? 
A female bullfrog can lay as many as 20,000 eggs, which float in a clump on the surface of the water.

American Bison / Bison bison

With such large, sharp horns, bison are formidable foes.

During mating season, bulls fight for the right to breed with other cows, 

but rarely duel to the death.

A Bison must have thick, shaggy fur for the snow and ice and 

surprisingly the snow and ice can just rest on the Bison's back! 

These large mammals are herbivores and can live from 12-20 years.

When Bison's are grouped together they are called a herd.

Bison, symbolic animals of the Great Plains, are often mistakenly called buffaloes. 

By any name, they are formidable beasts and the heaviest land animals in North America.

These large grazers feed on plains grasses, herbs, shrubs, and twigs. 

They regurgitate their food and chew it as cud before final digestion.

Size of Bison in comparison to 6ft man.

Today, bison numbers have rebounded somewhat, and about 200,000 bison live on preserves and ranches where they are raised for their meat.

Monday dancing day!

Amazon Horned Frog Ceratophrys cornuta

These Indiscriminate eaters, Amazon horned frogs can grow to about the size of a small plate, or a tea cup.

They are amphibians and obviously live in the Amazon, and are carnivores.
Their size is quite large for a frog, it reaches to 20 centimetres in length.

They are found in freshwater marshes and pools throughout the Amazon Basin, from Colombia to Brazil.

The Horned Amazon frog kills its prey, by suffocating it by squeezing its body or shoving it under the leaves etc. 

But when anything smaller than their own bodies happens to come by, they spring from the mud and swallow their prey whole, locking it in their jaws with their sharp teeth.

Their ravenous appetite and huge mouths have earned them and other horned frogs the pet-trade nickname "PAC - Man frogs."

Females are generally larger than males, but males are more ornately coloured, ranging from dark green to lime-coloured. Females are usually tan. Scientists are also unsure of what the horns on the frogs head are used for.

Size relative to a tea cup:                                    Group name: Army or Colony. 

       

Alligator Snapping Turtle / Macrochelys temminckii

The prehistoric reptile Alligator snapping turtle is the biggest fresh water turtle, in north America and among the most largest in the world. 
With its spiked shell, beak-like jaws and thick scaled tail, this species is often referred to as a dinosaur, 
They are found almost exclusively in the rivers, canals, and lakes of the south-eastern United States.

 

Alligator snappers can live to be 50 to 100 years old. Males average 26 inches, in the shell length and weigh about 175 pounds, the much smaller females top out at around 50 pounds. The snappers live their lives mostly in water unless females make their way to inland to nest. They can stay submerged for 40 to 50 minutes before surfacing for air.

As weird as it sounds the alligator snapper employs a unique natural lure in its hunting technique. Its tongue sports a bright-red, worm-shaped piece of flesh that, when displayed by a motionless turtle on a river bottom, draws curious fish or frogs close enough to be snatched.

Adult snappers have no natural predators other than humans, who capture them for their meat and shells, and to sell and trade. So funnily enough this species is under threat.

The animal is carnivorous.

This is the turtle compared to an average 6ft man.

                               

 

Surprising New Year Space Facts

The New Year promises a pair of lunar acts and a potential surprise meteor showers and other strange delights, for star gazers!
Here are our picks for sky-watching events worth circling on your calendar for 2014....

Number 1. Total Eclipse of the Moon

This year sky-watchers will have two chances to witness the simplest and most shared of sky shows—a total lunar eclipse. In the predawn hours of Monday, April 15, the lunar disk will be slowly covered by the dark shadow of Earth, as our planet moves between the sun and the moon!
The eclipse begins at 7:06 a.m. The entire event will be visible from the Western Hemisphere, including both North and South America. The eclipse will sadly not be visible from northern and eastern Europe, eastern Africa, the Middle East, or Central Asia.

Sky-watchers will get another chance to witness the moon blush red on Wednesday, October 8, when another total lunar eclipse will be visible from the Pacific Ocean. Only the northwest part of North America gets to see the entire show. For the rest of the continent and South America, only partial phases occur before moonset. Meanwhile, all stages of the eclipse will be seen from New Zealand and the eastern quarter of Australia. The lunar event will not be observable from Europe, Africa, or the Middle East.

Number 2. Comet LINEAR Meteor Shower

If sky-watchers get lucky, they may witness a powerful meteor outburst on May 23 and 24. Over the last two centuries, Comet LINEAR has likely shed a great deal of dusty debris. Some experts predict Earth will plow through the comet’s enriched dust trail this year.
Orbital models, are forecasting a strong possibility of shooting stars at rates of 100 to 400m per hour. Luckily, a waning crescent moon will wait until dawn to rise, making for ideal sky conditions for meteor watching.

Number 3. Triple Moon Conjunction

On two occasions this year the moon will huddle with bright planets and stars—making  truly eye-catching sky formations. First, on the evening of Saturday, July 5, the waxing gibbous moon will appear to wedge itself between the blue-white star Spica and ruddy Mars, low in the south west sunset sky. The apparent separation between the moon and the red planet will be unusually tight, with the pair appearing less than 30 arc minutes apart, equal to the width of the full moon disk.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the moon and planets will appear to huddle together on July 6 and 7 high in the north east sky.
On Sunday, August 31, an even more striking triangular pattern will appear when the crescent moon will join Mars and Saturn at dusk. For Southern Hemisphere observers, the same trio will appear high in the west on both August 31 and September 1.

And finally number 4.  Jupiter-Venus Conjunction

At dawn on Monday, August 18 and 19 (Southern Hemisphere), early-bird sky-watchers around the globe get a chance to see a superclose encounter between two of the brightest planets in our skies, Venus and Jupiter. The two starlike worlds will appear to pass by each other within 20 arc minutes—only two-thirds the width of the full moon.

So if you are a star gazer, or sky watcher get those telescopes and binoculars out... hope you enjoy the amazing 2014 skies.

Happy New Year!