Stuffed Animals

How to Train a Toy Poodle Puppy?
•The crate training is the most effective toy poodle training methods. You should arrange for a crate, put a soft blanket into it and train your pet to stay in it when the pup is neither relieving itself, nor eating or playing.
•You should make sure that the crate is placed at such a place in the house where there is a lot of activity. This way, the pet will never feel lonely.
•One of the most important aspects of the training method is to potty train the pet. If you wish to know how to potty train a toy poodle, then make sure that you take the pet out for relieving itself at an early stage. When the poodle does it, reward the pup with a treat. Poodles learn a lot with the reward technique.
•Another important thing to remember is that poodles understand human emotions and translate it into stress. Therefore, when you are playing with your pet, make sure you are in a happy and lively mood in order to keep the poodle lively and cheerful.
•When training the pup to bring back a rubber ball, you should start by rolling the ball in front of the pet. Then take the ball in your hand and give it to the pup. Then take it from the pup, throw it at a shorter distance and tug at its collar to make the pet go to the ball and bring it back. As usual, verbally praise the dog or give it a treat when the mission is accomplished.
•When the pet barks, make sure you find out the reason for the barking before trying to stop it. If the pet is barking for no reason, make sure you firmly tell the pet to stop. Be firm and clear (but do not shout). Doing this for a couple of times will train the dog to be quiet.
•Lastly, as mentioned above, these dogs are highly prone to suffering from small dog syndrome. Therefore, you should make sure that you train the pet to be obedient and teach commands like ‘potty’, ‘sit’, ‘stop’, etc., as early as possible.

Stink bugs can prove to be a real nuisance, especially when they release the horrible odor within your house. One tries to get rid of them the traditional way of getting rid of bugs: squishing them under your feet. However, this is a bad idea as it will make them release more of the terrible, terrible odor. And this dirty smell will attract more of these bugs to the house and fill the entire house with a nauseating smell. But, what do these nasty bugs feed on?

Stinky bugs are loathed by farmers as they destroy their crops. These bugs love to feed on a number of crops and destroy a farmer’s hard work. Some of the favorite edibles of the stink bug include: •Leafy crops
•Cherries
•Peaches
•Berries
•Tomatoes
•Corn
•Peppers
•Soybeans
•Mustard
•Rice
•Cabbage
•Cotton
•Sunflowers
These bugs love drinking the juice of various fruits that can pierced by their beak.

What Do Stink Bugs Eat in the House?
We discussed what do bugs eat and drink outside in the wild. But what is it that it eats in the house? The bugs invade our homes from the nearby gardens and farms. But, with the approach of autumn, they begin to look for warm places to hide. These bugs are attracted to bright lights. Thus, the attractive bright lights placed outside our houses, sends them an open invitation to visit. The bugs come flying through the windows, and into our house. They find heaven in the dark, warm places within the house. They have everything they need. They have access to the food in your kitchen like tomatoes, fruits in the fruit basket, onions hung to dry, a rubbish bin with goodies inside, etc. They are well protected and receive all the warmth required to spend a winter. And, it is a good place to catch a mate and reproduce. Read the rest of this entry »

To begin with the facts about elk, let us study about some of the major aspects of these animals’ life in the wild, which essentially include their diet, behavior, migratory nature, and reproduction.

Diet
These mammals are cud-chewing hoofed mammals, therefore, have four-chambered stomachs. Per day, elk require to feed on about 15-20 pounds of vegetation. And morning and evening are known to be the time when most of these animals can be seen foraging for food. One of the interesting elk facts is, their diet depend on or vary according to the seasons of the year. During the low mercury days (winter), tree barks are on the menu. And when it is hot during the summer months, forbs such as clover, sunflower, milkweed, and tree sprouts (especially Aspen sprouts) make up for the diet. But what is available year around for them is the supply of the native grass. Another important fact about elk is associated with their digestive system. As cited, with the change in the season, the food source changes. So how do these animals cope with such changes in their diet. The credit goes to the microbacteria in the digestive system of the animals. These microorganisms change to adapt themselves to the varied food source.

Behavior
When the mating season kicks off, it is common to hear the bull elk echoes bugling through the mountains. The average size of the (bull) male’s antlers reach up to 4 feet above the head. And these antlers are the ones the male elk make use of in combating against potential rivals in order to attract the attention of females (cows), and to defend other females in the group. Typically, males with bigger antlers, which happen to the matured ones, gain an upper hand in the fight, thus getting to control smaller herds. One interesting technique the bulls put to use for wooing the cows is bathing in their own urine. And they have a special way of doing it too. They dig holes in the ground, fill them with their urine, and roll over. This is what is called the ‘fatal attraction!’

Migration
Coming to another important segment of this article on elk facts, here we would read about how they migrate. Migration is a common phase in the lives of most species of deer, which include the elk too. In early summer, these animals make their way for higher grounds in the mountainous regions. And they spend the late summer in the same region, and it is there that the breeding season takes place. And when the mercury starts dropping, these animals get back together in large single sex-groups (known as gang). They retreat to lower valley pastures, wherein wooded areas and sheltered valleys provide them not only with the required food supply, but also cover from the wind. However, some species of elk do not show any migratory behavior in their lifetime; a common example being the Roosevelt Elk.

Reproduction
The early summer, when the elk move to higher grounds, the cows give birth to their offspring. A single calf delivery is common with every cow, and amazingly within 20 minutes, the new-born becomes ready to stand on its legs. 15 and 16 kilograms (33 and 35 lb) is an average weight of an offspring. One must-know fact about the elk reproduction is, when a cow nears her delivery, she finds herself a place isolated from the main herd, and chooses to stay there until the new-born becomes able enough to escape predators. In the wild, the average lifespan of elk is 10 – 13 years, mainly due to predation. While in captivity, it is 20 years or more. Read the rest of this entry »

Both the male and female seahorses change their partners very rarely. According to studies, it is found that they are monogamous for at least one mating season. It is another rare attribute seen in marine mammals. While studying about seahorse reproduction process, much importance is given to the distended male brooding pouch, where the eggs and developing hatchlings are stored until birth. For your understanding about reproduction in seahorses, refer to the following information.

Competition for Female
When the mating season arrives, the male seahorses are often found competing amongst themselves for the female. They fight, slap to one another with their snout and many a times, wrestle with their tails to win the female attention. At other times, seahorses tend to remain entangled in the nearby vegetation with its tail curled. Owing to their upright posture, it is understandable that they are not very good in swimming. In fact, many of them die due to exertion after swimming for longer hours.

Seahorse Courtship
At the time of courtship, they change their color, move sideways and perform the pre-dawn dance. The female then inserts oviduct to the male’s brooding pouch repeatedly for depositing eggs (more than 1,000 eggs). In between the process, the female tries to relax for a short time, while the male wrings in an attempt to adjust eggs properly. After eggs are impregnated, the female seahorse gets separated from the male, and the protruded oviduct is receded within a few hours. The male seahorse attaches itself to a nearby plant by its tail.

The Pregnant Male
An astonishing fact about seahorse reproduction is, the male partner is the one that gets pregnant, and not the female counterpart. Like other organisms, the male produces sperms and the female produces eggs. However, egg fertilization, nurturing of embryo and hatching occur inside the male’s pouch. Also, it is the male that provides parental care. The gestation period of seahorse lasts for about 21 days, and during this period, the male and the female seahorses greet each other in the morning.

Releasing Babies Read the rest of this entry »

On an average, a male great white shark can grow on to attain a length of 11 – 13ft. The females in this species – on the other hand, are a bit larger with an average length of 14 – 16ft. The average weight in this cartilaginous species is believed to range between 1,500 – 2,400 lbs. The white underside and a gray dorsal area of the great whites show that they resort to counter-shading form of camouflage. This is a unique adaptation in several marine animals wherein the gray dorsal area blends with ocean depths and white underside blends with sunlight thus keeping the animal off the radar of predators and preys alike. The caudal fin tail of the great white helps it clock unbelievable speeds by facilitating quick acceleration. It has two dorsal fins which add to the hydrodynamics of this species. While the first dorsal fin – which is larger of the two, makes sure that the shark doesn’t rollover in course of making its way through the water, the second makes sure that the flow of water over the posterior portion of the shark is smooth. Then there also exist pectoral fins which help the great white maneuver in water, and pelvic fins which help the shark to balance its body.

Great White Shark’s Jaws and Teeth
It wouldn’t be much surprising if the first thing to cross your mind when we talk about the anatomy of the great whites happen to be their jaws. The notoriety that this species has gained over the course of time can be attributed to this very anatomical feature along with the 3000 odd double-sided serrated edged teeth that lie within its mouth. The upper jaw of a great white shark is not fused with the lower jaw as in case of humans, and that makes it possible for this animal to open its mouth wider than one can imagine. The great white grabs its prey by its lower jaw, before protruding its upper jaw and snaps its prey in a flash of lightning. While the teeth of a great white are sharp enough, the muscles which facilitate the movement of jaw are also very powerful and these anatomical features make it easier for the great white to cut right through a seal as we mentioned before. Their jaws begin developing in the very first month of their life. Their amazing ability to replace a lost tooth within 24 hours is yet another interesting fact about the great white shark that you need to be aware of.

Sensory Devices of the Great White Shark
Armed with light-sensing rods and color-sensitive cones, the eyes of a great white shark have a crucial role to play when it comes to hunting in the dark depths of the oceans. These sensory devices help the species see at a distance of up to 50ft with great ease. Similarly, the scent glands on their snout help them trace chemical scents from a distance of quarter mile. The great white can also track electromagnetic fields – which are produced as a result of muscle contraction during locomotion, with a specialized organ referred to as Ampullae of Lorenzini located on their snout. The fluid-filled ears of this species also work as sensory devices for the great white as any vibration in the water in the vicinity, causes ripples in the fluid in their ears and helps them trace the movement in their surroundings.

Internal Anatomy of the Great White Shark Read the rest of this entry »