Monthly Archives: April, 2014
Z is for Zebra
Image by amateur_photo_bore on Flikr. . There are three species of zebra – Plains zebra (with 6 subspecies, one extinct), Mountain zebra (with 2 subspecies) and Grévy’s zebra. Although some species overlap in their habitat, they do not interbreed, and although in captivity Plains zebra can interbreed with Mountain zebra, Grévy’s zebra suffer a high rate …
Y is for Yellow-Bellied Voiceless Tree Frog
Image © and by permission of Dr Rafe Brown, University of Kansas. . The yellow-bellied, voiceless tree frog lives in trees of the cloud forest in Mexico. It has always been rare, and not much is known about it – it is presumed to breed in the abundant vegetation around the rocky forest streams in the …
X is for Xenosaurus grandis
Knob-scaled lizard (Xenosaurus grandis), photographed by and with permission of Richard Sage, University of California. . The knob-scaled lizard (Xenosaurus grandis) is a lizard that lives in tropical rainforests in Mexico and Guatemala. It is active in the day, and skulks alone inside rock crevices in cliff faces – it can also be found in holes in …
W is for White-Tailed Deer
White-tailed deer by Rick Cameron on Flikr. . The white-tailed deer lives in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America down to Peru. It has a horizontally split pupil that allows it good vision in the dark and by day. They eat a large number of foods, including legumes, shoots, leaves, cacti and …
V is for Viper
Eyelash pit viper image by Geoff Gallice on Flikr. . . Eyelash Pit Viper Eyelash pit vipers are beautiful snakes that come in a variety of colours. They live in tropical rainforest, montane forest and cloud forest in Central and northern South America. They are arboreal, and ambush prey – they wait hidden under leaves, …
U is for Uhler’s Sundragon
Photo by Matt Tillett on Flikr. . Uhler’s sundragon is a rare dragonfly that lives in the eastern U.S and Canada. Not much is known about its lifecycle, but it is seen most often flying very quickly along the banks of fast-moving streams. Dragonflies have incredible abilities to fly up, down, backwards and forwards and …
T is for Turtle
Image © US Fisheries and Wildlife, Becky Skiba on Flikr. . There are loggerhead turtles swimming in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and in the Mediterranean Sea. They spend most of their time in the water – only the females come to land just for the short time it takes to dig a hole …
S is for Sloth
Two-toed sloth by Marie and Alistair Knock on Flikr. . There are six species of sloth, some two-toed and some three-toed, and they are all very endearing creatures, with their perpetually smiling mouths. Sloths of course are well known for spending large amounts of time asleep, and for moving very slowly, and there are reasons …
R is for Rhinoceros
Image © International Rhino Foundation on Flikr. . All five rhino species still around (Black, White, Indian, Sumatran, Javan) are in extreme peril – from poaching, habitat loss and from humans encroaching on their habitat with settlements. There are only 35 Javan rhino left. What prompted me to write the poem above was seeing a terrible …
Q is for Quokka
Quokka by David Burton on Flikr. . I do love all animals, but there is something about this little marsupial that makes me smile and want to scoop it up and cuddle it silly. It is a small macropod, the same family as kangaroos and wallabies, and it jumps. It is about the size of …
lizbrownlee - poet 