A guinea pig is neither a pig, nor is it from Guinea. It is a rodent. Long ago, in parts of South America, guinea pigs were a food delicacy. After the discovery of America, they were eaten in Europe, too. The only people who still eat guinea pigs are the natives of Peru. Guinea pigs […]
A unicorn is an imaginary animal popular in legends. Long ago, the travellers who made voyages to distant lands brought back strange and fascinating tales. Many such tales were about unicorns. This mythical animal was believed to have the head and body of a horse, hind legs of an antelope; tail of a lion, and
More than 2,000 kinds of bats exist in the world today. Some bats eat insects, some eat fruits or pollen and others eat fish or smaller bats. Some bats also feed upon blood. These blood-eating bats are called vampire bats. Vampire bats are found in South and Central America. They hunt in the darkest of
The largest of all birds is the African ostrich that is up to 2.5 metres in height and weighs more than 135 kilograms but it cannot fly. The wingspread of a bird is also considered as an indicator of its size. The flying bird which has the largest wingspread is the albatross, with a wingspread
Wasps are part of bees’ and ants’ families. Wasps can be divided into two groups: social and solitary. Wasps use different materials to build their nests. The nests of social wasps are made of a kind of paper which they make by chewing wood and fibre. They attach these nests to the branches of trees,
A spider’s web has an interesting design. A spider uses silk, produced in its abdominal glands, to make webs. It pushes out this silk as liquid through several small holes found at the tip of the abdomen. This liquid becomes solid in the presence of air. The web thread is of many kinds. For example,
It often seems like fruit flies just appear out of nowhere. They are found near a decaying fruit. They are of two kinds: the Mediterranean fruit fly and Drosophila. Mediterranean fruit flies are destructive pests. They lay eggs in unripe fruits, thereby ruining the whole crop after the young ones are born as they eat
A lemming is a small mouse-like rodent. It lives in cold regions. There are around 20 lemming species across the world. A lemming is about five inches long and is found in Sweden, Norway and Lapland. Once in four years, a whole army of lemmings runs downhill towards the sea. They move along at night,
The duck family has a variety of birds like swan, goose, tree duck, fishing duck, etc. Ducks have a special waterproof coating over feathers. This helps them to float on water. This coating is made by the oil secreted by a gland near the duck’s tail. Ducks live easily in icy water, too. The webbed
There are several records related to the age of animals. Among mammals, the longest living animal is the Elephant that has a lifespan of 60 years. In birds, it is believed that the parrot with 54 years of lifespan, and the eagle with 55 years of lifespan are the longest living birds. Among fish, the
In a jungle, a turtle used to play upon the flute on the river-bank. The animals loved his music. They often danced with joy. One day, a hunter saw the turtle playing upon the flute. The hunter trapped the turtle and took him home. He put the turtle in a cage. He said to his
Butterflies have a unique life-cycle. They lay eggs. The egg becomes a caterpillar, then a pupa (sleeping through the winter), and finally turns into a butterfly. Most of its eating is done while it is a caterpillar. It eats various parts of plants. In fact, in some kinds of butterflies the caterpillar stage is the
There are different kinds of ants across the world. They all have different feeding habits. They mostly feed on sweet-smelling, sugary stuff. For example, the ‘harvester ant’ gathers seeds from grass into its nest where it sorts and stores this food. The ‘dairy farmer ants’ gather plant lice. Then they stroke their sides to gather
A shepherd boy used to look after his master’s sheep. A naughty idea came to his mind. He yelled, “Wolf! There is a wolf!” The villagers were surprised. Quickly, they ran over to the pasture to help him. They came with their sticks and other hard tools. But there was no wolf. The boy rolled
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Bacteria are unicellular living organisms. They are microscopic and hence cannot be seen with naked eyes. They are spread all over the world and thrive in almost any environment. Bacteria are mostly harmful; however, there are certain useful bacteria as well. Some of the common harmful bacteria are disease-causing bacteria that cause cholera, pneumonia, diphtheria