LSM1303 Animal Behaviour

Cute? Think again.

Introducing, the honey badger (Mellivora capensis).

The title might have confused you. You might think a honey badger is a cute little cuddly Pooh bear with a name like “honey badger” and its appearance may reinforce that, but don’t be fooled like I was by this ferocious beast. I came across this video on youtube and it amused me to ends and so I decided to write about the honey badgers as the blog post.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c81bcjyfn6U

Honey badgers are given the “honey” tag because they like to forage in bee hives; not for honey, but for the larvae of the bees that is a nutritious meal for them. The honey badgers do not seem to be deterred by the hundreds of bees stinging it and unfortunately, this has caused the death of some of these badgers.

The most interesting part about the honey badgers though, is the fact that they are opportunistic hunters and eat almost anything! Their diet ranges from mammals including rodents, molerats, porcupines(!!), birds, reptiles such as snakes, tortoises and small crocodiles up to 1m, and almost everything else in between. There has even been reports of honey badgers stealing the meal of lions right from under their noses. Furthermore, the honey badgers do not seem to have any natural predators although there has been reports of lions eating honey badgers. While other animals might know their limits and back off or run away from predators that are much larger than them, the honey badgers NEVER back off. They will always posture at predators when threatened and will continue to do so until the predator backs off. Hence, the honey badger is a tough prey to crack. Lions and leopards sometimes prey on honey badgers, but not at a high success rate because the honey badgers’ ferocity and thick, loose skin makes it difficult to grip or suffocate them. The older and weaker honey badgers are more likely to fall prey but even they will defend themselves as vigorously as possible.

The way the honey badgers face danger will always amuse me; be it diving head first into a hive full of bees just to eat larvae, snatching prey off lions and leopards right from under their noses or simply preying on venomous snakes whose venom they are NOT immune to. Their ferocity and “gung-ho” attitude brings new meaning to the Energizer slogan, “Never say die!”.

References:

“Honey Badger – Ferocity and Courage, with a Sweet Tooth,” by CC Africa, Date: 21 November 2006. http://www.wildwatch.com/living_library/mammals-2/honey-badger

“The tough Kalahari honey badger reigns as one of the desert’s fiercest hunters.” by Colleen and Keith Begg, Date: September 2004. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/static-legacy/ngm/0409/feature6/

Do you remember watching a movie in which a hero is being chased and he goes on a wild run? You grip your heart at the sight of the impending broken bridge which leads the safe land across. The hero then holds his breath, takes the gamble, gives all his might and take the leap. You know the ending, don’t you?

Of course, everyone knows that it’s only the cinematic reality. But, the motivating factor behind the success has been the same: immense stress, a choice between life and death. And this has been proven to be an effective teacher in the world of nature, especially to the Albatross!

The Albatross young is given only a few months to learn how to fly. It is a task “easier said than done”. No matter how hard the young tries, some of them just do not seem to be able to do it. What happens then? When nearing the age of adulthood, they will have to practice learning how to fly nearer the sea. When they cannot get airborne and have to land in the water, they will face their death maker- the tiger shark!

Albatross versus Tiger Shark (Click on birds, find the video titled Albatross v Tiger Shark)

Thankfully, the tiger shark do not always win! They only consume about 10% of the young Albatross population. It seems like it is the stress factor from the tiger shark that provides the motivation for the youngs to quickly pick up the skill to fly and be airborne.

Just like the movies, after escaping from the fearsome grasp of the tiger shark, the albatross is now able to soar into the air, and take flights lasting as long as a few hours! And the albatross, on average, is able to live up till about 50 years of age.

Therefore, sometimes you wonder why children learn better after a good scolding, or teachers of the past use canes on lazy students. It “motivates” you to learn! ;)

References

Lindsey, Terrence and Morris Rod. Albatross (CSIRO Publishing, 2008) Pg 61- 74

Michael Brooke, John Cox. Albatrosses and Petrels Across the World: Procellariidae. (Oxford University Press, 2004) Pg 74- 93

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/albatross.html

The distinctive black and white markings, flattened and brightly-coloured bill and bright orange feet makes the Puffin unmistakable. These lovable seabirds spend most of their time out at sea, and return to their breeding grounds during the summer months of June and July to nest and breed. And one interesting fact about puffins is, that they only lay one egg per year! A blessing or a curse, that can be left to interpretation, as according to this article posted by Wildlife Extra (which can be found here), a recently recaptured puffin has been found to be 34 years old, making puffin number EB61097 the second oldest known puffin in the world.

The lifespans of puffins and other seabirds are considered long compared to mammals, and birds have been known to live up to three times longer than mammals of equivalent body mass (Finch 1990 in Holmes, Fluckiger & Austad 2001). Birds fall under the category of animals which have gradual senescence (the condition or process of deterioration with age) with definite lifespan. This means that birds age at a slower rate, thus are able to live longer. Past research suggests that birds which are characterized by delayed sexual maturation, increasing breeding success with repeated efforts, and very small clutch sizes throughout their breeding lifespan are those that live the longest (Holmes, Fluckiger & Austad 2001). judging from this criteria, the puffin would fit right in with its breeding age at 5-6 years and a single egg clutch.

Also, puffins possessing these characteristics could be a result of mate selection and consequent evolution towards a longer lifespan. The bright colours of the puffins’ beaks and feet is a likely indicator of good health, fitness and diet quality and this could have led to pufflings having longer and longer lifespans. With only one puffling between two parent puffins, mate selection as well as longevity would be of utmost importance.

All this, after all, is in the name of survival.

References:

World’s Second Oldest Puffin Still Going Strong, http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sule-puffin.html#cr

D.J Holmes, R. Fluckiger & S.N Austad 2001, Comparative biology of aging in birds. Experimental Gerontology, Vol 36 Issues 4-6, Pages 869-883, Slowly Aging Organisms.

Toad ‘riding’ on a carp

Ever seen a carp piggy- backing a toad? This is it. I was flipping through the newspaper and was drawn to a really interesting photograph that featured a toad ‘riding’ on a carp. However, as I read on, I found out that the poor carp was eventually ‘sexually abused’ to death by the toad!

This is the link to the article:

http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/200902/news-gb2312-788428.html?SubID=news&MsgID=788428&c_lang=big5

As link is from an online Chinese newspaper agency website, I have translated it as below:

It was the time of the year for the breeding season of toad starting from September to March. In a farm of Taiwan, approximately ten toads gathered at the pond and began their harassment of the inhabitants there. This incident took place on last year’s December where two toads of 6- 7 cm long managed to grasp hold of the heads of two carps respectively. Despite the struggle of the carps to get free, their efforts were futile. The relentless ‘clinging’ of the toads on carps lasted for 4 days and finally ended with the tragic death of the carps. According to biologist Dr Qu, the death of the carps could be due to the possibility that the carps had swallowed the venom of the toads and such an act may be a display of mating behavior of the toads which coincided with the concurrent breeding season of the toads. Others suggested the possibility that the death could be caused by extreme exertion of force on the carps or infection.

Wood frogs in amplexus

Now viewing from a more scientific perception, the toad’s display of this special kind of embrace is referred to as amplexus. As you can see from the photograph above, the smaller sized male is always on top of the female during mating. The male will grasp the female’s trunk with his forelimbs and external fertilization will occur outside the female’s body. During amplexus, the female discharges eggs into the water while the male will fertilize them by shedding sperms over the eggs. By comparing both photographs, it is clear that the toad had mistaken the carp as his mate!

This is an interesting video which I found for frogs in amplexus. Your may wish to have a look.

 Attenborough: Golden Frog: Fighting & Mating – Life in Cold Blood – BBC wildlife

 Appalled and awed by this carelessness of the toad? Well, yes I am. AND this is not the only ‘spouse mistaking’ incident that has ever occurred. There are also other instances where this happened on other toads as well (picture below). In fact, according to a study conducted by Dr. Susumu Ishii in Japan, it was found that when adult male toads find ANY pliable object as large as an adult toad during the breeding season, they will mount and try to clasp it. Sounds ‘despo’? I think so. Even if the object they have mounted does not respond, they will persist and keep holding on for hours or even for days. This was the tragedy that befell on the poor carp. However, if the object is a ‘mentally prepared’ female for mating, amplexus will proceed under normal circumstances. On the other hand, if the object mounted is a ‘mentally unprepared’ female for mating, she will send vibrational signals through her body. Upon receipt of the vibrations, the clasping male will then loosen his grip and back off.

The link to the article on the study conducted by Dr. Susumu Ishii is as follows: http://www.backyardnature.net/frogsex.htm

Toad clasping a Green Frog

I really felt sorry for the two dead carps. Looks like the toad have to do some soul- searching on his ‘despo’ character or should at least wear a pair of spectacles to help him spot his right ‘bride’ the next time. If not more may fall victim and suffer under his ‘love’ or I should say ‘forbidden love’.

Reference

1. Apple Daily (Taiwan), (7 February 2009), retrieved on 14 March 2009. http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/200902/news-gb2312-788428.html?SubID=news&MsgID=788428&c_lang=big5
2. ‘Frog Reproduction’, by Conrad Jim, 14 March 2009. http://www.backyardnature.net/frogsex.htm
3. ‘Wood Frog’, by Rana Sylvatica, 17 March 2009. http://www.uri.edu/cels/nrs/paton/LH_wood_frog.html
4. Attenborough: Golden Frog: Fighting & Mating – Life in Cold Blood – BBC wildlife, 17 March 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1FWQvaBoRg