Creature: Pest Controllers

Featured Creature: Aardvark

What unique animal could be a cross between a rabbit, a pig, an opossum, and an anteater?

The aardvark!

Photo by Kelly Abram from iNaturalist

Meet the aardvark – a one-of-a-kind mammal native only to sub-Saharan Africa.

The aardvark has an unusual hodge-podge mix of features including rabbit-like ears, a pig-like snout, an opossum-like tail, and a long, sticky anteater-like tongue. This creature has large and formidable claws used for digging and defense. Weighing in at 115 – 180 pounds, the aardvark is much heftier than it looks. 

Aardvarks inhabit the savannas, arid grasslands, and bushlands of sub-Saharan Africa where there is plenty of their favorite prey, ants and termites. They are solitary and do not socialize with others unless for mating or raising young. They live for about 18 years in the wild and approximately 25 years in captivity.

The aardvark is famous for being the first noun in the English dictionary. The animal goes by many names including Cape anteater and ant bear, but its colloquial moniker, aardvark, is Afrikaans for “earth pig”.

Photo by Louise Joubert from Wikimedia Commons

Odd Relatives

Although the aardvark is an eater of ants, it is not an anteater. Understandably, the comparison comes from its similar appearance and nearly identical diet to the anteater, which leads people to assume they are the same animal. However, the aardvark is its own species entirely, and in fact, it is more closely related to elephants than to anteaters. 

Unique Diet

Aardvarks are insectivores that eat ants and termites. They use their keen sense of smell to locate ant nests and termite mounds over great distances. Aardvarks have the highest number of olfactory turbinate bones of any mammal on the planet. An aardvark has about 9 -11 of these specialized bones which help support the olfactory bulb in the brain, where smells are processed. This larger-than-average olfactory system allows the aardvark to track such tiny creatures like ants and termites from far away. They have been observed swinging their heads back and forth close to the ground, much like a metal detector, to pick up a scent. 

Once an aardvark locates a termite mound, it uses its claws to break open the cement-hard structure. Its tongue, coated in sticky saliva, slurps up the exposed insects in seconds. The highly adapted tongue of an aardvark can be up to 1 foot long. Over the course of a night, a single aardvark eats over 45,000 termites. Amazingly, all of this is done without chewing. 

While aardvarks are classified as insectivores, they make one exception in their diet for a very unique fruit, the aardvark cucumber. This African melon looks similar to a cantaloupe but is grown completely underground. Aardvarks easily dig up the fruit and eat its watery, seed-filled interior. Once the fruit is digested, the seeds are dispersed by the aardvarks that cover their dung in dirt, effectively planting these seeds in the soil with a natural fertilizer. This symbiotic relationship helps propagate the aardvark cucumber, whose existence is entirely dependent upon the aardvark.

Photo by Nick Helme from Wikimedia Commons

Cultural Significance

The aardvark is regarded as a symbol of resilience in some African cultures due to its unrelenting bravery in tearing down termite mounds. The aardvark has very thick skin which helps avoid injury from hundreds of termite and ant bites. Because of their nocturnal habits and solitary nature, aardvarks are not a common sight during the day. It is said that anyone who is lucky enough to see one is blessed. 

Earth Engineer

Aardvarks are adept earth-movers known to create specialized burrows to live in. These burrows provide shelter away from the sun and from predators. Its powerful claws are specially adapted to move massive amounts of dirt in minutes, which helps the aardvark excavate multiple chambers within the den.  

Some burrows can be up to 10 feet deep and over 20 feet long. There are multiple entrances to the same burrow so the aardvark has a chance to escape if a predator poses a threat. Aardvarks have been observed to be very cautious creatures and practice an unusual ritual before exiting their abode. The aardvark stands at the edge of its burrow and uses its excellent sense of smell to detect any nearby predators. It listens for danger and emerges slowly. The aardvark then jumps a few times, pauses, and heads out for the night. Because aardvarks are primarily nocturnal, they don’t have much need for vivid sight and are colorblind. Their long ears and nose do the seeing for them. 

The physiology of these soil architects may strike some as strange, but it serves a purpose. The odd, arched silhouette of the aardvark is caused by its hind legs being longer than its front, which gives them a stronger stance when digging. This adaptation, combined with their formidable claws and muscular forelimbs, allows the aardvark to dig a hole 2-feet deep in just 30 seconds – much faster than a human with a shovel.

Photo by Louise Jobert from Wikimedia Commons

Ecological Importance

When aardvarks have depleted most of their territory’s termite mounds or ant nests, they must move on to new hunting grounds. Their abandoned burrows don’t stay empty for long and are occupied by a variety of species. Hyenas, wilddogs, warthogs, civets, and porcupines make their homes in aardvark burrows. The aardvark has an incredible impact on its environment by sculpting the very landscape itself and providing shelter for other creatures.

If you want to learn more about how aardvark burrows support other animals, check out this article documenting the one of the first observations of predators and prey cohabitating in the same burrow.

Burrowing away now,
Joely

Joely Hart is a wildlife enthusiast writing to inspire curiosity about Earth’s creatures. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Central Florida and has a special interest in obscure, lesser-known species.

Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article274890346.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/10-facts-about-aardvarks-4129429
https://a-z-animals.com/animals/aardvark/
https://animalia.bio/aardvark#facts
https://www.britannica.com/animal/aardvark
https://carnegiemnh.org/a-is-for-aardvark/
https://nationalmuseumpublications.co.za/aardvarks-orycteropus-afer-and-their-symbolism-in-african-culture/

Featured Creature: Crow

Carrion crow (Corvus corone) black bird portrait of head and looking at camera. Wildlife in nature. Netherlands

What common bird possesses an uncommon intelligence, including diversified communication, excellent memory, and a talent for mathematics? 

The crow!

Image by Kev from Pixabay

Crows, members of the Corvus genus, stand out as some of the most intelligent and adaptable birds on the planet. These corvids include over 40 species, such as the American crow, hooded crow, and fish crow, and they inhabit diverse habitats ranging from dense forests to urban landscapes. 

Known for their resourcefulness and problem-solving skills, crows have captivated scientists and observers alike with their remarkable behaviors. Crows continue to push the boundaries of how we understand animal intelligence, with recent studies on their tool use, awareness, and relationship to complex concepts gaining them well-deserved recognition and a place in the conservation conversation. 

Image by Wolfgang Heubeck from Pixabay

Crows are a fairly common sight in many parts of the world, with recognizable shiny black feathers and a familiar ‘caw.’ They are ground foragers with an incredibly diverse diet, ranging from insects and fruits to small animals and human food scraps. They tend to be associated with scavenging but are true omnivores, and can benefit soils and ecosystems by helping keep insect populations from surging out of balance. In urban settings, they are involved in flock feeding on human food scraps and garbage, and this adaptability to human environments means certain (though not all) species of crow maintain strong population numbers in the face of decreased access to natural habitat.

Communication and Complexity

While the crow ‘caw’ may seem like a simple call recognizable to many people, crow vocalization turns out to be quite differentiated. It has been discovered that among crows, groups form ‘dialects’ based on region. They also possess remarkable vocal mimicry skills, allowing them to imitate the sounds of other birds, animals, and even human speech. All of this allows the crow to engage in communication, social bonding, and strategic goals of deception and resource acquisition.

These crafty corvids possess a level of intelligence comparable to great apes and human children, allowing them to solve complex problems and even make and use tools. For instance, the New Caledonian crow, widely regarded as the most intelligent species among the corvid family, creates hooks and skewers from twigs to extract insects from crevices, showcasing their ingenuity. Researchers have studied crows’ usage of tools and observed that these birds will not only use pre-made tools or create simple combinations of tools in pursuit of their goal, but create multi-part composite tools, a behavior observed in only a few primates. 

Famously, Aesop’s fables summarized long ago, “A thirsty crow wanted water from a pitcher, so he filled it with pebbles to raise the water level to drink.” Though the story is thousands of years old, these behaviors are still being studied and producing new insight today.

Image by Thanasis Papazacharias from Pixabay

Some of the most fascinating recent inquiries into crow intelligence have probed crows’ sense of self-awareness, long-term gratification, playfulness, and their understanding of complex concepts. As a math lover, one of my favorites among these is a unique phenomenon – conceptualization of ‘zero’. While many animals are able to perform basic counting, zero is generally a trickier beast, one that was absent from many ancient human civilizations’ numerical systems. However, crows are among the very few animals that grasp this number. 

Additionally, crows exhibit impressive memory skills and can recognize individual human faces, reacting differently to perceived threats than to harmless humans. They are even known for ‘holding grudges,’ or conversely, remembering favorable relationships with people for years at a time. The ability to remember and share information within families and flocks may provide them with a significant evolutionary advantage in protecting themselves from harm.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

In addition to their intelligence and adaptability, crows exhibit fascinating social behaviors. They often engage in cooperative mobbing to fend off predators, perform elaborate aerial displays to attract mates, and maintain strong family bonds by living in cooperative family groups. While adult crows primarily socialize just with their monogamous mate (with whom they pair for life), young crows stay with their parents for the first two years of life, and juvenile crows live in highly social ‘juvenile gangs.’ One theory into crow intelligence suggests that their ingenuity is due to the relatively long period of time young crows spend with their parents and the learning this enables.

Some crows, like American Crows, are also known to flock in large groups in winter months, both foraging for food and roosting together. These roosts can range from a few hundred to up to two million crows, with some roosts forming in the same general area for well over 100 years. Moreover, crows hold “funerals” for deceased members of their community, demonstrating a level of social complexity often overlooked among animals. 

Crows will even form bonds with other animals. Crows in the wild have been observed playing with young wolves, and forming mutual attachments with these other social and intelligent creatures. Of course, there are many stories of the relationships humans have forged with individual crows, forming patterns of exchanging food for gifts or receiving trinkets after showing an injured bird care. One charming crow, Tuck, who has spent his life in a bird sanctuary in Tennessee, shares a moving friendship with his primary human caretaker, and has even become a conservation ambassador:

While many human cultures have depicted crows with respect for their ingenuity, recent trends have given crows a bad rap, primarily for the disturbance they cause to crops (hence the need for ‘scarecrows’). Despite their reputation as pests, though, crows play a crucial role in ecosystems as efficient garden helpers and natural pest controllers. They feast on insect pests like caterpillars and beetles, disperse seeds, and maintain a healthy balance in the garden ecosystem. Some crow species face significant challenges to their survival, such as habitat loss, disease, and predation, and crucial conservation efforts are underway to protect endangered species like the Hawaiian Crow through habitat restoration and captive breeding programs.

Crows have been both feared and revered by humans throughout history, often associated with death, darkness, and supernatural powers. The term “murder of crows” reflects their association with death and darkness in folklore, although alternative names like “horde” or “parliament” better capture their intelligent and social nature without perpetuating negative connotations. And many cultures and people have great respect for the clever crow, with whom we have coexisted for thousands of years. Despite their complex relationship with humans, crows continue to fascinate and inspire awe, challenging our limiting notions of animal behavior. 

For a deeper dive into crows and the insights they share on animal intelligence, check out this fascinating video and the sources below:

May we continue to learn from our animal kin,

Maya

Maya Dutta is an environmental advocate and ecosystem restorer working to spread understanding on the key role of biodiversity in shaping the climate and the water, carbon, nutrient and energy cycles we rely on. She is passionate about climate change adaptation and mitigation and the ways that community-led ecosystem restoration can fight global climate change while improving the livelihood and equity of human communities. Having grown up in New York City and lived in cities all her life, Maya is interested in creating more natural infrastructure, biodiversity, and access to nature and ecological connection in urban areas.

Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.iflscience.com/crows-once-again-prove-their-intelligence-by-showing-that-they-understand-zero-60069
https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/crows-higher-intelligence/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/what-happens-in-a-crows-brain-when-it-uses-tools/
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/overview
https://www.trvst.world/biodiversity/crow-facts/
https://www.audubon.org/news/10-fun-facts-about-american-crow
https://www.audubon.org/news/a-funeral-crows
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/23/927088859/crows-are-they-scary-or-just-super-smart

Featured Creature: Black Drongo

What small but fearless songbird can astonish with its aerial acrobatics and is always ready to battle much bigger birds for dominance?

The Black Drongo!

Photo by Viswaprem Anbarasapandian on Unsplash

A songbird with fearless attitude, the black drongo, or Dicrurus macrocercus, can be found across Southeast Asia. I first encountered this amazing avian when visiting India, where drongos could be seen across the treetops of Delhi and Kolkata. Their variety of calls and distinctive two-pronged tail caught my attention, and the more I learned about these creatures, the more I came to respect their cleverness and adaptability. 

Some consider drongos to be a symbol of good fortune. This may be related to their ecological role controlling the population of certain insects that can prove to be major pests in agricultural areas. Whether due to their beauty, their singing talents, or contributions to ecological balance, black drongos’ deserve our respect and high regard.

Photo by Vinoth Chandar (CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Strength in numbers

One of the most amazing characteristics of these songbirds is their brazen behavior. Though they have an average size of about 11 inches (or 28 cm), black drongos don’t shy away from conflict with much bigger neighbors. 

During nesting season, when birds of prey pose a threat to drongos’ nests, drongos have been known to band together and fight back. They employ the technique of ‘mobbing’ the predators, gathering in numbers to harass the threat and drive it out of the area. In certain cases, drongos have taken to this behavior year-round, preemptively “cleaning up the neighborhood” before bigger birds have a chance to locate and disrupt their nests. 

Naturally, other small birds have come to appreciate this service, and species like bulbuls, orioles, doves, and pigeons tend to nest near drongos to enjoy their protection. One beautiful display of mutualism has been recorded in which a red-vented bulbul fed the chicks of a black drongo. Talk about community building!

Photo by Viswaprem Anbarasapandian on Unsplash

As drongos’ forked tails may suggest, these birds are built to be incredibly aerodynamic. They often dart through the air in pursuit of their insect prey, and have been observed on daring escapades through fiery skies, as farmers using seasonal burns on their agricultural fields cause insects in those habitats to flee. The drongos happily browse the feast in these dramatic events, and in general they’re not too picky about how they get their meal. 

Black drongos will fly near tree branches to disturb insects and pick them off, or forage for grubs and caterpillars on the ground. They’ll eat cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, wasps, beetles, dragonflies, and more insects, and will even occasionally consume bigger prey like small birds, reptiles, bats, and fish. Living along forest edges, farmland, meadows, wetlands, and fields, black drongos benefit by having a wide diet that can suit their circumstances.

Photo by Maya Dutta

Clever callers

In addition to their flying skills, drongos use their vocal talents to rustle up a good meal. These birds are far from one-note. They have tremendous range in the calls they produce, and have become quite adept in the art of mimicry. Drongos sometimes sound alarms, causing other creatures to flee and abandon their food, leaving it up for grabs.  

Fork-tailed drongos (the black drongo’s African cousins) have been observed tricking meerkats in this way, and you can watch their wily ways on BBC Earth:

Black drongos of Asia do the same, imitating the call of the shikra (a small raptor) to scare myna birds away from their meals, and swooping in to enjoy the spoils. Perhaps they aren’t the best neighbors after all… 

Drongos’ variety of calls shows just how complex their communication can be. In order to mate, nest, forage, feed, mob, and play, the drongo requires a wide vocabulary, and while its most common sound is a two note ‘tee-hee’, drongos are capable of many more songs and sounds to express themselves. Listen in here:

Drongos demonstrate how using your voice and your talents cleverly can help you adapt to any number of circumstances. On that note, I’ll fly off now!

Maya

Maya Dutta is an environmental advocate and ecosystem restorer working to spread understanding on the key role of biodiversity in shaping the climate and the water, carbon, nutrient and energy cycles we rely on. She is passionate about climate change adaptation and mitigation and the ways that community-led ecosystem restoration can fight global climate change while improving the livelihood and equity of human communities. Having grown up in New York City and lived in cities all her life, Maya is interested in creating more natural infrastructure, biodiversity, and access to nature and ecological connection in urban areas.

Sources:
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/schools/drongo-the-kotwal-among-birds-190571
https://jlrexplore.com/explore/focus/drongos-of-karnataka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_drongo
https://ebird.org/species/bladro1

Featured Creature: Wasps

What creature taught humans to make paper, builds with mud and can pollinate a flower inside a fruit?

Wasps!

Young paper wasp queen guarding her nest and eggs.
Alvesgaspar (CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

When creatures possess a defense mechanism capable of hurting us (like a sting), we categorize them as ‘dangerous.’ When they look differently than we do, we categorize them as ‘strange,’ and when they get attracted to man-made cities or agricultural fields due to the buffet of food we lay out for them, we categorize them as a ‘nuisance.’ When it comes to wasps, we call them all the above. 

Whenever a creature has a negative reputation, people wonder, “Why do we even need them? Can’t we just get rid of them?” It’s a painful reminder of the Ego mindset, the one that sets us above other species. But if we take a moment to learn about other creatures, especially the ones we consider “pests,” we soon move towards an Eco mindset. We begin to realize that all species are important for balancing Earth’s ecosystems, and that each individual brings something unique and irreplaceable to this planet. When we embody the Eco mindset, we no longer see humans as dominant, but as equal participants in nature’s systems.

Wide Range

The term ‘wasps’ includes a variety of species that are generally separated by their behavior (and not all of them are yellow and black – in fact, only about 1% of wasps sport those colors). Social wasps, such as yellowjackets and hornets, live in colonies with hierarchies similar to bees and ants while solitary wasps, such as potter wasps, do not. Social wasps start a new colony every spring. Each colony begins with a queen, and she will raise a few worker wasps to enlarge the nest and bring food. Once the nest is spacious enough, the queen will lay eggs, and by the end of the summer there will be thousands of colony members. Throughout autumn, all wasps will perish except for a few new queens. Over the winter, this new set of royalty will find shelter in a fallen log or an abandoned burrow, and when spring returns they will venture out to create new colonies. 

A social wasp (Vespula germanica)
Alvesgaspar (CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Wonderful Architects

Wasps, unlike honeybees, cannot produce wax. To build nests, most species create a paper-like material out of wood pulp and shape the material into cells perfect for rearing. The manufacturing process involves gathering wood fibers from strips of bark, softening the wood by chewing and mixing it with saliva, and spitting it back out to form the cells. Some species, like Potter Wasps, prefer to design nests from mud.

Theory has it that 2,000 years ago, a Chinese official named Cai Lun invented our modern use of paper after watching wasps build a nest in his garden. So next time you read a book, write a note, or receive one of our letters in the mail, you can thank wasps for their ingenious skills!

Although many of us may not enjoy having a wasp nest in or near our home, it’s best to leave them alone when possible. Remember that a colony only lasts for a season, and once the wasps leave you can remove the remaining nest. If you need more convincing for leaving wasp nests intact, keep reading to learn how these creatures contribute to the environment.

Work-oriented

Despite the lack of recognition, wasps contribute to man-made gardens and agricultural fields by eating other ‘pests,’ or insects, that harm crops. Their wide-ranging diet and wide geographical range (they exist on every continent except Antarctica) means they contribute to human food sources worldwide. Wasps eat flies and grasshoppers, and will feed aphids to their growing larvae. Some also eat nectar, making them pollinators. Around the world, many farmers consider them essential for their food-production methods. When it comes to food security, we can thank wasps for looking after our crops.

Cuckoo Wasp (Chrysididae)
Vengolis (CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Well-balanced

I recently had my first fig, grown organically without any pesticides or chemical fertilizers, ever. It was delicious, and when I asked the manager of Sarvodaya Farm for another, we began to discuss the important role of wasps in fig reproduction.

Although figs are considered a fruit, they are actually an inverted flower. The fig blooms inside the pod, rather than outside, and so it relies on insect pollination to reproduce. It takes a special pollinator to crawl through a small opening and into the fig’s pod to bring the flower its much-needed pollen. Wasps like to lay their eggs in cavities, so they developed a mutually beneficial (or symbiotic) relationship with fig trees. Wasps get a home protected from predators to raise their young, and figs get to reproduce. 

Some species of wasps have developed a similar mutualistic relationship with orchids. The extinction of wasps would not only be detrimental for figs, orchids, and other plants that rely on insect eaters or pollinators, it would also be tragic for the many organisms that eat those plants (which, as a new fig fanatic, now includes me). 

My first fig ever, from Sarvodaya Farms, where I learned about the mutually beneficial relationship between figs and wasps

Warriors of disease

In case the invention of paper, crop protection, and pollination were still not enough to impress you, one species of wasp found in Brazil also produces a toxin in its venom that contains cancer-fighting properties. Even the substance that enables some wasps to kill larger prey contains healing properties. 

By writing about creatures a lot of people see as ‘pests,’ I hope to do my part in speaking against the way we view and treat other animals. I also hope these stories encourage you to take the time to learn from our non-human neighbors. Cai Lun demonstrated the incredible tools we can design when we look to nature for inspiration, a practice known as biomimicry. The solutions are all around us, but it’s up to us to be still, inquisitive, and open-minded, and to let nature show off her magic. 

Wishfully yours,

Tania

Tania graduated from Tufts University with a Master of Science in Animals and Public Policy. Her academic research projects focused on wildlife conservation efforts, and the impacts that human activities have on wild habitats. As a writer and activist, Tania emphasizes the connections between planet, human, and animal health. She is a co-founder of the podcast Closing the Gap, and works on outreach and communications for Sustainable Harvest International. She loves hiking, snorkeling, and advocating for social justice.

Featured Creature: European Hamster

"European hamster at a city park" by Ivan Radic is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Which keystone species creates intricate burrows, is aggressive towards its own kind, and hibernates from October to May? 

The European Hamster!

European hamster at a city park
(Photo by Ivan Radic licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Did you know that there are multiple species of hamster in the wild? I didn’t know this until recently, when I stumbled upon a BBC Earth video of a European Hamster foraging for food in a graveyard. Having only ever been exposed to domesticated hamsters, I was fascinated by this creature and eager to learn more about it. 

Burrow into the Basics

The scientific name for the European Hamster is Cricetus cricetus. These furry creatures have a small, ovalish body covered in reddish-brown fur, with the exception of white fur on their face and the side of their body. Quite small in size, European Hamsters typically weigh about 12 – 15 ounces and are about 8-9 inches in length (just a bit bigger than the average human hand!). 

In terms of geography, this solitary species is native to Central and Eastern Europe, hence its name. They inhabit steppe and grassland regions that are lush with greenery on relatively flat land. 

A Life Well-Lived

The European Hamster has a unique mating process. During the mating season between March and May, females engage in a ritual in which they run in a figure-8 pattern to attract their mate. Males, in turn, will chase the females during this ritual while making a special mating call. 

After successful mating with several males, a female’s pregnancy will last about 18 – 21 days and results in about 3 – 7 hamster pups. Females are the primary caregivers to their pups, as males are relatively hands-off in the upbringing of their young. They typically nurse the pups for about a month, or 30 days. The European Hamster has an impressive lifespan among small rodents – it can live up to 8 whole years!

Settling in for Winter

Hibernation is an important part of the European Hamster’s key to a long life. They typically rest from mid-October to mid-March in a deep (2 meter) underground burrow. During hibernation, they wake up about every week or so to get a quick snack before falling back into rest. 

Their burrows play a vital role in the European Hamster’s daily life. These burrows exist deep in the ground and have a variety of chambers for specific uses, like food storage. 

European Hamster burrow
(Photo by Bas Kers (NL) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

With a healthy appetite, the European hamster loves to eat grasses, seeds, grains, roots, fruits, legumes, and occasionally some insects or insect larvae. They might often be seen spending the day packing their roomy cheeks full of food to bring back to their food storage chamber to prepare for hibernation. 

A Temperamental Creature

European Hamsters aren’t the most friendly of creatures, possibly least of all towards their own kind. They mark their territory with secretions, and when they come into contact with another member of their species, they may act aggressively. They have also been known to attack humans when approached by farmers, who may view the species as harmful to their agricultural operations. 

European Hamsters deserve particular recognition for their role as a keystone species. They play a crucial role in dispersing seeds throughout the European grassland and steppe ecosystems that they inhabit. They also contribute to the food web by primarily consuming producers (i.e., plants & plant products), and by serving as prey to a host of predators including birds, foxes, weasels, dogs, cats, badgers, and more. 

One Keystone Species Affects the Entire Ecosystem

Unfortunately, this important keystone species is currently critically endangered due to a number of factors. According to Animal Diversity Web, “European hamsters have been hunted or sold for their pelts. They also have been used for cancer research, due to their exposure to pesticides and air pollution in urban settings.”

Luckily, there are rehabilitation and reintroduction efforts underway to protect this valuable keystone species and the ecosystem it helps to support. You can learn more about one such project in Khotyn National Park, Ukraine by clicking here: 

For all keystone species, 
Abby

Abby Abrahamson is a writer, activist, and educator with a passion for community-led biodiversity and climate solutions. As a graduate of sociology and environmental studies, she appreciates the intersectionality of our challenges of climate justice, conservation, and regeneration. Now a Teacher Naturalist with Mass Audubon, Abby formerly worked with Bio4Climate on communications, college outreach, and community engagement. She has also been involved in Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots, an organization that helps empower young people to work on environmental, conservation, and humanitarian issues.

Sources:
https://www.animalia.bio/european-hamster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hamster
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Cricetus_cricetus
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/common-hamster-named-critically-endangered-europe

Featured Creature: Banded Mongoose

Photo from pixabay.com

Which creature enjoys social gatherings, is well adapted to its habitat, and can be very altruistic?

Photo from pixabay.com

The Banded Mongoose is a small mammal with a mass of approximately ≤2kg (or 4 lbs) found in (and indigenous to) various parts of Africa. While most other mongoose species live a solitary life, the banded mongoose is gregarious living in groups of approximately 5-40 individuals with at least one breeding male and female. They are named so due to the black stripes across their greyish-brown dorsal area (back) while their ventral area (chest and stomach) is lighter than other parts. This species is commonly known for its ability and behavior to attack, kill, and eat snakes – even venomous ones! 

Photo from commons.wikimedia.org

Adaptation to their environment

Banded mongooses are mostly found occupying covered areas like savannahs, open forests, and grasslands for vigilance. They sleep and nurture their young in dens such as abandoned termite mounds, buildings, and even under bridges. By possessing short muscular limbs with strong claws, banded mongooses can dig to find food and get creative at creating and modifying their dens. Because they live in large groups as compared with other mongooses, their burrows have many entrances to ensure their escape during an attack and for sufficient ventilation. Despite having such nice dens, they are not sedentary to the specific den but rather frequently move from place to place every few days to avoid and distract their enemies. However, they can return to their favorite den after a certain time. In addition, their body color allows them to blend with several habitats and hence ensures their safety.

Photo by Dušan veverkolog on Unsplash

Like other animals, banded mongoose adults,  especially males, are responsible for the safety of the whole group. Unlike many other animals, all adult members are fully responsible for raising their young who are born synchronously (all matured female members get pregnant and give birth at the same time). Having muscular limbs, banded mongooses can stand by using their hind limbs just like their cousins (meerkats) to ensure the area is safe. 

These animals also exhibit altruistic behaviours whereby adults are ready to give up their life for the safety of the group. They were recorded standing and fighting against lions, birds of prey, and other animals, and while doing so other group members evacuated from the area. Additionally, since they are small in size, they move in groups and close to each other so that they may be seen as one large animal. And as they move, the young ones are located in the middle and the adult ones around them.

Diet and behavioral adaptation

The banded mongoose is a meso-carnivore with a diet consisting primarily of invertebrates such as beetles, millipedes, scorpions and others. Nevertheless, they also eat vertebrates such as snakes, rats, amphibians, mice, young birds and eggs. And in the case of plants, they eat wild fruits (if they’re available). Normally, they move together while locating the food area but each member finds and eats its food. In urban areas, they are mostly found around damp areas during their mealtime because there is plenty of food there, and then they rest in the covered areas mostly at noon to avoid the day heat.

On other hand, banded mongooses cope with food problems by using different symbiotic relationships with other animals like birds, warthogs (watch the video below to see this in action), elephants, and others (see more from attached YouTube links in the References). In this way, they become more successful in foraging and thriving in nature. They also use other animals, especially birds, to be alerted of various threats around them.

Though they are social animals, banded mongooses also exhibit inter-group territorial behaviour and their territories are marked with various scents, especially urine. Not only are territories scent-marked but so are group members. This is well seen when new pups are taken out for their first foraging and adults urinate over the young ones. When two different groups meet, they normally fight and the winning group takes over the area that they fought for. However, during the fight, some mature males and females from each group may mate.

Communication

Banded mongooses mainly communicate through sounds and scents. They possess various sound pitches, each with a different meaning and message to other members. They also developed anal and cheek glands which assist in the marking of their territory and young. They have a well-developed sense of smell, which they use to detect food.

Threats

Currently, banded mongooses are not faced with any critical danger and are listed as a“Least Concern” species due to their large population number and distribution in most parts of Africa. But this does not mean they don’t need any concern at all. I found some of them died in road accidents, and for those in urban areas most people used to attack them. Remember, even extinct species were once “Least Concern” and where are they now? Therefore, let’s give attention to every species in the world before their situation becomes worse.

Lesson to humanity

From such a small animal, we may think that there is nothing to gain, but there is a lot to learn from it. Banded mongooses, as said before, are ready to sacrifice their safety and even life just to make sure their groups are safe. This act shows love for others, something which nowadays very few people can do to others regardless of whether the one in need is their relative or not. I also like the way they raise their family. All group members are fully responsible for that, and if people were to do the same, there would be no street children and other problems also could be solved.

This lesson shows how we can learn from banded mongooses, but it is not just this species that we can learn things from. The whole of nature provides us with enough knowledge, materials and services that are essential for our survival. Therefore, let’s love nature and put our individual or organizational efforts into conserving it to ensure its natural existence lasts and more generations to come will continue to gain what we are gaining now. 

On behalf of mongooses everywhere, thank you!

Vitalis

Featured Creature: Ladybug

Photo by Roberto Navarro on Unsplash

What tiny creature brings luck to farmers and other folks all over the globe?

The ladybug! 

Photo by Roberto Navarro on Unsplash

One Lucky Lady

Ladybugs, or beetles of the family Coccinellidae, are small, often colorful rounded insects beloved by children’s rhymes and gardeners alike. 

Ladybugs are thought to be a sign of luck in many cultures and urban myths. Whether it’s because of their cuteness or their supposed powers of good fortune, people often hold ladybugs as an exception to their aversion to insects. Perhaps the lovely ladybug can pave the way to a more widespread appreciation for insects and their importance in the web of life. 

There are a variety of superstitions or myths around ladybugs, as people of different cultures have developed different takes on what kind of luck this little critter brings. Some view ladybugs as portents of love, and say that the redder they are the more luck they bring. Others say that it’s the number of spots that count – predicting the number of years of good luck you’ll have, or the number of months until your greatest wish comes true, depending on whom you ask.

In Norway, it’s said that if two people catch sight of a ladybug at the same time, they will fall in love. Whether ladybugs are said to bring luck in love or in the year’s coming harvest, it’s widely believed that killing a ladybug confers bad luck, so steer clear!

Photo by Dustin Humes on Unsplash

Doing their part 

In all likelihood, ladybugs have become associated with luck because of the very real help they provide to farmers and growers. Ladybugs prey on aphids, mealybugs, and other insects that can damage crops by latching on and sapping them of their nutrients. While a number of artificial pesticides can be used to control such problems, these dangerous chemicals often have unintended consequences, harming not only the insects they target, but also killing beneficial insects, running off and seeping into groundwater, poisoning soil, and altering ecosystems. Ladybugs provide a natural alternative to chemical pesticides because they target the pests specifically, leaving plants, other insects and animals, and humans all unharmed. 

Ladybug larvae feast on aphids, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied insects, and can consume up to 50 aphids a day. They continue to maintain this diet in their pupal and adult forms, and may eat up to 5000 insects in a lifetime. Even through metamorphosis, some things never change! 

Check out this short video showing the life cycle of the ladybug:

A diverse family

Also known as “ladybirds” or “lady beetles”, ladybugs are found pretty much everywhere around the globe, and there are over 5000 different species of them. While ladybugs (at least here in the Northeast US) are famous for sporting a pattern of red shell with black spots, they can actually have a variety of colors and patterns. 

File from entomart.be

Their bright color and patterning signals to predators that they should stay away, or face a very disappointing meal. Indeed, when under threat, ladybugs release a distasteful fluid from their joints. As is often the case with many other familiar plants and animals, these insects are more than meets the eye. 

Ladybugs are a great example of a creature that is beloved for its contributions to its ecosystem, enabling plant life and complex networks of creatures to thrive. When we pay attention to the way other organisms help out in their own habitats, we come to realize that you don’t need luck when you have healthy ecosystems. By using natural means of pest control and working with other life forms to keep systems in balance, we can make our own good fortune. 

Fingers crossed,

Maya

Maya Dutta is an environmental advocate and ecosystem restorer working to spread understanding on the key role of biodiversity in shaping the climate and the water, carbon, nutrient and energy cycles we rely on. She is passionate about climate change adaptation and mitigation and the ways that community-led ecosystem restoration can fight global climate change while improving the livelihood and equity of human communities. Having grown up in New York City and lived in cities all her life, Maya is interested in creating more natural infrastructure, biodiversity, and access to nature and ecological connection in urban areas.

Sources:
https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef105
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/ladybug
https://organiccontrol.com/lady-bugs/