Sheep with Big horn - Bighorn sheep

Hi,   since after long time we meet again, today we will see a ship which may give you a head butt with his big horn yes we are going to see Big Horn Sheep.

                                                 Classification

Kingdom:        Animalia                                             Phylum:           Chordata

Class:             Mammalia                                           Order:            Artiodactyla

Family:           Bovidae                                              Subfamily:     Caprinae

            Genus: Ovis

Bighorn Sheep are the symbol of Rocky Mountain National Park. Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) are one of two species of mountain sheep in North America. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark brown, and have a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Bighorn sheep get their name from the large, curved horns on the males, or rams. They are legendary for their ability to climb high, steep, rocky mountain areas.

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep native to North America named for its large horns.

These horns can weigh up to 14 kg (30 lb), while the sheep themselves weigh up to 140 kg (300 lb). Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: O. c. sierrae. Sheep originally crossed to North America over the Bering land bridge from Siberia; the population in North America peaked in the millions, and the bighorn sheep entered into the mythology of Native Americans. By 1900, the population had crashed to several thousand, due to diseases introduced through European livestock and overhunting. Ovis canadensis is one of three species of mountain sheep in North America and Siberia; the other two species being O. dalli, which includes Dall sheep and Stone's sheep and the Siberian snow sheep, O. nivicola. Wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia into Alaska during the Pleistocene (about 750,000 years ago) and subsequently spread through western North America as far south as Baja California and northwestern mainland Mexico.

Bighorn sheep are named for the large, curved horns borne by the rams (males). Ewes (females) also have horns, but they are shorter with less curvature. They range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the backs of all four legs. Males typically weight 58–143 kg, are 90–105 cm tall at the shoulder, and 1.6–1.85 m long from the nose to the tail. Females are typically 34–91 kg, 75–90 cm tall, and 1.28–1.58 m long. Male bighorn sheep have large horn cores, enlarged cornual and frontal sinuses, and internal bony septa. These adaptations serve to protect the brain by absorbing the impact of clashes.

Bighorn sheep have preorbital glands on the anterior corner of each eye, inguinal glands in the groin, and pedal glands on each foot. Secretions from these glands may support dominance behaviors. Mating occurs in the fall when rams use their horns as weapons of battle to fight for dominance or female mating rights. In this display called "rut," rams face each other, rear up on hind legs and pitch forward at speeds up to 40 mph. The loud crash of horns signals contact and can be heard up to one mile away. This ritual is repeated until one animal concedes and walks away. Bighorn sheep skulls are thick and bony to absorb this repeated impact with little physical injury to the ram.

The Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep occupy the cooler mountainous regions of Canada and the United States. In contrast, the desert bighorn sheep subspecies are indigenous to the hot desert ecosystems of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. Bighorn sheep generally inhabit alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, and foothill country near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs. Since bighorn sheep cannot move though deep snow, they prefer drier slopes, where the annual snowfall is less than about 150 cm per year. A bighorn's winter range usually lies at lower elevations than its summer range.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were between 1.5 million to two million bighorn sheep in North America. Today, there are less than 70,000.

Bighorn sheep eat different foods depending on the season. During the summer, they subsist on grasses or sedges. During the winter they eat more woody plants, such as willow, sage and rabbit brush. Desert bighorn sheep eat brushy plants such as desert holly and desert cactus.

Lizards are wizards - Komodo dragon

We all know lizards but some lizards are really big and danger. Isn’t it, so today we were know about one interesting member of their family, Komodo dragon.

                                            Classification

Kingdom:         Animalia                                 Phylum:                     Chordata

Class:              Reptilia                                   Order :                    Squamata

Family:            Varanidae                               Genus:                      Varanus

Subgenus:       Varanus                                  Scientific Name:      Varanus komodoensis

Komodo dragons have thrived in the harsh climate of Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands for millions of years. The Komodo dragon, also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Padar.

A member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae, it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 3 meters  in rare cases and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms. Komodo dragons are limited to a few Indonesian islands of the Lesser Sunda group including Rintja, Padar and Flores, and of course the island of Komodo. They live in tropical savanna forests, but range widely over the islands, from beach to ridge top. As a result of their size, these lizards dominate the ecosystems in which they live. Komodo dragons hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals. It has been claimed that they have a venomous bite; there are two glands in the lower jaw which secrete several toxic proteins. The biological significance of these proteins is disputed, but the glands have been shown to secrete an anticoagulant.

Komodo dragon group behavior in hunting is exceptional in the reptile world. The diet of big Komodo dragons mainly consists of deer, though they also eat considerable amounts of carrion. Komodo dragons also occasionally attack humans.

Komodo dragons are carnivores. Although they have been considered as eating mostly carrion, they will frequently ambush live prey with a stealthy approach. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon's ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal at high speeds and go for the underside or the throat. Contrary to popular belief (and what is usually shown on documentaries), Komodo dragons make no attempt to deliberately allow the prey to escape with fatal injuries, but try to kill prey outright using a combination of lacerating damage and blood loss. There are records of these animals disemboweling wild hogs in a matter of seconds, and observations of Komodo dragons tracking prey for long distances are likely misinterpreted cases of prey escaping an attack before succumbing to infection. Komodo dragons have been observed knocking down large pigs and deer with their strong tails.It is able to locate carcasses using its keen sense of smell, which can locate a dead or dying animal from a range of up to 9.5 km (5.9 mi). Nevertheless, tracking does not appear to be an important hunting strategy as popularly thought.

Mating occurs between May and August, with the eggs laid in September. During this period, males fight over females and territory by grappling with one another upon their hind legs, with the loser eventually being pinned to the ground. These males may vomit or defecate when preparing for the fight. The winner of the fight will then flick his long tongue at the female to gain information about her receptivity. Females are antagonistic and resist with their claws and teeth during the early phases of courtship. Therefore, the male must fully restrain the female during coitus to avoid being hurt. Other courtship displays include males rubbing their chins on the female, hard scratches to the back, and licking. Copulation occurs when the male inserts one of his hemipenes into the female's cloaca. Komodo dragons may be monogamous and form "pair bonds", a rare behavior for lizards.

Female Komodos lay their eggs from August to September and may use several types of locality; in one study, 60% laid their eggs in the nests of orange-footed scrub fowl (a moundbuilder or megapode), 20% on ground level and 20% in hilly areas. The females make many camouflage nests/holes to prevent other dragons from eating the eggs. Clutches contain an average of 20 eggs, which have an incubation period of 7–8 months. Hatching is an exhausting effort for the neonates, which break out of their eggshells with an egg tooth that falls off before long. After cutting themselves out, the hatchlings may lie in their eggshells for hours before starting to dig out of the nest. They are born quite defenseless and are vulnerable to predation. Sixteen youngsters from a single nest were on average 46.5 cm long and weighed 105.1 grams.

Young Komodo dragons spend much of their first few years in trees, where they are relatively safe from predators, including cannibalistic adults, as juvenile dragons make up 10% of their diets. The habit of cannibalism may be advantageous in sustaining the large size of adults, as medium-sized prey on the islands is rare. When the young approach a kill, they roll around in faecal matter and rest in the intestines of eviscerated animals to deter these hungry adults. Komodo dragons take approximately 8 to 9 years to mature, and may live for up to 30 years.

Queen of the Night- beautiful and Rare Epiphyllum oxypetalum

Hey guys, thanks for u giving for amazing  support , day by day we are growing and getting more information and knowing the  unknown facts .today we were know facts about a very beautiful but rare flower. named as Epiphyllum oxypetalum.

                    classification

Kingdom:        Plantae                                             Order:            Caryophyllales

Family:          Cactaceae                                          Genus:            Epiphyllum

lets know about this amezing thing,People also mention this flower as following names such as Queen of the Night, Night Blooming Cereus and Lady of the Night In India and Indian subcontinent it called as Bemha-kamala . Epiphyllum oxypetalum is a species of cactus and one of the most cultivated species in the genus.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum blooms rarely and only at night, and its flowers wilt before dawn. Though it is sometimes referred to as a nightblooming cereus, it is not closely related to any of the species in the tribe Cereeae, such as Selenicereus, that are more commonly known as nightblooming cereus. All Cereus species bloom at night and are terrestrial plants; all Epiphyllum species are usually epiphytic. Each pays homage to the spectacular white blooms (8"-10" across) that open in the late evening, releasing an exquisite perfume all night long, to close down at dawn. This display is so magical that people around the world host parties for friends to gather and experience this flowering.

Though each Epiphyllum Oxypetalum bloom lives but one night, a healthy, well grown plant can produce up to a dozen blooms at a time, with several flushes throughout the summer.

If kept too dry through the summer you may attract mealy bugs or spider mites. If kept too wet you may see root rot. If placed in direct sun the flattened stems may get sunburned, get brown spots and dry up. The best time is in the spring but does not need to be done too often.  Re-potting will delay any blooming period.

You can feed this plant with a 1/3 diluted, balanced liquid fertilizer from late spring through the summer.  It is not advised through the fall and winter months which should provide a resting period and a newly potted plant will not need feeding for the first year.  Especially if you have added dolomite limestone or a light humus to your media mix.  If you’re having difficulty getting blooms you can try using a fertilizer low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus like a 5-10-10.  Use a 1/3 dilution and only every few weeks through the summer months.

This species is closely related to E. thomasianum and E. pumilum, but quite distinct from them.In 1909, C. A. Purpus collected a slightly different type in St. Ana, Orizaba, Mexico.

It has carmine red outer petals and the flowers have an unpleasant smell, rather than being fragrant. It was originally named Phyllocactus purpusii, but is now included within this species. Epiphyllum oxypetalum is an easily cultivated, fast growing Epiphyllum. It flowers in late spring through late summer; large specimens can produce several crops of flowers in one season. This is the most commonly grown of the Epiphyllum species.

Strongest animal in World-Dung beetles

Hi readers, do you think you know the strongest animal in world, guess ……..I know think about Elephant, Tiger, Ox, Bear or Gorilla but that’s not true, there much stronger animal in the world.

Yes there are some animal which are tougher and stronger animal in world, insects are practically stronger than other animals. These small friends of ours are really tougher than we thought i.e.  Leaf cutter Ant, Rhinoceros Beetle but strongest animal is Dung Beetle.

classification

Kingdom:         Animalia                                   Phylum:                       Arthropoda

Class:              Insecta                                   Order:                         Coleoptera

Suborder:       Polyphaga                                 Family:                        Scarabaeidae

So guys let know about this cool animal. Dung beetles are beetles that feed partly or exclusively on dung. A dung beetle can bury dung 250 times heavier than itself in one night.Many dung beetles, known as rollers, roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding chambers. Others, known as tunnelers, bury the dung wherever they find it.

A third group, the dwellers, neither roll nor burrow: they simply live in manure. They are often attracted by the dung collected by burrowing owls. There are dung beetle species of different colors and sizes, and some functional traits such as body mass (or biomass) and leg length can have high levels of variability.All the species belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea; most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scarabaeinae feed exclusively on feces, that subfamily is often dubbed true dung beetles. There are dung-feeding beetles which belong to other families, such as the Geotrupidae (the earth-boring dung beetle). The Scarabaeinae alone comprises more than 5,000 species.

Dung beetles live in many habitats, including desert, grasslands and savannas, farmlands, and native and planted forests.

They are highly influenced by the environmental context , and do not prefer extremely cold or dry weather. They are found on all continents except Antarctica. They eat the dung of herbivores and omnivores, and prefer that produced by the latter. Many of them also feed on mushrooms and decaying leaves and fruits. One type living in Central America, Deltochilum valgum, is a carnivore preying upon millipedes. Those that eat dung do not need to eat or drink anything else, because the dung provides all the necessary nutrients. Dung beetles play a remarkable role in agriculture and tropical forests. By burying and consuming dung, they improve nutrient recycling and soil structure.

Dung beetles are coprophagous insects, meaning they eat excrement of other organisms. Although not all dung beetles eat poop exclusively, they all eat feces at some point in their life. Most prefer to feed on herbivore droppings, which are largely undigested plant matter, rather than carnivore waste, which holds very little nutritional value for insects (and really, who could blame them for that preference).

Recent research at the University of Nebraska suggests dung beetles may be most attracted to omnivore excrement, since it provides both nutritional value and the right amount of odor to make it easy to find.

When you think of a dung beetle, you probably picture a beetle pushing a ball of poop along the ground. But some dung beetles don’t bother rolling neat little dung balls at all. Instead, these coprophages stay close to their fecal finds.

Aphodian dung beetles (subfamily Aphodiinae) simply live within the dung they find, often cow patties, rather than investing energy in moving it. The earth-boring dung beetles (family Geotrupidae) typically tunnel below the dung pile, making a burrow which can then be easily provisioned with poop.

The female lays her eggs on top of manure piles, and the entire development from egg to adult takes place inside the dung pat. Dwellers are smaller than tunnelers and rollers, and they seem to like cow patties best for raising a family. The adults can be found in fresh, moist droppings, while the larvae are slowly growing in dung that is drying out.

Several species of the dung beetle, most notably the species Scarabaeus sacer (often referred to as the sacred scarab), enjoyed a sacred status among the ancient Egyptians. Popular interpretation in modern academia theorizes the hieroglyphic (the language of Egyptians) image of the beetle represents a triliteral phonetic that Egyptologists transliterate as xpr or ḫpr and translate as "to come into being", "to become" or "to transform". The derivative term xprw or ḫpr(w) is variously translated as "form", "transformation", "happening", "mode of being" or "what has come into being", depending on the context. It may have existential, fictional, or ontologic significance.

The scarab was linked to Khepri ("he who has come into being"), the god of the rising sun. The ancients believed that the dung beetle was only male in gender, and reproduced by depositing semen into a dung ball. The supposed self-creation of the beetle resembles that of Khepri, who creates himself out of nothing. Moreover, the dung ball rolled by a dung beetle resembles the sun.

Insects are Horrifying Mosquito

Hey guys, a small Insects World is full of adventure and different but sometimes for humans Can Harmful, if U thinks what can a small insect will to your body then you’re wrong, they can kill you.

         classification

Kingdom:        Animalia                                    Phylum:                        Arthropoda

Class:              Insecta                                    Order:                       Diptera

Suborder:      Nematocera                              Infraorder:                 Culicomorpha

Superfamily:  Culicoidea                                  Family:                        Culicidae

Let's know about one theme and most dangerous of theme Mosquito. Yes Mosquito is the most dangerous insect on Earth and even Mosquito is also in the list of most Harmful for man living things on Earth and its also top in that. Females of most species are ectoparasites, whose tube-like mouthparts (called a proboscis) pierce the hosts' skin to consume blood. The word "mosquito" (formed by mosca and diminutive -ito) is Spanish for "little fly". Thousands of species feed on the blood of various kinds of hosts, mainly vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even some kinds of fish.

Some mosquitoes also attack invertebrates, mainly other arthropods. Though the loss of blood is seldom of any importance to the victim, the saliva of the mosquito often causes an irritating rash that is a serious nuisance. 

Much more serious though, are the roles of many species of mosquitoes as vectors of diseases.

In passing from host to host, some transmit extremely harmful infections such as malaria, yellow fever, Chikungunya, West Nile virus, dengue fever, filariasis, Zika virus and other arboviruses, rendering it the deadliest animal family in the world.

The oldest known mosquito with an anatomy similar to modern species was found in 79-million-year-old Canadian amber from the Cretaceous.An older sister species with more primitive features was found in Burmese amber that is 90 to 100 million years old. Two mosquito fossils have been found that show very little morphological change in modern mosquitoes against their counterpart from 46 million years ago. These fossils are also the oldest ever found to have blood preserved within their abdomens. Despite no fossils being found earlier than the Cretaceous, recent studies suggest that the earliest divergence of mosquitoes between the lineages leading to Anophelinae and Culicinae occurred 226 million years ago.

The Old and New World Anopheles species are believed to have subsequently diverged about 95 million years ago.There are more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes. About 175 of them are found in the United States, with the Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Culex pipiens, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito) among the most common. The Anopheles is a malaria carrier, and the other three are known to spread various forms of encephalitis.West Virginia has the fewest species of mosquitoes. There are 26 in the mountainous state, while Texas has the most with 85. Florida is a close second with 80 identified species. Mosquito is Spanish for “little fly.” The word reportedly originated in the early 16th century. In Africa, New Zealand and Australia, mosquitoes are often called “Mozzies”. Mosquitoes don't have teeth. The females “bite” with a long, pointed mouthpart called a proboscis. They use the serrated proboscis to pierce the skin and locate a capillary, then draw blood through one of two tubes.

A mosquito can drink up to three times its weight in blood. Don't worry, though. It would take about 1.2 million bites to drain all the blood from your body.

Female mosquitoes can lay up to 300 eggs at a time. Usually, the eggs are deposited in clusters – called rafts – on the surface of stagnant water, or they are laid in areas that flood regularly. Eggs can hatch in as little as an inch of standing water. Females will lay eggs up to three times before they die.Mosquitoes spend their first 10 days in water. Water is necessary for the eggs to hatch into larvae, called wigglers. Wigglers feed on organic matter in stagnant water and breathe oxygen from the surface. They develop into pupae, which do not feed and are partially encased in cocoons. Over several days, the pupae change into adult mosquitoes.Mosquitoes hibernates. They are cold-blooded and prefer temperatures over 80 degrees.

At temperatures less than 50 degrees, they shut down for the winter. The adult females of some species find holes where they wait for warmer weather, while others lay their eggs in freezing water and die. The eggs keep until the temperatures rise, and they can hatch.The average mosquito lifespan is less than two months. Males have the shortest lives, usually 10 days or less, and females can live about six to eight weeks, under ideal conditions. The females lay eggs about every three days during that time. Females of species that hibernate may live up to six months.  

Mosquitoes mean nothing personal when they take your blood. Female mosquitoes need protein for their eggs, and must take a blood meal in order to reproduce. Since males don't bear the burden of producing young, they'll avoid you completely and head for the flowers instead. And when not trying to produce eggs, females are happy to stick to nectar, too.

Largest living animal –Blue Whale

Hey guys  we saw in earlier blog hummingbirds Blog in As size doesn’t matter but sometimes it will be matter when we think about A whale, isn’t It . Today we are going to know some cool Facts and Information About this big thing.

                                                 Classification 

Kingdom:            Animalia                                        Phylum:                   Chordata

Class:                 Mammalia                                     Order:                    Artiodactyla

Infraorder:        Cetacea                                        Family:                    Balaenopteridae

Genus:                Balaenoptera                                Species:                 B. musculus

Let’s know about it, The Blue Whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on earth. The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whales At up to 29.9 meters (98 ft) in length and with a maximum recorded weight of 173 tones (190 short tons) and probably reaching over 181 tones (200 short tons), it is the largest animal known to have ever existed.

In addition to the blue whales massive size it is also one of the loudest animals in existence. In fact blue whales calls can be heard several miles away and far below the ocean’s surface. Blue whales were abundant in nearly all the oceans on Earth until the beginning of the twentieth century. 

For over a century, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalers until protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there were 5,000 to 12,000 blue whales worldwide, in at least five groups. The IUCN estimates that there are probably between 10,000 and 25,000 blue whales worldwide today. Before whaling, the largest population was in the Antarctic, numbering approximately 239,000 (range 202,000 to 311,000).

There remain only much smaller (around 2,000) concentrations in each of the eastern North Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Ocean groups. There are two more groups in the North Atlantic, and at least two in the Southern Hemisphere. As of 2014, the Eastern North Pacific blue whale population had rebounded to nearly its pre-hunting population.

Blue whales feed almost exclusively on krill, though they also take small numbers of copepods.The species of this zooplankton eaten by blue whales varies from ocean to ocean. In the North Atlantic, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, Thysanoessa raschii, Thysanoessa inermis and Thysanoessa longicaudata are the usual food] in the North Pacific, Euphausia pacifica, Thysanoessa inermis, Thysanoessa longipes, Thysanoessa spinifera, Nyctiphanes symplex and Nematoscelis megalopsand in the Southern Hemisphere, Euphausia superba, Euphausia crystallorophias, Euphausia valentini, and Nyctiphanes australis.

  An adult blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill in a day. The whales always feed in the areas with the highest concentration of krill, sometimes eating up to 3,600 kilograms (7,900 lb) of krill in a single day.

-:Quick view of blue whale amaze:-  

The oldest Blue Whale were discovered this way was calculated to be around 100 years old, though the average life is thought to be around 80 to 90 years           

Being able to grow to lengths of over 100 ft. long and weighing up to 180 tons the blue whale is the largest living animal in the world.

Although the blue whale is called a “blue” whale it is actually closer to a grayish blue rather than a solid blue.

It isn’t until the whale dives under the water that it appears to be a solid blue color.

A baby blue whale can measure in at around 25 ft. long making it as big as a killer whale, which is the largest marine mammal in the dolphin species.

     A healthy adult blue whale can live for 70 – 90 years.

          

The blue whale can eat as many as 40 million krill per day or around 8,000 lbs. daily in order to power its massive body.

        These marine mammals aren’t known to have any natural predators, except for occasional attacks on smaller (usually) baby whales by a pack of killer whales, however these attacks appear to be quite rare.

         When searching for food the blue whale can hold its breath for up to 35 minutes.

     Depending on where the research has been gathered it is estimated that as much as 95% – 99% of the entire blue whale population was killed during the whaling era.

         

 Due to significant hunting during the whaling era these marine mammals are now considered endangered and are listed as a protected species.

     The blue whale belongs to one of around 80 known species is Cetacea, which includes all species of whale, dolphin and porpoise.

The fastest animal in the world -Peregrine falcon

Did you ever see the movie “Stuart little 2” In the movie there is negative character a bird which is so fast and so powerful that is a Falcon. Falcon family is very big in All over the world they are very fast, cleaver and powerful   birds.

        Classification

Kingdom:        Animalia                                             Phylum:                     Chordata

Class:             Aves                                                  Order:                      Falconiformes

Family:           Falconidae                                         Genus:                       Falco

Lets know some Amazing facts one of theme and the fastest animal on earth, The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. As is typical of bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males.

The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 320 km/h (200 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop (high speed dive), making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a National Geographic TV programme, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is 389 km/h (242 mph) The Peregrine Falcon is a very fast flier, averaging 40-55 km/h (25-34 mph) in traveling flight, and reaching speeds up to 112 km/h (69 mph) in direct pursuit of prey. During its spectacular hunting stoop from heights of over 1 km (0.62 mi), the peregrine may reach speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph) as it drops toward its prey.

The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand.

This makes it the world's most widespread raptor, and one of the most widely found bird species. In fact, the only land-based bird species found over a larger geographic area is not always naturally occurring, but one widely introduced by humans, the rock pigeon, which in turn now supports many peregrine populations as a prey species.

The peregrine is a highly successful example of urban wildlife in much of its range, taking advantage of tall buildings as nest sites and an abundance of prey such as pigeons and ducks. Both the English and scientific names of this species mean "wandering falcon," referring to the migratory habits of many northern populations. Experts recognize 17 to 19 subspecies, which vary in appearance and range; disagreement exists over whether the distinctive Barbary falcon is represented by two subspecies of Falco peregrinus, or is a separate species, F. pelegrinoides. The two species' divergence is relatively recent, during the time of the last ice age; therefore the genetic differential between them (and also the difference in their appearance) is relatively small. They are only about 0.6–0.8% genetically differentiated.

The peregrine falcon is a well respected falconry bird due to its strong hunting ability, high trainability, versatility, and in recent year’s availability via captive breeding. It is effective on most game bird species from small to large; the peregrine falcon mainly eats other birds and usually catches them mid-air.

Mostly feeds on a wide variety of birds. Pigeons are often favored prey around cities, and ducks and shorebirds often taken along coast; known to take prey as large as loons, geese, large gulls, and as small as songbirds. Also eats a few small mammals, seldom insects, rarely carrion.

Female peregrine falcons can be up to 20% larger than males. Peregrine Falcons are the largest falcon over most of the continent, with long, pointed wings and a long tail. Be sure to look at shape as well as size—long primary feathers give the Peregrine a long-winged shape. As with most raptors, males are smaller than females, so Peregrines can overlap with large female Merlins or small male Gyrfalcons.

Peregrine Falcons catch medium-sized birds in the air with swift, spectacular dives, called stoops. In cities they are masterful at catching pigeons. Elsewhere they feed especially on shorebirds and ducks. They often sit on high perches, waiting for the right opportunity to make their aerial assault.

Killer plant- Water hemlock

If I say a giant plant is on the way to kill you will say that’s impractical, In movie or cartoon series where a man eating plant, but in real world all these kind of stuff are real but not that way, If you think plants are friendly and they can’t be harmful to anyone, then you are wrong absolute wrong. Now we are going knew how a plant which is one the most deadly in the world which is namely Water hemlock.

Classification:-

Kingdom:                     Plantae                                              Order:            Apiales

Family:                        Apiaceae                                            Genus:        Cicuta

Let’s know about how deadly is Water hemlock, commonly known as Cicuta, is a small genus of four species of highly poisonous plants in the family Apiaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants which grow up to 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) tall, having distinctive small green or white flowers arranged in an umbrella shape (umbel). Plants in this genus may also be referred to as cowbane or poison parsnip. Cicuta is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, mainly North America and Europe, typically growing in wet meadows, along streambanks and other wet and marshy areas. These plants bear a close resemblance to other members in the family Apiaceae and may be confused with a number of other edible and poisonous plants. The common name hemlock may also be confused with poison hemlock

A perennial plant that grows to a height of 3 to 7 feet tall. The leaves are up to 15 inches long, alternately-arranged, and tri-pinnately-compound with numerous 2 to 5 inch ovate leaflets. They are also sharply toothed. The leaf veins terminate at the bottom of leaf serrations and not at the tips, which helps to identify this plant. Flowers are white and tiny, have 5 petals and 5 stamens that grow in umbrella like clusters 2 to 8 inches across. The plant flowers in spring or early summer. The stem is branching, smooth, hollow and often with purplish-green striations. It has a tuberous root with rootstalks that are multi-chambered and contain a yellowish oily liquid. This poisonous liquid is said to smell like raw parsnip.

The native Water Hemlock has been observed in nearly all counties of Illinois (see Distribution Map); it is occasional to locally common. Habitats include moist open woodlands, swamps, wet prairies, prairie swales, marshes, seeps, and roadside ditches. Water Hemlock prefers moister locations than the introduced Conium maculatum (Poison Hemlock), and so these two species rarely compete with each other for the same ecological niche. It is not uncommon to find Water Hemlock growing where Iris virginica shrevei (Blue Flag Iris) also occurs.

kinds of Cicuta: bulblet-bearing w. h. (Cicuta bulbifera) , western w. h. (Cicuta douglasii), beaver poison (Cicuta maculata), cowbane (Cicuta virosa), spotted w. h. (Cicuta occidentalis)

The plant is occasionally mistaken for parsnips, due to its clusters of white tuberous roots; this is an often fatal error, as the Cicuta is extremely poisonous. Indeed, spotted water hemlock is considered to be North America's most toxic plant. Cicuta is fatal when swallowed, causing violent and painful convulsions. Though a number of people have died from water hemlock poisoning over the centuries, livestock have long been the worst affected (hence the name "cowbane"), causing death in as little as 15 minutes.

 The chief poison is cicutoxin, an unsaturated aliphatic alcohol that is most concentrated in the roots. Upon human consumption, nausea, vomiting, and tremors occur within 30–60 minutes, followed by severe cramps, projectile vomiting, and convulsions. 

There are occasional long-term effects, like retrograde amnesia. Ingestion of water hemlock in any quantity can result in death or permanent damage to the central nervous system.