Africa

Africa is a very big continent. Most of the people are black, or Negro. In the north, however, many people are Arabs, and in the south a lot of white people have made their homes.

If decided to take a journey by ship along the west coast of Africa, you will see palm trees near the shore and here and there African villages. Many of the little houses in the villages are made of dried mud with palm-leaf thatch roof. Most of them are round in shape. This is because the weather is usually very hot the people do not wear much clothing when they are working and very small children may run about without anything at all. Older children may wear a little frock or shorts. But for holidays and weddings the grown ups wear their very beautifully woven cloths, often of bright colors. The men wear the cloth draped round them with one end thrown over the shoulder. The women wear more like a shirt drawn up above the waist. It is a proud moment when a boy or girl is considered grown up enough to have one of these traditional dresses. It is possible that the village will have either a church or school. Although the building will have a roof the walls with low and the upper part open all the way round to let in the air. If the building is a school you may see a queue of children waiting to get in long before the teacher arrives. African children are very eager to learn and they are very proud that their village has a school when perhaps neighbouring villages have not!

Most of the Africans living in South Africa are Zulus. Some of them live in villages many of them work for the white people who live in big towns like Cape Town and Johannesburg. Some of them work in the gold mines near Johannesburg.

In the Central Africa near big rivers, like Zambezi and the new Kariba Lake, one can see hippos and crocodiles. In the trees will be monkeys and clambering over rocks be big baboons. Sometimes herd of wild elephants will come trumpeting through the jungle, trampling down the crops and even trees and on grassland there are lions.

Traveling towards north through great Congo country, the Sudan and the great Sahara desert lies on the way. The biggest desert in the world and the endless sand goes on and on for hundreds of miles. This great desert kept the people of the countries of north separated from the rest of the continent for hundreds of years.

Truth About Bats

Bats are among the world’s least appreciated and most endangered animals, thanks to centuries of myth and superstition. Contrary to common misconceptions, bats are not blind, they are not rodents and they won’t get tangled in your hair. The truth is that bats are mong the most gentle and beneficial animals on earth.

A bat is a winged mammal with the ability to fly. It’s ability to maintain sustained flight, unique among mammals, results from the modification of hand-like forelimbs into wings. Bats are mammals just like humans which means all bats are warm blooded, have hair, bear young ones and nurse them.

All bats can see but some use special sonar system called echolocation. These bats make high frequency calls either out of their mouths or noses and then listen for echoes to bounce from the objects in front of them. They’re able to form pictures in their brains by listening to the reflected sounds. In this way, bats are able to comfortably move around at night, avoiding predators, locating their food and capturing insects in total darkness.

Bats belong to the order Chiroptera and are divided into two suborders: the Megachiroptera (megabats) and the Microchiroptera (microbats). Microbats detect their prey using echolocation while most megabats cannot echolocate but have highly developed eyesight.

Starting out as insect eaters, there are now bats that live on fruit, fish, nectar, blood, rodents, frogs, and even other bats. With this great variability in their way of life, bats have become the second largest mammalian order and are now spread over most of globe.

Nearly 70% of the 950 species of bats feed mainly on insects. Others eat fruit, nectar, and pollen; a few eat blood, fish, or other mammals. Fruit eaters or frugivorous bats living in tropical climates have very good eyesight and sense of smell for finding ripe fruit to eat. The nectar and pollen feeders are found in desert areas. Carnivorous bats living in India, Southeast Asia, Australia and South America, have sharp claws and teeth for catching small vertebrates like fish, birds, small mammals and reptiles. A few Latin American bats called vampire bats eat only blood.

Vampire bats do not actually suck blood. They lap it up like a dog drinking water. They use their sharp, highly modified teeth to make a shallow wound and secrete an anticoagulant in their saliva to inhibit clotting of the blood. The vampire's bite is painful but not usually dangerous, though the saliva may transmit certain diseases.

Bats are nocturnal or active at twilight and hence natural enemies of night flying insects. A single bat can catch 200 mosquito-sized insects in one hour.

Unlike other animals, a bat’s body is best adapted for hanging upside down. Bats actually have specialised tendons that cling to their roosts without expending any energy. Hanging upside down also provide bats with roosting space away from predators in safe places in trees and building that few other animals can use.

Bats have low rates of reproduction. Most species produce one or two pups in a litter. Some species that hibernate have unusual reproductive cycles. Mating takes place in autumn, and the females store sperm in their reproductive tracts during winter. Ovulation and fertilisation occur in spring. The gestation period for most of these species is about 40-70 days and for some up to 100 days. In the vampire bat the gestation could be as much as 8 months.

The new-born bats are large and are nursed from pectoral mammary glands by their mothers. Some young bats first fly at about the age of three weeks, a time when their milk teeth are replaced by permanent teeth.

There is no place like home for bats. They spend half their lives in roost, where they rest, mate, tend their young, and hibernate. Bats have always lived in extraordinary places. Trees and caves are their favourite haunts, but they are also found in foliage, crevices in rocks, in spaces under the bark of trees, termite hills and cliffs. Some make tents out of the leaves, some roost in the hollow stems of bamboos. Species that roost in caves and trees often form huge colonies. Over the years bats have found alternative homes in buildings.

However human activities are encroaching on bat’s space. Caves have been disturbed by mining and cave exploration activities. Trees are being cut and cleared. The loss of habitat has taken its toll on the nocturnal creatures. World-wide there are now fewer than 1,000 species.

Mortality among bats is usually accidental or is associated with human activity. Some temperate species are remarkably long-lived; little brown bats have been recorded as living for 30 years, but 10 years is probably more common in that species.

Bats are very beneficial to earth. Tropical bats are key elements in rain forest ecosystems, which rely on them to pollinate flowers and disperse seeds for countless bees and shrubs. Bat droppings in caves support whole ecosystems of unique organisms including bacteria useful in detoxifying wastes, improving detergents and producing antibiotics.

Lesser known facts about bats

•   Vampire bats adopt orphans and have been known to risk their lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates.

•   Bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest mammal. It’s found in Thailand and weighs less than a penny.

•   Giant flying foxes found in Indonesia have wingspans of nearly 6 feet. They are called flying foxes because their faces resemble those of little foxes.

•   The tiny woolly bats of West Africa usurp the webs of colonial spiders.

•   The Honduran white bat is pure white in colour and has yellow nose and ears. It cuts large leaves to make tents that protect its small colonies from jungle rains.

•   Frog eating bats can identify edible frogs from poisonous frogs by merely listening to their mating calls.

Why is the Bermuda Triangle considered mysterious?

The Bermuda Triangle or Devil's Triangle is a mysterious region in the North Atlantic ocean in which more than 50 ships and 20 planes have disappeared during the past two hundred years. This area is bounded on its three sides by Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The triangle extends between latitude 25 degree to 40 degree N and longitude 55 degree to 85 degree W and covers an area of 3,900,000 sq km (1,500,000 sq mi).

As soon as a ship reaches this region it fails to send radio signals and disappears mysteriously. The most notable was the loss of U.S. nuclear submarine 'Scorpion', in May 1968. In December 1945 five bombers on a routine training were also lost. A rescue mission also vanished in this triangle. So far more than 1000 people have lost lives in this area.

Although there have been many attempts yet nobody has been able to unravel its baffling mystery. Some scientists believe that violent downward air currents destroyed the ships and planes and swift ocean currents carried wreckage away. Some others maintain that there is a strong magnetic field in this area which cuts away the radio signals. But, so far, nobody has been able to put forth a fully convincing account.

Major Mountains

A mountain is a landmass elevated considerably above e its surrounding areas. Usually the land tracts, more than 300 m in height, are called mountains. All the mountains have been formed due to the violent changes in the earth. Most of the mountains are found connected in chains or ranges. Do you know which are the famous mountains of the world?

Main mountain ranges of Asia are as follows :

The Himalayas is the largest mountain range on the earth. It is about 2413 kilometers long. It contains the highest peak in the world, the Mount Everest, which is 8848 m. (29028 ft.) high. Karakoram is the second largest mountain range of Asia. Its highest peak K2 is 8610.7 meters high. Pamir is. another famous chain whose height ranges from 3352.8 meters to 3962.45 meters.

The main mountain ranges of Europe are :

The Alps, Caucasus, Carpathians, Pyrenees and Urals. The Alps extend upto 1190 meters. Its highest peak is Mont Blanc which is 4810.1 meters high. Caucasus range has a length of 1432 kilometers. Its highest peak is 5633. meters high Mount Elbrus. Carpathian ranges are thickly forested. Pyrenees occupies the isthumus between France and Spain. Pico de Aneto is its highest peak with an elevation of 3404.05 m Ural range is 2413 kilometers long. It lies between, Asia and Europe.

The mountain ranges of Africa form independent units. They are separated by great distances from one another. Abyssinian highlands, Atlas, Ruwenzori, and Kilimanjaro are the main ranges. Abyssinian highlands are a vast mountain area. Its highest peak is Ras Dashan which is 4620.2 meters high. Atlas range is about 2413 kilometers long. Ruwenzori is a small chain extending upto 104.585 kilometers. It has four main peaks. It has thick forests. Kilimanjaro is an inactive volcano with a height of 5963 meters.

North America has only two main mountain ranges : Rocky mountains and Appalachians. The Rocky ranges run from north to south. They are 3539 km in length. Mount Mckinley is its highest peak which has a height of 6194 m. Appalachian ranges are extremely ancient mountains and do not have very high peaks. Its highest point is the Mt. Metchell which is 2037.3 m above sea level.

The Andes is the only main range of South America and is 7360 kilometers long. Its highest peak is Aconcagua which has a height of 6960.1 meters.

The highest mountain of Australia is Kosciusko which is 2226 meters high.

There are certain mountains in the world which originated from the bottom of the sea and have risen above the sea level. Mauna Kea is one such mountain. Its height above sea level is 4205 meters and under the sea is 4877 meters. Its total height comes to be 9082 meters. Thus from its base it is even higher than Mount Everest.

Exploring Nature

"Environment" is a much-used world today. This is because all over the world we have come to realize that man does not live alone, but in delicate balance with the wild animals and plants of the natural world. We need to learn about nature for our survival. Nature is not dull. Things are happening around us all the time. Even if you spent your whole life studying nature you could never hope to know everything, so there is plenty of room for amateur naturalists to make their own studies. Amateurs have found many important discoveries.

This topic of 4to40.com will help you to find out how nature works.

Basic equipments

A nature table : it should be strong enough to support the weight of your aquarium and big enough to allow you to sort out the masses of shells and seaweeds, bones and caterpillars that you bound to collect as you become more and more interested. If you haven't got room for a whole table a nature shelf will do fine, and a piece of soft board on the wall behind will display some of your collection splendidly.

A notebook with a pencil attached : It should be always in your pocket. This is to jot down casual observations in the field. It's no good trying to remember things when you get home. Try to make a few rough drawings as well. You can keep a proper Nature diary on the nature table in which you write up your findings and make more careful illustrations. It's good idea to use maps and photographs if you can. This adds a really professional touch.

Hides or blinds : They are useful for observation and photography. You can make a simple hide out of greenish brown cotton or canvas stretched over a frame of sticks.

A hand lens or magnifying glass : It is indispensable to real nature watchers. Use one to take a look at the detail of a butterfly's wing or the sting of a nettle or a wasp.

Binoculars : They are absolutely necessary for bird watching; 8 x 30 magnification is ideal to start with.

A good torch : It is invaluable for nighttime explorations.

A fishing net : This is required for pond dipping can be made with a circle of stiff wire attached to a long pole and covered with netting, or cheap one are easily available. For catching very small aquatic animals you can attach a plastic containers to the bottom of the net.

You will need a number of containers -
Boxes, small tins, saucers and other containers, in which, you carry your discoveries home. Fungi, flowers and feathers are very fragile. Each needs a special traveling box. You will need a plastic bucket with a lid for expeditions to the stream. And don't forget your rubber boots.

Introduction to Sea

Our planet has the wrong name. Our ascendants named it Earth, after finding land all around them, but if they had known what was earth really, they would have named it Ocean. The total area covered by water is 70.8 per cent.

There is no other planet like Earth in the entire Solar System - the nearest planet to sun - Mercury, has no free water at all. It is so small that it lacks sufficient gravitational force to hold atmosphere or gases such as water vapor. If ever these gases existed on this planet, it must have evaporated into the space leaving it dry and lifeless as the moon.

Venus - is the second nearest planet to the sun. It is large enough to hold gases with its gravitational forces. It has an atmosphere and a dense layer of white clouds which completely covers it surface. It is believed they consist of dry dust, suspended in a combination of gases largely made up of carbon dioxide with some nitrogen. Only a trace of water vapor has ever been detected in Venus atmosphere.

Then comes our planet Earth. And next to Earth i.e. forth planet of our Solar System is Mars. It is farthest out from sun. It has a very thin layer of atmosphere and also a small amount of surface water. Icy patches come and go on its poles like a thin frost at certain seasons of Martian year. This tiny film of water may possibly support some low form of life, but there is nothing on Mars resembling an Ocean. Otherwise Mars is the main centre of attraction for the space studies, for its atmosphere and if it have any life form on it.

The planet that lies beyond Mars - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - are all too cold to have ocean, might be they have lot of water in form of ice. Saturn's three rings are believed to consist of throng of ice - covered particles, but none of the ice around it can become liquid. Even in the area where the sun reaches, the surface temperature on these outer planets range from 200° below zero. And as for the tiny outer most planet, Pluto, little is known about it and it is also too far and too cold to have a sea.

The Earth's Oceans are unique in the sun's family of planets. They do exist because the earth has a surface temperature in which water remains a liquid - between 32° Fahrenheit (below which, under ordinary conditions it freezes) and 212° Fahrenheit (above which, it becomes a gas).

It seems that water - liquid water have been designed expressly to make the world hospitable to life. Water has an unusual property of storing heat. As a result, the ocean act as a great heat reservoirs, moderating the high temperature of summer and cold of winter. Unlike most liquids, which contract when they solidify, water expands by 9% when it freezes. That is why, ice floats instead of sinking. The ice is thus accessible to the sun's rays, which limit its spread and depths of cold polar seas remains unfrozen, enabling the creatures that live in them to survive.

Water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid known. No life could exist on earth for a moment if water did not have this capability. Living organisms, big or small carry on the business of life by amazing variety of chemical reactions, many of which occur only when water is present to dissolve the reacting substances and bring their molecules together. Water forms part of many chemical compounds found in living tissues. 70% of human body is water. All the living creatures need water - which comes ultimately from the oceans. The Oceans - shaper of the world's surface, moderator of climate and cradle of life is unbelievably large.

Conventions divide it into 4 oceans: The Pacific, the Indian, the Atlantic and the Arctic. The size of the Pacific is equal to the size of other three oceans combined together. These oceans along with their fringing gulfs and smaller seas form an interconnected system, estimating 6x1050 water molecules circulating endlessly.

The sea contains 330 million cubic miles of water. The volume of all land above sea level is only one eighteenth as great. Land's tallest peak, 29,028 foot high Mount Everest, could be sunk without a trace in the ocean's greatest abyss, the 35,800 foot deep Mariana Trench in western Pacific. If all the dents and holes are removed and earth's surface is smoothed out, no land would show at all. The ocean would cover the entire globe to a depth of 12000 feet.

Sea water is a treasure of variety of salts and minerals in solution. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere are found dissolved in sea water. The dissolved oxygen is what the sea creatures breathe and dissolved carbon dioxide is used by green plants in the sea to produce food.

The average salinity of the sea water is about 3.5 per cent i.e. a cubic mile of sea water contains 166 million tons of salt, and the sea as a whole contains enough salt to cover the continents with a 500 feet thick layer. The salinity of the sea varies from place to place, but no where do the oceans approach the salinity of such inland seas as Great Salt Lake. The average salt content, 28 per cent, the land locked and concentrated remnant of an ancient sea that once covered much of western North America and left its salt behind.

Sea water is an important commercial source of common salt, magnesium metal, bromine and a number of other substances in wide industrial use. There are many materials found in the sea, which have no commercial value. The difficulty is low concentration. For instance, sea water contains gold at the rate of 38 pound per cubic mile. This is the equivalent of a mere .0004 of an ounce.

Where does all the salt in the sea comes from? Answer is that part of it has come from the breaking up of rocks by frost and erosion, the gradual wearing away of mountains, which releases locked in chemicals and permits them to be carried down to the ocean in solution by rain water. The rest has come from the rocks beneath the ocean bed. There has been a constant slow addition to the sea's alinity over hundreds of millions of years. There is an interesting way of surveying this: the body cells of animals including fish have a lower salt content than sea water has from this it is possible to conclude that sea water, at the times life first took shape, was less salty than it is now.

The depth of the sea is still barely known. For a long time there was no way of getting down to the bottom, or of learning what the depths were like without going down there. The deepest a free-swimming diver can go without underwater breathing gear is about 100 feet; with the development of breathing apparatus, skin divvers can now descend 200 feet or more and helmeted divers can descend 600 feet if they breathe a special mixture of gases. Modern submarines operate at depths of 600 feet.

We have learned about the ocean bottom in the way we have been learning about space - by inventing instruments and techniques to bring back information from places to which a man cannot easily go. One of the most unexpected and astonishing discovery is that there are differences between the land and the ocean areas that go down several hundred miles into the centre o of the earth. The land and sea make different "provinces". The continents are made of granitic rock, where as the bed of the deep ocean consist of heavier kind of rock, called basalt. The earth crust - the thin outermost layer - is far thinner under the sea than it is on the land. Yet another discovery under the ocean is the 40,000 mile submarine mountain range, by far the longest in the world, named Mid- Ocean Ridge. Another discovery is the mineral called "nodules", these are potato-sized lumps of maganese, cobalt, iron and nickel existing in incredible profusion on certain part of ocean floor. Nodules are formed through the passage of time, by a process not fully understood, around bits of clay, shark's teeth, or the ear bone of long-dead whales.

Ocean is a mystery with all these mysterious things underneath. No one can actually accurately guess at the number of individual organisms that live there. The life of the ocean is divided into distinct realms, each with its own group of creatures that feed upon each other and depend on earth other in different ways. There is first the tidal zone, where the earth and sea meet. Then comes the realm of the shallow seas around the continents, which goes down to about 500 feet. It is in these two zones that the vast majority of all marines' life occurs. The deep sea adds two regions, the zone of light and the zone of perpetual darkness. In the clear water of western Pacific light still be seen at a depth of 1000 feet. But for the practical purpose the light ends at about 600 feet. Below that there is too little light to support the growth of grass of sea-the tiny, single celled green plants whose ability to form sugar and starch with the aid of sunlight makes them the base of great food pyramids of the ocean.

Getting to know Snakes - Section [III]

Water Snakes

As their name suggests, watersnakes spend most of their time in water. They eat frogs and fish. None of the Indian freshwater snakes are venomous- but if you pick one up, watch out for its sharp teeth! Brackish-water snakes have mild venom to help them catch their prey. But the venom is not harmful to man.

Watersnakes are average-sized snakes: not too thin and not too fat. They do not move fast on land like tree snakes but take their time getting around. Once in the water, however, they are strong, swift swimmers.

Keelback and Olive Keelback
Most of the 20 or more kinds of watersnakes in India are "keelbacks"-which means that each scale has a tiny fold in it. The most common freshwater snakes are the checkered keelback and the olive keelback. Both are widely found in India but are mostly snakes of the plains and lower hills. The checkered keelback varies in color from back to yellow, with a back-and –white checked pattern. It has black straks on the eye and a long head. It is active both during day and at night. We have seen them flatten their heads and rear up like cobras when frightened. A freshly caught checkered keelback is a real biter. The female lays her 20 to 40 eggs in a hole or tunnel, and stays with them until hatching time.

The olive keelback has a thinner head than its checkered cousin, and its body is dark green. It is a cool-headed snake which almost never bites (unless you are a tadpole or frog!). one of the most interesting thing we know about olive keelback is that it eats mosquito larvae; another friendly service that snakes of free of cost!

Dog Faced Water Snake
Another well-known watersnake is the dog-faced water snake, a common inhabitant of muddy estuarine creeks, salt pans and brackish ponds and rivers near the sea. It is grey with black marking on the back, and two stripes running behind each eye. It is a rough, dull snake, one of the six species of "rear fanged" swamp snakes in India.

A typical "dog-faced" habitat is near our home where we sometimes go fishing at night. It is brackish tidal creek. At night in flashlight the mud seems to be alive with grey bodies. We have watched "dog-faces" catch and swallow spiny fish and perform elaborate territorial dance in pale moonlight. On land this snake is one of the "side winders". In rapid movement, it does a kind of sideways leap. All brackish watersnakes give birth to about 10 to 30 young at a time.

During the rains when friends tell you that they have seen large number of snakes crossing the road, these are invariably watersnakes. When we are called to catch a snake in somebody’s house it is usually a watersnake. And when someone boasts about having killed a venomous snake, it is very often a harmless watersnake.

Watersnakes are killed in lakhs for the skin industry once rat snakes and cobra became hard to find.

Burrowing Snakes
Burrowing snakes live underground. Of course, there are also other snakes that go underground to escape the heat of the sun and to hide from predators. But burrower’s are the only ones that can dig their own holes. The other has to depend on the holes made by crabs, rats and termites. The burrowing snake’s skull is as powerful as the point of a crowbar. Its stocky body and strong neck muscles make it easy for the snake to bulldoze its way through soft soil. The species from the hills are so dependent on remaining cool that they often die in a human hand (Which usually has a temperature of about 37º C).

There are three groups of burrowing snakes in India: the small worm snakes (often mistaken for worms), the sheildtails or uropeltids, and the sand boas.

Worm Snakes
There are 14 species of worm snakes, all of which belong to the genus Typhlina. It is easy to mistake most of them for worms, until you see the shiny eyes and minute shiny scales. The commonest one is reddish brown and found throughout India. Scientists were startled to find that they could locate males in this genus and discovered that worm snakes are "parthenogenic". That is, a female can fertilize her own 5 to 8 eggs without the help of a male.

Worm snakes are found in moist, wet earth or under leaves. They feed on worms and maggots, which they hunt underground. When handled, like burrowers, these snakes poke with their tails in defence. This gives people the idea that they are stinging with their tails-which of course no snake is capable of doing.

Sheildtails
while looking for snakes in the hills of southern India we often come across these small stubby snakes. Their scales are smooth and glossy. It is interesting that shieldtails have very colorful bellies, while the back is usually a dull color. This combination helps the snake greatly in its survival against predators. The back is an effective camouflage, while the bright color of the belly mislead snake-eaters into thinking it is distasteful. Shieldtails have a special shiny iridescence, which prevents dirt and mud from sticking to their bodies. There are over 40 of these remarkable snakes in the hill of south and central India. They have living young, generally 3 to 5, and feed on earthworms and larvae.

Each hill range has at least one distinct species, which has evolved completely separately from its cousins. These snakes are therefore of great interest to scientists studying the evolution of animals. Each group develops its special characteristics so that it can survive in its specific environment. Just as the giraffe developed a long neck in order to eat the leaves that the other grazing animals of Africa could not reach, each species of sheildtail has developed its own specialties to help it feed and escape from predators.

Shieldtails are forest snakes and the cutting down of thousands of acres of trees every year has made them rare in many areas. When large forest trees are cut down, the soil and air underneath heat up immediately, killing all the small animals and plants that can only live in cool, shady places.

Sand Boas
Sand Boas are related to the well-known boa constrictor of South America. They are also closely related to the python. All these non-venomous snakes kill their prey by squeezing them in their muscular coils. There are two species of sand boas in India. Both are stocky, thick-bodied snakes, especially suited for underground activities but the common sand boa has a blotched pattern of spots and wavy bands and a very rough, keeled, dull body while the red sand boa is very different: it is reddish brown, smooth and glossy. However, the greatest dissimilarity is in the tail. The red sand boa (which is black in north-west India) has a tail so blunt that it looks as though it has been chopped off. In temperament too they do not resemble each other. The common sand boa is easily irritated and is quick to strike and bite, while the red sand boa has great patience and will never bite. This makes it an ideal snake for a child to be introduced to. Sand boas mostly eat rodents, which makes them another friend of the farmer. We have watched a tiny new-born sand boa catch and kill a little mouse with as much confidence and skill as a giant python might display in catching a wild boar for dinner. Sand boas have live young, usually 6 to 8, and newly hatched boas eat small mice, lizards, birds and insects. Recently, our son heard some birds squawking in alarm and ran out to find a babbler tightly held in the coils of a sand boa which had obviously been lying in wait for an unwary bird to hop by.

Land Sankes
Many different kinds of large land snake are found in the plains of India. The rat snake or dhaman is one of these, as is the famous python. Others like the trinket and the royal snakes are common, but we don’t see them as often. There are also a number of smaller land snakes, which are widespread like the kukri, the wolf snake and the racer.

Rat Snake
Rat snakes are large, fast moving snakes which grow to a length of 2 ½ metres. Their size and color are similar to the cobras. Rat snakes are found wherever rats are prevalent. So, of course, they are often found in rice fields. As hill forests are cleared and agriculture spreads to the slopes, rat snakes too are spreading "upwards". We recently saw one 2,000 metres up in palnis. Formerly they were rarely seen above 1,000 metres.

The rat snake is active during the day, hunting for rodents, frogs and birds along fields and in bushes. Large rat snakes can give a painful bite and are quick to defend themselves. We have heard them growl throatily, like the king cobra, when first caught. The color varies from jet black all the way to yellowish or brown. The female lays about 8 to 16 eggs and the young start their diet on frogs. During the breeding season, male rat snakes perform a combat dance. This is actually their way of protecting the area they live in and preventing other male snakes from coming into their territory.

Many other snakes also perform this wrestling match in which the contestants don’t get hurt. But it is always between males and has nothing to do with mating, as people claim. Because rat snakes are the most frequently seen large Indian snakes, myths and stories about them are common.

Pythons
Pythons are among the largest snakes in the world. They grow to 8 or 9 metros in length and have enough muscle power to overcome and swallow a full-grown leopard. The two species of python found in India are the Indian rock python, which lives in both scrub forest and dense jungle throughout the country, and the regal python, which is found in north-east India and Nicobar islands. The one there is possibility of your seeing is the rock python although the snakeskin industry has all but wiped it out in many areas.

Rock pythons grow to 6 metres in length and are heavy bodied, smooth snakes with a brown blotchy pattern much like that of the common sand boa. An interesting feature of pythons is that they have "spurs". Snakes have evolved from lizard-like reptiles with legs, and the python and boas are the only snakes which has not completely lost their legs. They live in cool, damp caves, tree stumps and hollows. They hunt at night for small mammals and other prey. They can go for days without eating, but must have water. One specimen in a zoo didn’t eat for two years.

Female rock pythons lay up to 100 eggs between March and June and stay with them for the 80 days till they hatch. When herpetologists (those who study snakes) first discovered that pythons stay with their eggs, they thought that the snake was safeguarding the eggs from predators like the mongoose and the wild pig. We know that the mother python also keeps the eggs free from fungus, maintains them at the right dampness, and protects them from ants. But most wonderful of all, she can control the temperature at which they are incubating. She can raise her own body temperature by jerking her muscles. The faster she jerks the warmer she gets, thus warming up the eggs.

Discoveries like this are constantly being made about snakes, because there is still a lot to be learnt about these fascinating creatures. Studying snakes is thus not only interesting but there is also great scope for making new discoveries in the field.

Getting to know Snakes - Part [I]

Introduction

Snakes are fascinating part of nature. Their color, movement and secretive habits make them seem more mysterious than other animals. For people who are especially interested in wildlife, snakes are a wonderful introduction to the world of nature. for one thing they are everywhere: you do not have to go into a special park or sanitary to see a snake.

Also some snakes like trinkets and sand boas are easy to keep in captivity. Many of the great naturalists of the world became interested in animals through pets. Observations of great scientific value are made by "Amateurs" who keep a python under their bed, or lizard in a shoe box.

Many parents will not allow their children to touch, or even go near, a snake. Venomous snakes should certainly not be handled. But holding a harmless snakes quickly dispels the fear of all snakes. You learn that snakes are not slimy, and that they are not out to harm you. But first, the beginner must learn to identify snakes correctly and know which ones to avoid.

The Natural History of Snakes

Some years ago Rom was in a rain forest in Karnataka, collecting snakes for his Snakes Park in Madras now Chennai. Just before sunset he heard the rustle of leaves. he looked down, and there was a black tail quickly disappearing into the bushes. Without hesitating, he dived after it- and got a big surprise! It was a large, 3 1/2 metre king cobra which whipped around and stood up, mouth open. The adventure ended well; the snake was caught and became a great attraction in the Park.

Being the largest venomous snake in the world, the king cobra deserves the first mention in a book on Indian snakes. It grows to over 5 metres in length and is often as thick as a fat man's arm. But the non-venomous anaconda of South America grows even larger. Anacondas are sometimes 9 metres long and can swallow a deer with ease. In India the reticulated python is the giant among snakes, often growing to 7 to 8 metres. Its more common cousin, the rock python, is heftier but grows to 6 metres. At the other extreme is the tiny worm snake. It is hard to believe that it is really a snake and it is often mistaken for an earthworm. A snake may be bright green and long, or dull brown and short. It may live in trees, or deep underground... or even in the ocean. It may eat rats or birds, fish and even other snakes. So when you are learning about snakes, don't expect them all to be alike, or to do the same things!

Snakes never stop growing; but they grow fastest in first two years of their lives. As Children always grow out of clothes and shoes, so snakes need new skin once in a while. The outer, thin layer of their skin becomes too tight so they grow a new one and crawl out of the old. This is called shedding, or sloughing. Just before shedding its skin the snake becomes dull and lazy. After it has shed it looks bright and alert. This renewal made the ancient Greeks believe that snakes forever.

Like us, snakes eat a wide variety of food. What they eat depends where they live, and how big they are. A water snake. for instance, can easily catch and swallow frogs and fish. Tree snakes often slyly capture a young bird from its nest. Most of the larger land-dwelling snakes eat rats. this makes them very valuable animals.

But snakes are easy to please, and do not go hungry if they don't get exactly what they want. We have even seen a cobra swallow a metre-long monitor lizard. Another one had foolishly caught a kingfisher. The beak got jammed sideways in its throat and had to be carefully eased out.

With their strong, muscular bodies and large size, pythons can tackle a wide variety of animal prey. At the Snake Park they were fed chickens and bandicoot rats, but in the wild they have a more interesting diet. large pythons have been known to overpower leopards and sambar. Snakes have a system of storing up fat in their bodies, so they don't have to eat every day. Smaller snakes feed once every few days, but larger ones can go for several weeks, and even months, without food.

Snakes do not chew their food. Infact their table manners are not dainty. They swallow their food whole. We often see a snake catch a frog or rat than seems far too big for it to handle. But the snake can open its mouth much wider than you imagine.  Its neck stretches like a tight socks, and slowly but surely the food travels down the snake's throat. the inward-pointing teeth help to push it down.

Snakes mate only with their own species of snake. During the breeding season, female snakes leave a trail of scent on the ground from their musk glands. The musky smell helps males find females. Sometimes several males are seen chasing the local beauty! Some snakes lay eggs. The eggs are white and leathery, which makes it easy for the young to break through at hatching time. The female finds a safe, sheltered place in which to lay her eggs, and some species even stay with them until they hatch. Others are not so devoted and leave the eggs to their fate. This, of course, invites attacks from monitor lizards, mongooses and other animals.

But not all snakes lay eggs. Some have living youngs. Actually, they are "Ovoviviparous", which means that the eggs are incubated inside the female's body. Vine snakes, vipers, sea snakes and sand boas are born this way. Hatching snakes may be as small as an earthworm or over a foot length, depending on on the species.

Life is not easy for them in the beginning and they have to watch out for many enemies: birds, bull frogs. turtles and even mongooses. Young snakes eat small frogs, mice, and insects. Nature's timing is perfect and snakes usually hatch during the early rains when tadpoles, fish and insects are plentiful.

The snake's most deadly enemy is man. He kills snakes  needlessly, sprays dangerous poisons around their homes and cuts down the forests in which they live. Snakes have many natural enemies too. The best known, of course, is the mongoose, that plucky little acrobat which seems to get the better of the snake every time. We have watched a crocodile catch and eat a large rat snake, and monitor lizard feeding on dead ones. Birds of prey (Like eagle) and water birds (herons, egrets) kill and eat snakes. They sometimes attack snakes when defending a nearby nest with eggs or chicks. Recently a friend was photographing a cobra sitting up, hood spread. Suddenly, out of the blue, a spotted owlet dived down like a rocket and hit the cobra on its head with its powerful talons. the snake died soon after. Sometimes nature's ways are cruel too.

Snakes do not have keen eyesight and often not able to recognize objects which are quite close by. Several times, when observing a snakes in a tree or bush closely, we have found it calmly climbing on to us! Once a cobra used Rom as a branch to get from one tree to another, when hunting for food, snakes use their sense of smell which is sharp. Interestingly, the main organ of smell is not the nose but the tongue picks up particles of smell from the ground by flicking in and out when the snake hunts. People believe that snakes can hear and even respond to the music.Seeing snakes swaying to the snake charmer's flute they think that the snakes are dancing to the music. This is certainly not true. In actual fact, the cobra is terrified of the giant man with his strange instrument, and is keeping an eye on his movements.It has been found that snakes do hear some airborne sounds through their lungs, but they mostly respond to vibrations. Snakes rely very  little on their slight sense of hearing.

Why Protect Snakes?

We were out one day in the scrub forest outside Madras when we came upon a young cowherd hacking away at a harmless snake. "Why are you killing it?" We asked. "Because it's there," replied the boy promptly. And that is the reason why snakes are usually killed-just because they are found! Many people are terrified of snakes and believe all sorts of strange stories about them. If they see one, they think it must be killed immediately. You often hear of someone having killed a snake- the postman, mali, your uncle who lives on a farm, your cousin who was on a school picnic-and it is considered a feat of bravery. Why can't we let snakes alone?

But there is another reason for killing snakes- their skins. Snake skins are "tanned" or processed and made into wallets, handbags, belts and shoes. Today the export of snake skins is not allowed, but, even so, a large illegal trade continues. If you see someone you know buying a snake-skin article, be sure to tell them not to. You may save the life of a cobra or rat snake, sand boa or watersnake, and do a small but important service to the country. If snakes are to be used for their skins, it must be done scientifically, after making a proper study of their numbers. This is what is known today as the management of a wildlife resource. Much as a farmer manages his crop, animals too are grown in captivity or in fenced lands and a select number killed for their skins, meat and other products- this is quite different from random killings.

What good are snakes to us? Actually, they are very valuable animals. This is because they rat; and rat destroy up to half of India's food crops every year. You can only really understand the damage that rats do if you go into the fields during harvest time and see rat burrows and holes filled to the brim with grain. The Irula tribals, who eat rats, often find up to 10kg of rice paddy or peanuts in just one rat hole. The hard working rats fill their cheeks with grain and run back and forth from their holes, storing up food for the dry season.

Of course, there are other animals that rat too: birds, lizards, crocodiles, jackals and many others. But snakes are the only ones that can follow and catch a rat right down in its hole. Very often a snake will eat a rat in its burrow, and take over the hole for its own use. Over the years, we have admired the deadly efficiency with which snakes catch and kill rodents. We have seen pythons strike at bandicoots with lightning speed, and squeeze them in their muscular coils; small tree snakes tackling mice and young rats; sand boas burrowing their way into cunningly made rat holes. Nature's ways of keeping down the rat population are far more effective than those of man despite his advanced technologies. Rats soon become immune to the deadly pesticides that man pours into the ground, and quickly learns how to avoid getting trapped. Our own house, being open, attracts rats from all over the neighbourhood, and what a time we have trying to trap them! they soon learn to take the piece of cheese or bread from the trap without getting caught. So our solution was to release several big rat snakes on to our roof, and this seems to have helped. Let us give the snake his due. He is the most effective rat-trap invented so far.

There is another more direct way in which snakes help human beings. Their venom’s have proved to be highly interesting chemical substances which can be used to make drugs. Cobra venom is used in the making of "Cobroxin", a medicine for relieving intense pain.

Snakes venom has many toxins, proteins and enzymes. Venom is produced by a pair of large salivary glands in the snake's "Cheeks". When a snake bites, it injects venom through a pair of hollow teeth called fangs. This help to kill its prey quickly, before the prey can defend itself or get away. This is important, because even a rat can be a powerful enemy, and snakes sometimes get badly bitten by rats when trying to eat them.

Another important use of venom is the manufacture of anti-venom serum, the cure for snakebite. Predators like snakes are a very important link in the chain of life that binds animals and plants together. And the loss of even one link in this chain can be harmful to all life on earth.

Myths About Snakes

Friends and relatives always seem to fantastic stories to tell about snakes. "This one can sting with its tail" or "That one strikes at people's eyes and pecks them out." if you don't know very much about a subject it is easy to believe anything strange. But when you learn about the natural history of snakes you realize how ridiculous such stories are.

For instance, many people believe that snakes drink milk. At the snake Park visitors have sometimes brought pitchers of milk for the snakes-which, I have to admit, went into the staff coffee! A very thirsty snake may take a sip of milk but it is certainly not natural food for snakes. Where would snakes get milk in the wild? You might as well say that tigers drink orange juice! But, people may argue that snakes suckle milk from cows and goats. What they seem to forget is that snakes have extremely sharp teeth and no cow would stand for that. Another popular-and untrue- myth is that cobra mate with rat snakes. Snakes mate only with their own kind. There might be cases of cross breeding in captivity, but it is not a natural occurrence.

These myths do a lot of harm to snakes. The easily tamed, kindly looking vine snake is feared everywhere for its supposed habit of pecking out people's eyes. In Tamil it is called Kann Kuthi Pambu - eye-pecking snake. One day when Rom was holding a vine snake, telling a group of children that it was harmless, it turned around and bit him on the nose! "It's not an eye pecker, it's a nose pecker!" yelled the delighted children. The bronzeback tree snake, which very rarely bites and is, of course, not venomous, is associated with another absurd belief: that after biting someone, it climbs a high tree nearby and there waits for the funeral of its victims! Such stories are told and retold, often even by the educated. The snake does not have brain that can think beyond feeding, resting and avoiding enemies. All this it does by instinct. It cannot think ahead or plan in the way higher animals like humans can. It is therefore wrong to attribute complex emotions like revenge and jealousy to snakes. Snakes have small, simple brains which tell them when to chase a rat, where to find water-nothing more complicated.

Myths about snakes exisst in other countries too. In America people talk about the hoop snake. They say that it puts its tail in its mouth and becomes like a hoop, or wheel and chases people down hills. Like Indians, many Americans too believe that all snakes are venemous.

There is often a fairly simple explanation for the origins of myths about snakes. Perhaps once a harassed vine snake struck someone's eye. Not that the soft, pointed nose could do any damage, but that could have given rise to the eye-pecking story. The widespread belief that if you kill a snake, its mate will return to the same spot to take revenge, may be attributed to the fact that all snakes have musk, which is released when the snake is excited. If killed or injured the snake releases its musk and nearby snake may smell it and come to investigate. It certainly hasn't come to attack the man who killed the snake!

There are several beliefs about snakes making people sick. It is wrongly said that sand boas cause leprosy. The only way to learn about snakes is to check your facts from a book or a person who has studied snakes.

Crocodiles

Introduction

The earliest crocodilians evolved over 200 million years ago. Crocodilians are usually considered to be the only living members of the Archosauria, the group which included the dinosaurs. The 23 species of alligators, crocodiles, and their kin, caiman and gharials, are collectively known as crocodilians. However, some scientists believe birds, which are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, should also be included in this group. Crocodilians play a vital role in the habitats where they are found. During times of drought, crocodilians create "wallows" or depressions in the ground, which fill with ground water and allow other animals to drink. They keep waterways open by clearing plants away when they swim. They are the top predators in their environments and help regulate populations of other animals. They break down nutrients for flora and fauna at the other end of the food chain, and the cycle starts over (insect eats plant, frog eats insect, alligator eats frog, alligator feeds plant.)

Difference between an alligator and a crocodile

Alligators have a rounded snout, while crocodiles have a triangular snout. Alligators can tolerate colder weather than crocodiles. The fourth lower tooth can be seen when the mouth is closed. In alligators, this tooth fits into a socket in the upper jaw.

Lets get into water...

In the hot, summer months, for about 15 minutes. In the winter, from 1 to 2 hours. Reptiles' metabolic rate, food and oxygen consumption, and activity level depends on the outside temperature. The warmer the temperature, the higher the metabolism, and the colder the temperature, the lower the metabolism.

Crocodilians are opportunistic feeders- they will eat anything they can catch. Young crocodilians feed primarily on small mammals, fish, insects, and amphibians such as frogs. Adults will consume these prey as well as larger mammals, birds, and reptiles found in their range.

The average clutch or group of eggs is from 20 to 60 eggs, depending on the species. The eggs are laid into a nest. Some species, like the alligators, build a nest of soil, leaves, and other vegetation. Other species, like the Mugger Crocodile, dig a tunnel-type nest.

Mother crocodilians will guard their nests for the 70 to 100 days it takes for the eggs to hatch, and assist in hatching. Babies may stay with their mothers for up to 2 years. She protects them from predators as best she can, but they are completely able to fend for themselves.

The 8 to 10 inch hatchling may grow 2 to 12 inches per year, depending on the species. Females may take 8 to 14 years, and males 10 to 17 years to mature.

Without internally probing the animals, one way to tell is by size- adult females are smaller than adult males. Average size for females is between 6 to 8 feet, for males, 10 to 12 feet.

The largest species is the Indopacific Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, which may exceed lengths of 20 feet. The smallest is the Dwarf Caiman, Paleosuchus palpebrosus. This species only reaches 4 to 5 feet. The record length for American Alligators is 19'2".

It is illegal to capture, molest, feed or harm alligators, or possess or buy them without permits, or disturb their nests or eggs. They do not make good pets and become dangerous as they grow larger.

The maximum speed is around 11 mph. Bursts at these speeds are used primarily for catching prey, and escaping predators.

Large alligators can be dangerous, particularly those that have been fed by people. Feeding alligators and other wild animals is not only illegal, but causes them to lose their fear of humans. They become bold, aggressive and come to expect more food, which can be dangerous to people and ultimately to the animals. A mother crocodilian protecting her nest or young is very dangerous. In the United States from 1948 to 1995, there were 236 attacks on humans by alligators, 8 of which were fatal. Each year, there are thousands of attacks and hundreds of fatalities from Nile Crocodiles in Africa, and Indopacific Crocodiles in Asia and Australia.

Birds [III]

Habitats

Each species has its special place or habitat. An experienced bird-watcher can look at a forest, meadow, lake, swamp or field and predict almost exactly what birds he will find there. Some birds are found all over the world; others confine themselves to certain areas. Still others migrate from one country to another in winter in search of warmth and food, and then return in spring, when the season is more favourable.

Latitudes and altitudes affect the size of birds. Birds of the same species will be seen to become progressively smaller from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. In the Himalayas and other mountains, birds are bigger in the cold upper regions and smaller in the foothills. Climate also affects the color of birds.

After climate, the most important factor controlling bird life is vegetation, which itself depends on latitude, temperature, rainfall and topography. In forests, the vegetation is different from that in cultivated land such as fields, orchards and parks.

Our forests are full of showy birds such as the large-pied hornbill, a black-and-white bird with a waxy yellow horn-shaped bill; gold-colored orioles; minivets in scarlet, black and yellow; paradise flycatchers in silvery white coats and tails hanging in streamers. There are also little sunbirds in purple, green, crimson and yellow and chloropsis in grass-green, peacock and many other brightly-colored birds.

The birds in villages, orchards and parks are more familiar to us. The sparrow likes to be near us because he knows he will find plenty of food there. You will also find numerous snuff-brown mynas walking about, half stooping and half stalking; and the more active black-and-white pied mynas, as also the magpie robin and the black-and yellow tit swooping around trees.

Where there are large tracts of cultivated land, you are likely to live near meadows, marshes, and edges of lakes, streams or rivers. The study of water birds in much more difficult than that of land birds.

Call-Notes

Birds have a language, which they use for various purposes. It is not so complicated as ours is, but it enables them to express themselves to one another. There are the call-notes, which serves as recognition between members of a species. There is the alarm-note, an expression of fear and a warning to keep their distance. There is the love-note, an important feature in courtship. They also sing from rivalry and defiance and sometimes give out harsh battle cries.

Some birds tend to be silent; others are noisy and seem to know a large variety of notes. Some are good talkers like the hill myna and parakeet, while others are accomplished songsters. Screams, grunts, wild cries, hooting, moaning and whistling are familiar notes of birdland.

The stork, for example, makes a clattering noise with his mandibles; woodpeckers make a drumming noise by a rapid hammering of their bills against a tree.

The young birds have a baby language of their own, which is not used after they grow up! They can make known their wants, fears and whereabouts to their parents. How do young ones learn the songs and call-notes of their own species? Well, experiments have proved that some inherit them; others learn by imitating their parents.

Children seem to believe that bird's sing with their bills. In the olden days bird fanciers used to split the tongues of some unfortunate birds to make them sing better! But bird-notes are produced deep down the windpipe, at the point where it branches off into bronchial tubes. A delicate little membrane is fixed at this point which produced the note of every bird.

The small, dull-colored birds are finest songsters. They more than make up their beautiful voices, whereas other birds use their bright colors to attract attention.

Bird-watchers depend more on their ears than on their eyes to track birds. On their walks, they pose every few minutes and listen intently to the notes of a hidden bird. The loudest and the best voices are heard during spring and early summer. The best time to hear Nature's choir is early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

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