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Cacomixtle (Bassariscus sumichrasti)
A small nocturnal animal and gifted hunter, cacomixtles feed on small animals
including chickens and domestic birds. Cacomixtles can be spotted in forested
areas of the Mundo Maya.
The
habitat is on the forest floor in South America and Central America. The diet
is insects, spiders, lizards, rodents and also fruit. It's enemies are jaguar,
boas, and large birds of prey.
The
habitat is the South American Rainforests, parts of Central America and Southeast
Asia. Their diet is mostly grass (green shoots), twigs and shrubs. It's enemies
are poachers (for leather) and big cats like the jaguar.
Grey Fox Grey foxes resemble small, gracile dogs with bushy tails. They are distinguished from most other canids by their grizzled upperparts, buff neck and black-tipped tail. The skull can be distinguished from all other North American canids by its widely separated temporal ridges that form a U-shape. Males are slightly larger than females. The grey fox is a solitary hunter and eats a wide variety of food. The most important food source for the grey fox is probably the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), but voles, field mice, shrews, and birds are readily captured and eaten. The grey fox suppliments its diet with whatever fruits are readily available and generally eats more vegetable matter than the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). The breeding season of grey foxes varies geographically. In
Michigan, grey foxes mate in early March; in Alabama, breeding peaks occur
in February. Where red foxes and grey foxes occur together, grey foxes breed
2-4 weeks after the red foxes. Gestation lasts about 53 days; the mean litter
size is 3.8 and ranges from 1-7. By 3 months, pups begin to hunt with their
parents. After four monthes, the young have their permanent dentition and
can forage on their own. The family group remains together until autumn when
the young reach sexual maturity and disperse.
Spider Monkey The
habitat is South America in high branches and the canopy, Amazon Rainforest,
Central Mexico, Bolivia and Brazil. The diet is fruits and leaves mainly.
Also nuts, eggs, seeds, and insects. It's enemies are poachers (humans) and
jaguars. The Black handed Spider monkey male is about 38 - 49.5
cm in length, with a tail of between 59 - 82 cm, and weighs about 7.5 kg.
They have extremely flexible shoulders. Their leaping ability is tremendous
and they sprawl out like a spider. They are one of the most agile and acrobatic
animals in the rainforest. As they swing, they sometimes break branches and
throw them. They also make a "barking" type noise. They are well
known for their screeching type calls. They travel in bands of about 70-100
monkeys and are active mainly during the day. Spider monkeys do not like the
water, but they can cope with it.
Jaguar (Panthera onca) The
habitat is Central and South America and South West USA. It lives in the dense
understory layer of tropical rain forest, swamps, and open country. The diet
is grown animals like peccaries, capybara, sloth, tapir, deer, monkeys, cattle,
fish, frogs, turtles and small gators. It's enemies are poachers (humans)
which hunt it for its coat. Jaguars "almost" never attack people.
However some have killed people. They sleep on branches. The jaguar has hooked
claws for climbing and catching fish.
Margays do not adapt well to human disturbance
of its habitat. This cat is listed as an endangered animal, though the status
of its population throughout its range from Mexico to Argentina is unknown.
Belize and the Chetemul Bay areas are thought to have one of the healthier
populations of Margays in Central America.
Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata) The
habitat is the Central and South American Rainforests. It lives in the canopy
layer but also spends time on ground. It's diet is Fruits and nuts. It's enemies
are jaguars, other large mammals, large snakes and humans.
Squirrel monkeys belong to the family Cebidae. There are many different species of squirrel monkeys. They are one of the most common monkeys in South America. Males are normally larger than females and a typical Central American squirrel monkey male might be between 25 - 37 cm in length, have a tail between 37 - 46.5 cm, and weigh 0.6 - 1.1 kilograms. Spends most of its day in the canopy layer of the rainforest. Can live to about 15 years old. Squirrel monkeys follow capuchins around to food sources.
Many times they even play with the capuchins. Female Squirrel monkeys give
birth to one young. They are very alert for predators. They are very agile
and move about by leaping from branch to branch. Squirrel monkey travel in
groups. A group of 30 is not unusual, and sometimes the group can be much
larger. Young squirrel monkeys are very playful and energetic.
Ocelot (Felis pardalis)
Puma (Felis concolor)
Fruit Bat/Flying Fox The Nine-banded Armadillo is a cat-sized, armored, insect-eating mammal. Similar in form to an anteater, the bony, scaled shell of the armadillo protects it from attacks by predators. Unfortunately, armadillos often fall victim to automobiles and are frequently found dead on roadsides. A prolific digger, armadillos dig many burrows, as well as dig for food. Distribution is often determined by soil conditions, since the animal will not survive in areas where the soil is too hard to dig. Many other wildlife species use and benefit from these abandoned burrows. Although occasionally considered a nuisance by home owners, the armadillo's habit of digging up lawns is driven by its appetite for grubs, which can also harm lawns. It eats insects and other invertebrates. Skilled at digging for grubs. Occasionally eats berries and bird eggs. Although breeding occurs in July, the embryo remains in a dormant
state until November. Four young are born in a burrow in March. All four young,
always of the same sex, are identical quadruplets and developed from the same
egg. They even share a single placenta while in the womb. Armadillos are the
only mammals in which multiple young form from a single egg with any regularity. They are diurnal and nocturnal, arboreal, terrestrial and solitary. It feeds mainly on ants, termites, and bees extracted after ripping apart their nests with their fore claws. Tamanduas can be seen foraging on the ground or in the canopy anywhere in the forest, but seem most common beside watercourses and epiphyte-laden habitats, where their prey may be concentrated. By day in the rainforest a dense cloud of flies and mosquitoes accompanies them so they often brush their eyes with a forepaw. When inactive, tamanduas rest in hollow trees, burrows of other animals or other natural shelters. Their local names are: Oso Hormiguero, Tamanduá, Susurete, Oso Amarillo, Brazo Fuerte, Oso Mielero in Spanish, it’s called an ant bear in Belize and in Mayan it is called Chab.
Tayras are identified by their glossy, dark brown to black upper parts, legs, feet and tail. The fur on their heads is short and stiff, while the fur on the body and tail is long and glossy. Its under fur is brown. The head and neck sharply contrast with a grizzled tan on the back, which may be a gray-brown or yellowish color, but is rarely dark brown or the same. Their ears are small and round, the same color as the head, and not protruding above the crown. Their under parts are completely black or dark brown, except for a bright pale yellow to orange spot, often triangular, on their chest and throat. Their tail is bushy, and about two-thirds as long as their head and body. Partial webs that reach to the base of the last joint join their toes. Tayras are muscular large weasels, much like a small dog with long, slightly humped back and log tail. Young entirely black, sometimes with white throat patch and/or white head. They are similar with bush dogs (Speothos venaticus), short-eared dogs (Atelocynus microtis) grisons (Galictis vittata) and jaguarundis (Herpailurus yaguarondi). Tayra’s sounds are snorts in alarm and growl and squeal when cornered. They are diurnal except near human habitations, where also crepuscular, terrestrial and arboreal. Feeds on small vertebrates, especially rodents, insects, fruit and honey. The available field data shows that they travel long distances of 2 to 8 kms. each day, within their enormous home ranges of 10-24 kms2. They are wary and not often seen, but are much commoner than any of the similar species. They are fond of papayas, and if undisturbed become tame when they raid fruit near houses. They inhabit mature and secondary rainforests, dry forests, gallery forests, cloud forests, and gardens and plantations. They live in Central and South America. One of the most common and widespread carnivores, tayras can live in disturbed habitats near man. Tayras are also called Bush dog in Belize, melero, papa-mel, comadreja, mama, umba, melero, tayra, zorro palmichera, tolomuco, tejón, manco, perro de monte, cabeza de mate, gato eira, comadreja grande, gato negro, cabeza de viejo and guache in Spanish, and sacol in Mayan.
Peccary Their uniformly grizzled gray-black upper parts, a faint but distinct collar or a stripe of pale yellow hairs, which extend from top to shoulder forward to the lower cheek, identifies Collared Peccary. Their mid-back from head to rump has a crest of long hairs, raised in excitement, and a large scent gland along the spine. Their hair is sparse; they have coarse bristles, banded black and white or yellow. Their head is large, sharply tapering from their large jowls to a narrow nose, their nostrils are in a naked, mobile disk small, protruding a little beyond the rostrum, and they have large canines, form distinct limps under lip, do not protrude. Their eyes are small with a weak eye shine. They have reddish, small ears, covered with short hair. Their tail is tiny, or better said, not visible. Their forefeet have two large toes and two smaller rear toes that do not touch the ground (so they don’t appear in tracks), while their hind feet have two large toes and one smaller toe. Their young are grizzled reddish brown. They are pig-like, with a stout body, a thick neck and thin, delicate legs. The Collared Peccary is similar to the white-lipped peccary (T. pecary), Chacoan peccaries (Catagonus wagneri) Capybaras (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris). Their sound is usually quiet, but if surprised at close range may give very loud doglike barks, “Whoof” while in flight. They may also clack their teeth sharply. Their grunts (perhaps threats) are rarely heard. They chew on nuts and snails with a loud cracking. Collared peccary are diurnal in the rainforest; they are terrestrial, and form groups of 1 to 20 members, usually 6 to 9. Loose groups often change in composition: males are sometimes solitary. In rainforests they feed on fruit, palm nuts, browse, snails, other invertebrates, and small vertebrates. They release a strong odor, like cheese or chicken soup, especially when alarmed, and they frequently mark their trails by scraping the ground in front of a pole with their hooves, defecating in the scrape, and rubbing their back gland on the pole. They regularly use mud wallows and salt licks in favored, traditional spots. Collared peccaries are wary and surprisingly quiet and difficult to approach; they stampede in panic when they detect humans, and they are not dangerous (but those raised in captivity or habituated to man may be very aggressive, and inflict serious bite wounds). They are found in different habitats: from dry, shrubby Sonora desert and chaco to deep rainforest. Note that their behavior is different in hot, dry habitats, where peccaries feed on cacti, and where they are active at night. In this habitat they do not use burrows. They live in Central and South America. They are widespread and locally common, but hunted intensively for meat, sport, and hides. Collared peccaries are rare or absent near many settlements but not threatened, in general. Anteater, Oso hormiguero (Tamandua mexicana) The
Anteater is an insect-eating mammal found in Mexico (including the Costa Maya),
Central America, and South America. It has a long head with a long, tubular
mouth and long tongue, but no teeth. The giant anteater, weighing up to 86
lbs., is the largest species of anteater. It lives in forests and swampy areas
and on open plains and is active mostly during the day in areas where there
are few people, and is night dwelling in densely populated areas. |
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