Yesterday we got acquainted with pangolins, that are very interesting animals indeed. As a rule, pangolins are also called scaly anteaters. Pangolins are mammals and got their strange name from the Malay word pengguling means “something that is rolling up”.

Pangolins live in tropical regions of Asia and Africa, they have a noticeable appearance, the whole body of a pangolin is covered with scales (and pangolins scales are made of the same protein as makes human hair and fingernails). Pangolins have incredible smell and it helped them to find insects and termite. As a rule, they are not active during the day and prefer hunting at night, but there are some pangolins that can be active while the day time.

In the case of threat pangolins can roll the same like hedgehogs. So, in this case scales act like an armour and an additional means of defense, moreover pangolins can act like a skunk, while emitting a terribly smelling acids from glands. Legs of pangolins are short and have claws. Rather sharp claws. Standard size of pangolins varies from 30 cm to 100 cm. And, it goes without saying, females are smaller than males. Pangolin’s brains is large enough, but they use it in a not very appropriate way: to find food in captivity and other challenging situations. Pangolins adore living in hollows of trees, they can dig tunnels themselves and even swim. And pangolins adore walking at nights, but they return to the same burrow (for many times). Pangolins have no teeth, so they eat due to a special stomach construction and… sand!

But, very often these unusual animals can be under a number of threats:

• pangolins are hunted in many countries;
• in China people do believe that pangolin scales can make swellings smaller and make blood circulation better;
• deforestation;
• illegal trafficking to different countries.

Have you ever read any story written by Rudyard Kipling? And do you happen to know anything about “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”? Yeah? Can you imagine him? And who do you think he was? You do not know, but it is so easy, he was a mongoose!!! And, no doubts, for us a typical mongoose is the Indian mongoose and the dwarf mongoose. It is no easy to describe them, as they do not possess any specific features.But, to put it in a nutshell, an average mongoose looks like this. They are small to a certain extent carnivores, covered with a warm fur coat, 15 to 17 inches long, a tail can grow up to 10 inches. Each mongoose has war colours at his pointed face and stripes on its back. Mongoose’s legs are rather short. As a rule, they live in Africa, woods, deserts, Europe (southern part) and Asia. Sometimes even in Spain.They live mostly in families, up to 25 members, but sometimes they can live either alone or in pairs.

Mongooses live near water: streams, ponds; in hedges, and fields; they can occupy burrows and caves. as well. As a rule they eat mice, rats, lizards, snakes, insects, spiders, frogs and eggs. The Indian mongoose is very popular because of his courage and his manner of behaving: he kills cobras, he can do so due to his very quick movements and long, thick fur. In ancient Egypt a man goose considered to be a sacred animal. The reason is nowadays very funny to us and was extremely important to the Egyptians. Mongooses helped to control the population of crocodiles. How? In a very interesting way. As it was already told, they were fond of eggs eating, so, as a rule, they eat eggs of crocodiles in the Nile River and gained the popular name “Pharaoh’s Mouse.” The attack of mongoose is rather exciting and breathtaking. While attacking a snake, mongoose provokes it. So, a after a series of constant attacks and provocation from the side of man goose, a snake gets tired and it is an exact time for mongoose to attack his or her opponent. A man goose swallows snake’s head and crushes the skull. So, pay attention! They are very ancient animals!

Mongoose’s babies are very interesting, it takes a long time to breed a so-called “child” – a year and 8 months, but a baby grows very quickly. In 6 months it is not a baby anymore, it is an adult. Sometimes one mother can have up to 10 babies.

Man gooses are fond of traveling, they can run rather fast, it helps them and makes them excellent hunters, there are some cases when a mongoose ran faster than a reptile did. As a rule, they haunt at hight. But, mongooses can be dangerous and eat all the possible eggs and even more a lot of ground-living animals. So, nowadays, it is illegal to import mongooses to the USA.

Penguins are one of the most well-known animals in the world. This is little funny bird. They are birds because they lay eggs, have feathers, and are warm-blooded animals. Most birds fly, but penguins do not fly. They use their flippers for swimming. Penguins are found in many different habitats, or places. They live from the frozen land of Antarctica to the sandy beaches of Africa. They live from the rocky coasts of South America to the coasts of New Zealand. Penguins have adapted to more habitats and climates than any other animal in the world. Penguins have long, flat flippers that help them swim and dive for fish, squid, and krill. They have very short legs that are set far back on their lower body. They stand upright and waddle when they walk.

Penguins are amazing swimmers. When penguins float they use their flippers to paddle through the water. When they dive and swim they use their flippers to fly through the water. They use their flippers for swimming like other birds use their wings for flying. Most penguins can dive very deep and can hold their breath for many minutes. They have large round eyes that help them to see in the dark water. Penguins can swim up to hundreds of miles in search of food. Penguins move over land by walking, jumping and sliding. Penguins that live on the ice can slide or go tobogganing on their bellies down hills and slopes. They lay down and push off with their flippers and slide across the ice. Penguins are also good jumpers. They can jump the height and width of their own bodies. They often hop or jump over rocks or holes.

There are 17 especes of penguins: Emperor, King, Rockhoppers, Gentoo, Magellanic, Galapagos, Adelie, African, Little, Royal, Yellow-eyed, Snares, Chinstrap, Humboldt, Macroni, Fiordland, Erect-crested.