Dwarf Lantern Shark

The smallest shark, a dwarf lantern shark is smaller than a human hand! They live deep down in the ocean so very little is know about them. Their name comes from the presence of light producing photophores on their bodies. Their teeth are designed for cutting and slicing. They are rarely seen and not many people have heard of one. Dwarf lantern sharks are one of the many ocean dwelling creatures that we could find lots more about.

Dwarf lantern shark

Dwarf lantern shark head

Fact File

Size: 1

Speed: 4

Intelligence: Unknown 

Life Span: Unknown 

Diet: Shrimp and small fish

Capybaras

Capybaras may appear to be some sort of hoofed mammal but they are actually the world's largest rodent and are pretty much giant guinea pigs. They live in the swamps, marshes and rivers of South America. They have many predators - jaguars,  anacondas and caimans - and are pretty much defenceless. They live in large groups and will give off a call if they spot danger. Then they will normally run away but will use their teeth when cornered. Their teeth - like any other rodent's- will grow as they mature. Capybara's eyes and nostrils are positioned on top of their head so when swimming they can keep watch without being entirely visible to prey.

Capybara underwater 

Group of capybara 

Fact File

Size: 4

Speed: 5

Intelligence: 6

Life span: 6 to 12 years

Diet: Aquatic plants, grasses, barks and sugar cane

Komodo dragons

  The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard in the world. It is a monitor lizard - a group of reptiles making up some of the largest lizards in the world. The Komodo dragon has a gruesome way of hunting. It will bite its prey and inject deadly venom  into the blood of the unlucky target. Then all it has to do is stalk it's prey until it dies from the venom. They live on some islands in Indonesia - specifically Komodo - and are found nowhere else in the world. Males will fight during the breeding season over a mate and the battles can be brutal. This is definitely a beast to beware.

Komodo dragon feasting

Komodo dragons fighting

Fact File

Size: 8

Speed: 4 - quicker when they need to be

Intelligence: 6

Life Span: around 30 years 

Diet: Almost anything other than veg they can get their claws on. Eggs, deer, buffalo, monkeys and even other baby Komodo dragons.

River dolphins

River dolphins are the only fresh water dolphins. They are mainly spotted in the Amazon rainforest as scientists think the Chinese river dolphin went extinct in 2006. They may be famous for their striking pink colours but they weren't born this way. They are born as a greyish colour and get pinker as they mature. River dolphins - like any other dolphin- use echolocation to find there prey. They are an elusive animal and you will be lucky if you ever see one.

Amazonian River dolphin 

Chinese river dolphin

Fact File

Size: 7

Speed: 5 - slow compared to other dolphins.

Intelligence: 8

Life Span: 30 years

Diet: Fish and crustaceans 

Coming soon…

 We are out on a walk as I write this. We have just picked up the camera trap but I can’t show you the pictures yet. Stay tuned to find out what we have have just caught and what we will spot over 2022.(This may include a badger 🦡  and a fox 🦊 ) I will also post some animal fact files over the year. There might be 2 in one day or 1 in 2 weeks!

An unexpected surprise

 This time we put the camera trap in a spot which we often put it in. It is a great spot as it is sheltered from the wind and rain and there's plenty of wildlife there. However we put it there a week ago and caught nothing. The camera even came up with a screen saying no image. So we put in the same spot again and hoped for the best. And we got what I think is the best  group of animals we have ever had in the woods next to our house. When we turned it on and went through all the different animals, we started off with the usual pigeon and squirrels.

The squirrel was dancing.

We also got a nice picture of a thrush aswell which was something we don't usually have.

Then the next couple of photos was of an animal we had never seen in the woods before. And this animal was one we would have never even have guessed we would get on the camera trap. We had got footage of roe deer!

We think we got a little herd on the camera trap. I have no iDEER where they came from.

Before the deer though we also got a fox.

After the deer we got a great video and picture of a pheasant.

After that we got ANOTHER picture of a fox!

Next  just to make our day, a snuffling badger came along!

And finally...

a bumble bee.

Wildlife Footage

 Welcome to wildlife footage! This post shows some great footage we have had recently!

That photo there was of a speedy fox. Maybe it was hunting? Who knows?

This here is a badger sniffing its way around the wood at night. The video below is of a badger slowly making its way through the wood as well. Well I say slowly, It was actually going pretty quickly!

Lastly we got a rabbit jumping past, which is something we don't often get.