Fossa - The mistaken cat

Until recently, the Fossa was thought to be a primitive type of cat. The Fossa is 6 feet long from its nose to its tail tip. Its long tail helps it while hunting and moving through the tree branches. Its fur is reddish brown and its snout looks like a dog. Now it is known to be related to the mongoose. It is found in the forests of Madagascar. The Fossa is one of the most agile animals in the world. It is the largest carnivore in Madagascar. The Fossa is a solitary (lives on its own) animal.

Diet

The Fossa is known to eat lemurs. In fact, lemurs comprise up to half of its diet. It hunts lemurs by sneaking up on them when they are asleep. They hunt small and medium size animals, birds and even insects. They also hunt big prey in packs during the mating season.

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Tea

Tea, tea 

Piping hot

Plead for tea

And drink with glee 

Tarsiers

The Tarsier is a subspecies of primate living in forests on some islands in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Southern Philippines. It is further classified into The Philippine Tarsier, The Western Tarsier, The Eastern Tarsier and many more. Fossil records show that Tarsiers once lived in Europe, North America, Africa and mainland Asia. Tarsiers are built for their arboreal and nocturnal lifestyle. They have a little bit fat body, a long tail, long hind legs which enable them leap distances of up to 5 metres from branch to branch, and large eyes which measure 16mm across. The size of their eyes enables them to see in the dark. Their eyes are so big that the Tarsier cannot turn their eyes in their sockets. They have pads on their fingers and toes which help them to climb. They can turn their heads 180 degrees in both directions.

Diet

The Tarsier is the only fully carnivorous primate in the world. Their diet consists of insects, frogs, lizards, and small birds. Some species of Tarsier eat venomous snakes and small bats. Their long fingers and toes help them to catch prey flying in midair.

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Meerkats

Meerkats or Suricates are a species of mongoose that lives in the plains of South Africa. They are often seen in groups. Sometimes several families may live together in a large society. They are about the size of a large squirrel weighting less than 1 kg. They are famed for their upright posture. They often gaze around the plains where they live. Meerkats work in numbers. Some are lookouts, searching the sky for birds of prey that eat them, like hawks and eagles. A sharp, shrill call is the call to hide. A few meerkats guard the group.

Diet

A few meerkats forage for food for the group. They are omnivores. They eat insects, lizards, rodents, birds and fruit. When hunting together, they communicate using purring sounds. They are good hunters. Meerkats sometimes are tamed and trained to control rodents.

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