Day Care for Critters Community day care arrangements are fairly common in a number of species - flamingos, penguins, giraffes, dolphins, and even crocodiles, to name a few. Newborn dolphins travel in such tight formation with their mothers they look like one animal to predators. Close relatives often relieve the mother from her intense childcare chores, and the young learn to interact by playing together in these watery nurseries. The kids are weaned at 18 months, but they frequently hang around home for up to six years before striking out on their own. All family members in their social groups help educate the youngster, creating a warm environment with lots of contact, encouragement, and protection.
Extended families provide plenty of opportunity to learn through play, direction, and imitation.
The young females, who seem to be very attracted to the babies, spend a lot of time taking care of them. That bond between Enid and Ely remains to this day. She follows him around, she stands over him when he's sleeping, she goes after him if he wanders off and brings him back, and if he cries out in a distress call, it's always Enid who comes. In the chilly windswept plains of Patagonia, you may find a burrow about the size of a large rabbit hole . . . . Watch from a few yards away and you will see an elegant rodent, about the size and shape of a hare, but with long stilt-like legs, step daintily towards the hole, nose lifted warily.