recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Dances With Wolves

A Civil War soldier develops a relationship with a band of Lakota Indians. Attracted by the simplicity of their lifestyle, he chooses to leave his former life behind to be with them. Having observed him, they give the name Dances With Wolves. Soon he is a welcomed member of the tribe and falls in love with a white woman who has been raised in the tribe. Tragedy results when Union soldiers arrive with designs on the land.
Canary (Arrow) - LB3

## Overview

**Sara Lance** is the daughter of Quentin and Dinah Lance; and the younger sister of Laurel Lance. Sara is a former member of the League of Assassins known as **Ta-er al-Sahfer**. Eventually, she left the organization and became a vigilante in Starling City operating as **The Canary**, until she was killed. Later, after her resurrection, she was recruited by Rip Hunter to join the Legends as **The White Canary**. Sara eventually replaced Rip as Captain of the Waverider and as Leader of the Legends.

## Abilities

* Projectile
* Sonic

## Unlocking

Canary (Arrow) is immediatly unlocked after purchasing the Arrow DLC.
Central American squirrel monkey

The Central American squirrel monkey, also known as the red-backed squirrel monkey, is a squirrel monkey species from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama. It is restricted to the northwestern tip of Panama near the border with Costa Rica, and the central and southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, primarily in Manuel Antonio and Corcovado National Parks.

It is a small monkey with an orange back and a distinctive white and black facial mask. It has an omnivorous diet, eating fruits, other plant materials, invertebrates and some small vertebrates. In turn, it has a number of predators, including raptors, cats and snakes. It lives in large groups that typically contain between 20 and 75 monkeys. It has one of the most egalitarian social structures of all monkeys. Females do not form dominance hierarchies, and males do so only at breeding season. Females become sexually mature at 2+1⁄2 years, and males at 4 to 5 years. Sexually mature females leave the natal group, but males can remain with their natal group their entire life. The Central American squirrel monkey can live for more than 15 years.

The Central American squirrel monkey population declined precipitously after the 1970s. This decline is believed to be caused by deforestation, hunting, and capture to be kept as pets. Efforts are underway to preserve the species.
Allosaurus

***Allosaurus* (al·lo·saur·us)**(al-OH-sore-US)*(*March, 1877) meaning, "different lizard", is arguably one of the most well known Jurassic predators known, growing to about 28 - 29 feet (8.5 to 9 meters) on average and capable of reaching up to 12–13 meters. It had a large skull with eye ridges, and claws designed for gripping. Its diet may have included many different dinosaurs, mainly smaller ones such as the *Dryosaurus* and *Camptosaurus*, but in packs it may have hunted the stegosaurid *Stegosaurus*, Diplodocus, and even young sauropods.

There are currently three species of *Allosaurus*known: ***A. fragilis***,***A. europaeus*** and ***A. lucasi***.

*Allosaurus* was certainly not the only apex predator in the Jurassic, as it would have to compete against bigger predators, such as *Saurophaganax* and not the bigger but the main rivals *Ceratosaurus*and *Torvosaurus*. However, its weak bite force is misleading. Its skull would have been used almost like a hatchet to smack down on prey, causing heavy bleeding. It couldn't take down sauropods, but it was the perfect predator for smaller prey items. Smaller prey such as *Dryosaurus* and *Camptosaurus* would be ideal because *Allosaurus*was speedy with a "hatchet" mouth that could cause bleeding, and the smaller animals would bleed out quicker. One particularly well-preserved specimen, nicknamed "Big Al", was found not too long ago in Wyoming. While Allosaurus was a hunter, it was also a scavenger (like all predators). It would find dead animals or animals dying to feast on. "Big Al" had many different injuries from throughout its short, seven-year life, yet surviving all but the last one, an infected toe wound. This would have left the animal unable to hunt, and it would have starved and/or died of thirst. *Allosaurus* skull was double hinged. This allowed it to open its mouth extremely wide, allowing it to have a huge bite radius. One hinge was near the front of the jaw like a snake's, and the other was near the back of the jawbone. However, recent studies seem to show that *Allosaurus* had a relatively low bite force of only 350 pounds per square inch, much less than the value of sharks and crocodiles and even inferior to that of most big cats, despite being much bigger. Its seems that *Allosaurus* attacked like an axe, using its double-hinged jaw to open really wide and dropping the top part of its skull into its prey with a large amount of pressure while holding it steady with its strong arms. Constant repetition of this method would have led to a massive amount of blood loss and shock. It was a very efficient way of killing, and it's probably why *Allosaurus* was so successful as a hunter.

Allosaurus SkeletonAllosaurus as it appears in Walking with DinosaursAllosaurus hunting a DryosaurusAllosaurus attacking a sauropodAllosaurus BodyAllosaurus head and teethAllosaurus SkinAllosaurus Feet
Hesperonis

*Hesperornis* seems to have been a prehistoric cross between a penguin and grebe. Although there were many flight capable birds during the Campanian, *Hesperornis* seems to have become secondarily flightless. This is indicated by the greatly reduced wings that were little more than stubs. However, although they were useless for flight, they would greatly enhance the birds streamlining as it dived underwater.

      When underwater, *Hesperornis* was probably a very graceful and agile swimmer, its feet pushing it down under the water, while the long neck would easily allow *Hesperornis* to pluck fish from their hiding places. But because the legs and feet were angled to provide maximum propulsion in the water, *Hesperornis* would have been very cumbersome on the land, perhaps only being able to shuffle along.

      The beak of *Hesperornis* is well adapted for catching fish, with sharp teeth running the length of the lower jaw, and at the back of the upper. A good example of convergent evolution is the fact that the teeth are not in sockets like their dinosaur ancestors, but in a longitudinal groove that ran down the beak. Although not related to *Hesperornis*, or even birds in general, this same tooth holding groove is also seen in the mosasaurs that swam the Cretaceous seas. On a quick side note, Hesperornis were occasional prey to mosasaurs, as evidenced by *Hesperornis* fossils found within what was once the gut of a *Tylosaurus*. Another adaptation for the beak of *Hesperornis* are small holes in the palate that allow the lower teeth to slot into them when the beak is closed.

      Although the majority of *Hesperornis* remains are known from seas such as the Western Interior Seaway, some have also come from freshwater deposits, possibly following river systems as they searched for fish.
Eastern Mole

Built for life underground, the eastern mole twists through their tunnels shoveling dirt around its body with blocky front feet. The pointed nose, tiny eyes, and missing external ears are other indicators of a belowground lifestyle. A layer of skin covering the eyes and small ear openings sheltered by fur help prevent dirt from covering the eyes and ears. The broad, webbed feet are wider than they are long, and are clawed on both front and hind feet. The short tail is less than a quarter of the body length and is sparsely haired. The velvety gray to brown fur is often related to the soil type with gray individuals found in the west and darker individuals found in the east. The eastern mole has been documented across much of the body of the state, in areas where the soils allow for burrowing. Areas with deep sand or clays are typically avoided. Moles spend much of their life underground, tunneling extensive burrows. Tunnels used for gathering food are the most recognizable by people, often forming ridges on the surface. Deeper tunnels are used for sleeping and nest chambers. Eastern moles feed on a variety of invertebrates including earthworms, beetles and other insects. Mating occurs in late winter or early spring and two to five hairless young are born one to two months later. Though considered a pest by some, moles provide important ecological services by feeding on insects and aerating the soil.
Dinosaurs Decoded

T. rex and Triceratops are among the best-studied dinosaurs of all time. How much more can we learn? Surprisingly, more than we ever thought. Famed paleontologist Jack Horner and his colleagues are challenging the long held belief that young dinosaurs looked like miniature versions of their parents. Instead they may have looked so different that scientists assumed juveniles and adults were separate species. Even a young T. rex it would be hard to recognize. The transformations from childhood to adulthood were so dramatic that Horner suspects that up to a third of all dinosaur species may vanish in cases of mistaken identity. In their place were developing a new understanding of the complexity of dinosaur lives and learning new reasons for some of the dinosaurs' strangest features like horns lumps, bumps, and dome-heads.
Spotted Skunk

The Spotted Skunk's warning is a handstand: the animal puts its weight on its front feet, raises its hindquarters into the air, and aims the opening of its scent glands at the source of provocation. the spray is even sharper and more acrid than the striped skunk's. it eats the same type of food but depends more on mammals than its larger relative. the diets of both change with the seasons. a study of spotted skunks in Iowa found mammals to be the most important winter food. the proportion of insects increased in spring and summer, and fruits were eaten mainly in the fall.
Wild America Wiki

**Welcome to the Wild America Wiki!**

This Fandom is About Animals that Thrive in North America from The Whitetail Deer to The Grey Wolf. This Fandom is also inspired by The Film and TV Series Wild America.

North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered by some to be a northern subcontinent of the Americas. The Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a world map, in which he placed the word "America" on the continent of South America, in the middle of what is today Brazil. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book *Cosmographiae Introductio ab Americo inventore ... quasi Americi terram sive Americam* (from Americus the discoverer ... as if it were the land of Americus, thus America).

The United Nations formally recognizes "North America" as comprising three areas: Northern America, Central America, and The Caribbean. This has been formally defined by the UN Statistics Division. "Northern America", as a term distinct from "North America", excludes Central America, which itself may or may not include Mexico (see Central America § Different definitions). In the limited context of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the term covers Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which are the three signatories of that treaty.

France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Greece, and the countries of Latin America use a six-continent model, with the Americas viewed as a single continent and *North America* designating a subcontinent comprising Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and often Greenland, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, and Bermuda. North America has been historically referred to by other names. Spanish North America (New Spain) was often referred to as *Northern America*, and this was the first official name given to Mexico.

 Geographically the North American continent has many regions and subregions. These include cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions included those formed by trade blocs, such as the North American Trade Agreement bloc and Central American Trade Agreement. Linguistically and culturally, the continent could be divided into Anglo-America and Latin America. Anglo-America includes most of Northern America, Belize, and Caribbean islands with English-speaking populations (though sub-national entities, such as Louisiana and Quebec, have large Francophone populations; in Quebec, French is the sole official language.

The southern North American continent is composed of two regions. These are Central America and the Caribbean.

## Important Websites

Websites for Wildlife Conservation

https://defenders.org/

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

https://ignite.biologicaldiversity.org/
Vaquita

The vaquita is a shy member of the porpoise family. Vaquitas are the most endangered of the world’s marine mammals. Less than 20 vaquitas remain in the wild, and entanglement in illegal gillnets is driving the species toward extinction.

### Food

small fish, crustaceans (such as shrimp), and cephalopods (such as squid and octopuses).

### Weight

65 to 120 pounds

Vaquitas have the smallest range of any whale, dolphin, or porpoise. They only live in the northern part of the Gulf of California, an area that is rich in fish and shrimp. Fishing is thus a major source of income for the people there, who almost exclusively use gillnets, but vaquitas can also become accidentally wrapped in the nets and drown.

The decrease in the vaquita population is also related to the totoaba, a large fish that also only lives in the Gulf of California. The totoaba is listed as endangered in Mexico and the United States and is protected by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. Because totoaba and vaquita are similar in size, gillnets illegally set for totoaba are the deadliest for vaquitas. Fishermen illegally catch totoaba for its swim bladder (an air-filled sac in the totoaba’s body that helps it float), which they sell to China at high prices. In China, the swim bladders are used in soup with purported medicinal value. Thousands of swim bladders are dried and smuggled out of Mexico—sometimes through the United States.

Scientists agree that for vaquitas to survive in the wild, gillnet fishing must end within vaquita habitat. The Mexican government has worked with scientists, nongovernmental agencies, and foundations to ban most gillnets. Unfortunately, their actions did not stop the population decline. In April 2015, President Peña Nieto traveled to San Felipe, one of the main fishing towns off the Gulf of California, to announce a 2-year emergency gillnet ban throughout vaquita habitat. The President also announced that the government would pay fishermen for their loss of income. In September 2015, the Mexican government conducted a survey of the vaquita population using both ship-based monitoring and sound-based detectors throughout vaquita habitat.

In July 2017, a federal agreement permanently banned all gillnets except those used for fishing two species: curvina and sierra. But the illegal use of gillnets continues.
Raccoon

Bandit-masked raccoons are a familiar sight just about everywhere because they will eat just about anything. These ubiquitous mammals are found in forests, marshes, prairies, and even in cities. They are adaptable and use their dexterous front paws and long fingers to find and feast on a wide variety of fare. In the natural world, raccoons snare a lot of their meals in the water. These nocturnal foragers use lightning-quick paws to grab crayfish, frogs, and other aquatic creatures. On land, they pluck mice and insects from their hiding places and raid nests for tasty eggs.

Raccoons also eat fruit and plants—including those grown in human gardens and farms. They will even open garbage cans to dine on the contents. These ring-tailed animals are equally opportunistic when it comes to choosing a denning site. They may inhabit a tree hole, fallen log, or a house's attic. Females have one to seven cubs in early summer. The young raccoons often spend the first two months or so of their lives high in a tree hole. Later, mother and children move to the ground when the cubs begin to explore on their own.

Raccoons in the northern parts of their range gorge themselves in spring and summer to store up body fat. They then spend much of the winter asleep in a den. There are several other species of raccoons, in addition to the familiar northern (North American) raccoon. Most other species live on tropical islands.
Wild New World

***Wild New World*** (also known as ***Prehistoric America*** ***Prehistoric Japan***) is a six-part BBC documentary series about Ice Age America that describes the prehistory, landscape and wildlife of the continent from the arrival of humans to the welcome of the Ice Age. It was first transmitted in the UK & JP on BBC Two from 3 October to 7 November 2002. Like several other BBC programmes, it contains both computer graphics and real-life animals. Occasionally, footage of non-American counterparts of the Living North American beasts (like the American lion and the American cheetah) are used in juxtaposition with footage of native American animals, like the pronghorn.

*Wild New World* was co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and Discovery Channel. The music was composed by Barnaby Taylor and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra. The series was narrated by Jack Fortune and produced by Miles Barton.

The series forms part of the Coordinator History Unit's *Continents* strand. It was preceded by *Wild Africa* in 2001 and followed by *Wild Down Under* in 2003.
Silky Anteater

The silky anteater, also known as the pygmy anteater, has traditionally been considered a single species of anteater, Cyclopes didactylus, in the genus Cyclopes, the only living genus in the family Cyclopedidae. Found in southern Mexico, and Central and South America,

### Food

insects, such as termites and small coccinellid beetles.

### Range

southern Mexico, and Central and South America

### Life Span

2 YEARS

it is the smallest of all known anteaters. It has nocturnal habits and appears to be completely arboreal; its hind feet are highly modified for climbing. A taxonomic review in 2017, including both molecular and morphological evidence, found that Cyclopes may actually comprise at least seven species. The only known extinct cyclopedid species is Palaeomyrmidon incomtus, from the Late Miocene (c. 7 to 9 million years ago) of modern-day Argentina. Silky anteaters are the smallest living anteaters. They have dense and soft fur, which ranges from grey to yellowish in color, with a silvery sheen. Many subspecies have darker, often brownish, streaks, and paler underparts or limbs. The eyes are black, and the soles of the feet are red. Silky anteaters have partially prehensile tails. Silky anteaters are nocturnal and arboreal slow-moving animals. They are found in lowland rainforests with continuous canopies, where they can move to different places without the need to descend from trees. They are solitary creatures. Females have smaller home ranges than males. During the day, they typically sleep curled up in a ball. Although Silky anteaters are rarely seen in the forest, they can be found more easily when they are foraging on lianas at night. It is suggested that Silky anteaters usually dwell in silk cotton trees. Because of their resemblance to the seed pod fibers of these trees, they can use the trees as camouflage and avoid attacks of predators such as hawks and, especially, Harpy eagles. When threatened, Silky anteaters defend themselves. They stand on their hind legs and hold their forefeet close to their faces so they can strike any animal that tries to get close with its sharp claws.
Mountain Goat

The Mountain Goat is a large mammal covered with long creamy white hair to keep the goat warm in the winter months

Their white coat matches the snow and keeps it hidden from predators. They shed their thick fur in the warmer months by rubbing up against trees. They have black lips, nostrils, hooves, and horns.

Adults have long hair under their throat forming a "beard". Both sexes have sharp pointed horns that curve slightly backward. In females, the horns reach 9 inches (230 mm) in males about 12 inches (300 mm). Their hooves are well adapted to their living on cliffs and ledges, they have a hard, straight outer margin, with soft and flexible inner pads that provide excellent traction on rocky cliffs.

They stand about 3 to 3 ½ feet (90 to 100 cm) at the shoulder and weigh between 100 and 300 pounds (455-135 kg). Females are smaller than males. In Washington, Mountain Goats are found naturally in the Cascades and Selkirk. They are also found living in the Olympics where they were introduced in the 1920s.

Their main habitat requirement is rugged terrain such as steep, rocky cliffs, ledges, and talus slides. Mountain goats graze on grasses and forbs in summer. They also browse on shrubs and conifers. Their diet is variable in the winter when they feed on mosses, lichens, grasses, shrubs, and conifers.  Mountain Goats are the very agile mountain mammals and they move easily on rocky ledges where they are safe from predators.
Lynx

The lynx is a solitary cat that haunts the remote northern forests of North America, Europe, and Asia. Lynx are covered with beautiful thick fur that keeps them warm during frigid winters. Their large paws are also furry and hit the ground with a spreading toe motion that makes them function as natural snowshoes. These stealthy cats avoid humans and hunt at night, so they are rarely seen.

There are several species of lynx. Few survive in Europe but those that do, like their Asian relatives, are typically larger than their North American counterpart, the Canada lynx.

All lynx are skilled hunters that make use of great hearing (the tufts on their ears are a hearing aid) and eyesight so strong that a lynx can spot a mouse 250 feet away.

Canada lynx eat mice, squirrels, and birds, but prefer the snowshoe hare. The lynx are so dependent on this prey that their populations fluctuate with a periodic plunge in snowshoe hare numbers that occurs about every ten years. Bigger Eurasian lynx hunt deer and other larger prey in addition to small animals. Lynx mate in early spring or late winter. About two months later, females give birth to a litter of one to four young.

Humans sometimes hunt lynx for their beautiful fur. One endangered population, the Iberian lynx, struggles to survive in the mountains of Spain, far from the cold northern forests where most lynx live.
Denali National Park

Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses 6 million acres of Alaska’s interior wilderness. Its centerpiece is 20,310-ft.-high Denali (fka Mount McKinley), North America’s tallest peak. With terrain of tundra, spruce forest and glaciers, the park is home to wildlife including grizzly bears, wolves, moose, caribou and Dall sheep. Popular activities in summer include biking, backpacking, hiking and mountaineering.

Wildlife of Denali

Caribou

Dall Sheep

Black Bear

Gray Wolf

Moose
Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is a nearly 3,500-sq.-mile wilderness recreation area atop a volcanic hot spot. Mostly in Wyoming, the park spreads into parts of Montana and Idaho too. Yellowstone features dramatic canyons, alpine rivers, lush forests, hot springs and gushing geysers, including its most famous, Old Faithful. It's also home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope.

   Wildlife of Yellowstone:

American Bison

Gray Wolf

Coyote

Elk

Moose

Grizzly Bear

Wolverine

Mule Deer

Mountain Goat

Bighorn Sheep

Black Bear

Lynx

Pronghorn
Cuban Crocodile

Cuban crocodiles have short, broad heads with a bony ridge behind the eyes. They are green and olive black with yellow speckles and darker coloration toward the top of their bodies. Their bellies are pale, and their tails have black blotches or bands.

Large osteoderms, or bony plates, form the dorsal shield along the Cuban crocodile's back and extend onto the back of its neck. The scales on its legs are large, and those on its back legs are heavily keeled, meaning the scales have a raised ridge down the center.

These crocodiles are strong swimmers and are adept at walking and leaping, which makes them equally at home in water or on land. They cannot generate heat metabolically, so they soak up heat from the sun or warm water to control their temperature. They will often do this in the morning when they are cold and groggy, or after a meal to help raise their metabolism.

Size

Adult Cuban crocodiles can generally grow up to 10.5 feet (3.5 meters) long, with males growing larger than females. Bigger individuals have been found in the past but are now rare.

Native Habitat

These crocodiles have the smallest range of any crocodile, encompassing an area less than 200 square miles (500 square kilometers). They are found only in Cuba's Zapata Swamp in the southwest and Lanier Swamp on Isla de Juventud. Their historical range also included the Cayman and Bahaman islands.

Cuban crocodiles prefer freshwater marshes and swamps similar to those of the Everglades. They rarely swim in saltwater.

Food/Eating Habits

Juveniles tend to feed on invertebrates and small fish, while adults primarily eat fish, turtles and small mammals. They can also leap from the water, using powerful tail thrusts below the surface, to catch birds and arboreal mammals from overhanging tree branches.  At the Zoo, the crocodiles ea t croc pellets, rats, rabbits and occasionally fish.

Social Structure

In groups, Cuban crocodiles form a dominance hierarchy based on gender, size and temperament.

Reproduction and Development

The Cuban crocodile breeding season typically begins in May and lasts three to four months. The Zoo's crocodiles begin to breed from mid-to-late October through April, just before females start nesting.  Cuban crocodiles construct mound nests and lay an average of 30 to 40 eggs, though the number of eggs depends upon the size and age of the mother.

They produce such a large number of eggs to compensate for the fact that many hatchlings do not survive to adulthood. This is primarily due to the predation of both eggs and hatchling crocodiles by various reptiles and birds. Cannibalism of young by more mature Cuban crocodiles has also been reported.

The eggs range widely in size but, on average, are 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) long. In the wild, the eggs hatch about 2 1/2 months after they are laid. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings. Between 89.6 and 90.5 degrees Fahrenheit (32 to 32.5 Celsius) produces males.

Lifespan

This species lives for about 50 to 75 years.
American Cheetah

The American Cheetah (*Miracinonyx trumani* and *Miracinonyx inexpectatus*) actually comprised two very different species. These species were predators that lived in the Pleistocene era in North America, about 2.6 million to 12,000 years ago. Interestingly, the American cheetah was more closely related to modern pumas and cougars than it was to cheetahs. If, in fact, the American Cheetah turns out not to have been a true cheetah. Scientists attribute this fact to convergent evolution, the tendency for animals in the same ecosystems to evolve the same general features. The two species of the American cheetah seem to have shared some important general characteristics, including a preference for open grasslands and plains of North America, particularly in what is now the western section of North America. Like modern cheetahs, the lithe, long-legged American cheetah hunted by pursuing speedy mammalian megafauna, including deer and prehistoric horses, across the rolling North American plains. However, there's no way to know if this ancient mammal could achieve modern cheetah-like bursts of speed in the 50-mph range, or if its speed limit was set by evolution to a much lower level. *Miracinonyx intrumani* more closely resembled a modern cheetah, and may, indeed, have been capable of hitting top speeds of over 50 mph in pursuit of prey. *Miracinonyx inexpectatus* was built more like a cougar than a cheetah (though it was somewhat slimmer overall), and its fully retractable claws point to a possible arboreal lifestyle—that is, instead of chasing prey over the prairies like *Miracinonyx intrumani*, it may have leaped on them from the low branches of trees, or perhaps scrambled up trees to escape the notice of larger predators.
Sockeye Salmon

Also known as the redfish, red, or blue-black, they are the most important commercial species. Sockeye have long gill rakers as they primary feed on plankton when in the ocean. They have the greatest life history diversity and can spend anywhere from 3 months to 3 years in freshwater. They will spawn near shorelines, the bottom of lakes, or hundreds of miles upstream. Fry of this species rears almost exclusively in lakes. While in the ocean they are greenish blue on top of the head and back, silvery on the sides, and white to silver on the belly. During the spawning phase the head and caudal fin become bright green and the body turns scarlet. Land locked populations of this species are known as kokanee. These fish generally live 2-6 years, are about 21-26in in length, and weigh about 4-7lbs.
Ruddy turnstone

The Ruddy Turnstone is a stocky shorebird named for its habit of flipping over stones, shells, and seaweed with a slightly upturned, wedge-shaped bill. During the breeding season, its bright orange legs and harlequin-like plumage are unmistakable. This eye-catching pattern provides camouflage among the rocks and debris where this bird is most often found.

Life along rocky shorelines requires other adaptations: Ruddy Turnstones have short, powerful legs and a low center of gravity that helps them balance. Slightly spiny feet and short, curved toenails provide added grip on slippery surfaces.

Ruddy Turnstones are long-distance migrants with a worldwide distribution. They're found in at least five different populations on both North American coasts as well as in South America, Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. All North American populations breed in the Arctic and travel and winter in large flocks that may include other shorebirds such as Red Knot, Dunlin, and Semipalmated Sandpiper.
Living with Wolves

For centuries, wolves have been characterized as bloodthirsty beasts, tormentors of ranchers and the bane of helpless livestock. Determined to overcome this misconception, filmmakers Jaime and Jim Dutcher, creators of the Emmy-winning "Wolves at Our Door" spent six years in a tented camp in the wilderness of Idaho, living with a pack of wolves, listening to them and earning their trust.

Join the Dutchers as they share their extraordinary experiences living with the Sawtooth wolf pack. Exclusive footage reveals the innermost details of life in the pack - its unique social structure, how wolf cubs are raised within the group and how these powerful creatures interact with man. Overcoming forest fires, marauding mountain lions and sub-zero winters, the Dutchers and these elusive, intelligent animals share the heartwarming and unique partnership of human and predator.
Killdeer

The Killdeer is the largest of the ringed plovers, and the only plover in its range with a double breast band. Killdeers have brown upperparts, white underparts, and orange rumps. The eyes are dark with a bright red eye ring (see photo below). In flight, the Killdeer's long, slender wings have conspicuous white wing stripes. Both sexes have the same type of plumage, but the male is larger than the female. The Killdeer is our most common breeding shorebird. It occurs in a number of unforested habitats, including swales and coulees in sagebrush, farmland, grasslands, city park playing fields, residential lawns, gravel parking lots, and gravel roofs. The basic requirements for foraging are a sandy/gravelly substrate, and nearby wet or muddy areas.  Killdeers feed mainly on ground invertebrates such as earthworms, beetles, grasshoppers, and snails. They occasionally eat seeds and small vertebrates. They require a sandy or gravelly substrate for nesting near a wet or muddy area where they can forage. Although many species of birds pretend to have a broken wing to lure predators from their nest, the Killdeer is the one most commonly seen performing this distraction display.

The broken-wing act used to lead predators from the nest would not keep a cow or horse from stepping on the eggs. To guard against large hoofed animals, the Killdeer uses a quite different display, fluffing itself up, displaying its tail over its head, and running at the beast to attempt to make it change its path.
Mallard Duck

The green head and yellow bill of the mallard duck is a familiar sight to many people living in the Northern hemisphere. In fact, the mallard is thought to be the most abundant and wide-ranging duck on Earth. Mallards prefer calm, shallow sanctuaries, but can be found in almost any body of freshwater across Asia, Europe, and North America. They’re also found in saltwater and brackish water and are commonly found in wetlands. The male, or drake, is the more distinctively colored of the mallards. Its iconic green head sits atop a white neckband that sets off a chestnut-colored chest and gray body. Females are mottled drab brown in color, but sport iridescent purple-blue wing feathers that are visible as a patch on their sides. They grow to about 26 inches in length and can weigh up to 3 pounds. Mallard groups can often be seen head dipping or completely upending in the water. They rarely dive though, spending their time near the surface and dabbling for invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and a variety of plants. They also graze on land, feeding on grains and plants.

Mated pairs migrate to and breed in the northern parts of their range and build nests on the ground or in a protected cavity. They normally lay about a dozen eggs, and the incubation period lasts just under a month. Mallards are territorial during much of this period, but once incubation is well underway, males abandon the nest and join a flock of other males.

Most mallard species are common and not considered threatened. However one threat to their populations includes hybridization with other ducks.
Mute Swan

The exotic Mute Swan is the elegant bird of Russian ballets and European fairy tales. This swan swims with its long neck curved into an S and often holds its wings raised slightly above its back. Although they’re numerous and familiar in city parks and in bays and lakes in the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes, Northeast, and Midatlantic, Mute Swans are not native to North America. Their aggressive behavior and voracious appetites often disturb local ecosystems, displace native species, and even pose a hazard to humans. Mute Swans are entirely white with a bill that is orange with a black base. Young swans (cygnets) may be dusky brown-gray all over, with a gray-black bill. Mute Swans spend most of their time floating on the water. They feed by grazing on underwater vegetation in shallow water, tipping up their bodies if necessary. These aggressive birds often hold their wings half-raised in a display as they swim toward an intruder.
Alaskacephale

The first pachycepahlosaurid dinosaur known from Alaska,‭ *‬Alaskacephale* is also one of the few dinosaurs known to have lived in the area that would become that state.‭ ‬Unfortunately not a lot is known about this dinosaur because of a current sever lack of remains,‭ ‬but the original describers believe that *Alaskacephale* may have been roughly the same size as the better preserved *Prenocephale*.

      The holotype specimen of *Alaskacephale* was first described by Gangloff,‭ ‬Fiorillo and Norton in‭ ‬2005,‭ ‬but it was not established as a genus until it was re-described by Sullivan in‭ ‬2006.‭ ‬The genus name is in reference to the state of Alaska and the fact that it is a pachycephalosaurid dinosaur.‭ ‬The type species name is in honour of R.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Gangloffi,‭ ‬one of the original describers.
Coati

### Food

beetles, grubs, ants and termites, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, frogs, lizards

### Weight

Length: almost 20 inches (50 centimeters); tail 11 inches (30 centimeters)Weight: 2.2 – 3.3 pounds (1 – 1.5 kilograms)

### Life Span

7 years in the wilderness

The coati is an agile, fruit-loving, meat-eating insectivore—an opportunistic omnivore—that is as at home in the trees as it is snuffling along the forest floor. Weighing as much as a large housecat, these mostly diurnal mammals are native to Central and South America, and parts of the southwestern US. Visually, the coati resembles a cross between a dog, a monkey, and a raccoon. It is related to the racoon.

Wherever they live, coatis play an important mid-level role in food chains. They consume a wide range of insects, invertebrates, and plant matter (fruit, nuts, roots, leaves), and small vertebrates. They are prey for wildlife like jaguars, ocelots, jaguarundis, foxes, boas, birds of prey, and even humans. Being mid-food chain has its perks…and its downside.

With its tail up posture, long, mobile snout, and formidable front claws, the coati sniffs along the forest floor in search beetles, grubs, ants and termites, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, frogs, lizards, and other assorted prey. Its long, muscular, semi-prehensile tail helps it balance in the trees; on the ground its tail usually stands straight up, perhaps helping them keep track of each other in the vegetation.
Pachycephalosaurus

Once again one of the most famous dinosaurs of all time is actually‭ ‬represented by some of the most incomplete fossil material.‭ ‬To date *Pachycephalosaurus* is only represented by skull material‭; ‬the actual appearance of the body so often seen in restorations is actually based upon the common form seen in more complete relatives.‭ ‬Although it may seem strange that a dinosaur genus based upon such few remains should become so popular,‭ ‬there are other very famous genera that are also based upon largely incomplete remains,‭ ‬with *Ankylosaurus* and *Spinosaurus* being just two such examples.
Wolverine

The Wolverine is a powerful animal that resembles a small bear but is actually the largest member of the weasel family. These tough animals are solitary, and they need a lot of room to roam.

### Food

rabbits and rodents, carcasses of reindeer and moose

### Range

North Cascades Range in Washington; the Northern Rockies of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming; and a small portion of Oregon (Wallowa Range). The wolverine also resides in Alaska, Canada, and Russia.

### Conservation Status

Endangered

Individual wolverines may travel 15 miles in a day in search of food. Because of these habitat requirements, wolverines frequent remote boreal forests, taiga, and tundra in the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and North America. Wolverines eat a bit of vegetarian fare, like plants and berries, in the summer season, but this does not make up a major part of their diet—they are tenacious predators with a taste for meat. Wolverines easily dispatch smaller prey, such as rabbits and rodents, but may even attack animals many times their size, such as caribou, if the prey appears to be weak or injured. These opportunistic eaters also feed on carrion—the corpses of larger mammals, such as elk, deer, and caribou. Such finds sustain them in winter when other prey may be thinner on the ground, though they have also been known to dig into burrows and eat hibernating mammals. Males scent-mark their territories, but they share them with several females and are believed to be polygamous. Females den in the snow or under similar cover to give birth to two or three young each late winter or early spring. Kits sometimes live with their mother until they reach their own reproductive age—about two years old. Wolverines sport heavy, attractive fur that once made them a prime trapper's target in North America. Their fur was used to line parkas, though this practice is far less common today and the animals are protected in many areas.

Wolverine with Reindeer KillWolverine Growling
Wood Turtle

Wood turtles are a species of special concern in West Virginia. Wood turtles have several distinguishing characteristics that make identifying them in the field rather simple. The carapace (top shell) has a central keel running down the middle of the vertebral scutes, and ranges in color from brown to olive green.

Each scute has several raised ridges forming concentric circles called annuli. The skin along the front and back legs and first third of the neck ranges in color from orange to red, and gradually changes from these colors to brown to black along the rest of the body. Males and females are sexually dimorphic, which means they look different. Wood turtles are semi-aquatic, and prefer marshes habitats, riparian, wet meadows, and forest edges. Individual home range size ranges from seven to nine acres for females and ten to twelve acres for males.

Several studies on wood turtle movements indicate that most wood turtle home ranges are never more than 500 yards from streams, making these habitats crucial for maintaining robust populations. Hibernation occurs in stream beds three feet underground. Within these habitats wood turtles reach population levels of six to ten turtles for every 10 acres of land. Wood turtles are omnivores, and have been documented to feed on berries, mushrooms, wild flowers, carrion, fish and worms. When feeding on worms some wood turtle populations perform a specific feeding behavior called “worm stomping.”

When a sizeable worm population is identified by the turtle, they stomp the ground with their front feet in a rhythmic fashion. The vibration produced by stomping causes worms to rise to the surface at which point the turtle eats them. Wood turtles usually have a preferred feeding ground within their territories that they use for foraging more than other areas within their home range.Although the peaks in mating activity occur in the spring and fall, Wood Turtles are known to mate opportunistically throughout their activity period. Males have been observed exhibiting aggressive behavior such as chasing, biting, and butting both during the mating season and at other times. Before they actually touch noses, they lower their heads, and swing them from side to side.

Courting adults may produce a very subdued whistle that is rarely heard by researchers. A female may mate with multiple turtles over the course of the courting season. Hatchling and juvenile survival is very low and the time to sexual maturity is long. These characteristics are compensated by adults living a long time and reproducing for many years.
Muskrat

Muskrats are large rodents and therefore are related to rats, mice, voles, gerbils, hamsters, and lemmings. These aquatic animals look a lot like their relatives. They are quite round, with short legs and almost invisible ears. Muskrats are around the size of large rats. They grow from 16 to 25 inches (41 to 63.5 centimeters) long and weigh around 1.5 to 4 lbs. (0.7 to 2 kilograms). Their tails add another 7 to 11 inches (18 to 28 cm) to their length, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. The muskrat is native to North America. In the early 20th century, though, the animal was introduced to northern Eurasia, according to the Animal Diversity Web (ADW). They are now found in Ukraine, Russia, adjacent areas of China and Mongolia and the Honshu Island in Japan. Muskrats like wetter areas with at least 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) of water. They typically make their homes in marshes, swamps, and wetlands. They particularly like marshes.

Hot, dry weather is bad for muskrats, which is why they prefer wet areas and cool burrows dug on the banks of water sources. They even have a special mechanism, called regional heterothermia. Regional heterothermia regulates the flow of blood to the feet and tail. This keeps them cooler than the body's core.

In addition to burrows, muskrats also build lodges out of cattails and other vegetation. These lodges can sometimes clog up waterways, making them a nuisance to humans. Muskrats are very social and live in large, territorial families, according to the ADW. They communicate with others and mark their territory with a secretion from their glands called musk. The scent serves as a warning to intruders.

Muskrats are considered nocturnal, though they are sometimes active during the day. Their most active times are late afternoon and right after dusk. Muskrats aren't picky. In fact, they will even resort to cannibalism in their own family, according to the ADW. Mostly though, they tend to prefer vegetation like cattails, waterlilies, roots, and pondweed. They also eat snails, mussels, salamanders, crustaceans, fish and young birds.

These small animals are very big eaters. Muskrats eat one-third of their weight every day, according to the ADW. Though they need a large supply of food, muskrats usually don't travel any farther than 150 feet (46 meters) away from their homes. Muskrats make their nests on tree stumps sticking out of 15 to 40 inches (38 to 102 cm) of water using vegetation. Females have a gestation period of three to four weeks and give birth to three to eight young, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. They can have up to three litters each year.

Baby muskrats are called kits. At 30 days old, kits can swim, dive and feed themselves. Kits are fully grown at six weeks and typically stay with their family unless there is overcrowding. In this case, the mother will often kick the young out of the group.

These creatures can live around three years in the wild and up to 10 years in captivity.