Too Close for Comfort

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Too Close for Comfort

• A Project Wild Activity

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Sometimes wildlife seems to want to say, Dont
get too close!
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When crowding occurs, many animals react with
bizarre, aggressive, or disordered behavior.
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If some animals are too crowded, they may develop
skin diseases like mange.
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Animals are often threatened when they are
crowded by humans, even though the humans may
mean no harm and may just want to look at the
animals.
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Animals may display their discomfort by fleeing,
grinding their teeth, coiling, hissing, stomping
their feet, snarling, or coughing.Can you think
of animals that use these warning signs?
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Some birds are so disturbed by the presence of
people that they become stressed and will lay
fewer eggs, abandon their nests, or leave young
birds to fend for themselves.
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Animals reactions to threats can be grouped into
three main groups. To protect themselves,
animals will take flight, fool, orfight!
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You can keep yourself safe if you keep predators
from getting too close. That's the idea behind
animals that try to escape danger. These animals
have super senses--they can see, hear, smell,
even feel danger approaching. They depend on
speed or the ability to go where predators can't
follow them.
TAKING FLIGHTThe one that got away
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Animals have lots of tricks for dealing with
danger. From confusing colors to baffling
behavior, these tricks fool enemies into passing
an animal by or leaving it alone.
FOOLING The Great Pretenders
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FIGHTING Dont Mess With Me!
Animals may have specially designed body parts
that serve as fighting tools, or weapons.
Sometimes, these weapons don't go into action
until an animal is forced to fight back. Other
times, these weapons are mainly used by predators
for attacking, but are also handy for protection.
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Look at the following pictures and try to decide
which group these animals fit into. (Click on
the picture to check your answer.)
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http//www2.worldbook.com/features/reptiles/html/l
ive_protect.html
Horned Lizard (Southern American Desert) This is
one of the grossest creatures around. When the
Horned Lizard gets really scared, it shoots blood
out of its eyes by increasing the blood pressure
in its sinuses until they explode. Ouch. The
blood doesn't hurt the lizard's enemy but it
really freaks them out, so the Horned Lizard has
time to escape.
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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Fight!
http//www2.worldbook.com/features/reptiles/html/l
ive_protect.html
Horned Lizard (Southern American Desert) This is
one of the grossest creatures around. When the
Horned Lizard gets really scared, it shoots blood
out of its eyes by increasing the blood pressure
in its sinuses until they explode. Ouch. The
blood doesn't hurt the lizard's enemy but it
really freaks them out, so the Horned Lizard has
time to escape.
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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http//www.iws.org/spotted_skunk_santa_cruz_island
.htm
Skunk (North America, Europe) Everybody knows
skunks use their gross smell to scare away
enemies but not too many peeps know how they do
it. A skunk has two glands just behind its tail
that make the foul-smelling spray. The smelly
stuff is shot out of two tubes near its tail. It
can aim the spray by twisting the tubes in all
directions. The skunk's spray can shoot more than
10 feet. If you get hit in the face with the
stinky stuff, it can cause temporary blindness
and vomiting. How gross is that? Spotted skunks
get funky before they spray. Before spraying
their enemy, they do a handstand and wave their
back feet around as a warning... or, maybe
they're just showing off!
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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Fight!
http//www.iws.org/spotted_skunk_santa_cruz_island
.htm
Skunk (North America, Europe) Everybody knows
skunks use their gross smell to scare away
enemies but not too many peeps know how they do
it. A skunk has two glands just behind its tail
that make the foul-smelling spray. The smelly
stuff is shot out of two tubes near its tail. It
can aim the spray by twisting the tubes in all
directions. The skunk's spray can shoot more than
10 feet. If you get hit in the face with the
stinky stuff, it can cause temporary blindness
and vomiting. How gross is that? Spotted skunks
get funky before they spray. Before spraying
their enemy, they do a handstand and wave their
back feet around as a warning... or, maybe
they're just showing off!
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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http//www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/htmsl/h0860pi.jpg
Fulmar (Europe, North America) If there were
awards for the most disgusting animal, the Fulmar
would probably win big. The Fulmar looks like a
seagull and its name means "foul-gull." These
icky birds defend themselves by projectile
vomiting at their would-be attackers. They can
hurl up to five feet at other birds that attack
them. The puke isn't just disgusting, it's also
acidic, so it can eat through the weatherproof
coating on the enemy bird's feathers. Eeeewww!
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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Fight and take flight!
http//www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/htmsl/h0860pi.jpg
Fulmar (Europe, North America) If there were
awards for the most disgusting animal, the Fulmar
would probably win big. The Fulmar looks like a
seagull and its name means "foul-gull." These
icky birds defend themselves by projectile
vomiting at their would-be attackers. They can
hurl up to five feet at other birds that attack
them. The puke isn't just disgusting, it's also
acidic, so it can eat through the weatherproof
coating on the enemy bird's feathers. Eeeewww!
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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http//www.junglexotics.com/spiders.htm
Tarantula (U.S.A., South America) Most people
know they shouldn't touch a wild Tarantula but
it's probably not a good idea to get too close to
them either. When a Tarantula feels threatened it
uses its feet to grab hairs from its back and
then throws them at its opponent. They are
barbed, kind of like fishhooks, so they're hard
to get rid of and they really sting when they get
in the attacker's eyes. Ouch. Tarantulas need
this kind of protection because they're pretty
vulnerable. If a Tarantula falls it'll shatter
and die.
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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Fight!
http//www.junglexotics.com/spiders.htm
Tarantula (U.S.A., South America) Most people
know they shouldn't touch a wild Tarantula but
it's probably not a good idea to get too close to
them either. When a Tarantula feels threatened it
uses its feet to grab hairs from its back and
then throws them at its opponent. They are
barbed, kind of like fishhooks, so they're hard
to get rid of and they really sting when they get
in the attacker's eyes. Ouch. Tarantulas need
this kind of protection because they're pretty
vulnerable. If a Tarantula falls it'll shatter
and die.
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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http//www.ms-starship.com/sciencenew/symbiosis.ht
m
Mimic Octopus (Ocean near Indonesia) The Mimic
Octopus is the real master of disguise. It can
shape-shift into scarier creatures so predators
don't eat it. The Mimic Octopus can change its
color and shape to imitate a venomous Lionfish, a
Mantis Shrimp, a mass of deadly Sea Snakes or a
bunch of other sea animals.
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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Fool!
http//www.ms-starship.com/sciencenew/symbiosis.ht
m
Mimic Octopus (Ocean near Indonesia) The Mimic
Octopus is the real master of disguise. It can
shape-shift into scarier creatures so predators
don't eat it. The Mimic Octopus can change its
color and shape to imitate a venomous Lionfish, a
Mantis Shrimp, a mass of deadly Sea Snakes or a
bunch of other sea animals.
Adapted from http//www.kidzworld.com/site/p3197.h
tm
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Think about it . . .

• Why is it important to minimize such disturbances
  for domesticated animals, like pets, dairy cows,
  and pet birds?
• Describe negative results of crowding for humans.
  
• Think of several special conditions or times or
  year when wildlife are more sensitive to
  intrusion.

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