Writers’ Paradise

Cats have their own daily routine and favorite activities. You can learn a lot about the behavior of your your cat by watching it go about its business.
Work, rest and play: Cats enjoy their sleep- they doze in cosy places for much of the day. In the wild they are mostly active at night. Pet cats too, are often up and about during the night. This is usually when they wander around to inspect and protect their home territory. They may be aggressive towards other cats that come near, hissing and spitting to warn them off.
Curious cats: Cats always like to know what is going on around them. they love to perch somewhere with a good view, such as a windowsill, chair or the roof of a parked car. Many cats sit for hours in front of TV! Even when a cat appears to be dozing, it is actually alert and stays aware of its surroundings. Its sharp senses mean it can detect the slightest sound or movement and is ready to wake up in an instant.
Cat talk: The most common cat sounds are purring and miaowing. Purring is usually a sign that the cat is happy,but sometimes cats purr if they are afraid or in pain. Miaowing is a more demanding noise- your cat might miaow when its hungry or just wants attention. Hissing and growling are sounds of anger or fear.
I have written a post on cats in history on my another blog, which is here.

Before you bring your new pet rabbit home, you need to make sure you have everything they will need. The most important thing they need are somewhere to live and somewhere to exercise.
Hutch : Most people keep their rabbit in a wooden hutch. An outdoor hutch has legs to keep it off damp ground and a sloping roof so rain runs off it. Place it somewhere out of strong wind, rain and sun, and safe from other animals. Move hutch to a sheltered place in cold weather. Rabbit hutches two parts. One side has a solid wooden door to stop draughts and to make a private area. The other side has a wire mesh front to let in fresh air. It also lets the rabbits see out.

Flooring and bedding: Before you put your rabbit in to the hutch, line the floor with newspaper and cover that with wood shavings. It is comfortable and soaks urine too. Then put hay or shredded paper into the sleeping side of the hutch. Your rabbit will use this to make itself a bed! Do not use straw for the bedding. Straw has sharp edges that can injure a rabbit’s eyes. Don’t use cedar wood shavings because they can harm your rabbit. If you have a long haired rabbit, do not use wood shavings on the floor. Shavings get tangled in the rabbit’s fur and cause knots.

Wire and plastic cages: Some people keep their rabbits indoors. Indoor rabbits need a cage to sleep and rest in, where they can feel safe and hidden. Indoor rabbit cages usually have a deep plastic or metal base and a hard wire top. They are light-weight and easy to clean. Choose as large a cage as possible and add flooring just as you would for an outdoor hutch. Put hay bedding in a wooden or cardboard box for the rabbit to sleep in.
Put your rabbit cage somewhere out of sun, away from draughts or heaters, and out of reach of any other pets you have.

Litter trays: When your rabbits are playing in your house, you need to give them a litter tray to be their toilet. Most rabbits are very clean animals and you can easily train then to use a plastic litter tray.
Put the tray in a quiet spot and line it with newspaper covered with hay or pet litter. Don’t use cat litter, because it is bad for rabbits.

Outdoor Runs: Rabbits are lively animals that need several hours of exercise every day. Rabbits like to exercise outdoors in the fresh air. Runs or pens keep rabbits safe outside. You can buy one or make your own, but make sure you get a run that is large and has four sides, a roof, and a floor. The roof stops your rabbits jumping out and tops other animals from getting in. A wire mesh floor prevent them from digging their way out. Many runs have a covered end where the rabbit can hide from bad weather. If yours doesn’t, you must put the run somewhere under shelter or fix up a cover over one end.

To avoid danger, animals often do their best to keep out of sight. During breeding season, however, they need to draw attention to themselves so they can attract a mate. Some animals do this by calling or singing or even changing color. Here is a list of interesting facts about animals and birds and their mating behavior.

A male fiddler crab waves one giant, colorful claw. This claw is as long as the fiddler crab’s body. When the male waves, female crab comes scuttling across the mud.

Male bowerbirds have amazing building skills. To attract females, each male collects hundreds of small sticks and make a structure called a bower. The male then decorates the bower with bright objects, and waits for his work to catch a female’s eyes. Satin bowerbirds, from Australia, alway use blue in their color scheme. The male collects blue flowers, blue feathers, and even blue bottle tops to spread out on the ground.

Apoils lizards attract females by lowering a throat flap, which looks like a brightly colored flag.

Male and female frigate birds look almost identical as they circle high above the sea. But during the breeding season, the males have a startling way of catching a female’s eye. Perched in a bush near the water’s edge, they puff up a throat pouch that look like a bright red balloon. Each male keeps his pouch inflated until he has successfully attracted a mate.

Many fish use camouflage, but the leafy seadragon has a clever disguise. Its body is covered with leaf-like flap,making it look like a piece of drifting weed. These seadragons live off the coast of southern Australia, close to seaweed-covered rocks.
-Butterfly like a leaf: Dead leaves often lie on the ground, so we hardly give them a second look. But in some places, they are not what they seem. The Indian butterfly, from Southern Asia, mimics dead leaves to avoid being seen. Lots of other insects including moths and leaf insects use the same kind of disguise.
-Imitation of snake: Most animals are frightened of snakes, even if they have never seen one. An elephant hawkmoth caterpillar uses this fear to protect itself. It has bright spots on the back of its head, which look like a pair of eyes. If the caterpillars are threatened by a bird, they pull in their heads, and then hunch into a snake like shape. Its a trick that can save a caterpillar’s life.
-Playing dead: Do animals ever play dead? Yes, they do-and it sometimes saves their lives. One of the greatest experts is the Virginia opossum, a marsupial from North America. If it is cornered by a predator, it curls up with its eyes half-open, just as if it has died of fright. Many predators hunt only living animals, so if the opossum plays dead, its enemy will lose interest and move on. When the coast is clear, the opossum miraculously comes back to life.
-Some spiders look like ants, and move in the same jerky way. Ants can bite and sting, so birds and lizards are tricked into leaving them alone.
-The devil’s coach horse beetle pretends to have a sting. It curls up its tail just like a scorpion.
-Hairstreak butterflies may have false heads on their hindwings. The false head draws birds away from the real head.
-For moths, looking like a wasp is a great way of keeping out of trouble. Dressed up in black and yellow stripes, and with two pairs of see-though wings, they look almost like the real thing. Birds-and most humans too-are fooled into thinking that they can sting. Copying wasps is a very common trick in the animal world. Thousands of specie of small animals, including flies and spiders, use it as a way to stay safe.

With so many hunters on the prowl, most animals need ways to get out of the trouble. Lots of them escape as fast as they can, using their legs, wings, or fins.
Disguise as Thorns: Lined up on a twig, treehoppers are not easy to see. They have a special trick for survival- they look exactly like thorns. Behind their heads they have a hard shield, which stretches up in a thorn-shaped spike. Treehoppers use their camouflage to protect themselves from hungry birds.Hares have only one way of protecting themselves- they run as fast as they can. They have extremely good eyesight, which means that they can start running when a predator is still a long way off. Instead of running in a straight line, hares zigzag their way across open countryside. This unusual technique makes it even harder for another animal to catch them.
Skunks don’t always take flight. If anything threatens them, they arch their backs and lift their tails to look threatening. If that doesn’t work, they squirt a horrible-smelling fluid from the base of their tails. The stink lasts for days, and the fluid can cause blindness if it an animal’s eyes.
Octopus injects a liquid that looks like ink. The octopus mixes ink with water, and then squirts it out in a powerful jet. The force of the jet pushes the octopus backwards, and out of the harm’s way. Meanwhile, the predator is engulfed by the inky cloud.
There is nowhere to hide from danger near the surface of sea. For flying fish, this is not a problem. If something chases them, they burst upwards through the surface, and then glide through the air on their outstretched fin. They speed through the air for up to 400 meters, leaving any predator behind.
Camouflage or disguise for defense: Lot of animals have patterns and colors that make them difficult to be seen. Most use their camouflage to hide from predators.
Animal Dropping Camouflage: Its hard to imagine anyone wanting to eat a bird a bird dropping. That’s why some spiders and caterpillars use bird dropping as a disguise. They have grey and white bodies, and sit out on leaves- exactly where bird dropping might land. To make their disguise convincing, they form a shape like a blob. Spiders pull in their legs while caterpillars curl up.