Learning the nature of his native land-Honeyeater

9 января 2020

The Indian honey badger, or bald badger (Mellivora capensis) is a small predator of the family of Martens, which is the only representative of its genus. The name of this animal was due to the fact that he likes to eat honey, however, raids on colonies of wild bees, he makes quite rare and eats mostly different animals. Honey badger lives in Africa and Asia. In Africa, it is found almost everywhere, from the Arabian Peninsula to Central Asia, as well as to India and Nepal.

Honeyeaters live in a variety of climatic zones, including steppes, forests and mountainous areas, avoiding only too hot or humid regions such as deserts or rainforests. Until the 80s of the last century, it was believed that the honey badger in the former Soviet Union lives only in Turkmenistan. For the first time in Kazakhstan honeyeater was discovered by zoologist Corinthian. In March 1987, his colleague Plakhov observed a honey badger on the territory of the Ustyurt reserve. The animal was found in a shallow freshly dug hole in a state of short-term hibernation, into which he fell due to the onset of cold weather. Worried honey badger were aggressive and with a dull roar rushed to the people. In the same year, another meeting with the honey badger was recorded in another place. This indicates that the beast in the region, although very rare, but lives there permanently.

Honeyeater is included in the teriofauna of our country and is listed in the Red book of Kazakhstan. The Kazakhs inhabiting Mangistau have a belief-if a boy meets a honey badger, he will grow up a brave and successful person.

Appearance
Adult honeyeater weighs an average of 8-16 kg with a body length of 60-77 cm (this is not counting the 25-centimeter tail). Outwardly, it resembles a badger with its elongated body and short muscular legs. However muzzle have honeyeater, unlike badger, obtuse, ear sinks there is no, on front paws there are 4-5-centimeter curved bears, and skin very elastic and thick - on neck she reaches thickness 6 mm.

Coloring have this predator contrast: the entire the lower part of bodies, including limbs, covered with black brilliant coat, and upper part of heads, back and flanks have greyish-white coloring. Between your fingers the honey badger has a little webbed, and the soles of the paws had a flat and hairless. The paws themselves are large, elongated, and the fingers, especially on the front paws, where the maximum length of the claws, look slightly apart from each other. The head of the beast is large, with a wide and rather flattened skull, but it narrows sharply to the nose. The face looks much shorter and blunt on the end. RATEL's eyes are dark and smallish, so that sometimes it is difficult to see them against the background of coal-black hair of the animal.

Behavior and nutrition

For housing, the honey badger digs a hole from 1 to 3 meters long, which ends in a small chamber without any litter. Thanks to powerful paws he can dig itself asylum literally for 10 minutes. Sometimes the honey badger occupies the burrows of other animals, and also uses as housing the crevices of rocks and even the hollows of trees. In their territory honeyeaters usually have on several burrows, and so as for clock they pass big distances, then almost never spend the night in one and the same place two nights consecutive. These animals are active mainly at twilight or at night, but during cool weather they can be seen during the day.

Honeyeaters are known as surprisingly fearless and sometimes aggressive animals. Their thick skin, powerful jaws and clawed paws serve as effective weapons of defense against enemies. For honeyeaters characterized by a very unusual reaction to the bites of poisonous snakes, looking like convulsions and death-with 20-40 minutes the animal comes to life and returns to normal life. In addition, the animal, like a skunk, has glands that emit a fetid smell. In the case when the honey badger is in danger, he can attack even in animals greatly exceeding it in size.

This predator eats absolutely any animal food, ranging from turtles, poisonous and non-poisonous snakes and small crocodiles and ending with various insects (locusts, termites), spiders and Scorpions. The honeyeater's diet also includes various rodents, the young of larger species such as foxes or antelopes, birds and their eggs, as well as amphibians and carrion. Occasionally the honey badger eats berries and fruits. In search of food it moves on the ground, but occasionally climbs on trees, especially when he wants to get to the honey. The honey badger has a very fine nose, which helps to find even hidden underground prey, which the animal quickly digs up. With a rare appetite, he pounces on anything that is good for food, and attacks any animal he can handle. Prey honeyeater become snakes (even poisonous Mamba), lizards, birds, small animals, fish, frogs, turtles, Scorpions and insects. In addition to the diet are bird eggs, fruits, roots and buds. With equal agility honeyeater hunts on the ground and trees, climbs into the burrows of meerkats, rats, voles, ground squirrels; finding the owner in the hole, he immediately kills him and devours on the spot. In search of his favorite treat honey badger is often assisted by a honey guide bird, which has learned to cause the bee nests of animals and people. With long and sharp claws the beast tears up the nest, and the thick wool and thick skin protect it from the bites of angry insects. After the honey badger is satisfied, the honey badger starts the meal, which gets wax and bee larvae.

Most of the year honeyeaters lead a secluded lifestyle. The female honey badger tolerates the presence of a male on her territory only during estrus. The courtship ritual is fleeting and rather crude. After mating, which usually takes place in the burrow, the fertilized female drives the partner away. The gestation period lasts 6-7 months. Shortly before childbirth, the female prepares a den in which one to three cubs are born. The first time mother feeds toddlers milk, only only briefly leaving their without supervision, to than any refreshment, and when those will grow up, dedicates hunting all more time. The greatest danger lies in wait for the offspring during the first exits from the burrow. If the mother does not have time to run to help, small honeyeaters can become victims of predators, including their adult relatives. At about 18 months, the cubs reach sexual maturity - and, expelled by the mother, go in search of their own plots. Their life expectancy in nature is still unknown, in captivity - about 25 years.

Enemies

The main natural enemies of the honey badger — wolves and wild dogs. Lions usually avoid clashes with the honey badger, but some of them can hunt the RATEL, though very rarely. Most often, this make expelled from the pride lands or wounded animals, driven by hunger until despair. Honey badger selflessly fighting for his life, he almost does not feel pain from bites, as he has a fairly thick skin and a large fat layer. But the animal itself can cause very serious injuries to the teeth and claws of the animal, which will take it into his head to attack him.

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