The last two days were my off-days. But I caught an interesting tibbet while the younger sibs were watching Wonderpets... camels make an "rrrrrrr" noise. I wouldn't say a growl, but "rrrrrrr" is the closest I can come to describing it. I also saw a cartoon version of a certain squid... I believe a king squid, but I'm not sure. What I found interesting there was the fact that the tentacles were on the top of the squid's head, not the bottom.
Today, I read a book on today's topic... Cheetahs!
Cheetahs
Cheetahs are another big cat, one that lives in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa. They're smaller than some big cats, but definitely the fastest. Their top speed of 70 miles per hour could zoom past a car! They can only sprint for short times, however... after about a minute, they're too tired to run. Prey can be lost this way. They eat small-medium prey, using their sharp eyesight to find that prey, even when it's 3 miles off! They usually go after prey, or look for prey, that can't run away as easily. Since they must rest after sprinting, they usually drag their prey to a hiding spot once they're done killing, and rest for 20 minutes to a half-hour. Once they're rested, they eat as fast as possible. Cheetahs can't defend themselves well, so if enemies come, they usually back off. If this happens with prey, the enemy usually ends up with what used to be the cheetah's planned lunch.
Now, there are some stuff that is shared with other cats. The fact that they're endangered, for example. And all the reasons are the same... habitat loss, killing by ranchers, illegal hunting for furs. And the fact that cubs are born about 3 months after mating, or that males and females get together only for breeding time.
But they're more different from other cats than one might think. They hunt during the day, usually morning and early evening, when the mid-day sun is not overcooking everything. They have cool "Tear lines" on their faces that scientists think help cheetahs deal with the sun. Cubs have "Mohawks" and gray fur for a couple months, which scientists think make them look like a creature called a honey badger (not to be dealed with), while camouflaging. And cheetahs are not solitary! Yeah, I know... NOT! There's a big split when the cubs are 18 months, but there's some sticking together. The same genders usually stick together (cubs hang with the females), and the male groups are usually brothers, though not always.
Cheetahs are hunters, with their sprints, but unlike all other big cats I've studied so far, they're not the top of the food chain. Lions and hyenas prey on these cats. And, like always, the cubs are at danger. Momma is continually moving and hiding the cubs to protect them. (The growing up of cubs is like usual, so I'm getting bored. Summarized: milk, eat meat from Momma, go on hunts, trained, then leaving or kicked off).
Cheetahs also don't have retractable claws. Their dog-like paws once had people thinking that cheetahs were part-cat, part-dog. Cheetahs have been used in hunts and their hunting techniques have been a show for centuries.
While we're talking about people, people are trying to help the cheetah (ranchers make their ranches reserves or try to just drive away cheetahs instead of killing), but it's not easy. Breeding cheetahs in zoos is not easy, and they only live 7-10 years in the wild. They're in big trouble!
Extra
Not on the animal topic, but something very interesting anyway. On a cool show called How It's Made, I saw how factories make wine. It was very cool.
We all know that wine comes from grapes. Yeast helps turn sugar into alcohol in a process called fermentation. Different wines have different fermentation times, red wine taking only 10 days, and white wines and a half-red-half-white wine taking even longer. The red wine is allowed contact with air to help speed up the fermentation process (apparently, oxygen helps the yeast with fermentation!). Everything is used in making red wines... all parts of the grape! Any pieces are filtered out later on. White wine only uses grape juice.
And, apparently, light affects wine tastes as well... that's why wine comes in colored bottles (interesting!). Extra oxygen also messes things up, so the seals are airtight... and, another cool fact, corks (made of wood bark) have been used to seal wine bottles for a long time! Neat! We all know that wine tastes different with times, apparently caused by "organic changes" (to quote the show).
Wine factories are experimenting all the time with different processes to try and get better wines. We saw a quick example of this. And, during the fermentation, tests must be done to measure sugar and alcohol content. Certain wines need certain alcohol amounts, though usually all have to have no sugar.
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