J A G U A R
Pound for pound the strongest cat bite anywhere;
strong enough to crush a skull, crack open a turtle's
shell and ripe through an alligator's hide. The jaguar
is the true apex predator of the Amazon and all of
South America.
The jaguar is solitary and fiercely possessive of its home
range. Unlike most cats the jaguar is an exceptional
swimmer. Much of its diet comes from the water -
fish, turtle and the Black Caiman - a Florida-like alligator,
only larger and more powerful.
Jaguar vs. Black Caiman.
A cage match to see who's for dinner.
S L O T H
Slow motion living is more than a lifestyle.
It's a science. If you have a lower metabolic rate
than this animal, you're hibernating. The sloth
lives on an exceptionally nutrient poor diet of leaves
that are tough, difficult to breakdown. Their food
requires a complex, multichambered stomach.
Even then, it takes up to a month to fully digest
a single meal. The animal's energy is budgeted
only for necessities, like breathing. Ruthless
economizing is the only way the sloth makes
a living where no other mammal can.
The silver lining in having such sluggish digestion
is that your bathroom break is only once a week.
This requires you to climb down from the safety
of the tree to the forest floor, where predators lurk.
The ground is the worst place for a sloth to be.
There is no scamper in its design. Even a snake
would beat it in a race back to the tree.
If attacked, the sloth becomes as feisty as a
butterball, baked and ready to serve.
A N A C O N D A
The python is slightly longer but the anaconda
weighs twice as much. Imagine trying to fight off
a 550 pound snake. The good news is you are
crushed quickly, sparring you the ordeal of slow
suffocation. The anaconda's coiled grip prevents
any blood from reaching the heart or brain.
It's lights out in mere seconds.
Size is no obstacle. The anaconda's mouth
somehow manages to encompass even the
carcass of a dead deer. The trick is in how
long it takes for you to swallow it. You are
indisposed, vulnerable, during this early digestive
process. Woe be the anaconda discovered by a
jaguar in this manner. How delectable.
Fresh deer in a snake meat wrap.
The risk is worth taking. A meal the size of deer
could last the snake seven months, which happens
to be the anaconda's length of pregnancy.
The female's last meal in this instance, may well
have been the male, once insemination was complete.
He would have been a convenient meal packed with
good things. His proteins would produce healthy,
vibrant young ones of his genetics, all born live
and squiggly. Anacondas don't do eggs in a nest.
That birthing strategy requires reliably dry land
and guaranteed protection from thieving predators.
B L U E P O I S O N D A R T F R O G
This amphibian is not much bigger than a canapé
lifted from a cocktail tray. It's finger food served
up in one gulp. And here this animal is, shouting
its presence in technicolor blue, red or yellow.
Most animals this size are cloaked in camouflage.
The Blue Dart stands in your face, daring
to be eaten.
This is no bluff. These brilliant colors promise
quick paralysis and death to anyone eating
these amphibians. It's caused by neurotoxins
contained in the frog's skin glands. The Blue Dart
doesn't make its own poison. Instead, it accumulates
toxic levels of alkaloid compounds that are contained
in its diet of fire ants, termites and the like.
This dietary anecdote is like a vaccine giving
the frog immunity to predation. Now it
freely hops about doing its socializing
in broad daylight with complete peace of mind.
Any predator ignoring the color warning is dead.
Somehow they didn't get the message
or they were color blind.
C A P Y B A R A
World's largest rodent. A giant guinea pig.
Very pleasant disposition. Birds and assorted
other animals have been known to roost on their
backs and head, undisturbed.
They live in groups of up to twenty individuals
most of the year. They practice communal parenting.
Lactating moms will nurse pups not their own.
Their eyes, ears and nostrils all sit on top of their head.
They spend a good deal of time submerged,
out of the view of predators.
Kicking back.
H A R P Y E A G L E
World's most powerful bird of prey.
It maneuvers through the rainforest canopy
at speeds of up to fifty miles an hour, targeting
sloths, monkeys and parrots for prey.
A Harpy can easily carry off an animal equal
to its own weight. That can be seventeen pounds
or more. Its powerful claws come armed with
talons the size of a grizzly bear's - four to five
inches long. Its viselike grip is powerful enough
to splinter any bone.
The Harpy mates for life.
They breed every two or three years.
The Eagle couple has two eggs.
Two are born. One survives.
Parents largely determine which
of the two is more worthy.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
