Black bears often den in drainage coverts or in a nest depression dug in the ground.
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To keep black bears away from your house the PGC makes the following recommendations: Do not feed wildlife. Food placed outside for wildlife, such as corn for squirrels, may attract bears. Reconsider putting squash, pumpkins, corn stalks or other Halloween or holiday decorations outside that also may attract bears.
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The whitetailed deer has no incisor teeth in the front of the upper jaw.
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Before white settlers arrived in Pennsylvania, the eastern elk lived throughout the state.
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The elk is the second largest member of the deer family in North America; only the moose is larger.
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The bobcat's rangy, muscular back legs are longer than its front legs. This gives the animal a high-tailed, bobbing gait when it runs. It is still believed that it’s name came from it’s stubby 6” tail.
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Despite their small size, occasionally bobcats take sick, weak or crippled deer.
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Bald eagles are most readily identified by their white heads and tails, however, they don't attain this characteristic plumage until five years of age. Until that time, they are dark brown with varying amounts of white mottling.
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The bald eagle’s plumage is actually heavier than it’s skeleton.
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Rival male turkeys fight: each grasps the other's head or neck in his bill and tries to shove or pull his foe off balance. The first bird to let go or lose balance gets thrashed with wing and spur. READ MORE
Turkeys hide cleverly, fly an estimated 40-55 mph, cover more than a mile while airborne, swim with ease .... but they usually rely on their feet to escape danger.
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The trumpeter swan is the largest species of native North American waterfowl with adults averaging between 21 and 30 pounds. Some large males have been reported to exceed 35 pounds. Trumpeter swans are spectacular to view in flight with a wingspan approaching eight feet.
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Pennsylvania also is home to another swan: the undesirable, exotic mute swan. Mute swans harass native waterfowl and uproot large quantities of aquatic vegetation that many other species of wildlife depend upon.
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The true eastern peregrine falcon is extinct. A new population was established from captive-bred birds reintroduced by the Peregrine Fund.
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The ring-necked pheasant is an import, but unlike the English sparrow and starling, it hasn't become a pest. In fact, this Asian native has proven to be a fine member of North America's wildlife community.
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The first successful pheasant introduction to North America was a release of about 30 birds in Oregon's Willamette Valley in 1881. Many of America's ringnecks have descended from those 30, hybridizing with other imported strains. The Pennsylvania Game Commission began stocking pheasants in 1915.
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At one time ruffed grouse were not nearly as wary as they are today; reputedly, early settlers killed them with sticks and stones.
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Although the ruffed grouse’s take-off is thunderous and powerful, a grouse cannot fly long distances, usually less than 100 yards. The thunderous noise produced on take off and its unmistakable drumming are believed to be the source of the Native American’s “Thunderbird”.
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A bat consumes up to 25 percent of its weight at a single feeding.
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Bats are no more apt to contract rabies than other warm-blooded animals. (People should not, however, handle bats, especially those found on the ground or in the open during the day.)
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Bivalves such as clams and scallops can escape predation by digging through the soft bottom with their tong-like foot or force water through their shells to form a jet. Scallops can actually scare off some enemies by forcing the water jet directly at its foe.
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http://www.assateague.com/nt-bival.html
The great hammerhead shark takes a great liking to Stingrays. It kills the ray by using its "hammer" to pin the stingray down while it takes bites from the ray's wings.
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The whale shark is a the biggest shark and the biggest fish. It is NOT a whale. It has a huge mouth which can be up to 4 feet (1.4 m) wide.
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After the first year of a male narwhal's life, its left tooth grows outward, spirally. This long, single tooth projects from its upper jaw and can grow to be 7-10 feet (2-3 m) long.
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The sperm whale is a toothed whale that lives in pods. It has a huge brain that weighs about 20 pounds (9 kg); it is the largest brain of any animal.
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The Giant Squid's only enemy is the sperm whale (since man has never seen a living one), who hunts it deep in the ocean. This is evidenced by huge circular scars found on the whale’s large heads.
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Chimpanzees often use tools in the wild. They have been observed using sticks to obtain ants and termites to eat and to scare away intruders. They also use chewed-up leaves like a sponge to sop up water to drink.
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Monotremes are the most primitive mammals. There are three species of monotremes, the duck-billed platypus and two spiny anteaters. These mammals lay eggs; after the babies hatch, the mothers nourish their young with milk. Today, monotremes live only in Australia and New Guinea.
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Marsupials are pouched mammals whose babies are born in a very undeveloped state; the young then attach themselves to their mother's nipple. Many marsupials have a pouch that encloses the young. The opossum is the only one found in Pennsylvania.
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Black Widow Spiders are extremely poisonous arachnids. Their venom is 15 times as poisonous as the venom of the prairie rattlesnake.
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The biggest insect that ever lived was the ancient dragonfly called Meganeura. This predatory flying insect lived about 250 million years ago and had a wingspan of about 2 feet.
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Harpy Eagles have curved talons up to 5 inches long, as long as the claws of a grizzly bear.
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Grizzly bears have dense fur close to the skin and long, coarse guard hairs that become silver tipped as the bears age, giving them a grizzled appearance (and their name).
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The Komodo Dragon has disease-ridden bacteria in its mouth. After it bites its prey, the victim will sicken and die from blood poisoning within a day or two. The giant lizzard will then find the body and eat it. Komodo Dragons have been known to kill people.
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The rattlesnake, a pit viper, can sense heat and actually gets a heat portrait of its prey in the dark.
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While the rattlesnake (and other pit vipers) injects its poison in one quick bite, the highly venomous coral snake of the southern states has to gnaw with it’s short fixed fangs in order to get it’s venom into it’s victims.
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