Odd Moments in the Animal Kingdom

BREACHING WHALE: Whales' surface behaviors consist of lunging, porpoising, spyhopping, lobtailing, and breaching, among others. When a whale breaches, at least 40 percent of its body comes out of the water, making it momentarily airborne. Right, Humpback, and Sperm whales breach the most. A 40 ton whale seen here crashed into a South African couple's yacht on July 18.

Newscom

Hey, Boo Boo, that's not a picnic basket on your head!

After 10 days of having his head stuck, a little black bear can finally breathe easy again.

The six-month old cub, nicknamed "Jarhead," was rooting around in the trash in central Florida when it nosed his way into a clear plastic container and couldn't get out.

The cub was trapped that way for nearly two weeks, unable to eat or drink.

I can think of two hypotheses to explain why the animals were together.

First, there is the possibility that the Andean bear was hunting the giant anteater. However, I think this is unlikely, for three reasons.

* Based on the analysis of their feces, and the evidence they leave in the forest, Andean bears are thought to be primarily vegetarian.
* The posture of the giant anteater was not obviously any different than in any other photos, so although it had to be aware that it was being followed, there wasn't any visual evidence that it was alarmed by the bear.
* Giant anteaters have strong forelimbs and claws, and I don't think they would be easy prey for a bear.

"So, if the Andean bear wasn't hunting the giant anteater, what was going on?"

I think my second hypothesis is plausible; I think the Andean bear may have been following the giant anteater to benefit from the anteater's superior ability to find and excavate colonies of social insects, such as ants. In other words, the bear may have been acting as a type of parasite, waiting for the anteater to find food that it could pilfer.

Those are some aggressive birds. Never seen such a scene.

Love this, reg. Nothing like a little determination.