Category: Mammals
One of the most common of North American bats, this species belongs to the genus known as “mouse-eared bats.” Little brown bats are not true hibernators, since they will emerge from their torpor on warm days in winter to hunt for insects who have also emerged as a result of warmer temperatures. Since many of their insect prey (such as mosquitos and mayflies) have aquatic life cycles, these bats prefer to roost near water. These bats are considered valuable to agriculture, since they eat many species of agricultural pests.
The Opossum Ain’t Playing
Many people associate playing dead with the opossum - that’s where the term “playing opossum” comes from, after all. But something you might not know is that when an opossum feigns death, it really goes all out! Not content with merely closing its eyes and laying down, the opossum begins drooling profusely as if ill or even rabid, releases a putrid, greenish fluid from its anal glands that makes it smell like a decaying corpse, and after losing consciousness may even mimic rigor mortis! This is quite the elaborate routine, but it isn’t conscious: when an opossum plays dead, it has actually gone into shock due to stress.
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