Wild Facts

I don’t know about all of you but I am getting excited with how fast this week is going.  It sure is great knowing that my vacation is just around the corner.  Normally, the week before holidays are always busy at work and this week is no exception.  Since I have had a long day at work I hope today’s Wild Fact makes sense.

I thought it would be fun to talk about the Fire-Bellied Toad which obviously has a bright coloured belly. It is important for people to understand the way animals speak to other animals. You see animals such as toads are brightly coloured in order to warn everything around them that either:

a)  We taste horrible so please don’t bother wasting your time with me. Why don’t you go look for a better tasting animal over that cliff?

b)  If you eat me then there is a very good chance that you will die so go ahead and make my day!

Over time the predators will learn not to waste their time with these particular animals.  This is why some animals have evolved to mimic brightly coloured, poisonous animals even though they are not poisonous themselves, but that is a whole different Wild Fact!

The fire-bellied toad has mastered a particular “Yoga” move called Unkenreflex in which the toad will arch their back while lifting their front and hind legs.  This just emphasizes the bright warning colours.  Predators need to heed this warning since the fire-bellied toad will at the very least cause them to be sick with death being a possibility.

I guess the moral of this Wild Fact is to be extremely careful with brightly coloured animals.  You are allowed to handle the dull and boring animals.  I hope you all listen to this message since I can’t afford to lose any readers

Enjoy the rest of your day!