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A two-inch-long tube-lipped nectar bat hovers by a narrow, bell-shaped flower in its forest habitat. This hungry animal is after nectar at the bottom of the blossom. To get to the goody, the bat pokes its snout into the flower. With the nectar still out of reach, the mammal sticks out its tongue, which is one-and-a-half times the length of its body. After licking up the sticky sweet, the bat retracts its jumbo-size tongue and flies off. TRANSFORMING TONGUE The tube-lipped nectar bat was first discovered in Ecuador, a country in South America. It has the longest tongue compared to its body of any mammal in the world. In fact, if this bat were a person, its tongue would be almost nine feet in length! The bat stores the extra-long licker in its chest until it comes across a flower with yummy nectar inside. Once the animal’s tongue reaches the nectar in the blossom, the tip transforms. Hairlike bristles on the tongue stretch outward, making it prickly. With these bristles extended, the bat can extract more food from the plant. By chowing down on flower nectar, these animals don’t just satisfy their hunger—they also help maintain their habitat. POLLEN POWER As the tube-lipped nectar bat eats from the flower, it brushes against the petals. This causes pollen from the blossom to fall on the bat’s head. The bat sprinkles the pollen from the flower on the next plant it visits. This can lead to the creation of seeds, which get dispersed and grow into new blossoms. Who knew bats were good at gardening? Watch a video of the tube-lipped nectar bat. Text by Andrea Silen, NGS Staff
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Octopuses are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes, and eight long arms. They live in all the world’s oceans but are especially abundant in warm, tropical waters. Octopuses, like their cousin, the squid, are often considered “monsters of the deep,” though some species, or types, occupy relatively shallow waters. Most octopuses stay along the ocean’s floor, although some species are pelagic, which means they live near the water’s surface. Other octopus species live in deep, dark waters, rising from below at dawn and dusk to search for food. Crabs, shrimps, and lobsters rank among their favorite foods, though some can attack larger prey, like sharks. Octopuses typically drop down on their prey from above and, using powerful suctions that line their arms, pull the animal into their mouth. The octopus performs its famous backward swim by blasting water through a muscular tube on the body called a siphon. Octopuses also crawl along the ocean’s floor, tucking their arms into small openings to search for food. Seals, whales, and large fish prey on octopuses. If threatened, octopuses shoot an inky fluid that darkens the water, confusing the aggressor. The octopus can also change to gray, brown, pink, blue, or green to blend in with its surroundings. Octopuses may also change color as a way to communicate with other octopuses. Octopuses are solitary creatures that live alone in dens built from rocks, which the octopus moves into place using its powerful arms. Octopuses sometimes even fashion a rock “door” for their den that pulls closed when the octopus is safely inside.
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Polar bears live along shores and on sea ice in the icy cold Arctic. When sea ice forms over the ocean in cold weather, many polar bears, except pregnant females, head out onto the ice to hunt seals. Polar bears primarily eat seals. Polar bears often rest silently at a seal’s breathing hole in the ice, waiting for a seal in the water to surface. A polar bear may also hunt by swimming beneath the ice. But climate change is making it harder for polar bears to hunt. Ice melts earlier and re-forms later than it has in the past. Without the sea ice, the polar bear must scavenge for other, less nutritious food. Polar bears roam the Arctic ice sheets and swim in that region’s coastal waters. They are very strong swimmers, and their large front paws, which they use to paddle, are slightly webbed. Some polar bears have been seen swimming hundreds of miles from land—though they probably cover most of that distance by floating on sheets of ice. In fall pregnant polar bears make dens in earth and snowbanks, where they’ll stay through the winter and give birth to one to three cubs. In spring the mother emerges from her den followed by her cubs. During that time she will protect them and teach them how to hunt. The U.S., Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia signed an agreement in 1973 to protect polar bears.
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Rosa Parks stood up for African Americans—by sitting down.
also couldn’t eat at the same restaurants as white people and had to sit in the back

Get pictures and fun facts about eight awesome baby animals.
by Michael and Patricia Fogden, Minden Pictures This tadpole rides on its dad’s back

The Gila monster is one of only a few poisonous lizards in the world. The Gila (pronounced HEE-luh) is the largest lizard native to the United States. Their black bodies are covered in beadlike scales with bright spots, blotches, or bands of pink, orange, or yellow, which probably warn other animals to stay away. Their bulky bodies, slow-moving stride, thick forked tongue, and snorting hisses reinforce the name Gila monster. They live in the dry, arid regions such as the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. They are named after the Arizona Gila River Basin, where they were first discovered. Gila monsters are more likely to use their venom on a predator than on prey. They clamp their jaws down with the power of a vise grip. Then the venom in their bottom jaw flows through their grooved teeth into the victim. Although the Gila’s bite is extremely painful, no human death has been reported. Gilas are sluggish creatures that feed primarily on eggs raided from bird nests and newborn mammals, such as rabbits and squirrels. They sometimes eat quail eggs whole without crushing the shells. They spend about 95 percent of their time underground and emerge only to hunt for food or to take a sunbath. They don’t need to eat very often because they can store fat in their large tails.
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lions “cache” their prey, or hide it under leaves and soil, where they can come back
lions “cache” their prey, or hide it under leaves and soil, where they can come back

Despite their reputation, pigs are not dirty animals. They’re actually quite clean. The pig’s reputation as a filthy animal comes from its habit of rolling in mud to cool off. Pigs that live in cool, covered environments stay very clean. Pigs are also known as hogs or swine. Male pigs of any age are called boars; female pigs are called sows. Pigs are found and raised all over the world, and provide valuable products to humans, including pork, lard, leather, glue, fertilizer, and a variety of medicines. Most pigs raised in the United States are classified as meat-type pigs, as they produce more lean meat than lard, a fat used in cooking. In the wild, pigs eat everything from leaves, roots, and fruit to rodents and small reptiles. In the United States, farm-raised pigs eat commercially made diets of mostly corn. In Europe, pigs eat barley-based diets. Pigs have sharp tusks that help them dig and fight. Farmers often take off the tusks to avoid injury to people and other pigs. Sows give birth to a litter of young called piglets. They usually nurse the piglets for three to five weeks. Piglets weaned off their mother’s milk are not called piglets but are referred to as shoats. Piglets weigh about 2.5 pounds (1.1 kilograms) at birth, and usually double their weight in one week. Fully grown, pigs can grow to between 300 and 700 pounds (140 and 300 kilograms), and sometimes much more. Pigs have poor eyesight, but a great sense of smell. The pig’s nostrils are on its leathery snout, which is very sensitive to touch. The pig uses the snout to search, or root, for food. Pigs are among the smartest of all domesticated animals and are even smarter than dogs.
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Check out these easy-to-make recipes for hot cinnamon apple cider and gingersnaps.
Turn the handles of pots and pans in toward the back of the stove so no one bumps

When you see a snowy owl, it’s clear how the bird probably got its name: they’re snow-white. Males are generally whiter than females. As males grow older, they get whiter. The females never become completely white—remaining brownish with darker markings. These large owls mainly live in the Arctic in open, treeless areas called tundra. Snowy owls perch on the ground or on short posts. From there they patiently watch for prey. Their favorite target is lemmings—small mouselike rodents—but they also hunt for other small rodents, rabbits, birds, and fish. Snowy owls have excellent eyesight, but they obviously can’t see their prey when it’s underneath snow or a thick layer of plants. To capture those meals, the owl relies on its other keen sense: hearing. In flight, snowy owls generally cruise low to the ground. Once they spot their prey, they approach it from the air, and snatch it up using the large, sharp talons, or claws, on their feet. Most owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, but the snowy owl is active during the day, especially in the summertime. They tend to be most active at dawn and dusk. Snowy owl pairs usually mate for life. Female snowy owls lay from 3 to 11 eggs at a time, in a nest built on the ground. When there is plenty of food available, snowy owls tend to lay more eggs than when food is scarce. Lemmings make up the main part of the snowy owls‘ diet, and lemming population numbers rise and fall naturally. Sometimes, if there is not enough prey around to feed baby owls, the adult pair won’t lay any eggs at all until the supply of food improves. The female snowy owl sits on her eggs until they hatch. The male feeds her while she keeps their eggs warm and safe. After about one month, the eggs hatch. Babies are covered in soft white down when they hatch. As new feathers replace the down, the birds become light brown. The young leave the nest less than a month after they hatch. By the time they’re about a month and a half old, the young owls can fly well, but their parents take care of them for another ten weeks or more.
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