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Sliding and wrestling, belly flopping, and somersaulting, river otters really know how to play! They take advantage of any slippery slope for fun, whether it’s a summer slide down a muddy hill or a winter thrill on snow and ice. They glide on their bellies with their front paws by their sides. River otters are aquatic mammals. They generally live along rivers, as their name implies, but they’re also found near streams and lakes. Otters prefer water bordered by woods and with wetlands, such as marshes, nearby. Flexing their long bodies up and down, paddling with their webbed hind feet, and using their feet and strong tails to steer, river otters are underwater acrobats. They can stay underwater for up to four minutes. As they dive, they close their ears and nostrils to keep water out. They hunt underwater, skillfully chasing fish, their main food. Otters grab their prey in their mouths. When the otters catch large fish, they haul them onto shore to dine. While river otters spend most of their time in water, they do travel across land as well—often in search of a mate. Otters even make their land travel look playful. They run a few steps and then slide on their bellies. Clearly, otters know how to have fun!
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Sea otters are part of the weasel family. They have webbed feet, water-repellent fur to keep them dry and warm, and nostrils and ears that close in the water. Sea otters often float at the water’s surface in forests of kelp, or giant seaweed, and entangle themselves to keep from moving in the rolling sea. While floating on their backs, sea otters not only nap, but also use rocks to help them open mussels or other shellfish. Otters place a rock on their chests and smash the shellfish against it until it breaks open to reveal the tasty meat inside. They also snack on such aquatic creatures as sea urchins, crabs, squid, octopuses, and fish. Sea otters are the only otters to give birth in the water. Mothers cuddle their young while floating on their backs and hold infants on their chests to nurse them. They quickly teach them to swim and hunt for themselves. Sea otters wash themselves after a meal, cleaning their coat with their teeth and paws. They need to keep their fur coat clean so it stays waterproof. Sea otters have thick underfur that traps air to form an insulating layer against chilly waters (they have no insulating fat). Sea otters were hunted for their fur to the point of near extinction. Early in the 20th century only 1,000 to 2,000 animals remained. They can be found along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia.
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Head to a big cat preserve in India to discover one of the few places on Earth where leopards and tigers coexist and thrive with help from park rangers. Then think like a scientist and try to spot the differences between individual big cats—just like experts do in the wild.
  • Bet You Didn’t Know: Find out six amazing facts about eyes. 

Spider monkeys have long, thin arms with hooklike hands that allow them to swing through the trees. They do not have opposable thumbs. The brown-headed spider monkey has a prehensile tail, which means it can grasp and can be used like a fifth limb to grab trees. During the day, the spider monkey searches for fruit, which makes up the main part of its diet. They will also eat flowers, seeds, bark, leaves, and small insects during the dry season when fruit isn’t available. They spend most of the daylight hours climbing and swinging through the high canopy of trees. The brown-headed spider monkey lives in a large community of about 20 to 100 male and female monkeys. They split into smaller groups for feeding. Females usually give birth to only a single baby each year or two. Young monkeys are carried on their mothers‘ stomachs until about 16 weeks old. Then they are strong enough to ride on their mothers‘ backs. All brown-headed spider monkey infants are born with a pink face and ears. Spider monkeys hug each other and wrap their tails around each other. They are very intelligent and have robust memories. They were named spider monkeys because they look like spiders as they hang upside down from their tails with their arms and legs dangling. Their genus name is Ateles, which means “imperfect.” This refers to the fact that they don’t have thumbs. Hunting the brown-headed spider monkey is now prohibited in Ecuador, but humans have killed them for their meat for hundreds of years. Text by Anne A. McCormack / NGS Staff
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See pictures and read about Redwood National and State Parks on National Geographic Kids.
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See pictures and read about Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on National Geographic Kids.
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There are more than 200 species of squirrels living all around the world, including kinds of tree, ground, and flying squirrels. You may have seen the eastern gray squirrel in parks, your backyard, or in a forest in the eastern half of the United States. Eastern gray squirrels forage for nuts, seeds, buds, and flowers of trees. Like other tree squirrels, the eastern gray squirrel plays an important role in what’s known as seed dispersal. As winter approaches, squirrels carry their food and bury it in several locations. They hide more food than they will recover or eat. The buried seeds and nuts sprout and begin to grow in these locations the following spring. Eastern gray squirrels have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to help locate food that they’ve hidden away. They can also pick up information about their fellow squirrels by smelling them. They communicate with each other by making sounds and body movements, such as tail flicking. When predators such as red foxes and red-tailed hawks are nearby, eastern gray squirrels will sound warning calls to alert other squirrels. Female eastern gray squirrels may start having babies at as young as five and a half months old. Females can have litters twice a year, each usually consisting of two to four babies. They gather leaves and twigs and build nests high in the trees to house their young offspring, or use tree cavities as dens. Newborn eastern gray squirrels don’t have fur when they are born and are not able to see. They often weigh as little as half an ounce (14 grams). They leave the nest by around ten to twelve weeks old and they become fully grown by around nine months.
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Goblin Shark
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Flamingos are famous for their bright pink feathers, stilt-like legs, and S-shaped neck. When a flamingo spots potential dinner—favorite foods include shrimp, snails, and plantlike water organisms called algae—it plunges its head into the water, twists it upside down, and scoops the fish using its upper beak like a shovel. They are able to „run“ on water, thanks to their webbed feet, to gain speed before lifting up into the sky. Flamingos build nests that look like mounds of mud along waterways. At the top of the mound, in a shallow hole, the female lays one egg. The parents take turns sitting on the egg to keep it warm. After about 30 days, the egg hatches. Flamingo young are born white, with soft, downy feathers and a straight bill. The bill gradually curves downward as the flamingo matures. Both parents take care of the newborn flamingo, feeding it a fluid produced in their digestive systems. The young leave the nest after about five days to join other young flamingos in small groups, returning to the parents for food. The parents identify their chick by its voice. After about three weeks, the adults herd young flamingos into large groups called crèches where they start to look for food on their own. Most flamingo species are not endangered, although the Andean flamingo is listed as Vulnerable, and the Chilean, Lesser, and Puna flamingos are Near Threatened.
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A female red-eyed tree frog has laid a batch of eggs on a leaf. She chose the spot carefully—the leaf hangs over a pond. When the eggs are ready to hatch, the tadpoles inside start swirling around vigorously. The activity breaks each egg open, releasing the little tadpoles. All the tadpoles wash down the leaf in a little stream of moisture from the hatching eggs, and—plop! plop! plop!—they land in the pond below. Feeding on tiny insects, the tadpoles live in the water they fell into until they metamorphose, or develop, into little brown froglets. At this point they leave the water and climb up nearby trees to live as tree frogs. By the time they’re adults, the frogs have turned a striking green, with blue-and-yellow striped sides, orange or red feet, a flash of blue on their thighs, and big red eyes. The bright colors are a defense mechanism. Being green helps the red-eyed tree frog blend in with tree leaves. If the green camouflage fails and a predator spots a sleeping frog, it swoops in for what it thinks will be a tasty meal. But the awakened frog’s eyes pop open, revealing their startling bright red color! Also, when the frog rushes to get away, it untucks its brightly colored legs. The predator is often so surprised by these sudden flashes of color that it is momentarily confused and hesitates. And while it does, the frog has a split second to make its escape!
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