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A 40-pound mammal creeps along a tree branch in a steamy forest. The animal looks like a cross between a cat and a bear. And its appearance isn’t even its strangest quality. What’s even weirder is the creature’s smell: It gives off the scent of buttered popcorn! This is the binturong, an animal that’s full of surprises. GET A GRIP Binturongs live in the rain forests of Southeast Asia. They belong to a family of carnivorous mammals that also includes civets. The animals spend most of their time hanging out in the treetops. When they aren’t lounging on branches, they’re looking for yummy snacks such as insects, birds, and fruit. The animal uses its tail—which is almost as long as its body—like a fifth limb as it climbs through the forest. This tail is prehensile, which means it’s capable of gripping things. The binturong is one of only two carnivores that has a prehensile tail. (The other is the kinkajou.) By grasping onto branches and trunks with the furry extension, the binturong is able to move more easily along the trees. PASS THE POPCORN As they travel, binturongs rub a pungent substance produced in their scent glands onto branches and foliage. The animals use the odor to mark territory as well as to attract mates. The substance smells like buttery popcorn. With all its cool qualities, you definitely can’t turn your nose up at this odd-smelling animal! Text by Andrea Silen, NGS Staff
Find out what else makes the binturong so freaky in this episode of Freaky Creatures

Although native to Europe, earthworms are found throughout North America and western Asia. They do not live in deserts or regions where there is permafrost or permanent snow and ice. Typically only a few inches (7 or 8 centimeters) long, some members of this species have been known to grow to a snakelike 14 inches (35 centimeters). Earthworms‘ bodies are made up of ringlike segments called annuli. These segments are covered in setae, or small bristles, which the worm uses to move and burrow. These terrestrial worms typically dwell in soil and moist leaf litter. Their bodies are characterized by a „tube within a tube“ construction, with an outer muscular body wall surrounding a digestive tract that begins with the mouth in the first segment. As they burrow, they consume soil, extracting nutrients from decomposing organic matter like leaves and roots. Earthworms are vital to soil health and to plants growing in it because they transport nutrients and minerals from below to the surface via their waste. An earthworm can eat up to a third of its body weight in a day.
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Mexican axolotl (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl) salamanders are amphibians that spend their whole lives underwater. They exist in the wild in only one place—the lake complex of Xochimilco (pronounced SO-chee-MILL-koh), a network of artificial channels, small lakes, and temporary wetlands that help supply water to nearby Mexico City’s 18 million residents. Axolotls have long fascinated scientists for their ability to regenerate lost body parts and for their rare trait of neoteny, which means they retain larval features throughout life. Rather than undergoing typical metamorphosis, axolotls keep their youthful appearance, including their tadpolelike dorsal fin and feathery external gills that fan out from the head. As they age, axolotls simply get bigger and bigger, like amphibious Peter Pans. In rare cases, axolotls have matured past the larval stage and emerged onto land as adult salamanders. Neoteny doesn’t affect the axolotl’s ability to breed. Females mate with males and lay eggs underwater. As Mexico City has grown, the lake complex has shrunk and parts have become contaminated, distressing the axolotl population. The introduction of large numbers of carp and tilapia fish, which compete with axolotls for food and also eat axolotl eggs, has further lowered their population. A 2009 survey suggests there are fewer than 1,200 axolotls in the Xochimilco Lake complex. Axolotls feast on a menu of mollusks, worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and some fish.
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Bull sharks are among the most dangerous sharks in the world, according to many experts. This is because they’re an aggressive species of shark, and they tend to hunt in waters where people often swim: along tropical shorelines. Bull sharks live throughout the world, in shallow, warm ocean waters. They’ve been known to swim up into freshwater rivers. Humans are not part of a bull shark’s normal prey. Bull sharks will eat almost anything, but their diet consists mainly of fish. They also sometimes eat dolphins and sea turtles. Bull sharks even eat other sharks. They hunt during the day and at night. Sharks must keep salt in their bodies to survive, and most can live only in salt water. But bull sharks have developed special adaptations—the way their kidneys function and special glands near their tails—that help them keep salt in their bodies even when they’re in freshwater. Scientists are still studying these sharks to figure out why they developed this unusual ability.
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Tips on keeping track of the animals you see
You’d be amazed at all the birds, bugs, and small critters you’ll find in your

How to make a lava lamp
How Things Work Kamri Noel and four of National Geographic’s experts find out how

polls to find out which pop-culture ghost Nat Geo Kids readers most want to hang

In this issue of National Geographic Kids, photographer Joel Sartore gives you a behind-the-scenes look at his quest to save animals. The National Geographic Explorer travels to zoos, aquariums, and rescue centers around the world to snap pics for his project, the National Geographic Photo Ark. He hopes the photos will inspire people to help endangered animals. You’ll also learn about the threats facing the critters and how you can help.
Then find out how you help save the Earth!

Rattlesnakes live in many places and habitats in the Western Hemisphere, from mountains to deserts and plains. There are more than 24 rattlesnake species and all of them have that most-famous feature: the rattle! The rattle is found at the tip of the rattlesnake’s tail. The snake uses the rattle to warn potential aggressors to back off or to distract prey. The famous rattle noise comes from the sound created when hollow and bony doughnutlike segments in the rattle bang together. As rattlesnakes age, segments on the end of the rattle wear out and break off. New segments grow when the rattlesnake sheds its skin, or molts. Like other snakes, rattlesnakes don’t have ears and can’t hear most sounds. They detect movement by sensing vibrations in the ground. Their eyes see well even in low light. The rattlesnake’s triangular head contains a hollow spot between the eyes and nostrils called a pit. This pit is actually a sensory organ that helps the rattlesnake hunt in darkness by detecting body heat.
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Learn the science of the water cycle
get more How Things Work Kamri Noel and four of National Geographic’s experts find