Madagascar predator vs prey
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It can jump, scurry, and dash, revealing little more than a tawny blur. To catch one, a predator must be faster than the lemur-and the fossa can outmaneuver the swiftest lemur. But lemurs are its main food source, and the fossa is Madagascar's only predator able to kill the largest lemur species.
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It preys on small- to medium-sized animals from fish to birds, mice, and wild pigs. It is solitary except during the breeding season.Īs a carnivore, the fossa is an excellent hunter. A fossa can travel up to 16 miles (26 kilometers) in a day. Recent studies show that fossas nap and hunt day or night, depending on mood or circumstance. Until recently, it was believed that fossas were nocturnal because they were so hard to find in the wilderness. There is still more to learn about the rare fossa. That extra-long tail helps the fossa balance and jump from branch to branch. Retractable claws like those of a cat and flexible ankle joints help it climb down a tree headfirst! Although it spends a lot of time in trees, the fossa is just as comfortable running flatfooted like a bear along the ground. The fossa is an intelligent, agile animal that moves with ease high up in the trees of its forest home, even though the animal can weigh up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms). Improbable as these tales may seem, they reflect the cunning nature of the fossa.Ī fossa uses its sharp claws to climb up and down trees while hunting its prey. Once under the spell, the sleeper is unable to awaken, and the fossa then disembowels its helpless victim. Another tale tells of fossas that lick a sleeping person in such a way as to put the sleeper into a deep trance. Myth-understood: Fossa legends could fill a book! Tales passed along include the belief that the scent left by a fossa kills poultry, the animal can contract its eye pupils so they will disappear completely, and that the fossa creeps into homes and steals babies from their cribs. Locals pronounce the name “foo-sa” and “foosh.” Native only to the island nation of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa, fossas are that island’s largest carnivores. They have puzzled scientists since the 1830s. Little is known about fossas, mostly because there aren’t many of them, and they live in remote, forested areas. The fossa's tail makes up about half of the animal's length! Its coat is short and dense, usually a rich brown color with a golden tinge and a lighter-colored belly. At first glance, a fossa looks like some kind of cat, monkey, or weasel. It has paws with claws like a cat, a long tail like a monkey, and round little ears like a weasel, so it's easy to be confused! Although it shares some adaptive similarities with cats, the fossa is closely related to the mongoose and civet.