In the autumn grey seals congregate at traditional sites on land to breed. One of the favorites is England. The timing of births varies around the coast, beginning in September in West Wales, in October in western Scotland, but is as late as November in the Farne Islands.

Females and Pups: Grey seal pups weigh about 14kg at birth and have soft white fur. They remain on land where they "breast-feed" from their mother for 18-21 days. A female's milk contains up to 60% fat, so pups grow very quickly, gaining about 2kg in weight each day. This weight gain consists mainly of a layer of blubber below their skin, which is vital insulation when they go to sea.

Males: During the pupping season, male grey seals also come ashore to mate. The largest males, usually more than 10 years old, compete for a position within groups of breeding females. Occasionally males fight, and may sustain deep scars on their necks as a result.The mating of the grey seal usually takes place in the water, although it will sometimes happen on the land. Males are probably promiscuous and possibly polygamous, which means that they have sexual intercourse with two or more other seals at once. There is much more than this to be learned regarding their breeding behavior.

Life Span and Sexual Maturity: Female grey seals may live for thirty-five years, but males seldom survive to more than twenty-five years old. The sexual maturity of the female grey seal is three to four years. Although for the male, it is usually four to five years.

Taxonomy Class Mammalia, Order Perissodactyla, Family Rhinocerotidae, Genus species Rhinoceros unicornis.

Found in tropical Asia, Nepal and northeastern India in flood- plain grassland, tall grass and reeds in jungle swamps, forests and near water.

Length and weight of males 12 to 12.5 feet and 5,000 pounds; of females 10 to 11 feet and 3,500 pounds. Have a single horn of keratin, not bone. Lips are prehensile and the ears can turn in all directions. Eyes have poor vision but nose provides an excellent sense of smell. Color is gray and the body is sparsely covered with hair. Folds of skin give an armored appearance. Usually maintains a fast walk but can trot and gallop at speeds up to 35 miles per hour.

Solitary except for mating and for mother with her young. They generally eat in the morning and evening. Females maintain a territory ranging from 3.5 to 5.8 square miles. Both males and females will attack with charges if disturbed or if closely approached. Rhinos use scent to mark their territory.

Gestation 16 months with a single calf born. The calf weighs approximately 140 pounds and can stand in just 1 hour. Females are sexually mature at 5 years with males at 7 to 8 years. Males will breed after they establish their territory or when they become dominant at about 10 years of age. Females will have their first birth between 6 and 8 years and succeeding births at 2 to 4 year intervals, occasionally 5 years.

From 45 to 50 years.

Class Mammalia, Order Carnivora, Family Felidae, Genus species Panthera tigris altaica.

In shrub covered mountain forests to elevations of 3,000 feet in Siberia and Manchuria.

Length up to 9 feet with males larger than females; tail about 3.5 feet. Weight of male up to 650 pounds with females up to 365 pounds. Digitigrade with retractable claws. Acute dim-light vision. Fur is long and thick with a summer color of dark stripes on a reddish base in the summer. Winter coat is yellowish with the red missing. Underside is white. Canines are the largest of any meat-eating land animal. Excellent swimmer.

Primarily nocturnal although often active in the daytime during the winter. Usually solitary except for mating and for female with her young. Although solitary, several adults may congregate to share a kill. Communicates by roaring and marks territory by spraying a mix of a glandular secretion and urine.

Breed during winter with a gestation of about 3.5 months with 3 to 4 helpless cubs born. Reach sexual maturity in 3 to 4 years. Cubs are raised by the mother and depend on her for food for about 18 months. Cubs may stay in the mother's territory until 2.5 years old.

In wild: About 15 years. In captivity: Up to 20 years.

Usually only the highest ranking male and female will breed in the pack. The breeding season can range from January to April. An average of 6 pups are born 63 days after breeding. By the third week pups begin to get their baby teeth. A mother wolf stays close to her pups the first 2 months, while the other pack member bring food. After several weeks in the den, pups are moved to the first ground nest or homesite. Pups grow rapidly and are at adult size by autumn or early winter. Maturity is attained by the end of the second year, however it is doubtful that they will breed at that age. Some wolves will become loners or start their own packs.

The scientific name for a raccoon is Procyon lotor. Procyon means "pre-dog " in Greek and refers to raccoons and dogs having a common ancestor somewhere in their evolution. Lotor refers to the fact that raccoons in captivity wash their food before eating, and lotor is the Latin verb meaning to wash.

IDENTIFICATION: Raccoons are rather round, stocky, short legged, light grey to almost black, with a pointed nose, the distinctive "bandit" mask and a tail with 5 to 7 rings. Raccoons are also distinctive in that they have hairless paws and feet, with a look that is remarkably similar to man's hand and feet. The larger sized raccoon male can weigh around 35 lbs. Females tend to weigh 5 pounds or so less than a male of the same age. Of course, both weights can vary depending on the amount of food available to the raccoon and the time of year.

HABITAT: Raccoons are found throughout the greater plane area(most of the United States), but are especially fond of heavily wooded sites that are not to far from water. Hardwood areas are important to the raccoon due to the fact that they typically use hollowed out trees as nesting sites. If hollow hardwood trees are in short supply, raccoons are not above using attic space as a nest/den site, which is often how our citizens become acquainted with the raccoon in the first place. They are also known to use ground dens and seem to like decks surrounding swimming pools or within seeing distance of ponds or golf course water hazards. In short, raccoons like places that stay dry when it rains, is dark during the day, that are close to food and water supplies, whether man-made or natural.

LIFE HISTORY: Raccoons are nocturnal, meaning that they come out at night to search for food and or for breeding purposes. Most of the daylight hours are spent inside their den as described above.

DIET: Raccoons are varied eaters, that are picky when food is abundant, but less so when food is in short supply. About one half of their diet is vegetable matter, mostly acorns. The rest is protein matter largely made up of insects (grasshoppers), small mammals (rabbits and rats), crustaceans (crayfish), reptiles (snakes), and some birds, listed in decreasing percentage. Raccoons do not hibernate, but in extremely cold weather they may stay within their den and live off of their body fat rather than actively search for food.

SOCIAL GROUPS: Raccoons live alone for the majority of their adult lives. Males seem to be territorial towards other males, but not toward other females and females do not seem to be territorial at all. Males and females only seem to come together during the breeding season, which will be described below.

MATING HABITS: The breeding season for raccoons runs from February to August with most females conceiving in March. Pregnancy for the female last about three (3) months and ends with the average delivery of 2 to 3 young raccoons. These young stay with the mother until the end of their first year of life, when the mother mates again. With such a long breeding season, 7 months in fact, it should not be surprising that raccoons are in constant search for a den site to either conceive a litter of young or as shelter for those young already born.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: Most raccoons in the wild only live to be 5 years of age. Their prime predator throughout Texas is man, primarily hunters and trappers. Other factors, such as disease, food shortages and population density also play a role in the raccoon's survivorship.