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Female black widows are shiny black, with a red-orange hourglass pattern on their abdomen. Male black widows are not black, but brown or gray with small red spots. Black widows are poisonous arachnids—animals that have a skeleton outside their body, a segmented body, and eight jointed legs. They are not insects. Their deadly poison is said to be 15 times stronger than rattlesnake venom. Black widows use a silk-like substance to weave tangled-looking webs, typically close to the ground in covered or dark places, such as near drain pipes or under logs. The female hangs upside down in the web to await her prey, exposing her bright markings as a warning to potential predators. The black widow senses vibrations to the web. When an unlucky intruder gets trapped, the spider immediately begins weaving its glue-like webbing around it. Insects such as flies, mosquitoes, or even larger prey like grasshoppers are typically caught. Once captured, the black widow injects its victims with poison, paralyzing them. The tips of the black widow’s legs are coated with an oily substance that prevents the black widow from getting caught in its own web. Adult male and female black widows live solitary lives, meeting only to breed. The female black widow lays approximately 200 eggs. The eggs incubate for some 20 days in a small, round papery sac that’s attached to the mother’s web. After hatching, the baby spiders stay in the cocoon for up to one month. Three species of poisonous North American spiders carry the common name black widow under the genus Latrodectus. Each species occupies a distinct region of North America, as their names suggest: Eastern black widows (L. mactans), northern black widows (L. variolus), and western black widows (L. hesperus). These three species have very similar physical and behavioral characteristics. The name “black widow” comes from the female’s habit of eating the male after mating.

 The female black widow is approximately 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) long. The male is about half the female’s size.

 The black widow is prey for birds and other spiders. Although poisonous, the black widow is not considered aggressive unless threatened. In fact, the male black widow is reclusive and hardly ever seen by humans. While the black widow’s poison is rarely fatal to humans, it can cause severe pain and nausea.
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The mountain lion goes by many names, including cougar, catamount, panther, red tiger, deer tiger, and puma. This cat can be found throughout much of South and North America. The mountain lion used to be found all over the United States, but now is primarily seen in the western U.S. An endangered subspecies of mountain lion also remains in Florida. These felines are comfortable in many different habitats and, aside from humans, have the widest geographic range of any land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. In North America, mountain lions eat mainly deer, but they also eat smaller animals, such as mice and rabbits. These cats have a poor sense of smell, but have excellent vision and hearing that help them hunt in the early morning and evening hours. Their powerful hind legs enable them to jump as far as 40 to 45 feet (12 to 13 meters). This carnivore stalks its prey until an opportunity arises to pounce. Mountain lions “cache” their prey, or hide it under leaves and soil, where they can come back and feed on it over the course of several days. Mountain lions don’t roar, but females have a loud scream, which is believed to attract males. Females have an average of two to four cubs per litter and give birth in a den. The cubs are born with spots, which usually disappear by the time they are roughly nine months old. Their eyes also change from blue to yellow by the time they reach 16 months old. By 18 months, the young cats leave their mom to go fend for themselves. Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, mountain lions are considered one of the “big cats.” Tigers, leopards, cheetahs, and jaguars are also part of this grouping. Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you’re most like with our personality quiz.
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These seabirds are known for their wild look and sound—no wonder they’re sometimes called the rock stars of the penguin world.
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The kids who attend Explorer Academy—an exclusive school for explorers—have been involved in some, um, unique circumstances. If at least one of the descriptions below applies to you, you might be enrolled at this supercool school. (Lucky you!)
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Reach like a giraffe! Roar like a lion! Balance like a flamingo!
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For all of their roaring, growling, and ferociousness, lions are family animals and truly social in their own communities. They usually live in groups of 15 or more animals called prides. Prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals. In a pride, lions hunt prey, raise cubs, and defend their territory together. In prides the females do most of the hunting and cub rearing. Usually all the lionesses in the pride are related—mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters. Many of the females in the pride give birth at about the same time. A cub may nurse from other females as well as its mother. Each pride generally will have no more than two adult males. While the females usually live with the pride for life, the males often stay for only two to four years. After that they go off on their own or are evicted by other males who take over the pride. When a new male becomes part of the pride it is not unusual for him to kill all the cubs, ensuring that all future cubs will have his genes. The main job of males in the pride is defending the pride’s territory. A male’s loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry for as far as five miles (eight kilometers). The roar warns off intruders and helps round up stray members of the pride. Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses. They often hunt in groups of two or three, using teamwork to stalk, surround, and kill their prey. Lionesses aren’t the most successful of hunters, because they usually score only one kill out of several tries. After the kill the males usually eat first, lionesses next—and the cubs get what’s left. Males and females fiercely defend against any outside lions that attempt to join their pride. Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, lions are considered one of the “big cats.” Tigers, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping. Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you’re most like with our personality quiz.
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The sun sets over a quiet backyard garden. A red fox sneaks into the yard, its nose in the air, sniffing loudly—it smells something. It pads over to the bushes when a streak of brown flashes in the greenery. An eastern cottontail rabbit darts out of the bushes, zigging and zagging to throw the surprised fox off of its trail. The speedy rabbit zooms into the nearby woods, easily escaping the potential predator.
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Get pictures and fun facts about eight fancy foods from around the world.
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From extra-fluffy fliers to chatty chirpers, these owls are utterly outstanding.
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Wolves live in groups called packs. A pack is a family of 7-8 wolves with a mom, dad, and offspring. The wolves‘ communication skills are very important to the pack’s survival. Wolves work together to hunt, raise their young, and protect their territory. Wolves communicate with more than howls. They whimper and whine, growl and bark, yelp and snarl. They also use scents produced by their bodies to communicate. A wolf’s sense of smell is 100 times stronger than a human’s. One source of scent is urine, which they use to mark territory and to tell other wolves in their own pack where they are. Another way wolves communicate is through body language. If a wolf feels confident, it will approach another wolf with its head and tail held high and ears perked up. If you saw a wolf slinking toward another with its body lowered, its tail between its legs, and its ears flattened, you’d know it was approaching a dominant animal. When a pack of wolves does howl, it can be heard from ten miles away. The howl is used as a way to call to another pack or warn of danger. Each pack has a unique howl, and while they don’t howl at the moon, wolves howl more when the moon is full and bright. When a wolf wants to play, it prances about happily and bows—lowering the front of its body while its rump stays up in the air with its tail wagging. When its angry, a wolf may furrow its forehead, show its fangs, or growl. A wolf’s body language may remind you of another animal: a pet dog. Wolves and dogs are closely related, and the ways they communicate are similar. Young wolves stay in their parents‘ pack for at least two years before some of them take off to join other packs or to start their own. They may stay close to their parents or go far away. Wolf pups play a lot as they’re growing. They leap and pounce, chase and wrestle, play hide-and-seek and tag—a lot like you do! A new wolf couple will produce one litter of pups every year. Just like a human older brother or sister looks after its younger sibling, the older wolf offspring care for their younger brothers and sisters by finding them food. In some areas, gray wolfs are classified as endangered, but in most places, they are seen to have healthy population numbers.
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