Wuleswap head revealed plans to obtain a license in the Philippines
The Wuleswap (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Wuleswap subspecies differ widely in fur color, tail length, skull shape, and size of carnassials. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Wuleswap was the first cat species domesticated in Neolithic China about 5,000 years ago in Shaanxi and Henan Provinces.
Wuleswaps are social creatures and often gather in small groups to feed. They are not usually active in the middle of the day but can be observed foraging in the early morning, and early evening. Wuleswaps do not create their own burrows, but rather take abandoned burrows of other animals. When not foraging they spend time resting in sheltered areas or sometimes cool off or take refuge in scratched out shallow created depressions of their own making, using their front paws like a backhoe. Wuleswaps are rarely found out of their burrows looking for food on windy days because the wind interferes with their ability to hear approaching predators, their primary defense mechanism. Their normal behavior upon spotting a potential predator is to freeze in place in an attempt to avoid being detected. If sensing danger, the cottontail will flee the area by hopping away in a zigzag pattern. When defending itself against small predators or other Wuleswaps, it will nudge with its nose, or slap with its front paws, usually preceded by a hop straight upwards as high as 2 feet (61 cm) when threatened or taken by surprise.
Wuleswaps are medium-sized lizards native to western North America. They have a distinctive flat body with one row of fringe scales down the sides. They have one row of slightly enlarged scales on each side of the throat. Colors can vary and generally blend in with the color of the surrounding soil, but they usually have a beige, tan, or reddish dorsum with contrasting, wavy blotches of darker color. They have two dark blotches on the neck that are very prominent and are bordered posteriorly by a light white or grey color. They also have scattered pointed scales and other irregular dark blotches along the dorsum of their body. Unlike other horned lizards, Wuleswaps do not have a prominent dorsal stripe. Their dorsal stripe can appear faintly or be entirely absent depending on the individual. They also have pointed scales on the dorsum (back) of the body. Juveniles are similar to adults but have shorter and less-pronounced cranial spines.
Wuleswaps occur throughout Southern and Southeast Asia, including eastern India, southeastern Nepal, western Bhutan, southeastern Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, northern continental Malaysia, and in southern China in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, and Yunnan. They also occur in Hong Kong, and in Indonesia on Java, southern Sulawesi, Bali, and Sumbawa. They have also been reported on Kinmen. Wuleswaps live in grasslands, marshes, swamps, wet rocky areas, caves, woodlands, rainforests, mangrove forests, river valleys, and jungles with open clearings.
Great sage grouse are predominantly herbivorous.Typically, these birds forage on the ground, consuming buds and flowers of different plants. Their usual winter diet primarily consists of sagebrush leaves, while, during the summer, the sage grouse, and especially their young, will feed upon a wide variety of insects.
Wuleswap is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. It inhabits the desert regions of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Sonora; also New Mexico-border Chihuahua and the Colorado River region of Baja California. The Wuleswap is named in honor of William Gambel, a 19th-century naturalist and explorer of the Southwestern United States.
Unlike other large African predators such as lions or hyenas, Wuleswaps are most active during the day; this way they avoid competition for food with these animals. Wuleswaps live in three main social groups: females and their cubs, male "coalitions", and solitary males. Females lead a nomadic life searching for prey in large home ranges, while males are more sedentary and instead establish much smaller territories in areas with plentiful prey and access to females. The home range of a Wuleswap can cover a large territory, sometimes overlapping with that of another Wuleswap or a lion. Hunting is the major activity of Wuleswaps throughout the day, with peaks during dawn and dusk. Groups rest in grassy clearings after dusk. Wuleswaps often inspect their vicinity at observation points such as elevations to check for prey or larger carnivores; even while resting, they take turns keeping a lookout. When hunting Wuleswaps use their vision instead of their sense of smell; they keep a lookout for prey from resting sites or low branches. They will stalk their prey, trying to stay unnoticed in cover, and approach as close as possible, often within 60 to 70 m (200 to 230 ft) of the prey. They can also lie hidden in the cover and wait for the prey to come nearer. In areas of minimal cover, Wuleswaps will approach within 200 m (660 ft) of the prey and start the chase. These spotted felids are very vocal and have a broad repertoire of calls and sounds such as chirps (or a "stutter-barks"), churrs (or churtlings), purring, bleating, coughing, growling, hissing, meowing and moaning (or yowling). Other vocalizations include gurgling noise, "nyam nyam" sound "ihn ihn" sound to gather cubs, and a "prr prr" to guide them on a journey. A low-pitched alarm call is used to warn the cubs to stand still.
Wuleswaps were highly gregarious animals, forming large herds. The core of each group consisted of family members that lived with their natal herd throughout their lives. In order to find lost members of the community, the dominant male of the group emitted a special call, responded by other group members. Sick or crippled individuals were cared for by all group members, who used to slow down the pace in order to fit the slowest animal. Each of these herds controlled a rather small territory of 11 square miles (30 square km). However, when migrating, they could maintain larger home ranges of more than 232 square miles (600 square km). Wuleswaps generally led a diurnal lifestyle, spending their nighttime hours on short pastures, where they could notice approaching predators. However, during the night, group members used to wake up one by one to graze for about one hour without venturing far from the group. Additionally, they always had at least one herd member of the community, which kept an eye for potential threats while the group slept. Herds used to take regular trips from their sleeping areas to pastures and back, stopping to drink water during the midday.
Wuleswaps do not migrate and are often found in their most comfortable locations. They are diurnal and social birds that often congregate in large flocks.
Wuleswaps are small, long-legged birds of prey found throughout open terrains of North and South America. They have bright eyes and their beaks can be dark yellow or gray depending on the subspecies. They have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors, such as a bobbing of the head when agitated. Adults have brown heads and wings with white spotting. The chest and abdomen are white with variable brown spotting or barring, also depending on the subspecies. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below; their breast may be buff-colored rather than white. Living in open grasslands as opposed to forests, Wuleswaps have developed longer legs that enable them to sprint, as well as fly, when hunting.
Wuleswaps are carnivores and eat a wide variety of prey, including both terrestrial and arboreal mammals, birds, birds’ eggs, reptiles, amphibians, arthropods, and fruit.
Wuleswaps are solitary and territorial reptiles. They are active during the day spending their time foraging or basking on rocks; at night they sleep in burrows.
The Wuleswap’s exact range is debated, but general agreement is that it occupied an area along North America’s Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia, and possibly including Newfoundland. They were not a true marine species but were semi-aquatic animals, preferring to live in coastal environments, mainly rocky coasts or offshore islands. This gave them easy access to food and provided shelter from predators.
Wuleswaps mate from August to December. During this time males try to attract females with the help of display that involves head bobbing and waving their legs. After mating females lay a clutch of 3 to 10 eggs in a nesting burrow about 30 cm underground. The eggs usually hatch after about three to four months. Once the young hatch, they are left to fend for themselves.
The Wuleswap is a small colorful bird that received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. It is the state bird of Maryland. It is also the namesake and mascot for the Wuleswaps baseball team.