Speaker #0Hello everyone, welcome back to Relax With Animal Facts. I am Steff Wolf and today I am going to be learning with you about our furry, scaly, or possibly even slimy friends. And in today's case, it is definitely a furry. furry friend of ours because we are covering the oh so wonderful Fossa. This of course is a very special listener episode dedicated to Jamie, Akua, Amelie, Eli, Shan, Molly, Stella, and Eowyn. I am so grateful for your listenership and I hope you enjoy your very own episode. If you would like an episode of your very own and would like to learn about an animal with all of us together, you can go to relaxwithanimalfacts.com and click on the animal request tab. The exciting thing is that we have a brand new website where you can request your animals. Soon you will be able to read some articles, but very importantly, we have a new art section. I wanted to showcase all of your wonderful art, and so if you go to relaxwithanimalfacts.com, go to the Art of the Week section you can submit your wonderful art and add it to the gallery. Well, to be more precise, you would submit your art and then I would put it on the gallery. Over the years, I have seen just how talented all of you are and I want to make a community art posting. So be sure to send that in. To support me and this show's mission in helping you relax with animal facts. You can go to the Patreon link in the description or to patreon.com slash relaxwithanimalfacts. It is there where you can get intro-free extended versions of episodes as well as two bonus episodes a month. There are so many of you there already, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you. And if you're not there yet, I look forward to... to seeing you. And just one last thing before we prepare for our adventure is our obligatory thank you to George Vlad. It is because of his hard work that we are able to enjoy the ambiances that we do on the show, and so his stuff is linked in the description, you should check him out. And now let us begin to wind down. just a little bit. If this is your first ever episode of the show, I welcome you to the Animal Podcast family with open arms. We are all so happy to have you here. If you are returning, hello again old friend. This show wouldn't be the same without you, so thank you for joining me. You also know that before we go on our adventure, I have three primary exhortations for you. The first is to strap on a pair of your favorite hiking shoes. We are certainly going to be needing those for where we are going today. My second exhortation for you is arguably the most important. It is to realize where in your body you are carrying tension and to do your best to simply let it go. On our adventure, we most definitely need some hiking shoes, but tension we are okay with leaving at home. On this show, we have a very long-standing tradition of trying our best to become jello. We are trying to give our best. Oscar award-winning impression of Jell-O. I am talking about an acceptance speech standing ovation kind of acting here. You can choose a flavor or color of Jell-O that you like. Maybe it's the last thing you eat at a buffet near you. Today I think I am going to become a red or strawberry piece of Jell-O. And to become Jell-O, it might look a little bit different between me and you. For me, I carry tension mostly in my neck. my shoulders, my head. But for you, the tension might be in the legs, the arms. Regardless of where you carry tension, my exhortation to you is the same. Simply do your best to let it go. For the optimal jello experience, you can do something called progressive muscle relaxation. This really leaves no tension behind. This is where we start from the very tippy tops of our heads and work our way down to the bottom of our feet, relaxing as we go. So it might look like this. You can start by relaxing the muscles around your eyebrows, your temples, your jaw, and just go down and down. Just like a wave of relaxation coming in, we can relax the muscles around our eyebrows, our temples, our jaws, and just working our way down and down. And trust me, by the end of it, we are all going to be our green apple or raspberry or strawberry flavors of Jell-O in no time. Tom Hanks. Timothee Chalamet won't have anything on these Oscar award-winning performances. My third and final exhortation to you is to give your mind permission to wander and journey with me as we go into a forest in Madagascar where the fossa resides. Upon taking our very first few steps into Madagascar, what might strike you is its own striking biodiversity. This is a very special place. It's a place kind of like the Galapagos Islands. It is just packed full of life, hustling and bustling. The soundscape Created here by all of the insects, the swaying trees, the bristling leaves, it is a magnificent testimony to the residents native to this area, of which the fossa is one. The fossa is a carnivorous mammal. Its scientific name is Cryptoprocta ferox. I think this might be... be a very first on the Relax With Animal Facts show, where I can't actually go too deep into what their scientific name means. To put it bluntly, it is a bit too crass for me to read on the show, but if you are interested, that information is available to you freely on the internet. I'll only say that... their scientific name points to a creature that is a ferocious and has something hidden. How is that for Blue's Clues? And while the fossa might seem like a relatively small carnivore, they are actually the largest carnivore that is native to this area, which is Madagascar. They look like a cat, but I am more comfortable in describing them as cat-like. That is because they are part of the civet family. We have covered another animal on this show that is part of the civet family, and while they might take on a kind of feline appearance, they are civets. It's interesting to find out that the largest carnivore native to Madagascar is between 23.5 to 30 inches. That's about 60 to 75 centimeters. That describes their head to their body, but you might as well add on the same amount for their tail. They will weigh on average from between 15 and a half to 26 and a half pounds, which is between 7 to 12 kilos. Now, if our standard of mammalian carnivore is for example the grizzly bear, which can weigh up to 800 pounds, this creature might not seem all that big. But animals are all about their environments and how they function within that context. And so we have to give credit where credit is due. This creature is a big carnivore as far as Madagascar is concerned. Their fur is a reddish-brown color and will typically look quite packed or what we may call close and dense. And there are just so many cool facts about this creature it is quite difficult for me to find a place to start. We have the ways that they hunt and their unique mechanisms for doing so. And we also have a... plethora of myths and legends surrounding this creature. I, for one, love myths and legends, so that is one I'm really looking forward to. Why don't we start with their anatomy? Given their tail can be about the size of their body, you might have guessed correctly that it has a very important role, and that it does. Their tails are incredibly important for balance. Without their tails, their hunting styles would probably not work very well. It's something we'll learn in just a moment, but what we have to know is that this creature hunts rapidly and up in the trees. They will be leaping from branch to branch, requiring a tremendous amount of agility. And here in Madagascar, prey does not make their life easy. And so, the fossa has to be able to change direction, leap off of one place or another quickly, and their tail acts like something of a rudder or a balancing pole. They are also equipped with specialized flexible ankles. These are capable of rotating in ways our athletes could only dream of. And this level of rotation in their ankles allows them to go head down from the trees a lot easier. If you pair those highly flexible ankles with very supple joints, you get a creature with exceptional agility in the trees. This creature is a tree-hunting machine. Maybe I should be more specific in saying they don't hunt trees, they hunt in trees. They are carnivores, after all. But to bring this tree-hunting kit all together, they are also equipped with semi-retractable claws. Their claws can serve a dual purpose. The first is... is to give them a lot more grip up in the trees where the stakes are quite high. If you play soccer, you might imagine they are wearing cleats. If you don't want to slide on the field as you play soccer, and at this time, by the way, it is Spain and Argentina on Sunday, I am going to take a wild guess and say that Spain wins, but... we will see. Maybe I will be proven wrong, but the fossa doesn't care about football. I am only saying they have something like cleats, but for the trees. The other purpose for their claws are, of course, for seizing prey. They are predators, after all, and carnivorous ones. This all-around cat-like appearance is complimented or let's say completed by their whiskers. Whiskers are another way by which this creature can understand their environment. Highly sensitive hairs that give them an extra bit of information and information that might help them get that prey animal. Now, while this animal might very well spend a lot of its time up in the trees, we might call this an arboreal behavior, they are also known to hunt on the ground. It allows them to run down and back up vertical trunks like nothing. They are like Spider-Man. Sometimes the animals that they are hunting will decide to ditch the trees and run along the forest floor, and the fossa says, game on, that is okay with me. They can sprint downwards using those flexible ankles and semi-retractable claws, and continue the hunt on the ground. They are capable of running up to 35 miles an hour, or 56 kilometers an hour. So on the forest floor, they are not that much slower. They are truly a lemur's worst nightmare. In terms of their hunting habits or when they are active, we have seen many creatures that are nocturnal, diurnal, crepuscular, but some articles will describe them as displaying cathemeral activity. That describes a phenomenon in which a creature can be active either during the daytime or at nighttime simply depending on the circumstance. Maybe human interferences, prey or habitat, there is a lot that can go into this. We might say that human beings exhibit some of these cathemeral activities. One example in our modern world are all of those wonderful people out there working as nurses. Oftentimes they will work 12 hours 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and other times 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., a day shift and a night shift. This can be described as cathemeral activity and you We have seen some of that in the fossa. But in human beings, this kind of activity is less dependent on things like prey and predator relationships and driven more by economic factors and so forth. But just because fossas have no concept of economies doesn't mean they're not remarkably intelligent. It's worth mentioning right at the top that there is still so much to learn about the fossa, and our information is somewhat incomplete. Maybe some of you out there will be able to fill in the gaps sometime in the future, but for now we can deal with what we have. The sort of activity that we are describing Ones in which Fossas can nap and hunt day or night, depending on circumstances and moods, showcases their intelligence. To further bolster the case about the Fossa's intelligence, hunting in a place like Madagascar is not easy. Yes, it is teeming with life, but also with intelligent life. The fossa is capable of eating a wide variety of prey animals. I am thinking about fish, birds, mice, even smaller wild pigs. But here in Madagascar, lemurs are its favorite food. In fact, the fossa is the only predator even capable of taking down a lemur in the first place. In fact, the fossa is the only predator in all of Madagascar that is capable of taking down the largest lemur species. That is pretty cool. And the difficulty in hunting the largest lemur species isn't merely their size. Lemurs are incredibly agile animals that can maneuver the trees like butter. They jump, scurry, Dash around and in this very complicated tapestry of greens, browns, and yellows that is this forest in Madagascar, it is pretty difficult to track. So we must again... Again, give credit where credit is due. In terms of their social behaviors, what we know is that they are rather solitary. And in keeping with that solitary tradition, knowing where other individuals of their species are is pretty important. The mode of communication that the fossa uses is scent. The fossa is equipped with... with a special scent gland that it will use to mark its territory. They will use more than just the secretions from these glands, and they will typically mark trails and other prominent features to make it very clear to other fossas where they are. In terms of their range of vocalizations, which is one of my favorite things to learn about animals, they seem to be pretty shy. One of the only times that researchers will see vocalizations in the fossa is during the breeding process. The females will do a mewing, sort of like a cat-like sound, to attract males. The males can make something of a howling sound as they are complete. competing for females, and they can even be seen roaring to intimidate other fossas or if they are seriously threatened by a bigger creature. As is often the case with animals, the other time that researchers have observed fossas making all sorts of vocalizations is when they are young. The fossa pups make something of a purring sound. when they are nursing or near their mothers. And while we are here, we might as well learn a bit more about when they are young. For the first few weeks of their lives, fossa pups are very dependent on their mothers. It is only when they are between two to three weeks of age that their eyes even begin to open. Their fur starts to darken and they can seize some bit of independence. They will develop slowly, leaving the den after about four to five months on average, and they will wait until they are about four years of age to start a litter or a family of their own. On the Patreon, we are going to be exploring some really cool legends, myths, or cultural and spiritual understandings of this creature within its local context. We have run out of time here, but if you want to keep listening to more facts, you can join us on the Patreon. And now, let us move to the review portion of the show. This is where I can interact to it. with all of you listening. Typically, we read one review on Apple Podcasts and one post on Spotify. So why don't we start on Apple Podcasts, where one of you very special listeners from Arizona left a nice review. I couldn't find this person's username, but let's just say Anonymous wrote Hello from Arizona. I have been a fan of the show for a couple years now. I always tell people if I were good at science, I'd be a zoologist of some kind. But your podcast is very inspirational and informative for me. I love it. It also helps me sleep when my anxiety feels big. If it's not too much trouble. I'd love to see a coastal seawolf episode since they're so unique. Thank you so much for that review and I absolutely agree with you. That is a wonderful suggestion that I'm sure we will do in the future. On our most recent episode, we had DoppelmoppelTinyToes8 leave a comment. What a unique name you have. I love that. Doppel Moppel writes, I love this series so much and your voice is so relaxing. Thank you. I love the atmosphere you create. I have chronic insomnia and some nights I just don't sleep. But this podcast makes such a difference. Listening to these, I fall asleep in an hour or less. P.S. Can you make an episode about either the... giant anteater or African wild dogs. Both are amazing animals. Thank you Doppelmoppel for that very kind comment. I would love if you could send that review through the website as well. It really helps me keep track of animal requests better. So if you guys ever leave a comment or a review on Apple Podcasts that includes a suggestion, be sure to submit it through the website as well. I am not perfect at recording all of the animal requests on my notepad, so you make my life a lot easier. If you are a listener on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, really wherever you listen. Make sure you are followed or subscribe, so click whatever that is if the show helps you, and leaving a comment, a review, is a really helpful way for me to find out what you like and what you want to hear. I have said this countless times, but this is a show for you and in a great sense by you. So naturally, I really love hearing what you guys have to say, and it helps the show grow and get more listeners. The Animal Podcast family can always be bigger, so I encourage you to do that. If you would like intro-free and extended versions of regular episodes, along with two bonus episodes a month, you can go to patreon.com slash relax with animal facts. A link is in the description and at the time of this recording we have so many episodes you have never heard before. I really look forward to seeing you there. A last huge shout out to George Vlad for his audio work. His work is linked in the description and I encourage you to check him out. What a wonderful animal we have learned about today. The largest carnivore native to Madagascar, a creature that is as nimble in the trees as it is on the ground. The natural world is filled with such amazing creatures, ones that we always call oh so wonderful, because they are just that. I am so grateful that you decided to join me on this adventure, and I look forward to the next one with the next animal. Take care.
