We have seen some endangered animals lately, but Ruth and I have also seen some creatures that are not endangered but also are not seen very often. Below are 4 of them.
Ruth and I saw white-faced monkeys in Costa Rica on the Gulf Coast. They were scrambling over a roof and making quite a racket. Also called capuchins, they are known to scream and throw things. Widespread in Central and South America, their numbers are decreasing, but they are not on any official list of endangered animals.
Ruth & I saw a bobcat and a mountain lion at the California Living Museum last year. This zoo in Bakersfield specializes in common animals in this state, and both cats are native species. It’s estimated that there are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 million bobcats roaming around North America, so they are definitely not considered endangered. There are 72,000 in California alone, but you almost never hear about them unless they attack a small domestic animal or get too close to a human. Both cats are carnivores and secretive and solitary animals. They are the most widely distributed cats in North America.
Ruth & I saw owl eye butterflies in San Jose, Costa Rica. They were in a museum garden sucking on fruit. Owl eyes love bananas, but they like any type of fermented fruit and they do become drunk. They are not endangered in the rainforests of Mexico, Central America, and South America, and there are about 20 species of owl butterflies. They are threatened because of habitat reduction but are not on endangered species lists yet.
Caimans are common on banks and in rivers in Central and South America. We saw a couple of them in Costa Rica. Their population in both places approaches 1,000,000, so they are certainly not endangered.
According to the American Kennel Club Yorkies can best be described with 4 words–tenacious, feisty, brave, and bossy. They are certainly not endangered animals.
Hank
