| This series of picture cards is offered in the interest of education by Brooke Bond | PG Tips | Wonders Of Wildlife


	01 BIGGEST ANIMal The Blue Whale is the biggest animal of all time. The females are the largest and their length has been recorded at up to 130 feet. The total weight of such a creature has been assessed at about 200 tons because they cannot be weighed alive - and on the slipway of a whaling station some of their body fluids have already been lost. In spite of their huge size - Blue Whales feed on krill - which are inch long shrimp like organisms found in huge numbers in the colder seas of the world.
	02 FASTEST LAND ANIMal The Cheetah. Every part of the Cheetah's streamlined body - from the small head to the long legs and highly flexible back contributes to its remarkable bursts of speed while hunting. Up to 70 mph has been reported - but this is difficult to check accurately for in captivity Cheetahs dislike to exert themselves fully. However - 63 mph - more than a mile a minute - has been recorded with certainty. Like drag racers - Cheetahs have tremendous powers of acceleration but do not maintain their high pace for more than a few hundred yards.
	03 AIRSPEED RECORD BREAKER The Swift. The aptly-named Swifts are generally considered to be the fastest of birds in level flight although the exact airspeed of wild birds is difficult to measure. The spine-tailed Swift of Asia has been reliably recorded at over 106 mph Swifts achieve their constant high speed by strong beats of their long - streamlined wings - alternating with brief gliding periods which conserve energy. The Swift's feathers - close-knit and glossy - reduce air resistance. Albatrosses have long. narrow. angled wings for gliding. Fast flying birds have long streamlined wings. Game birds have short. high-arched wings for vertical takeoff.
	04 FASTEST SWIMMING FISH The Sail back. Fast swimming fishes all have streamlined bodies and deeply forked tails to decrease water resistance. The Sailfish - with its large dorsal fin - would not at first sight seem to be a speed champion - but when moving fast it can fold its dorsal fin into a slot in its back to streamline it even further. Estimation of speed is difficult at sea - but sailfish are game fishes and one is recorded as having taken out a hundred yards of line in 3 seconds. This is equivalent to a speed of more than 68 mph !
	05 JUMPING EXPERT The Impala. Some animals hop as a normal method of moving. The Red Kangaroo may - if in a hurry - leap 40 feet at a time. But many animals which are normally not hoppers may - when danger threatens - escape by jumping out of the way - such as the African antelopes. The Springbok got its name from its ability to leap - but the Impala - at most 36 inches high at the shoulder - can leap a distance of some 35 feet and clear 10 feet in height in a single bound - which can confuse a pursuing lion or leopard.
	06 LONGEST LIVED CREATURE The Tortoise. Many stories have been told of the length of life of Tortoises - some probably exaggerated - for their life span can be much more than a human being's - so their actual year of birth can become garbled in the memory of a few generations. The oldest tortoise authentically recorded was 152 years old when he was accidentally killed. It is possible that some of the large kinds of tortoise - such as those from the island of Aldabra may live much longer.
	07 MOST PROLIFIC ANIMal The Aphid. During summer many kinds of plants become covered with tiny insects called Aphids - sometimes known as Greenflies. Often the numbers increase very quickly - because every aphid is a female - able to produce young which mature and can start producing their own families within a few days of birth - up to 100 in two weeks. Soon these are bearing their own families in turn - so the population of descendants of a single aphid could - if unchecked - reach astronomical numbers.
	08 BIGGEST RELATIVE BABY The Common Porpoise. The biggest of all babies is the Blue Whale - which at birth measures about 24 feet long and weighs about 7 tons - more than an adult African elephant. The Common Dolphin's baby - although much smaller than this - is half her own length and about a third of her weight. The Common Porpoise's baby is shorter - but about half the mother's weight. If human babies were in this proportion to their mothers - they would be about 2' 9" tall and weigh about 75 pounds at birth !
	09 MOST VENOMOUS SEA CREATURE The Sea Wasp. Poisonous animals use their venom against their natural prey or enemies - which only rarely is man. An exception is the Sea Wasp - a poisonous animal which is known to have caused the death of many humans. A kind of jellyfish in the warm waters around Australia and many Pacific islands - its tentacles may trail 10 feet and are studded with sting cells which contain a poison very like that of the Cobra. It has killed people in less than a minute.
	10 BIGGEST SWalLOW Snakes have to swallow their food whole - for they have teeth which cannot bite or chew. But they can unhinge their jaws and - as their bodies can be distended easily - they may engulf meals thicker than themselves ! The largest animal known to have been swallowed by a snake was an Impala (see card no 5) weighing 130 pounds - eaten by a 16 foot African Rock Python. Since some snakes grow larger than this - probably even bigger animals are sometimes swallowed.
	11 LOUDEST VOICE The Red Howler Monkey. The forests of Central America are the home of the Red Howler Monkeys - which live in groups of about 20 and travel through the tree tops to find the fruits on which they feed. The males announce the presence of the troop by howling and shrieking and the noise that they make may carry as far as 5 miles through the trees to warn other groups of monkeys. The drawing will show you how the enlarged voice box of the male Howler enables it to make such an astoundingly loud noise.
	12 THE SLOWEST MAMMal The Three- Toed Sloth. The Three- Toed Sloth lives in the tree tops of the forests of South America - using its large claws to hang from branches as it munches the buds and leaves of the Cercropia tree. If in a hurry - it can travel for short periods at around 120 feet a minute - about 1.4 miles per hour! It can swim - but on land it is nearly helpless and drags itself along - using its hooked toes - at a speed of only about 1/10th of a mile per hour.
	13 BEST SMELLERS The Silk Moth. Moths have a particularly good sense of smell - to help them find their food - mainly nectar from strongly scented flowers. Male moths often have a much better sense of smell than their mates - who attract the males by releasing tiny quantities of scent irresistible to them. The female Silk Moth carries only four millionths of an ounce of this scent and releases only a few molecules at a time - but a male moth has been lured from a distance of nearly 7 miles.
	14 SENSITIVE EYESIGHT The Great Horned Owl. Owls - which hunt in the twilight or at night - have large eyes which enable them to use every scrap of light from their surroundings. The retina at the back of the eye is also packed with special light-cells - called rod cells. These are extremely sensitive to very dim light - so that to the owl - moonlight is like bright daylight. In fact - It has been calculated that the Owl's ability to see in the dark is between 50 and 100 times as good as that of a human.
	15 EXCELLENT HEARING The Fennec Fox. The small mammals of the desert mainly live in burrows - and come out to feed or hunt in the cool of night. Most have large ears - for sound travels well in the stillness of the desert - and the ability to hear a pebble rattle or sand shift may mean the difference between survival and death. The biggest ears are possessed by the Fennec Fox - able to hunt even on moonless nights - and catch the small mammals - birds and insects on which it feeds - purely by sound.
	16 'SEEING' with SOUND The Long Eared Bat. Bats - although tiny. have very loud voices - often partly beyond the range of human hearing as many of their squeaks are too high pitched for our ears. As they fly along - bats give off a series of these very high pitched squeaks - each of which lasts only about 1/500th of a second. If the sound wave hits any obstacle - an echo is returned to the Bat's sensitive ears - informing it of something to be avoided or of food to be pursued.
	17 ELECtrIC SHOCKER The Electric Ray. We know that about 500 species of fish can produce electric discharges into the water around them. Often these are very weak and may be used for a kind of navigation or for communication - but some fish can produce a strong current. The Electric Eel can produce a shock of more than 500 volts and the Electric Ray over 220 volts - through muscles acting as electroplates. These 'batteries' can be switched on and off at will and the electric ray uses them to stun its prey.
	18 ANIMal SEARCHLIGHTS The Deep-Sea Squid. Many kinds of animals which live in the cold - inky-blackness of the ocean depths possess built-in forms of lighting - not electric - but the result of chemical reaction. Some of these animals - such as the squid - Lycoteuthis diadema on this card - known as the 'jewelled wonder-torch' - have different coloured lights. Sometimes there is a lens in front of each light organ - so that beams of light - like searchlights - penetrate the water - enabling the creature to see its prey and spot its enemies in the dark.
	19 BREAthING UNDER WATER The Water Spider. Aquatic animals mostly have gills for using the oxygen dissolved in water - but a few kinds need to get their oxygen from the air - like we do. Most - such as whales - seals and diving beetles - come to the surface to breathe - but the Water Spider takes air down as bubbles trapped in the hairs of its body - and stores it below the surface in a special - closely-woven silk diving bell. The spider returns to its diving bell to breathe and also to consume its prey.
	20 HEAT INSULATION The Polar Bear. In winter - you can put on more clothes to keep warm - but animals have to use other methods. Those in very cold places may have double protection - such as a heavy outer covering of feathers or fur and an inner protective layer of fat. The Polar Bear - which spends much of its life in the icy Arctic Seas - has outer or guard hairs up to 8 inches long - even on its soles! Under the skin is a layer of fat as thick as 6 inches.
	21 THE FISHING FISH The Angler Fish. Angler Fishes live in the dark depths of the sea - or in murky offshore waters - where visibility is poor. One of the bones of the dorsal (back) fin has grown very long and flexible. and often carries a small knob on the end which dangles in the water just in front of the fish's mouth. Smaller fishes can mistake this for food - and snap at it. But the 'fishing line' is drawn skillfully away and following it the little fish finds itself in the Angler's jaws.
	22 THE SHARPSHOOTER The Archer Fish. Insects often rest on the plants which hang low over the water of tropical rivers. They are alert to the dangers of such enemies as birds or lizards - but do not suspect the Archer Fish - which sights them from below the water. From as much as three feet away - this predator shoots down the insects with a few drops of water - which it spits with great accuracy to dislodge them. Any small creature struggling on the surface is then easy prey for the Archer.
	23 THE BLUFFER The Puss Moth Caterpillar. The Puss Moth is protected by its colouration - which normally matches the willow trees on which it feeds. But if it is attacked by say - a bird - it raises the front part of the body and draws the head back a little - which makes the spots on the body behind the head look like large and terrifying eyes. At the same time the rear end is curved forward and the forked waving tail filaments make the whole appearance even more menacing - frightening most of its enemies away.
	24 THE DEADLY 'LEAF' The Praying Mantis. In the world of small animals - disguise may be necessary to escape enemies - or to get close enough to prey to catch it. The green Praying Mantis sits - its forelimbs folded as if in prayer - and sways like an innocent leaf on a twig. An unwary fly may not notice it as still swaying - the Mantis approaches. When it is in range its folded front legs are shot out to clasp the fly in an embrace from which there is no escape.
	25 QUICK-CHANGE ARTISTE The Cuttlefish. Most animals can change their colour to some extent - as humans do when they tan in the summer sunshine or grow grey with age. But some creatures can change colour very fast and the champions among them are the Cuttlefish and their relatives the Octopuses and Squids. These can change their colour in two-thirds of a second. Waves of camouflaging colour pass over them as they swim about - but the most dramatic changes occur when they are frightened or angry - like the Cuttlefishes shown on the card.
	26 THE 'IMPOSSIBLE' ANIMal The Duckbilled Platypus. This creature from Australia is a real mixture. A furry mammal - it yet has a duck like beak (but softer - and leathery). It has webbed feet for swimming - and like birds and reptiles - the female lays eggs - though these are tiny compared to the mother. The babies hatch after about a fortnight's incubation and like other mammals - their mother feeds them on milk- they nuzzle at pores on their mother's belly and lap the milk up from her fur.
	27 THE 'BEAR' thAT ISN'T The Koala. The Koala 'bear' is in fact a relative of the kangaroos. Like them its baby is tiny compared to its mother- only about 3/4 inch long when born. In spite of being blind and nearly helpless - it drags itself through its mother's fur to a pouch on her belly. Once there - it finds milk to suck and - snugly protected - remains in the pouch for about five months before venturing out again. It is later often carried on her back for several months before becoming independent.
	28 BEST MUM AND DAD? The Hornbill. The eggs of the Hornbill of the forests of Africa are laid in a hole in a large tree and the female walls herself in with them - using clay or dung. She remains there until the eggs hatch and the chicks are fledged - which may take over 100 days. The male feeds her and her chicks through a small slit in the clay wall. He is most devoted and makes frequent visits carrying food. One male was recorded as bringing 24 -000 fruits to feed his growing family.
	29 HITCH-HIKERS The Surinam Toad lives in the rivers of South America. When the female spawns - she and her mate do a somersaulting dance - so that her eggs float against her back - where they are held against her by the male. On her back the skin is spongy and thick and the eggs quickly react with it and sink into it - each forming a little hollow - over which a lid of skin grows. Safe in their individual pits - the eggs develop and finally the lids are pushed up by fully formed little toads - ready to leave their mother and face life on their own.
	30 ITS OWN DENTIST The Nile Crocodile. Visits to the dentist worry most people - but some animals never have serious trouble with their teeth. The Nile Crocodile and its relatives are examples. These creatures have teeth which grow in sockets in the jaw. If a tooth becomes worn or damaged another tooth grows up in the same socket and pushes the useless tooth out - again and again - if need be. So the animals always have sharp pointed teeth to catch their food - and never become toothless even when very old.
	31 LIVING PIN-CUSHION The Crested Porcupine is content to live and let live - for it is a plant eater. But if anything should attack it - it is well able to defend itself with a coat of spines which it can erect to make itself into a huge - animated pincushion. Should the attacker be foolhardy enough to continue - it will find that some of the spines are very loose and come out easily - to stick in a paw or nose which has been investigating the Porcupine too closely. This is a painful experience - which makes most animals learn to leave the Porcupine alone.
	32 CHEMICal WARFARE The Spotted Skunk. This is one of many creatures which protect themselves with a foul smell. If menaced - the skunk normally drums with its forepaws on the ground as a preliminary warning. If this is ignored - it stands on its front feet and directs a jet of foul smelling liquid at the aggressor - who generally retreats. The smell of Skunk is not only very unpleasant - it is also long lasting and difficult to get rid of. Both animals and humans do their best to avoid it.
	33 THE INK-MAKER The Octopus. An Octopus - hunted by a Conger Eel or other enemy - may protect itself by ejecting some ink from a special sac in its body. The fish may try to bite the ink cloud - and get a nasty surprise - for the ink is very unpleasant and the fish does not normally attempt to follow up its attack. But if it continues its pursuit - the Octopus then pumps out more ink. This makes a kind of smokescreen in the water - behind which the Octopus may escape.
	34 THE FURRY GLIDER The Flying Lemur looks - as it sits on the trunk of a tree - as if it is wearing a suit several sizes too large. But when it decides to jump from one tree to another - this ill-fitting garment is transformed into a web of skin between the animal's wrists and its ankles. With this stretched out - the creature glides like a paper dart - and can also drift down like a parachute. Distances of over 50 yards may be covered in a single leap.
	35 NATURE'S 'HELICOPTERS' The Humming Bird. The jewel-bright colours of the Humming Bird Can best be seen when it is hovering - feeding at a flower. Few other kinds of bird can stand on the air with this 'helicopter' type of flight. The body is vertical and the wings flap backwards and forwards at about 50 beats per second. This accounts for the humming noise which gives the bird its name. This type of flight is tiring - but the Humming Bird has specially adapted wings and muscles.
	36 HIGH JUMPER The Flea has no wings - but compensates for this by its ability to take flying leaps. A Rat Flea - less than 2mm. long can jump 100 times its own length and some species can exceed even this. Its legs are so strong that it shoots up with an acceleration of more than 100g (your best high jump is only about 2g !). Its long hind legs balance it during the leap and although it may somersault before landing - it almost always lands on its feet.
	37 THE MOUSE thAT 'DIES' The Dormouse. It is no use wishing a Dormouse a Happy Christmas- he will not be awake to see it. The Dormouse - whose name means the 'Sleepy Mouse' hibernates throughout the winter months in a sleep so deep that he is scarcely alive. His breathing and heartbeat are so slow that they can hardly be detected and the temperature of at least the outer part of his body drops until it is near to that of his surroundings. Like this he uses very little energy and can survive the winter with very little food.
	38 NATURE'S NAVIGATORS Cranes. Migrating animals - such as Cranes - travel long distances to destinations which they pinpoint so accurately that we know they must use some form of navigation. Like humans - they use landmarks - such as river valleys or mountain ranges - but they can also use the positions of the stars and planets. To do this - they must have an innate sense of time - which enables them to make allowance for the movement of the heavenly bodies.
	39 INSECT language Honey bees are deaf to ordinary airborne sounds - so they cannot communicate by means of speech. Inside the hive it is dark - so they cannot communicate by means of expression or gesture or with colours. But as social creatures it is necessary for them to pass information to each about the location of good supplies of nectar. This they do by means of signs - a special dance performed on the honeycomb. A bee returning with food will teach the others the correct distance and direction of the nectar bearing flowers by means of her dance.
	40 StrANGE FRIENDSHIP The Clown Fish and Giant Sea Anemone. If a larger fish chases the Clown Fish - it takes refuge among the poisonous stinging tentacles of the Giant Sea Anemone. Strangely - it is not harmed - but the predator is stung and killed and eaten. Just how the Anemone learns which fish to eat and which to spare is not known - but the fish takes some time letting the anemone get its scent - before venturing to touch it in the first instance. The partnership benefits both - the fish has a refuge from danger and the Anemone gets a meal.
	41 FOREST COURTSHIP The Prince Rudolph's Bird of Paradise shows off his beautiful plumes to his chosen mate by swinging upside down from a branch and shaking his feathers. This may look amusing to us - but courtship behaviour is an important part of an animal's life - for it allows the males and females to get to know each other and assess the suitability of a particular individual as a mate.
	42 RANK AND PRIVILEGE Baboons are social animals - living in big groups which look for food in a large territory. On the whole - the groups are peaceable - for each animal knows its place and will not challenge those that it regards as socially superior to it. It will dominate others which because of youth - or some other reason - it regards as inferior - although a threatening gesture is all that is needed to maintain its position. This strict hierarchy is referred to as a 'Peck Order' - for it was first studied in chickens.
	43 TEAM TACTICS Wolves may have to travel long distances in pursuit of their prey. They often lessen the miles that any particular wolf has to run by heading off the animal that they are hunting - making it run towards another fresh member of the pack who is waiting to take up the chase. This teamwork benefits them all - for each individual does less work than if he had been hunting alone and the prey is shared among them all. Before starting a hunt - wolves have often been observed having a 'briefing party' - which is shown on the card.
	44 MINIATURE 'FARMERS' Ants and Aphids. Wood Ants - as well as feeding on other insects and plant food - farm Aphids (see card no 7) - which they milk for a sugary substance called honeydew. The ants defend their flocks against predators and move them to fresh 'pastures' - young growing shoots with plenty of sap. Some ants even take the over-wintering eggs of the aphids and protect them through the cold weather - although they get nothing from the eggs until they hatch in the spring.
	45 PLAYING 'POSSUM The Virginia Opossum is a cat-sized animal which lives in North America. When hunted by larger animals it may escape by feigning death - for some predators are not interested in carrion. In this imitation of death the Opossum goes limp and its heartbeat and breathing apparently cease; it can be picked up and will make no attempt to escape or bite. Yet the Opossum is quite alive and waiting for its captor to forget it for a moment. Then it will quickly and quietly wake up and escape.
	46 BIRDS thAT WEAVE The Red-vented Weaver Bird. Some of the most extraordinary of all birds' nests are made by the Red-vented Weaver Bird - shown on the card. They use many yards of plant fibre - most of it torn from the outer cover of the palm fruit - to weave the globular nest with its long - hanging entrance corridor. This shape is said to protect the nestlings from snakes - which cannot climb up the entrance tunnel.
	47 THE TOOL-USER The Sea Otter lives in the cold waters of the west coast of North America. It eats mainly clams and sea urchins - both of which are protected by a hard armour. The Sea Otter has powerful teeth and jaws - but it does not use those to crack open the shells. Instead - it lies on its back in the kelp beds and uses its chest as an anvil on which it rests its food. Then it pounds the shells open with a pebble that it has brought up from the bottom of the sea.
	48 THE HOME-PLANNERS Beavers mate for life and their families develop more slowly than those of most other animals. They build a secure home or lodge in which the family is protected against all its enemies except man. The lodge is usually part of a dam across a stream. It is made of logs - sticks and mud and contains living and sleeping quarters and enough food to provide for the whole of the group throughout the bitter North American winter.
	49 NATURE'S ECONOMISERS South American Condor. Scavengers are the dustmen of the animal kingdom. By their work the remains of dead plants and animals are taken and eaten and then broken down in such a way that they can be used again by plants. This turnover of energy is one of the most wonderful of all the facts about Nature. It means that nothing is wasted - for many creatures are part of the great recycling system - something that man has only just realised to be necessary if life is to be maintained.
	50 THE MIGHTY BRAIN Man - alone in the animal kingdom - can move fast over land and water and through the air - can protect himself and hunt successfully - farm - make tools - navigate and use sonar - to name just a few examples of his abilities. Yet he is not physically adapted for any of these things. He can do them only because he is far cleverer than any other animal and can use his large brain to invent machines which do the jobs that animals have to do with their bodies
	Illustrated by Maurice Wilson written by: Sean Morris - Joyce Pope - Maurice Wilson

"Are you the female of the species"
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