Animal Reproduction PP Part 2

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Males will fight over females and get stuck with quills. If you see a pile of quills in the woods, it’s probably from a porcupine fight.

If she likes the male, she will flip up her tail where there are no quills and he can mate with her (very carefully).

Slide 24

Porcupine facts

The don’t shoot out quills, but they do have 30,000 of them and they grow back in about a month.

Porcupines are the 3rd largest rodent in the world.

They LOVE salt. They will chew on anything that has the slightest amount of salt on it, like the wheelbarrow handle you were touching.

Slide 25

Population control

Use the table on the next slide to calculate the number of babies one female will produce in the assigned number of years.

Mouse- 1 year

Dog/Cat- 3 years

Horse- 4 years

Elephant- 30 years

Tiger- 9 years

Tick- 2 years

Slide 26

How many babies?

Slide 27

Population control

What natural factors help control animal populations?

Food sources

Space/habitat

Predators/ Competitors

Hunting

Relocating

Birth Control

What are some artificial factors?

Slide 28

Population control

Questions:

What does limiting factor mean?

What are some factors that influence a population?

Why does the porcupine population stay rather stable?

Why do deer have a more dynamic population?

Population Dynamics

Slide 29

Population control

What about our domestic animals?

Spay

Neuter/Castrate

Keep separate

Dogs and cats reproduce quickly

Ave. lifespan of a feral dog- 1-2 years

Ave. lifespan of a feral cat- 4.7 years

What is an animal called that was once domesticated but is now wild?

Feral

It’s not a good life.

Slide 30

Population control

Feral-if born in the wild from domestic origins

How do the dogs acting with each other? With people?

Stray Dogs in Abandoned Detroit Aug. 2013

Feral Dogs in Russian

Stray- once had a home but is lost or abandoned

Why does Detroit have so many stray dogs?

How many postal workers had been bitten from Oct to July?

Slide 31

Population control

A USA Today article cites that pets who live in the states with the highest rates of spaying or neutering also live the longest. According to the report, neutered male dogs live 18% longer than un-neutered male dogs and spayed female dogs live 23% longer than unspayed female dogs. The report goes on to add that in Mississippi, the lowest-ranking state for pet longevity, 44% of the dogs are not neutered or spayed. (May 7, 2013)