Tag: canine

The content below is from episode 169 of the Who’d a Thunk It? Podcast

RECOMMENDATION SEGMENT

• This week I recommend the show Silo on Apple TV
  • I am impressed with the Sci-Fi chops of Apple TV
  • They have Severence, Silo, Foundation, For All Mankind, Invasion, See, and a bunch of other SciFi titles I haven’t even started watching yet.
  • I love SciFi so I’m like a kid in a candy shop when I open Apple TV
    • Here is a link to a list of Apple TV’s best SciFi Titles: https://collider.com/best-sci-fi-shows-on-apple-tv/
  • But for this recommendation segment I thought I would highlight one in particular, a show that Shannon and I binged in a week: Silo
    • Seasons: 1 | Episode Count: 7 (ongoing) | Average Run Time: 55 minutes
    • Creators: Graham Yost, Morten Tyldum, Hugh Howey, and Rebecca Ferguson
    • Cast: Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Rashida Jones, Avi Nash, Tim Robbins
    • In a ruined and toxic future, thousands live in a giant silo deep underground. After its sheriff breaks a cardinal rule and residents die mysteriously, engineer Juliette (Rebecca Ferguson) starts to uncover shocking secrets and the truth about the silo. The series feels unique because while it has the dystopian setting we expected, it tells its story in a very noir, almost Hitchcockian way. As we follow Juliette, we uncover the truth about the silo, which will have you hooked by the end of Episode 1.
  • It can be a bit slow at times, but that is all to build up the suspense of wanting to know what the heck is going on in this dystopian future of the Silo!
    • It jumps from the past to the present a few times in the beginning, but that is to get the audience hooked (which is SUPER important for storytelling).
    • Rebecca Ferguson is the main character and I love her acting.
    • Oh, and don’t get too attached to any character LOL. People drop like flies in this one.
    • Oh, and I almost forgot, Common, the 3-time Grammy award, Academy Award, Primetime Emmy award, and Golden Globe Award winner plays a vital role in the series.
      • Shannon said his acting sucks… I disagree. Perhaps I’m biased because I’m such a fan. But I totally thought he brought what was needed to his character.

NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT

• This week I wanted to talk about a species of canine that I had never heard of before.
  • I can’t remember why I typed it in… I think I saw a YouTube short about Hyenas and wanted to know if they were canines or not (Hyenas aren’t by the way… they are part of their own Hyenas are not members of the dog or cat families. Instead, they are so unique that they have a family all their own, Hyaenidae).
  • but the other day I searched “all members of canine family” and looked for the weirdest one… I found the Bush Dog, the Speothos venaticus.
  • This thing doesn’t even look like a canine.

Wikipedia :

The bush dog is a canine found in Central and South America. In spite of its extensive range, it is very rare in most areas except in Suriname, Guyana and Peru; it was first identified by Peter Wilhelm Lund from fossils in Brazilian caves and was believed to be extinct.

• This bizarre canine lurks within the wetlands of dense forests.
  • with its territory spanning 2 continents, you’d think its population would be higher or that scientists would have ample documentation of the Bush Dog, but it remains rather elusive. And it has a healthy aversion to human presence.
  • Why I chose to make this gnarly looking canine species into an episode is how different it looks.

• The Bush Dog doesn’t look like a dog.
  • It has a nose or muzzle that resembles the muzzle of a bear more than any dog.
  • If you saw just its feet, you’d think they belonged to an otter… because they are webbed!
  • And they have this short and very bushy tail.
• To me, they look more like a Tasmanian Devil
  • The endangered  Sarcophilus harrisii,  a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae.
    • They weigh about 20 to 30 pounds
  • But not quite like a Tasmanian Devil…

• Maybe more like the ferocious wolverine… no, not Hugh Jackman, the animal…
  • found primarily in remote reaches of the Northern boreal forests and subarctic and alpine tundra of the Northern Hemisphere, the wolverine (Gulo gulo, meaning “glutton”) weighs about 20 to 55 pounds.
  • But the Bush dog doesn’t quite look like a Wolverine either…

• No, the Bush dog belongs to its own thing…
  • So weird it looks like two animals from completely different families in the animal kingdom.
    • The Wolverine is a big-ass weasel, whereas the Tasmanian Devil is a marsupial
  • The Bush Dog belongs to the Canidae family
  • There are less than 10,000 Bush Dogs left in the world
  • They live in Neotropical habitats
    • ; Northern and central South America into Panama, south to southern Brazil, Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina, and west to Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Found in forests and wet savannahs, always close to water. Bush dogs den in underground burrows or hollow tree trunks.
  • Encyclopedia Britannica: Unlike most other members of the dog family, which reproduce once per year, bush dogs can breed year-round. Up to six young are born after a gestation of 65–70 days, and females have been shown to produce litters at 238-day intervals in captivity. Whereas male bush dogs become sexually mature after one year, females can become sexually mature as soon as 10 months after birth.
    • Ecologists note that, despite its extensive geographic range, the bush dog population is in decline because of an increasing rate of habitat loss and fragmentation—namely, from the conversion of natural areas to urban and agricultural land uses; declines in the bush dog’s prey populations, due to illegal poaching and to predation by domestic dogs; and increased exposure to diseases transmitted by such dogs.
    • The bush dog has short legs and long hair and grows to a shoulder height of about 30 cm (12 inches). It is 58–75 cm long (22.8–29.5 inches), exclusive of its 13–15-cm (5.1–5.9-inch) tail. It weighs about 5–7 kg (11–15 pounds) and is brown with reddish or whitish forequarters and dark hindquarters and tail. Bush dogs hunt in packs and feed largely on rodents, though they appear to seek out agouti and armadillos in some parts of their range.
• The Bush Dog looks like no other dog, but what REALLY sets it apart is its hunting ability. These things are amazing.
  • I said earlier that they have webbed feet. makes them strong swimmers and means they are well adapted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle. Bush dogs are carnivorous and will hunt together as a pack to bring down large rodents such as agouti, capybara and even rhea!
  • They live and hunt in family groups of up to 12 animals.
  • They communicate via squeaks and yelps.
  • The Bush Dog hunts in the water! A very rare trait amongst land predators
    • They chase their prey into deep pools of water and are able to dive underwater, staying submerged for up to 30 seconds.
    • They confuse their prey and use their webbed feet to outswim them.
    • they are water specialists.
    • Typically one Bush Dog makes the kill and shares it with the rest of the pack
    • This style of hunting is VERY unique

• Some other cool facts I learned from the Woburn Safari Park Website (located in the UK):
  • Only the Alpha pair (alpha male and alpha female) will mate.
    • The alpha female uses hormones to prevent the other females from becoming pregnant.
  • They smell like vinegar!
    • Local people call them Cachorro-Vinagre which means “vinegar dog”

CREDIT

• https://www.britannica.com/animal/bush-dog
• https://www.woburnsafari.co.uk/discover-your-safari/meet-the-animals/bush-dog/#:~:text=bush%20dog%20facts&text=They%20have%20short%20legs%2C%20a,agouti%2C%20capybara%20and%20even%20rhea!