10 Animals that are Surprisingly Similar to a Goat

The goat is a herbivorous mammal belonging to the Bovidae family and the Caprinae subfamily. Domesticated goats can live almost anywhere with people, whereas wild goats mostly live in highly elevated areas like rocky mountains. These hair-coated animals are browsers, which means they’ll feed on roughage (hay, grass, twigs, tree branches, grains) after they test those with their upper lips.

An adult goat can be anywhere from 44 to 308.6lbs, with an average length of 1m, and has an average lifespan of 15 to 18 years. People generally keep goats in meadows, farmland, woodland, and other similar places where goats can have plenty of shrubberies to eat. They are aggressive and tend to establish dominance in a social group.

Most goats have horns that grow up and then curve downwards. There are many animals similar to goats owing to characteristics, identity such as belonging to a particular family or subfamily, and many other reasons. In this article, we’ll introduce you to the top ten animals similar to a goat.

1. Sheep

The most closely related animal to a goat is the sheep. But why so?

Description

Sheep are herbivorous mammals. Typically, they live an average of 10 to 12 years, weigh 100 to 350lb, and have an average length of 1.2 to 1.8m. Most breeds of sheep prefer grazing on grass and other roughage without the woody stalks.

They are naturally adaptive and live primarily on steep areas, bogs, moorland fringes, and rough grasslands. All sheep need water, shelter, and a large grassy pasture to graze on. They have an excellent social instinct and a flock mentality, which means they bond well with other sheep in their flock and often other animals too.

Their only defense mechanism during danger is fleeing.

How It’s Similar to a Goat?

Sheep and goats are from the same subfamily, Caprinae. Both are hooved animals or ungulates. Sheep and goats are also ruminants, which means they have four-chambered stomachs.

Both are domesticated animals and have similar gestation periods.

How It’s Different From a Goat?

Sheep have a wool coating, and their tails are always pointing … Read the rest of the story.

Top 10 Mole-Like Animals: Animals with Distinct Lifestyles That Are Surprisingly Similar to Moles

Moles are considered garden pests, but they can improve soil quality. These velvety and eerie-looking mammals rarely pose any threat to people since they mostly live underground. Moles’ strong paws are suitable for digging soil.

Hence, they are called subterranean mammals. Moles mostly live on earthworms. They paralyze earthworms with their toxic saliva while storing them for meals.

They can grow from 4.2 to 6.25 inches. And that is the length from the snout to the rump. Its tail can add an additional 1 to 1.5 inches to its compact size. It weighs between 70 and 130 grams.

Moles are prevalent in South America and Antarctica. Their habitats include gardens, sand dunes, grasslands, urban zones, mixed woodlands, and diggable soil lands. Moles lead a solitary underground life.

Digging tunnels and preying on earthworms are what they predominantly do. In terms of their lifespan, moles typically live up to 3 years.

1. Typical Vole

A typical or common vole is a European rodent that is also known as the short-tailed field vole. Its scientific name is Microtus arvalis.

Where It Lives?

The typical vole largely inhabits European and Asian lands. You’ll find them in the sloped and shallow areas like crop fields.

Eating Habit

Common voles mostly live on grass, crop roots, stems, and plant leaves. Although they’re herbivorous, they tend to enjoy eating snails and insects too. But vegetation remains their primary source of food.

Animal Type

The typical or common vole is a mammal rodent.

Lifespan

The common wild vole can live up to 4.5 months, while its captive lifespan is surprisingly higher, precisely 4.8 years.

Weight & Height

A common vole may weigh 0.7 to 2.4 oz., depending on its age while it may grow from 3 to 5 inches in its lifespan.

Habitat & Behavior

Voles dig extensive tunnels for their habitat and protection. They remain within their home range while burrowing underground, aboveground, and through the snow. Voles rarely hibernate and stay active all year round.

They’re frequent breeders with 4 to 5 litters per year, and 5 to 6 pups per litter.

How It’s

… Read the rest of the story.

7 Animals Similar to Lemurs

Here’s a fun fact – did you know that science considers Lemurs to be your distant cousin? Well, you may never find the resemblance when you look at one, or you may simply deny your ancestral relationship to a ring-tailed lemur. But the truth is that lemurs come from the same family as gorillas, monkeys, apes, chimps, etc.

In other words, they are one of the members of the primate species of mammals. In this wildlife guide, we will walk you through the life of the big-eyed, nocturnal mammal and present the seven most common animals similar to lemurs to you. Let this wildlife safari begin!

Life of Lemurs

Well, to tell you the truth, we cannot help but start this section by stating that there’s an abundance of monkey-like traits in a lemur. But let’s learn all about this particular kind of primate before we start to compare it with similar animals. They are unique.

Not just because of their appearance, but for their activities too. They belong to a separate branch of the endangered primate family tree – prosimians. One of their distinctive physical appearances includes having a tooth comb, which is a reformed incisor tooth on their lower jaw.

They also have a super-long grooming claw, which is a special claw on their second toe used for personal grooming. Lemurs have fantastic night vision, almost considered to be their superpower. This is because of the Tapetum Lucidum – the additional layer behind the retina of their eyes.

This is known to enhance their night vision significantly. Speaking of superpowers, they also have a strong sense of smell. This helps them forage and communicate.

But, do they like to move it, move it? The answer is yes! Similar to most primates, lemurs are arboreals – meaning they like to only live in trees. They spend their days springing from one branch to another with their mighty legs.

Sifakas, for example, are extremely skilled at jumping long distances over 30 feet, that too in one jump. Impressively flexible and strong, right? This brings us to the list of … Read the rest of the story.

Top 15 Animals Similar to a Hamster

Although most of us have seen them in cages, Hamsters live in warm and dry grasslands or sand dunes in the wild. These rodents can weigh anything from 0.8 to 16 oz. Their lengths can range anywhere from 2 to 6 inches.

Hamsters live for 2-6 years, depending on the size of the breed. They chew to keep their teeth small and also tend to hoard food in their cheeks. This nocturnal mammal tends to hide when they feel scared.

As pets, they crave and thrive on human affection. What other animals are similar to a hamster? Let’s talk about the top fifteen similar mammals.

1. Guinea Pig

The guinea pig is yet another small rodent that people raise as pets. Although they look similar, guinea pigs are much larger than hamsters. This rodent is about 8 to 16 inches long and weighs around 15 to 47 oz.

The breed of guinea pig that humans domesticated don’t live in the wild any longer. However, a close wild cousin bearing the same name lives in the South American mountains. As pets, they need a much larger habitat than hamsters do.

They are not nocturnal like hamsters and tend to stay awake during the day and sleep at night. Guinea pigs also can’t run on hamster wheels, and attempting to make them do so can put them in danger. They do come in similar colors that can range from white and beige to saffron and black.

A guinea pig’s diet includes grass, hay, small quantities of vegetables, and occasional fruits. Fibrous hay and grass help them keep their teeth small. On a good diet, a guinea pig can live for 4 to 8 years.

2. Vole

Like hamsters, Voles fall in the Cricetidae family. They look like a cross between hamsters and field mice. They have pointed faces, small yet round heavy bodies, and short tails.

They have prominent teeth that they use to gnaw on plant roots and stems. Voles are around 5-8 inches long and 0.6 to 3.2 oz. These mammals can live in a variety of habitats, from mountainous … Read the rest of the story.

Are Honey Badgers and Wolverines Related?

Yes, the honey badger and the wolverine are related because they are fierce mammals that belong to the weasel family, Mustelidae, from the order Carnivora. The members of the mustelid family are broad and include species of otter, weasels, minks, ferrets, martens, and other species of badgers. Curiously, you would think that skunks belong to this family, but recent molecular analysis suggests that they belong to their own group.

The honey badger and the wolverine would undoubtedly be at home in a scene from the Wind in the Willows, but they would never meet in real life. But I must admit to an interest in comparing these two animals because of their similarities and differences.

More About Mustelidae

The mustelid family is the largest in Carnivora, comprising 56 species. They are found on five of the seven continents, with Australia and Antarctica being the exception. The largest is the wolverine on land and the sea otter in the water.

The smallest is a creature called the Least Weasel and is tiny, weighing a maximum of 250 grams. All the members of this genetic family possess anal glands that secrete a substance that emits a musk scent used for territory and defense.

Wolverine Basics

I rather thought the Encyclopedia Britannica was joking when I looked up the scientific name of the wolverine – Gulo gulo. This must be the least scientific-sounding name I have encountered to date. But I digress.

The wolverine is also referred to as a Glutton Carcajou or Skunk Bear, although it is related to neither bears nor skunks. It is the largest of the land-dwelling mustelid family. It looks a little like a bear, though it is short and squat, with an average length of 26 to 40 inches, excluding its bushy tail, which is another 5-10 inches.

It has a shoulder height of approximately 14 to 18 inches, and it weighs around 66 pounds at maturity. It has short legs with semi-retractable claws (Hugh Jackman, eat your heart out). It has a black-brown coat and a light brown stripe on either side of the body … Read the rest of the story.

Can Honey Badgers Kill Lions

Wild honey badgers are fearless, nasty, and amazing. They are tenacious and formidable fighters, and ”yes” a honey badger can kill a lion. The Guinness Book of World Records named the honey badger as ”the most fearless animal in all the animal kingdom.”

That’s quite a feat for such a small creature. These little beasts are not only fearless when it comes to attacking lions, they also think nothing of going after bees, jackals, venomous snakes, elephants, cobras, and mongooses. Basically, they’ll attack any animal without a second thought for their own safety.

Learn more about a honey badger vs a lion in a battle, honey badger attack moves, and its natural defensive weapons.

A Body Built to Fight

Although honey badgers only weigh from 11 to 40 pounds and grow from 1.5 to 2.5 feet long, their super thick skin protects them from predators. They also have a strong, offensive odor that repels other animals. Honey badgers rely on their sharp, long claws and powerful teeth to battle enemies.

Their teeth and jaws are so forceful, that they can chew through tortoise shells. They don’t have the best vision, but they have a tremendous sense of smell and exceptional hearing. When chasing prey, honey badgers gallop about 20 mph.

They also use their claws for digging small prey out of burrows. 

How Does a Honey Badger Overpower a Lion?

Size isn’t the only factor when a honey badger faces off with a lion. The lion might weigh 500 pounds compared to a 40-pound honey badger, but the relentless and fearless honey badger is a formidable opponent. Although a honey badger doesn’t always win a battle against a lion, if it can get a strategic grip with its powerful teeth and jaws, it evens the odds.

Here are some other defensive moves a honey badger displays against a lion:

Flexible and Tough Skin

Honey badger skin is thick and tough, as well as flexible. A lion’s fangs are 4 inches long and powerful. But, if they only latch on to the badger’s skin and not its bones, the … Read the rest of the story.

How Smart Are Honey Badgers?

Honey badgers, in addition to being incredibly fierce, aggressive, and grumpy, are surprisingly smart.  They have a large brain for their body size.  They are also one of the very few non-primate species that use tools, widely considered to be a sign of high intelligence by us tool-using humans.

  Watching a honey badger figure out that moving something to stand on it will allow them to get to high food is quite amazing – you can actually see the badger thinking, understanding, and planning. They appear to be able to get out of almost anywhere.  A famous, captive-raised honey badger named Stoffle, whose owner has published several videos about Stoffle’s ability to escape from virtually any enclosure. 

Fascinating to watch, these videos show Stoffle planning, trying, and retrying, all in pursuit of gaining enough height to climb over the wall of the enclosure his owner calls the honey-badger Alcatraz. They have a large brain for their size, which is evidence, but not proof, of intelligence.  More importantly, they have been seen using tools to make bridges, open cages, and increase their height to get over a fence or wall.  

Honey badgers haven’t been tested much for intelligence; they are far too aggressive and self-directed to be interested in proving anything to humans.  They really don’t like anyone very much and have been known to attack a ranger’s vehicle of a ranger trying to show one-off to some tourists. The internet has been fascinated by the career of Stoffle, a honey badger raised at the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center in South Africa.

The clips show Stoffle, sometimes with his female friend, engaging in successful escape attempt after successful escape attempt. Stoffle uses tires, rakes, logs, rocks, mud, and his female friend, as tools to get out of his “escape-proof” enclosure.  Thus far, nothing has kept him in, and he’s even broken into the home of the man who built the enclosure.

Watching Stoffle plan and calculate and adjust his escape tools, one cannot avoid the conclusion that he is thinking, that he is manipulating these found objects as tools, every … Read the rest of the story.