It was meant for the British Shorthair cat to be considered the oldest breed recognized in the world. The legend says that these beautiful cats are the direct descendents of the domestic cats in ancient Rome, brought into Britain by Caesar and his legions.

For the start, these cats have been appreciated for their physical features; physical resistance and distinct agility, being renowned for their hunting abilities. But over the years, these cats have won people’s affection because of their loyal, calm and balanced character. One of the most characteristic feature of the British Shorthair cat is the facial expression – the cat seems to ‘smile’ all the time, which arouses amusement and admiration of those who see it for the first time. The typical color of the cat’s fur is blue, but with time other colors appeared: silver, red, cream, black and white. The latest colors recognized are chocolate and lilac, the latter having a gray-pink shade. A young British shorthair, although it is very stout and grows rapidly in weight, will fully develop physically and mentally only between 3-5 years. Because they mature so hard, these cats keep their excellent shape for a long time, and the life expectancy, which is significantly higher than other cats, goes up to 20 years old.

It is hard to describe the plumage of this bird, painted with all the colors of the rainbow. Watching it, it seems that a perfect artist chose the most various colored feathers and adorned it with them.

The family of the bird of paradise has about 100 species, different in shape and plumage, one more beautiful than the other. Their homeland includes the forests of New Guinea and the neighboring islands. They feed on all kinds of fruits, seeds, leaves, but also on small creatures like insects, reptiles, eggs of other birds. One of the largest species is Paradisaea apoda, which reaches one meter (3 feet) long. Males wear a ‘coat’ adorned in beautiful colors like dark yellow, green-gold, brown like cinnamon, yellow-orange and only during mating; therefore, this is also called ‘feathering wedding’. The female is dressed in modest ‘clothes’, gray-brown with darker colored lines. Birds of paradise have supremacy on wedding parades, unique shows of an amazing complexity in which the male adopts the most amazing positions to highlight the brightness of its feathers, which it swell and move hoping to attract its mates. The behavior of these birds originating in New Guinea is not yet fully known. These beautiful birds were in danger of extinction because of their hunting for their colorful feathers. Today the situation has been remedied because of their protection by law.

This animal is a common type of hare belonging to the genus Lepus. The jackrabbit is found in California and there are two species commonly known as jackrabbits: the black-tailed hare and the white-tailed hare, distinguished by their tail’s color. It has a length of 47-63cm (19-25 inches), a tail of 5-11cm (2-5 inches) and a weight of 1.5 to 3.5kg (3 to 8 pounds). The white-tailed jackrabbit hare is the largest in California, having a weight of 6 to 8 pounds.

The jackrabbit has long ears that can reach 15cm (6 inches), long legs, it detects the lowest noise made by predators and can remove the heat excess from its body. It feeds on juicy grasses and wooden twigs. This hare can run at speeds of up to 72 km/hour (45mph). Its mating ritual involves jumping, running and wrestling. Male jackrabbit reach sexual maturity at about 7-8 months of age. Female jackrabbit do not prepare nests, giving birth in shallow excavations. The jackrabbit is active at night. Its natural enemies are coyotes, foxes, horned owls and snakes, but it is hunted also by man for its excellent flesh.

The group of sea predators which include anemones belong to order Actiniaria. Their name (anemone) comes from the terrestrial species of flowers, due to their varied colors and flower appearance. They are closely related to corals, jellyfish and hydra. They get their food by stings; when a creature touches the long and flowing tentacles, they emit spiral arrows called nematocysts which burst outside, injecting the victim with venom.

Anemones live in colonies consisting of identical clones, fixed on rocks, stones or coral reefs on the shores of the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean and they move with the help of a pedal disc. When two different colonies meet and the members come into contact, between them occur elaborate underwater battles. Although they seem delicate, sea anemones are effective fighters, the fights between individuals take place according to certain strategies, there appears to be even well-defined caste: warriors, scouts, reproducers. Warriors, the larger and better armed organisms, swell their tentacles and begin to rotate them. The sea anemones with reproductive role are in the centre of the colony, being guarded by enemy attacks. An attack can last 10 minutes or more, being difficult to see because it takes place very slowly. The fight ends when one of the anemones goes away from the enemy, with its tentacles retreated.

It lives in the west of United States, from Canada to Mexico. The prairie dog is a rodent belonging to the family Sciuridae, related to the marmot. It is a stout rodent, gray, with a rounded head, short legs and no more than 22 teeth. The head length plus body length is 28-33 centimeters (11-12in), and the tail has between 7.5 and 10 centimeters (3-4in). The weight is between 0.5 and 1.5 kilograms (1-3lb). The body is yellowish, the abdomen is white, and the ears are darker. On both sides of the nose and around the eyes it has dense tufts of white hair.

This rodent is a diurnal animal. In winter, the white-tailed prairie dog hibernates, and other species sleep for shorter periods of time. Prairie dogs live in small or large groups (between 5 and 35 members) consisting of one male, several females and their offspring.

The animal is digging its own burrow and is building shelters well protected from floods or other environmental threats. The entrance holes are between 10-30cm (4-12in) in diameter and each tunnel is 2-3m (6-10feet) below the ground, with a length of 6 to 15m (20- 50ft). There are separate holes where food is stored or where animals make their nests. Labyrinths are made so that, if they are flooded or invaded, the animals have a way out. The predators that hunt prairie dogs are coyotes, lynx, eagles, hawks, badgers and weasels.

The Electric Eel can be found both in fresh water lakes and in seas and oceans, in the Amazon and South America. The electric eel is thin and long like a snake. It has a long mouth with very sharp teeth and 2 pairs of gills. It is colored in green and yellow combined with white, silver and black. Has a length between 0.6 and 1.5 meters (4.5 feet) in general, but an eel of 3 meters (9 feet) long has been found. In the daylight it hides among reefs or rocks, being active in the evening and night. It feeds on crabs, clams, octopus, turtles and various fish. The most important enemy of the eel remains the octopus, both hiding in the same places.

There are 600 species of eels; the female in this category produces approximately 20 million eggs during its entire life. The electric eel is considered a very dangerous and violent fish that because of using electricity as a means of defense and because of its big mouth with sharp teeth. What is less known is that these animals use electricity to survive. The electric impulses are used for driving signals along the nerves, necessary for muscle coordination. When they want to chase away the enemies, to guide or to capture food, these fish can generate more electricity. These shocks can cause death even to a man. Although is edible, the fish skin is highly toxic, causing serious illness or even death to those who consumes it.

This shark belongs to the family Odontaspidiae. It is one of the most aggressive shark species, their aggressiveness starting from the womb. The sand tiger sharks are ovoviviparous, which means that offspring develop from eggs that grow inside the female’s body. Females have two uteri, which can support multiple eggs. Once the baby shark develops in each uterus, it will feed with the weaker fetuses until just one baby shark will remain in each uterus.

Sand tiger sharks are about 3 feet long and weigh up to 160 pounds. They have highly developed sense of smell, being able to detect small amounts of substances in water, such as blood. As water enters the nose, the aquatic animal can ‘explore’ in less than a second all chemical smells in the water. Sharks are sensitive to low frequency sounds and have a good hearing direction. It has a special sense, the electromagnetic sense which enables it to find any movement around it. The most dangerous enemy of the shark is man, the sand tiger shark being used for fishmeal and oil.

Identifying whales offshore is difficult because they dive in most of the time, but the high blow that riches about three meters (ten feet) when the humpback whale breathe, is a distinctive feature.

The humpback whale are often jumping completely out of the water, ‘breaking water’ with its characteristic jump, arched backwards. It has huge fins, like wings about 5m (16feet) long and the skin around the neck forms deep wrinkles. The long black and white tail fin is marked with a unique pattern, as a fingerprint, which allows scientists to recognize each humpback whale when it throws the tail into the air before sinking. This whale follows migration routes established between the feeding areas of the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctica and some tropical breeding areas chosen carefully. In the northern hemisphere this whale is breeding around the Mariana and Hawaii Islands, the coast of California and other areas. In the southern hemisphere, it can be found in the Mozambique channel, in places on the north-east and north-west coast of Australia, around the New Hebrides Islands, Fiji and Samoan and the coasts of Ecuador and north-east of Brazil. Although the humpback whale spends more months of the year in these warm waters, it doesn’t feed here. Tropical waters contain less food, so the whales remain until the newborn become strong enough to accompany the family back in cold waters of feeding areas.

Taming and proper care of a Rottweiler can make it a great companion dog. This breed is very strong, with native protective instincts. Initially used as a sheep dog, this dog became quickly known better as a watchdog. Although sometimes malignant because of an inadequate education and going to aggression, taming and proper care can make it an excellent companion.

Rottweiler is a medium sized dog, black with rust-colored spots on the cheeks and muzzle, paws and legs. It is a dog with a strong personality. It is calm, easy to be tamed and educated, brave and devoted to the owner and its family. Firm and thorough taming are essential for this dog otherwise you can end up by having a very strong dog, independent and very aggressive. This dog requires company and a lot of time for socializing to have truly a successful specimen. Friends and family relatives are generally received with enthusiasm, but strangers not. The dog will accommodate to the life in an apartment, if is given to it enough time and space to move. It is a relatively inactive dog inside the house, so a small courtyard is enough to make it happy. The average life expectancy of the Rottweiler is 10-12 years.

So called because of its stuffed body and its reputation of ferocious animal, the Bull Shark is famous especially for its ability to live in both salt water and fresh water. This shark has a stout body, gray, colored in pale shades on the abdomen, and a rounded and blunt snout. The dorsal fin, large, triangular-shaped, as well as the other fins have dark tips, but are not clearly marked. The shark has relatively small eyes, which shows that sight is not the most important sense for hunting in its natural habitat, which is usually made up of turbid waters. The behavior of this shark is still little known, but as far as is known, the animal demonstrates an extraordinary capacity to adapt both in salt water and fresh water.

Together with the great white shark and the tiger shark, the bull shark is responsible for most accidents in which people are involved, result of its preference for large prey and of its natural habitat proximity to human activities. The varied diet includes large fish and other sharks, seabirds, dolphins and terrestrial mammals.

The bull shark is a viviparous animal, the female giving birth from 1 to 13 live young, after a pregnancy period of 11-12 months. Birth takes place in late spring and early summer in estuaries, river mouths and occasionally in fresh water lakes. Mating takes place in the same year, but the phenomenon was never seen.