New Page 1

LA GRAMMATICA DI ENGLISH GRATIS IN VERSIONE MOBILE   INFORMATIVA PRIVACY

  NUOVA SEZIONE ELINGUE

 

Selettore risorse   

   

 

                                         IL Metodo  |  Grammatica  |  RISPOSTE GRAMMATICALI  |  Multiblog  |  INSEGNARE AGLI ADULTI  |  INSEGNARE AI BAMBINI  |  AudioBooks  |  RISORSE SFiziosE  |  Articoli  |  Tips  | testi pAralleli  |  VIDEO SOTTOTITOLATI
                                                                                         ESERCIZI :   Serie 1 - 2 - 3  - 4 - 5  SERVIZI:   Pronunciatore di inglese - Dizionario - Convertitore IPA/UK - IPA/US - Convertitore di valute in lire ed euro                                              

 

 

WIKIBOOKS
DISPONIBILI
?????????

ART
- Great Painters
BUSINESS&LAW
- Accounting
- Fundamentals of Law
- Marketing
- Shorthand
CARS
- Concept Cars
GAMES&SPORT
- Videogames
- The World of Sports

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
- Blogs
- Free Software
- Google
- My Computer

- PHP Language and Applications
- Wikipedia
- Windows Vista

EDUCATION
- Education
LITERATURE
- Masterpieces of English Literature
LINGUISTICS
- American English

- English Dictionaries
- The English Language

MEDICINE
- Medical Emergencies
- The Theory of Memory
MUSIC&DANCE
- The Beatles
- Dances
- Microphones
- Musical Notation
- Music Instruments
SCIENCE
- Batteries
- Nanotechnology
LIFESTYLE
- Cosmetics
- Diets
- Vegetarianism and Veganism
TRADITIONS
- Christmas Traditions
NATURE
- Animals

- Fruits And Vegetables



ARTICLES IN THE BOOK

  1. Alligator
  2. Alpaca
  3. Anaconda
  4. Ant
  5. Anteater
  6. Antelope
  7. Baboon
  8. Badger
  9. Bat
  10. Bear
  11. Bee
  12. Boa
  13. Butterfly
  14. Camel
  15. Canary
  16. Cat
  17. Cheeta
  18. Chicken
  19. Chimpanzee
  20. Cobra
  21. Cod
  22. Condor
  23. Cormorant
  24. Cow
  25. Crab
  26. Cricket
  27. Crocodile
  28. Crow
  29. Deer
  30. Dog
  31. Dolphin
  32. Donkey
  33. Dove
  34. Duck
  35. Eagle
  36. Elephant
  37. Emu
  38. Falcon
  39. Ferret
  40. Fly
  41. Fox
  42. Gazelle
  43. Giraffe
  44. Goat
  45. Goose
  46. Gorilla
  47. Hare
  48. Hedgehog
  49. Heron
  50. Hippopotamus
  51. Horse
  52. Hyena
  53. Ibis
  54. Jackal
  55. Kangaroo
  56. Kingfisher
  57. Koala
  58. Leopard
  59. Lion
  60. Llama
  61. Lobster
  62. Louse
  63. Mantodea
  64. Mink
  65. Mole
  66. Mongoose
  67. Mosquito
  68. Mule
  69. Nightingale
  70. Octopus
  71. Opossum
  72. Orangutan
  73. Ostrich
  74. Otter
  75. Owl
  76. Panda
  77. Parrot
  78. Partridge
  79. Peacock (Peafowl)
  80. Pelican
  81. Penguin
  82. Pheasant
  83. Pig
  84. Pigeon
  85. Prawn
  86. Puffin
  87. Quail
  88. Rabbit
  89. Reindeer
  90. Rhinoceros
  91. Salmon
  92. Seagull
  93. Seal
  94. Shark
  95. Sheep
  96. Shrimp
  97. Silk worm
  98. Skunk
  99. Sparrow
  100. Spider
  101. Squid
  102. Squirrel
  103. Stork
  104. Swallow
  105. Swan
  106. Tarantula
  107. Termite
  108. Tiger
  109. Toucan
  110. Tuna
  111. Turkey
  112. Turtle
  113. Violet-ear
  114. Vulture
  115. Walrus
  116. Wasp
  117. Whale
  118. Wolf
  119. Woodpecker
  120. Yak
  121. Zebra

 

 
CONDIZIONI DI USO DI QUESTO SITO
L'utente può utilizzare il nostro sito solo se comprende e accetta quanto segue:

  • Le risorse linguistiche gratuite presentate in questo sito si possono utilizzare esclusivamente per uso personale e non commerciale con tassativa esclusione di ogni condivisione comunque effettuata. Tutti i diritti sono riservati. La riproduzione anche parziale è vietata senza autorizzazione scritta.
  • Il nome del sito EnglishGratis è esclusivamente un marchio e un nome di dominio internet che fa riferimento alla disponibilità sul sito di un numero molto elevato di risorse gratuite e non implica dunque alcuna promessa di gratuità relativamente a prodotti e servizi nostri o di terze parti pubblicizzati a mezzo banner e link, o contrassegnati chiaramente come prodotti a pagamento (anche ma non solo con la menzione "Annuncio pubblicitario"), o comunque menzionati nelle pagine del sito ma non disponibili sulle pagine pubbliche, non protette da password, del sito stesso.
  • La pubblicità di terze parti è in questo momento affidata al servizio Google AdSense che sceglie secondo automatismi di carattere algoritmico gli annunci di terze parti che compariranno sul nostro sito e sui quali non abbiamo alcun modo di influire. Non siamo quindi responsabili del contenuto di questi annunci e delle eventuali affermazioni o promesse che in essi vengono fatte!
  • L'utente, inoltre, accetta di tenerci indenni da qualsiasi tipo di responsabilità per l'uso - ed eventuali conseguenze di esso - degli esercizi e delle informazioni linguistiche e grammaticali contenute sul siti. Le risposte grammaticali sono infatti improntate ad un criterio di praticità e pragmaticità più che ad una completezza ed esaustività che finirebbe per frastornare, per l'eccesso di informazione fornita, il nostro utente. La segnalazione di eventuali errori è gradita e darà luogo ad una immediata rettifica.

     

    ENGLISHGRATIS.COM è un sito personale di
    Roberto Casiraghi e Crystal Jones
    email: robertocasiraghi at iol punto it

    Roberto Casiraghi           
    INFORMATIVA SULLA PRIVACY              Crystal Jones


    Siti amici:  Lonweb Daisy Stories English4Life Scuolitalia
    Sito segnalato da INGLESE.IT

 
 



ANIMALS
This article is from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License 

Otter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
This article is about the carnivorous mammal. For other articles with similar names, see Otter (disambiguation).

The aquatic (sometimes marine) carnivorous mammals known as otters form part of the large and diverse family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, and others. With 13 species in 7 genera, otters have an almost worldwide distribution.

English-speakers may use the collective noun romp to refer to a group of otters (a Google search as of 2 November 2006 lists 210 occurrences of the phrase "romp of otters", but the OED does not appear to record this usage).

Physical characteristics

Otters have a dense layer (1,000 hairs/mm², 650,000 hairs per sq. in) of very soft underfur which, protected by their outer layer of long guard hairs, keeps them dry under water and traps a layer of air to keep them warm.

All otters have long, slim, streamlined bodies of extraordinary grace and flexibility, and short limbs; in most cases they have webbed paws. Most have sharp claws to grasp prey, but the short-clawed otter of southern Asia has only vestigial claws, and two closely-related species of African otter have no claws at all: these species live in the often muddy rivers of Africa and Asia and locate their prey by touch.

Diet

Most otters have fish as the primary item in their diet, supplemented by frogs, crayfish and crabs; some have become expert at opening shellfish, and others will take any available small mammals or birds. The faeces of an otter is referred to as scat. To survive in the cold waters where many otters live, they do not depend on their specialised fur alone: they have very high metabolic rates and burn up energy at a profligate pace: Eurasian otters, for example, must eat 15% of their body-weight a day; sea otters, 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. This prey-dependence leaves otters very vulnerable to prey depletion. In water as warm as 10°C an otter needs to catch 100 g of fish per hour: less than that and it cannot survive. Most species hunt for 3 to 5 hours a day, nursing mothers up to 8 hours a day.

Species

Northern River Otter

Main article: Northern River Otter

The northern river otter (Lontra canadensis) became one of the major animals hunted and trapped for fur in North America after European contact. As one of the most playful, curious, and active species of otter, they have become a popular exhibit in zoos and aquaria, but unwelcome on agricultural land because they alter river banks for access, sliding, and defense. River otters eat a variety of fish and shellfish, as well as small land mammals and birds. They grow to 1 m (3 to 4 feet) in length and weigh from 5 to 15 kg (10 to 30 pounds). Once found all over North America, they have become rare or extinct in most places, although flourishing in some locations.

Some jurisdictions have made otters a protected species in some areas, and some places have otter sanctuaries. These sanctuaries help ill and injured otters to recover.

An otter in Olympic National Park.
Enlarge
An otter in Olympic National Park.

Sea Otter

Main article: Sea Otter

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) live along the Pacific coast of North America. Their historic range included shallow waters of the Bering Strait and Kamchatka, and as far south as Japan. Sea otters have some 200,000 hairs per square cm of skin, a rich fur for which humans hunted them almost to extinction. By the time the 1911 Fur Seal Treaty gave them protection, so few sea otters remained that the fur trade had become unprofitable.

Sea otters eat shellfish and other invertebrates (especially clams, abalone, and sea urchins ), and one can frequently observe them using rocks as crude tools to smash open shells. They grow to 1 to 2 m (2.5 to 6 feet) in length and weigh 30 kg (25 to 60 pounds). Although once near extinction, they have begun to spread again, starting from the California coast.

Unlike most marine mammals (seals, for example, or whales), sea otters do not have a layer of insulating blubber. As with other species of otter, they rely on air-pockets trapped in their fur.

Maxwell's Otter

Zoologists believe that a sub-species of otter Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli (named 'Maxwell's Otter' after the British naturalist Gavin Maxwell and the subject of his book Ring of Bright Water) lived in the Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh of Iraq. Some have suggested that this sub-species may have become extinct as a result of the large-scale drainage that has taken place in the region since the 1960s.

European Otter

Main article: European Otter
European otter
Enlarge
European otter

Otters also inhabit Europe. In the United Kingdom they occurred commonly as recently as the 1950s, but have now become rare due to the former use of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides and as a result of habitat-loss. Population levels attained a low point in the 1980s, but with the aid of a number of initiatives, by 1999 estimated numbers indicated a recovery to under 1000 animals. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan envisages the re-introduction of otters by 2010 to all the UK rivers and coastal areas that they inhabited in 1960. Roadkill deaths have become one of the significant threats to the success of their re-introduction.

Giant Otter

The Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) inhabits South America, especially the Amazon river basin, but is becoming increasingly rare due to poaching, habitat loss, and the use of mercury and other toxins in illegal alluvial gold mining. This gregarious animal gets up to six feet / 1.83m long. See Giant otter.

Otters in mythology

Norse mythology tells of the dwarf Ótr habitually taking the form of an otter. (Note that the Old Icelandic word otr means "otter"; these and cognate words in other Indo-European languages ultimately stem from a root which apparently also gave rise to the English words "water", "wet" and "winter".)

In some Native American cultures, otters are considered totem animals. The time of year associated with this is also associated with the aquarius zodiac house, which is traditionally observed January 20th-February 18th.

According to Jamie Sams and David Carson, authors of Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Animals Through the Ways of Animals the medicine held by Otter is a set of lessons in a female energy. This applies to both men and women, as all of us have female sides. The Otter's hide is very often used to make medicine bags for powerful women because it represents balanced female energy. Otter is very caring of its young and will play for hours, performing all types of acrobatics. It lives on land, but always has its home near water. The elements of Earth and Water are the female elements. At home in both of these elements, Otter i the personification of feminity: long, sleek, and graceful, Otter is the true coquette of the animal world. Otter is always on the move and is very curious. Unlike other animals, Otter will not start a fight unless it is attacked first. This joyful litter creature is advertursome and assmes that all other creatures are friendly - until proven otherwise. These character traits are the beauty of a balanced female side, the side of ourselves that creates a space for others to enter our lives without preconceptions or suspicions. Otter teaches us that balanced female energy is not jealous or catty. It is sisterhood, content to enjoy and share the good fortune of others. Anchored in the understanding that all accomplishments are worthwhile for the whole tribe, Otter people express joy for others. Long ago, in tribal law, if a woman were wideowed, her sister would offer her own husband to the widow as a lover to keep her from drying up and not using her creative urges. This is Otter medicine, too. Envy, or the fear of being replaced, has no space in Otter's balanced understanding of sharing goodness. Woman energy without games or control is a beautiful experience. It is the freenes of love without jealousy. It is the joy of loving other people's children and their accomplishments as much as you love your own. IT may be time to examine your feelings about sharing the bounty of your life with others. Otter may be saying that the finer qualities of woman need to be striven for in both men and women so that a unity of spirit can be achieved. This would involve the destruction of jealousy and of all the acts of anger which stem from that fear. It would mean keeping a Hawk-eye on your ego and maintaining total trust. It would mean a would full of people coming together to honor the right of each person to be.


 

Otters in literature

Non-fiction: Gavin Maxwell's stories of his life in a remote part of northern Scotland and of the otters he encountered there:

  • Ring of Bright Water
  • The Rocks Remain

Fiction:

  • Otters appear very commonly in Brian Jacques's Redwall series.
  • Henry Williamson's story Tarka the Otter
  • Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows
  • M. I. McAllister's The Mistmantle Chronicles
  • Thornton Burgess's "Little Joe Otter"
  • Otters were a frequent obsession of the surreal comedy Dare To Believe.

List of species

Genus Lutra

  • European Otter (Lutra lutra)
  • Hairy-nosed Otter (Lutra sumatrana)

Genus Hydrictis

  • Speckle-throated Otter (Hydrictis maculicollis)

Genus Lutrogale

  • Smooth-coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata)

Genus Lontra

  • Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis)
  • Southern River Otter (Lontra provocax)
  • Long-tailed Otter (Lontra longicaudis)
  • Marine Otter (Lontra felina)

Genus Pteronura

  • Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)

Genus Aonyx

  • African Clawless Otter (Aonyx capensis)
  • Congo Clawless Otter (Aonyx congicus)

Genus Amblonyx

  • Oriental Small-clawed Otter (Amblonyx cinereus)

Genus Enhydra

  • Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)

Gallery

External links

  • The Otter Trust
  • International Otter Survival Fund
  • Otternet
  • Otter - photos
  • North American River Otter
  • Cards: The Discovery of Power Animals Through the Ways of Animals
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otter"