Page 50 - Mammal (DK Eyewitness)

How to deal with a meal

A large, cold-blooded animal such as a
snake may go for weeks without eating.
But mammals, being active and warm-
blooded, need lots of energy to keep them
going. Energy, as well as the raw materials
for growth and reproduction and body main-
Three-course meal: house mice make short
work of cream, bulbs, and candle wax tenance, comes from food. Feeding is therefore
during their nightly trips to the kitchen. vital to life. In modern society, humans spend relatively
little time hunting for food. It may take what seems like all day to go around the super-
market, but we have lost sight of how most wild mammals build their daily routine around
finding enough to eat. One of the reasons for the mammal’s high energy requirements is the
ability to be active in cold conditions, when the cold-bloodeds are chilled and slow. This may
be why much mammalian food-hunting is done at dawn and dusk, before the heat of the day
allows reptiles, insects, and other cold-blooded prey to warm up and dart away. The smaller
the mammal, the more feeding it has to do, since small bodies have proportionally more
surface area than large ones, and so lose heat at a greater rate. In cooler climates, the smallest
mammals have only just enough hours in the day to feed themselves. Shrews do little else
except feed in a frenzy, then rest and digest, then feed again. They eat their own body weight
in food each day, and can starve to death in only three hours. At the other end of the meat-
eater scale, the lion needs only
the equivalent of about
TREE-TOP TONGUE 1/40th of its body weight in food
The giraffe’s long, dark Chipmunk feeding on nuts
tongue stretches upward each day. Mouths and teeth give
to add another 1 ft evidence as to the types of
(30 cm) or so of height
to this tallest of land food eaten (p. 50); claws
mammals. Vegetation are also good
more than 20 ft (6 m)
high can be cropped by a clues (p. 58).
large male giraffe. The
tongue grasps leaves and
twigs and pulls them
within reach. The ca-
nine teeth have two
deep grooves to strip
leaves from their twigs.

HAND-TO-MOUTH
The chipmunk holding food in its handlike
forepaws is a common sight in eastern North
America. These naturally curious members
of the squirrel family frequent picnic sites
and parks in the hope of finding leftovers. The
chipmunk handles food in a most efficient
manner. As it feeds, it rotates food items Front paws are used
quickly, scrabbling off loose bits and testing to turn food
with the teeth to find the weak point where
nuts can be cracked. Like many
other rodents, it uses its cheek
pouches to carry surplus food
back to its
burrow (p. 52).

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