Page 86 - World of Animals - Issue #29

Animal

answers Kittens are born with their
eyes fused closed, a er a

short gestation period

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questions@animalanswers.co.uk

Why are cats and dogs born blind?

A great deal of animals across the natural world are meaning the babies are born in a partially developed a gestation period of nine months; the young are born

blind when they are born, ranging from rodents to birds state. This is an evolutionary trade-off; the young are fully developed and can walk within minutes. The choice
– and the experience can last as long as a few months. more at risk when they are born blind and helpless, but between these two types of reproduction is influenced by

In mammals such as rabbits, horses, dogs and cats, their mother is more likely to survive the pregnancy the animal’s behaviour; for dogs, pregnancy is dangerous

this usually involves the eyes still being fused together and birth, and therefore be around to look aer them. because the females are less able to hunt, whereas
at birth. The animals are born this way because their Dogs, for instance, only have a gestation period of for cows, being able to run from birth is essential for
mothers have short pregnancies, or gestation periods, around two months. At the other extreme, cows have keeping up with the herd and escaping predators.
Why do we never see on a diet of regurgitated
Young pigeons are fed
pigeon chicks? ‘crop milk’, which fattens
them up quickly

Pigeons have become such a common sight in urban areas
that we barely pay them any attention, but why don’t we
ever see any babies? Like many birds, young pigeons stay
in the nest until they are almost fully grown – a period of
around 30 days. The nests tend to be hidden away on
the ledges of tall buildings, so by the time the pigeons are
visible, they are hard to tell apart from adults. You may have
seen a fair few in your time and not even realised!
Feral pigeons’ habit of nesting at great heights is inherited
from their ancestors, rock doves, who make their nests in
clifftops. The high altitude keeps them safe from predators
such as sparrowhawks. Rock doves have been domesticated
for thousands of years, and when these birds escaped, they
became the feral pigeons we are so familiar with. However,
rock doves and feral pigeons are still the same species.
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