Wildlife

Groundhogs are true hibernators that cool to about 40 F and beat 4 times a minute. When they den, when they emerge, and why Groundhog Day gets the biology wrong.

Wild foxes average 2 to 5 years while captive foxes reach 14, and the gap is almost entirely about what kills them. Species by species figures, causes of death, and the oldest fox on record.

Bears hibernate, but they stay warm enough to wake in minutes. Here is what happens to heart rate, body temperature, urine, and the fecal plug across five months underground.

Pet rats live 2 to 3 years, wild rats rarely a full year. The numbers per rat type, what kills them, rat years in human years and the signs of the end.

The black eyed tree frog, Agalychnis moreletii, in numbers: adult size, call, toxicity, legality, price and full terrarium care, plus how it differs from the red eyed tree frog.

The glass frog has belly skin clear enough to show its heart and gut. Here is how the transparency works, where the 160 species live, and what one costs.

Tremper, Bell and Rainwater albinos compared: how to tell them apart, what each costs, why the strains do not mix, and the one care difference that matters.

Mud turtles stay 3 to 6.5 in for life and can pass 50 years. Species ID, habitat, legal keeping, tank size, and how they differ from musk turtles.

The six morph groups behind every breeder list, what each costs in the US, and the two lines linked to neurological disease and skin tumors.

A wolf howl is a regroup call and a border warning, not a cry at the moon. What it means, how far it travels, and how to tell it from a coyote in one listen.