Miss Ingrid reported the clinic had a new visitor yesterday...an anteater...staff was called to retrieve the long-nosed mammal from a coconut tree...
Belize is a spectacular country rich in teeming jungles, lush rainforests, dry pine savannas, tangled mangrove swamps, and dynamic coral reefs. It’s home to countless species of wildlife and creatures that inhabit the terrain including The Tamandua or Collared Anteater (tamandua mexicana). This diurnal and nocturnal, arboreal, terrestrial and solitary creature can be found in Central and South America; from the south of Mexico throughout all of Central America including Belize. It feeds mainly on ants, termites, and bees extracted after ripping apart their nests with their fore claws.
They have an average body size of 60 cm (23 inches); its tail would range as long as 50 cm (19 inches) and average a body weight of 6 kilograms (13lbs). Tamanduas are medium sized, with a long prehensile tail. It has distinctive colors; blonde on the head, upper back and legs, with a black vest, or entirely blonde, or blonde with a partial vest. It has four large claws on its powerful forelimbs, five claws on hind limbs and the tail is almost naked, pink with irregular blackish splotches. Tamanduas can be seen foraging on the ground or in the canopy anywhere in the forest, but seem most common beside watercourses, where their prey may be concentrated. By day in the rainforest a dense cloud of flies and mosquitoes accompanies them so they often brush their eyes with a forepaw. When inactive, tamanduas rest in hollow trees, burrows of other animals or other natural shelters. Their local names are: Oso Hormiguero, Tamanduá, Susurete, Oso Amarillo, Brazo Fuerte, Oso Mielero in Spanish, ant bear in Belize and in Mayan it is called Chab.
The new patient was soon on his way to a wildlife center...never a dull day at Saga Humane...