The bush dog, the photo of which is now in front of you, is an extremely secretive animal. Its history began in a very unusual way. Once scientists managed to find the remains of a hitherto unknown animal, they decided, of course, that these were the bones of an extinct creature, and gave it the name "cave dog".
What was the surprise of zoologists when the same cave dog was discovered in the tropical forests of South America, which was listed as extinct from the face of the Earth. Because of the secrecy, this animal simply did not catch the eye of people. In size, the bush dog resembles an ordinary fox, only more massive. It is very difficult for zoologists to study this beast, but science still knows something about its lifestyle. This will be discussed in this article.
Description
The body of the bush dog is elongated, compact, with well-developed muscles. Legs relatively shortstrong. Thanks to its limbs, the beast is able to run very fast. The tail is short, well pubescent, but it is far from being a beautiful fox tail.
The head is medium in size, heavy, with a dull short muzzle. The ears are very small, cute, slightly rounded. The eyes are almond-shaped, small in size, dark, the color of the coat. The coat is smooth, hard to the touch. The coat color of the animal is dark brown with a reddish tinge.
Area
In the wild, the bush dog chooses to live in places where it is possible to hide and hide from enemies. These creatures live in forests, in pampas and bushes, you can also meet them in swamps.
The bush dog, which is distributed over a fairly large area, is becoming less and less common in nature. The range is the northern part of South America from Bolivia and Brazil to Panama.
Bush dog lifestyle
The cave dog is a pack animal. She spends her whole life in a group. At night, dogs sleep in burrows, and hunt in the morning or evening. The pack is run by the alpha male. In a carnivorous family, members recognize each other by smell. If you have to disperse through the thicket of the forest, they call to each other, uttering a howl.
These small but bold and determined predators mark their territory with odorous marks. In the face of danger, the bush dog growls and bares its teeth. She bravely defends her territory, when attacked, she rushes at the enemy, trying to immediately grab her throat.
These feeddaredevils are mostly small rodents. Favorite food - guinea pigs, agouti, paki. If dogs hunt in a pack, they are able to cope with capybaras, rhea and even with a young deer. In addition to food of animal origin, they enjoy eating the fruits of plants that are found on the ground.
Although these cave predators do not like to be in the spotlight, constantly hiding from people, it is still possible to tame them. Local residents even got used to using small toothy animals in hunting. In zoos, they take root poorly, do not like confined spaces. However, like any other freedom-loving creature.
Reproduction
Twice a year the female bush dog is ready for fertilization. Estrus lasts about 13-15 days. The fact that her mating season has begun, the female notifies the males with marks with a specific smell. She usually sprays the trees in her territory with urine.
The cave dog bears cubs for about 63-66 days. The main offspring is born in autumn. Before giving birth, the expectant mother digs a hole for herself and her offspring. There are 4 to 6 babies in one litter. They feed on their mother's milk for six months, but after four months they begin to eat food that the male has regurgitated. It is interesting that puppies are guarded and guarded not only by dad and mom. Other members of the pack also take part.
Kids live with their parents for a year and a half, then leave them, but not in all cases. Sometimes the younger generation stays in the family for a long time, so in a pack of dogsthere are cubs of different ages.
Bush dog: interesting facts
The more secretive animals are, the more we want to know about them. Bush dogs are rather peculiar animals, a lot of interesting things are known about them. They are excellent swimmers, showing themselves to be skilled divers.
When communicating with each other, they use a wide range of sounds: barking, howling, whining.
Representatives of this species, which are kept in the Lincoln Zoo, successfully practice their hunting skills on rats, mice and even pigeons.
The bush dog has an old English name that sounds like "hunting cave jackal".
Being excellent swimmers, during the hunt, dogs drive game into the water, where other members of the pack are waiting for them. This makes it easier for them to kill the victim.
Bush dogs never quarrel during the distribution of prey and willingly share it with each other.
There are many interesting and unusual living creatures in nature. The bush dog aroused general interest because it was considered extinct. Well, after all, the scientists were wrong, and these nimble animals live on our planet.
