So before I knew it I was writing about Toto and her brother Silver's nocturnal adventures around London. Like a lot of cat owners (or cat servants), we like to imagine our pets having secret lives when we're out or asleep. One of them, Toto, has been blind from birth, but we quickly realised she had ninja-like reactions. Can they find the giant snake, before it's too late?ĭermot says: 'The idea for Toto first came to me when my wife and I rescued two stray cats from an olive grove in Italy. One evening, news reaches Toto that a king cobra has escaped from London Zoo! Together with help from a very posh rat and two hungry tigers, Toto and Silver must investigate. By day, Toto and Silver seem to be ordinary cats, but by night, they love to have adventures! Toto is almost totally blind, and learned to trust her senses from a ninja cat-master who taught her back in Italy where they were born. Toto the cat and her brother Silver live footloose and fancy-free in a townhouse in London. For fans of The Aristocats, The Secret Life of Pets, 101 Dalmatians and Atticus Claw Breaks the Law. Biotropica, published online Apdoi: 10.1111/btp.Meet Toto: she's no ordinary cat, and she can't wait to have an adventure with you! Join Toto for a funny animal escapade written by one of the UK's best-loved broadcasters. Observations and description of a rare escape mechanism in a snake: Cartwheeling in Pseudorabdion longiceps (Cantor, 1847) (Squamata, Colubridea). ![]() The team’s paper appears today in the journal Biotropica.Įvan Seng Huat Quah et al. ![]() “We believe that this behavior may be more widespread in other small snake species, especially members of the subfamily Calamariinae, but the lack of records is probably an artifact of the challenges in detecting and observing these secretive species.” “We were excited when we successfully captured images that documented cartwheeling behavior in this species,” Dr. In addition to identifying a complex defense mechanism used by the dwarf reed snake, the authors also provide insights into the kinetic abilities of snakes. “Some snakes also use passive rolling, but we observed that the dwarf reed snake performs active cartwheeling by repeatedly launching the coils of its body into the air and rolling down inclines.” Evan Seng Huat Quah, a researcher at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and colleagues. “Typical defense mechanisms that small snakes use against predators include fleeing, camouflage, coloration, odors, death-feigning, and intimidation,” said lead author Dr. Individuals of this species have been observed a number of times to cartwheel in an attempt to evade capture, particularly if they are placed on a smooth substrate. Some specimens may have a pale yellow collar at the back of the head. Its color varies from black, brown to reddish-brown and it is iridescent in strong sunlight or camera flash. ![]() It ranges from southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore to the islands of Borneo, Sumatra and Sulawesi. One of the smallest reed snakes, it inhabits mainly forested areas hiding under logs, rocks or leaf litter. The dwarf reed snake is a nocturnal snake species in the subfamily Calamariinae of the family Colubridae. ![]() Cartwheeling behavior of the dwarf reed snake ( Pseudorabdion longiceps).
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