Natural Pest Control

Saturday-Sunday, December 28-29, 2024

Natural Pest Control

Today’s special animal friend is the southern tamandua, Tamandua tetradactyla. Also known as the collared anteater or the lesser anteater, this species is in the same family is the more famous giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, but not in the same genus. All of them are in the order Pilosa, which also includes sloths. The southern tamandua is native to the Amazon basin of South America and the Caribbean island of Trinidad, which is scenic.

The southern tamandua is a species of Least Concern to IUCN. It has low population density but a very wide range. It eats ants, termites, and bees and can adapt to a variety of habitats, from undisturbed rainforest to post-logging regrowth to dry savannahs. They prefer areas near streams or rivers, but they can be found in both dry and rainy ecosystems and at altitudes up to 5,200 feet.

The southern tamandua is much smaller than the giant anteater and somewhat smaller than its cousin, the northern tamandua, Tamandua mexicana. The size of southern tamanduas varies widely depending on where they live. They have a head-body length of 13 to 35 inches and a tail length of 15 to 26 inches. Their tails are prehensile. They weigh from 4 to 18 lbs. Males and females are the same size. Their sticky tongues are about 16 inches long.

They have four claws on their front feet and five on the back. To avoid sticking their claws into their own feet, they walk on the side of the foot. They are mainly, but not entirely, nocturnal. They roost in hollow trees or the burrows of other species such as armadillos. They are clumsy on the ground but agile in the trees.

Southern tamanduas are solitary except when mating. Females have a 42-day estrous cycle, usually in the fall. Gestation lasts from 130 to 190 days. I assume this depends on the subspecies and its individual habitat. They have one baby at a time; it remains with its mother for up to a year, usually riding on her back as she seeks insects among the branches.

Predators of southern tamanduas include jaguars, pumas, margays, large raptors, large snakes, ocelots, foxes, caimans, and domestic dogs. Tamanduas defend themselves with their large front claws. In the trees, they grip a branch with their hind feet and prehensile tail and use their front feet to fight. They also hiss threateningly and release an unpleasant-smelling musk to discourage predators.

The average lifespan of southern tamanduas is nine years. They are kept in zoos, and there has been some success at breeding them in the United States, including in Los Angeles and Nashville. There is some demand in the exotic pet trade, which is dumb. In Amazonia, locals sometimes encourage them to stay around the house and eat insects.