Friday, August 10, 2007

How Your Pets Get Around

Article Title: How Your Pets Get Around
Author: Renske Buursma

Have you ever sat and really watched your pets? Maybe you have
a cat or a dog. Perhaps you have a lizard, a snake or some fish
in a tank. Watching your pets can be very interesting. You can
see that they all get around differently then the other. We, as
people, walk upright on just two legs.

When we walk, we can feel the weight of gravity pulling our
bodies down. Animals can feel that, too, and you can tell by
watching them move around.

Cats and dogs move around pretty much in the same way, on all
four legs. They have their front legs and their hind (back
legs) which work against gravity to keep the body up and moving
with the work of their legs.

Spiders can move more easily as they tend to have longer legs
proportionate to their bodies and they have four sets. You will
see that they move much more graceful and faster then most, as
they sneak up on their prey.

Fish, on the other hand, have a fascinating life as their body
weight is supported almost completely by water. How fast they
move depends on what their body is shaped like. Looking at your
fish in the fish tank will give you an idea of what life would
be for a fish in the ocean.

A whale, for instance, moves rather slowly but gracefully,
taking their time as their bodies are large and their fins are
small. On the other hand, a dolphin has a streamlined body so
they can swim easily up to 20 miles per hour. Both of these
mammals, and they move their bodies up and down rather then side
to side, like most fish, to swim as their tails are horizontal.


Snakes have no legs at all and have to slither their bodies
along to move around. This is a great way to travel around as
they can move very quick, allowing them to catch such prey as
rabbits, field mice, rats or what ever their fancy may be.

Lizards can vary greatly in their speed when they move around.
A small lizard such as a newt or a salamander will move very
quickly on their four legs where a larger lizard such as a
komodo dragon or an alligator will move very fast but they can
not turn as well as their bodies are larger. No matter what
kind of animal you have, you can learn a great deal from
watching your pet get around.

About The Author: Renske Buursma, pet store owner with lots of
helpful articles and a free newsletter about pet care at
http://yourhealthypetsonline.com

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