Giant African Land Snails do not have teeth. Instead, they have a rough tongue called a radula, which has special ridges on it so the snails rasp their food rather than chewing or biting it. You can feel a snail rasping you. It is slightly rough, tickly sensation, not unlike the feeling of a cat licking you. It can't do you any harm. Some species (possibly Achatina iredalei) have sharper radulas than others. Snails seem to rasp most surfaces they come across. This appears to see what is edible.

Yes! Even though these animals may look cute and cuddly, they are wild animals. Even though it is more difficult to deal with animals that are aggressive, we want them to stay that way since it means that they probably have a better chance of surviving once we release them back to the wild. On rescues and in rehabilitation, we try not to give the animals the opportunity to bite; when they do so, it is usually done in self-defense, rather than the desire to attack.

Mosquitoes belong to a group of insects that requires blood to develop fertile eggs. Males do not lay eggs, thus, male mosquitoes do not bite. The females are the egg producers and "host-seek" for a blood meal. Female mosquitoes lay multiple batches of eggs and require a blood meal for every batch they lay. Few people realize that mosquitoes rely on sugar as their main source of energy. Both male and female mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, fruit juices, and liquids that ooze from plants.

No‚ the cows do not bite. In fact all the animals on the Farm are used to being cared for by school-aged kids‚ and therefore look at all children as their ‘friends’.

A variety of methods exist to reduce the possibility of tick bite and prevention is best achieved via some form of personal protection. People who bushwalk in tick infested areas need to use an insect repellent, particularly one containing the chemical DEET, and this should be applied regularly to clothing. Wearing light coloured clothing is useful as ticks can be more easily spotted. Bushland locations which are highly tick infested should be avoided. (BACK)

Treatment is the same as that for mosquitoes; cold water and ice can be useful to relieve itching, although ice should not be applied directly to the skin. A variety of commercial preparations can be obtained from the chemist including Eurax? and Stingose?. In severe cases, oral antihistamines may have to be administered and if symptoms persist, a physician should be consulted. (BACK)

Between 5 and 7 months of age, children usually bite other people when they feel discomfort around their mouths or when they are in pain caused by teething. Most often they bite their caregivers. Sometimes young babies bite their mother while breast-feeding. Children of this age learn not to bite as they see and hear the reaction of the person they have bitten. Between 8 and 14 months of age, children usually bite other people when they are excited.

A ferret that has been well treated and well bred should not bite or be vicious, but ferret play does involve mock combat, and a ferret will not know how hard they can play with you without hurting you. Ferrets have very thick skin, so when they play with each other, and drag each other around, they don't hurt each other. However, when they try to play with you this way, their play can be painful.

No. Very few species of midge bite and of those that do only a small number feed on humans. The worst biter is Culicoides impunctatus - the Highland Biting Midge. Other biting midges exist in Scotland such as Culicoides obseletus, the Garden Midge, however it is the Highland Midge that causes most problems.

a. This can vary, but males generally grow to around 12 to 18 lbs and females 8 to 12lbs. This may not sound much, but when you consider that the "average" domestic moggie is around 6-8 lbs, you begin to realise that these cats are generally, bigger.

a. Apart from the Burmese and Siamese colours, Maine Coons come in over 64 different variations! There are various coloured tabbies ? brown, silver, blue, red and cream as well as combinations ? blue silver, red silver, cream silver. Girls also come in tortie-tabby, which can be any of these colours. There are two tabby patterns, mackerel, which is like a tiger's stripes, and classic, which features more swirly markings.

While the Maine Coon and the NFC look alike at casual glance, they are truly very different cats when you look a bit closer. Some easy to spot differences are the profile (straight in the NFC, gently curved in the MC), the body shape (much longer in the MC than the NFC), and the face shape (a triangle in the NFC, a rectangle/wedge in the MC).

Many mammals carry rabies. In the western United States the Coyote, Gray Fox, and the Striped Skunk are the most common carriers of the rabies virus. Most bats are insectivorous which means that they eat insects. The Mexican Free-tailed bat is commonly found throughout the southwest U.S. A large colony of this species can consume over 200 tons of insects nightly. Other bats eat nectar, pollen, fruit, blood and even meat (i.e. frogs, fish, reptiles, and bats).

No, although large dragonflies if held in the hand will sometimes try to bite, but fail to break the skin. They have a lot of "folk names" which imply that they do (such as Horse stinger), but they don't use their egg-laying tube (ovipositor) for stinging. They also don't bite (people) but they are a fearsome predator of other flying insects.