The Giant Anteater never gets a chance to enjoy a meal. Nearly blind and armed only by his long, sticky tongue, he has to vigorously lick up his food - ants and termites - as fast as possible before the insects have a chance to bite him. As if that wasn't enough pressure, the anteater must find and consume up to 35,000 ants and termites each day to survive.
Anteaters are currently found only in South and Central America. However, people living in areas with ant or termite problems might wonder if they can't employ a few anteaters to feast on the troublesome critters in their town. This sounds logical, but the problem is that the anteater only eats a percentage of the ants from each mound he finds. He never destroys the ant beds themselves, preferring to leave them intact for a later meal.
So you probably won't see an anteater cleaning up your local baseball diamond any time soon. But in the meantime, here are a few fun facts about this funny-looking animal:
1) The anteater's closest relative is the sloth - ironic since anteaters are so busy.
2) Peter the Anteater is the mascot of the University of California, Irvine, but anteaters are not native to California.
3) Baby anteaters ride piggyback on top of their mothers for 9 to 10 months until they become independent.
4) Anteaters walk on their knuckles (as if they didn't have enough problems).
5) Male anteaters have hidden penises between their bladders and rectums, while female anteaters store their mammary glands in their armpits. Weird!
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