Amazing animals: Turtles, snakes, bears survive unique conditions

Young people who attended programs at the Wauconda Area Library wanted to know more about animal adaptations. "Why are turtles so slow?" "Why do snakes slither like they do?" "How do animals survive in the frigid conditions like the Antarctic and surrounding oceans?"

Exhibits at the Brookfield Zoo include each of these animal species. A major focus of the work in zoos is to gain a better understanding of the world's animals and provide needed support in the event habitat destruction, disease or other concerns create a potential for species loss.

Andy Snider, curator of herps and aquatics for the Chicago Zoological Society that operates Brookfield Zoo, collaborated with Lincoln Park Zoo to preserve ornate box turtles and reintroduce them to their native sand prairie habitat in western Illinois.

Now that it's finally spring, "All these animals are now emerging. You can see turtles basking on nice days and snakes coming up at this time," Snider said.

In response to the reader question about slow turtles, Snider said, "Turtles are not that slow. If you think about their lifestyle, they don't have to be fast."

Most turtles eat grass and plants - speed isn't a necessary part of refueling. They wear protective armor covering their bodies, and can even pull their heads inside their shells, so they don't need to elude prey.

"If it's a water turtle, they can be fast, and can move a fast as 3 to 4 miles per hour," Snider said.

Snakes are actually fast. In order to capture prey, they strike using their upper bodies, reaching speeds that match a race car on a drag strip.

"They've adapted to move without legs, with only a certain part of their body on the ground," Snider said.

He detailed the various movements snakes use to slide their scales into motion: serpentine using wavy motion; rectilinear using a straight motion; concertina in which they push off the front scales and rest the back end, then push off the back and rest the front; and sidewinding - throwing their head over with their bodies following.

"Their belly scales are attached to muscles used to create motion," he said.

Snakes may have had two hind legs when they first roamed the earth more than 90 million years ago, although more research is needed to find out for sure. The gene that prompts legs to emerge exists in snakes but is nonfunctioning.

Keeping warm is the key to survival for animals living in the frigid temperatures of Antarctica. Though she's been to Africa quite a few times to observe animals in their native habitats, Senior Curator of Mammals Amy Roberts yearns to make the trek to the Antarctic along the southern polar circle, where the average temperature is -55 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Mammals use many strategies to retain heat in the Antarctic," Roberts said.

Marine mammals migrate to the warmer areas. Some Arctic animals grow heavy layers of fur, feathers or blubber, such as polar bears, penguins and seals. Many have small appendages, such as ears and tails, to reduce exposure to the cold. They eat high-energy, meat-based foods.

"Some even build tunnels and use insulation to create microenvironments to keep them warm, like the arctic fox," Roberts said. Roberts explained why polar bears aren't quite white in color but appear almost iridescent. "They have black skin that absorbs the heat of the sun, and hollow hair that gives them insulation like a pillow. The light bounces off the hollowness of their hair and helps them retain heat."

Learn more about these amazing animals at the Brookfield Zoo.

Backstage Adventures, such as "Hanging with the Herps," and zoo camps invite youth ages 4 through eighth grade to experience all the zoo's animal populations. See www.czs.org for more information.