A Note on the Latex Licking Habit of Five striped and Three striped Palm Squirrels

2007·1 MB·

by  Satish Kumar Sharma

Journal of Lhe Bombay Natural History Society, 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007 82-123
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
A NOTE ON THE LATEX LICKING HABIT OF FIVE-STRIPED
I .
AND THREE-STRIPED PALM SQUIRRELS
1
Satish KumarSharma2
'Accepted February 22, 2005
foundation for Ecological Security, 18, New Ahinsapuri, Fatehpura, Udaipur 313 001. Rajasthan, India.
Email: [email protected]
Information about the food habits of the
Five-striped Palm Squirrel (Funambulus pennanti) and
Three-striped Palm Squirrel (F.palmarum) comes from the
workofBalasubramanian 1989, 1995), BarnettandPrakash
(
(1975),GuptaandAgarwal(1968),Harit(1996),Mathewand
Lukose(1995),Prater(1980),SadakathullaandKareem(1995)
and Tiwari (1990). These squirrels primarily feed on fruits,
nuts, young shoots, buds and bark. The Five-striped Palm
Squirrel sometimesalsofeedson birds(Harit 1996; Mathew
andLukose 1995;Tiwari 1990);theThree-stripedPalmSquirrel
even feeds on nectar and insects (Balasubramanian 1989;
Prater 1980). Cannibalism has been recorded in both the
Five-striped(GuptaandAgarwal 1968)andThree-stripedPalm Fig. 1: Positionontheabaxialsurfaceoftheleaf
of Ficusbenghaiensislickedbysquirrels
Squirrels(SadakathullaandKareem 1995).
During my field studies in various parts ofRajasthan, latex from the leaves of Ficus benghaiensis. The latex is
Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnatakabetween 1996 and procuredfromthefurcatingpointofbasalveinsattheabaxial
2005 (Table 1),IfoundF.pennantiandF.palmarum licking surfaceofleaves(Fig. 1). Boththesquirrelsmovequicklyon
Table 1: Details of latex licking of Ficus benghaiensis leaves by striped squirrels
Date of observation Locality of observation No. of leaves licked
Funambulus pennanti
30.viii.1996 Brahminoka-Khairwara (Jhadol tehsil, Udaipur district, Rajasthan) 400
1.ix.1996 Madri (Jhadol tehsil, Udaipurdistrict, Rajasthan)* 1000
29.viii.2002 Polo Forest (Vanaj, Gujarat) 700
27.xi.2004 Patauda (Jhajjar district, Haryana) 249
10.xi.2004 Chitrawas (Gogunda tehsil, Udaipur district, Rajasthan) 100
3.i.2005 Banswara (Rajasthan) 200
Funambulus palmarum
26.ix.2004 Kokkanti Cross (Kadiri taluka, Annantpur district, Andhra Pradesh) 100
26.ix.2004 Thimmama Merry Manu (Kadiri taluka, Annantpurdistrict, Andhra Pradesh)** 500
27.xi.2004 Royalpadu (Kolar district, Karnataka) 295***
* Largest Banyan tree of Rajasthan
** Largest Banyan tree of the world
*** Only very young leaves were not licked
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
theextremitiesofbranchletstolickthelatexfromeverymature The latex probably provides nutrition to squirrels; it
leaf. A gentle gnawing and/or licking at the vein furcating seems thatthe squirrels procure water, minerals andorganic
point of the leaf initiates the flow of latex. Once the latex nutritionfromthelatex.
beginsto How, thesquirrelslickitandgotoanotherleafand
this action is then repeated. A scar oT dried latex could be ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
seen on the underside ofevery licked leaf. The fresh scars
are whitish, while old dried scars are dirty white or black. Iamgrateful toMr. Jagdeesh Rao,ExecutiveDirector,
Presenceofalatex-scarontheundersideofaleafisindicative FoundationforEcologicalSecurity(FES),Anand;Mr. Dinesh
of it having been tapped by a squirrel. This behaviour of Reddy, Dr. Subba Rao and members of FES-Chintamani,
squirrels is commonly seen in various parts ofthe country MadanapalleandUdaipurforextendinghelpduringthefield
(Table 1). studies.
Balasubramanian, P. (1989): Nectar feeding by Three-striped Palm sp. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 93(1): 84.
Squirrel Funambulus palmarum at Point Calimere Wildlife Mathew, K.L. &C.Lukose(1995): Five-stripedSquirrel Funambulus
Sanctuary,Tamil Nadu. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 86: 437. pennanti(Wroughton)feedingonfledglingHouseSparrowPasser
Balasubramanian, P. (1995): Some notes on the fruits, seeds and domesticus. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 92(2): 256.
nectar consumed by Three-striped Palm Squirrel Funambulus Prater. S.H. (1980): The Book of Indian Animals. Bombay Natural
palmarum at Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary. Tamil Nadu. History Society and Oxford University Press. Mumbai. Pp. 1-
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95(2): 256-258. 324.
Barnett,S.A.& I.Prakash(1975):RodentsofEconomicImportance Sadakathulla,S.&A.A. Kareem(1995):CannibalisminsouthIndian
in India.Arnold-Heinemann,NewDelhi andLondon. Pp. 1-175. Palm Squirrel Funambuluspalmarum. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc.
Gupta, P.D. & V.C. Agarwal (1968): Cannibalism in Five-striped 92(1): I 13-114.
Squirrel Funambuluspennanti. Sci. Cult. 34: 185. Tiwari, J. (1990): Five-striped Squirrel Funambulus pennanti
Harit,D.N.(1996):UnusualfeedingbehaviourofsquirrelsFunambulus (Wroughton) killing birds. J. BombayNat. Hist. Soc. 87: 137.
2. STRANDING OF A SPERM WHALE PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS (LINNAEUS 1758)
ON THE CHENNAI COAST
1
K. Venkataraman2-3, M.C. John Milton2 4and K.P. Raghuram2-5
'Accepted March 07, 2005
-Marine Biological Station, Zoological Survey of India, 130, Santhome High Road, Chennai 600 028, Tamil Nadu, India.
’Email: [email protected]
''Email: [email protected]
"Email: [email protected]
WhalesarethemostdominantmarinemammalsofOrder onthepresenceofteethorbaleenplates,whalesareclassified
Cetacea. They are mostly denizens of temperate and polar astoothed(Odontoceti)orbaleenwhales(Mysticeti).Toothed
oceanic waters, but they do migrate to tropical waters for whales mostly feedonfishes andcephalopods, while baleen
breedingand/orescapingextremeclimaticconditionsduring whales mostly feed on plankton such as euphausids, by a
certainseasons(CorbettandHill 1992).However,notallwhales filter-feeding mechanism, and sometimes pelagic fishes and
thataredenizensoftemperateandpolaroceanicwatersmigrate cephalopods(Bensam andMenon 1996).
to tropical waters, e.g. the Bowhead Whale Balaena
mysticetus Bryde’s WhaleBalaenoptera edeni are believed StrandingofaSpermWhaleontheChennaiCoast
,
toliveprimarily intropicalandsubtropicalwatersalltheyear A Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus Linn, was
round. There is no evidence of their migration away from stranded on the Chennai coast, behind Napier’s Bridge
these regions. The body ofthe whale is protected by a thick (13°06'N,80°18'E),intheearlyhoursofJanuary21,2002. It
layer of oil rich blubber beneath the skin, which acts as a wasamale,measuringabout995cm long,andweighingabout
thermal insulator, a store ofenergy forlong migrations, and 3tons.Theanimalhadinjuriesthroughoutthecaudal region,
plays an important role for maintaining its hydrostatic which could have been caused by the propeller of fishing
buoyancy. Whalesare usuallyfoundintheupperfew metres boats. Ingeneral,however,theanimalwasingoodcondition
ofthesea,butarecapableofextensivedeepdives.Depending withallspecificcharacteristicfeatures.
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (1), Jan-Apr 2007 83