Did you know?...
Hello, dear readers! Did you know every single Month from now on
Underrated-Canids will be celebrating a specific Canid from our
Allowed List in our Group? Since this is our Third Edition, we thought we would bring a Newsletter exploring the life of arguably one of the cutest yet strangest of all Canids, this being the
Bush Dog! . Every Month for our COTM (
Canid Of The Month) project we will be including a small contest, the theme being the best deviation in the Bush Dog section of our gallery. In addition, we have an array of amazing facts, videos and other media to share with you on the Bush Dog. We will keep you updated via blogs for the competition.
Before we get started want to know more about us and why we're doing this?...
So what is
Underrated-Canids all about you say? What's the goal of our Group? Well most have asked that question and we have given them all the same answer.
Underrated-Canids Is a Animal-based Group (Yes that means No Humans
allowed) that focuses
purely on promoting specific Members of the Canidae family. We feel these Members are Underrated/Overshadowed and deserve more recognition from the DeviantART Community. Our goal is to make people aware that these Animals
do exist and they
do need your your help in
promoting them.
With our Canid of The Month Newsletters, we hope to educate and entertain our Audience with interesting facts and resources from around the Internet, aswell as make it fun at the same time.
If you like our Group, don't hesitate to click on the
Join button at the top left of our Profile page. There are no requirements to join and we always value new Deviants to our Group.
Alternatively if you're unsure of joining us, you can always click on the
Watch button so you can keep up to date with any Group events we have.
Now! On with the show!
Bush Dog Facts
Type: Mammal
Diet: Typically carnivore, as they mainly eat rodents.
Average Size: Adults typically have 55–75 cm of head and body, plus 13 cm of tail, a shoulder height of 20–30 cm
Average Weight: 5–8 kg when fully grown
The Bush Dog (Speothos venaticus) is a small and rare Canid that has been described to have bear features at first glance (brown fur with small ears), though their common comparison has either been with otters or badgers. They have webbed feet, which is thought by many people that this is because they have adapted to their environment which is located near water. The fact that they are compared to otters in appearance is not entirely coincidental. Bush dogs do live in groups and do spend alot of their time in water, especially because they are exceptional swimmers. In the water, they will hunt large rodents such as the paca and capybaras.
Their habitat ranges from Panama in Central America southwards through northern South America in Columbia, Venezuela, the Guyanas and Brazil, extending to north-eastern Argentina, Paraguay, and the eastern parts of Bolivia and Peru. The Bush dog is one of two species that doesn't have any part in the fur trade. (The other Canid is the red wolf)
Bush dogs have proved far less ready to breed in captivity, and because of the status of this species (which is 'Near Threatened') , further research is needed to identify the difficulties which may be related to its social habits.
Little else is known about them. It is believed that females may have two periods of heat each year, and a tie may not necessarily occur during the mating in this species. Bush dogs excavate their own dens, although they will also often take over those dug by other species such as armadillos. Their young are thought to be born after a period of at least two months, with between four and six offspring forming a typical litter.
They are not hunted for their fur, although young are sometimes used as pets by the native Indians. These are said to behave rather like domestic dogs, readily rolling over to have their underparts tickled. The call of the bush dog is high-pitched and loud, and they can bark as well as squeal.
Random Fact:
Bush Dogs have been called "Compulsively Social" because of their close bonds in Groups.
Internet Images
Here is a small collection of amazing images that we found across the internet:
creepyanimals.com/wordpress/wp… www.photoradar.com/files/image… fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/201… www.publicdomainpictures.net/p… farm3.static.flickr.com/2436/3…
Bush Dog-Tube
This video shows the Bush Dogs exploring their zoo home, with a few interesting facts >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2TnnZ… 
This video shows the Bush Dog pack and how they interact with each other >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5keDr… The Bush Dogs are shown in a pack of four in an enclosure. It's sure cute to see them follow each other >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp2l8R… See the Bush Dogs use their noses to pick up scents and follow it's direction >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=APrA2q… A Bush Dog walking around it's cage, prompting the argument that such animals aren't always better off in captivity >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ZMBq…
Fame Corner
Johnny Carson, famous comedian and television presenter brought a Bush Dog onto his show; 'The Tonight Show'. It's a great clip, and you can find it here >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6KPcE…
Contest Info
Are you interested in a Bush Dog contest? All you have to do is draw, paint, model, build, sculpt or otherwise photograph, a Bush Dog and submit it to the
Bush Dog group folder
underrated-canids.deviantart.c…. The Contest starts today (
1st January 2012) You have until the
22nd of January to get your entries in, as we will post a blog on the 27th (and poll for the public to decide the overall winner) featuring the 6 final contenders, and on the 31st, announce the winner, who will receive
50 points! . Past Deviations are counted, so as long as you submit Bush Dog work to the Bush Dog Folder, you will be classed as participating! Just remember however that it is the Staff of U-C that pick the final six to enter the polls! So what are you waiting for, get submitting!!!
Example of Bush Dog work so far
:thumb134086771: :thumb172514158:
:thumb184320987:
:thumb199607764:
:thumb199609791:
:thumb199608453:
:thumb242684186: :thumb242684860:
:thumb199607764: :thumb220004482:
Affiliates that accept Bush Dog Art:
Here is a list of our Affiliates that accept Bush Dog Art we thought you might be interested in joining. Be sure to check each Affiliates' page as some Groups accept other animals aswell!
Previous COTM Newsletters
2nd Official Article featuring: The Maned Wolf
1st Official Article featuring: The Fennec Fox
Previous COTM Winner and Runners Up
The winner of the Maned Wolf Contest was Lhuin with:
And the runners up were:
:thumb257833878:
Well done to these three! And thank you to everyone else who entered!
2nd Official Article
1st Official Article
Bibilography and Credits
Bibliography:
Youtube:
Wikepedia:
Credits go to Staff Members:
Terry-L-T-Kitto katt315 HinataFox790 WolvenBird
Other Credits to:
We would also like to thank kalambo for making our Group banner and jvsef for cutting the banner down to individual thumbs to use for our Newsletter!
Internet images and Youtube Videos:
Internet images and Youtube Videos are Copyright to their natural owners. We don't own any of them!
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Sister Group: 
It's hard finding info about these guys.