【推荐1】Lots of young mammals and birds engage in behaviour that provides no obvious adaptive outcome such as access to food, shelter or a mate, is voluntary and rewarding in itself and appears to be conducted pleasantly when the animal is relaxed.

What about bumblebees (大黄蜂)? Apparently they play too, according to work just published in Animal Behaviour by Galpayage Dona and Lars Chittka. The idea of asking whether bumblebees like to play came to Chittka during a previous study in which he trained them to roll wooden balls around in order to gain access to food. He noticed that, during this experiment, they would often roll the balls for no apparent reason. They just seemed to enjoy it.

A perfect PhD project for an ambitious student. And Ms Galpayage Dona stepped up to the mark. She created an field, put pollen (花粉) and sugar solution in it to arrest the bees, and connected it via a plastic tube to a bumblebee nest in Dr Chittka’s laboratory. In one part of the field, nine of the balls were fixed to the floor. In another, the balls could be rolled around. Ms Dona tagged 45 bees, between one and 23 days old, so that they could be followed as individuals. She then opened the door to the field for three hours a day for 18 days and recorded on video what happened.

The recordings suggested that the bees did enjoy this experiment. All of the tagged bees rolled a ball at least once during the experiment. Most did so many times. One particular enthusiast managed 117 rolls. Overall, the camera recorded 910 incidents of ball—rolling by tagged insects. Also young bees played more often than old ones. All that they seemingly need now is some goalposts and a referee (裁判), and bumblebee social behaviour will take off to the next level.

【推荐2】Care for a zoom-in observation of animals with no bars between you and the observed opposed to ordinary zoos? Where to have close-up encounters with some of the world’s most rare animals? We are revealing for you.

Right whales, Bay of Fundy, Canada

Northern right whales are on the brink of extinction, but survivors arrive in the Bay of Fundy each summer (May through October) to feed east of Grand Manan Island. They are recognized by a broad back and no dorsal fin, which distinguish them from other whales entering the bay.

Planning: Whale-watching tours operate out of Digby Neck peninsula on Nova Scotia and nearby islands, such as Brier Island, St. Andrews, Grand Manan Island, and Deer Island.

Grizzly bears, Alaska, USA

Grizzlies like salmon. In mid-July and again in mid-August, grizzlies make for Alaskan rivers to hook out the fish with their formidable claws. The bears gather in large numbers at rapids and pools, sometimes fighting for the best sites. Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, and Fish Creek, near Hyder, have viewing platforms.

Planning: Most fishing sites are accessed by chartered light aircraft and a hike. Hyder is off the Stewart-Cassiar Highway.

Monarch butterflies, Sierra Chincua, Mexico

Each fall, millions of North American monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles to the oyamel fir forests of the Transvolcanic Mountain Range, in the state of Michoacán. They flock intimately on tree trunks, bushes, and on the ground, fully showing their gregarious nature and occupy Sierra Chincua and four neighboring hills that make up the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.

Planning: Chincua is one of two hills in the reserve open to the public from November through March.

Komodo dragons, Komodo Island, Indonesia

Landing on Komodo, you would feel like stepping back to a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, as park maps reported, “Here be dragons!” This mountainous volcanic island is home to the world’s largest living lizard – the Komodo dragon. Weighing 79 to 91kg, the Komodo dragon has a tail as long as its body. You can hike to a viewpoint at Banugulung and watch as park rangers feed food to the lizards, some of which are more than 10ft long.

Planning: Komodo is reached solely by boat from Bima (on eastern Sumbawa) or Labuan Bajo (on western Flores).

Wildebeest migration, Serengeti, Tanzania

Undoubtedly the world’s most spectacular wildlife sight is the annual wildebeest migration, when 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras and gazelles are on the move across the Serengeti plains. The animals are trekking to chase the clean water and fresh grass. Along the way, lions and hyenas stalk them, and crocodiles lie in wait.

Planning: The herds migrate across Tanzania from December through July, and then pass through the Masai Mara in Kenya in August and September.

【推荐3】Dogs have a different way of seeing the world compared to human beings. As a result of this, they heavily rely on their body language to pass their messages to people.     1     . You will be shocked at some of these signs from your dog, because believe it or not, there are some that you might have never thought of.

    2     when you see your dog raising its paw. This is a behavior displayed mostly by puppies and other small dogs. Whenever puppies want to eat, they will raise their paws or put them out for their mother. So when it does the same to you, it just means they need some attention and affection.

If you pay close attention to your dog, you will notice that at some point it will curl up just like a fox. In such cases, the paws will be curled up underneath their bodies and their tail will be well wrapped around them. This shows that the dog is probably feeling cold. Curling up helps them keep more body heat.    3    .

    4    . But unfortunately this mostly means that the dog lacks some important nutrients. It could also mean that they are trying to digest their food well considering how fibrous（含纤维的） grass is. You should also be very careful because this could also indicate that your dog has worms in their intestines（肠道） or is dehydrated and it is trying to get water from the grass.     5     .