Diet
The Indian pandolin is almost entirely insectivorous. The diet includes beetles, cockroaches, termites and possibly worms. This pangolin feeds on eggs, larvae, and adults, but eggs are the preferred choice. As it is nocturnal, it uses its sense of smell when digging to reach nests or mounds and when foraging. When these pangolins forage, they mostly do it on the ground, but, as seen in the rainforest canopy of Sri Lanka, arboreal ants may be preyed upon. They tear apart and dig into mounds by using their three centre claws on their fore feet. The animal uses its hind feet to throw loose soil backwards. When digging deep into or under mounds, they move out backwards to expel soil with their fore feet. When feeding, the pangolin's rostral part of the tongue is quickly inserted and withdrawn to capture prey. This movement is also used for drinking.
Read more about this topic: Indian Pangolin
Famous quotes containing the word diet:
“I learned from my two years’ experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one’s necessary food, even in this latitude; that a man may use as simple a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength.... Yet men have come to such a pass that they frequently starve, not for want of necessaries, but for want of luxuries.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty—the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The pills are a mother, but better,
every color and as good as sour balls.
I’m on a diet from death.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)