MINDEN PICTURES – Munching Minerals

When animals feed primarily on fruits, nectar and leaves a huge hole is left in their diet – they need their minerals! Since taking a calcium supplement is not possible penguins and giraffes chew on bones, salt doesn’t come from a shaker so butterflies sip the tears of turtles and macaws ingest important trace elements like iron when they swallow chunks of clay. Why don’t you see any carnivores in this gallery? All the vitamins and minerals they need are already in their food.