Tag archives for Wildlife
Posted by BOOK NAME: Scat
AUTHOR: Carl Hiaasen
Hi again blog readers! This is a review of my favorite book by Carl Hiaasen, Scat. It takes place in Florida near a huge swamp. Nick is the main character. His class goes on a field trip to the swamp. In the middle of the trip, a wildfire starts so everyone flees to the bus. Mrs. Starch, Nick’s teacher, goes back to the swamp to get Nick’s friend, Libby’s inhaler. The investigators think she is gone for good until the inhaler appears in Libby’s yard. The mystery of what happens to Mrs. Starch is really cool.
One of the reasons I like this book is because some of the characters are really likable. My favorite character is Twilly. He is very, very rich and he spends his money on donating wildlife preserves. He really stands up for what he believes in and doesn’t hesitate to show it. My other favorite character is Drake. I mostly like him because he adds humor to the book. He is the manager of an oil company in the area next to the swamp. He’s kind of foolish. He set up his business in Florida just so he can run the business while he spends his time water skiing!
Scat is one of the best books I have ever read. First of all, it’s about nature which I love. Also, it’s got some mystery, some great characters, some humor, and some interesting dialogue. I think you’ll really like it too.
Want another opinion? Read Jordan’s review!
Posted by Thanks to everyone who has left comments for us! Skimp27, the food is pretty much the same as the food we eat at home, but there’s a lot more seafood. The hotel is really nice. We love that we can walk right from the pool to the ocean, and it’s very close to cool sites. The drives to the activities are pretty short.
Emmie: This morning we departed our hotel after breakfast and drove to the Mastic Trail. It was a longer bus ride then the ones before, but the scenery was amazing! There were really pretty trees with gorgeous orange flowers, cows, and even a sign with “Goats for sale” written on it! We got to the trailhead, where we were met by our guides. We split into four groups–two each of parents and kids. Our tour guide was very interesting, talking about birds, plants, and the island’s history. A few minutes into the hike, our tour guide stopped and pointed out what looked like an ordinary fern. Then we looked closer. A tiny little snake lay curled up on the fern! It was amazingly camouflaged, looking exactly like the fern it sat on. Our guide explained that this was a ground boa-a very rare species of boa constrictor. It was so small, we could hardly believe that it was a boa! As we continued, he pointed out several species of toxic plants, including one that had fruit that could kill a horse. Needless to say, we gave those plants a wide berth. The trail became very rocky, so we had to look at the ground to make sure we didn’t trip. There were some tiny flowers that I doubt I would have noticed otherwise. They were lovely, and we got some great pictures.
A little further down the trail, we heard woodpeckers. The guide located the nest and told us that woodpeckers had been almost wiped out by Hurricane Ivan. I borrowed Kobie’s binoculars and saw a woodpecker feeding a baby chick. The woodpecker had a striped head and was amazing to view up close. However, since it was up a tree that was off the trail, it was very hard to photograph. Also hard to photograph were the swallowtail butterflies, which were very fast. I managed to capture one shot of a bright orange butterfly near Michael’s knee. After some more walking, the trail evened out. We came upon a mango tree, which had very small, yellow fruit. We took a few, which were very sweet and stringy. When we finished the two-mile hike (which took us two and a half hours because we kept stopping) we stepped gratefully into the air-conditioned busses and guzzled ice cold water.
Posted by BOOK NAME: Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas
AUTHOR: National Geographic
This is a book that I like. It’s called Nat Geo Wild Animal Atlas. I think it’s cool because it has lots of animals and tells you about the earth: where animals live, what continents they live on, and all kinds of maps.
The book tells about animals ecosystems which are ice caps, mountain, grassland, desert, forest, wetland, tundra, and coral reef.
In this book, it also tells what forest produces the most amount of oxygen–which is the Amazon rain forest in South America. The Amazon rain forest has spotted leopards, blue-and-yellow macaws, red-bellied piranhas, and green anaconda snakes which kill their prey by squeezing it to death.
In Africa, some of the animals you learn about are giraffes, elephants, hyenas, and wildebeests.
This book also tells about which animals are endangered and which are not. It also tells about which ecosystems are in which parts of the world.
The book shows a lot of pictures of animals, what they eat, and what they do. My favorite part of the book was looking at the maps of the continents to see which animals live where. This book would be good for ages 4-10.
Posted by The oil that began leaking with the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20th continues to spill into the gulf. This oil spill is now the worst in U.S. history.
The spill is taking a heavy toll on wildlife. More than 800 dead animals, including birds, fish, and dolphins, have been found in areas affected by the spill. The number of affected animals seems to have been increasing in the last few days.
Oil is hard to clean up. Try rubbing some olive oil and canola oil on your hair to see how hard it is to clean off. Now imagine trying to clean crude oil off your whole body using your mouth. Oil-coated birds are unable to keep the oil off their feathers, but while there is oil on their feathers they are unable to fly. Rehabilitators are trying to clean some of the birds by rubbing them with vegetable oil, which breaks down the heavier oil, and then washing them with detergents. Because the oil from the spill is toxic, not all cleaned birds will survive.
Scientists are not yet sure how the deaths of so many creatures will affect the Gulf ecosystem.
See more pictures of affected wildlife on National Geographic News.
Photograph by Win McNamee, Getty Images
Cady in the Canopy
Staying in the jungle for three days was like going to the best summer camp in the world. One side of our room was open to the trees, and it had a hammock in it! My favorite thing at the lodge in Puerto Maldonado, however, was the canopy tower. Standing 120 feet tall, it towered above the trees.
