Giraffe: Tallest Animal

When we try to look at this animal we can see that it is very different from other animals. It's different because of it's look having long neck, long legs and spotted patterns. Giraffes have small "horns" or knobs on top of their heads that grow to be about five inches long. These knobs are used to protect the head in fights.

                                      

                                                                 Photo credit: Google   

                                                                                                       

The giraffe is the tallest living animal, uniquely adapted to reach vegetation inaccessible to other herbivores. Giraffes have a distinctive walking gait, moving both right legs forward, then both left. At a gallop, however, the giraffe simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, reaching speeds of 35 miles an hour. It has unusually elastic blood vessels with a series of valves that help offset the sudden buildup of blood (and to prevent fainting) when the head is raised, lowered or swung quickly. Giraffe "horns" are actually knobs covered with skin and hair above the eyes that protect the head from injury.

The Giraffe is non-territorial and social; it lives in very loose, open herds with no specific leaders or coordination of herd mvement. This structure reflects that a giraffe's size makes a “safety in numbers” tactic unnecessary, and that the trees they feed on tend to be spaced apart. Dominance between males is established by “necking”- swinging heads at one another in tyest of strength.         

Photo credit: Google

Nursery groups of young animals are left alone together during the daywhile their mothers feed. The 6-foot-tall calf grows rapidly as much as an inch a day. By 2 months the young giraffe is eating leaves and at 6 months is fairly independent of its mother. A young giraffe can even survive early weaning at 2 or 3 vmonths. Although few predators attack adult giraffes, lions, hyenas and leopards take their toll on the young. Scientist reports that only a quarter of infants survive their first year of life.

Giraffes live in the savannas of Africa, where they roam freely among the tall trees, arid land, dense forests and open plains.

The giraffe's scientific name, which is similar to its antiquated English name of camelopard, refers to its irregular patches of color on a light background, which bear a token resemblance to a leopard's spots.

Male giraffes are larger than females. Males weigh between 2,400 and 3,000 pounds and stand up to 19 feet The giraffe's scientific name, which is similar to its antiquated English name of camelopard, refers to its irregular patches of color on a light background, which bear a token resemblance to a leopard's spots.tall! Female giraffes weigh between 1,600 and 2,600 pounds and grow to be 16 feet tall.Healthy giraffes live about 25 years in the wild.

This endangered animal attracts people because of it's different appearance and its beauty. We should take care of the animals like giraffe because they are a great contribution to our environment.

Resources:http//www.awf.org

http//www.kidsplznet.org

Dolphins: Intelligent Sea Creatures

During the field trip of my son, their teacher brought them to one of the spot where they watched the dolphins play. We've been their and we enjoy watching dolphins play. My son went home satisfied with what he had seen. He enjoyed the moment when he watched those intelligent dolphins played.

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. All dolphins are toothed whales belonging to the sub-order of the order cetacea.

There are different kinds of dolphins and most of them were intelligent enough to entertain people with their natural ability.

Here are some of their kinds: 

                                               Bottlenose dolphin

Photo credit: Google

Bottlenose dolphin, is the best known than any other kind of dolphin. It is most common dolphin along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It can also be found in every ocean throughout the whole world, and likes both warm and cool waters. These playful creature are intelligent and known for their disposition and agility. They live in a social groups called pods. A pod can vary in size 5to 100 dolphins in a group. Their color is grey, with the shades of grey varying among populations; can be bluish-grey, brownish-grey, or even nearly black; often darker on the back from the rostrum to behind the dorsal fin. What the bottlenose dolphin does is its beak, full of speed, into a shark. The slam has so much force that the shark's inside organs are damaged. After so many attacks only a couple of sharks can survive. The only way sharks can be sure that they have a dolphin as a meal is by sneaking up on them. This is the reason why scientists think that the 13-foot bottlenose dolphin sleeps with one eye closed. 

                                             Common Dolphins  

Photo credit: Google

        

Common dolphins, is highly sociable as are many other dolphins. Common dolphin is the most sociable though. They jump out of the water and then dive right back in perfectly. Not even humans can do that! Since they are very social sea mammals, they travel in school of three thousand. Common dolphins are colorful, with a complex crisscross or hourglass color patern on the side; the long-beaked common dolphin being more muted in color. When looking at the profile of the two common dolphin species, the short beaked common dolphin has a more rounded melon that meets the beak at a sharp angle, as compared to the long beaked common dolphin that has flatter melon that meets the beak at a more gradual angle.

                                                 

                                             Spinner Dolphin

Photo credit: Google

Spinner dolphins also travel with yellow tuna fish same with bottlenose and common do. Spinner dolphins are identified by the habit which gives them their name. They jump out from the water and spin like tops before diving back into the ocean. The Spinner dolphin is usually dark gray, with darker patches in the tail stock, back and throat. Usually it has a creamy-white patch on the belly, though this varies considerably. Their beaks are distinctively long and thin, with a dark tip. The fins, also, are lengthy for dolphins of this size.

These sea mammals which can give entertainment to the people should not be harm. Let's preserve them. Do them no harm for they are endangered species.

Resources: hawaii-bed-and-breakfast.blogspot.com

                     library.thinkquest.org

                     en.wikipedia.org

                            www.acsonline.org

                           www.earthtrust.org

Elephants:Biggest Useful Animals

Largest and useful animals which lives until now are the elephants. They are being used by the people to help them carry logs and travel people from place to place. It also make an awesome feature in a circus or zoo.


 People from places where elephants are common make use of them by pulling heavy objects. Elephants are not cruel animals they are a friendly and helpful animals.

Elephants are the largest animals now living. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the loungest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kgs. (260 lbs). They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years.

Photo credit: Google

                                                 

Many people hunt and kill elephant because of its tusks. Ussually in mammals tusks are enlarged canine teeth but in elephants they are actually elongated incisors. Tusks are essentially no different from other teeth. A third of the tusk is actually hidden from view, embedded deep into the elephant's head. This part of the tusk is a pulp cavity made up of tissue, blood and nerves. The visible, ivory part of the tusks is made of dentine with an outer layer of enamel.

Elephant ivory is unique which when viewed in cross-section reveals criss-cross lines that forms a series of diamond shapes. Elephants tusk never stop growing so some old bulls display enormous examples. However the average size of the tusks has decreased over the past hundred years because hunting elephants for their ivory has resulted in the 'big tusk gene' becoming increasingly rare.

Photo credit: Google

                                                         

An elephants' tusks are a blessing and a curse. Blessing because they give an elephants a true majesty that rise them above other animals as well and being of use for various tasks. A curse because man's avarice for ivory has led to the senseless slaughter of hundred of thousands of the magnificient animals.

This helpful animals needs our care. Though we are not animals care takers but we can take care of them by stop hunting them just to get their tusk. Love the elephant it can give you lots of help.

Resources:en.wikipedia.org

wiki.answers.com

www.eleaid.com

SNAKE: Wise Creature

Have you ever heard of a saying, Be wise as a serpent but harmless as a dove. Is it true that snake, (old name serpent) are wise creature? Absolutely yes. I agree with that. Snakes are wise animals because they have their own identity which made them wiser than other creature that were created by God.

Photo credit: google

Try to look at this snake. It seems that its just sleeping. Be careful, because its not  the way you look at it. The fact is that, it is just waiting for its victim. Waiting for some other animals to pass by for its meal. This is one of the trick of a snake. It appears to be sleeping in order to deceive passers by.

Looking back at the creation story that was written in the Bible in the book of Genesis, we can read that the snake being used by satan to tempt Eve. The serpent (snake) tempted Eve to eat the fruit ot the tree of knowledge of good and evil which God put in the middle of the garden and instructed Adam and Eve not to eat it. When you try to analize it, you can see how wise is this creature that it even allowed itself to be used by satan to tempt Eve, and Eve was carried out.

Photo credit: google

Snakes (serpent) are also good friends. Some people made them their pet. Like magicians, they have pet snakes and they are using them in their magic tricks. Some just love snake to be their pet, it even lie with them in their bed. They're not afraid of it.

How about you? Won't you try training a snake to be your pet? Just be careful, whatever the result it is you who made the decision. 

The World's Greatest Hunter

Lion: the “king of the Jungle” the title always given to a lion, as we often heard, seen and read. The roar of a lion makes other animals in the jungle tremble. Hearing this sound, they run to save themselves from this mighty ferocious hunter. It seems that when they hear the sound, the great hunter is coming and ready to hunt them to tear them in pieces, ready for meal.

The Mighty Lion

Lion is a carnivore (meat eater) and a hunter. It has its powerful forelegs to grab or slap down large prey that would otherwise outrun it. The jaws are short and strong with long canine teeth that are used to quickly kill the prey; either by biting the neck and strangling or by biting the nose and suffocating. The tongue upper surface has small bumps on it which enables the lion to hold on to meat while eating and to remove parasites when grooming. Its legs are short with very powerful muscles enabling it to sprint and bring down large prey. The ability to retract its claws helps in protecting them so they maintain their sharpness.

Lions are more social than most other cat species which are usually solitary by nature. They live in prides composed of three to thirty individuals, related adults females and their young. Each pride has its own social dominant hierarchy in which the weakest male ranks above all females. If a resident males are defeated by new males they will leave the pride and typically never returns.

The male rarely hunts with the pride, perhaps because its mane makes it too obvious.

The prey is eaten by all members of the pride. As each struggles to eat as much as possible, the fight erupt, growling, hissing, and paw swiping. The strongest eat most. Afterwards they all calm down and greet each other affectionately and peaceful cooperative life of the pride continues.

If a pride is taken over by a new male who has defeated the top resident male, he will mostly likely kill any existing cubs that are under 2 years old. This rapidly brings the females into breeding condition, ensuring that the strongest male gets to breed and continue his genetic line.

Lions not only great hunter but also have their own form of government because they know how to step down from their place if ever they are defeated. Sometimes human should learn from lions, we should know how to accept if ever we are defeated and lose, we should learn how to humble down like lions that eventhough they are fierce creature, yet learn to accept defeats in their life.

The Mighty Creation

Every creature that GOD created has its importance and we have something to learn from them.

Lion not only a great hunter but a mighty and strong creature in the jungle. Learn to love nature by preserving God's creature.

Resources:honolulu.org
wikipedia/google.com