The Odd Zoo

Everyone loves the zoo here at Homeschoop! So we added some new creatures in colorful varieties and with familiar sounding names.  See if you recognize any of them...

AND!  We have three surprise 'pets' at our zoo that are pretty cool.  You'll get a kick out of them.  

The Dugong - by Black Bear

Dugongs are mammals. The dugong is related to the dolphin. It is most closely related to the extinct Steller's sea cow. They look similar to the manatee but have some differences. Unlike the manatee, the dugong never ventures into fresh water. They live in salt water where they feed on sea grasses. Dugongs live in both the Indian and Pacific oceans. They are found off the coast of Austrailia, Madagascar, Thailand, Indonesia and even Japan. The dugong and the manatee also have different types of tails. The dugong has a tail more like a whale and the manatee tail is paddle-like. Dugongs have tusks. Dugongs can live to be over 70 years old in the wild if they have the right habitat and are not threatened by humans. I found a fun song about dugongs on youtube when we searched dugongs on the internet. The only problem with the song is that it says that dugongs and manatees are the same thing, but they aren't. I still wanted to share the song because it's just fun! Make sure you have your mom's permission to watch and BEWARE...this song will get stuck in your head for days!

Information found at www.sirenian.org/dugong.html Video found at youtube.

The Rhinocerous--by Red Fox

Rhinos are very cool and  fierce animals.  They are really big.  The tallest are six and a half feet tall and weigh 8,000 pounds at the heaviest.  They like to eat plants.  They don't even touch meat.  They have very thick bones.  Their legs are the thickest.  Their bones have to be able to hold up their weight.

There are five types of Rhinos:  Black, White, Indian, Javan, and Sumatran.  Their horns are made directly out of hair and are very tough.  Their horns are attached loosely so that they can fall off if they hit something too hard and get stuck.  Some people like to hunt them and kill them for their horns.

When  a rhino is about to be attacked by surprise by a tiger, the rhino can tell because it sees out of the corner of it's eye.  So it jabs it's horn into the tiger as it leaps and skewers the tiger.

A rhinoceros' eyesight is very poor.  They may charge at things just to be on the safe side to make sure it is something friendly.  Their eyesight is so bad that sometimes people see them charging at rocks and trees.

I'd like to have a pet Rhino, but before I could even pet it, I'd be squished.

Source:
Zoo Books: Rhinos, July, 1997

Animal Off Results

The Animal-Off was a close race.  Here are the results after being alphabetized and tallied in Excel.

Out of a possible 40,000,000 animals, we have:

First Place:
Red Fox:  131 (excluding duplicates, fictionals and fakes)


Second Place:
Black Bear:  126

Great job guys!!  You know a lot of amazing animals.  I'd love to see you both write about one of these animals this week and post it as an article for your blog!

--Mama Fox

A Challenge

I challengeth you, Black Bear, to a duel, called:  THE ANIMAL OFF!

On Friday, you shall post as many animal/creature/insect names as you can into a single blog (on your page), without looking at any resources--google, dictionaries, magazines, etc... AND without asking for help.  You may have help with spelling or typing.  But nothing else.  You have until then to study as much as you can.

I'll do the same and follow the same rules.  We can tally the score on Saturday.

Do you except this challenge?

Sincerely,
Red Fox