Animal Alphabet, A through F

 A New Animal Alphabet by John Martin
 

The ALBATROSS Can fly across
The sea in ninety days.
It is agreed
That such a great speed
Entitles him to praise.

 

The BEAVER'S bite

Must be a fright

If properly inflicted.

If he bites me

I hope to see

Him speedily convicted.

 

The sand-hill CRANE

Is very vain

Of his ability

To stand a week 

Out in the creek

On one extremity.

The first of four sheets for the illustrated Animal Alphabet.

A fearful beast, 
To say the least,
Was the ancient DINOSAURUS.
He was so great,
We're fortunate
He died long years before us. 

The slippery EEL

Would doubtless feel

Sincere humiliation,

Should you mistake

Him for a snake;

They're really no relation.

It seems to me

The little FLEA

Is very justly hated.

I know that I'd

Be satisfied

Had he not been created.

1rst and 2nd and 3rd and 4th pages

Beaver: 12 Facts About

"As busy as a beaver." 

       The beaver is a small, furry animal, whose industry has passed into a proverb and has been the subject of many literary allusions. "As busy as a beaver" is a compliment to a man and a tribute to this little gnawing animal.

1. The beaver was once common in all northern latitudes, but trappers preyed incessantly upon it for its valuable fur, and it is now necessary to protect it by law in many places.
2. The beaver usually lives in North America, but it occurs solitary in central Europe and Asia.
3. It has short ears, a blunt nose, small forefeet, large webbed hind feet and a flat tail covered with scales on its upper surface.
4. The food of the beavers consists of the bark of trees, leaves, roots and berries. 
5. Their favorite haunts are rivers and lakes which are bordered by forests.
6. In winter they live in houses, about three feet high and seven feet across, substantially built of branches of trees and of mud, on the water's edge so that the entrance can be under water.
7. These dwellings are called beaver lodges, and each accommodates a single family.
8. The teeth of beavers are very strong, and they cut down quite large trees by gnawing around them.
9. Trees around them are felled for food, and also that their branches may be used in building their houses.
10. Beavers are most peculiar, in that sometimes many families work together in communities practically as one. If the stream on which they have located is not deep enough, or if the water does not cover land enough for them, the colony will unite and build an ingenious dam of wood, stones and mud across the stream.
11.  In the pond thus created, each member has its own home.
12. The beavers hold among animals somewhat the same position the bees have among insects, in this remarkable instinct of working in common.

More About Beavers From The Web:

• How Beavers Build Dams by PBS
• Rescue Beaver Loves Building Dams in His House
• Beavers As Engineers from the dollcoloringbook.blogspot