Thrifty Scissors: Search results for giraffe

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Monday, September 16, 2024

The Giraffe

The giraffe is the tallest animal on Earth.

       The Giraffe is the tallest of all animals, not excepting the elephant.This is chiefly due to its wonderful neck. A full-grown giraffe often exceeds twenty feet. On the top of its head are two curious bones. They are an out- growth from the skull and not horns, as you might think. Also, farther down on its forehead is another bone growth, somewhat like the small horn of the unicorn. Its white skin is oddly marked with brown patches, which really serve as a protection, for when standing near a tree-trunk the colors match so well that it is hard to see a giraffe. The skin is also very thick, and tough enough to turn a rifle-bullet, unless it is well aimed. The Zulus used to make their war-shields from the hide of the giraffe. The tongue is long and thin, and as its owner feeds upon leaves it is of the greatest use to pick out just those that it wants. Its eye is of a dark brown color, and is mild and pleasing. The giraffe, like the kangaroo, is silent, never uttering a sound, even after it has been badly wounded. In spite of its long legs it is not a swift runner, but at the same time it defends itself and keeps off the hyena, jackal, and other small animals by kicking all around with lightning speed. When one thinks of the range of a giraffe's heels, it is clear that they might become formidable.
       A hunter on one occasion watched a lion creeping toward a fine old bull giraffe, but just as it was about to spring its victim must have caught sight of it, and like a flash the giraffe sprang round and kicked furiously. One blow caught the lion full in the chest, and to the hunter's surprise, the "king of beasts " beat a hasty retreat. This giraffe had a fearful wound in its flank, where the claws of the lion had struck it, but, on the whole, it seemed well pleased with its work.
       On another occasion three lions were seen to steal toward a small herd of giraffes, and singling out one bull, they all attacked it together. One lion sprang on its flank and was immediately kicked off, but before the giraffe could gain any advantage another lion sprang on its back. The giraffe made a frantic struggle to reach the forest, but before it could get far the third lion sprang upon its neck, and the first lion, which had been kicked off, hung on its flank again. By their combined weight they managed to pull their victim down. Few animals could have withstood the attack of three lions for such a length of time.
       The giraffe causes much fun in the zoological gardens by stealing the artificial flowers from the tops of the ladies' hats. The visitors stand near the enclosure thinking they are safe, but forget that the creature's long neck enables it to reach clean over the railings. The giraffe is good-tempered, and soon gets to know its keepers.

More About Giraffes:

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Lion, King of The Beasts

Lioness and her cubs nursing.

First comes the Lion, the king of the beasts. The only remaining stronghold of this largest animal of the cat species is in Central Africa. The time was when it wandered through Persia, Syria, and India, but owing to strong persecution it has almost vanished out of Asia.

The lion is an open-country hunter. It is to be found, as a rule, in the long grass and bush-lands, or on the outskirts of the deserts. Its color is a beautiful yellowish-brown, which matches its surroundings so perfectly that it is enabled to steal upon its prey unseen. A favorite trick of the lion is to lie in wait upon some rock near a path where deer and antelope pass on their way to drink. Its color here again serves to keep it concealed, for it lies so still that even the timid deer are deceived, and do not see their enemy crouching in ambush. As the deer pass by, the lion springs among them and drags a victim down.

The lion has earned his regal title from his strength. It is said that a full-grown male will attack and pull down a buffalo. It easily drags the body of the largest horse over the roughest ground. When a lion makes an attack it springs upon its victim's neck, and at the same time deals a fearful blow with its paw.

Many are the stories told showing this trait, and one of the most interesting comes from the late Dr. Livingstone:

''A number of natives had found a lion concealed in a long grass swamp. Forming a circle, they closed slowly in, beating tom-toms all the while. As the circle became very narrow, the lion suddenly broke cover with a roar, and made off for the nearest shelter. The natives scattered right and left, but one man, unable to get away quickly enough, was knocked down by the lion. When the hunt was over .the doctor returned expecting to find the man only stunned, when, to his surprise, he found his shoulder broken and his skull crushed like an egg-shell from the blow he had received.''

The lion is not a sneak like the tiger, for instead of seeking cover it comes boldly out into the open, and it is killed that much easier. An instance of the nature of the lion is here shown in the following story:

A hunter camping in Abyssinia was one evening surprised when a native told him that a few minutes before he had passed quite close to a full-grown lion. "You were not afraid?" asked the hunter. "No," replied the native. "Why should I be? The lion never attacks us unless he is very hungry or annoyed."

Barbary Lion roaring at dawn.

This last story shows an odd trait in the lion's character. The lion has no desire to interfere with man; in fact, one never hears of a man-eating lion. Why this should be nobody has ever yet been able to say for certain. Many hunters claim that should a man fall into a lion's clutches and be killed, the body will not be eaten, although the lion may have fearfully mangled it in its rage. The natives say that the white man's flesh' is distasteful to the lion.

With regard to the lion not being a sneak, there are always exceptions to prove the rule, for while it does not hesitate to boldly raid a cattle corral in broad daylight, there are times when it prefers to sneak upon its prey. A story showing this comes from a young man who had recently taken service in South Africa :

He left his camp, one fine evening about dusk, for a stroll, and, passing near a small pond, he sat down on the edge. Suddenly looking across, he saw three pairs of green eyes on the other side watching him. Being new to the country, he did not at once realize his danger. The eyes belonged to lions who had come there to drink, who, on seeing him, divided, coming round the pond slowly, and creeping toward him. The young fellow, who was smoking, placed his pipe beside him on the rock, and as he turned to watch the eyes he upset it into some dry grass, which took fire at once. The lions, thus exposed to view, glared at him, and then turned tail and made off, like great skulking cats. Needless to say that was the last evening stroll the young man took while in those parts.

The lions set a bad example to the rest of the animal kingdom, for they are very quarrelsome. Two or three lions will combine to attack a rhinoceros or buffalo, but afterward they will always fight over the division of the spoil, and not infrequently one of the lions that has helped to gain the victory will be driven off without getting a share. A hunter once wounded a giraffe, but before he could fire a second shot the giraffe rushed off over a hill-side. The hunter followed as fast as he could, and to his astonishment he found the giraffe in a deadly combat with some lions. After making frantic efforts to get away, the bullet took effect and the giraffe fell dead. The lions, thinking that they had gained an easy victory, had a grand battle between themselves for the possession of the carcass.

Great authorities on Africa are of the opinion that the lion will become extinct within the next hundred years, unless it is strictly protected. In spite of the fact that the lioness gives birth to six or seven cubs at a time, these animals are steadily vanishing before the advance of man. For the hunters of big game it will be a pity when this mighty beast no longer roams the desert, or breaks the stillness of the tropic night with its deafening roar.

Lions signal their authority and ownership of a place by roaring.

Lion Dynasty: A Matter of Pride by Love Nature

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Thirty Feet! How Many Do You Know?

Just as a good shoemaker makes shoes to fit the feet, nature make feet to fit the needs of each individual animal. How many of these feet could you name? They are, from left to right, top to bottom: Horse, Elephant, Eagle, Ostrich, Camel; second row - Chimpanzee, Tiger, Duck, Water Shrew, Lizard, Tiger, Beetle; third row - Sloth, Bear, Locust, Flamingo, Duck-billed Platypus, Crab: fourth row- Peccary, Garden Spider, Giraffe, Frog, Armadillo, Ox; and fifth row- Kangaroo, Box Turtle, Squirrel, Iguana, Harvest Mouse, and Gecko.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

The Giraffe Friend

The Giraffe Friend.

They were happy and did laugh

When their friend, the big G'raffe,

Said, "I'll take you to the City,

in a tandem."

But their joy was turned to grief

When their charger bit a leaf,

Never thinking how his sudden stop

would land 'em.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

The Circus Procession

The Circus Procession

by Evaleen Stein

Oh, hurry! hurry! here they come,
The band in front with the big bass drum
And blaring bugles, — there they are,
On golden thrones in a golden car,
Tooting and fluting, oh, how grand I
Hi diddle, diddle!
The fife and the fiddle!
Hurrah , hurrah for the circus band!

And the red-plumed horses, oh, see them
prance
And daintily lift their hoofs and dance,
While beautiful ladies with golden curls
Are jingling their bridles of gold and pearls,
And close behind
Come every kind
Of animal cages great and small,
O how I wonder what’s in them all!
Here’s one that’s open and glaring there
Is the shaggiest snow-white polar bear I
Woof! but I wonder what we’d do
If his bars broke loose right now, don't you?
And O dear me!
Just look and see

That pink-cheeked lady in skirts of gauze
And the great big lion with folded paws!
O me I O my!
I’m glad that I
Am not in that lion’s cage, because
Suppose he'd open his horrible jaws !
— But look ! the clown is coming ! Of course
Facing the tail of a spotted horse
And shouting out things to make folks
laugh,
And grinning up at the tall giraffe
That placidly paces along and looks
Just like giraffes in the picture-books!
And there are the elephants, two and two,
Lumbering on as they always do!
The men who lead them look so small
I wonder the elephants mind at all
As they wag their queer
Long trunks, and peer
Through their beady eyes, — folks say they
know
No end of things, and I’m sure it’s so!
And you never must do a thing that’s bad
Or that possibly might make an elephant
mad,
For he’ll never forgive you, it appears,
And will punish you sure, if it takes him
years !
So do not stare
But take good care
To mind your manners, and always try
To smile politely as they go by!
But the camels don’t care if you laugh at
them
With their bumpy humps like a capital M,
They lurch and sway
And seem to say,
As they wrinkle their noses, long and gray,
“ This swaggering stride is quite the plan,
It’s the way we walked in the caravan!”
And now more cages come rumbling by
With glittering people throned on high;
So many spangles and precious things,
They surely must all be queens and kings!
They look so proud
Above the crowd,

O my, how fine it must feel to ride

On golden wagons that hide inside

Strange animals caught in cannibal isles

And brought in ships for a million miles!

But hark ! it's near

The end, for hear

That sudden screeching in piercing key!

The steaming, screaming cal-li-o-pe!

Just plain pianos sound terribly tame

Beside this one with the wonderful name,

And wouldn’t you love some day to sit

In a circus wagon and play on it?

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Children's Poetry & Prose Index

Many of the poems and prose in my index come with illustrated prints.

Poetry, one of the two greatest classes of literary production, the other being prose. According to the usual meaning of the term, poetry is rhythmical, imaginative language which appeals to the emotions and the artistic sense. As we think casually of the question, we take for granted that prose was the earlier form of literature. Moliere in one of his comedies shows the surprise of an old man who discovers that he has been, all his life, "talking prose without knowing it;" but most of us are conscious that we "talk prose," and we see nothing wonderful about it. Prose is so much simpler and more natural than poetry, we think, and surely the early nations must have had a well-developed prose literature before they ventured to attempt poetry?
Although nearly every category included under this blog lists poetry according to theme, the illustrated children's poetry is linked altogether here.

Hieroglyphics Artifacts:

Hieroglyphics or Picture Writing" The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

Illustrated Children's Poetry Artifacts for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

More Excellent Poetry Resource for Kids:

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Color An Elephant

Elephants are ubiquitous in Western popular culture as emblems of the exotic because their unique appearance and size sets them apart from other animals and because, like other African animals such as the giraffe, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, they are unfamiliar to Western audiences. Popular culture's stock references to elephants rely on this exotic uniqueness. For instance, a "white elephant" is a byword for something expensive, useless and bizarre.

As characters, elephants are relegated largely to children's literature, in which they are generally cast as models of exemplary behavior, but account for some of this branch of literature's most iconic characters.

Many stories tell of isolated young elephants returning to a close-knit community, such as:

The Elephant’s Child from Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories (1902)
Dumbo (1942)
The Saggy Baggy Elephant (1947).

Other elephant heroes given human qualities include:

Laurent de Brunhoff's anthropomorphic Babar (1935)
David McKee's Elmer (1989)
Dr. Seuss's Horton (1940).

More than other exotic animals, elephants in fiction are surrogates for humans, with their concern for the community and each other depicted as something to aspire to in stories like:

A Flower for Amborse by Anna and Edward Standon (1967).

Print and color my elephant below after watching the video of the elephant in this post. Look carefully at the color of his skin and how you might shade in different areas of his body and the rocks that surround him in order to make him look three dimensional. I have shaded parts of him already to help you get started.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Paper Circus Toys for Young Students to Color

Color the following paper seals and their trainer for a child's circus toy collection.

Color this paper chariot rider for a child's circus toy collection.

Color this paper elephant and clown for a child's circus toy collection.

Color this paper giraffe with musical clowns for a child's circus toy collection.

Color this paper rhinoceros for a child's circus toy collection.

A seal balances a ball on his nose.

More Paper Circus Collections:

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