Thrifty Scissors

Monday, July 20, 2020

Cheetah

Leopard on top, Cheetah on bottom.

Cheetah is an animal of the cat family, found principally in Africa and India, and most commonly known as the limiting Jeopard. It derives this name from the fact that it can be trained to hunt antelopes and other like game. The cheetah has a little longer body in proportion to its size than the other cats, and its legs are slender. It can maintain a greater speed for a short distance than can any other land mammal.

More About Cheetahs From The Web:

Crafts About Cats:

Paper cut of a very fuzzy cat (template)
How to draw a Halloween Cat
Old-Fashioned Halloween Silhouettes (templates)

Chameleon: 5 Foundational Facts

Chameleon a genus of lizards, natives of the Old World, but found also in the Southern United States and the West Indies.

5 Foundational Facts About The Chameleon:

The best-known species has a naked body six or seven inches long, and feet and tail all suitable for grasping branches.
The skin is cold to the touch and contains small grains which in the shade are of a bluish-gray color, but which in the light of the sun become a grayish-brown or tawny color.
The chameleon possesses the curious power, however, of changing its color, either in accordance with its surroundings or with its temper, when disturbed.
Its power of fasting and habit of inflating itself gave rise to the fable that it lived on air, but in reality it feeds upon insects, taking its prey by rapid movements of a long, sticky tongue.
In general habit chameleons are dull and sluggish. They are often kept as pets.

More About Chameleons From The Web:

Beautiful Footage: Chameleons Are Amazing by National Geographic and The Illegal and Secretive World of Chameleon Ranching

Watch a Chameleon Chang Its Colors by

The Animal Box Office.

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Whose Eyes Are These?

Teachers or parents may print out the animal eye chart to quiz their kids about whose eyes are these. Here are the answers:

Eye of Solitary Frog
"stalk eye" of Crab
Eye of the Toad
Whirligig Beetle Eyes
The Chameleon's Eye
Eyes of the Snail on Stalks
Cat's Eye
Moth's Eye
Eye of A Dog
Spider Eyes
Eagle's Eye
Grasshopper's Eye
Sheep's Eye
Eye of the Fly
The Cow's Eye

Numbers 4, 8, 12, and 14 are all compound eyes!

Take the Nature Check Animal Eye Quiz!

and visit them to play more animal games.

Weasel

Cute But Deadly Weasel by Casey Anderson

Weasels that have white coats are called Ermine.

The weasel is a small, carnivorous animal, a native of almost all the temperate and cold parts of the northern hemisphere. The body is extremely slender, the head small and flattened, the neck long and the legs short. It preys upon mice, birds and other small animals and is very destructive to poultry. The weasel is usually nocturnal in its habits. It is a fine hunter, having a very keen scent and sharp sight, and, being unwavering in pursuit of its victim, it often wears to exhaustion animals larger than itself. Several species are common in the United States, and others are found in. most parts of the temperate zones. The long-tailed, or New York, weasel is one of the most familiar species in North America. It is dark brown above and white beneath, and in winter in cold climates it turns pure white, except for the tip of the tail, which is black.

More About Weasels From The Web:

Draw the cunning little weasel step-by-step.

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Weaver Bird

Weaver bird is a small bird resembling the finch, with pointed wings, a sharp, conical bill and unusually long claws. The name has reference to the bird's manner of building its nest, which is a wonderful structure of woven vegetable substances. The form and workmanship of the nests vary with the several species.

The yellow weaver, or baya, of India, builds a long, bottle-like nest, and hangs it from a slender branch of tree or shrub, often over the water, where it is impossible for anything but a bird to enter. The sociable weaver birds build a large dome-shaped structure, or roof, in the forks of branches, and underneath this common roof many families build their nests, each with a separate entrance. While all members of the community work on the roof, each pair works alone on its own nest.

More About Weaver Birds From The Web:

Kangaroo: 12 Incredible Facts

The kangaroo's tail helps to support the animal
as he or she sits and leaps.

The kangaroo is one of the most strangely-formed animals in the world, found in a wild state only in Australia and nearby islands.

12 Incredible Kangaroo Facts:

The most noticeable feature about the kangaroo is the disproportion between the upper and lower parts of the body. The head is small and deer-like in shape, with large ears; the fore legs are small, and the hind legs are relatively large and powerful.
The tail is long and thick at the base and helps to support the animal when it sits erect, and to assist it in its long leaps.
When moving at an ordinary rate, the kangaroo jumps about its own length, but when frightened it can leap from three to four times that far.
Kangaroos are among the most ludicrous of all animals, and are objects of great interest in a "zoo."
The young are born very immature, being in most instances less than an inch long, and are protected and nourished for about eight months in a pouch on the mother's abdomen.
Kangaroos live entirely upon vegetable growths, and where still plentiful, they are a serious pest to farmers.
They are very timid, but are alert in time of danger.
The kangaroos include many species, varying in size from that of a hare to that of a large sheep, and remains of still larger extinct species have been found in Australia.
The larger and more common kinds belong to a genus including the giant kangaroo, the gray kangaroo and the brush kangaroo.
The kangaroos can kill a dog with a blow of the hind foot.
The animals were hunted for their hides, which make excellent leather, and also for their flesh.
Smaller species include the tree kangaroos and the wallabies.

More About Kangaroos From The Web:

Superclass Tetradoda Class IV Mammalia.

Lion: 11 Facts

A lion, a wild animal belonging to the cat family, celebrated for its strength and ferocity. The large head, flashing eye and heavy mane, characteristic of the male, give it a regal appearance that is reflected in the name king of beasts.

11 Facts About Lions:

The voice of the creature is a mighty roar, and is probably the loudest call among animals.
By nature the lion is less ferocious than the tiger, and is disinclined to attack man, but when angered or driven by hunger, it becomes fierce and terrible; when roused is a most dangerous adversary.
The lion is one of the largest members of the cat family, sometimes reaching a height of three feet and a weight of 500 pounds.
It is distinguished by its tawny or yellow color, tufted tail and, in the male, full flowing mane.
When the male is three years old its mane begins to grow; at six or seven years the lion is full grown, and at about twenty-two it is feeble and decrepit.
Lions make their lairs in hidden eaves, dense thickets, brushwood and other secluded places.
They hunt their prey at night, attacking antelopes, zebras and other wild animals, if these are available; in regions where wild game is scarce they seize camels, cattle, ponies, goats, etc.
The young are born in the spring, and the whelps, usually three in number, begin life with their eyes open.
They are given tender care by both parents until able to take care of themselves.
Lions are found at large only in Africa and parts of Central and Western Asia, but long years ago they were common in Europe and in many parts of Asia.
Today there are none in Asia Minor, Egypt or Arabia, and there are few left in India.

More About Lions From The Web:

Antique illustration of Senegal Lions guarding prey after a kill.

Grouse: 14 Facts About

Sometimes grouse are called partridges or pheasant.

Grouse are a group of wild birds, related to the domestic fowls.

14 Facts About Grouse:

Grouse usually live on the ground, and they always nest there.
During a part of the year they live in families and confine themselves to forests and partially barren regions, where they feed on berries, buds, leaves and insects, which they often uncover by scratching.
When hunted, it is their habit to lie hidden until their enemy is almost on them and then fly off rapidly with a great whirring of wings.
The male birds become fierce in the breeding season and, after dancing, drumming and performing various antics before the hens, they fight viciously, the victor mating with the whole flock of hens; as soon as the females begin to sit, the male leaves them alone to take the entire care of their offspring.
The eggs number from eight to fourteen.
The young are very sprightly and leave the nest almost as soon as they are hatched, and on the least alarm they hide themselves skillfully.
In the United States there are a number of different species, chief of which is the ruffed grouse, partridge, or pheasant, as it is called according to locality.
This bird is of a brownish color, with a light-spotted breast, and trim, plump form.
On the neck of the male are two large patches of black feathers, which open out, fanlike, at times.
The ruffed grouse are considered among the finest American game birds.
Most of the states limit to a few months the period during which they may be hunted.
The prairie chicken, another grouse, once was exceedingly common throughout the Central States, but it has been almost exterminated.
The sound the prairie chicken makes is a loud, hollow booming that is almost as peculiar as the drumming of the ruffed grouse.
There are a number of different species of the grouse in Europe, where they are favorites with sportsmen.

More About Grouse From The Web:

Lobster: 15 Fast Facts

Lobsters are greenish until cooked; then they turn red.

The lobster is one of the most singularly-formed members of the animal kingdom, called a crustacean by the scientist because it is invested with an outer hard, shell-like surface, or crust. As a crustacean, the lobster is related to the shrimp, crab, barnacle, etc.

15 Fast Facts About Lobsters:

The body of the lobster has seven distinct segments, while thirteen minor ones, which form the thorax and head, are so blended together as not to be easily distinguished.
The animal has two pairs of antennae and six pairs of mouth organs.
The first pair of legs is long and terminates in large claws, one of which is thick and very heavy and is used for crushing objects.
The other claw is shorter, smaller, more or less curved, toothed and pointed at the tip.
The claws are really pinchers, which can be closed when fighting or when the animal seizes its prey.
The tail is composed of the last segment and has two wide appendages on each side, making a broad incurved organ, which the animal uses in swimming.
By straightening this tail and drawing it forcibly under, the lobster is thrown backward through the water at a rapid rate.
The animal has two large, compound eyes, situated at the end of thick stocks.
Its senses of hearing and sight are keen.
The female carries her eggs on the under side of the abdomen until they hatch, when the young are driven away and for a time swim about freely near the surface.
After about a month they descend to the bottom, where they remain. The lobster lives on the bottom of the sea and rarely rises more than a few feet from it.
It walks about on the tips of its legs, extending the large claws forward and pushing itself along by the swimming feet.
Lobsters are highly esteemed for food. They are caught in pots, which are traps made of wood, sunk among the rocks in the clear water in which the animals live. The pots have a funnel-shaped opening and are baited with fresh meat, which attracts the lobsters.
When they have once entered the trap they are unable to escape.
When taken from the water the lobster has a greenish appearance. The brilliant red color of those placed upon the market is produced by boiling.

More From The Web About Lobsters:

Woodcock

A woodcock is a bird belonging to the same family as the snipe, differing from the latter in having a more bulky body and shorter legs. It is widely distributed over North America, Europe, Northern Asia and Japan. It spends the summers in pine forests and the winters in southern swamps and moist woodlands, where worms, snails and slugs are plentiful. It is active by night and quiet during the day. If discovered near its nest it feigns injury, or it may carry its young away to safety, one at a time, between its thighs. The bird is about twelve inches long. The upper plumage is an intermingling of ruddy, yellowish, and ash, and is marked with black spots. Underneath, it is yellowish red with zigzag markings. The eyes are large and are set far back. The bill, nearly half the length of the body, is used with great skill in digging worms.

More From The Web About Woodcocks:

Lang Elliott filmed the American Woodcock

Locust: 12 Important Facts

Locust, the name applied rather loosely to several insects related to the grasshoppers. In the United States, the cicada, harvest fly, is called a locust, while the real locust of that country is known as the red-legged grasshopper.

12 More Facts About Locust:

The hind legs of the locusts are large and powerful, so that they have great power of leaping, but their antennae are shorter than those of true grasshoppers.
They make their peculiar "notes" by drawing their hind legs across their wing covers.
When flying they produce sounds by rubbing their front and hind wings together.
The Rocky Mountain locust breeds west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, selecting places along river bottoms or in grassy places of the mountains in the northern part of the region mentioned.
The female lays twenty-five or more eggs, cementing them carefully together and covering them with a case, or cocoon, which she buries in the sand.
From the first, the young resemble their parent, and after frequent molting they reach their full size in about seven weeks.
On reaching maturity locusts gather in flocks and begin incredibly long migrations, with an apparent definiteness of purpose and regularity of movement that no other insect ever shows.
Sometimes they appear in such vast numbers as almost to obscure the light of the sun; toward night or on cloudy days they settle down on the earth and devour everything green they can find. Sometimes within a few hours whole acres of flourishing vegetation have been destroyed.
In 1874 the locusts overran the whole territory west of the Mississippi, and it is estimated that $50,000,000 would not cover the damage they did.
The next year 750,000 people were made destitute or suffered severely in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. Since that time, though there have been numerous flights of locusts, they have not appeared in such destructive numbers, and it is thought that the cultivation of the land and the destruction of their breeding places have made impossible anything of the kind in the future.
Migratory locusts are found also in Asia and Africa, where their flights have been as destructive as those of the locusts in America.
Arabs and other people of the East frequently use the dried insects as food.

The Great North American Locust Plague by MinuteEarth

Arthropoda: spiders, insects, crabs etc...

Elephant: 33 Facts

Both male and female African elephants have tusks.
However, only some male Indian elephants
have tusks today.

The elephant is the largest living land animal, comprising two species, the African and the Asiatic.

33 Facts About Elephants:

The African elephant is the larger, stronger and more ferocious of the two, its hide is tougher and its ears larger, its head is less elevated.
Its back slopes downward from shoulders to rump.
Its trunk is longer and drags on the ground, even when the end of it is curled.
Both sexes have tusks.
The Asiatic, or Indian, elephant, as it is often called, is smaller.
The Asiatic elephant's back is decidedly rounding, and only the males bear tusks.
It is this elephant which is seen at circuses, for unlike the African elephant, it is tame in captivity.
Sometimes elephants attain the height of fifteen feet, but usually a mature animal is from nine to ten feet high and weighs from 4,000 to 10,000 pounds.
The body is very bulky, the legs are enormously large and almost straight and the short toes are covered by hoof-like nails.
The skin of the elephant is very thick and coarse, and it bears only here and there a few scattered hairs.
The most remarkable feature of the elephant is its long trunk, an extension of the nose. It has two tubes extending to the tip.
This tip is exceedingly sensitive, and in one species it is furnished with two small projections; one, which somewhat resembles a finger, extends from the upper surface, the other projects from the lower side.
By means of its trunk, the animal can pick up very small objects.
The trunk is provided with very strong muscles and is useful in procuring food and for defense.
With his trunk the elephant picks up and puts into his mouth all his food and water.
With its trunk, the elephant makes a loud trumpeting noise, his signal of alarm or anger.
The cutting teeth on each side of the upper jaw develop into long tusks, useful to the animal in a natural state both for grubbing food and for defending itself against attack.
In some well-grown males each tusk weighs as much as 200 pounds.
Although the head of the elephant is enormously large, and its forehead broad, yet its brain is small.
However, this does not show any lack of intelligence, for no animal, with the possible exception of the horse and dog, can be taught to do more things requiring intelligence than the elephant.
Elephants live in herds of considerable size, but the old males sometimes leave the herds or are driven from them, and thereafter live solitary lives.
They usually become vicious and exceedingly destructive sometimes demolishing native crops. Such elephants are commonly called rogues.
The wild elephants are caught in various ways. Sometimes pits are dug, into which the animals fall; or, a strong enclosure is built, into which the elephants are driven by fires, gun shots or other loud noises.
In some localities trained elephants are sent out into the forests to make the acquaintance of wild ones and lead them into captivity.
Two tame elephants can keep a single wild one so interested that the hunters are able to come up and put heavy chains about its legs and tie it to a tree, where it is held during the furious anger which follows its capture.
After a long and tedious struggle, the captured elephant is subdued and then becomes tame and submissive.
Elephants have been known since very early times. The earliest records in history tell us that they were trained by man to do various things even to take part in war.
Hannibal had with him an army of elephants when he invaded Italy, and much of his success was due to the terror they inspired.
The animals have been used to a greater extent in India than in any other country.
There they have been for centuries a chief means of conveyance, carrying passengers in commodious canopied seats on their backs.
Two or more persons may occupy this seat; the driver sits on the animal's neck.
Elephants can be taught to do numerous kinds of work, to Lift great weights and to carry heavy loads.
Many elephants were once held in captivity, altogether for show purposes. There was hardly a zoological garden in existence that did not have one or more of these animals.

More Facts About Elephants from The Web:

More About Elephants from Our Blogs:

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