Label: Animals
June 17, 2011
Spotting Wild Animals at Great Falls
I took a walk today in Great Falls National Park, along the Potomac River in Virginia. The falls are really beautiful, and the trails are wooded and shady, but the best part, for me anyway, was spotting all the wild animals.
This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) feeds at the water’s edge, using its long legs to wade through the water, spearing small fish and frogs with its long, sharp bill.
You can clearly see the compound eye of this beautiful Dragonfly (an insect belonging to the order Odonata), which was perched in the foliage high above the falls. You usually find dragonflies near the water, because their larvae, called "nymphs" live in the water. These insects are valuable predators (valuable to humans, at least) because they eat mosquitoes.
My grandson Ben Simon took this great photograph of a wolf spider, which was hiding inside a crack of an old stump. Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, from the Ancient Greek word "λύκος" meaning "wolf". The blue and white mass, which almost looks like a piece of jewelry, are actually all her babies - dozens of tiny wolf spiders, riding on her back!
Have you taken a walk in the outdoors this week? If not, get outside and keep your eyes peeled. There are fascinating wild creatures all around you.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 14, 2011
BIg Yawn from a Little Bird!
Today’s Cool Photo of the Week is of a baby Canadian Goose (called a "gosling"). The little one is staying warm underneath its mother’s feathers, and by the size of that yawn, I’d say it is settling in for a nap!
Photo: Robin Loznak for msnbc.com
READERS: Are you wondering how to add your own "comment" to this blog? Click here for exact directions on how to add a comment so you can become one of our Seymour Science writers! We also want you to be safe and not share too much information when you write on this blog, so please take a minute to read about how to stay safe on the Internet. We love to hear from you, so give "comments" a try!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 13, 2011
Summer Vacation Science :: From Tadpoles to Frogs
Welcome to week one of SUMMER VACATION SCIENCE!
Frogs live all over the world. About twenty different kinds are in the United States including bullfrogs, including bullfrogs (Rana cateseiana), leopard frogs (R. pipiens) and green frogs (R. clamitans). Frogs can live almost anywhere if there is enough water. Summer time is too late in the year to collect frogs’ eggs, but you can certainly collect tadpoles. Tadpoles will grow into frogs in a home aquarium or in a large wide-mouthed jar. But keep in mind that it’s important for you to be able to return the baby frogs to their natural environment after you’ve kept them.
Click here to download today’s unit: FROM TADPOLES TO FROGS, to learn not only how to do this yourself, but also how to help protect frogs and their habitats.
This summer, our goal is to get kids outdoors, exploring and enjoying the world around them. Check back here throughout the summer for new installments of Summer Vacation Science.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 8, 2011
More Wild Animal Spotting
When I saw a wild turkey crossing over the dirt road leading up to my house in the country the other day, I thought of Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States. Why? Because when it came to choosing a symbol of the United States, Ben Franklin thought the wild turkey was a more dignified bird than the bald eagle. I’m not sure if I agree; the bald eagle is magnificent soaring in the sky and I think the turkey looked a bit pompous and stuck-up strutting across my road. But the turkey is a pretty interesting bird. It would rather walk than fly (though it can fly, at least for a minute or two). Seeing a single turkey is rare around here; I usually seem them in flocks of a dozen or more birds.
Not to be outdone by a wild turkey, a large snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) came walking across the same dirt road. I stopped the car to take a picture of the snapper. When I came close, the turtle turned around to face me, snapped and hissed. "OK," I thought. "I’m just looking. Let’s part friends!" And I got back in my car and watched the snapper disappear into the undergrowth. There’s a stream just nearby the road and I guess that’s where the turtle was headed.
A snapping turtle has a large head with strong jaws. This one was quite large - I would estimate about 14 inches from its head to the tip of its armored tail. 
That’s about the distance from your fingertips to your elbow. Unlike many other kinds of turtles, the snapper can’t withdraw its head into its shell. It relies on its jaws for defense and can bite hard enough to take your finger off. I wouldn’t try to pet a snapping turtle, and neither should you! Thinking it over, petting a wild animal is a "no, no" in every case, no matter what. Wild animals are not pets and should not be touched, for your own safety as well as theirs.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 6, 2011
Guess What? Dogs Drink Just Like Cats!
One of the most popular posts on the Seymour Science blog this past year was called: DOGS vs CATS: An Experiment. We reported on a study that showed that unlike dogs, who slurp their water and make a mess when they drink, cats drink daintily, using their curled tongue to pull liquid into their mouths in a neat stream.
Two scientists at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology decided to study dog drinking habits and see if this is actually true. They found that the way dogs get liquids into their mouths is very similar to what a cat does. And they have an x-ray to prove it!
Click here to see an x-ray of a dog drinking.
It turns out that dogs, just like cats, form their tongues into a "scoop" to pick up liquids. And also like cats, the liquid sticks to the tongue, forming a stream that is trapped when the animal closes its mouth.So dogs and cats are very much alike, at least when it comes to drinking!
To read more about puppies and why they do what they do, download my new eBook, WHY DO PUPPIES DO THAT? You can buy an iPad version in the iTunes store, and it is now also available for the Nook Color. Happy reading!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
June 4, 2011
Spotting a Tiger in Your Own Home
Well, not exactly a REAL tiger! This beautiful moth that Liz spotted is a member of a large group of moths called TIGER MOTHS. Tiger moths (their common name) belong to a group of moths named Grammia, which have dark wings with white stripes and beautiful geometric patterns. Most of these moths have thick furry bodes. When these moths are not flying around, their wings are folded roof-like over their bodies, just as in this photo, which Liz took of a tiger moth on the deck of our country place. The larva (caterpillars) of these moths are called Wooly Bears.
Any of my readers have photos of butterflies or moths that YOU took? Send them to me in an email and I’ll publish them on my blog for all your friends to see! And the best photos I get may receive a surprise in your mail this summer (I’ll notify you about that if you’re gonna get one).
Be sure to watch for my new book about BUTTERFLIES! It is being published at the end of August.
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 25, 2011
Tornadoes: What about the Animals?
It was amazing to watch people emerging, unhurt, from their storm cellars as we were watching television news last night of the latest powerful Oklahoma tornadoes.
That got me thinking. What happens to all the animals when a tornado strikes?
Rescuers searching for people trapped in the ruins often find animals, and say that frightened pets often wait until dark to sneak quietly out to look for their owners. In this photograph, taken after the devastating tornadoes that stuck in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, rescued kittens are waiting to be picked up their owners. More than 350 dogs, cats, birds, snakes, lizards and even a tarantula have already been found there.
Dogs also go to work alongside the rescuers when disaster strikes. In this photo, a live-find dog named ChicoDog searches for survivors in the wreckage of a public housing complex in Joplin, Missouri. His partner is Kathleen Kelsey, a canine rescue specialist with the Missouri Task Force One search-and-rescue team.
Kittens Photo: Dave Martin / AP
ChicoDog Photo: Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 24, 2011
Which are the Biggest Snakes?
I received a letter this week from Hickory Hill Elementary School in Papillion, Nebraska. The third graders are asking a very good question, and I thought other readers might be interested in this, too.
Dear Mr. Simon,
My third graders just finished reading the book Giant Snakes in a guided reading group and they had a question regarding the book. On page 16 it states, "Anacondas are the largest snakes on the world" and then on page 19 it says, "The Reticulated Pythons of Southeast Asia are the longest snake in the world." They are curious as to which one really is the biggest snake?
We really appreciate your books and love the pictures! Thanks in advance for your help with our question!
Hello, Third Graders! Good question. Anacondas are generally the largest (meaning heavier and wider, foot for foot) than pythons. But the Reticulated Pythons are the generally the longest (but not the biggest or largest) snakes in the world. So it all depends upon what you mean by big.
To give you an idea of just how long these snakes are, look at this photograph of kindergartner Faith Hackett holding the head of a Burmese python at Wildwood Park and Zoo in Marshfield, Wis., during a presentation on rescued exotic animals.
Thanks for writing, and happy reading!
Photo: Dan Young / Marshfield News-Herald via AP
READERS: Are you wondering how to add your own "comment" to this blog? Click here for exact directions on how to add a comment so you can become one of our Seymour Science writers! We also want you to be safe and not share too much information when you write on this blog, so please take a minute to read about how to stay safe on the Internet. We love to hear from you, so give "comments" a try!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 19, 2011
VIDEO: The Owl and the Pussycat
It’s Thursday, so it is time for our favorite video of the week. Take a look at this highly unlikely, very special friendship between a black cat and a barn owl. They clearly love to play with each other!
(Teachers and Librarians: This video is hosted on YouTube, which I know is blocked in many schools. Perhaps you can prescreen at home before recommending that students do the same? We try to avoid YouTube in general, but this video is just too wonderful to pass up! Thank you for understanding. Seymour)
Posted by: Seymour Simon
May 17, 2011
Cool Photo of the Week
This is a Three-Toed Sloth (Bradypus tridactylus). Sloths are arboreal, which means that they live in trees. They are built to hang, using those long claws to get a good grip on branches.
They are among the slowest moving creatures on Earth, spending about 18 hours a day hanging from a branch, sleeping. In fact, sloths move around so little that green algae grows on their furry coats! The algae works as camouflage because when a sleeping sloth is hanging from a branch, it looks like a bunch of leaves.
Sloths even mate and give birth while hanging in the trees, and their babies travel by hanging onto their mothers for the first nine months of their lives.
The three-toed sloth is an herbivore (a plant-eater) that eats at night, and it is about the size of a cat. They are endangered, due to the destruction of their tropical rainforest habitats in Central and South America.
You can read more about Tropical Rainforests in my latest book, which is now also available as an eBook for the Nook Color and iPad.
Photo: Christian Mehlführer
READERS: Are you wondering how to add your own "comment" to this blog? Click here for exact directions on how to add a comment so you can become one of our Seymour Science writers! We also want you to be safe and not share too much information when you write on this blog, so please take a minute to read about how to stay safe on the Internet. We love to hear from you, so give "comments" a try!
Posted by: Seymour Simon
