All About Animals!

MOTH! Moths sip flower nectar with their long, tubelike tongues. When they’re not eating, moths roll up their tongues like garden hoses. The Darwin’s hawkmoth has a body only four inches long, yet its tongue is twelve inches—that’s three times as long as its body. If you had a tongue like a party blower, you might be a . . .

OKAPI! An okapi’s tongue is like a washcloth. Okapi tongues are so long that okapis can use them to wash their eyes and ears. If you had a tongue like a whip, you might be an . . .

STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE AND SAY “AAAAAH.” MORE ABOUT THESE TERRIFIC TONGUES! (further information about the tongues of: red-bellied woodpecker, Darwin’s hawkmoth, frog, snake, Pallas’s long-tongued bat, okapi, giant anteaters, gecko, chameleon, dog, and octopus)

KEEP COOL like an ELEPHANT Good day to you! I’m an African elephant. Can you tell that I’m the biggest, heaviest land animal in the world? I mean, just look at me! I’m bigger than your family car! I couldn’t say for sure, but I think we elephants probably have the coolest noses of any animal. My flexible, boneless trunk is made of pure muscle and is about five feet long. I use it to smell things, of course, but I can also use it to help me drink water or as a long hand when I’m looking for food. Can you lift heavy objects, puck a blade of grass, or give a friend a hug with your nose? I can! I use my trunk to keep cool on hot days by spraying water, then dust, over my body to make a nice cool coat of mud to protect me from the sun. I can also use my amazing ears like giant fans to help me manage the heat — they’re about four feet across!

Now you be a beaver! Your beaver mission is to use your amazing engineering skills to build the perfect dam and make a new pond habitat for you and your family. BUID A DAM If you’re outside, see if you can find a little brook or stream. Pick a spot to build your dam, and then gather rocks and sticks to use as building materials. Start on one edge of the stream and work your way across, laying down a sturdy layer of larger rocks and sticks. Leave a little channel open at the end so the water can keep moving downstream for now. Add more layers to your dam as needed. When your dam is higher than the flowing water, it’s time to block that last little side channel. Did your dam hold? Is the water rising and creating a little pool? Fill in any leaks with small rocks, mud, or moss. MAKE YOUR OWN RIVER If you’re at the beach, you can carve your own river in the wet sand. Or if you’re in your backyard, you can make a mini-waterway by digging a trench and turning on the hose a little bit at one end. Then just build your dam like you would in a real stream. CHOMP LIKE A BEAVER If all that work made you hungry, use your front teeth to gnaw through some carrot sticks, radishes, or pretzel rods, pretending they’re tree trunks! Beaver teeth never stop growing! Luckily, all that gnawing wears their teeth down as they grow, so they never get too long. Chomp, chomp, chomp…

I live in a big hive with thousands of my family members. We have one queen who rules the hive and lays all the eggs. We all have a few brothers, called drones. My sisters and I do almost everything. Workers are all about teamwork. Dancing for Dinner When we find a patch of juicy flowers, we go home and tell our sisters where to find it. How do we tell them? By doing the waggle dance of course! With this special dance, we can tell each other how far to go in what direction to find the flowers. If the patch has lots and lots of nectar, the dancer shows excitement by waggling really fast! HONEY TO SHARE We turn raw nectar into delicious honey and store it in honeycomb chambers so we can eat it all winter long while we stay warm and cozy inside our hive. Now you be a bee! Your honeybee mission is to pollinate flowers and show your friends where to find the sweetest nectar. DO THE WAGGLE DANCE Have a friend close her eyes for a minute. Look around for a flower in your yard, or hide a little snack if you are inside. Now pretend you’re a bee, and you’ve got to tell the other bees in your hive where to find the nectar. Do a waggle dance for your friend, pointing in the direction of the food. Dance longer if it is far away, and shake your bum faster if it’s a really good treat! Did your fellow bee find the food?

If you’re a giraffe, you brush off pesky flies with your tail. If you’re a skunk, you lift your tail to warn that a stinky spray is on the way. If you’re a lizard, you break off your tail to get away. If you’re a scorpion, your tail can give a nasty sting. If you’re a monkey, you hang from a tree by your tail.

What do you do with a nose like this?

If you’re a platypus, you use your nose to dig in the mud. If you’re a hyena, you find your next meal with your nose. If you’re an elephant, you use your nose to give yourself a bath. If you’re a mole, you use your nose to find your way underground. If you’re an alligator, you breath through your nose while hiding in the water.