5,4,3,2,1 Raccoon

5 comments

• The all time record for the size of a raccoon is 55 inches, and it weighed 62 pounds.
• Raccoons walk on the entire soles of their feet and so they are called plantigrades.
• Raccoons are a type of animal that it doesn't matter about colors because they are color blind.
• Raccoons do very well, and are most likely the only animals that can live in captivity and have everything given to them but can be released into the wild and survive.
• Raccoons diets consist of 75 percent vegetable matter, and 25 percent animal matter, meaning that they are omnivorous.

4 questions

• Why do people insist on hunting and killing animals when it doesn't really have any use like food, or clothing.
• Are most baby animals kind of like babies? In the way that they eat, act, and need attention from their mothers.
• Do most animals only see in black and white or are there a lot of animals that can actually see in color?
• Why instead of killing the raccoons to experiment with, why don't they wait until they die of natural causes?

3 vocabulary

• Roguish: playful; mischievous
• Endearing: make beloved
• Plantigrades: one that walks on entire sole of their foot

2 literary

• "a neighborhood raccoon is a Beethoven fan" (pg. 70)
• "Raccoons have been known for lifting a latch, walking into a kitchen, opening the fridge, and helping themselves" (pg. 80)

1 overview

• This was about raccoons and what they eat, where they live, baby raccoons, how and when they breed and a funny story.

5,4,3,2,1 Cotton Tail Rabbit

5 comments

• Cotton tail rabbits are usually brown fur an the back and head, bright white fur and chest and belly, it's ears are long and stand straight up, it's eyes bulge, their nose is always wiggling, ant they weigh 2-3 pounds, and 18 inches.
• Cotton tails only want to have cover and they get this from hedgerows, thickets, meadows, backyards, marshes, and farmlands.
• All that Rabbits eat are greens, like grass, flowers, herbs, berries, and there are a few other things that fall under this category.
• There was an experiment done where different repellents were used to see which works to see what one on the cabbage they wouldn't eat, but none of them would work.
• In an experiment they saw that the rabbits would prefer to eat crabgrass over any other type of greenery.

4 questions

• How are animals domesticated like rabbits so that they can become house pets?
• Are rabbits used in experiments captured rabbits or are they domesticated rabbits?
• How do scientist keep track of what the rabbit eats when they aren't there to watch them at all times?
• Why do male animals need to show their dominance by fighting and showing who is the strongest rabbit in the rabbit community?

3 vocabulary

• Hedgerows: a row of bushes, shrubs, etc
• Fervently: intense
• Coprophagy: eating ones own excerment

2 literary

• "I could scarcely believe my eyes when the rabbit continued up the path" (pg. 43)
• "During courtship" (pg. 49)

1 overview

• This was about rabbits, what they eat, where they live, how they breed, and a lot about baby rabbits and how they grow up, also their predators.

5,4,3,2,1 Chipmunk

5 comments

• So far when i looked at the table of contents i liked how the book is set up how they have a certain chapter for each animal.
• There are 21 species of Chipmunks here in North America.
• In Michigan there was a chipmunk that had put 145 kernels in it's mouth.
• I like how the book has people telling about their own experience with this kind a animal.
• Chipmunks eat acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, cherry pits, raspberries, strawberries, dogwood seeds, corn, and plant bulbs.

4 Questions

• How do animals really get their names, and is there a special way of picking names?
• Why are some outdoor animals seen as theses terrible creatures, when really they are helping us and the enviorment?
• If all animals had a fixed diet and one of their specific foods was no longer and it was really important would they discover something else to eat?
• I still don't understand how chipmunks steal from you but they are so cute and flatter you that you don't realize what they are doing?

3 vocabulary

• Decimate: destroy or kill a large part of
• Gripe: complain
• Fastidious: not east to please

2 Literary

• How the chipmunk has so many nicknames like chip, chippy, grinny, and so many more.
• How they have the chip-trail, and chunk-trail.

1 overview

This chapter was about chipmunks and what they eat, what they do, funny stories, and of coarse how they charm you while they are stealing your food!

my book

"America's Favorite Backyard Wildlife"