5,4,3,2,1 Striped Skunks

5 comments

• Skunks are carnivores and are most common to be found, they are also the most wide spread.
• Skunks are usually 24-30 inches from nose to tail, and weigh from 4 to 10 pounds, and make skunks are generally larger.
• The scientific name for skunks is mephitis mehitis and it means noxious gas in Latin.
• There are three very important steps before a skunk sprays you, one they stamp their front feet, two they raise tail with ti pointed down, and last they point their tail straight up and spread it out.
• When skunks are born they are only 1/2 ounce, they have rarely any fur, but they show the black and white coloring, and their eyes and ears are sealed.

4 questions

• Do skunks always spray when they get startled, or are there other things they do?
• Are all skunks born with the ability to spray people with the nasty smell?
• When all baby animals are born are both their eyes and their ears sealed so they are blind and deaf?
• Do all animals have the same patterns in the way they grow up, or close to it, or are they totally different?

3 vocabulary

• Amiable: having or showing pleasant qualities
• Crepe: a light weight fabric or silk
• Haphazardly: at random

2 literary

• "a mother skunk moves her young in the same way that a mother cat transports her kittens" (pg. 137)
• "notice a hungry skunk waddling across our patio, earnestly looking for a tidbit" (pg. 141)

1 overview

• This chapter was about skunks and what they eat, how they breed, where they live, what they look like, and of coarse a little story.

5,4,3,2,1 Grey Squirrel

5 comments

• "Sidling" is said to be when a squirrel slips around the trunk of a tree and keeps going around to the side where the gunner (person with the gun) is not located.
• Squirrels are aggressive, persistent, and destructive, but on the other hand they are intelligent, skillful, and inquisitive.
• In Wisconsin scientists were holding an excrement to see what seeds birds liked best and when they hung out the feeders squirrels came and they ate all the seeds and destroyed the experiment .
• Squirrels 18 to 20 inches long and weigh 1 to about 1 1/2 pounds.
• When squirrels are born they are about 4 1/2 inches long and weigh 1/2 an ounce.

4 questions

• Do scientist always or usually have an experiment to see what food an animal would prefer to eat?
• Is there a reason that some people see squirrels as these scary animals that are dangerous and going to hurt them?
• After babies are born they need their mother so if their mother leaves obviously they will most likely die but what happens more often they die naturally or another animal comes around and eats it?
• Is there ever a situation where the mother has a problem with the baby so she kills it?

3 vocabulary

• Paradox: a statement or phrase that sounds like your contradicting yourself
• Inquisitive: given to inquiry
• Anecdotes: a short account of an interesting or humorous situation

2 literary

• "tree squirrels are called tree rats" (pg. 105)
• "natures little tree planters" (pg. 118)

1 overview

• This chapter was about gray squirrels and where they live, what they eat, where they breed, what happens to the babies, and of coarse funny stories.

5,4,3,2,1 Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

5 comments

• The Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly is 4 to 6 1/2 inches long.
• Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies are bright yellow, have a black V on the inner half of hind wings, 5 vertical bars on fore wings.
• If you touch a butterfly their color rubs off easily and this is due to it being made up of color scales.
• The Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly belongs to a large group of about 550 Swallowtail butterfly species.
• Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies are cold blooded and they like to be in the sun because that is where they get their heat.

4 questions

• Do all butterflies have colored scales so if you touch them their color will rub off onto your fingers?
• Are all butterflies kind of the same like in the way they eat, what they do, how they sleep and so on?
• Do all animals that are cold blooded have to keep moving in the sun to keep their their temperature regulated?
• Do all animals kind of have something like social gatherings where they meet up with animals from the same species?

3 vocabulary

• Sulphur: yellow with a greenish tinge
• Savannas: a flat grassland of tropical or subtropical regions
• Lepidoptera: the order of compromising

2 literary

• "they overlap like shingles on a roof" (pg. 89) simile
• "flying butter" (pg. 90)

1 overview

• This chapter was about Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies and what they look like, a story, 4 stages of their development, and also where they lay their eggs.

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"