How did the alligator get its name?

Big Alligator

The word “alligator” comes from the early Spanish name “El Lagarto.” Meaning “The Lizard.”

Alligator are large retiles related to the crocodile.  They resemble lizards in their shape.

The early Spanish explorers, mistaking the reptile for a large lizard called it “el lagarto,” meaning “the lizard.”  The name changed in time to our modern word “alligator.’

The American alligator lives in the swamps, rivers and lakes of the southeastern United States.

The great body, covered with an armor of thick, leathery scales, may grow to be 12 feet or longer and weigh more than 400 pounds.  The huge powerful tail serves to drive the animal through the water.

Alligators are meat eaters.  They eat fish, shakes and turtles, and any other small animal they can catch.  They will even attack dogs or deer that come to the water’s edge to drink. – Johnny Wonder

But unless frightened, even the largest alligator will usually leave people alone.

Photo courtesy:  animalpicturesarchive

 

What is a Barracuda Fish?

Fiercest Fish

Barracuda are pikelike saltwater fish.  They are sometimes called “tiger of the sea” because of their pierce nature.

One of the fiercest of fishes is the barracuda.  These slender, pikelike fishes with jutting jaws and razorlike teeth live in the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

There are several kinds of barracudas.  The largest of them is the great barracuda.  This big fish may grow to be 6 feet long.  It is sometimes called the “tiger of the sea.”

It seems to fear nothing and may attack anything that moves in the water, including man.  In fact, many people think some barracudas are more to be feared than most sharks.

When the barracuda finds a school of fish, it slowly stalks them, then dives into their midst, biting and slashing with its sharp teeth and powerful jaws.

Barracuda are among the fastest fishes.  A four-foot-long barracuda can swim 25 miles an hour of more, for short distances.- Johnny Wonder

Photo courtesy:  tropicalfishposter

Why is the owl considered wise?

Owl

The owl’s big staring eyes and thoughtful appearance have given it for reputation for wisdom but it is really no smarter than many other birds.

Owls are said to be very wise.  This old belief is probably due to the Owl’s appearance – and not because it is wiser than other animals.

The owl’s large, staring eyes and thoughtful air give the appearance that it is thinking very hard.  Actually, the “wise old owl” is really no smarter than many other birds.  Geese, crows and ravens are all smarter than the owl.

You can recognize an owl almost at once by its large, broad face with a ruff of feather around the big eyes that look straight out as a human being’s does.

The owl is more often heard than seen.  Most sleep by day and drift like shadows at night over meadows and woods, hunting for mice and other small prey.

The hooting call of the hoot owl is so well-known that most people believe that all owls hoot.

Not so!  Some kinds of owls have a shrill screech.  Others make whistling, wailing and rasping calls. – Johnny Wonder

Photo courtesy:  animaldiscovery

Why is a horse mounted from the left side?

The custom of mounting a horse from the left probably started when men more long swords that hung doesn’t  the left leg.  Mounting from the left kept the sword from getting in the way as the rider mounted.

Many people enjoy riding horseback for fun and sport.  One of the first things a rider learns is to mount (get on) a horse from the horse’s left side.

The custom of mounting from the left probably started long ago when men wore long swords that hung down the left leg.  It was easier to throw the right leg across the horse’s back, since the long word wouldn’t become entangled with the rider‘s legs as he mounted.

Most horses become used to being mounted from the left side during training.  Mounting from the right side might confuse or startle it.  Dismounting is also done from the left side.

Riding horses is lots of fun.  Often a rider complains that the horses he rides are stubborn or mean.

He doesn’t realize that most of the difficulty he has with horses comes because he has not learned how to control them properly or because he is making them uncomfortable with his poor riding habits.

 

How does a snail move?

Big Snail

The common snail is slowly inched forward by wavelike motions of its muscular foot.

Almost everyone is familiar with the common garden snail.  Snails are small animals that usually carry their shells on their backs and leave stick trails of goo behind as they creep along. 

A snail moves around by creeping on a part of its body that seems to be its stomach.  It is really a broad foot.

The muscles move in a backward, wavelike motion that causes the snail to inch slowly forward.

As the snail moves along, special glands in its foot pour out a slimy fluid that serves as a slippery path to help the snail slide along more easily.

The goo also helps protect the snail’s body as it crawls over sharp twigs and rocks.

As the snail creeps along on its slick pathway, only its head and big foot are out of the shell.

The snail’s eyes are on the tips of its feelers.

To escape dry weather, the snail seals itself inside its shell house with a “door” a dried goo.

 

Why do pigs wallow in the mud?

Pig in the mud

A pig has no sweat glands in its skin.  In hot weather it likes to bask in its wallow to cool and soothe its skin.

We are all familiar with the old expression “as dirty as a pig.”

It is true that pigs like to wallow in the mud, but pigs don’t take mud baths simply because they like to be dirty.  A pig has now sweat glands in its skin.  This means that its body cannot be cooled by perspiration.  In hot weather, the pig wallows in the mud only to cool and soothe its skin.

Actually, the pig is not a dirty creature.  It will keep itself as clean as most other farm animals it allowed, but many pigs are forced to live in unsanitary conditions.

A pig is not particular about what it eats, and finds nourishment in many kinds of food.  In earlier days pigs were fed scraps and leftovers from the kitchen, which created fifth and offensive odors in the pig pen.

In modern, farming practices, pigs are not fed on garbage, but on carefully balanced diets.  They are kept in more sanitary surroundings as well.

Photo courtesy:  treehugger

 

Where does wool come from?

Fat Sheep

Nearly all the wool we buy comes from the fleecy coats of sheep.  The sheep are usually shorn of their fleece each spring.

Nearly all the wool we buy comes from the warm, woolly hair that covers the bodies of sheep.

The coat of wool from a full-grown sheep is called a fleece.

Once a year, usually in the spring, the sheep are given a haircut and all the fleece is sheared off.  The fleece is packed in bates and then sent to market.

When the fleece arrives at the woolen mill, it is sorted according to fineness and length and thoroughly washed to remove all the dirt and crease.

After it has been dried, the clean wool goes to a carding room.  Here, large, revolving cylinders with wire teeth straighten the soft, fluffy wool and comb it into a filmy sheet.

Next, the carded wool is drawn into soft, loose “ropes”  called rovings.  The wool rovings then go to the spinning room where machines twist them into yarn. 

The woolen yarn is now ready to be woven into cloth.

Photo courtesy:  theage

 

How does a firefly make its light?

Light in Firefly

A firefly’s light comes from a special organ on its body.  Luminescent cells within the organ produce chemicals which join with oxygen to make the light.

On a summer evening, you may see the bright, little flashes of a firefly’s light.

The firefly is not really a fly:  it is a beetle.  Its blinking yellow light comes from a special luminescent organ which is usually located at the end of its body.

To flash its light, the firefly admits air into its luminescent organ through tiny openings.  Inside the organ are light-making chemicals.  When oxygen in the air joins with the chemicals, energy is released in the form of light.

A firefly doesn’t burn in your hand if you catch it.

Fireflies find their mates by flashing their lights.  As he flies about at night, the male flashes his light.  The female seldom files, but parches on a blade of grass near the ground.  When she sees the male’s blinking signal she flashes her own light.

The fireflies flash their lights until they finally meet.

Photo courtesy:  chessaleeinlondon

 

What is a gizzard?

Animal Gizzard

A gizzard is the muscular part of a bird’s stomach in which food it eats is ground up.

If you own a canary or live on a farm where chickens are raised, you may already know that birds have a very strange way of chewing their food.

Birds must swallow their food whole because they have no teeth.  Instead, the work of “chewing” is done by the gizzard, a special, muscular part of a bid’s stomach that grinds the food up.

Canaries and other birds that eat seeds and other hard food swallow small stones and grit along with the food.  This aids the grinding process and helps the bird digest the food.

It is sometimes easy to tell the kind of food a bird eats by the shape of its bill.

Finches and sparrows have short, strong bills for cracking the hard shells of seeds.

The long, spearlike bill of the heron and stork is ideal for jabbing fish and frogs.

And hawk has a sharp, hooked bill good for tearing apart the animals it catches for food. 

Photo courtesy:  dba-oracle

 

Are buffalo and a bison the same?

Long Hair Animal

No.  the true buffalo belongs to Africa and Asia.  It has neither the bison’s hump over its shoulders nor the bison’s long hair.

People often call the American bison “buffaloes,” but bison are not true buffaloes.  American bison are more closely related to the wisent or European bison.

True buffaloes are animals such as the water buffalo, common to Asia as a valuable work animal or the fieres African cape buffalo, seldom if ever tamed.  They do not have the big humped shoulders and shaggy hair of the bison.

Bisons are large, ox-like animals.  A big male bison may be six-feet tall at the shoulder and weight more than a ton, Long, coarse hair covers the bison’s head and shoulders.

At one time, enormous herd of bison roamed the western prairies of North America.  The Indians of the plains depended upon them for food and clothing.  But as the West was settled, nearly all the bison were killed.

Today, only a few thousands bison remain, mostly in protected places where they can live in safety.

Photo courtesy:  visions2200