Penguins, and bears, racoons AND owls OH MY!

You may be thinking that this post is about the zoo but it isn't. This is about what I've learned through reading and thought might interest you. Lately I just finished a penguin (Tori's), bear (Tori's), raccoon (mine) and we're on the owl book but, since it's mine, I've read it so I can tell you about owls too, so here it goes!

PENGUINS!

The first weird thing was you can tell if a Empire penguin is a girl or boy. You want to know how? The boy is the one who keeps the egg warm so he has a feathered flap to keep it warmer. Secondly they only lay one egg each year. And thirdly some Empire penguin eggs are as big as a grapefruit! And last of all "When a group of penguins reaches the ' shoreline' the birds don't always rush into the water right away, even if they are very hungry. Often, one brave bird jumps in first to make sure the water is safe and no predator is nearby that might attack. Then the rest of the penguins jump in, sometimes all at once"*!!! Just thought you might be interested.

BEARS!

1: Black and brown bears are not always black and brown.

2: Brown bears have smaller ears, and whiter nails (don't even try to tell by the nails though!).

3: Some bears SLEEP on crooked branches!

(And have you ever seen a baby bear and thought "Oh, aren't they cute!"?)

RACCOONS!

1: They can open doors by them selves!

2: (This is my all time favorite) If mother racoons think their playing is too rough she tells them to calm down by growling. If that doesn't work she cuffs them on the ear or spanks them.

OWLS!

1: They can turn their heads TOTALLY BACKWARDS!

2: They also send messages with feathers that look like ears!

Well that's all I have for you.


*Quoted from All About Animals: Penguins, published by Reader's Digest Young Families