What Makes A Bird?

Play this video of birds.  What do you like about birds?  Which bird do you like most?  Why?

 

Ivan Pavlov

Why do dogs drool when you break out a can of their favorite food?  Ivan Pavlov has the answer.  A Russian scientist who never followed the dress code in school, he also fell in love with a woman his parents disapproved.  He received a Nobel Prize for discoveries about dogs’ digestion.  His later work on “conditioned responses” became the basis for modern animal training and product advertising.

Ivan Pavlov:  Exploring the Mysteries of Behavior by Barbara Saunders, 112 pages, suitable for grades 4-10, available from your school library or from Enslow Publishers, Inc.  ISBN:  0-7660-2506-3

Birds on Gravel Roof

Skitter, skitter
Flap flap flap
Chuck, chirr, chirr
Starlings nest

Tic tic tic
Flap, ap, ap, ap
Scccrrrraaatttccchhh
English sparrows feed

Plunk plink
Plunk plink plunk
Plunk plink plunk plunk
Turkey vultures stroll

Can you make a drawing of the birds in this poem?

Thrush in the Brush

Hop forward
hop back
move the leaves
scritch scratch

Hop forward
hop back
find worms
for a snack

Foot fall
on your track
fly away
in a flash

Scritch scritch
scratch scratch
out of sight
farther back.

Would you send me your drawing or painting of a thrush in the brush?

If I Were a Spider

If I Were a Spider

I would taste through my feet:
the dry lime sidewalk,
the mushroom forest dirt,
the slimy, slippery swamp.

If I had eight legs,
how would I know
which to move first
or how to stay untangled?

Would walking my web be walking a
circus tight rope or bouncy trampoline?

When I sleep
how do I know a bird or hungry raccoon
won’t eat me before I wake?

I wrote this poem because sometimes I’ve wanted to be a spider. What animal would you sometimes like to be?

Fascinatorium

Skull of vole
little newts
tiny pig
other things not very big.

Stuffed snake
shark jaws
cow heart
things that give you a start.

Puffy toads float
in dusty jars
of preserving fluid
other things very lurid.

Shiny beetles
soft butterfly wings
grasshopper’s legs all crunchy
other things very scrunchy

What’s your favorite sound in this poem?

Creepy Crawly Pets

Tarantulas, rats, lizards, and even an animal called an axolotl can be pets.  Chris Stockner, a teacher at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Life Science Laboratory, told me about creepy crawly pets.  Chris has been keeping bugs and reptiles since he was a kid.

Chris explained much of what people think about “creepy” animals is not true. People think cockroaches carry lots of diseases, but they carry very few.  Lots of people think snakes are slimy, but they’re not.

Most people think being bitten by a tarantula is deadly. Most tarantulas bite as part of hunting their food. Tarantula’s food is very small, not at all the size of a person. The do not bite from fear. Chris explained a tarantula bite feels like being stung by a bee— not good but not dangerous, unless you’re allergic.

Insects are becoming more popular as pets. Insects are easy to keep and safe. Although some insects can sting, few have venom that is a danger. Many insects can be cared for by children. Most insects are not strong enough to force open an mistakenly unlatched cage top.

An example of an insect pet is the Vietnamese walking stick. (Baculum extradentatum) Four-to five inches long, walking sticks eat only leaves. Active at night, they stay still during the day. Some walking sticks look similar to a preying mantis to fool the animals that would eat them. For more information on Vietnamese walking sticks, go to http://www.insecthobbyist.com

“Rats,” Chris explains, “can be good pets for young kids.” They’re interesting and they very rarely bite. Rats’ size and appearance depends on the breed of rat.  Rats’ hair can be wavy or long and silky.  Their ears can be large or small.  Rats live from 2-5 years, and can be neutered.  Rats(Rattus norvegicus) eat a diet of fruit, vegetables, and rat pellets.  They need exercise and things to gnaw to keep their teeth short.

Watch the rats at Chris’ museum at Rat Cam
For more information about rats as pets, contact the   American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association

Reptiles
Chris says when people get a snake or lizard as a pet, they need to be cautious. Reptiles, the group snakes and lizards belong to, require more care, than insects or rats.  At first, people enjoy the novelty, but lizards live 20-30 years and tortoises for 60-100 years.  When you acquire a reptile, you may be acquiring a pet for your children and grandchildren.

Reptiles suitable as pets include corn snakes and Bearded Dragons. 

The Inland Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) grows up to 20 inches long and can weigh one pound.  The Bearded Dragon is active in the morning and late afternoon.  The dragons can be handled gently, with support under belly.  Dragons are curious.

Dragons need a 50 gallon reptile tank with a lid, full spectrum lights and temperature control. Dragons eat worms and insects, fruits and flowers.  They require places to lie under the lights and hiding areas. They need branches and logs for climbing, and plenty of water to drink.  For more information about reptiles as pets try Kingsnake.com

Visit your local museum or zoo or find a local “herpetology” club to talk with people who know more about these fascinating animals. 

Rock Pigeons

My home town, Portland, is a great place for Rock Pigeons to live. Portland’s birds are descendents of those brought to North America from Europe in the 1600’s. 

People enjoy feeding these birds and city dwellers throw away enough food to feed a large Rock Pigeon population.

Weighing less than a pound, Rock Pigeons are 13 inches long. Males are slightly larger than the females.  Buildings and bridges resemble cliffs, doves’ natural nest site.

Pigeons walk or run with their heads bobbing back and forth. They can fly up to 50 miles per hour.

When you see a puffed up strutting bird, this is a male pigeon courting a female. Pigeons mate for life.  Males fluff up their neck feathers, usually green, bronze, and purple.  They spread their tail feathers and dance in a circle around the female. They coo loudly.  Both male and female help to build a nest of twigs.  Both sit on the nest until the eggs hatch.

In cities, the Peregrine falcon, Red-tailed hawk, and the Coopers hawk eat pigeons.

Do you have Rock Pigeons in your town?

Is Your Cat a Small Tiger?

Chris Pfefferkorn, General Curator (person in charge of the animals) at the Oregon Zoo helped us answer this question.

Cats range in size from a 700-pound Tiger to a 3-pound housecat. Cats’ body parts are adapted to allow cats to stalk, kill, and eat animals for food. “Watch your cat stalk. This is how wild cats hunt,” Chris says.

Cats are also able to leave scent messages. Other cats understand the message means another cat uses this home range.

Housecats and wild cats hunt in the evening or early morning. In the middle of the day, they sleep and conserve energy. 

All cats are mammals, and carnivores (animals that eat meat). All cats have similar tails, teeth, and claws. Their senses of vision, touch, and hearing are also the same.

To see what’s different between wild cats and house cats, Chris says we should watch wild cats. “Watching cats use giant-sized toys in a zoo help you understand the physical ability of wild cats.” Look at the size of a tiger’s foot. Compare it to your cat’s foot. One is the size of a dinner plate. One is the size of your thumb.”

Chris likes Amur leopards. “An Amur leopard leaps into a tree, dragging his dinner with him, often a deer. Your housecat can jump to a high shelf, but he can’t drag something equal to his body weight with him.

The Oregon Zoo sometimes provides the tigers with a ball constructed from 200 lbs. of fire hose. Chris explains a tiger can carry the ball in its teeth for hours at a time.

Domestic cats have been bred for thousands of years to behave in ways that fit into peoples’ homes. Wild cats are beautiful, but very dangerous animals. They breed in the wild to succeed in the wild.

If you want to live with a cat, you need a housecat. If you want to information about wild cats from Chris’ zoo try:
Siberian Tiger
Amur Leopard

Do you have a zoo nearby where you can visit wild cats? Write and let me know what you think about tigers and housecats.