Karen Hill

The owl is not a wise animal. For its size, the owl has a small brain, and in fact, is not as smart as geese, crows, and ravens. However, from ancient times, people have used the owl as a symbol of wisdom. The very serious look on the owl’s face might have given people the … Read more

The snail has an unusual body sticking out from the underside of its coiled shell. This body is actually a strong muscle called a foot. A snail’s foot is made up of many tiny muscles which help it to crawl about in an up-and-down, or wavelike, motion. The waves start at the front of the … Read more

Even though octopuses belong to a group of shellfish called mollusks, they have no outside shell. A tough skin, called a mantle, covers the octopus’ body. This mantle contains small bags of pigment, or coloring matter, which are connected to the animal’s nervous system. Any outside stimulus that excites the octopus makes its skin change … Read more

Although an octopus has eight arms, or tentacles, it does not use them for swimming. These tentacles are only for crawling along the ocean floor and for catching food. In order to move through the water, the octopus draws water into a cavity in its body, then squirts it out in jets through a tube, … Read more

Tiny, jellylike sea creatures, called polyps, have actually built reefs and entire islands. These cylinder-shaped, 1-inch wide polyps live in large colonies on the ocean floor and attach themselves to each other. Polyps remove a chemical called calcium from the sea water and use it to build a shell, or outer skeleton, of limestone around … Read more

Many large grazing animals, such as rhinoceroses and buffaloes, form strange partnerships with small birds. These birds, cattle egrets and tick birds are carried about on the backs of larger animals. There, they perform an important service by eating ticks and fleas that otherwise would suck the blood from the animal and cause dangerous diseases. … Read more

No. Cows do not start producing milk until after they have given birth to their calves. Until that time, they are called heifers. When heifers reach the age of 2-2.5 years, they are then mature enough to produce their young. A cow carries her unborn young for 283 days. This is called the gestation period. … Read more

Chewing a cud is a process by which some animals, called ruminants (camels, goats, sheep, deer, and cattle), thoroughly digest their food. The cow, for example, has a stomach organized into sections to take care of hard-to-digest food. When the cow first takes in food, it chews it just enough to moisten it. Once swallowed, … Read more

Yes and no. If you mean does it hum with its voice like a person, then the answer is no. But the hummingbird does produce a humming that comes from the rapid movement of its wings in the air. Even though this bird is the smallest in the world, it can move its wings so … Read more

Perhaps you think it might be the ferocious lion or the enormous elephant, but guess again. It’s actually the tiny ant, which may be as small as 1/16 of an inch or as long as 2 inches. Whatever its size, this tiny insect can carry up to 50 times its own weight. What is probably … Read more

Scientists have discovered and named about 1,000,000 different creatures in the animal world, from insects and worms to reptiles and humans. Of these, more than 800,000 are insects! Each year, from 7,100 to 10,000 new insects are discovered, but scientists believe that anywhere from 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 are still waiting to be discovered. These small, … Read more

The amazing, well-trained homing pigeon has been known to travel more than 1,500 miles from its home over strange territory, yet it always returns to its home loft. The pigeon has a natural homing instinct, but it does get special training from the time it is three months old. Its keeper releases it a short … Read more

Even though the ostrich is the largest bird in the world, weighing up to 350 pounds and standing about 8 feet tall, it has an amazing ability to run. Because a bird this size cannot fly, nature has given it the power to reach top speeds of nearly 60 miles an hour when trying to … Read more

The small hairy rodents known as marmots that live on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains have an amazing warning system against attack from the sky. These rabbit-sized rodents live in family groups in colonies, with each family digging out and living in its own burrow on the slope of the mountain. Marmots lead busy, … Read more

A snake’s tongue looks like a long, sharp, slender forked finger. People have long believed that when a snake flicks its tongue in and out of its mouth rapidly, it is preparing to attack. But this is not so. Actually, the snake’s tongue is harmless. The flicking is only a snake’s way of feeling, touching, … Read more

The strange-looking round fish called the electric ray has a method of catching its food that is unlike any other fish. On each side of its soft head, the ray has two organs which give off electrical shocks. The ray butts, or hits against its prey, other fish, with these organs and either stuns them … Read more

The giant king cobra is one of the deadliest creatures in the world. The adult has enormous poison sacs and its venom kills in a very short time. The king cobra will attack even if it hasn’t been provoked. In Asia, where these snakes are found, king cobras have been known to kill huge elephants. … Read more

The giant anaconda snake of South America, a 200-pound member of the boa family, can swallow a pig or even a deer whole at one meal. The snake coils its 28-foot-long body around the animal and squeezes tightly to stop its victim’s heart. Once the victim is dead, the snake swallows it whole. During the … Read more

Have you ever collected shells at the beach, especially the large, flat, rounded ones that many people use as ashtrays? Well, those shells once belonged to the sea creature known as the clam. At one time, two of those shells were fastened together and formed the home of the fleshy creature that lived inside. For … Read more

Clams, like oysters, have no eyes, ears, or noses, so they cannot see, hear, or smell. But they do have a large number of feelers, or tiny hairy projections on their gills. When the clam’s shell is open, these hairs fan the water, which is rich with small organisms, into the clam’s small mouth. From … Read more

Both clams and oysters are a class of mollusks, called bivalves. All bivalves have two shells held together by hinges. One big difference between oysters and clams is that the oyster spends all of its life except its first few weeks attached to one spot. The clam moves itself around throughout its life by means … Read more

The inside shells of oysters and other shell-forming mollusks are covered with a shiny, lustrous substance called nacre, or mother-of-pearl. Only tropical sea pearl oysters have the beautifully colored nacre necessary to make valuable pearls. Other edible clams and oysters also make pearls. But we would not recognize them as pearls, and they have no … Read more

The salmon is this determined navigator. Not only will it travel great distances to reach the place where it was born, but it swims against strong currents while doing so. After salmon are spawned, or hatched from their eggs, in a stream, they swim out to the ocean, where within a year or two, they … Read more

One of the oldest and strangest ways of fishing is still used today by the Maori tribe of New Zealand. The fishermen wade out into the clear waters of streams or lakes, making sure that they move quietly so the water doesn’t ripple. The fish in these waters dart in and out of rocks or … Read more

The family of fish commonly known as “flying fish” have very strange powers indeed! When these fish are trying to escape their enemies, they throw themselves out of the water through the motion of their strong tails. Once they are in the air, they spread out their large fins which carry them through the air … Read more

The harmless-looking silver and brown speckled piranha is the deadliest fish in the world. This blood-thirsty fish of South America’s Amazon River has jaws containing triangular-shaped teeth as sharp as razor blades. A school of these meat-eaters can strip an animal or a human being down to a skeleton in just a few minutes. Because … Read more

Hundreds of species of eels are found in streams and rivers of North America and Europe, but the amazing thing about them is that all these eels were born in the same place and will die in the same place! That place is a calm area of the Atlantic Ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Once … Read more

The ten-armed squid, which is a cousin of the octopus, has an unusual way of escaping from its enemies. If the discs on its arms cannot hold onto its enemy through suction, the squid spurts out a dark fluid from its “ink sac” and sets up an underwater smoke screen. With its enemy in the … Read more

The frogfish is an unusual creature because of the way it catches its food. Long threads that look like fishing lines grow out of the frogfish’s head. At the end of these threads are barbs, resembling the notched ends of a fishing hook. As the frogfish waits for its prey, it lets these threads float … Read more

The Australian walking fish is most unusual. In the water, it swims just like any other ordinary fish. But on land, this fish behaves as if it belongs there, for it actually walks! Its gills are bent in such a way that it can stroll out of the water and even climb up into the … Read more

Some fish, like guppies, give birth to live young, but most fish lay eggs. In spring and summer, when the water is warm enough for eggs to hatch, the male and female fish send signals to each other with their fins or their body. At this signal, the female lays her eggs in the water … Read more

The lamprey is a long, fishlike creature which resembles an eel. Lampreys differ from fish in that they have no limbs (fish have fins) and practically no scales. The lamprey secretes a slime, which makes it almost impossible to grasp. The most outstanding feature of the lamprey, however, is its mouth. This animal has no … Read more

However, it is these tentacles that make them so dangerous, for on them are stinging cells called nematocysts. When the umbrella-like jellyfish moves through the water, its tentacles drift along behind it. Jellyfish do not attack their prey rapidly like sharks and other fish. They might slowly propel themselves along, but usually they lie in … Read more

Most fish die very quickly if they are taken out of water, but the unusual eel-shaped lungfish, also called the mudfish, can survive for many months out of water. The lungfish has gills, like other fish, that it uses to breathe while in the water. But it also has an air bladder, which works very … Read more

When you think of sleep, you think of eyelids closing over your eyes. But fish have no eyelids, so they have nothing to close over their eyes. Yet fish DO sleep. Most fish sleep by keeping very still in the water. In this way, their bodies rest, just as yours does while you are asleep. … Read more

Because bats like to roost in dark caves and come out at night, they are greatly feared and misunderstood animals. The bat that is probably feared the most is the so-called vampire bat, which is native to South and Central America. This bat is only three inches long, but it feeds on the blood of … Read more

Billions of years ago, birds were part of the reptile family and had scales covering their body. Over the ages, the scales evolved into the feathers that help birds fly and keep them warm. Feathers come in different sizes and textures. An owl’s feathers are soft and long, so it can fly quietly but slowly. … Read more

The armadillo is a small mammal whose upper body is encased in armor. In fact, armadillo means “little armored thing” in Spanish. The armor is composed of many bony plates which overlap. These bony plates are covered with scales. Armadillos use their armor for protection since they cannot run fast, bite hard, or fight well. … Read more

The pelican has a long beak and an enormous elastic pouch connected to its underside. The pelican uses its pouch to feed itself and its young. Living by the shore, this bird’s diet consists mainly of fish. The pouch is a very efficient fish net. If the pelican passes a shoal of fish, it puts … Read more

The bald eagle is not bald, but is so called because it has a head of pure white feathers. Its tail is also white, but the rest of its feathers are dark brown, and the wings may have silver tips. Known as the “king of birds,” the bald eagle looks majestic and proud, and seems … Read more

Penguins are birds who lost the ability to fly millions of years ago. These birds are such good swimmers that they seem to fly along in the water. They are as graceful and swift underwater as other birds are in the air. Penguins can attain speeds of 15 miles an hour, using their flippers as … Read more

The ostrich, the largest bird in the world, does not hide its head in the sand. Although ostriches are not among the more intelligent species of animals, they are not stupid enough to hide their heads, thinking they cannot be seen. Actually, ostriches have very keen eyesight, and they constantly watch what is going on. … Read more

Male crickets rub their wings together to attract female crickets, and the result is the “chirping” noise we hear. Male crickets are equipped with their own built-in fiddle system, and both male and females have their “ears” in their front legs below the knee. Each of the male’s wings has a rough surface on its … Read more

Fleas are the best jumpers in the insect world. They can jump eight to ten inches high, many times their own height. The tiny flea is a parasitic insect, one that lives on other animals. It is best known for living on dogs and cats, but fleas also live on other animals, such as rats, … Read more

Lemmings are small rodents, only 4 – 5 inches long, that live in most Arctic and Subarctic regions of the world. Legend has made them famous for their death plunge into the sea. In Norway and other Scandinavian countries, large numbers of these animals make periodic migrations from their mountain homes, eating everything edible in … Read more

Different animals have different ways of protecting themselves from their enemies. The snowshoe rabbit is protected by its coloring. This animal is brown like the earth in summer, then becomes white like the snow in winter. Actually, the snowshoe rabbit is really a hare; its correct name is the varying hare. Its varying, or changing, … Read more

There are anywhere from 50,000 to 80,000 bees in a hive. Of these, 25,000 to 40,000 are female worker bees. There is only one queen in a hive. The rest of the bees are drones, or male bees. Each group of bees has certain tasks within the colony. The queen’s only responsibility is to lay … Read more

Bees sting in self-defense. Stinging is their only means of protecting themselves. Female, or worker, bees have barbed stingers at the end of their bodies. When a female thrusts her stinger into flesh, barbs hold her onto the flesh and the stinger pulls out of her body. The bee dies several hours after stinging. Thus, … Read more

All bees live on honey, which they make themselves. Only honeybees make honey that people can use. These bees are the only insects which provide food for humans. Bees also make wax to build their nests, and help nature by pollinating flowers as they fly from one to another. Making honey is the most important … Read more

Many species of bears are scattered throughout the world. Since they are the largest of the carnivores, or flesh-eating mammals, they do not have too many enemies, except man. Bears avoid people and are not ordinarily considered to be as dangerous as other groups of animals. But bears will kill, though not by hugging. It … Read more

The lion is probably the most famous member of the cat family, and the male most likely became known as the “King of Beasts” because of his royal appearance and bearing. The adult male is the only member of the cat family to have a mane, the long hair on the neck and head which … Read more

The elephant uses its trunk in more ways than any animal uses any part of its body. The trunk is both amazingly strong and very delicate. With it, an elephant can pull down a mighty tree or gently take a peanut from a child’s hand. The elephant smells, drinks, and feeds itself with its trunk. … Read more

People who buy or own something that costs a great deal of money to keep up, without serving any useful purpose, are said to own a “white elephant.” But there are actual Asian elephants whose skin is so light that that they are considered white. These white elephants were worshipped as gods by the people … Read more

Elephants are the largest living land animal, and they have no reason to fear mice. In fact, elephants do not fear mice. A healthy elephant does not fear any animals. Danger comes only from man and, when elephants are in the wild, from natural disasters such as drought or fire. Why then is it commonly … Read more

The elephant’s memory has been greatly exaggerated. It does remember many things, but the statement, “An elephant never forgets,” is not true. Some people used to think that elephants particularly remembered an injury, but this does not seem to be true either. Well-trained elephants can learn and remember about thirty spoken orders. Once they have … Read more

Ivory comes from the tusks of elephants and from mastadons and mammoths, ancient ancestors of our modern-day elephant. Mastadons lived until the end of the last Ice Age, about 8,000 years ago. Many mammoths lived in Siberia, and for a long time, most of the ivory came from there. Men dug up the skeletons of … Read more

Zebras have stripes to make them blend in with the scenery and to keep them safe from attack. This is very much like what soldiers do in wartime, as they cover their helmets with leaves and attempt to hide their artillery by drawing leaf-covered nets over them to blend them in with the scenery. This … Read more

Beavers are water animals whose diet is tree bark. They are excellent swimmers and wood cutters, and they use the trees they chew down not only for food, but also for building lodges and dams. Beavers live together in groups. They cut down trees together, one beaver chews while the other rests, and then the … Read more

Don’t think of an animal that Europeans brought with them when they landed on the East Coast. Think, instead, of an animal those people hunted. The animal which helped to settle many areas on the North American continent was the beaver. Its soft, shiny, durable fur was an item that became the basis of a … Read more

The goat may be the most laughed-at animal, but people do not laugh at the cashmere goat, for it gives us the softest, most expensive wool in the world! The cashmere goat, named for Kashmir, a region of India, lives in the Himalaya Mountains of Tibet, India, and China. People have tried to bring it … Read more

Many people think the camel does store water in its hump, but it does not. Instead, the camel stores something else there, food. The camel’s hump is really a hump of fat. When the camel, often called a “ship of the desert,” is not traveling and is in a place where there is plenty of … Read more

The camel is well suited to its life on the desert. It is one of the few animals who can go without water for fairly long periods of time. Exactly how long depends on several factors: the temperature, the kind of work the camel is doing, and the food it is eating. A camel in … Read more

A centaur is an imaginary animal which existed only in the mythology of the ancient Greeks. It was a kind of monster which was half-human, half-horse. The top half of the centaur’s body was that of a human, and the bottom part was the body of a horse. According to the myths, centaurs lived in … Read more

Iguanas are a kind of lizard. They live in the hot portions of North and South America. Iguanas are very fierce-looking whether they are large or small, but they are actually peaceful, timid creatures. They like to lie in the sun and eat flowers, berries, and insects. Some iguanas grow to be 6.5 feet long, … Read more

Although some parrots have been known to learn to speak as many as 50 words, the fact is that parrots are excellent mimics. When they speak, they are really only mimicking words and do not understand what they are saying. Don’t be fooled by the parrot who shrieks “Hello” when you come in, it might … Read more

The woodpecker pecks, or beats its strong bill, into tree trunks or limbs for several reasons. First, this rapid drumming is used as a mating call. Second, the pecking creates a hole for a nest, with the wood chips it leaves forming a cushion for the woodpecker’s eggs. But most of the woodpecker’s pecking is … Read more

Playing Possum is a common expression which has its origin in fact. When faced with danger, the opossum, the animal’s real name, sinks to the ground and closes its eyes, as if dead. In this temporary coma, its breathing slows and it appears dead. But the opossum is not playing. That is the way it … Read more

The kangaroo, now the national symbol of Australia, belongs to the group of mammals called marsupials, meaning “pouched.” Female kangaroos have a pouch, like a bag with an elastic top, in which they keep their young for eight to nine months after they are born. Marsupials are mammals; all female mammals give birth to living … Read more

Even though the ground hog, or woodchuck, has been given a special day, February 2, on which to make a weather prediction, this member of the squirrel family cannot predict the weather. In fact, the ground hog probably would rather not be awakened from its winter sleep. There is a widely held belief that the … Read more

The dodo was a large, handsome bird, about the size of a large turkey. It once lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. The dodo had a large, rounded beak and a silly plumelike tail. Portuguese sailors discovered the dodo on the island in the early 1500s, but as a species, it … Read more

Most people think the giraffe is mute. But the giraffe does have a larynx, or voice box. Compared to other animals, though, the giraffe’s larynx is not very well developed. However, sometimes giraffes will grunt or bleat, or make other soft sounds. Giraffes in zoos have been heard to moo. Females sometimes moo when they … Read more

Along with lions, tigers are the largest members of the cat family. One of the most feared animals of the jungle, the tiger has no enemies except man. Tigers are native to the Asian continent. Although many peoples have legends to explain the tiger’s stripes, the reason is really the animal’s adaptation to its environment. … Read more

Spiders use two different kinds of threads to spin their webs. One kind is sticky, and is used to catch the flies and insects spiders like to eat. The other kind of thread is a non-sticky, or silky, thread. It is on the non-sticky threads that the spider walks when it wants to get to … Read more

All spiders produce silk threads which are used to construct their webs. The silk is produced in the spider’s silk glands with the help of organs called spinnerets. By using different spinnerets, the spider can decide whether the thread will be thick or thin, dry or sticky, beaded or smooth. When the silk is first … Read more

If you see a shrew in a field or marsh, you might mistake it for a mouse until you spot its long, sharp nose. The shrew is one of the smallest mammals, only 3 to 6 inches long, with some weighing no more than a penny. Shrews are covered with short, dark hair and live … Read more

Almost, but not quite. Since moles live in underground tunnels, which they burrow, or dig, themselves, they have no need to see well. Their eyes are small, and a layer of fur and skin droops over them. In other ways, too, the mole’s body is suited for burrowing. A mole’s large, strong front feet can … Read more

Although wolves do attack people, for the most part, they avoid them. However, these gray, black, or red dog-like animals are great hunters. First they howl to get their pack together. Sometimes a pack will consist of about six wolves, but together, they are enough to chase and tire a deer and then kill it. … Read more

It is not its temper that makes a rhinoceros charge an intruder, but its poor eyesight. If it cannot recognize something, it will take no chances, but rush at it like a living tank, fast and furiously, ready to bite. The “horn” at the end of the rhino’s long nose, which can vary from 1 … Read more

Many farmers still use scarecrows in their cornfields and gardens to scare away crows, but while this “make-believe man” might keep the large black birds away for a while, crows are really not easily frightened and soon return to the fields and even perch on the arms and head of the scarecrow. The old custom … Read more

Although rabbits and hares belong to the same family and look so much alike that they are mistaken for each other, there is a difference between them. The easiest time to notice this difference is at birth. Rabbits are born blind, without fur, and cannot move about. Their eyes open in about a week, and … Read more

The keenest sense of smell in the insect world, and in fact in all nature, belongs to the male silkworm moth. This valuable moth uses its two antennae mainly to locate the female and can detect her signal, or smell, up to 6.8 miles away, amazing for an insect only about 1 inch long.

The caterpillars of the silkworm moth are the remarkable creatures responsible for making the threads from which man manufactures shiny, beautiful silk cloth. Today, almost all silk is cultivated on silk farms in Japan, China, and other countries of the Far East, where mulberry trees grow, since it is the leaves of this tree which … Read more

For the very sensible reason that they’re hungry and they like the taste of wool. The eaters are actually the larvae, or caterpillar stage the moths go through before they get their wings. The caterpillars have mouths with strong, biting jaws that can chew cloth and fur. When the caterpillar changes into a winged creature, … Read more

The llama is the animal which defends itself by spitting. Llamas spit bad-smelling saliva through their teeth when they are angry or annoyed, and also to protect themselves. They are said to have great accuracy in spitting. The camel, which belongs to the same family as the llama, also possesses this trait. Both camels and … Read more

Antlers are bony growths on the heads of more than 60 kinds of deer, including moose, reindeer, caribou, and elk. Antlers grow only on male deer, moose, and elk, who use them as weapons to fight other males for leadership of the herd or for possession of a mate. However, in the caribou and reindeer … Read more

The amazing but deadly little insect we know as a house fly actually has a remarkable body. Even though that body is responsible for spreading diseases, it is so wonderfully made and can do such unusual things that it is an insect to be marveled at. Most amazing of all is probably the house fly’s … Read more

The praying mantis got its name from its appearance. It is a long, slender, green and brown insect which stands with its front legs held folded up high in front of its body. This stance, however, is not spiritual; it is purely practical. The mantis’ front legs are spiked, and they are kept folded so … Read more

The tough, dried, twisted string used today in making violin strings, tennis racket strings, strings to thread looms, and thread for surgical stitches is NOT made from a cat’s guts and never has been. Most catgut is made from the intestines of sheep and hogs. These intestines are cut into long ribbons, then cleaned and … Read more

The top speed man has run is about 25 miles per hour; the fastest dog, the greyhound, reaches a speed of 40 miles per hour; racehorses have been timed at 50 miles per hour; and antelopes can go close to 60 miles per hour. But none of them can come close to the world’s fastest … Read more

Bats are not blind. Like many animals, they are born blind, but gain eyesight from the time they are seven to nine days old. The saying, “blind as a bat,” probably arose because of the way bats fly around, darting here and there at night. Actually, the bat is hunting insects, which people cannot see … Read more