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Animals of the World
Monarch Butterfly
The Monarch migrates in the late summer and early fall, often traveling thousands
of miles from the Plains states to the Southern U.S. and into Mexico.
During the winter, Monarchs mate, and the female often lays her eggs during
the return flight to the Plains states.
Elephant
The Elephant is a familial animal, living in units whichg usually consist
of the mother and her young. A typical elephant family might consist
of eight animals or so, though families may have twenty or more members.
One of the most expressive animals, elephants cry, laugh, and play.
Hippopotamus
The Hippopotamus, whose name means "river horse", is an herbivore that lives
in and around the water. A relative of camels, pigs, and deer, the hippo
has two lives in one! The center of a hippo's day life is water. Like a hippo
pool-party, sometimes hundreds of hippos, will share a territory of water
during the day. Whether it's mating, playing, fighting or giving birth, hippo's
all wet. The hippo's night life begins a few hours after sunset, when all
the hippos file out of the water to graze on land by the light of the moon.
Zebra
Zebras are almost exclusively grazers, favouring short grasses. They are
particularly fond of freshly sprouted grass on recently burnt ground and
will move large distances in search of this nutritious fodder. They do feed
on slightly longer grass than the wildebeest, however, and precede these
gregarious antelope in the Great Migration of the Serengeti-Mara. Zebra are
dependent upon water and this limits their range and movements.
Snapping Turtle
The Common Snapping Turtle is an aggressive, freshwater turtle usually found
in ponds, streams, and canals. It spends most of its life in the water. These
nocturnal (active at night) turtles live in eastern North America. Snapping
turtles are so fearless that they have been known to attack people. Snapping
turtles have an average life span of about 30-40 years.
Holstein Cow
The Holstein cow originated in Europe. The major historical developement
of this breed occured in what is now the Netherlands and more specifically
in the two northern provices of North Holland and Friesland which lay on
either side of the Zuider Zee. The original stock were the black animals
and white animals of the Batavians and Friesians, migrant European tribes
who settled in the Rhine Delta region about 2,000 years ago.
Gray Squirrel
Gray squirrels live mainly in dense hammocks of live oak and water oak and
in the deep swamps of cypress, black gum, and magnolia that border the streams.
Phil Goodrum found that they were most abundant in hammocks where the principal
vegetation was white oak and water oak mixed with magnolia, linden, sweet
gum, and holly.
Toads
In general, TOADs are squatty and plumpy creatures with a rough warty skin
and poison glands. They are found across the whole world, and can inhabit
more dry environments than frogs because of their drier skin (see also "What's
the difference between a TOAD and a frog?"). It is probably the most widely
introduced amphibian in the world. In China, they see the "TOAD" on the moon,
not the "man" of the moon. The TOAD is also considered there as "one of the
five poisons of yin." They say that eclipses happen, when the "TOAD in the
moon" tries to swallow the moon itself!
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