Frog Drought

All across the country, frogs are affected by a very, very big drought. It is affecting other animals and plants, too. The drought was caused by there not being very much rain for many weeks. In New York City there is not a drought now, but there is in other parts of America like Ohio.

This corn dried up from the drought.

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Animals do not say "ready or not, here I come!" I just wanted to make a funny title. It does seem like animals are playing hide-and-seek but it is much more serious than that: they are trying to avoid being eaten by predators. For example, a deer camouflages with  the background of its forest and field habitat to try to avoid being eaten by wolves, coyotes, or bears.

Shhh! This deer is camouflaged.

Shhh! The lion is stalking!

Animals camouflage their babies because they are vulnerable to predators and animals hide from humans because they think we are predators to their young or to them. Predators camouflage too. They hide to try to ambush their prey, like a lion blends in with the grass of the savanna. We shouldn't disrupt their camouflage: then we would be letting the predators know that their prey is there and letting the prey know the predators are there, that would be disrupting nature.

Ways to the Protect Nature

You should protect nature because nature has stuff that we need like water and food. We should protect animals because, what if there weren't any animals? That would be very sad, don't you think? Here are some ways to protect nature.

You should not throw litter into the rivers and lakes or onto the ground because it when it rains they will be washed into the storm drains that eventually go into the rivers or lakes or oceans.

You can help out in your local park planting trees or other plants.

That boy is not me. But I would like to plant a tree!

You can not chop down trees because that destroys animals' habitats.

And it is good not to eat meat because that kills animals. And also do not hunt animals when you do not need to, just for fun or for the sake of killing animals.

You should stop poaching in national forests and nature reserves.

It is good to recycle things that can be recycled, even if it is not by the city. Whole Foods recycles number 5 plastics.

You should use less fossil fuels, instead you can use fuels such as wind, water, and solar power even if it does a little bit of damage like hurting birds.

You should not waste energy: turn off the lights when you leave the room or your apartment or your house.

You should ride bikes, walk, take the train, or carpool to not use so many fossil fuels.

We can all help nature!

Life on the Ice

Animals in the arctic need to have a way to keep themselves warm because it is very cold.  Most animals have blubber like walruses, seals, whales, and polar bears. 

Some have thick fur like polar bears, fur seals, arctic foxes, arctic wolfs and elk. 

In the winter it is always dark.  The aurora borealis shines bright over the animals' heads.  

There are no trees in the arctic but there are smaller plants and bushes.  Many animals catch fish like penguins, seals, walruses, and various flying birds.

What Was Around Before Humans?

In the Jurassic age, Stegosaurus grazed in the fields and Allosaurus prowled the forest.

Stegosaurus grazing

Allosaurus prowling, looking for food.

Then a mass extinction happened. Lots of plants and animals died out. This marks the end of the Jurassic and the start of the Cretaceous when new plants and animals evolved. Tyrannosaurus Rex stalked Triceratops while the Triceratops were grazing in the fields. The Velociraptor packs attacked Maiasaura in the rain forest, while Pteranodons dominated the skies. I did a little research for this post.

Whoosh! Pteranodon swoops low over the water.

Animal Transportation

Many animals walk or run on land. Some swim or fly. Others climb in trees, such as monkeys or lemurs. Some hop on the ground such as kangaroos and wallabies. Some animals slither such as snakes. There are some animals that do not come up above ground, they crawl, dig, or slide underground. Some animals barely move at all, such as three-toed sloths, barnacles and sea anemones.

This is a lemur. He says, "Woo-hoo!" because he is so high up and he is having so much fun.

Woosh!

Nature's Responses to the Seasons

Lots of birds migrate south.

 

Bears hibernate in winter. In the rainforest it is always hot. The arctic winters are dark all the time. The animals don't mind. Predators such as wolves and other carnivores follow the herds of herbivores.