adventure

Off We Go Again…

We’re off to our 3 stop on our world trip this year. We started off in September in the Amazon Rainforest and then we spent most of October in the Galapagos Islands. Now we are packing up the raincoats, warm boots and gloves and heading up the Pacific Northwest to discover the wonders of the temperate rainforest! That’s right, most people know all about the tropical rainforests and their amazing animals, but there are temperate rainforests too.

Let’s learn some basics about the temperate rainforest:

• They can be found in Europe, Asia, New Zealand, Australia and North & South America.
• Temperate rainforest do receive much less rain than tropical rainforests. They get around 60-100″ in a year.
• Tropical rainforest have no seasons. Temperate rainforests have seasons, from hot summers to freezing winters. They also have a dry season and a wet season.
• The Pacific Northwest region the U.S. & Canada is the largest temperate rainforest in the world!
• The temperate rainforest is home to tall trees, mosses, birds, mammals and slugs!

We’ll be meeting many of the residents of these amazing forests and we hope you’ll love sharing in November’s adventure!

SPOOOOOOKY ANIMALS!

We are meeting a few creepy crawly spooktacular animals has we get closer to Halloween! Don’t let these animals fool you though, they are more amazing than they are creepy!

Only female angler fish have the lighted lures. Males are very tiny and attach the females where they are eventually absorbed by the female, so that she can reproduce! CREEPY!

The Vampire Finch lives only on two islands in the Galapagos Islands. They feed mostly on the blood of other birds, where they tear little scratches on the birds and drink a little blood. They are endangered and really cute if you ask us!

These infamous flying mammals are also the only mammal that feeds exclusively on blood. These frightening animals are very good parents and have been known to be surrogates for orphaned babies.

Rose tarantulas have stiff spiny hairs on their stomachs that they can throw when they are threatened. We’ll just wave from a distance.

Ravens are the largest member of the corvid family. Ravens can mimic other species of birds and some have been taught human speech. If one lands on your porch and says hello, say hi back :)!

Black cats have been associated with witches and evil, but the black jaguar just has a color mutation called melanism- where their fur has more color than usual.

The Texas Blind Salamander calls the inside of a cave its home. This habitat has led to this amphibian having no coloration and no eyes. These alien looking creatures are amazing!

These are just a few of the animals that people are afraid of, but there is no need to be frighten of the creatures that we share this amazing planet with! Even the ones with creepy reputations are amazing once you learn more about them!

Meet Sally Lightfoot!

Date: 10/12

Location: Galapagos Islands

• Sally lightfoot crabs vary in color.
• They live on rock shores.

• Sally lightfoots are also known as the red rock crab.
• Juvenile crabs are darker in coloration- brown or black. This helps them camouflage in with the volcanic rock of the islands.
• They are fast and very agile.
• Baby sally lightfoots hatch from eggs in the ocean, where they spend the first part of their lives growing and eating plankton.
• Sally lightfoots can shed a leg when they are grabbed by a predator.

We had such a ball watching these gregarious crabs on the rocks. They jump and leap and so agile on a habitat that other animals do not do so well on. It is so cool to know each creature occupies their spot in the environment.