education

Snakes in the Ocean

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Snakes in the Ocean

Happy Monday! We’re meeting some more snakes during our Creepy Crawlies month. We know these reptiles can be scary, but let’s remember they are important parts of the environment. Today we’re meeting a snake that lives in the ocean.

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Banded Sea Krait Fun Facts: 

  • Banded sea kraits are found mostly in coral reefs.
  • They do come ashore to drink fresh water, lay their eggs and when they shed their skin.
  • These water going snakes have flatten tails to help them swim.
  • These venomous snakes mostly prey on eels.
  • Their prey- the eels, are bigger than they are and it can often take weeks to fully digest. They will haul on to land to digest their food.
  • They are considered to be shy and fairly docile.
  • Females are larger than males and can grow up to 4 feet long.

 

Who knew the ocean had snakes? And knew it could take weeks to digest your dinner? Crazy!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Boom!

Posted on October 3, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Boom!

Today we’re meeting another venomous snake with a funny name- the Boomslang! Come join us as we learn more about another legless reptile!

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Boomslang Fun Facts: 

  • They get their name from the Afrikaans for tree snake.
  • Boomslang as their name implies are arboreal.
  • They are particularly shy and flee from anything large.
  • These snakes call sub-Saharan Africa home.
  • They can grow up to 5 feet long.
  • Boomslangs eat lizards and eggs.
  • They are highly venomous with slow acting venom. They are rarely encounter by humans and most bites occur when they are cornered or when someone attempts to handle them.

 

These snakes have gorgeous coloration. They gain that coloration as they mature.

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, nature, reptiles, science, snakes, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our New Band Name

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Our New Band Name

We’re meeting another snake today and it’s named the Bandy-bandy! It just may be the best name ever and when we start our own elephant & horse band we’re naming it Bandy-bandy!

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Bandy-bandy Fun Facts: 

  • Of course the bandy-bandy is named after the rings of black & white on it’s body.
  • These small round headed snakes grow up to 2 feet long.
  • Bandy-bandies are residents of Australia.
  • These burrowing snakes are nocturnal.
  • They are venomous and are known to eat other snakes.
  • Bandy-bandies are known for their “stance” when threatened- they form a hoop or u shape to look bigger.

 

We like these cool little snakes. They are rarely seen by humans, due to being mostly nocturnal. Now if you had to name your band after an animal what would it be?

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Ribbons!

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Ribbons!

Today we’re meeting an interesting mostly aquatic snake- called the ribbon snake. Any guess where they got their name from?

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Ribbon Snake Fun Facts:

  • Ribbon snakes call marshes, ponds and lakes home.
  • They are excellent swimmers.
  • They are related to garter snakes.
  • These slender constrictors only eat ectothermic prey including frogs and fish.
  • They use their site and hearing senses when hunting for prey.
  • Ribbon snakes hibernate during the winter.

 

These neat little snakes have small heads and therefore eat smaller prey. Like all snakes they swallow them whole.

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Creepers Month!

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Creepers Month!

It’s October tomorrow and that is the traditional month for creepy crawlers- you know the usual suspects; bats, spiders, bugs, blacks cats and snakes! We had a request to share more about that last one- so we’re meeting some snakes from around the world.

Today we’re meeting the black rat snake- a constrictor and helpful snake.

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Black Rat Fun Facts: 

  • They are also known as Eastern Rat Snakes.
  • These large constrictors can grow up to 7 feet long.
  • They call suburbs, woodlands and farms home.
  • Their favorite prey are eggs, amphibians and birds.
  • Black rat snakes are excellent swimmers and climbers.
  • They can release a foul order to deter predators, including hawks.

 

These snakes are harmless to humans and are helpful to keep rodent populations in check. If you see one, just let them be and wave from a distance.

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What’s a Mata Mata You?

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

What’s a Mata Mata You?

We’re meeting a funny looking reptile with a funny name. Are you ready to learn more about the Mata Mata turtle?

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Mata Mata Fun Facts:

  • Mata mata turtles call rivers and streams in the Amazon home.
  • They rarely leave the water, except to lay eggs.
  • They are pretty sedentary.
  •  Mata Matas grow to about the size of a dinner plate- up to 20 inches.
  • Their necks are longer than their vertebrae. They can stretch them to breath while they stay on the bottom.
  • These turtles can not pull their heads into their shells, but they can turn them sideways.

These weird and wild turtles are always one of our favorites to learn more about. Would you like to “snorkel” with one?

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Sun in the Ocean

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Sun in the Ocean

We’re meeting one awesome fish today! It is big, odd looking and one of a kind! Come learn more about the Ocean Sunfish or Mola Mola with us!

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Mola Mola Fun Facts: 

  • Molas are large and round shaped. The name mola means millstone for its round shape. 
  • They are known for swimming up by the surface and letting birds pick parasites off of their skin.
  • It is the heaviest bony fish in the world. They can get as large as 15 feet!
  • Female ocean sunfish lay 300 million eggs at a time. 
  • Those eggs are star shaped and about the size of a pin head!
  • Ocean sunfish are related to pufferfish. 
  • These odd disk shaped fish use their dorsal and anal fins to swim! 

 

These super cool alien looking fish are one of our favorites. We sure wouldn’t say they are cute, but wow are the neat!

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, fish, nature, oceans, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No Flying Here

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

No Flying Here

We are continuing to meet some animals from our coloring book this week and today that means were learning more about the kiwi! These little flightless birds from New Zealand are icons and quiet fascinating!

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Kiwi Fun Facts:

  • Kiwis are related to emus and ostriches.
  • Kiwis and their ancient relatives have been on earth for 30 million years.
  • They do have wings that are about 1 inch long. These wings are useless.
  • Flighted birds have hollow bones to help them fly; but not the kiwi, they have bones full of marrow – like mammals.
  • Kiwis also have claws on the end of each claw.
  • Female kiwis lay the largest egg to their body ratio of any bird on the planet.
  • A female can lay 300 eggs in their lifetime.

Kiwis are so cute and funny looking with their tiny wings, long beak and clawed feet. Can  you imagine a funnier looking bird?

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s Here!

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

It’s Here!

We’re so very excited to share with you that the coloring book our Photographer drew and we helped do the research for is now on sale on Amazon. There are 50 pages of animals and their relatives and even those who may not have any relatives at all. There are some basics on classification, but wow we would need a text book to do that subject justice.

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We hope it inspires you to learn more about animals and their relatives while have fun coloring! Oh and we recommend using colored pencils or crayons in the book so the colors won’t bleed! And as always THANK YOU for your support!

Categories: adventure, Animals, birds, Children, conservation, crafts, education, endangered species, Environment, fish, frogs, mammals, nature, oceans, Puppets, reptiles, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fairies!

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Fairies!

We are meeting one last animal from our coloring book today- the Pink Fairy Armadillo. These crazy looking animals are fascinating and we can’t wait to learn more about them with you!

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Pink Fairy Armadillo Fun Facts:

  • They are also known as the pichiciego.
  • These little animals are about 4 1/2 inches long.
  • Their pink shells are only attached by a thin membrane.
  • They call sandy plains their home.
  • Pink fairy armadillos have long digging claws on their front claws. They can bury themselves in the sand in a matter of minutes.
  • These omnivores eat insects and plant materials.
  • They are nocturnal and solitary.
  • Pink fairy armadillos spend most of their time underground. They make a swimming motion in the sand with their long front claws.

 

These alien looking little armadillos are so cool. We had never heard of them until recently. They call Argentina home.

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, mammals, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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