horses

Hello Buffalo

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Hello Buffalo

We are so excited to meet today’s animal. They are large and in charge and have a pair of horns you don’t want to come close too!

Tanzania

Cape Bufffalo Fun Facts: 

  • These large bovines can weigh up to 1,500 lbs. They can grow over 5 feet at the shoulder.
  • They are considered one of the big 5 species in South Africa. That includes, lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and Cape buffalo.
  • Those large horns are a part of their skeletal structure. Males have larger horns than females and can grow up to 5 feet.
  • The large area of the horns on the forehead of male is called the boss.
  • These large herbivores may only eat grass, but they are dangerous. They can charge without notice.
  • They are fantastic swimmers.
  • Cape buffalo live in herds of 50-500 individuals. Younger males form bachelor groups within the herd. Older males may be solitary.
  • The are listed as LEAST CONCERN by the IUCN.

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We wouldn’t say the Cape buffalo is the cutest animal on the block. You definitely do not want to get too close. A charging buffalo is not a cute buffalo.

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, horses, insects, lizards, Local, turtles, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Printable Valentines!

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Printable Valentines!

Our annual printable Valentines are here! Download, cut out, glue to a blank card and give! Don’t forget the glitter! Hehehe!

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Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, crafts, education, elephants, horses, nature, octopus, Today's Post, Valentines | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Back to Basics- Classifications

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Back to Basics- Classifications

We are back! Sorry for the delay in posts- we had some issues with the Irma. The University is in Atlanta. And then we headed on a short vacation to see our friend TourGuide Ted- the touring bear!

Today we are talking about classification! How do we classify animals? Well we are going to tell you! Let’s start out from top to bottom with classification! Animal classification starts with the Kingdom- which includes all animals on earth! In order to explain classification we are going to break down how Edmond is classified!

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Kingdom – includes all animals! Edmond is an animal!

Phylum- includes more than one class of animals. Chordata is the phylum for animals with a back bone or vertebrate. Edmond definitely has a backbone. 

Class- includes all the animals that go together- such as mammals, birds, insects, etc… Edmond is a mammal.

Order-  included more than one class of animals. Edmond belongs to the perissodactyla order- which means odd toed ungulate. Other odd toed ungulates include tapirs and rhinos. These animals have one large middle toe or just symmetrical toe- like Edmond’s hoof!

Family– is often named after one of its common members. Edmond belongs to the horse family, which includes zebras and donkeys.

Genus– ranks below family, but includes one or more species. Edmond’s genus is Equus. There are seven species in this genus.

Species– a group of animals that have common characteristics and can usually mate with each other. Edmond is a domestic horse (quarter horse). The other species in the Equus genus include; three species of asses, and three species of zebra.

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Classification of animals can get very complicated. It is most often based on the animal’s anatomy. There are some animals that even have their classification changed as scientists learn more about them. Take the giant panda- they were once classified with raccoons and the red panda, but scientists realized that giant pandas are carnivores and belong to the bear family. Pretty crazy right?

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, endangered species, Environment, horses, mammals, nature, science, Today's Post, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ellie and Edmond Feet!

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Ellie and Edmond Feet!

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We thought it would be fun to talk about our feet first on this fine feet week! We think our feet are pretty cool and we hope you’ll learn something about them too!

Ellie’s Feet:

  • We elephants essentially walk on our tip toes! This helps us walk quietly! We’d be good ninjas! Hahahahaha!
  • We have toenails. They are not attached to any specific digit. These are worn down when we walk. In zoos, elephants get regular pedicures to keep those toenails healthy! Spa day anyone?
  • Yes! We elephants have 5 digits in our feet! They are hidden in the skin and fatty tissue that makes up our feet.

elephant feet

  • Generally the circumference of our feet is 4 1/2 feet. Our footprint can be round to oval shaped.
  • You can tell the age and height of an elephant by their footprint!
  • Animals can be classified by the shape of their feet. We elephants are considered near-ungulates because we have toenails.  Our closing living relative- the rock hyrax has a very similar kind of foot. It is much smaller though!

hyrax feet

  • The bottom of our feet is full of grooves and ridges that help us stay stable and walk in all kinds of habitats. The bottom is also covered in tough fatty tissue that acts as a shock absorber and helps us sneak up on hyenas! (Ok, we don’t actually do that!)
  • We elephants use low frequency rumbles that travel through the ground to “hear” with our feet! We can feel those vibrations as far as 20 miles away! This is how we know where all the good watering hole dance parties are- just kidding!

 

Edmond’s feet:

  • Horse feet grow until we around 6 years old!
  • My hooves are made to absorb shock and weight (which increases when I’m galloping).
  • Hooves are flexible and expand when I run or stand.
  • The exterior of the my hooves is covered in keratin! The same thing that makes up a rhino’s horn!

horse hoof

  • The size of a horse’s foot is relative to the size of the horse! Clydesdale have bigger feet than me for sure!
  • The bottom part of my foot is called the frog! I know- it is a silly name!
  • My hooves need to be trimmed to stay healthy. Wild horses do this naturally when running!
Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, elephants, Environment, horses, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

HAPPY YEAR OF THE HORSE!!!

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

HAPPY YEAR OF THE HORSE!!!

Come color your very own Edmond and share  your artwork with us!!!

edmond coloring sheet

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, crafts, education, Environment, horses, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Year of the Horse- PRZEWALSKI’S HORSE

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Day #16 (1/31/2014) Year of the Horse- Przewalski’s Horse

      We headed out of HQs after a few snowy days. We decided to head to DC and the National Zoo to meet this horse as there are only around 400 in the wild. We had a great time watching these beautys and learning about the last true wild horses on earth.

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Their range and habitat: Mongolia (East Asia)/ grasslands

Their length/weight: 7 ½-8 ½ ft/ 440-600 lbs  Their status:  critically endangered

They are herbivores (grasses, scrubs)

prwelski's horse

  • Przewalski’s horses are stocky horses with large heads and short legs.
  • They live in herds led by a senior mare, family members and a lead stallion.
  • Przewalski’s horses were reintroduced in the wild. There is a small population now.
  • Przewalski’s horses groom each other.
  • They have two more chromosomes than domestic horses.  

Theses last wild relatives are so gorgeous! I really hope I am able to meet them in wild some day! Today zoos like the National Zoo are helping protect that population with research and breeding programs! We learned all about their efforts and they are amazing! Check them out here! Look for a special color your own me tomorrow!!

prwelski's horse2  prwelski's horse3

-Edmond

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, horses, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GUESS THE ANIMAL

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

 Day #15 (1/29/14) – Guess the Animal

We headed back to HQs just before the snow storm hit! We had a lovely snow day, but then we were stuck at HQs! So we missed a day of Year of the Horse Week- we’ll be making it up Saturday! Today it’s time to guess the animal! Do you know who it is?

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  •          I am a very breed of horse.
  •          I have a white blaze on my nose.
  •          I am known for my fun, silly personality!

Who is it?

–Ellie and Edmond

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, horses, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Year of the Horse- Grevy’s Zebra

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Day #14 (1/28/2014) Year of the Horse- Grevy’s Zebra…

      We back up our trunk and left before snow came to HQs!  Edmond was so excited he could hardly contain himself. The E&E plane headed to East Africa to find a large member of the Equid family; in fact it’s the largest member of the family! We had to pack our desert gear and loads of mud SPF 50! Edmond really wanted to don some stripes so he could blend in, but I talked him out of it.

e & e safari van

Their range and habitat: East Africa/desert, grassland

Their length/weight: 8 ¼- 9 ¾ ft/ 700-900 lb    Their status: endangered

They are herbivores (grasses, scrubs)

grevy's zebra

Grevy’s Zebras are the largest species of zebra.

They have white on their bellies, the base of their tales and on their rumps.

Grevy’s zebras have a distinctive black stripe down their back.

Male grevy’s zebras occupy a large territory- up to 4 square miles. This is the largest territory of any herbivore on earth.

Grevy’s zebra foals can stand up 6 minutes after birth.

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We had such a wonderful afternoon watching the herd we found. Edmond wanted to go over and hang out with them, but I convinced him to let them be wild! The males were so amazing to watch as the marked their territory. Our guide told us that there are some great conservation groups working to increase the numbers of these amazing animals! Go Zebra’s Go!!

-Ellie

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, horses, mammals, nature, science, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

YEAR OF THE HORSE!!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Happy Year of the Horse!

I am so excited for the Chinese New Year this year! We celebrated dragons two years ago and last year was the year of the snake, but this year is the YEAR OF THE HORSE!! I’m going to be putting on my tap shoes and dancing all over to celebrate! Ellie and I will be going to meet some of my wild relatives this week, but first up I want to tell you a bit about horses in general!

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  • My earliest relatives were around 45-55 million years ago.

edmond history

  • We were domesticated around 4,000 years ago.
  • We horses have a single toe on each foot. The outside of our hooves is like a human’s fingernail and must be trimmed.
  • We horses walk on our tip toes and so does my best friend Ellie!

edmond with hoof

  • I am an ungulate- meaning I have hooves. Ellie is also an ungulate.
  • There is one species of domestic horse and 4,000 breeds.
  • Horses have the largest eye of any land mammal on earth. We have a 350 degree range of vision.
  • The only wild species of horse is the Przewalski’s horse! We’re going to visit them later in the week.
  • I can sleep standing up or sitting down.
  • My relatives include the tapir and the rhino! Those rhinos are really unicorns!

edmond unicorn

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We horses have co-existed with humans for thousands of years. We have been friends, workers and therapy for people. Being a horse is a great honor and I am so excited to be celebrating this new year! Ellie and I are packing the travel trunk to go meet some of my relatives, including the zebra and the Przewalski’s wild horse. I have a special horse craft to share with you too. High hooves for everyone!!

 

 

 

Categories: adventure, Animals, Children, conservation, education, Environment, horses, mammals, nature, science, Uncategorized, wildlife | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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