ANNOUNCEMENT

Alright, so I was thinking and I decided it was about time to switch something up! So for my next 7 posts I will be doing an animal from each continent. For Africa I will be doing a post about Okapis, for Asia I will be doing another post on Siberian Tigers.

My favorite animals in Australia are Koalas!! In Europe I will be talking badgers!!!!

The next couple continents I will be doing are North America and South America. For North America I will be doing a manatee and for South America I will be writing about stingrays.

Ok so these are my plans for my world tour!!! I will be getting started on these posts as soon as possible mainly next week on Friday. Although, I might be able to continue throughout the week. Most likely on Wednesdays, although maybe Mondays too. I hope you guys are as excited for this as I am!!!!

Holly Jennings

Just saying but, ha you thought I was gonna blog about animals today! Well I’m not, today I will be blogging about one of my all time favorite authors, Holly Jennings!!! I can’t stress enough how much I love her and her books. I first fell in love with her writing on the summer of 6th grade for my summer reading list. I read the book Arena which is currently my FAVORITE book EVER along with The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I honestly think I’ve read Arena at least 10 times over again and it never gets boring! Although there are some “zesty” scenes so if that kind of thing is uncomfortable for you to read then I wouldn’t recommend it, but other than that you should TOTALLY  read it!!!!!! Overall I just LOVE Holly so much and I really want to be able to meet her in person!

Gorillas

Unpopular opinion: gorillas are so adorable! Some people think they are gross or “uncultured” but let’s be honest, it’s an animal how cultured could it be? Anyway, gorillas aren’t only adorable but they are also really interesting creatures, the more research I did on them, the more interested I was. Gorillas live in family groups of usually 5 to 10, but sometimes two to more than 50, led by a dominant male who holds his position for years. Females become sexually mature around seven or eight years old but don’t begin to breed until a couple of years later. Males mature at an even greater age. Once a female begins to breed, she’ll likely give birth to only one baby every four to six years, and only three or four over her entire lifetime. This low rate of reproduction makes it difficult for gorillas to recover from population declines. Both gorilla species have been decreasing in numbers for decades, and a 2010 United Nations report suggests that they may disappear from large parts of the Congo Basin by the mid-2020s. I have been donating to this company called World Wildlife Fund for a few years now and I thought it was a good time to introduce them. World Wildlife Fund focuses on so many animals and preserving the natural habitat. You should check out the link here if you are interested in helping the amazing gorillas out in the wild.

Barn Owl

Just saying but I’m not the most interested in these animals. Although, I’m doing this post for a classmate because I was out of ideas. Buuut the more I researched I found out how interesting these animals really are, just a warning, they can also be a little gross so if you get disgusted easily I would stop reading now. Ok, well you’re still here so we continue. Barn Owls eat all of their pray whole. Skin. Bones. All of the works. They later dispose of the unwanted parts of the animal by their pellets. And yes, this is poop. The female barn owl will later use the pellets to create nests by shredding them and compacting them into a nest shape. These nests are used to lay eggs (as you could have guessed.) The barn owl will often lay 2-18 eggs in a single clutch, the owl will most likely lay 2 clutches per year. That’s a lot of chicks!! Anyway this is why I think Barn Owls are interesting and also a quick thank you to the person who suggested this idea (they would like to remain anonymous!)

Stitch

Ok, I’m going to be honest, this is not one of my usual blog entries. I’m also just going to say I love Stitch and the entire Disney franchise. (Not as much as my bff Jada though!!) Recently she could not stop talking about going to Disney land and world (in the U.S.) this pushed me to do a special edition on my favorite all time Disney character…. STITCH!! He is the most adorable and funny little character ever! Let’s be honest, he is he best experiment accident ever! Who knew that the experiment 626, made to be a destructive machine could be the biggest sweetheart around?!  Not to mention the lengths he went to just to keep mischievous little Lilo safe.  

sea bunny

Sea bunnies are some of the most adorable animals I have seen!! You may have seen pictures or videos around the internet on these adorable sea bunnies. Truth is they are just super cute sea slugs that have the appearance of a lil bunny. The sea bunny looks as if it has fur covering it’s back and stomach. Although, it’s definitely not fur. What you’re looking at are groups of small rods known as caryophyllidia, which cover its back. They’re arranged around small black knobs that give it a spotted look. Most experts believe these organs play sensory roles. Also, the little ears…. they aren’t ears at all. they are rhinophores, and they help them to identify chemicals in the water that allow them to find food and mates. Although these sea slugs are not bunnies they sure are adorable!!!!

Axolotl

Axolotls are definitely not the most popular animals around but currently they have been gaining a lot of attention for their unusual looks or figure. Axolotls are also known as the Mexican walking fish, although they are called a fish they are amphibians. You may recognize them from their odd shaped gills (allowing them to breathe underwater) that are shaped as a lions mane. They are also carnivorous and have a fairly common way of catching their pray. When hunting the axolotl will grip its food in its mouth and move it into position with its pedicalate teeth (shaped like cones) before swallowing it whole. I think the fact that an animal only 9.1 inches (average) is as successful as it is. Did I forget to mention that the axolotl is one of my classmates favorite animals but the more I read about them the cooler they get, and that’s why.

Pandas

Pandas are some of my favorite animals for many reasons. The big one being how completely adorable they are! Although they are so adorable they also have so many interesting facts about them. Did you know that bamboo can reach up to 99% of a pandas diet? I didn’t. But that 99% per panda isn’t doing much to the environment because there is thought to be fewer than 1,900 left in the wild! We should be doing everything we can to keep these big 100 kg animals safe and healthy. They often reach up to 1.8 meters (six feet) in length! Those are some giant pandas! (get it?) Anyway, they need all of that space to hold 1-2 baby pandas, that weigh 3-5 oz each and are super fuzzy and adorable!! That is why pandas are some of my favorite animals.

Sea Horses

Seahorses are some of the funniest animals out there! (At least in my opinion.) Sea horses are actually fishes that are named after their head which looks like a tiny horse head. There are about 25 species of seahorses that we currently know of today. A female seahorse can lay dozens and up to hundreds of eggs at a time! As soon as they hatch the sea horses are on their own and most of the time form groups with other baby sea horses when they are just the size of a jellybean. That’s why I think they are some of the funniest animals out there!

Pufferfish

Puffer fish are some of the coolest animals in my opinion. Seriously though, how do they manage to inflate themselves so much? That’s what we are going to find out today along with some other interesting facts about puffer fish. Most scientist believe that a puffer fish puffs itself up as a defence against predators to create the illusion of being bigger than they really are. They do this by gulping in water that travels to a special sack in the stomach. They can even make themselves two to three times the size of their regular form. Puffer fish also have another defence mechanism, some of them can create a toxic substance on the surface of their skin that makes them taste foul and can sometimes be deadly to other fish. This poison is also very deadly to adults as well. There is enough toxin in one single puffer fish to kill up to thirty grown adults. That is why I think puffer fish are pretty rad, but remember to be careful if you see one.