Peacocks

Peacocks eat things such as grass, small snakes, small mammals, insects, seeds, and flower pedals. They live in parts of India and Congo. They live in places with luscious surroundings, like rain forests. They make their nests in trees. They live in groups known as parties. There are lots of types of peacocks. The main type that you will see in a lot of pictures is the Indian peacock. Some others include, the java green peacock, the Congo peacock, the bronze peacock, the albino peacock, the green peacock, and the charcoal peacock. Peacocks have lots of interesting features. Male Indian peacocks have things called trains on their backs. They are not considered their tails. They can keep there train down, flat on their backs, or spread it out behind there head. On their train, there are lots of shiny ''eyes.'' Peacocks have a short skinny beak. They also have a crest on top of their head. They have very sharp, strong talons that can grip a moving snake. Female peacocks are called peahens. Peahens are much smaller than peacocks in length, but they
are very important. They take care of the peachicks. Peahens like peacocks with large trains. Male peachicks start to get color at different ages, although it happens faster when peahens are around.
Peafowl is the true name for both genders. Peacocks make a loud, harsh (and annoying) squawking noise. Believe it or not, peacocks fly. They are one of the largest flying birds. The scientific name of peafowl is Pavo.

Cleopatra

Cleopatra was an Ancient Egyptian ruler. She was born in 69 B.C. (The time before Christ.) In 51 B.C. her father died, leaving the throne to Cleopatra and her brother. The two married, but soon enough, her brother wanted to rule for himself, so he made Cleopatra run off. She raised an army to fight back. Julius Caesar arrived in 48 B.C. and Cleopatra fell in love with him. Caesar and his soldiers helped Cleopatra return to her throne. She had a son with him, but not long after, Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. Not long after, Cleopatra fell in love with Mark Antony. She had twins with him, and not long after, he received false news of Cleopatra's death, and killed himself. When Cleopatra heard this, she did the same.

Raccons

     Raccoons are black and white mammals that can sometimes be viscous. Raccoons are active at night. These animals live throughout North and South america and Asia. Through-out the winter, raccoons do not hibernate, although they do sleep for a long period of time. In order for it to be true hibernation, the animal should look almost dead. This is because the animals' body temperature and heart rate drop substantially. In order for raccoons to stay warm through the winter, they gain extra body fat in the fall. Raccoons crawl around on all four paws on land, and also are excellent swimmers, in fact they get a lot of their food from under water. Raccoons eat things such as, bird eggs, fruits, seeds, nuts and plants on land. As for underwater, they hunt things such as frogs, fish and crayfish. Raccoons make their dens in cracks and burrows of high trees or abandon buildings. Normally female raccoons give birth to three or four baby raccoons in the spring. The baby raccoons' eyes do not open until 20 days after being born. When the babies get older they will grow rings around their tails and masks around their eyes. After eight to ten weeks, the baby raccoons come out of their burrow. The mother raccoon is almost always protective of her babies, sometimes not even allowing the father come near them. Most raccoons live around five years if they are in the wild. Some raccoons can live up to 20 years if kept in captivity. There are seven different species of raccoons.

Ligers

     Ligers are a cross breed between a male lion and a female tiger. Most people say that lions are the largest type of cat, but ligers are the largest type of caton earth. Ligers are not tecnically endangered, or common. Ligers have never been common at all. This is because tigers and lions do not live in the same areas, so this
kind if thing is done in captivity. Many Ligers are born with birth defects and die young. It can be very dangerous for the female tiger, (tigress) to give birth because of how big they can be. The tigress can even die from giving birth. Ligers have characteristics of both their mother and father. They have the strength of a lion and the speed of a tiger. Ligers have a larger body than both of their parents. There is no one who knows the life span of a liger. A typical male liger stands about 12 feet tall on hind legs. Ligers can weigh up to half a ton, which is 2 times the amount of either of it's parents.                                                  

Costa Rica

         I will talk about the geography, nature, history, people and culture, and some interesting facts about Costa rica.  To begin I will talk about geography. Costa rica is a small country in   central America. Bordering Costa rica is, Nicaragua, to the North, and Panama, to the South. To the East of Costa rica lies the Caribbean sea. To the west, lies the Pacific ocean. This country is smaller than the state of West Virginia! 


         Next I will tell you about what nature is like in Costa rica. Costa rica is a warm, tropical, place. One fifth of the country is covered in forests. Costa rica is one of the many countries that has rain forests in it.  The Monteverde cloud forest is the largest cloud forest in Central America.  Costa rica is home to over 9000 various kinds of flowering plants and, 2000 different species of trees. Until the rainy season begins, ( April - May) tropical dry forests stay dry. But when the rainy season hits, the forests begin to bloom.  These forests are hot and very humid year round. Molds, ferns, vines, and fungi grow through the canopy to the forest floors because of the heavy rainfall.  Palm trees and mangroves are frequent around the coastal areas.  In the rain forests of Costa rica there includes over 200 different reptile species slithering (or crawling) around in Costa rica. Mainly snakes, but Costa rica also includes many different colorful toads and frogs. Costa rica is also home to the poison arrow frog. Bats, and insects such as, transparent, vibrant butterflies, and leaf cutter ants, live in Costa rica. The national flower is the orchid. there are over 1200 species of orchids in Costa rica. Costa rica is also home to many species of birds, such as, the beautiful, sadly endangered, quetzal, the scarlet macaw, blue footed boobies and, a very beautiful bird that Costa rica is known for. The toucan. This is a picture of many birds you might spot in Costa rica.

  
      Costa rica has a very interesting past. In 1561 the Spanish came and colonized Costa rica. For about 250 years, it was a Spanish colony. In 1821, Costa rica declared independence from Spain, with the help of other countries in Central America, who were fighting for their own country. Women and other people of African decent gained the right to vote in 1949.

      Now I will tell you about the people and culture in Costa rica. People in Costa rica are just like us here in America,except a few different traditions. Just like here in America, Most Ticos (what Costa ricans call them selves), move out when they get married just like us. Although work is an important coordinate of earning a living, Ticos believe they should enjoy their lives. Native languages such as Bribri, the language the people of the Talamanca region originally spoke, is spoken. Although Costa rica's official language is Spanish, English is sometimes spoken as a second language. Many holidays and festivals are celebrated in Costa rica such as, Christmas and Holy week. You're probably wondering, what is holy week? When I got to this part of the entry I had no idea either. But now i know that holy week is the week before Easter, or the last week of lent. Costa rica celebrates Christmas as well. The most popular sport is definitely futbol or, soccer.

       Some interesting facts:
- The capital of Costa rica is San Jos'e.
- The population of Costa rica is 4,516,220.
- Costa rica is home to several volcanoes and Irazu is the tallest, towering at 11,259 feet.

      




      
      

Chinchillas

   Chinchillas are rodents with soft dense fur which gives them a very plump look. These mammals give birth to live babies.Chinchillas have very sharp front teeth.This helps them chew at their food. Many people have chinchillas as pets but as far as wild ones go, they have some little tricks to defend themselves. As far as chinchilla predators go, the main ones are foxes and eagles. Normally a chinchillas first defense is to flee.Which means to run away. Sometimes they stand on their hind legs to look bigger. Sometimes they bare there teeth and make sounds or, sometimes a chinchilla will spray urine at the predator.Wild chinchillas eat grass and other kinds of vegetation such as morning dew and cacti. These provide them plenty of water considering they live in a dry habitat. Chinchillas come in a variety of colors. Nearly all chinchillas are gray. Some chinchillas can live up to twenty years!!!!!! 

Giant Pandas

     Giant pandas are sadly endangered. They have a highly strict diet.they eat 99% bamboo. Choosing out of the 30 different kinds of bamboo species. Interestingly enough, they take new shoots in spring, leaves in summer and stems in winter. As for the other 1%, that goes to Carrion, grubs and eggs. Normally, these pandas feed at either dawn or dusk, and end up sleeping in a bamboo thicket. The female is 4/5's the size of the male. The female indicates how ready she is to mate by moaning, whining and barking. Males will to pretty much anything for the female.Chase, fight and gather food.Usually, 1 or to cubs are born at a time, usually into a den (hollowed out tree) or a rocky cave                                                                                                                                                                            

.                                                         (you may not believe this, but
                                                            this is a newborn giant panda!)