American White Pelican

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Raymie

This is an American white pelican.  They live in North America.  In Wisconsin, lots of pelicans migrate through, but some decide to stay here for the summer.  The one in this picture lives at the NEW Zoo in Green Bay.

American white pelicans are big birds.  They build a nest and the female lays 2 or 3 eggs.  When they hatch, both the male and female take care of the chicks.

Unlike the brown pelican, which dives into the water from the air for fish, American white pelicans do not dive.  They swim on top of the water and stick their beaks in for fish.  They have a stretchy throat sac under their bill for holding fish.  They like to fish in groups, so they can chase the fish to each other.  You usually don’t see a pelican all by itself.

On Tuesday, my Grandpa Miller told us that there were a bunch of pelicans living in the Fox River at Olde Oneida Street near his office.  So we went to go take a look.  There were a whole bunch of pelicans sitting in a line on a wall in the river.  The water was moving very fast, and some pelicans were sitting in the water riding down the river.  Then they would fly up river, land in the water, and go for a ride again.  They looked like they were having fun.

We went over to the other side of the river and got a nice closeup view of three pelicans swimming and perching on a branch.

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Dwarf Zebu

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Raymie

This is a zebu.  Zebu are domestic cattle that live in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and East Africa.  Zebu are also called humped cattle, indicus cattle, brahmin cattle, or cebu.  The one in this picture is a dwarf zebu, which is a breed of zebu.  It lives at the NEW Zoo in Green Bay at the petting zoo area.

The day we were visiting the zoo, the zebu spent all of its time eating the hay.  I tried giving it some of the petting zoo food, but it wasn’t interested.

Zebu have a big hump on their backs and a big dewlap, which is a flap of skin that hangs from an animal’s neck.  They live in hot temperatures.  On the farm, they are used for pulling things and they are used as dairy cattle.  They are also raised as beef cattle.  Their hides can be made into leather and their dung can be used as fuel or fertilizer.

When my uncle Tim was in the circus, he walked with a zebu in the show.  It was a miniature zebu named Gandi.  You can see a cool picture and read all about Gandi here.

Zebu are also featured in the VeggieTales silly song “The Song of the Cebu.”

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Peppermint Shrimp

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Raymie

This is a peppermint shrimp.  It is hard to see in this picture, but peppermint shrimp have red and white stripes like a peppermint stick.  The peppermint shrimp is a cleaner shrimp, like the scarlet cleaner shrimp, which means that it cleans other animals by eating parasites and dead tissue.  They are common in salt water reef aquariums.  Its eggs are bright green.  Peppermint shrimp are crustaceans.

I saw this fish at SeaWorld‘s Manta Aquarium.  In the picture you can also see a cleaner wrasse which is a fish just below and to the right of the shrimp and also cleans other fish just like a cleaner shrimp.  You can see part of a sea anemone just below and to the left of the shrimp.

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Long Spine Sea Urchin

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Raymie

This is a long spine sea urchin.  It is also called long-spined sea urchin, lime urchin, or black sea urchin.  Sea urchins are in a group of animals called echinoderms, which also include sea stars.  Long spine sea urchins live in the Caribbean Sea and eat algae.

In 1983, throughout the Caribbean most of the long spine sea urchins died.  No one knows why for sure, but it was probably some kind of disease.  When that happened, the algae started to grow, grow, grow.  When that happened, there was less coral on the coral reefs.  When that happened, the fish and other animals that live at the coral reefs left.  When that happened, not as many people came to the Caribbean to snorkel and dive.

Recently, scientists have discovered that long spine sea urchins are making a comeback.

I think it is interesting that when something affects one animal, it can affect other animals, too.

I saw the long spine sea urchin in this picture at SeaWorld in the Manta Aquarium.  It was in the same tank as the scarlet cleaner shrimp and the peppermint shrimp.

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Octowalrus

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Raymie

This is an adult octowalrus. Octowalruses live in the deep part of the Arctic Ocean. Their favorite food is clams. They drag their whiskers and tusks in the sand to find clams. They are very rare because they get attacked by both great white sharks and polar bears. Baby octowalruses look like a tiny octopus with a fuzzy head, but as they grow they get their whiskers and tusks. They have an ink defense like octopuses, but they don’t get this until they are adults. They also have arm regeneration, which means that if they lose an arm, they can grow a new one. But they don’t have tusk regeneration. They have a hard head that lets them bust through the ice, and they are pretty good at crawling around on the ice. They lay 100-2000 eggs at a time, and the eggs are brown spotted with white stripes.

My dad and I took this picture on our recent expedition to the North Pole.

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Common Murre

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Raymie

This is a common murre.  They are also called common guillemot or thin-billed murre.  They live in the north all the way around the world.  They are very good swimmers and divers.  Murres are a type of auks.  Auks are sea birds that are a little like penguins.  They are mostly black-and-white, they are excellent swimmers and divers, and they waddle when they walk.  But auks can fly.

Common murres eat fish.  They spend most of their lives at sea.  They come to land during breeding season and get together in very large groups.  They don’t build a nest.  Instead, they just lay their eggs on the rocky ground.  Murre eggs are all different colors and have different patterns on them.  This way, when all the murres lay their eggs, the parents can recognize which egg is theirs.

I saw this bird at SeaWorld in the Penguin Encounter exhibit.

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Blue and Gold Macaw Cake

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Raymie

Last Thursday, my cub scout pack had a blue and gold banquet.  There was a male-only cake decorating contest; females could not help decorate the cakes.  My dad and I decided to make a blue and gold macaw cake (also called blue and yellow macaw) because it was the blue and gold banquet.  It was chocolate cake that we covered with white frosting.  We drew the outline of the bird in black frosting, and we used different colored sprinkles for the color.  It was very yummy.

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Egyptian Sand Boa

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Raymie

This is an Egyptian sand boa.  It is also called Kenyan sand boa or East African sand boa.  They live in northeast Africa. It is a snake with a small head, small eyes, and a small tail.  It likes to live in sandy ground, and it eats small mammals that it kills by constricting.

I saw it this morning at the Pet Expo in Green Bay.  We saw lots of different pet animals there, especially lots of dogs.

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Red-footed Tortoise

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Raymie

This is a very special red-footed tortoise.  Notice anything strange about it?  It has a wheel instead of one of its feet.  This tortoise lives in Uberaba, Brazil.  About a month ago, it cut its foot on an electric fence that fell down, and the veterinarian, Cláudio Yudi, had to amputate its foot.  Tortoises have a hard time getting around with just three legs, so the veterinarian decided to try gluing a furniture wheel to the bottom of its shell.  The tortoise is now healthy and getting around well.

I don’t know the tortoise’s name, but I like to call him Tortoise Wheel.

The picture above was taken by Cláudio Yudi, the veterinarian who gave him the wheel.  We learned about it here on globo.com. (Click here if you don’t know Portuguese.)

I’ve got spring break next week, so look for lots of new animal posts coming up soon!

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Wood Stork

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Raymie

This is a wood stork.  Its scientific name is Mycteria americana.  It used to be called wood ibis, because it has a curved beak like an ibis.  But it is not really an ibis.  Its head looks like it is made out of a block of wood.  It is the only stork in North America, and it lives in Florida and Mexico in swamps, marshes, and ponds.  In the summer, you can find it further north.  It also lives in Central and South America and the Caribbean.  It eats fish, frogs, reptiles, and large insects.  Adult storks don’t usually get eaten by anything, but once in a while an American alligator gets one.  Corvids, vultures, grackles, striped skunks, and raccoons take the stork eggs out of the nests and eat them, so the adults have to guard their nests very carefully.

I saw this wood stork at SeaWorld‘s Pacific Point Preserve.  In the picture behind the stork you can see seals or sea lions.  I’m not sure which ones these are.

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