UNDER CONSTRUCTION:
Coming Spring 2019
Revelation 21:3-5
Nature & Animals & Kayaking
ADVENTURE STATION 7
Welcome to Adventure Station 2 Nature & Kayaking. Here you can check out Don & Janet Beasley's Nature Galleries to learn about animals, birds, trees, flowers, and more! Plus you can read our blog, Kayaking Freaks. There's always a new blog post every Wednesday regarding kayaking. We have titled our blog book series, From the Nose of Our Kayak. Each post is considered a chapter. In each post you'll find cool pics, learn about kayaking, and discover each body of water with us. . .From the Nose of Our Kayak! Be sure and click the SUBSCRIBE button below, featured just above the post, so that you will catch every new Wednesday Adventure from your favorite Kayaking Freaks, Janet & Don Beasley!
KayakingFreaks.BlogSpot.com
Creature Photos and Cool Facts
Each Gallery below contains photos (taken by Lady Violet) of one specific animal. Below each gallery will be Cool Facts about that particular animal. All photos have been taken by Janet Beasley. Feel free to use the photos and information below in your home school, Sunday school, or classroom settings.
All photos are royalty free. Click on any photo to enlarge it. KidMin Leaders, Sunday School Teachers, Children's Church Directors, Home School Parents. . .feel free to download as many images as you'd like, and use them as wallpaper, share them on Social Media, add them into your presentations, etc., all we ask is that you do the honorable thing and not sell them. These photos are Lady Violet's gifts to you! You're welcome.
ALLIGATOR
ALLIGATOR FUN FACTS: American Alligators are carnivorous meaning they eat meat: fish, birds, other reptiles, and mammals. But they don't stop at meat, they also feast on berries and citrus right off the trees. American Alligators have between 74-80 teeth in their mouth. As their teeth wear down or fall out a new one grows in. That means an alligator can go through 2000 teeth in a lifetime! Alligators never stop growing. The biggest alligator on record is considered to be The Alabama Alligator: 15 feet 9 inches long, and weighing in at 1,011.5 pounds. American Alligators are also known to balance sticks and branches on their heads in hopes of luring a bird looking for material to build its nest. They make grunting or growling sounds, as well as bellow. Without vocal chords they make their noises by sucking air in very loudly, and blowing it out in intermittent roars. Alligators can swim, crawl, walk, and run on land. By creating "alligator holes" or small ponds they help the ecosystem. The small ponds hold water in dry seasons while also providing natural habitats for other animals. Momma gators are in it for the long haul! By building their nests using leaves, sticks and mud near water, the vegetation decays and heats up. This keeps the eggs warm without Momma having to sit on the nest, however she is close by. It's a 65 day incubation period, then when the babies start squealing from inside their eggs, Momma begins to dig them out of the nest and carry them to the water in her teeth-filled jaws. Momma Alligators have been known to protect their babies for as long as 1 year.
ANHINGA
ANHINGA FUN FACTS: Anhingas, nicknamed the "snake darter" or "snake bird," are fresh water divers, and can dive without hardly rippling the water. Their webbed feet help them zip through the water beneath the surface. They control their air sacs by squeezing themselves with their wings so that they can dive under the water and not float to the top so easily. They are black in color and can sometimes appear green with silvery streaks. Females are easy to spot with their distinct pale gray-buff or light brownish head, neck, and upper chest. Their beaks are pointed, and their pinkish eyes are surrounded by green skin. They are not small birds by any means. On the average they are 3 feet long from the tip of their beaks to the tips of their tails. Many water birds have what are known as oil glands that spread oil over their feathers, thus making them "waterproof." The Anhingas however do not possess these glands, therefore to "dry out" an Anhinga perches itself on a log, large rock, or tree branch and spreads its wings to air them out. They prefer to feast upon food from the water such as frog eggs, fish, insects, and believe it or not...small alligators! Often times if their food choice is too big, they will stab it with their beak, bring it to the surface of the water, flip it so that it lines up, and swallow it head to tail. Going to back to its nickname of the "snake darter," it gets this name from its Z-kinked neck. The male Anhingas are the nest builders, and the females put on the finishing touches. The nests are constructed either in a tree near the water or overhanging it .
MALAYAN FRUIT BAT ~ nickname "Flying Fox"
MALAYAN FRUIT BAT FUN FACTS: are very large weighing over 2 pounds and sporting a wingspan of nearly 6 feet! The get the nickname of "flying fox" from their fox-like reddish-brown heads, and pointed ears. Malayan Fruit Bats have a real sweet-tooth! On their toes they have long, sharp claws that are curved; that's how they can hang upside down so easily. These type bats do not possess echolocation (the ability to bounce sound off of other things). Instead they are equipped with sharp vision to locate their food. They prefer to eat fruit, but sometimes they will stray from their main course to snack on leaves, flowers, pollen, and nectar, and will fly up to 36 miles a night searching for food. Momma Malayan Fruit Bats will carry their young for 180 days before giving birth. When they do give birth it is usually only one baby or once in a great while twins. The babies are called pups. The pups hang-out with Momma until they're somewhere between three and four months old. They then branch out on their own, and will fully mature at an age ranging from 18-24 months. They can live up to 30 years! The Malayan Fruit Bat is native to the Malaysian Penninsula, Boreno, the Phillipines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, and alos offshore islands. Their favorite style habitat is the rain forest. High up in the tree tops is their preferred napping place.
