Saturday, August 28, 2010

Have you ever heard of the Piglet Squid?


Sometimes I find myself wandering throughout the interweb and I found this little creature called the Piglet Squid!
Piglet Squid: Helicocranchia pfefferi


This funny looking squid is about the size of a small avocado and can be found most commonly in the deep water (greater than 100 m or 320 ft) of virtually all oceans. Its habit of filling up water and the funny location of its siphone with a wild-looking 'tuft' of eight arms and two tentacles had prompted scientists to name it the piglet squid!


The body is just shy of being clear revealing a dark mass that is the internal organs and barely visible, feather-like gills. Pigment organs dot the surface of the skin of the squid. In this picture a row of these 'chromatophores' provide a smile-like look. There are two small fins at the opposite end of the body and head. Very little is known about its' biology. It has been observed from submersiles in the head down oriengation, but no one is sure why. It is a sluggish swimmer with ammonium ions in its body fluid that helps keep it bouyant. A large light producing organ (photophore) is located beneath each of its large eyes.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Lets learn about the Pangolin!

























DO you know what a pangolin is? I do and I'm about to tell you what it is too!

WHAT IS A PANGOLIN?!?!
The pangolin is a long-tailed, sticky-tongued Old World (Asia and Africa) mammal. Most species feed at night, sleep during the day, and roll into an impenetrable ball when threatened.
The pangolin's body is covered with large, flat imbricated horny scales; it somewhat resembles the New World armadillo in terms of it's feeding habits and it's employment of a curled up, hedgehog-like defense posture. It has a long sticky tongue which it uses to gather termites and ants.
The pangolin is also called the Scaly Anteater, any of teh armoured placental mammals of the order of the Pholidota. Pangolin, from the Malayan meaning "rolling over," refers to this animal's habit of curling into a ball when threatened. About eight species of pangolins, usually considered the genus Manis, family Manidae, are found in Tropical Asia.

DESCRIPTION


Pangolins have a long tail, short powerful limbs, and a conical head. They are natives to the regions of South-East Asia and are found in parts of Africa. This reptile-like animal with large overlapping scales has often been spotted in dry woodland or scrub terrain.
Some pangolins live in trees but most are ground-dwellers. Ground-dwelling pangolins have strong legs capable of digging into termite mounds for food. The arboreal pangolins have prehensile tails which they uses both for balance and as a hook to hang from. Arboreal pangolins roll up in a ball in a tree hollow to sleep at night.
Pangolins vary in size. The Long-Tailed Pangolin is the smallest , at about 1 meter long (3 feet) longand weighing 3-4 pounds (2 kg). The Giant Pangolin is almost 6 feet (2 meters) long and weighs 70 pounds (32 kg). The Giant Pangolin's tongue is about 2 feet (61 cm) long, and is internally anchored to it's hip bones.
SELF-DEFENSE

Pangolins are well equipped for self-defense. The pangolin usually rolls up into a ball when threatened. Pangolins can lash out with their razor sharp scales. Pangolins have scent glands similar to those of the skunk which they can use to spray enemies.

Pangolins can amble on all fours, but for speed they stand up on two feet using their long tail for support. They run at a speed of about 3 miles (5 km) per hour.
Pangolins are endangered (CITES Appendix II or III, depending on species)because their skin make attractive leather for boots, similar to snakeskin or armadillo boots. Also, pangolins are eaten in some parts of the world. People claim to have seen pangolin soup on menus in Thailand and have seen pangolins skin belts.
Now you have been educated on the pangolin. Before maybe a week ago I didn't even know pangolins exsited. But me and my sister were looking at cute pics of baby animals and we saw a pangolin and searched it up and found out a new species.

Guess what I got today!


I got Flarp! today! Flarp! is a noise putty where you insert your fingers into it while it's in the container and it FARTS! Lol I was sooooo surprized when I saw it in a Family Dollar store. I was sooo surprized because Flarp! was around when I was 6 so it's got to be at least over 5 years old so it was like a throw back to the day! Lol but anyway here it is and buy your kid some or buy some for yourself!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Special needs people

I've noticed, on the street, that when people see a person with special needs they give them looks like "They are so wrong, or those kinds of people are mistakes" and I hate that. Absolutely HATE that! They are normal people just like us or you but they have special needs. Like someone in a wheelchair they can't walk but they are normal. People with Down Syndrome just have more child-like faces and have the mentality of a younger person but that doesn't mean that they aren't people just like us. If you read my last post you know how I feel about them. I just want people to think twice about giving them dirty looks because even though they might not notice it you do and others do. So please give some consideration to them. They don't deserve the looks people give them so just be nice and don't do it. It makes you a better person. So please I'm pleading be nice to them. And if you want to be really nice I would suggest going and volunteering in a home for special needs people. You help them get through their day. You help them eat and clean and just simple everyday things like that! Thanks and again just be considerate to them.

My Special day


A few days ago on August 3, 2010 I went to the Prospect park Zoo with my father. Now I know this sounds baby-ish but its not. Well we saw all there was to see but the point of this entry is a really, really special moment for me. We had gone over to the habitat for the River Otters but they weren't doing anything so we moved on to the next exhibit. Then a man standing beside the River Otters said that they were moving so I went over to take pictures of them. Btw... while we were going through the zoo I noticed that there were a lot of special needs people at the park and in particular this one lady. She looked SO nice and happy. Anyway while I was standing taking pictures of the river otters she came over and said in the nicest special needs voice "Hey, take a picture of me!" and it just touched my heart! I regret the fact that I couldn't learn her name or even show her the picture. I didn't get to because my dad was shooing me away. I feel so bad now but I got a Red Panda plushie at the zoo and every time I look at it I will think of her.