Mini Quiz about Mammals

Think you can answer these questions? Give it a try!

1. What are most poisonous of the following?
a. Giraffes
b. Box jellyfish
c. Hippopotamus
d. Dog

2. Hippos weigh about....
a. 50 oz
b. 70 billion pounds
c. 8,000 lbs
d. 384,224,224,200,102,204,201 tons

3. A group of hippos is called a...
a. a school
b. a patch
c. Hippo town
d. cheese

4. Platypuses are...
a. marsupials
b. tacos
c. monotremes
d. Both A and C

5. The manatee...
a. Lives in water
b. is a mammal
c. is endangered
d. All of the above

6. What's your favorite animal?

(To answer, just comment with the letters. The Animal Society will respond with your score)

It's Me or the Dog

Whenever I'm flipping through T.V. stations when I'm lazy on the couch, I sometimes see a show called, It's me or the Dog. I never knew what that was, and I didn't realize that it was on Animal Planet. Well, it is, so I turned that on in curiosity. Here's what I found...It's a show about dog owners with horrible, stressful, vicious dogs on the brink of going to a shelter because of attacking people or other dogs. (It get's better, trust me.) Victoria, an amazing dog trainer, comes in and turns a killer dog into a sweet and "gentle giant." It's full of ways to train your dog.

"Thank you. You just saved my family," one man said in the episode I just watched. Victoria is a miracle worker. I encourage all dog owners to watch this show. If you have a stressful dog that you feel is "tearing your life apart" you must remember that help is out there. Just go to http://animal.discovery.com/tv/its-me-or-dog/ and learn how you can get help today.

"I know that dogs are more than just dogs. They're family," says Victoria. By the way, Victoria isn't just awesome because she's an amazing dog trainer, she's awesome because she is an amazing dog trainer in high heels. :)

Box Jellyfish

The box jellyfish's venom is the most deadly in the world, and it contains toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. They use their venom to kill their prey (like shrimp and fish) fast and easy so that they don't damage their delicate tentacles. The pain of a box jellyfish's sting is so intense that a person usually goes into shock and drowns before getting to shore. Box jellyfish are also called sea wasps and marine stingers. Box jellyfish live primarily in coastal waters off Northern Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific.



Each of a box jellyfish's tentacles have about 5,000 stinging cells. These are triggered not by touch, but the presence of a chemical on the outer layer of its prey. However, an interesting fact is that sea turtles are unaffected by the sting of the box jellyfish and regularly eat them.

Fast Facts
1. They are invertebrate
2. Carnivore
3. Lifespan in the wild is less than a year
4. They are 10 ft long and weigh 4.4 lbs
5. A group is called a fluther or a smack

Animal of the Month: The Manatee!

Manatees are 440 to 1,300 pound sensitive mammals. They are very endangered, found in the shallow waters of Florida, Brazil, and some species in Africa and the Amazon river. They live about 40 years in the wild. They are herbivores.




They are endangered because when they come up for air, and gently let their backs float above the water, they get scrapped by boats. With big gashes, these animals are very soon extinct. Want to find ways to help? Go to http://www.savethemanatee.org/default.html Manatees are herbivores.



Info from http://www.savethemanatee.org/default.html
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/manatee.html

Random Fact of the Day

A group of hippos is called a school.