The Saker Falcon

Saker Falcon
Scientific Name: Falco Cherrug

Description:
Saker falcons are large birds of prey. They are 8 inches tall. Saker falcons range in color. Some can be dark brown, gray, almost white, and pale brown. Saker falcons have large feet and a large wingspan. They are bigger than peregrine falcons, and they have pointed wings. They have large eyes and a short, pointed beak. Saker falcons are an endangered species. Saker falcons can dive downward at 200 miles per hour.

Steppe Biome: Saker falcons live in the Steppe biome. The Steppe biome is dry and cold, and is between a forest and a desert. People are digging for oil and farming in the Steppe biome, so this biome and its animals and plants are endangered. The Steppe biome has really cold winters, and warm summers. The average rainfall is 10 to 30 inches a year.

Habitat:
As we learned earlier, Saker Falcons live in the Steppe biome. They originated in Asia and southeast Europe. They are found in the forest and open plain steppes. They are found in southern Siberia, Mongolia, and the Russian Altai mountains.
Saker falcons migrate to the Middle East and Kazakhstan.

Diet:
Saker falcons eat birds, weasels, rats, stoats, voles, Siberian chipmunks, feral pigeons, and ground squirrels. Because of global warming, the Saker falcon's preferred prey, the red-cheeked sousliks, which is a kind of ground squirrel, lost the vegetation they relied on and became extinct. Now, Saker falcon numbers are declining.

Predators:
Saker falcons don't have any natural predators. Their only predator is people. People are destroying their home, and people are the culprits to the extinction of the red-cheeked sousliks.

Babies and Nest:
Saker falcons have 2 to 6 eggs. Saker falcons usually don't make their own nest. They usually use nests built by other birds, like storks, ravens, buzzards, or black kite nests. Saker falcons nest on trees and cliffs.

King Cobras

King Cobras
Scientific Name: Ophiophagus hannah

Description:
The king cobras' skin can be black, olive-green, brown, or tan. Their bellies can be pale yellow or cream. King cobras are fast and agile. The king cobra can lift the front part of its body 3 to 6 feet off the ground! A king cobra has enough venom to kill 20 people, a cow, or a large elephant! King cobras live to
be 20 years old! King cobras grow to be 12 to 15 feet long, and 13.2 pounds. One king cobra was 18.8 feet long! The king cobra is the largest venomous snake. King cobra fangs grow to be half an inch long.

Habitat:
King cobras live in southeast Asia, near swampy areas and rivers, in highland forests. Sadly, the king cobras' home is being destroyed by deforestation.

Behavior:
Like other snakes, king cobras smell with their forked tongue, have a flexible jaw, shed their skin, and swallow their prey whole. King cobras can see 300 feet away! King cobras usually hunt in the day, and are rarely seen hunting at night. A king cobra can strike an animal that is 7 feet away. King cobras are very shy creatures and they would rather run than strike. A group of king cobras is called a quiver.

Prey:
Smaller snakes, birds, rodents, frogs, and lizards.

Predators:
Humans, mongooses, and birds of prey.

Babies and nest:
King cobras build nests on the ground. The female king cobra curls around her eggs to keep them warm. The male king cobra does not help care for the babies. It takes 70 to 77 days for the eggs to hatch. A female can have 18 to 50 eggs a year. King cobras mate in January and they build their nests in April. King cobras are the only snakes that guard their eggs until they hatch. A young king cobra's venom is as powerful as a grown king cobra's venom.

Defense:
King cobras sometimes spit in their attackers eyes, which is fatal if the venom gets in the bloodstream. The king cobra spreads out its hood to look bigger and more threatening to its predators.

Fun Facts:
*King cobras can make a 'growl' that sounds like a dog.
*A grown king cobra can face a 6 foot human eye to eye.
*King cobras can give a 'dry bite', or a bite without venom, to their victims.
*King cobras sometimes squeeze their prey to death.
*The name 'king cobra' means 'snake eater'.

Animals that live in the southeast Asian rainforests:
Bengal tiger
King cobra
Dawn bat
Wagler's pit viper
Orangutan
Slender loris
Proboscis monkey
Jambu fruit dove
Silvery gibbon
Common palm civet
Red-shanked douc langur
Sumatran Rhinoceros

Until next time,
Chiara

The REAL Horrors of Halloween

Hi.
Today I'm going to talk about the true horrors of Halloween. What is the true horror? Zombies? Ghosts? Frankenstein? The answer is hydrogenated oil, and partially hydrogenated oil.

Hydrogenated oil (and partially hydrogenated oil), stay in your body and: Can cause cancer, will clog your arteries, is as bad as breathing in cigarette smoke, will stay in your body, will slowly kill you, hurts your cells, and is under the list of POISON.

Lots of candy bars and other candies have hydrogenated oil in them, so.....
Here is a list of (some of) the GOOD candy, (without hydrogenated oils):

=Swedish Fish

=Dubble Bubble Gum

=Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

=UTZ Halloween Pretzels

=Sweet Tarts

=Smarties

=Nerds

=PayDay

=Lemon Head candies

=M&M's

=Crunch candy bars

=Wonka Bottle Caps

=Hersey Chocolate Bars

=Mike and Ike's

=York Peppermint Patties

Some of the BAD candy (candy WITH hydrogenated oil) is:

=Reese's Pieces

=Lollipops

=Hard Candy (Glacia, Jolly Rancher's, etc.)

=3 Musketeers

=Twix

=Twizzler Licorice

=Snickers

=Milky Way

=KitKat

=Almond Joy

=Tootsie Roll

=Reese's FastBreak

=StarBursts

=Laffy Taffy

=Butterfinger

=Whoppers

=Now and Later

=Mary Jane

=Baby Ruth

=Skittles

=Robin Eggs

There are 15 'good' candies listed, and 21 bad candies listed. So next year, look through the Halloween candy, watch out for the bad candy (all candy is bad for you, with all that sugar, but hydrogenated oil is worse), and look at this post for updates on candy with hydrogenated oil.

Until next time,
Chiara

Moe

Hi!
Today I'm going to talk about my new kitten, Moe. Two weeks ago I came downstairs in the morning, and heard Mama say to Serena, ''Okay, you try to catch it.''

I asked Mama what was going on, and Mama said that there was a little gray tabby kitten in our neighbors bushes.

I ran outside and saw Serena and Angel calling to something in our neighbors bushes.

I couldn't see it, but I sure could HEAR it. It sounded like a siren! MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW!MEOW! Make that a CONSTANT siren!

We were about to go inside, when I saw a tiny gray head pop out of the bushes. The kitten was soooooo cute!!

After we finally caught the kitten, Mama took it to the vet. They said it was a girl, so we named it Olive. It didn't have fleas, but it did have worms, so the vet gave it deworming medicine.

After a while, when the vet checked Olive for worms, they found out it was a BOY! So we named 'Olive' Moe instead.

Mama put Moe in her room, where we kept our new kitten, Oliver, Odin, and Freya. Moe hid under Mama's bed and would only come out when it was quiet.

I asked Mama if he could stay in my room, were he could gradually overcome his fear of everyone. I took care of Moe, and he became my cat.

Now, when I come into my bedroom, he greets me by running out from a hiding place, or jump from the big white papasan in our room. He'll rub against my legs until I lay down, where he begins to rub his face against mine, or even lick my nose, which makes it hard to breath.

At night, he runs around my room, plays with my feet, and when he feels calm, he'll fall asleep on my chest, or he'll suck on my fingers.

Sometimes Oliver gets in, and Moe and Oliver will wrestle together, and will sleep on the papasan together.

Once in a while, you'll catch Moe climbing up Serena's cubbies or my cubbies, or climbing on our hangers, or on top of the blankets on the top shelf of our closet.

I love my new kitten so much, he's 8 weeks old now. I have so much fun with him. He's my little buddy!

Until next time,
Chiara

What's happening

Hi!
I haven't been writing lately, because I'm really into this program called Scratch. Scratch teaches programming.

So far, I've made 19 projects on Scratch. Here are some of their names: Whacking Dino, Whacking Dino ll, Whacking Dino lll, Habitat Frog, Dress the Snowman, Boogie- Chameleon- Cat, Eat the Princess and her Friends, Eating Fish, Broccoli, Talkative Bison, Skippy the Scipionyx, Talking Horse, Echolomazeation, Bird Flying, and Snake Eat Rat.

I made some games for my baby brother too: Games For Babies Musical Noises, Animals, Instruments, and Outside Noises.

I'm working on a new project called Dinosaur Facts. It might take a while to finish it though.

If you want to view my projects, go to http://scratch.mit.edu/

Last Sunday, we went to Micheal's. We got ink, and a few other things, and wooden puzzles. And not just any wooden puzzles, 3D wooden puzzles. You can build a 3D animal, building, or monument.

I chose a dragon for me, a penguin for Angel, and a frog for Serena. When we got home, I immediately started my dragon. It took a while, but I finally finished it by evening.

Yesterday, Mama and I were taking my sisters home from their dance class, when Mama saw a boy on a bike. He looked kind of wobbly, and Mama could see he was holding an animal. At first Mama thought he was holding a ferret, but as he got closer, she saw a baby goose in his hands.

I saw him ride by.

Baby animals are cute, but you should NEVER take them away from their mothers, or their environment. You can see more about this in the Green News.

Until next time,
Chiara

A joke

Hi!
Here is a joke I made up,

There are two people in a diner.
One says, ''Let us....'' Then forgets what he was going to say.
The other one says, ''The lettuce sounds good, but I think I'll have a radish!''

Isn't that funny?

Until next time,
Chiara

Allergy Season Is Here!

Well it's not something to cheer about.

Hi!
My allergies start acting up this time of year. They get really bad. My eyes are really itchy, and my nose gets stuffy.

Allergies are just an oversensitive reaction by immune system.

You can relieve your allergies by using eyedrops or allergy pills; or altogether by eating local honey.

The local honey will, overtime, get your body used to the pollen in your area. No pollen reaction, no allergies.

Until next time,
Chiara