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Species of Nature
Species of Nature
By: Chase Malia
Button Quails
Did you know that there are 130 different species of quails? These chubby little birds can come in many shapes and sizes. For example, the smallest quail species is the button quail. Button quails can come in many different colors. Some being, brown, silver, white, and the rarest of them all a pink eyed dilute. Pink eyed dilutes are a rare mutation of quails. Button quails are omnivores so they eat plants and meat! Specifically, button quails like to eat fresh fruits, vegetables, and live food like crickets. Their average lifespan is 4+ years with good care.
White Cockatoo
Did you know that the White Cockatoo can live up to 70 years? With good care, white cockatoos can live up to 70 years, but their average lifespan is 40-60 years. The white cockatoo is also known as the umbrella bird. They are called the umbrella bird because they are known for having mohawks (crests). These mohawks can be brought up and down by will. These mohawks are used to communicate with other birds. The white cockatoos diet includes seeds, nuts, coconuts, and grain. But if in captivity they usually eat and should eat pellets. As the name says these birds are usually white. They're medium size birds and good pets. They are very gentle and fun birds. But the downside is that they lean towards the more expensive side. For example, the white cockatoo can cost up to $4000!
Chinchillas
Do you know that chinchillas live 10-20 years! This creature's color can range from 11 different colors! Some of the colors are gray, chocolate, violet, and beige. Chinchillas like to eat twigs, leaves, and grasses. Chinchillas have long fluffy tails with large mouse-like ears and short legs. These creatures' teeth grow throughout their whole life. They maintain the shape/length of their teeth by eating hay/grass based chinchilla pellets. Chinchillas make good pets for older children and adults. Baby chinchillas weigh 2-2.5 ounces which is very small. Matured chinchillas weigh 1-1.5 pounds. Believe it or not, but chinchillas are actually rodents!
Sources used: Merck Veterinary Manual, https://www.merckvetmanual.com/.
Chameleons
Chameleons are known for their color changing ability and their long tongues. Chameleons usually tend to be lightish green even though can range from many different colors depending on their habitat or feeling. Their average life span is 12 years. You can find this creature in almost every continent except Antarctica! Chameleons are carnivores so they only eat meat. They mostly eat insects like grasshoppers, crickets, and mantids. These creatures tend to be 21 inches long and weigh 14.4 ounces.
Sources Used: “Home Page.” San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/ .
Chesapeake Blue Crab
Did you know that the Chesapeake Blue Crab molts? The Chesapeake Blue Crabs surprisingly molt which means they shed their hard shell. This creature will eat almost anything! Blue crabs like to eat clams, oysters, mussels, etc. The blue crabs are bright blue just like their name but their shell tends to be blue to olive-green. Female blue crabs tend to be bigger and are red at the tip of their claws. The blue crab can also be known as hard shells (when they're not molting), peelers (when they're about to molt), and soft shells (when they just molted). The Chesapeake Blue Crab lives up to 3-4 years. They weigh ⅓ of a pound which is 5.33 ounces! Blue crabs shells are 9 inches long. You can find these crabs in the Gulf of Mexico/ the Atlantic coast.
Sources used: “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” Homepage | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://www.noaa.gov/.
Adopt! Don't Shop
By Finn Taylor
It is a good idea to adopt because you are helping a dog to be able to have a new home. There are a lot of websites for adopting a dog. One of them is called https://cprdogs.com/. Another reason why it is good to adopt a dog is because they usually come from a family who did not care about them. It always makes me sad when I see a dog with a bad family or in the pound. Even my family has adopted two dogs. The first one we named Scout.
The second dog we adopted is Murphy. Murphy’s old family had another dog, and the other one would be mean. When we saw a video of Murphy, his owner gave him a treat, but the other dog took it. The day we got him, he was really scared. The lady who gave us Murphy told us what he did and did not like. He even had his own chew toy. At first, the dogs were scared of each other. But now they are best friends. They mean so much to my family, my mom even saved Scout. When she was at her friend's house, the dogs started to fight and the other dog was about to bite my dog. Then my mom saved him, and she got bitten instead.
One student here at HKMS said, “Because there are so many dogs that are running around, especially in the southern parts of the United States, it just seems wrong to breed dogs when there are so many good dogs out there. I got both of my dogs in Tennessee. The website gave them their own personality, so it seems that they are more involved. With the actual adoption the place where I got them there was a truck, and it would stop and have adoptions and on the website you can adopt them in person. They let you have the dog out for a while and see what kind of dog they are.”
I hope this article helped you understand that it is a good idea to adopt a dog.
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