- Published on
Penguins Everywhere
There’s a penguin on the table.
There’s a penguin on the chair.
There’s a penguin eating popcorn.
There are penguins everywhere!
There’s a penguin on the ladder.
There’s a penguin on the ground.
There’s a penguin on the rooftop.
There are penguins all around!
There’s a penguin in the mirror.
There’s a penguin next to me.
There are penguins everywhere
That only I can see!
By Author Unknown
There’s a penguin on the table.
There’s a penguin on the chair.
There’s a penguin eating popcorn.
There are penguins everywhere!
There’s a penguin on the ladder.
There’s a penguin on the ground.
There’s a penguin on the rooftop.
There are penguins all around!
There’s a penguin in the mirror.
There’s a penguin next to me.
There are penguins everywhere
That only I can see!
By Author Unknown
- Published on
Image shown: Yellow Jacket Wasp, of the variety Paper Wasp, scientifically named Polistes dominula.
Wasps
Wasps in brightly
Colored vests,
Chewing wood,
To make their nests.
Wasps, like rockets,
Zooming high,
Then dropping down
Where peaches lie.
By Anne Ruddick
Wasps in brightly
Colored vests,
Chewing wood,
To make their nests.
Wasps, like rockets,
Zooming high,
Then dropping down
Where peaches lie.
By Anne Ruddick
- Published on
Gray Squirrel
Gray squirrel, gray squirrel,
Doesn’t make a sound,
As he buries acorns,
Under the ground,
Later when it’s cold,
And food isn’t around,
The gray squirrel will dig,
His acorns from the ground.
By Author Unknown
Gray squirrel, gray squirrel,
Doesn’t make a sound,
As he buries acorns,
Under the ground,
Later when it’s cold,
And food isn’t around,
The gray squirrel will dig,
His acorns from the ground.
By Author Unknown
- Published on
The Elephant Poem
Elephants are lovely guys,
They’re good and true and tell no lies.
They don’t take more than they can eat,
And always watch where they put their feet.
They don’t play with electric wires;
I never have heard of them starting fires.
They live healthily, they don’t smoke
An Elephant is a kindly bloke.
Elephants take care of their young,
And rarely speak with angry tongue.
When in school, they do not cheat,
They walk in lines which are quite neat.
They don’t beat up on smaller folks,
Don’t care if they’re the butt of jokes.
They don’t fret, what wear today,
Look simply splendid all in gray.
Super strong yet very nice,
They’re really not afraid of mice.
I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t
Find anything better than the Elephant.
By Wayne Hepburn
Wayne Ballard Hepburn was born in September 1937 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America. He became a graphic artist. In 1988, he and his wife Kathleen founded Mission Media, Incorporated. In 1996, he started Elephant Appreciation Day, observed on 22 September of each year. He owned an art and framing business called The Frame Shop in Sarasota, Florida. Wayne Ballard Hepburn passed on at about 76 years of age on 2 February 2013 in Boynton Beach, Florida, United States of America.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the next article, or click or tap on these words to visit “Fun and Learning about Elephants” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.
Elephants are lovely guys,
They’re good and true and tell no lies.
They don’t take more than they can eat,
And always watch where they put their feet.
They don’t play with electric wires;
I never have heard of them starting fires.
They live healthily, they don’t smoke
An Elephant is a kindly bloke.
Elephants take care of their young,
And rarely speak with angry tongue.
When in school, they do not cheat,
They walk in lines which are quite neat.
They don’t beat up on smaller folks,
Don’t care if they’re the butt of jokes.
They don’t fret, what wear today,
Look simply splendid all in gray.
Super strong yet very nice,
They’re really not afraid of mice.
I’ve tried and tried but I just can’t
Find anything better than the Elephant.
By Wayne Hepburn
Wayne Ballard Hepburn was born in September 1937 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America. He became a graphic artist. In 1988, he and his wife Kathleen founded Mission Media, Incorporated. In 1996, he started Elephant Appreciation Day, observed on 22 September of each year. He owned an art and framing business called The Frame Shop in Sarasota, Florida. Wayne Ballard Hepburn passed on at about 76 years of age on 2 February 2013 in Boynton Beach, Florida, United States of America.
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the next article, or click or tap on these words to visit “Fun and Learning about Elephants” gathered by David Hugh Beaumont.
- Published on
Bird’s Nests
The skylark’s nest among the grass
And waving corn is found;
The robin’s on a shady bank,
With oak-leaves strewed around.
The wren builds in an ivied thorn
Or old and ruined wall;
The mossy nest, so covered in,
You scarce can see at all.
The martins build their nests of clay
In rows beneath the eaves;
The silvery lichens, moss, and hair
The chaffinch interweaves.
The cuckoo makes no nest at all,
But through the wood she strays
Until she finds one snug and warm,
And there her legs she lays.
The sparrow has a nest of hay,
With feathers warmly lined;
The ring-dove’s careless nest of sticks
On lofty trees we find.
Rooks build together in a wood,
And often disagree;
The owl will build inside a barn
Or in a hollow tree.
The blackbird’s nest of grass and mud
In bush and bank is found;
The lapwing’s darkly-spotted eggs
Are laid upon the ground.
The magpie’s nest is made with thorns
In leafless tree or hedge;
The wild-duck and the water-hen
Build by the water’s edge.
By M. S. C.
The skylark’s nest among the grass
And waving corn is found;
The robin’s on a shady bank,
With oak-leaves strewed around.
The wren builds in an ivied thorn
Or old and ruined wall;
The mossy nest, so covered in,
You scarce can see at all.
The martins build their nests of clay
In rows beneath the eaves;
The silvery lichens, moss, and hair
The chaffinch interweaves.
The cuckoo makes no nest at all,
But through the wood she strays
Until she finds one snug and warm,
And there her legs she lays.
The sparrow has a nest of hay,
With feathers warmly lined;
The ring-dove’s careless nest of sticks
On lofty trees we find.
Rooks build together in a wood,
And often disagree;
The owl will build inside a barn
Or in a hollow tree.
The blackbird’s nest of grass and mud
In bush and bank is found;
The lapwing’s darkly-spotted eggs
Are laid upon the ground.
The magpie’s nest is made with thorns
In leafless tree or hedge;
The wild-duck and the water-hen
Build by the water’s edge.
By M. S. C.
- Published on
The Happy Sheep
All through the night the happy sheep
Lie in the meadow grass asleep.
Their wool keeps out the frost and rain
Until the Sun comes round again.
They have no buttons to undo,
No hair to brush like me and you.
And with the light they lift their heads
To find their breakfast on their beds.
Or rise and walk about and eat
The carpet underneath their feet.
By Wilfred Thorley
All through the night the happy sheep
Lie in the meadow grass asleep.
Their wool keeps out the frost and rain
Until the Sun comes round again.
They have no buttons to undo,
No hair to brush like me and you.
And with the light they lift their heads
To find their breakfast on their beds.
Or rise and walk about and eat
The carpet underneath their feet.
By Wilfred Thorley
- Published on
Here’s a Rabbit
Oh, here’s a fluffy rabbit,
With two ears so very long,
See him hop, hop, hop about,
On legs so very strong.
He nibbles, nibbles carrots,
For his dinner every day,
And as soon as he has had enough,
He hops, hops, hops away.
by Author Unknown
Oh, here’s a fluffy rabbit,
With two ears so very long,
See him hop, hop, hop about,
On legs so very strong.
He nibbles, nibbles carrots,
For his dinner every day,
And as soon as he has had enough,
He hops, hops, hops away.
by Author Unknown
- Published on
Horse
Who gallops swiftly down the lane,
Slowing to a trot when I pull the rein?
Who has a pony tail and a mane?
Of course - it’s my horse!
Who loves to jump and leap and bound,
Stomping its hooves upon the ground?
Who likes to play and horse around?
Of course - it’s my horse!
Who nibbles oats and piles of hay?
Who has a stable where to stay?
Who likes to whinny and just say “Neigh”?
Of course - it’s my horse!
by Author Unknown
Who gallops swiftly down the lane,
Slowing to a trot when I pull the rein?
Who has a pony tail and a mane?
Of course - it’s my horse!
Who loves to jump and leap and bound,
Stomping its hooves upon the ground?
Who likes to play and horse around?
Of course - it’s my horse!
Who nibbles oats and piles of hay?
Who has a stable where to stay?
Who likes to whinny and just say “Neigh”?
Of course - it’s my horse!
by Author Unknown
- Published on
We are off to the snail races . . . it is likely to be an all-day event . . .
Roger: Why did the snail cross the road?
Edgar: I don’t know; he hasn’t gotten to the other side yet.
Snails can take 33 hours to crawl a single mile. However, if you consider the size of snails compared to the distance, they actually make pretty good time. And what’s more, they do it without any legs!
Midge: When does a snail go as fast as a train?
Marge: When it’s on the train.
The fastest-moving land snail, the common garden snail, has a speed of about 0.050372 kilometers (0.0313 miles) per hour. This breathtaking pace must be the reason so many pet snails are named Speedy.
Snails Facts
- A group of snails is called a hood, an escargatoire, a rout, or a walk.
- The average snail moves at a rate of approximately 0.000362005 miles per hour.
- Snails living in the wild, which includes in gardens and on farms, can live for two to five years.
- Snails living in captivity, or being held and cared for by humans, can live for as long as 15 years.
In English, the expression ‘a snail’s pace’ is a term used to describe a slow, inefficient process, as for example, ‘snail mail’ is now commonly used when referring to sending regular mail messages rather than messages sent as email.
When you feel that the motorist ahead of you is proceeding at a snail’s pace, check your speedometer. A snail’s pace, according to University of Maryland scientists, is 0.000363005 miles per hour.
As they move along, snails leave behind a trail of mucus, or slime, which acts as a lubricant to reduce surface friction. This also allows the snail to move along upside down, as for example, on the underside of the branch or leaf of a plant.
Snail
Consider the odd little snail
Who lives on the rim of a pail:
Often wet, never drowned,
He is always around
Safe and sound, sticking tight to his trail.
by David McCord (David Thompson Watson McCord (1897 - 1997))
Roger: Why did the snail cross the road?
Edgar: I don’t know; he hasn’t gotten to the other side yet.
Snails can take 33 hours to crawl a single mile. However, if you consider the size of snails compared to the distance, they actually make pretty good time. And what’s more, they do it without any legs!
Midge: When does a snail go as fast as a train?
Marge: When it’s on the train.
The fastest-moving land snail, the common garden snail, has a speed of about 0.050372 kilometers (0.0313 miles) per hour. This breathtaking pace must be the reason so many pet snails are named Speedy.
Snails Facts
- A group of snails is called a hood, an escargatoire, a rout, or a walk.
- The average snail moves at a rate of approximately 0.000362005 miles per hour.
- Snails living in the wild, which includes in gardens and on farms, can live for two to five years.
- Snails living in captivity, or being held and cared for by humans, can live for as long as 15 years.
In English, the expression ‘a snail’s pace’ is a term used to describe a slow, inefficient process, as for example, ‘snail mail’ is now commonly used when referring to sending regular mail messages rather than messages sent as email.
When you feel that the motorist ahead of you is proceeding at a snail’s pace, check your speedometer. A snail’s pace, according to University of Maryland scientists, is 0.000363005 miles per hour.
As they move along, snails leave behind a trail of mucus, or slime, which acts as a lubricant to reduce surface friction. This also allows the snail to move along upside down, as for example, on the underside of the branch or leaf of a plant.
Snail
Consider the odd little snail
Who lives on the rim of a pail:
Often wet, never drowned,
He is always around
Safe and sound, sticking tight to his trail.
by David McCord (David Thompson Watson McCord (1897 - 1997))
As shown, a snail is an animal that carries its house on its back.
“How ingenious an animal is a snail. When it encounters a bad neighbor it takes up its house and moves away.” -Philemon (about 300 B.C.E.)
A happy creature is your snail indeed!
Just where he pleases he can live and feed,
And if a neighbor gives him any bother,
With house on back he moves off to another.
-Author Unknown: variously attributed to Paley or Philemon
Are snails insects? Insects have six legs, and snails have . . . shockingly, snails have no legs! Snails, and their shell-less cousins the slugs, are included in the gastropods rather than the insects. Snails are more closely related to cephalopods such as squids, which live in saltwater, than to butterflies and ladybugs and houseflies.
Betty: Why are snails such slow runners?
Bonnie: Because they don’t have legs!
‘Snail’ is the common name for gastropod mollusks, which are split into three groups: land snails, sea snails, and freshwater snails.
Snails can have either lungs or gills, depending on the species and the habitat. Surprisingly, some marine, or water-inhabiting, snails have lungs, and some land-living snails have gills.
“The snail does the holy will of God slowly.” -Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 -1936)
What do snails eat? The majority of snails are herbivores, and eat parts of plants, such as leaves, stems, and flowers. A few larger species of land snails and marine snails are either predatory carnivores or omnivores. Carnivores are animals that eat animals, and omnivores are animals that eat both plants and animals.
Most snail species have a ribbon-like tongue called a ‘radula’ that contains thousands of microscopic teeth. The radula works like a file, ripping food up into tiny pieces. A snail can have about 25,000 teeth. There are no known instances of humans or pets with snail bites.
Snails tend to be nocturnal animals, meaning they are out and about, and slowly on the move, at night. We have been told they do not use tiny flashlights.
“How ingenious an animal is a snail. When it encounters a bad neighbor it takes up its house and moves away.” -Philemon (about 300 B.C.E.)
A happy creature is your snail indeed!
Just where he pleases he can live and feed,
And if a neighbor gives him any bother,
With house on back he moves off to another.
-Author Unknown: variously attributed to Paley or Philemon
Are snails insects? Insects have six legs, and snails have . . . shockingly, snails have no legs! Snails, and their shell-less cousins the slugs, are included in the gastropods rather than the insects. Snails are more closely related to cephalopods such as squids, which live in saltwater, than to butterflies and ladybugs and houseflies.
Betty: Why are snails such slow runners?
Bonnie: Because they don’t have legs!
‘Snail’ is the common name for gastropod mollusks, which are split into three groups: land snails, sea snails, and freshwater snails.
Snails can have either lungs or gills, depending on the species and the habitat. Surprisingly, some marine, or water-inhabiting, snails have lungs, and some land-living snails have gills.
“The snail does the holy will of God slowly.” -Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 -1936)
What do snails eat? The majority of snails are herbivores, and eat parts of plants, such as leaves, stems, and flowers. A few larger species of land snails and marine snails are either predatory carnivores or omnivores. Carnivores are animals that eat animals, and omnivores are animals that eat both plants and animals.
Most snail species have a ribbon-like tongue called a ‘radula’ that contains thousands of microscopic teeth. The radula works like a file, ripping food up into tiny pieces. A snail can have about 25,000 teeth. There are no known instances of humans or pets with snail bites.
Snails tend to be nocturnal animals, meaning they are out and about, and slowly on the move, at night. We have been told they do not use tiny flashlights.
Common Garden Snails, scientifically named Helix aspersa, are usually a shade of brown color. They breath air into a lung, rather than having gills as some other snails do. They are frequently regarded as agricultural and garden pests because they are known to eat the leaves and stems of food crop plants. However, Common Garden Snails themselves are also food for many types of animals, including birds, raccoons, and humans.
Common garden snails have a top speed of 45 meters (150 feet) per hour, making them one of the slowest creatures on Earth, and yet, they are still the fastest movers among the different species of land snails - and they are favored by owners of thoroughbred-racing snails . . . or so we’ve been told.
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Sammy Snail
Sammy snail is slowly moving
See him slide across the grass
He leaves a silver path behind him
We all can see when he has passed.
Sammy snail is never worried
Though he wanders far and wide
For on his back his house he carries
And when he’s tired he pops inside.
by Author Unknown
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Cone snails are marine animals that live mostly in tropical waters. They eat worms, other snails, and sometimes fish, by first instantly immobilizing them with their venom (poison). All cone snails are venomous - and capable of stinging humans. Their venom is a complex blend of hundreds of different toxins. Live cone snails should never be handled or touched because their venomous sting can occur without warning and will kill humans.
Shelly: Why did the snail cross the road?
Mitchell: I don’t know, but I’ll be sure to let you know when she gets here.
Common garden snails have a top speed of 45 meters (150 feet) per hour, making them one of the slowest creatures on Earth, and yet, they are still the fastest movers among the different species of land snails - and they are favored by owners of thoroughbred-racing snails . . . or so we’ve been told.
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Sammy Snail
Sammy snail is slowly moving
See him slide across the grass
He leaves a silver path behind him
We all can see when he has passed.
Sammy snail is never worried
Though he wanders far and wide
For on his back his house he carries
And when he’s tired he pops inside.
by Author Unknown
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Cone snails are marine animals that live mostly in tropical waters. They eat worms, other snails, and sometimes fish, by first instantly immobilizing them with their venom (poison). All cone snails are venomous - and capable of stinging humans. Their venom is a complex blend of hundreds of different toxins. Live cone snails should never be handled or touched because their venomous sting can occur without warning and will kill humans.
Shelly: Why did the snail cross the road?
Mitchell: I don’t know, but I’ll be sure to let you know when she gets here.
The giant African land snail grows to about 38 centimeters (15 inches) across, with a weight of about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds). That’s a lot of escargot.
A guy went to a costume party carrying a gal on his back. “What in the world are you?” asked the host. “I’m a snail,” said the guy. “But . . . you have a gal on your back,” replied the host. “Yeah, he said, “that’s Michelle!”
The largest living sea snail species is the Syrinx aruanus, with a shell that can reach 90 centimeters (35 inches) in length, and a weight of up to 18 kilograms (40 pounds). We couldn’t take a picture to show you because we were afraid of being eaten by one of the ferocious snails if we got too close.
Snails are a delicacy in a French cuisine dish called escargot, most often served as an appetizer. The favored escargot snail in French cuisine is the Helix pomotia. Snails are eaten in many other countries of the world, with fried snails being particularly popular.
An estimated one billion snails are served in restaurants every year. They probably like the fresh garden salads best.
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Snail
Snail upon the wall,
Have you got at all
Anything to tell
About your shell?
Only this, my child -
When the wind is wild,
Or when the sun is hot,
It’s all I’ve got.
by John Drinkwater
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Riddle: I am found in the sea and on land, but I do not walk or swim. I travel by foot, but I am toeless. What am I?
Solution: I am a snail.
A guy went to a costume party carrying a gal on his back. “What in the world are you?” asked the host. “I’m a snail,” said the guy. “But . . . you have a gal on your back,” replied the host. “Yeah, he said, “that’s Michelle!”
The largest living sea snail species is the Syrinx aruanus, with a shell that can reach 90 centimeters (35 inches) in length, and a weight of up to 18 kilograms (40 pounds). We couldn’t take a picture to show you because we were afraid of being eaten by one of the ferocious snails if we got too close.
Snails are a delicacy in a French cuisine dish called escargot, most often served as an appetizer. The favored escargot snail in French cuisine is the Helix pomotia. Snails are eaten in many other countries of the world, with fried snails being particularly popular.
An estimated one billion snails are served in restaurants every year. They probably like the fresh garden salads best.
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Snail
Snail upon the wall,
Have you got at all
Anything to tell
About your shell?
Only this, my child -
When the wind is wild,
Or when the sun is hot,
It’s all I’ve got.
by John Drinkwater
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍◦֎◦֍
Riddle: I am found in the sea and on land, but I do not walk or swim. I travel by foot, but I am toeless. What am I?
Solution: I am a snail.
Once upon a time, there was a snail named Sam, who wanted to be a racecar driver. He went to the racetrack and asked if he could drive. The racetrack manager said, “Yes, but you can’t have a number on your car, you can only have an ‘S,’ because we are all out of numbers.” Sam the Snail said he was fine with this, and entered the race. The race started and Sam’s car was at the back - and then he suddenly sped to the front, overtaking all of the other cars - and won the race! When the spectators in the stands saw Sam speed past them, they yelled, “Wow! Look at that S-car go!”
Snails generally have two sets of tentacles, with the upper ones having eyes at the ends, and the lower being for their olfactory senses. ‘Olfactory’ refers to the overlapping senses of smell and taste.
The Snail’s Dream
A snail, who had a way, it seems,
Of dreaming very curious dreams,
Once dreamed he was - you’ll never guess! -
The Lightning Limited Express!
by Oliver Herford (1860 - 1935)
How long do snails sleep? Snails can ‘sleep,’ or remain dormant, for about three years at a time, without eating. Snails do what is called estivation, which is similar to seasonal hibernation, but which snails and some other animals do to survive during hot or dry times, as for example, prolonged droughts or long hot summers. Just as in hibernation, in estivation, the metabolic rate of animals is greatly slowed, so their heart rate, breathing, and other biological functions slow or are reduced.
Becky: What did the snail say when he went for a ride on the turtle’s back?
Rebecca: “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
Snail and Tortoise
Said the snail to the tortoise: “You may
Find it hard to believe what I say;
You will think it absurd,
But I give you my word,
They fined me for speeding today.”
“Well, well,” said the tortoise. “Dear me!”
How defective your motor must be!
Though I speed every day,
Not a fine do I pay:
The police cannot catch me, you see.”
by Oliver Herford
When a snail tried to cross a road, he was run over by a turtle. Regaining consciousness in the emergency room, he was asked what caused the accident. “I really can’t remember,” the snail replied. “You see, it all happened so fast.”
This is MFOL! . . . it’s our idea of fun . . .
The Snail’s Dream
A snail, who had a way, it seems,
Of dreaming very curious dreams,
Once dreamed he was - you’ll never guess! -
The Lightning Limited Express!
by Oliver Herford (1860 - 1935)
How long do snails sleep? Snails can ‘sleep,’ or remain dormant, for about three years at a time, without eating. Snails do what is called estivation, which is similar to seasonal hibernation, but which snails and some other animals do to survive during hot or dry times, as for example, prolonged droughts or long hot summers. Just as in hibernation, in estivation, the metabolic rate of animals is greatly slowed, so their heart rate, breathing, and other biological functions slow or are reduced.
Becky: What did the snail say when he went for a ride on the turtle’s back?
Rebecca: “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
Snail and Tortoise
Said the snail to the tortoise: “You may
Find it hard to believe what I say;
You will think it absurd,
But I give you my word,
They fined me for speeding today.”
“Well, well,” said the tortoise. “Dear me!”
How defective your motor must be!
Though I speed every day,
Not a fine do I pay:
The police cannot catch me, you see.”
by Oliver Herford
When a snail tried to cross a road, he was run over by a turtle. Regaining consciousness in the emergency room, he was asked what caused the accident. “I really can’t remember,” the snail replied. “You see, it all happened so fast.”
This is MFOL! . . . it’s our idea of fun . . .
- Published on
Aardvarks aare aanimals with aan aabsolutely aamazing aappearance. They seem to possess the body of a pig, the ears of a rabbit, the eyes of a rhinoceros, the tongue of an anteater, and the tail of a kangaroo - yet aardvarks are not closely related to any of these animals. Aardvarks are the only living species of animals remaining from an ancient order of ungulates called the tubulidentata. What does this mean? Let’s find out . . .
Edgar: What did the aardvark call his dog?
Edith: Aardbark.
Aardvarks Facts
- An adult male aardvark is called a boar.
- An adult female aardvark is called a sow.
- A young aardvark is called a cub.
- A group of aardvarks is called a pack.
- Aardvarks can live for about 18 years in the wild.
- Aardvarks can live for about 23 years in captivity.
The word ‘aardvark’ comes from an old Afrikaans-Dutch language dialect of South Africa, in which ‘aarde’ means ‘earth’ or ‘ground’ and ‘varken’ means ‘pig.’ They were once thought of as being the ‘earth pig’ or ‘ground pig,’ and indeed, they do somewhat resemble pigs in appearance, and they also forage for their food by rooting around in the earth or ground with their snouts as pigs do; however, aardvarks are not pigs, but a completely different species of animal. Aardvarks are sometimes colloquially called African antbears, anteaters, or Cape anteaters (after the Cape of Good Hope).
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Aardvark.
Aardvark, who?
Aardvark a million miles for one of your smiles!
Aardvarks can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, a vast region that stretches from the edge of the Sahara Desert south to the Cape of Good Hope at the lower point of the African continent. Aardvarks are sometimes found in rainforests, but not in deserts. Their preferred habitat includes savannas, grasslands, rainforests, woodlands (forests), and bushland (scrub). The deciding factor for where aardvarks live is the availability of food.
Teacher: Please spell aardvark.
Student: R-d-v-r-k.
Teacher: What happened to the A’s?
Student: The A’s moved to Kansas City from Philadelphia and finished second in the American League West.
Aardvarks have sleek pale-yellowish-gray to dark-brown hairy coats, stout bodies, arched backs, long ears, long snouts, four short legs, webbing between their second and third toes, strong sharp hoof-like claws, long tails, bristles around their mouths, and long sticky tongues. Aardvarks have four toes on their front paws and five toes on their back paws.
Aaron: What do you call an aardvark that is three feet long?
Ian: A yaardvark.
Fully-grown adult aardvarks can be as much as 66 centimeters (26 inches, or 2 feet and 2 inches) tall at the shoulder, when standing on all fours. From their snouts to the ends of their tails, aardvarks are often about 1 to 1.5 meters (about 3 to 5 feet) in length. Aardvark’s tails are about 61 centimeters (2 feet) long. Fully-grown aardvarks can weigh about 38 to 82 kilograms (about 85 to 180 pounds).
Oscar: How many aardvarks can ride on an elephant?
Scarlet: Six - three on the back, and three in the trunk!
Aardvarks have bristles around their mouths. The bristles act as feelers, just as the whiskers of cats and mice do, to help aardvarks find their way around in the dark and aid them in their search for food.
Aardvark: Aan aanimal thaat resembles aan aanteater.
Edgar: What did the aardvark call his dog?
Edith: Aardbark.
Aardvarks Facts
- An adult male aardvark is called a boar.
- An adult female aardvark is called a sow.
- A young aardvark is called a cub.
- A group of aardvarks is called a pack.
- Aardvarks can live for about 18 years in the wild.
- Aardvarks can live for about 23 years in captivity.
The word ‘aardvark’ comes from an old Afrikaans-Dutch language dialect of South Africa, in which ‘aarde’ means ‘earth’ or ‘ground’ and ‘varken’ means ‘pig.’ They were once thought of as being the ‘earth pig’ or ‘ground pig,’ and indeed, they do somewhat resemble pigs in appearance, and they also forage for their food by rooting around in the earth or ground with their snouts as pigs do; however, aardvarks are not pigs, but a completely different species of animal. Aardvarks are sometimes colloquially called African antbears, anteaters, or Cape anteaters (after the Cape of Good Hope).
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Aardvark.
Aardvark, who?
Aardvark a million miles for one of your smiles!
Aardvarks can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, a vast region that stretches from the edge of the Sahara Desert south to the Cape of Good Hope at the lower point of the African continent. Aardvarks are sometimes found in rainforests, but not in deserts. Their preferred habitat includes savannas, grasslands, rainforests, woodlands (forests), and bushland (scrub). The deciding factor for where aardvarks live is the availability of food.
Teacher: Please spell aardvark.
Student: R-d-v-r-k.
Teacher: What happened to the A’s?
Student: The A’s moved to Kansas City from Philadelphia and finished second in the American League West.
Aardvarks have sleek pale-yellowish-gray to dark-brown hairy coats, stout bodies, arched backs, long ears, long snouts, four short legs, webbing between their second and third toes, strong sharp hoof-like claws, long tails, bristles around their mouths, and long sticky tongues. Aardvarks have four toes on their front paws and five toes on their back paws.
Aaron: What do you call an aardvark that is three feet long?
Ian: A yaardvark.
Fully-grown adult aardvarks can be as much as 66 centimeters (26 inches, or 2 feet and 2 inches) tall at the shoulder, when standing on all fours. From their snouts to the ends of their tails, aardvarks are often about 1 to 1.5 meters (about 3 to 5 feet) in length. Aardvark’s tails are about 61 centimeters (2 feet) long. Fully-grown aardvarks can weigh about 38 to 82 kilograms (about 85 to 180 pounds).
Oscar: How many aardvarks can ride on an elephant?
Scarlet: Six - three on the back, and three in the trunk!
Aardvarks have bristles around their mouths. The bristles act as feelers, just as the whiskers of cats and mice do, to help aardvarks find their way around in the dark and aid them in their search for food.
Aardvark: Aan aanimal thaat resembles aan aanteater.
Aardvarks are well known for their prodigious digging activities. The aardvark’s massive and powerful feet can burrow straight down into the ground with amazing efficiency. They are such swift diggers that, if they catch a whiff of lion or leopard in the air, they can dig a hole in a few seconds, and dive out of sight of the potential predator before their whereabouts is known. Aardvarks use their forelegs (front legs) for digging and are in the category of ‘scratch diggers,’ which also includes armadillos, badgers, and pangolins.
Aardvarks can use their large front claws to dig holes at a rate of 60 centimeters (2 feet) every 15 seconds.
Aardvark
The aardvark is really a curious creature
If you’re an ant, then he’s likely to eat ya.
Although his long nose makes him look rather hideous
He’s still listed first in the encyclopedias.
by Weird Al Yankovic
Aardvarks have shovel-shaped claws that are nearly 5 centimeters (2 inches) thick and as strong as forged steel. Using these specialized built-in ‘tools,’ they can dig into termite mounds that are as hard as concrete and into anthills that have tough outer crusts.
Aardvarks’ nostrils are lined with coarse hairs and equipped with flaps of skin that close during vigorous digging, to prevent dirt, dust, and insects from entering their lungs. However, aardvarks also inhale insects through their nostrils and then swallow them - they just need to be careful that the bugs go down their esophaguses (throats) to their stomachs, and not down their tracheas (windpipes) to their lungs.
Ozzie: How is an aardvark like a kangaroo?
Harriet: Neither one can play the trumpet.
Aardvark ears are very effective hearing mechanisms, and are about 20 to 25 centimeters (7.9 to 9.8 inches) long.
Aardvarks have poor eyesight, but they have a good sense of smell and a good sense of hearing, which they use to locate food and predators.
Aardvarks have ten cheek teeth, but no incisors or canines. Rather than having teeth with roots, a pulp-filled interior, and a hard enamel exterior, like many other animals and humans have, aardvarks have teeth consisting of thin upright tubes made of dentine, a type of calcified tissue, and the tubes are held together by cementum, another type of calcified tissue. Aardvark teeth wear down with use, but continuously regrow.
Aardvarks do not have to chew their food. They swallow their food whole, and their stomachs have a muscular pyloric area, which works like the gizzards in birds, to grind up the food.
Aardvarks are rather quiet animals. However, they may make soft grunting sounds as they forage and loud grunts when they dash for their tunnel entrances. They can make bleating and squealing sounds when startled or frightened.
Adult aardvarks are shy, solitary animals, meaning that they tend to live alone in their burrows and forage for food by themselves. Gatherings of their kind are not common, although human activity and natural disasters such as floods can push them together into groups called ‘packs’ as they flee from danger.
Eugene: What has 200 legs, 50 noses, and is very loud?
Eunice: A herd of stampeding aardvarks!
Aardvarks live in underground homes called burrows, which they make by digging into the ground with their claws. Aardvark’s burrows can be up to 13 meters (about 42 feet) long and have several entrances and chambers, or rooms. In their burrows, aardvarks and any offspring (baby aardvarks, or cubs) can sleep and rest, partially protected from predators and the harsh, dry heat of the daytime. When foraging for food far from home, aardvarks routinely dig temporary burrows to live in for a few days. Aardvarks move on from time to time to make new burrows, and their old burrows then become homes for animals such as wild dogs, shelducks, warthogs, hares, mongooses, hyenas, owls, porcupines, pythons, and lizards.
Willard: What did the aardvark say when he lost the race to the ant?
Scott: “If you can’t beat them, eat them!”
Aardvarks are nocturnal animals, meaning they are most active at night. They spend daylight hours curled up in a ball as they sleep in their cool, dark underground burrows, avoiding the dry heat of the day.
Sometime between late afternoon and shortly after sunset, aardvarks position themselves just inside the entrances of their burrows and wait there for several minutes, sniffing and listening for predators. After a period of watchfulness, they quickly emerge, and within seconds, they are 10 meters (33 feet) away from their burrow entrances. They pause with their ears alert, turn their heads in all directions to listen for danger, and then with a sudden move, they are off to start foraging.
Velma: Why don’t aardvarks ever get sick?
Vera: Because they are full of ant-i-bodies!
Female aardvarks, or sows, usually have just one cub, or baby aardvark, at a time. The cub stays in the burrow until it is two weeks of age, and then begins venturing out at night with its mother to forage for food. When aardvarks reach six months of age, they are ready to leave their mothers and live on their own, digging their own burrows and foraging for food on their own; however, they may stay with their mothers slightly beyond six months of age. Aardvarks become fully-grown adults at about one year of age.
“An admittedly ambulatorily adept aardvark is also an astonishingly agile ant eater.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Aardvarks can use their large front claws to dig holes at a rate of 60 centimeters (2 feet) every 15 seconds.
Aardvark
The aardvark is really a curious creature
If you’re an ant, then he’s likely to eat ya.
Although his long nose makes him look rather hideous
He’s still listed first in the encyclopedias.
by Weird Al Yankovic
Aardvarks have shovel-shaped claws that are nearly 5 centimeters (2 inches) thick and as strong as forged steel. Using these specialized built-in ‘tools,’ they can dig into termite mounds that are as hard as concrete and into anthills that have tough outer crusts.
Aardvarks’ nostrils are lined with coarse hairs and equipped with flaps of skin that close during vigorous digging, to prevent dirt, dust, and insects from entering their lungs. However, aardvarks also inhale insects through their nostrils and then swallow them - they just need to be careful that the bugs go down their esophaguses (throats) to their stomachs, and not down their tracheas (windpipes) to their lungs.
Ozzie: How is an aardvark like a kangaroo?
Harriet: Neither one can play the trumpet.
Aardvark ears are very effective hearing mechanisms, and are about 20 to 25 centimeters (7.9 to 9.8 inches) long.
Aardvarks have poor eyesight, but they have a good sense of smell and a good sense of hearing, which they use to locate food and predators.
Aardvarks have ten cheek teeth, but no incisors or canines. Rather than having teeth with roots, a pulp-filled interior, and a hard enamel exterior, like many other animals and humans have, aardvarks have teeth consisting of thin upright tubes made of dentine, a type of calcified tissue, and the tubes are held together by cementum, another type of calcified tissue. Aardvark teeth wear down with use, but continuously regrow.
Aardvarks do not have to chew their food. They swallow their food whole, and their stomachs have a muscular pyloric area, which works like the gizzards in birds, to grind up the food.
Aardvarks are rather quiet animals. However, they may make soft grunting sounds as they forage and loud grunts when they dash for their tunnel entrances. They can make bleating and squealing sounds when startled or frightened.
Adult aardvarks are shy, solitary animals, meaning that they tend to live alone in their burrows and forage for food by themselves. Gatherings of their kind are not common, although human activity and natural disasters such as floods can push them together into groups called ‘packs’ as they flee from danger.
Eugene: What has 200 legs, 50 noses, and is very loud?
Eunice: A herd of stampeding aardvarks!
Aardvarks live in underground homes called burrows, which they make by digging into the ground with their claws. Aardvark’s burrows can be up to 13 meters (about 42 feet) long and have several entrances and chambers, or rooms. In their burrows, aardvarks and any offspring (baby aardvarks, or cubs) can sleep and rest, partially protected from predators and the harsh, dry heat of the daytime. When foraging for food far from home, aardvarks routinely dig temporary burrows to live in for a few days. Aardvarks move on from time to time to make new burrows, and their old burrows then become homes for animals such as wild dogs, shelducks, warthogs, hares, mongooses, hyenas, owls, porcupines, pythons, and lizards.
Willard: What did the aardvark say when he lost the race to the ant?
Scott: “If you can’t beat them, eat them!”
Aardvarks are nocturnal animals, meaning they are most active at night. They spend daylight hours curled up in a ball as they sleep in their cool, dark underground burrows, avoiding the dry heat of the day.
Sometime between late afternoon and shortly after sunset, aardvarks position themselves just inside the entrances of their burrows and wait there for several minutes, sniffing and listening for predators. After a period of watchfulness, they quickly emerge, and within seconds, they are 10 meters (33 feet) away from their burrow entrances. They pause with their ears alert, turn their heads in all directions to listen for danger, and then with a sudden move, they are off to start foraging.
Velma: Why don’t aardvarks ever get sick?
Vera: Because they are full of ant-i-bodies!
Female aardvarks, or sows, usually have just one cub, or baby aardvark, at a time. The cub stays in the burrow until it is two weeks of age, and then begins venturing out at night with its mother to forage for food. When aardvarks reach six months of age, they are ready to leave their mothers and live on their own, digging their own burrows and foraging for food on their own; however, they may stay with their mothers slightly beyond six months of age. Aardvarks become fully-grown adults at about one year of age.
“An admittedly ambulatorily adept aardvark is also an astonishingly agile ant eater.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
I am not a pig, I am an aardvark! You can tell us apart because I have discriminating tastes, while a pig does not discriminate and will eat absolutely anything.
In addition to a home burrow, an aardvark has a home range, similar to a territory. This is the area in which it commonly forages. Within their home ranges, aardvarks dig many holes as they forage for food. These holes can also serve as places to go into when a predator is sensed or when an aardvark is far from its home burrow and needs a place to retreat to before dawn.
In the part of the world where aardvarks live, each year has two seasons. Aardvarks feed mainly on termites during the dry season and soft-bodied ants in the rainy season.
Usually classified as being primarily insectivores, or insect-eating animals, aardvarks can become omnivores, or animals that eat both plants and animals, when necessary. Ants and termites are a mainstay of their diet, but they do eat the fruit of a plant called the aardvark cucumber. Aardvarks have a special relationship with the plant, which relies on them to dig up its underground-growing fruit and spread its seeds around so that new plants can grow. Aardvarks also eat other fruits, roots, grasses, and small animals when ants and termites are not available.
Aardvarks often cover between 2 and 5 kilometers (1.2 and 3.1 miles) per night to feed. While foraging for food, aardvarks keep their long snouts near the ground to detect the smell of food and their long ears pointed upright and forward to listen for food and for any predators. They zig-zag as they forage, and will usually not repeat the same route for about a week, allowing time for termite mounds and anthills to refill with insects before feeding on them again. When they detect ants or termites, aardvarks use their large claws to dig into anthills and termite mounds and then use their up to 30-centimeter (11.8-inch) long, thin extensile tongues and very sticky saliva to catch and eat as many as 60,000 insects in a night.
Jason: How do ants hide from aardvarks?
Jacob: They disguise themselves as uncles!
The stinging and biting of ants and termites is ineffective against aardvarks, because it does not penetrate their tough, thick hides, or skins. To ants and termites, aardvarks are fearsome beasts.
The predators of aardvarks include lions, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, pythons, and humans, all of whom hunt aardvarks for meat. Aardvarks have long tubular ears and are able to detect the slightest noise that might indicate approaching danger. If they are in fear of being attacked in the open, aardvarks will very quickly dig small burrows in which to hide, or they may try to run away in a zigzag fashion, but if all else fails, they can turn to strike with their claws, tail, and shoulders. They are known to flip onto their backs to lash out with all fours. Their thick skin protects them from predators to some extent, and they are capable of causing substantial damage to unprotected areas of an attacker with their sharp claws. If threatened in a tunnel, an aardvark will seal off the tunnel behind itself or turn around and attack.
Milton: Why are there no aardvarks in Hawaii?
Millicent: Because aardvarks cannot afford the plane fare.
Aardvarks are good swimmers, even in strong currents, because of their webbed feet.
Unique among animals, aardvarks occupy their own order, family, and species, making them all alone on their own branch of animal classification. The aardvark is the last surviving member of a primitive order of ungulates (hooved animals) called tubulidentatas. Their species may have been able to survive from long ago to the present time by evolving away from hooves and developing the incredibly powerful claws they use for digging burrows and tunneling into termite mounds. Despite their many obvious differences, the African elephant is considered to be among the aardvarks’ closest living relatives.
Stacy: Why did the aardvark cross the road?
Tracy: It was the chicken’s day off.
Aardvarks are scientifically categorized as follows:
- Kingdom: Animalia (animals).
- Phylum: Chordata (animals possessing a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a tail for at least some period of their life cycle).
- Subphylum: Vertebrata (animals with backbones).
- Class: Mammalia (mammals, which are warm-blooded animals with fur or hair and that nurse their young).
- Order: Tubulidentata (a Latin word meaning ‘tube toothed’; the aardvark is the only member of this order).
- Family: Orycteropodidae (the aardvark is the only member of this family).
- Genus: Orycteropus (meaning ‘burrowing foot’).
- Species: afer (referring to Africa).
- Scientific name: Orycteropus afer.
Aan aardvark is aan unusuaal aanimaal.
Aardvark is the first word in many English dictionaries, and in any alphabetically arranged list of animals, aardvarks come first - even before aardwolves.
Aardvarks Quiz
- On what continent do aardvarks live naturally?
- How old are aardvarks when they leave their mothers?
- Are aardvarks social animals or solitary animals?
Aardvarks handle captivity well. The London Zoo was the first zoo in the world to have an aardvark, which came from South Africa, in 1869. Does your local zoo or wild animal park have an aardvark?
Although aardvarks appear to remain widespread and some people believe they are not an endangered species, humans are still a threat to their survival. Farmers and landowners kill aardvarks because they do not like the holes that aardvarks make, and pesticides used on croplands has reduced the populations of insects that aardvarks rely on for food.
Anthony: What does an aardvark like on its pizza?
Emily: Ant-chovies.
Much remains to be learned about aardvarks. The scientists who study aardvarks are called ‘wildlife biologists.’ Their job consists of saying, “So, you’re an aardvark, and you sleep all day and stay out all night eating bugs . . . what’s that like?” If you would like to help the world understand aardvarks or aany other aamazing aanimals, make aan aappointment with a school counselor, and get started on your career in wildlife biology - and never forget to MFOL!
Aardvark photographs by Louise Joubert used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Uported license at https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-considerations/compatible-licenses.
In addition to a home burrow, an aardvark has a home range, similar to a territory. This is the area in which it commonly forages. Within their home ranges, aardvarks dig many holes as they forage for food. These holes can also serve as places to go into when a predator is sensed or when an aardvark is far from its home burrow and needs a place to retreat to before dawn.
In the part of the world where aardvarks live, each year has two seasons. Aardvarks feed mainly on termites during the dry season and soft-bodied ants in the rainy season.
Usually classified as being primarily insectivores, or insect-eating animals, aardvarks can become omnivores, or animals that eat both plants and animals, when necessary. Ants and termites are a mainstay of their diet, but they do eat the fruit of a plant called the aardvark cucumber. Aardvarks have a special relationship with the plant, which relies on them to dig up its underground-growing fruit and spread its seeds around so that new plants can grow. Aardvarks also eat other fruits, roots, grasses, and small animals when ants and termites are not available.
Aardvarks often cover between 2 and 5 kilometers (1.2 and 3.1 miles) per night to feed. While foraging for food, aardvarks keep their long snouts near the ground to detect the smell of food and their long ears pointed upright and forward to listen for food and for any predators. They zig-zag as they forage, and will usually not repeat the same route for about a week, allowing time for termite mounds and anthills to refill with insects before feeding on them again. When they detect ants or termites, aardvarks use their large claws to dig into anthills and termite mounds and then use their up to 30-centimeter (11.8-inch) long, thin extensile tongues and very sticky saliva to catch and eat as many as 60,000 insects in a night.
Jason: How do ants hide from aardvarks?
Jacob: They disguise themselves as uncles!
The stinging and biting of ants and termites is ineffective against aardvarks, because it does not penetrate their tough, thick hides, or skins. To ants and termites, aardvarks are fearsome beasts.
The predators of aardvarks include lions, leopards, wild dogs, hyenas, pythons, and humans, all of whom hunt aardvarks for meat. Aardvarks have long tubular ears and are able to detect the slightest noise that might indicate approaching danger. If they are in fear of being attacked in the open, aardvarks will very quickly dig small burrows in which to hide, or they may try to run away in a zigzag fashion, but if all else fails, they can turn to strike with their claws, tail, and shoulders. They are known to flip onto their backs to lash out with all fours. Their thick skin protects them from predators to some extent, and they are capable of causing substantial damage to unprotected areas of an attacker with their sharp claws. If threatened in a tunnel, an aardvark will seal off the tunnel behind itself or turn around and attack.
Milton: Why are there no aardvarks in Hawaii?
Millicent: Because aardvarks cannot afford the plane fare.
Aardvarks are good swimmers, even in strong currents, because of their webbed feet.
Unique among animals, aardvarks occupy their own order, family, and species, making them all alone on their own branch of animal classification. The aardvark is the last surviving member of a primitive order of ungulates (hooved animals) called tubulidentatas. Their species may have been able to survive from long ago to the present time by evolving away from hooves and developing the incredibly powerful claws they use for digging burrows and tunneling into termite mounds. Despite their many obvious differences, the African elephant is considered to be among the aardvarks’ closest living relatives.
Stacy: Why did the aardvark cross the road?
Tracy: It was the chicken’s day off.
Aardvarks are scientifically categorized as follows:
- Kingdom: Animalia (animals).
- Phylum: Chordata (animals possessing a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a tail for at least some period of their life cycle).
- Subphylum: Vertebrata (animals with backbones).
- Class: Mammalia (mammals, which are warm-blooded animals with fur or hair and that nurse their young).
- Order: Tubulidentata (a Latin word meaning ‘tube toothed’; the aardvark is the only member of this order).
- Family: Orycteropodidae (the aardvark is the only member of this family).
- Genus: Orycteropus (meaning ‘burrowing foot’).
- Species: afer (referring to Africa).
- Scientific name: Orycteropus afer.
Aan aardvark is aan unusuaal aanimaal.
Aardvark is the first word in many English dictionaries, and in any alphabetically arranged list of animals, aardvarks come first - even before aardwolves.
Aardvarks Quiz
- On what continent do aardvarks live naturally?
- How old are aardvarks when they leave their mothers?
- Are aardvarks social animals or solitary animals?
Aardvarks handle captivity well. The London Zoo was the first zoo in the world to have an aardvark, which came from South Africa, in 1869. Does your local zoo or wild animal park have an aardvark?
Although aardvarks appear to remain widespread and some people believe they are not an endangered species, humans are still a threat to their survival. Farmers and landowners kill aardvarks because they do not like the holes that aardvarks make, and pesticides used on croplands has reduced the populations of insects that aardvarks rely on for food.
Anthony: What does an aardvark like on its pizza?
Emily: Ant-chovies.
Much remains to be learned about aardvarks. The scientists who study aardvarks are called ‘wildlife biologists.’ Their job consists of saying, “So, you’re an aardvark, and you sleep all day and stay out all night eating bugs . . . what’s that like?” If you would like to help the world understand aardvarks or aany other aamazing aanimals, make aan aappointment with a school counselor, and get started on your career in wildlife biology - and never forget to MFOL!
Aardvark photographs by Louise Joubert used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Uported license at https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-considerations/compatible-licenses.
