FACEB O OK. CO M/ FUNFO RKI DZ • FUNFO RKI DZ.COM
Presents... 3 Check It Out! 4 Where Are the Wild Things? 6 10 Animal Facts 8 Clever and Curious 9 Drawing a Raccoon 10 Wildlife Wonders 12 One-of-a-Kind Okapi 13 Unusual Rainforest Creatures 14 Puzzles 16 The Gentle Giants 18 The Turn-over Turtle 19 Cowboy Clark & Larry 20 The World’s Largest Rodent 22 The Amazing Hummingbird 23 Insect Jamboree 24 The Remarkable Robin 26 Sharp Claws and Stretchy Cheeks 28 Marvelous Mandarin Ducks 29 Kids Corner 30 Puzzle Solutions 2
We all enjoy being outside and experiencing the world around us. Animals, birds, and bugs normally live outside. They each have their own natural habitat. There are creatures that live near our homes. Go for a walk around your yard. Ask your parents to take you on a walk or hike. Did you see anything unusual? If you are fortunate enough to visit a zoo, look for some of the unique animals featured in this issue. You don’t have to use just your eyes to experience nature up close. Try using only your ears. Make your own observations from where you live. Go out and just listen. Try this in the early morning and evening. The sounds will be much different from what you might hear in the middle of the day. Whether you leave on foot from your home or take a trip in the car, keep a journal. Tell us what you saw and send us a photo. We will publish it in a future issue.
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o you live close to wild creatures? You may think you don’t, but take another look. You will be surprised. Hunter and Parker are two brothers who live in Bozeman, Montana. They live in a state where there are many animals roaming around in the wild – elk, antelope, wolves, coyotes, bears, bison, mountain lions, moose, and bobcats. The boys are aware of creatures right in their own backyard. One day, while they were out playing, they discovered something crawling in the grass. Hunter picked it up to look at it more closely. It was a caterpillar. The next day, they heard a bird hit the window. Parker investigated. He saw the wild thing sitting very still on their deck. Hunter took a picture of the bird without disturbing it.
Fortunately, it was not badly injured and flew away.
Did this deer just finish a snack?
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They named it Bob.
Hunter and Parker see other wild creatures in their yard that you may have seen – rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, birds, bugs, butterflies, and deer.
They were surprised at its long tongue.
Zoos are a great place to see wild animals. Often, there are opportunities to feed them. Hunter and Parker enjoyed feeding a giraffe.
When you can’t visit a zoo, watch a live web camera. Many zoos offer this or videos of the animals. Ask your parent to bring one up on your computer. It’s the next best thing to being there. African Safari Parks are located across the country. These places offer drive-through areas where wild animals are outside roaming. They may come right up to your car window.
Got anything to eat?
Reading about wild creatures in books, watching videos and movies, and visiting parks with wild animals provide special adventures. But don’t forget to walk outside and use your eyes and ears. There are wild creatures all around you. Tell us how many you’ve seen. Write a letter or send a picture. You will see it in a future issue of Fun For Kidz! Parker thought feeding the porcupines was awesome.
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Clever and Curious by Gaurakisora Tucker
Raccoons are furry wild animals that live throughout North America. They are about the size of a large cat with gray fur, hunched backs, a sharp little nose, and distinctive dark masks around their eyes. Their back legs are longer than their front legs, and their tails are ringed with dark and white fur. Raccoons wake up at night, come out of their nests, often in hollow trees, and go looking for food. They eat almost anything, but really seem to enjoy looking around creeks and lakes for crayfish with their sensitive, delicate hands.
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These are smart, curious animals. Don’t be surprised if you hear a raccoon poking around outside your yard at night. They have learned that where people are, food is there too.
Drawing a Raccoon by Andrew Wales
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1. Sketch the basic shapes. (Draw lightly in pencil first, then use a fine-point marker or black pen.) The animal has a face like a fox with a sharp, delicate nose. Its legs are long. Its claws are strong.
2. It has a stocky body covered with long, coarse gray hair with black tips. Go around the edges with a pen to create a fur-like texture.
3. Sketch the outline of the raccoon’s “mask” around the eyes. There is white hair around the black patch which is around each eye.
4. Continue working on the face. Make a dark band between the eyes, running down to the shiny black nose. Also fill in darker hairs inside the ears. Allow your lines to cross each other. This is called cross-hatching. Add whiskers to the sides of the face. Make black curved lines around the eyes, defining the eyelids. The hairs on the side of the snout are shorter. There are not as many of them, and they are left white. Keep the white band across the face above the eyes.
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5. To work on the tail, make dark bands first, then fill in with lighter bands.
6. Finish by referring to the above illustration. You can add color to the background or leave it white.
Send a copy of your completed raccoon picture to us at Fun For Kidz, Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817. You might see it published in a future issue. Be sure to include your name, address, age, and a photo of yourself, if you have one.
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