How does coral grow?

Corals

Beneath the surface of the sea lie coral formations of many shapes and colors.  The formations may look like branching trees tinted green or lavender, lacy sea fans, or even like tiny organ pipes.  

Coral is formed by millions of tiny sea animals called “coral polyps.”  Coral polyps look much like little flowers. 

They wave food into their mouths with a circle of tiny tentacles.  Young coral polyps attach themselves to older ones and build limy, cup-like skeletons around their soft bodies.  When the polyps die, their hard skeletons remain as part of the growing coral formations. – Dick Rogers

How does a clam make its shell?

Shell of a Clam

If you have ever examined a clam shell, you may have wondered how the shell got bigger as the clam grew.  A clam is born with a shell just the right size for its body.  Inside the protecting shell of the living animal is a fleshy layer of tissue called the “mantle.”  

The mantle oozes a limy shell liquid which quickly hardens and becomes part of the shell.  As long as a clam grows, its shell also grows.  The food that a clam eats provides the minerals that form the shell.  The hard shell serves as a clam’s skeleton, and the soft animal inside can never leave it.–Dick Rogers

Where do bees go in the winter?

Bees spend the winter huddled together in their hives.  Inside the hive, the bees move about slowly, eating the extra honey that they stored during the busy summer season, and buzzing their wings to keep warm.  If a bee becomes too cold, it cannot move and thus, soon dies.  

Before the end of winter, the queen bee begins to lay eggs again, and in the spring, all the busy activities of the hive are resumed.  In warm climates, however, where there is something in flower the year round, honeybees remains active, making honey in every season.–Dick Rogers

What are the whiskers for an animal’s face?

Tikoy - My Dog

The whiskers on an animal’s face are organs of touch.  They help the animal sense what going on around it.  Scientists call whiskers vibrissae (vi-BRIS-see). These long, sensitive hairs are most helpful to animals that prowl about in dark places.  

A cat’s whiskers brush against objects the cat might not see as it hunts at night.  Whiskers help some animals find food.  The whiskers on a seal’s face are helpful in detecting fish in the dark or cloudy water.  And the thick whiskers on a walrus’s upper lip help it to feel for clams in the ocean bottom.–Dick Rogers

What are a deer’s antlers used for?

Deer

Deer have several uses for their antlers.  During the mating season, a buck or bull deer uses his big antlers as a weapon to fight other males for leadership of the herd and to win mates.  Any predator (such as a wolf) that dares to attack a deer is also likely to be hurt by the sharp antlers.  

Nearly all male deer have antlers. Female caribou and reindeer (cows) are the only female deer that grow antlers.  During the long winter, when food is scarce, cows often use their antlers to push other cows away from the best feeding spots.-Dick Rogers

Why do birds molt?

Molting Bird

Feathers wear out, as clothes do, and need to be replaced. The process is called “molting.”  Birds molt their feathers at least once a year, in late summer or early fall.  Feathers are made from a substance called “keratin.”  

It is basically the same material your hair is made of.  In molting, old worn feathers drop out of their sockets in a bird’s skin and new ones grow in their place.  

Some birds grow bright, new feathers for the nesting season. These birds molt twice a year.  Most birds molt just a few feathers at a time, so they are able to fly during molting periods.–Dick Rogers

What kind of bird is a mutton bird?

Fat, young shearwaters are known as mutton birds on Australian Islands.  The mutton bird is another name for a kind of seabird known as the shearwater.  

Shearwaters are very fat when young and are considered good to eat, especially on Australian islands where they are known as mutton birds.  The shearwater’s real name comes from its habit of shearing or skimming close to the water as it soars just above the waves on its long, slender wings.  

The shearwater can glide for many hours, riding the air currents with barely a wing beat.  The shearwater comes ashore only  to nest, usually on an island where it can be safe.  Here it lays one large while egg in a hole dug in the ground.  

The young chick grows up slowly and becomes extremely fat, and weighs more that its parents. At this point, the parent shearwaters simply fly off, leaving the fat chick entirely alone, to live only on the fat in its body.

In about a week, the young shearwater has slimmed down and comes out of its underground nest to exercise its new wings, then flies off. It may be three to four years before it returns to land again.-Dick Rogers