Hello everyone! Today, instead of doing what I normally do on this blog (writing nonfiction articles on various topics), I will do what blogging was originally intended for: talking about a recent "event" I took part in. Based on the title of this article, you'll know that I recently went to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum with my family. I had a blast! Today, I'll tell you all about what the museum was like for me and of course, I'll post some of the many pictures I took. But first, it's time for:
Days till:
It is: 10 days till Labor Day
It is: 22 days till Patriot Day
It is: 23 days till Dolphin Tale 2's theatrical release!
In the Spotlight:
Now, the latest news for
Jurassic World concerns the actor Jake Johnston, one of the actors in the upcoming movie. Thanks to a few interviews (one with
AICN and the other is the
Elvis Duran morning show), we now know a little more about what his character will be doing in the film and a little about his personality. Here is what he had to say in his interview with
AICN:
"Capone: I’ve got to ask you about JURASSIC WORLD. Who do you play in
that? It’s great you guys are getting back with [SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED
director] Colin Trevorrow and [SNG writer] Derek Connolly.
JJ: I’m actually not allowed to talk too much about it.
Capone: Yeah I figured, but tell me anyway.
JJ: [laughs] Bryce Dallas Howard is in there, you’ve got Chris
Pratt, and I get a few texts here and there from Colin saying they’re
having the time of their life. It’s awesome. And the script’s really
great. Derek and Colin wrote this one together, and they’re going for
it. They’re not just adding on to the franchise. They’re fans of it, and
they want to take it to the next level.
Capone: I interviewed them in Austin for SAFETY and quickly realized
that these guys are like nerd central. They love this stuff.
JJ: The only thing I can give you about my character that’s fun
in terms of nerding out about JURASSIC is that my character loves
Jurassic World and Jurassic Park. We’re playing with this idea that they
know the legacy of the park. But that’s all I can give.
Capone: I know your character is a tech guy who is running it from the
control room for a while. See, I know a few things about it.
[Johnson gets a slightly nervous look on his face]
JJ: You said that though, not me."
So, what do we know about Jake Johnson's character? Well, he's apparently the tech guy at the theme park
Jurassic World, suggesting he'll portray someone with a similar role to Ray Arnold in the first movie. Hopefully he shares a different fate than Arnold does!
Topic of the Week by
Christian Ryan
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| Just a few of over 300 amazing animals I saw at the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum. |
For those of you
who don't know, the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum that features over 300
taxidermy animals on display. The interesting thing about taxidermy
animals is that they allow you to get a closer look at animals that
would normally be too dangerous to get close to in the wild or in
captivity. The Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum takes you on a journey all
across the globe in which you can learn about the amazing animals
that call earth home. If you are to visit, you will also learn about
how and why many animals are becoming endangered in the wild and what
is being done to save them. So join me as I retell my trip to the
Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum!
African Plains
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| The African plains are home to a number of different animal species. |
As you start your
journey through the museum, you'll enter into the arid plains of
Africa where many animals live. This was one of my favorite exhibits.
There are a variety of antelope and gazelle to observe. But in these
lands, there are also predators, but I'll get to them in a minute.
One of the coolest animals in this section of the museum is the
wildebeest. Believe it or not, wildebeest are actually a species of
antelope. Thousands of them migrate across the African plains
following fresh grazing and water sources. But where there is
abundant prey, there are also predators. Lions, hyenas, African
painted dogs and jackals also call this part of Africa home. The
museum features a display of a pride of lions defending their kill
from a pack of voracious hyenas. In this exhibit you'll also see a
number of gazelle species that are perfectly designed for life in
these plains.
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| The wildebeest (right) is also called the gnu. |
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| Many types of small gazelle live in Africa. |
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| In the background, you can see a pride of lions defending their kill from a pack of hyenas. |
African
Rainforest
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| The bongo lives in the forests of Africa. |
The
tour takes you to the heart of Africa. At the equator, lush
rainforests flourish and there is a variety of wildlife to be seen. I
spotted several species of animals in this exhibit, from the
fleet-footed nyala antelope, to the shy bongo, to the forest hog and
the diminutive and athletic grysbok. The equator is a great place for
rainforests because it's where the seasonal variations are least
effective, and there's a lot
of rainwater! This provides a home for many rainforest species.
Nearby, I also spotted some baboons and a leopard, who was resting on
a rocky ledge. As I continued on my journey through the museum, I
noticed the darkness envelope me as the night approached. But let's
not put a damper on our adventure, as it is the night time in which a
new cast of creatures come out.
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| Bushpig |
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| Several species of antelope. |
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| This antelope must be athletic to avoid predators. |
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| The leopard (right) is an ferocious predator; it often eats monkeys like baboons (left) |
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|
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| In the dark of night, a leopard attacks a hapless antelope. |
In the
darkness of night on my expedition through the museum, I saw one of
the largest reptile on the North American continent: the American
alligator! While these predators are active during the day, they also
hunt at night, lying motionless near the water's edge for prey to
stop by, hoping for a drink. Instead, they are snapped up by an
awesome set of jaws and taken beneath the water to drown. From my
view, I saw the alligators dozens of sharp teeth! Nighttime is also a
time for some prey animals to come out, like the springhare. Though
it looks like a hare with a tail, the springhare is actually a
rodent. A number of other nocturnal animals I saw in the darkness
were hyenas, mountain lions, raccoons, great horned owls, a bobcat
and even the cute little Ring-tailed cat. Those little mammals were
so cute that I just wanted to pick one up and cuddle with it. One
part of the museum's nocturnal exhibit portrayed a classic African
scene in which a leopard had snuck up on an antelope and attacked!
With a quick bite to the neck already set, it didn't appear the
antelope was going to see its next sunrise. Fortunately for me, the
night was about to end as I climbed into the higher elevations of the
world.
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| Alligators are infamous night hunters. |
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| Many members of the cat family are nocturnal. |
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| Aren't these ring-tailed cats so cute! |
The American
Highlands
The farther you get
from the equator, the further you get from minimal seasonal change.
Here in the North American highlands, such as the Rocky Mountains,
animals not only have to cope with predators, but also huge
fluctuations in temperature. But before heading to North America, I
took a quick stop to the South American plains to witness a Rhea and
a cougar taking down a small deer.
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| In South America, a rhea (right) watches a puma takes down a small deer. |
Now
back on track! Above me, high on the cliffs, I saw an elk. Its
antlers were wide and branchy. These creatures are common in North
American coniferous forests of the west. I also saw another member of
the deer family, the white-tailed deer. Did you know that the common
white-tailed deer used to be endangered?!?
That's right! They were endangered! In the early 20th
century, these hoofed mammals could be hunted without regulations and
by 1930, around 300,000 were left. This might seem like a lot, but
when you remember that other factors also kill deer, like predators,
disease and various natural circumstances, this is a very low number.
This is where conservationists and deer hunters come in. They both
realized that white-tailed deer numbers were in decline and the
government put regulations on the hunting of these animals and
commercial exploitation were made illegal. Now the numbers are
climbing again and in 2005, there were estimated to be as many as 30
million white-tailed deer in the wild! What a comeback! This is just
one instance in which the roles of hunters and conservations are
shown to be very important to protecting wildlife. Conservationists
obviously protect animals in the wild, but how else do hunters do
this? Well, hunters pay to hunt these and other animals and therefore
the money can be put forth into saving them. Cool, huh?
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| A majestic elk. |
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| The white-tailed deer, once endangered, is now thriving! |
I trek further and
further up the mountains and run into a variety of other creatures,
including the beautiful pronghorn, the second fastest animal on the
planet, behind the cheetah. Skunks, foxes, ravens, turkeys and wild
boar also make their home here. I even saw an instance in which a
mountain lion tried to catch a deer. As you can see from the picture
below, it didn't fair too well with those antlers! In addition to
these creatures, I also saw bighorn sheep, bison, armadillos and even
a fox trying to catch a pheasant. Finally, following the trail, I
walking into what represented the highlands of the largest continent,
Asia.
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| The raven is a common bird in North America. |
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| The American bison roam in large herds across the American plains. |
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| Turkeys, foxes, pheasants and an armadillo can be seen here. |
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| A mountain lion unsuccessfully attacks a deer and learns a painful lesson! |
Asia
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| Many of Asia's grazing animals are caprinaes, creatures closely related to domestic goats and sheep. |
While
deer and even antelope were spotted in the Asian highlands, there
were mainly a lots of relatives of domesticated sheep and goats;
members of the Caprinae
subfamily. These are animals that look a lot like, but are not true
antelopes. The Saiga antelope, even though it looks like a cross
between a goat and a tapir, is a true antelope. Covered in thick fur
to protect them from the cold, you've probably noticed their strange
trunk-like noses. The noses of Saiga antelope are helpful in warming
the cold air as they breath. I also saw many species of Ibex and even
a grazing European red elk on my mountain hike. I didn't see very
many predators in this part of the museum, so I was surprised to find
a pair of brown bears. We'll get to bears a little later though. At
last, I finally reached the top of the high Asian mountain ranges,
where I came face-to-face with several goat and sheep relatives,
including different species of ibex, the remarkable markhor with its
curved pair of horns and even a species of deer called the Chinese
water deer. If you'll look closely at its snout, you'll see that the
water deer has a pair of saber-like teeth coming out of its mouth. It
reminded me greatly of the extinct saber-toothed cats of the Ice Age.
Unlike saber-toothed cats though, these deer use their teeth to fight
other males for mating rights. Also, I saw the Tian Shan Argali, the
owner of the largest horns in the caprinae
family, and the interesting-looking golden shewan takin. Hard as it
was to leave the mountaintops, I was urged to start my journey back
down. On the way to the American coniferous forests, I saw some
strange paintings on the wall of an Asian cliff face.
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| Deer are common in Eurasia. |
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| The Saiga antelope (left) uses its strange nose to warm the air as it breaths. |
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| The Ronda Ibex can be seen in the center of the picture. |
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| A Eurasian red deer is feeding. |
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| The rare blackbuck. |
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| A pair of Eurasian brown bears. |
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| The Chinese water deer has saber-like teeth. |
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| These guys have some crazy headgear! |
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| Strange ancient wall paintings. |
American Forests
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| Several brown bears fish at a salmon-filled creek. |
You can't fully
explore the pine forests of North America without running into the
largest carnivorous mammals on the continent: the bears. I stopped at
a small salmon-filled stream to watch them. There were several bears,
both black bears and brown bears. The names of these bears are
somewhat deceptive, however, as black bears can be black, brown, tan,
brownish-red or even almost white! The real difference between the
two besides size (brown bears are larger) is the hump of muscle over
a brown bear's shoulders. Black bears lack this feature. As the river
was full of salmon, the bears wasted no time trying to catch them.
One brown bear had caught a fish, but it wasn't left alone to eat it
as it was soon defending its meal from another bear! Let me be the
first to tell you, we all know bears are big, but knowing a bear is
big, and being next to a big bear are two totally different things! A
bear I saw that stood on its hind legs was 7 feet tall, and it wasn't
even the largest of the brown bears! You might want to know that
there are different subspecies of brown bears. One of the largest is
the grizzly bear! Even on all fours, these mammals are massive! But
even the mighty grizzly bear is smaller than the largest living bear
species of all: the polar bear! It was a sure sign of where I was
headed next: the frozen Arctic tundra!
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| Black bears can actually be black, brown, cinnamon or even almost white! |
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| This bear must be over seven feet tall! |
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| The awesome grizzly bear! |
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| The polar bear is the largest carnivorous land animal on the planet. |
Arctic Tundra
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| The tundra is bursting with life! |
At first glance,
the arctic tundra is a vast, snowy, cold wasteland with little life.
There's nothing farther from the truth! Up here near the top of the
world, the land is roamed by loads of different types of wildlife.
One of the most common grazers on the tundra are caribou, also called
reindeer. Great herds of these animals travel great distances, and
following them are their main predators: wolves. These pack-hunters
aren't the only animals that hunt caribou, others include bears –
which normally hunt sick or younger animals – and wolverines –
which can attack and successfully kill adult caribou, despite their
size. Despite being a bitterly cold and frozen place in winter, in
summer, much of the Arctic tundra is boggy and is the perfect
breeding ground for gazillions of mosquitoes! These tiny insects can
drive herds of caribou wild. Also present in the tundra are musk
oxen. These animals are bovines, and related to domestic cows and
wild bison (I saw some of them earlier on my journey). These
creatures are the largest herbivores in the Arctic. After taking a
last look at the creatures of the tundra, I decided to move on. My
next destination was not far from where it first began.
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| Musk ox (far back) are covered in thick wool to keep them warm. |
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| Though they are prey, caribou can defend themselves from wolves with their antlers. |
African Savannah
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| Various of species of antelope, including the gemsbok (front, right) can be seen here. |
Now we're back in Africa, but further
south than where we were before, in the Kalahari. Back in the
savannah, there are still many animals we didn't see before when we
were in Africa, especially around the waterhole. As a sable antelope
tried to approach the water's edge, I saw a Nile crocodile that had
wanted to catch the creature to eat. Just like their cousins, the
alligators, crocodiles are dangerous ambush predators of the
waterways. The crocodile I saw wasn't full-grown however; a
full-grown Nile crocodile can reach 20 feet in length and weigh up to
a ton! That's a big croc! Fortunately, the sable antelope made an
escape, by the looks of it. There were other animals near the
waterhole too, like the caracal, a small African cat, antelope, many
of which hid in the tall grass and a gigantic giraffe! The giraffe
was quenching its thirst when I saw it. The giraffe is such a tall
animal that it must bend its legs out to the sides to dip its head
down near the water. It was an amazing animal. Even bending over, the
giraffe towered over my head, which is 5.5 inches above the ground.
Not too far away from the waterhole, I saw more marvels of the
African savannah; specifically many species of antelope. One species
I recognized was the gemsbok. These gray, black and white hoofed
mammals have long sharp horns that are perfect for keeping many
predators at bay. Perhaps one of the most interesting antelope on
display before me was the gerenuk. Unlike most antelopes, gerenuks
can rear up on their back legs to nibble the leaves of small trees
and shrubs. Despite the peaceful appearance of this place, dangers
were still about! I saw an antelope known as the addah fending off a
dangerous cobra; I also witnessed an unfortunate zebra become prey to
a hungry lion! The cat was in the act of leaping onto the zebra; it
would then cling on with its claws and give a bite to the neck or
muzzle as it brought it to the ground to suffocate the creature. I
was almost finished in this part of Africa when two very different
but related animals caught my eye. I saw two antelopes, one was the
eland, one of, if not the largest, species of antelope, and below it
was the dik-dik, a tiny antelope about the size of a big house cat.
It was amazing to think that these two creatures were related at all!
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| A sable antelope defends itself from a Nile crocodile. |
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| Giraffes can stand 20 feet tall. |
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| Despite the great difference in size, the giant eland and the tiny dik-dik are related. |
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| This dik-dik is no larger than a large domestic cat! |
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| Gerenuks stand on their hind legs to access small trees and bushes. |
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| This antelope narrowly avoids a cobra. |
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| A lion attacks a zebra. |
As I concluded my amazing journey
through the different habitats around the world, I was able to look
out at most of the creatures I'd seen on the balcony. It was an
incredible adventure into the world of animals.
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| This is a great way to view most of the amazing animals at the museum! |
The museum's slogan is “We don't
inherit the planet from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children”. In other words, the museum is urging us to preserve the
earth for those who are to come after us. This reminded me of Genesis
1:8, in which it says,
“God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground'.”
Now this does not mean we're to
pointlessly use up earth's resources, or kill the different species
of animals and plants until they're extinct. The Bible actually says
that we are to be good stewards of the earth; we are to take care of
it. You see, we as humans are naturally selfish beings, who often use
more of earth's resources than they need. This is why all over the
world, animals are going extinct. In fact, scientists predict that a
species of animal disappears off the face of the planet every day!
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| The dromedary camel seen just before the exit to the museum. |
Could you imagine what the world would
be like without great herds of wildebeest roaming the savannah? With
rainforests reduced to nothing but tree stumps? Or oceans lacking
great schools of fish that used to feed oceanic predators and humans?
Or without bison running across the American west? God created humans
to worship Him, and He gave us the earth to live on and use. But are
we really worshiping God by
using what He gives us wastefully? Of course not!
Many people
(conservationists especially) are already trying to save animals from
going extinct. While there are still many left to save, there are
quite a few success stories to share as well, such as the ones of the
white-tailed deer (as I explained earlier), the wild turkey and many
others.
The world is full
of natural resources for us to use, but we must use them wisely and
in the end, thank God for giving them to us and for giving us the
wonderful place we and all the animals have to live that we call
Earth.
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| Praise the Lord for all the amazing animals He's created to dwell with us on the earth! |
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