Sophie

My Events Blog 

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Polar Bears - DID YOU KNOW?...

The polar bear is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear species, as well as the largest extant land carnivore.

Although polar bears appear white, their fur is actually transparent. It only appears white, because it reflects visible light. Under their fur, polar bear skin is actually black. The bears don't hibernate as well, but mother bears live in dens while they raise their cubs. While in their dens (generally between Jan and March), they don't eat, drink or defecate.

Female can grow: 1.8 – 2.4 m which is the same as an Adult, On hind legs, and a Male can reach 1.3 m, which is equivalent to an Adult, At Shoulder level.

The bears can live 20 to 30 years, but only a small percentage of polar bears live past 15 to 18 years. And the oldest known polar bear in the Arctic lived 32 years. The oldest known polar bear in a zoological park lived 45 years.

Did you know that it is said if you witness a polar bear in your dream l, it is a reminder of the spiritual strengths, power, growth and the power of the unconscious mind. And the old dream dictionary meaning of a polar bear means possible prognostic of deceit, misfortune and seeing life as unfair. 🐻‍❄️

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Penguins - DID YOU KNOW?...

According to new research, these small cuties called Penguins originated In New Zealand. This means that penguins' ancestors originated not in frozen Antarctica but, instead, off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, adapting to new climes over 22 million years.

Did you know a male penguin offers a pebble to a female penguin when trying to find his companion. If she accepts, they become partners. Also, some penguins don’t build nests but instead they carry their eggs on their feet. Penguins also huddle when its cold and take turns standing in the middle for warmth

There has also been Fossil evidence found that penguins evolved before the dinosaurs died out, and there are remains of giant, people-sized, prehistoric penguins!

Penguins’ black and white ‘tuxedo’ helps them avoid predators as it makes them harder to see from above because they blend in with the dark ocean beneath them. And looking from below, their white underside matches the bright sky overhead. And the word for penguin in mandarin is 企鹅, which translates roughly to "business goose." Because face it, they always look like they are dressed in suits. 😂.

In total there are 18 species including: Emperor, King, Royal, Adelie, Macaroni, Gentoo, Galapagos, Magellanic, Humboldt, African, Snares, Fiordland, Little Blue, Yellow Eye, Erect Crested, Northern Rockhopper, Southern Rockhopper, and Chinstrap. And they can range from 30cm - 6ft in height! That is somewhere I would NOT like to be lol ... 🐧

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Giraffes - DID YOU KNOW ?...

The giraffe is an African artiodactyl mammal, that live primarily in savanna areas in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The tallest living terrestrial animal being an average height of around 5 m (16-18 ft.). They are traditionally considered to be one species, Giraffa camelopardalis, with nine subspecies.

Have you ever noticed a giraffe’s tongue is blue?- this to protect it from sunburn in hot climates. And even though a giraffe has a longer neck than all other mammals, it still only has seven vertebrae in its neck, which is the same amount as other animals and humans. Whilst they may eat a lot, giraffes don’t drink much water. This is because they get most of their water from their leafy meals, and only need to drink once every few days.

Giraffes are very social animals and roam around in groups. These groups, called towers, typically have around 15 members led by an adult male. The other members are females and young males. To see who is stronger, males (called bulls) fight by butting their long necks and heads. This is known as “necking“. These fights aren’t usually dangerous, and end when one bull admits defeat.

In the wild these beautiful creatures live for around 25 years. In captivity they live longer, and have been known to reach 40 years old. Also you’ll be interested to know that female giraffes can become pregnant at 5 years old. They carry their baby for 15 months and give birth while standing up. - did i mention the newborns are about 2 m (6 ft.) tall and weigh 70 kg (150 lb)! 🦒

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Dogs - DID YOU KNOW?...

So this lovely little thing in the picture above is my dog Alfie who’s a Chorkie. The Chorkie is a mixed breed dog–a cross between the Chihuahua and Yorkshire Terrier dog breeds.

History

While the Chihuahua breed originated in Mexico, Yorkshire Terriers come all the way from jolly old England. But the Chorkie mixed dog breed's roots are much closer to home and most likely from right here, in the United States. While they may have existed naturally over the years, it wasn't until the early 1990s that designer breeders started intentionally mixing Chihuahuas and Yorkies, creating the adorable, lovable Chorkie. Since the Chorkie is a small dog, they can be easily injured. They tend to do better around adults or older kids who know how to play with them gently and approach them in a calm manner.

Facts

Did you know that a dog can demonstrate its happiness by wagging or leaning its tail to the right and when sad, it goes to the left. It is also known so far that dogs can distinguish the colours blue and yellow, but not red and green. Also, dog’s noses are wet to help them absorb scent chemicals! Their nose secretes a special mucus that helps to absorb these chemicals, and then they lick their noses to sample them, helping them understand what the smell is. It’s known that stroking, hugging, or otherwise touching a loving animal can rapidly calm and soothe us when we're stressed or anxious. The companionship of a pet can also ease loneliness, and most dogs are a great stimulus for healthy exercise, which can substantially boost your mood and ease depression 🐶🐕

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Koalas - DID YOU KNOW?...

Koalas, part of the wombat family, typically inhabit open eucalypt woodlands, and the leaves of these trees make up most of their diet. Because this eucalypt diet has limited nutritional and caloric content, koalas are largely sedentary and sleep up to 20 hours a day. Koalas have special physical characteristics that complement their tree-dwelling lifestyle. With two opposable digits, their forepaws are well-adapted to gripping branches and picking eucalyptus leaves, their main form of nourishment.

Tough textured skin on the soles of their feet along with long sharp claws provide traction, and strong thigh muscles aid in climbing. Extra thick fur on their bottoms and a cartilaginous pad at the base of their spines provide cushioning so koalas can sit comfortably on branches for hours. They also have a curved backbone and two fewer pairs of ribs than most mammals (11 instead of 13) creating a curled skeletal structure that fits well into the forks of trees.

They are asocial animals, and bonding exists only between mothers and dependent offspring. Adult males communicate with loud bellows that intimidate rivals and attract mates. They do not drink much water and most of the water comes from the eucalyptus leaves. And In Aborigine language, koala actually means “without water” or “no water”. 🐨

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ABOUT ME AND TODAYS BLOG: Sloths - DID YOU KNOW?...

So hey, I’m Sophie, a college student studying events. I’ve started to blog as part of my course and chose to do it about animals as its an interest of mine as they’re fascinating and just so interesting to find out about! I’ll be uploading a couple of times a week for the next few weeks about some of my favourite animals and what I’ve discovered about them that I think you to, would like to know. And this week I’m choosing a personal favourite, sloths! :) 

  So sloths, native to Central and South America, sloths eat, sleep, mate, give birth and raise their young while hanging upside-down in trees. They are gentle creatures – and there are six existing sloth species in two kinds – Bradypus and Choloepus. Despite this traditional naming, all sloths actually have long legs, and rounded heads with small ears and three toes on each rear limb, although two-toed sloths have only two digits on each forelimb. The two groups of sloths are from different, distantly related families, and are thought to have evolved their morphology via parallel evolution. Their scientific name, Bradypus, means ‘slow feet’ in Greek. And these mammals are actually faster in water than on land as they’re great swimmers. 

They are nocturnal animals, which have green algae that grows on their fur to camouflage in with trees away from predators. In addition to, did you know that from the moment they are born sloths can lift their entire body weight with just one arm. They’re over three times stronger than the average human and because of specialised tendons in their hands and feet they’re able to lock into place, they have even been known to remain suspended upside down even after death! 🦥