Egyptian Animals
By Meg Holt
February 11, 2008
Egyptian Animals – A Few Quick Notes by Mrs. Holt
During a recent assembly featuring animals popular in ancient Egyptian culture, the fifth graders became interested in learning more about these fascinating creatures. By combining information from research and from their first-hand experience in seeing the animals, these students were able to write interesting and informative expository pieces. We hope you will enjoy learning about animals of ancient Egypt. We certainly did.
The Nile Monitor
By Gera
The Nile monitor is the third largest lizard in the world. The Nile monitor has a very powerful tail. The tail is the most dangerous part of their body. And it has stinging lashes. It has long sharp claws, so sharp it can draw blood. The Nile monitor has very strong jaws. When they bite it is difficult to get them off of your body. Their colors are dark brown and black with pale yellow. They have bands of stripes and spots all over their body.
The Nile monitor bites when he is mad or sad or bored. When he hears a predator he arcs his neck and hisses loudly. Then he walks sideways and compresses his body. They stay under water for an hour. They are excellent swimmers.
The baby Nile monitors eat insects, crickets, and mealworms. The adult Nile monitor eats regular-sized rats (that’s if you keep them as pets). On the other hand, in the wild, the Nile monitors eat frogs, eggs, snails, fish and carrion. Carrion is a dead animal that’s been hit by a car or eaten by an animal.
The Nile monitor lives in Africa. They don’t live in the desert. They’ve been introduced to Florida. They like to live by water. The Nile monitor loves to climb trees.
My brother wanted a Nile monitor, but I don’t because I will probably have holes all over my legs and arms cause he bites.
The Hedgehog
By
Kristen
The hedgehog has small legs and it also has small eyes. He may look innocent, but on the other hand, if you touch him, he will poke you because he has up to 500 spikes. Where ever he has no spikes he has fur. The hedgehog’s sharp, narrow snout helps the hedgehog have a great sense of smell so it can find its next meal.
The hedgehog lives in hedges and he also digs in the ground. The hedgehog eats grubs and worms (yummy, that sounds good for a hedgehog.) He sounds like a hog. I think that is why they named it hedgehog because he makes a hog sound. The hedgehog has a couple of predators, the crocodiles, foxes, cats, and eagles. When he’s in danger he puts his spikes out and rolls in a ball so the animal can’t eat him. If the animal tries to eat the hedgehog it will poke him with his sharp, pointed quills. Dogs and cats will bat the hedgehog with their paws (that means they hit the hedgehog when it’s curled like a ball). When the hedgehog is tired, it opens and then they can get to his unprotected belly. Snakes cannot swallow the hedgehog because his spikes will poke them.
The hedgehog is innocent looking; however, the hedgehog is not the right pet for me because he would put holes in my homework with his sharp, pointed quills.
The Emperor Scorpion
By Lane
The Emperor scorpion can grow 5 to 8 inches long. The record of one Emperor scorpion was 9 inches, or 23 cm. It has eight legs and strong pinchers that can draw blood. (OUCH! That will hurt!) The Emperor scorpion is black but in daylight it is dark green or brown.
The Emperor scorpion may live in Africa, but it also lives in a desert and rainforest. To keep them as a pet you must have a 12 x 12 x 12 (inch) tank and the temperature is 78 degrees F. The humidity is 80% (that’s wet…really wet.) You may have a flowerpot or cork bark for a burrow and the Emperor scorpion eats insects. The Emperor scorpion is not aggressive, but when it feels like it is being cornered, the Emperor scorpion will attack with its tail and claws. The venom of the Emperor scorpion is not deadly.
The Emperor scorpion babies are called “scorplings”. The mother will defend for her babies and they will ride on the mother’s back then they’re frightened. The predators are other scorpions, spiders, parasitic wasps, and birds, reptiles and amphibians, and even humans.
I think the emperor scorpion is a good pet for me.
The Hamadrayas Baboon
By Mackenzie
The Hamadrayas baboon is very ugly when it is a grown up. But it is very cute when it’s a baby. These baboons have silver hair that looks like a cape on the tip of their shoulders and neck and they have silver hair on their hands. On the other hand, they do not have any hair on their rump. But all of the baboons have brown hair from the silver hair down except on the rump and the bottom of the feet. The Hamadrayas baboons weigh about 60-80 pounds.
The young Hamadrayas baboons are brown and so are grown baboons, but the adults are darker than the young. The young does not have a lot of hair. They are hyper and eat a lot of fruit, and they have a passion for Fruit Loops. They are funny, play a lot, and climb trees. They would wear a diaper if you owned them, and they would drink out of a bottle. It would be fun if you owned it, but the Hamadrayas baboon just might knock over a lot of things like lamps, papers, and get hurt if the lamp breaks. He might step on a piece of glass or choke on a piece of glass because he just might eat it. That’s why it would be such a pain just to have a Hamadrayas baboon.
The Hamadrayas baboon eats grass seeds, roots, and bugs. They live in Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Somalia. The Hamadrayas baboon only has one main predator, that’s the leopard.
The Hamadrayas baboon possibly could be the right per for me because I like baboons. But he might be a pain because he could break a lot of things and make a mess.
