My Science School

The bison are typical ruminants of great prairies of North America where they are commonly called buffalo. When the first settlers went to the west were an estimated 60 million of these animals who provided the Indians with their major source of food and skins; but the Indians only killed when necessary.

Then the white man came and the massacre began. During the years across the continent, these animals were wantonly slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands. The white settlers only used the tongue of the bison and the animal’s bones were sold by the ton for a few dollars to be made into fertilizer.

Finally all but a few bison were killed. Today they are carefully protected and are breeding again in great numbers.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The ways of owls are much the same the world over. But there is one owl, a native of America, which is very unusual because it is quite unique in the bird kingdom. This is the burrowing owl. It has this name because instead of building the usual rough nest in a sheltered gorge, animal such as the anteater, armadillo or the prairie dog.

The owl does not take over a burrow that has been abandoned by its owner but frequently shares one, living quite peacefully together with the real owner of the burrow. Unlike other owls, the burrowing, owl goes hunting by day. It stands perfectly still and waits for its victim to come close, rather than fly after it.

 

Picture Credit : Google

It seems incredible that there are snakes so poisonous that their bite is greatly feared and that at the same time these snakes should behave in such a way that they help man. These are the coral snakes which live throughout America. They allow themselves to be picked up by people for they are very shy and tame and it is rare for anyone to be bitten by one. But it is not safe to play around with the coral snake: their poison is very powerful and can cause a swift death.

Coral snakes are shy only with people; with other snakes they are extremely aggressive. They eat many other reptiles, most of them poisonous, and in doing this, the coral snake destroys many poisonous creatures and clears large areas of reptiles which are dangerous to man.

Coral snakes have a brightly coloured skin marked with red, yellow and black rings. They live in sandy places where they busy themselves. When their victims come along the coral snake darts out from its hiding place and kills them.

 

Picture Credit : Google

On the mountains of the Sierra Nevada in places that are carefully protected, grow the world’s tallest trees: the sequoias. Sequoias are famous for their tremendous height and for their great age. Some of the tallest and the oldest of these trees are so famous that they have their own special names and are looked after very carefully.

There are two kinds of sequoias: the giant sequoia and the evergreen sequoia. The largest of the giant sequoias is General Sherman. This tree is almost 4,000 years old and stands 83 metres high with a diameter at the base of 10 metres. There are specimens that are higher but have less bulk than the General Sherman tree.

Evergreen sequoias do not live as long as the giant variety but they grow taller. Founder’s Tree, which is in California, is just over 110 metres high. The trunk of this tree is thinner and has a base diameter of about 5 metres.

 

Picture Credit : Google

In the days of the dinosaurs the sky was crowded with huge winged reptiles such as the pterodactyl. These flying reptiles had a wing span of more than 7 metres and would constantly glide above the water, catching fish and crablike animals. They were excellent fliers and could travel over 100 kilometres away from the land in search of their food. Pterodactyls were probably the most skilful fliers of the winged reptiles, but their huge wings were a hindrance to them whenever they landed to rest. At such times the pterodactyl would have to drag itself painfully along the ground in contrast to its agility and grace in the air.

The fossil remains of the pterodactyl have been found in several parts of North America. This means that these flying lizards must have lived in this part of the world.

 

Picture Credit : Google