My music teacher at school likes wolves and asked me if I could write an article about them. I thought that would be neat and decided I would. The first thing I did to learn about wolves was go to the Wildlife Science Center, which is very close to my house, for a tour. I learned that in Yellowstone in the 1970s, they had gotten rid of wolves and were having trouble because all the prey were eating all of the plants and there was almost nothing left. The government decided to bring the wolves back, but first they had to make a place to study wolves. They brought wild wolves from Canada to Minnesota to study them. Once they were finished, they brought more wolves from Canada to release in Yellowstone. They succeeded and plants started growing back because the wolves kept the population in balance.
​
After that, the government decided to shut down the study of the wolves. All the wolves in the Wolf Project would be euthanized. Peggy Callahan, who worked on the Wolf Project, wouldn’t let that happen. She started the Wildlife Science Center to let the wolves in the project live out their lives and to teach people how they can help protect wolves. They try to learn different ways for people to keep wolves away from their livestock and pets without harming the wolves. They try using different smells and objects to see what works to keep wolves away without hurting them. Now they don’t only take wolves. They have other animals like bears, coyotes, bobcats, lynx, foxes, and even skunks. They get the animals from people who tried to have them as pets (that never works!) and also when they’ve been injured and can’t survive in the wild or from zoos and other places that would have had to euthanize them.

​The first wolf we saw on the tour was the smallest species of gray wolf, the Mexican gray wolf, which is endangered. There are only about 300 left! Next we saw a couple packs of gray wolves. My favorite was a pack of four male wolves, because I learned about the rules of the pack. The leader of the pack or the alpha male gets to hold his tail up the highest. The other wolves have to hold their tails lower. The lowest wolf in the pack, Javier, doesn’t follow the rules, and the alpha male sometimes gets mad and puts him in a time out! After that, we saw the red wolves, which looked a lot like coyotes. They are endangered because people often mistake them for coyotes and shoot them when hunting. There are only about 100 of them left now! We also got to feed a pack of wolves little pieces of hot dogs. That’s not normally what they eat, though. Usually they are given roadkill deer from the highways and donated freezer meat that people don’t want anymore. We have some old meat in our freezer that we want to bring to donate sometime!

During the tour, I got to hear all the wolves joining together howling! It was so cool! You can hear a wolf howl here.

​Towards the end of the tour, we saw two lynx sisters cuddling together in the shade. They were soooooo cute!!

After the tour, I decided I wanted to learn more about how wolf packs work, why wolves are endangered, and why some people want to kill them. I went to the library and found a book about wolves. This is what I learned! In an average wolf pack, there are 6 to 8 wolves. Wolves are extremely territorial. Sometimes they travel long distances, about 30 miles a day, to patrol their territory and find food. Each pack has an alpha male and an alpha female. Those are the leaders of the pack. They show the pack where to go and what to do. The alpha male and female are always the first to eat after the pups. Usually, the alpha male and female are the only wolves to have pups in the pack.

Every year during April or May, the alpha female normally gives birth to a litter of 4-6 pups. Wolf pups weigh one pound when they are born and they are blind, deaf, and completely dependent on their mother for food and protection against predators like bears. When a wolf gives birth to pups, the pups live in a hole or a cave called a den that the parents find or create themselves. They stay inside the den until they are two months old and are big enough to move with the pack. While the pups play, they find out which of them is dominant.

After the pups have lived a while with the pack, some of them stay, and one may become an alpha male or female. Some get pushed out of the pack and become lone wolves who will try to find a mate to start a new pack or join another pack. Wolves take turns taking care of the pups while the other wolves go hunting. If a pack is too small, they may have to leave the pups alone. When a wolf is injured, all the wolves in the pack will help to take care of them. Wolves sleep as much as 12 hours at a time! When they wake up, one wolf will start howling to awaken the other wolves. Once the other wolves are awake, they will join the howl and then try to find prey.

In the 1970s, there were fewer than 1,000 wolves in the lower 48 states. That’s why the government decided to make wolves a protected species. That was very successful, and now there are more than 5,000 wolves in the lower 48 states. Some wolves are not endangered species anymore. In Alaska, many people hunt wolves from airplanes. Montana and Idaho allow hunters to kill wolves. Why do people want to kill wolves? Some people hunt wolves because they blame them for killing off elk and other animals. Another reason is because wolves sometimes kill livestock. I think people shouldn’t hunt wolves, because they aren’t going to eat them and are only killing them for fun. Also, there are other ways farmers can prevent wolves from getting their livestock without harming them. One way people hunt wolves is with snares, which can be a slow and painful death.

You can help wolves by teaching other people how wolves are important in the ecosystem to keep the balance between predator and prey. You could also write to your representatives about how wolves are important and how you don’t want them to be hunted. If you want to help the Wildlife Science Center, you can learn more on their website: www.wildlifesciencecenter.org. Here in Minnesota, you can learn more about helping wolves at www.howlingforwolves.org.

Thanks for reading my article. It definitely taught me something about wolves. I hope it taught you something, too!

Here you can enjoy the song “footprints of old, footprints of gold” that my music teacher Carlos Pilán wrote for the grey wolves of Minnesota.

Sources:

Brandenburg, Jim and Judy. Face to Face With Wolves. National Geographic Society, 2008.

Tour of the Wildlife Science Center in Columbus, Minnesota on May 14, 2016.

​www.howlingforwolves.org

I chose to investigate snakes because last fall when I was playing in my backyard, a garter snake slithered right in front of me. After being surprised by it, I thought that it was super cool and decided that I wanted to learn more. Here’s what I learned. ​

​What makes a snake a snake?
 
There are over 3,000 different types of snakes that live in many different habitats all around the world, except for Antarctica. Even though all snakes have differences, all snakes have some things in common. All snakes are cold-blooded reptiles. Cold-blooded animals can’t control their blood temperature. It changes with the temperature of their surroundings. Because snakes are reptiles, they have scales to cover their bodies. No snakes have legs, but you probably knew that already. Most snakes lay eggs. Once their eggs have been laid most mother snakes leave them before they hatch. Some scientists believe that they do this to stop themselves from eating their own babies. Gross!!!! But some types of snakes, like the king cobras and pythons, do stick around until their eggs hatch. This is called brooding. All snakes shed their skin. As snakes grow they grow too big for their own skin. To shed their skin snakes will rub against a hard rock or a tree to break open the top layer of skin and wiggle out, uncovering a new layer of skin that was there all along.

I’ve only seen one type of snake, the garter snake, but seeing it piqued my interest in learning about the other types of snakes out there. Here’s what I learned about a few other types of snakes. ​

​Pythons
 
Pythons are one of the largest and most powerful types of snakes in the world. One unique characteristic of pythons is that, unlike other snakes, pythons do not chase their prey. Instead, they wait until unexpecting prey walk by and then attack.  Pythons are also most active at night. Pythons are also constrictor snakes, which means they wrap around their prey and squeeze them to death. Surprisingly, some kinds of pythons can eat animals as large as deer and pigs. Holy buckets!!! Sometimes, but rarely, pythons have eaten humans, but they normally leave humans alone.
 
One of the python’s powerful features is camouflage. They use this ability to hide from predators such as the dingoes, crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, and eagles. They can sometimes grow up to 20 feet long, but normally they don’t get any longer than 12 feet long. There are 28 species of pythons that live across Africa, the Pacific islands, South and Southeast Asia, and Australia. 

KING COBRAS
 
King Cobras are the largest poisonous snake in the world. They have enough venom to kill an Asian elephant. King Cobras usually grow 12 to 15 feet long, but sometimes they can grow up to 18 feet long. They usually weigh 20 pounds. When they flare their hoods their neck can become 1 foot wide. Its fangs are half an inch long. The color of their scales can be black, brown, grey or green.  They normally live in China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. King Cobras usually hunt pythons, rat snakes, birds, lizards, other cobras, and kraits, a brightly colored and extremely venomous Asian snake. Unbelievably, King Cobras start hunting 10 days after birth. When I was 10 days old I couldn’t even walk!!!! 

​BLACK MAMBAS
 
Black mambas usually live in southeastern and eastern Africa. They normally grow up to 6.6 to 8.2 feet long and weigh 3.3 pounds. The black mamba is the longest venomous snake in Africa. They get their name from the inside of their mouth, which is completely black. The color of their scales can be grey, olive, or brown. It eats small rodents like voles, mice, squirrels, and rats. Sometimes they can even eat birds. One of its predators is the mongoose. Unlike most animals, the mongoose are immune to the venom of the black mamba. Other threats are foxes, jackals, and large birds like the vulture.  

HOW SNAKES HELP

Many people think snakes are scary, dangerous, and gross, but snakes actually help the environment. Like all animals, snakes are an important part of the ecosystem. For example, snakes help on farms because they eat the mice that might eat the crops. Snakes also help balance the population of rodents and birds throughout the world. 

CONCLUSION
 
At first I thought that snakes were very scary, but while writing this article I changed my opinion. I still think that they are kind of scary, but now I understand them better and think that they are also really cool.
 
SOURCES
 
Bishop, Nic. Snakes. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2012.
 
Franchino, Vicky. Black Mambas. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2016.
 
Marisco, Katie. King Cobras. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2013.
 
Raatma, Lucia. Pythons. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 2013.
 

I recently read several articles about marine animals in captivity and I also watched a documentary called Blackfish about an orca in captivity.  I’m going to tell you the pros and cons about marine animals in captivity and my opinion about it.

When marine animals are in captivity, they are put together with other animals that they don’t know.  That sometimes causes them to hurt each other.  They also sometimes hurt people.  The documentary Blackfish talked about Tilikum, an orca who has killed three people while in captivity.  Another thing that can happen to orcas in captivity is fin collapse.  Fin collapse is when the dorsal fin flops over.  It happens to all male orcas and lots of female orcas in captivity, but only about 1 percent of orcas in the wild. 

The life of marine animals in captivity is very different than in the wild.  Dolphins in captivity spend most of their time on the surface.  Dolphins in the wild spend most of their time under the water.  Whales and dolphins in the wild swim long distances, sometimes even 100 miles at a time!  Here’s one thing that’s really different that I just noticed myself.  In the wild, they are free to just swim around and do whatever they want.  When they are in captivity, they have to do shows and entertain people, and the rest of the time they’re locked in a little swimming pool with not much to do.  

I looked for articles for and against keeping marine animals in captivity and I was only able to find one article in favor of it, The case for captive animals, by John Nightingale.  He is a biologist and the president of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. He’s in favor of marine animals in captivity because he says that people need to connect with nature more often. He says that more species are becoming extinct, and if people can come and learn about them, they will care about conservation. One way aquariums help marine animals is by rescuing them, rehabilitating them, and releasing them into the wild.

I don’t agree with most of John’s arguments.  I agree that people should connect with nature more often, but I don’t think that they should do it by going to an aquarium.  Technically, an aquarium isn’t nature.  Some better ways to connect with nature would be going to a forest or taking a boat ride in the ocean or going snorkeling.  Animals in the wild are real nature. I also don’t agree that going to zoos or aquariums makes people want to protect animals and nature. Animals in aquariums or zoos are there to entertain people.  I’ve been to a zoo many times, and I haven’t done anything different to protect animals and nature because of it.  I think people go to zoos and aquariums to be entertained and see the animals.  I do agree that it’s good to rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals to the wild, but I don’t agree with keeping them in captivity unless they cannot survive in the wild.

I think that animals should only be kept in captivity if they are injured, and should be released if possible.  They should not be kept just for entertainment.  One thing that frustrated me about the documentary Blackfish was that after Tilikum killed all those people, and they knew he wanted to come out, they still kept him because he was worth a lot of money.  I read that Sea World only spends .0006 percent of its money on rescue and rehabilitation!  If you buy a ticket to an aquarium that keeps animals for entertainment, the money goes to more capturing.  Instead, you should go to places that only take in hurt animals and release them if they can survive in the wild.  Even better, you can see them in the wild if you take a boat ride in the ocean!

Before I started this article, I really, really, really, really wanted to go to Sea Wolrd, because dolphins are my favorite animal and I wanted to see them.  When I learned what the dolphins go through and how they are treated, I did not want to go.  It would be the last place I would want to go.  Next year, my family is going to Disney World.  One of our plans was to go to Sea World, but now we will not go.  Instead, I want to see dolphins by going on a boat ride in the ocean.  I hope that you’ve also changed your mind after reading my article!

Raptors are birds that have three special things:

1.    They can see very well

2.    They have very sharp talons to grab and kill their food

3.    They have a hooked beak to break apart their food

A few examples of raptors would be vultures, owls, hawks, eagles, falcons, ospreys, and kites.  Raptors come in all different sizes.  The smallest raptor is the Elf Owl, which weighs less than one and a half ounces and is about the same size as a sparrow (only five inches tall).  The biggest raptor ever to live was the Teratorn.  It lived during the last Ice Age but is now extinct.  Its wing span was between 12 to 25 feet!

Raptors eat only meat.  They may eat rodents, fish, bugs, lizards, frogs, snakes, or even other birds and smaller raptors.  Most raptors kill their prey.  Vultures are the only raptors that eat dead prey. 

Raptors may live in many different places.  The Great Horned Owl doesn’t build its own nest.  It finds old nests made by hawks or even squirrels.  Eagles and ospreys build huge nests out of sticks.  Some raptor nests can weigh more than a ton!  The Elf Owl lives in tree holes.  Burrowing owls live in holes in the ground.  They use holes dug by prairie dogs, tortoises, or kangaroo rats, or even dig their own.

GRIFFON VULTURE

One of my favorite raptors is the vulture because it is very different than other raptors.  Vultures mostly eat dead animals.  They are the only raptor that can smell, because they need to smell to find dead prey.  Because of their very good sense of smell, they have been used to help find gas leaks.  When vultures get frightened, they throw up!  This scares off what’s bothering them and lightens them to fly away.

Many people think that vultures are ugly and disgusting, but some vultures are actually very beautiful!  Below are three of my favorites.

KING VULTURE

CHECK OUT THE SIZE OF THIS RAPTOR'S NEST!

I was surprised to learn that female eagles are bigger than male eagles.  This female eagle weighs about 10 pounds, while the male eagles weigh about 8 pounds.

At the Raptor Center, you can see what your “wingspan” is.  I found that I have the same wingspan as a Great Gray Owl.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed learning about raptors!

Midwest Animal Rescue & Services, or MARS, is an organization that rescues dogs and cats and provides medical care, training, foster care, and adoption. MARS is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MARS rescues animals that are stray, surrendered by their owners, or are in shelters where they might get put down. If an animal they rescue is hurt, they will give it medical care. MARS makes sure the animals are microchipped, spayed or neutered, and vaccinated.

MARS does not have a shelter. Instead, the animals live in foster homes where they receive all the love that they would get in a forever home. They get used to being in a house and around people and maybe other animals. This also helps the adopters know the animals’ behavior better than if they were just in a kennel. This helps them find better matches, and they have a 99% adoption success rate!

Here are a couple dogs that were successfully adopted through MARS. The first one is Lola.

“Dearest Annie, a note to check in. A lot has happened since I saw you last! I got adopted by a family in WI. I am now a Packers fan. Things are going very well here and my people tell me they love me every day-- despite the fact that I attack the vacuum cleaner regularly, hate their cat, and occasionally bark at the mailman- they still love me. I needed some training up but now I have a pretty good routine going here. I love to go for car rides with my head out the window. I love snuggling with my family. We are happy and I never would have found them without you. Thanks so very much for what you do. You changed my life. Keep up the good work!"

Love and all my best, Lola Granola Farber.

My family adopted Mowgli from MARS. We had two cats, and everyone in my family wanted a dog, except for my dad. We decided to foster a dog to see what it’s like. We contacted MARS to find a dog to foster. They sent us pictures of dogs that needed foster homes. We picked Mowgli. We picked him up and brought him home. We played with him and he got used to the house really quickly. After only a few days, everybody fell in love with him, even my dad. We all decided we wanted to adopt him. We’ve had Mowgli for four months now, and we love him very much!

MARS also does training classes for dogs. They can help you teach your dog manners and communication. They can also help you train your dog to be a therapy dog.

Fostering

One way to help is to foster animals. Fostering is when you give a dog or cat a temporary, loving home and prepare the dog or cat for their forever home. You need to feed, play with, and keep them healthy and happy. If you want to foster a dog or cat from MARS, you can go to a foster class on Saturdays from 10:00-11:00. Email chadatmars@gmail.com to sign up. 

Here's a dog from MARS that needs a foster home right now (as of January 24, 2014). If you can help, please contact them!

“This little cutie was found as a stray and no one came to claim her. She is adorable
and very, very sweet. June was treated for flea dermatitis, a consequence of flea
infestation, and is recovering nicely.” If your are interested in June, click here for more information.

Adopting

Another way to help is to adopt. Adopting a pet is better than buying a pet, because you are saving a life. About 2.7 million dogs and cats get put down each year in the United States because too few people are adopting from shelters or rescues. There is not enough room in the shelters for all the abandoned animals, so they have to euthanize them. Adopting a pet is also better than buying a pet because you don’t want to support puppy mills. Puppy mills are places that make dogs have puppies over and over again. They often are stuck in cages instead of living in loving homes. Most puppies in puppy mills aren’t well cared for.

If you want to adopt from MARS, you have to fill out an application. They go to your house to make sure it’s a good place for the pet you want to adopt. They make sure that you have the right conditions for a pet. If you want more information about adopting from MARS, click here.

Here are a couple animals available for adoption from MARS
as of January 24, 2014:

“Rainna is a petite little 2yr old kitty. She is very loving and so striking, the perfect Halloween cat. Rainna is around dogs at her foster home so is use to them. This girl is such a sweety. And if you are looking for a playful kitty Rainna will play chase a feather or string toy for hours.” If you want to know more about Rainna, click here.

“Boris is a Chihuahua Pug mix that is approximately 3-4 years old and weighs 15 lbs. He is such a handsome little dog. He is very cute and friendly, and loves to wiggle. He has very pretty markings.

Boris did test positive for heart worm disease and has undergone treatment through MARS. He is expected to live a long and healthy life!

Update from the foster home:

Boris (we call him Taco) is so great. He is totally house trained and crate trained. Good in the apartment. Loves his foster's 7 year old nieces. Loves walks (he will run off leash though!)

During the day, Boris' most favorite passtime is napping. His energy level is not high. Boris loves eating and the dog park! He's actually....PERFECT. Boris plays well with his foster brother, a Puggle. Boris is just a loveable boy and would make a fabulous companion!” If you are interested in Boris, go to here to learn more.

Volunteer

Another way to help is to volunteer at MARS. You can volunteer at any age, but if you are under 16, you need to be with a parent or legal guardian. There are various different positions. Before you begin volunteering, you need to go to an orientation that lasts about an hour. To learn more about volunteering for MARS, click here. 

Donate

Another way to help is donating money to MARS. They use the money for food,
supplies, medical care, ID tags, and microchips. If you want to donate to MARS, go here. 


I'm also raising funds and you can help by donating here.

Make A Move For MARS

Make A Move For MARS is a really fun way to help. This event is a fundraiser to help the animals from MARS. There will be food and games. You can bring your own games and spend the day meeting new people, playing games, and having fun. There will be a special guest, Tony Amendola from Stargate: SG1. The top 20 fundraisers will attend a cocktail hour with Tony, and the top 3 fundraisers will get to play a game with him. This event will be on Saturday, March 28th from noon until midnight at the Double Tree Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, click here.

I hope you enjoyed learning about MARS and how you can help animals in need of
homes. I had fun looking at all the different animals that MARS is helping and writing about them for you. I can’t wait to go to Make A Move For MARS, and hope that some
of you can go, too!

Sources
http://www.midwestanimalrescue.org/
https://www.facebook.com/MidwestAnimalRescue
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/adopt/tips/top_reasons_adopt.html

UPDATE AUGUST 24, 2015

This was an email received about this article from www.homeoanimal.com:

Hi,

I was doing some research on the internet and I found your website and this page:  http://www.foralltheanimals.com/blog-by-kailyn    I noticed that you linked to Midwest Animal Rescue (midwestanimalrescue.org)

 Do you know that they helped us to create a series of blog articles on pet adoption?

 In fact, we interviewed them and 199 other rescues and shelters.  This allowed us to create the best content possible in order to help these animals that only ask for the RIGHT person to adopt them.

 In our series of 12 articles we talk about the benefits of adopting an animal, the myths that are all too often associated with adoption, what one should consider before adopting and during adoption process, and also tips for taking care of the new chosen pet.

 Would it be possible for you to add a link to this article on your website seeing that Midwest Animal Rescue has contributed in creating the article by the interview we had with them? If you would also like to share the link on your social networks, that’s even better!

 Suzie