"Nature and Stories For Children"

[Laurie Mosher]

  Charlene and I have been dialoging on how to include more nature topics, particularly for the "younger set". We plan on setting up 'QUIZZES, OBJECT LESSONS, and MARVELS of NATURE."
  Perhaps, we can make this an enjoyable theme to teach, not only the young, but "the young at heart."

Keep "the" faith!    
Br. Laurie

    THE MOLE
Isaiah 2:20 "In that day, a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold....to the moles and to the bats".

 The mole here mentioned is not the ordinary insect eater of Europe and America, for it is not found in Palestine. It is rather the mole rat, a bulb-eating rodent in some ways similar to the pocket gopher of the Western States.
  This gray animal is about 8 inches long, tailless and blind. It has rudimentary eyes (not advanced or developed), covered with skin, and it is entirely sightless. The external ears are lost in the long fur that covers its featureless form. It's teeth are large and they project forward. No doubt they are helpful in digging as well as gnawing at roots. Though it works mostly at night, it is also fond of lying in the sun at the opening to its burrow.

The reference to "throwing idols to moles and bats" is apt, for they are fond of digging around ruins and trash dumps where refuse is likely to be thrown. The people to whom it was written understood the utter worthlessness that their gods would come to.

 Mole rats spend most of their lives underground in the dark tunnels they dig. When coming down a row of carrots, they can do considerable damage. A captive rat did well on a diet of onions only. In their burrows they store quantities of bulbs.

ODE TO ROBBER THE RAT

Robber is an outlaw,
Robber is a thief.
Of all mischief-makers
Robber is the chief.

If I had the choice of
Being this or that
I'm sure I'd never
Choose to be a RAT.

[This message has been edited by Laurie Mosher (edited 06-24-2000).]

[Laurie Mosher]

   LITTLE JOE OTTER

Little Joe by night or day
Dearly loves to romp and play;

Being very much alive
Loves to swim and loves to dive.

But of all the things he's tried
Most of all he loves to slide.

So in winter on the snow
Down the slippery-slide he'll go.

   OLD MR TOAD

His legs are bowed; his eyes pop out;
He hops whene'er he moves about.

A music bag is in his throat,
And you should see him change his coat.

His tongue would hardly do for me-
The tip is where the roots should be.

This homely chap has one surprise-
The loveliest of golden eyes.

[Avalee Lohman]

Thank you Laurie and Charlene...I do not have the chance to really see nature at its best so I am enjoying reading and studing this thread.

In The Blessed Hope

Avalee

[Laurie Mosher]

   'THE GIANT WHOOPING CRANE"

 The giant whooping crane, once a familiar figure in the midwestern skies of North America, is now on the verge of extinction. Only a few dozen birds are left (1971 statistics). The tallest flying bird in the world, it is almost as tall as a man. This groups it with the condor, which has the largest wingspread; the trumpeter swan, with the greatest weight; the albatross with the longest wingspread; and the white heron, also a giant among flying birds. For various reasons all these large birds are now comparatively rare.
 The only relatives of the whooping crane in America are the sandhill cranes. These birds are smaller, prefer feeding in the open sandhills, and are gray in color. Whooping cranes once nested in Iowa, Minnesota, the prairie provinces of Canada, and the northern lakes with their vast marshes. They wintered in the salt marshes of the Gulf Coast. Now the few that remain spend the winter in the Aransas refuge set aside for them near Corpus Christi, Texas. A crippled pair lived in a New Orleans zoo.
 In 1922 a nest was found near Kerrobert, Saskatchewan. The young one was collected and put in a museum. Then no nests were located until in 1954, when six nesting birds were sighted from a helicopter in the marshes around Great Slave lake.

IF ANYONE HAS AN UPDATE ON WHOOPING CRANES, I would appreciate your information.

 Keep "the" faith!
Bro. Laurie

[Laurie Mosher]

 "OTTO THE OSTRICH'

Ostriches are the largest living birds, and Otto the ostrich, at the age of three, was nealrly 8 feet tall, and weighed 300 pounds. His mate was slightly smaller. Her feathers were gray all over, but he proudly carried white plumes that contrasted smartly with his black body feathers. Otto's mate laid eggs,- one every other day in a hollow scooped in the sand. The eggs weigh 3 pounds each and would make an omlet 2 feet across- enough to feed a dozen people.
After the hean ostrich has laid 12 eggs in her 6 foot nest, she begins her task of  incubating them (causing them to hatch). She sits on them all day long, and Otto sits on them at night. Both birds work together turning the eggs daily with claws and beaks.
  Ostriches in some parts of the world, have several "wives", all of which lay in the same nest. The eggs are buried a foot deep in the sand and kept warm by the sun in the daytime, and at night by the birds. See what the Bible says in Job 39:14-15.
  While Otto's mate sits on the nest, she holds her head high watching for enemies. And Otto watches also as he feeds.
 When the long 6 weeks of waiting are over, the thick-shelled eggs begin to crack open, and the baby ostriches come out. As with most birds that nest on the ground, the young are able to walk and find food shortly after. Unlike their parents, they wear a coat with dark brown stripes, but their necks and legs arelike their parents.
  As with turkeys, the young die easily, and possibly only half survive. The eyes of ostriches are larger than their brains, and accordingly they are more watchful and wise. About the only foolish thing they DON'T do is to stick their heads in the sand to hide. Ostriches have great defense mechanisms.....their feet have only 2 toes, but they are razor-sharp, and excellent for running. Otto can take strides 20 feet long, and run 60 miles an hour when necessity demands it. Ostriches can go several days WITHOUT water, when necessary. Ostrich food consists of the fruits and vegetation of the desert, but when in captivity will eat (or try to eat) anything from hats to wrist watches.
Otto's diet ALSO includes gravel and broken rock. Like other birds, he has no teeth, so needs grit in his gizzard to help grind up the food. Ostriches today are much scarcer than in Bible times, and their plumes are especially desired for market value.for ornaments and decorations.
 Ostriches live about as long as man and may live to be 100 years of age.

 

[Richard Myers]

What a treasure for the little ones. Thanks, Brother Laurie!