Animal Fun From A_ ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM EDITOR Everything you always wanted to know about ants, zebras and everything in-between. — - There are more than 3,500 different kinds of ants in the world. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one." And despite his hard shell, the armadillo has very soft teeth, so all he can eat is soft food (termites, ants and bugs are a few favorites). The aphid produces a mild, sweet liquid called honeydew which ants love to eat. Have you ever built your I) own bird house? There's a great new kit from Crayola, or you can find directions in a number of hobby books at the library. Think about decorat- ing the bird's house like your own home. Another fun idea is to look for an abandoned bird's nest, take it apart and see what it's made of. Meanwhile, perhaps you would like to eat this bird's nest! - THE APP LETREE 1 pkg. chocolate chips 1 /2 cup peanut butter 4 cups chow-mein noodles jelly beans, yogurt-coated raisins or marshmallows 18 Mix peanut butter and chocolate chips and heat for 1 minute in a microwave oven. Stir. (Return to microwave, if necessary, to melt chocolate chips.) Add in chow-mein noodles, making sure all are evenly coated with mixture. Drop golf-ball size clusters onto wax paper. Use hands to shape into bird's nests. Add jelly beans, raisins or marshmallows as eggs. (Courtesy Temple Emanu-El Nursery School.) The bloodhound is such a great dog for tracking, not only because of its excellent sense of smell, but because it is one of the most persistent creatures alive. Bees cannot see the color red. - Catfish don't have such long whiskers be- cause they've neglected visits to the undersea barber. Those whiskers are, in fact, feelers that help the fish know about the world around him. The chimpanzee is the most intelli- 4'oft. -- gent of all apes. Would you believe you can read about crocodiles in the Torah? O000hhh, scary! (Turn to Leviticus 11:29, where you'll also hear about such creepy creatures as the weasel, the mouse, the gecko and the chameleon). /7 - - Female ducks need nev- ji,, er fear that their beaux won't show up for the wed- ding. A duck has no nerves in his feet, so he'll never get cold feet. - Elephants have L40,000 muscles in their trunks. By the way, there's no truth to the rumor that ele- phants are afraid of mice. (Likely this strange no- tion got started by those who believed a mice could get stuck in an elephant's trunk and impair his breathing. Even if this ac- tually happened, the elephant could just blow him right out! Of course, afterward he would need quite a large tis- sue...) There are several kinds of electric eels, all of whom de- fend themselves, and capture their prey, by emitting an elec- tric shock. The most danger- ous of these is the Brazilian electric eel, whose shock is so strong it can stun a horse. It's not just legend that goats will try to eat almost anything; they will. Here's how to make a hand shadow of a greyhound. Place your hand sideways, with your thumb fac ing you and d your pinky fac- ing the wall. Extend the thumb up toward the ceiling (this will appear as the dog's ear). Bend the first and third fingers down, facing the floor (to make the dog's forehead). Last, extend the ring finger and pinky out, forming the dog's mouth and nose. Hares (along with their cousins, the rabbits) are part of the rodent family. Knock knock Who's there? Halibut Halibut who? Halibut lending me $5? 1E1, - Their thin feet An insect breathes r have two hairy pads through tiny openings that secrete a sticky sub- in its belly. stance, which is why flies Read all about the ibex in can walk upside down. the Torah, in Psalms 104:18 The frog can live to be and Job 39:1. as old as 40 years. Fish can both smell - Ninety-eight percent of and hear. They smell II c the body of a jellyfish is through nostrils and composed of water. Some of 5 _ hear through "internal ears" their tentacles can reach to located inside their heads. more than 100 feet. 7- G Goldfish range in size from 1 1/2 inches to more than 12 inches. - V- Did you know that a rikite is not only the beau- tiful creation you send flying into the sky, it's a kind of hawk. They have long, pointy wings and dine on insects and reptiles. - There's only one kind of fish that does- n't breath through its gills, and that's the lungfish. Lions, along with cattle and sheep, are the most fre- quently mentioned animals in the Torah. The leech, on the other hand, is cited only once, in Proverbs 30:15. Here's how to play "Follow the Leader" the way lambs do: Everyone lines up and starts running. Each "lamb" tries to run ahead of the lamb in front of him, but going ahead only one at a time (so the line stays intact.) Moles are such hard -.,:.workers they often dig tunnels more than 200-feet deep in a single night. Did you know there are more than 1,000 species of mosquito? The female mosquito is the only one that bites, because only the girls need blood, to feed their young. Male mosquitos prefer to dine on plant juice. Knock knock Who's there? Wendy Katz Wendy Katz, who? Wendy Katz away, de mice dey play.