Merrick's First Birthday Party

I went to Merrick's first birthday party yesterday. It was a lot of fun. He liked his cake a lot. Camryn and I had to open Merrick's presents because Merrick was too little. Camryn is my friend. Here are some pictures.

Pandas

What Are They?
Are they a bear or raccoon or something else? Panda’s DNA is more like a bear and their skeleton is more like a raccoon. Scientists were arguing about whether the panda is in the bear family or the raccoon family or a family of its own. Now most scientists think that pandas are bears but some still disagree.







Eating
Pandas eat 25 to 85 pounds of bamboo every day and eat 12 to14 hours every day to get the right nutrition they need. 99% of what they eat is bamboo. Bamboo is really tough to chew because the stalks are hard. Pandas have a strong jaw muscle and flat teeth in the back of their mouth to help them chew bamboo. Pandas have a bony growth on their paw that works like our thumb and they use it to hold the bamboo stalks when the are chewing them.








Pandas are carnivores but rarely eat meat. Their stomach is made to digest meat not plants and that is why they need to eat so many plants in a day. Pandas can eat rodents, fish, bugs, and wild fruit.

Pandas Do Not Have a Schedule
Pandas do not have a schedule because they eat and sleep whenever and wherever they want. Pandas also have no home so they sleep whenever they feel sleepy. Unlike other bears, pandas do not hibernate because they have to find food every day of the winter.



Fun Facts About Pandas
They are about 70 inches long.
They are about 30 inches tall.
They weigh about 330 pounds.
Males are bigger than females.
They have a short tail.



Mating Season
The panda’s mating season is from March to May. Female pandas leave extra scent markings so that male pandas can find the females easier. Males sometimes fight for females if two males or more find the same female. They live alone in 12 square mile areas. The only time pandas interact is mating season. Pandas are quiet when they are alone. Pandas are really noisy when they are together. Some of the sounds they make include barks, honks, and growls. Click here to listen to sounds pandas make. (Sounds are on the left hand side of the page.)

Cubs
Mother pandas usually give birth to one cub but some times twins are born. In the wild if twins are born one twin is ignored and dies but in zoos that is different. If twins are born in a zoo the zoo keeper takes care of one twin for a week and then switches twins so that each twin can be with its mom. Panda’s mothers are playful so they play with the cubs. Sometimes a mother panda will jump up on the cub when the cub is sleeping and it is like she is saying, “Let’s play”.


Pandas Are Very Shy Animals
Pandas sometimes get stuck in one forest because they do not want to cross human habitats. People are thinking about making “bamboo highways” or a path of bamboo that connects two forests for the pandas to walk across. This will help the pandas get to another forest without feeling scared.




Humans Are Pandas Worst Enemies
Humans are pandas worst enemies because they tear down the forests for farm land and hunt pandas for their fur. People are now trying to help pandas.




For more information click on the links below

Live Panda Cam at the San Diego Zoo You can watch what the pandas are doing right now.

San Diego Zoo Panda Photo Gallery

National Geographic Kids Giant Panda Article

National Zoo Giant Panda Fact Page

Resources I Used

Baggaley, A. (2009). Pandas. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier.

Kueffner, S. (2009). Amazing animals: Pandas. Pleasantville, New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Markle, S. (2009). How many baby pandas? New York: Walker & Company.

Ryder, J. (2009). Panda kindergarten. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Pictures I Used

Racoons by Trevor Blake

Ursus americanus (American Black Bear) by Arthur Chapman

Pandas!! (GIANT PANDA/WOLONG/SICHUAN/CHINA) by Chi King

Pictures taken by our family at the San Diego Zoo.

Merrick's Birthday Party

Merrick is going to have his first birthday party on Saturday, January 30, 2010. I will probably post about his birthday party on my blog. His real birthday was Wednesday January 27, 2010.

New Hair Style

How do you like my new hair style?





Just wanted to keep you posted on my panda article. I have about 2 more paragraphs to write. So in about 2 more days hopefully I will get my panda article on my blog.

Hey

Sorry I have not posted in a long time. I am working on a panda article for school. I will post the panda article on my blog when I get done. I hope I get it up on my blog late this week or early next week.

Basketball Game Video

I had a basketball game today. My team won. Here is a video.

Cooking Dinner

I cooked dinner tonight. I cooked Spaghetti Pie. I got the recipe from a cookbook that I got for Christmas from my grandma and grandpa. It was layers of spaghetti noodles, cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. It was very good.

DU Women's Basketball

I went to a DU women's basketball game on Sunday, 1-10-10. I went to the basketball game because they had a basketball clinic for girls that are my age and play basketball before the game. They had 2 girls from the DU team who were not playing in the game Sunday help us. The head coach and the assistant coach helped us get better, too. We did some drills that they made fun. Eight girls from my team were at the clinic. Everybody at the clinic got to go to the game for free because they were trying to get fans for the women's team. The best part of the day was seeing them play and doing the things that they taught us in the clinic. It was a really good day.

My Kentucky Trip

I went to Kentucky from the 23rd to the 31st of December. I had a lot of fun on the trip. Here are the people I saw in my family: my cousin Mara, my Uncle John, my Aunt Wendy, my Grandma and Grandpa and last of all, my Aunt Martha. On Christmas, my 10 month old cousin, Mara, came over to me and started kissing me while I was opening presents. Mara surprised me. Mara got a toddler table from Aunt Martha that she really liked. She played with her toddler table a lot on Saturday the 26th. Mara also kissed me on Saturday, too.







This is all of us wearing our Fisch shirts.


Mara was interested in my Nintendo DS that I got for Christmas.