Eco Critter Essays

8/10/2019 Eco Critter Essays

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Eco-Critters: How We Did ItBy Simon and Franny

Have you ever heard of the Flying Snowstrich? No? Well good, because its

not real. However, after you tour this exhibit, you will see a Flying Snowstrich,and many other animals that you believed were not real a few minutes ago. These

animals were created by the students in the fifth grade in Team 20 at Lewis

Elementary.

It all started with a question. What can we observe in our garden? Then we

began an assignment. The assignment was to make an animal that lives in a certain

ecosystem and has different functions for what it looks like. Unlike the animal, the

ecosystem had to be a real place like a cave or a rainforest.

We had been studying form and function and going to the Lewis garden to

sketch nature. We would pick a spot and then draw something with extreme detail.

Then we would go into the classroom and share our drawings with the class. Wewould also write a few sentences about what we drew, and that is when we shared

it with the class. Then we started studying form and function in the classroom and

drawing things that Mr. Mark brought in, like leaves and flowers. We talked about

adaptations and things like how the leaf carries sunlight to the tree.

Mr. Mark introduced the Eco-critter project to us and we got right on it. We

used craft materials like cotton balls and pipe cleaners. It was fun and we finished


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in two days. Then we made six planning webs about what our eco-critters did and

how their form fits their function. When we were done with our webs, we started

the rough draft essay on our Chromebooks. Then, the next step was to use the

editing and revising sheet that we got from another teacher. The revising sheet told

us to check the punctuation and capitalization, and look up the verbs and adjectives

in the thesaurus and dictionary. We took the rough draft and revised it to make our

final draft.

We had a fun time doing this project and we hope you enjoy finding out

about these unidentified animals. Thank you for reading this and we hope you have

fun reading our projects as well.

The Flying SnowstrichBy AbbeyThe Flying Snowstrichs name means flying snow ostrich because it is an

ostrich that flies and lives in the snow. The Snowstrich lives in any mountain

range, but you will find them more in the the Himalayan Mountains more in Nepal

because the Himalayans covers 75% of Nepal. The Snowstrich loves the cold and


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hibernates in the warm months when most of the snow melts. The Flying

Snowstrich can survive the highest parts of the mountains for at least a day. You

can tell the difference between a girl and a boy by the feathers. The boy has

brownish feathers and the girl has greenish feathers. The girl has green feathers

because it attracts the males. You might also see girls with very colorful feathers,

but that is extremely rare. The male has brown and sometimes red feathers because

it looks manly and means stay away. The men also sometimes fight to win a

female and the females family.

The Flying Snowstrich has some interesting ways to get around the

mountains. It mainly flies in the clouds to blend in and not be seen by its enemies.

It can also skim down the snow like its skiing. The Snowstrich has feet that are

like old fashioned snowshoes that help it walk in the snow. Like an ostrich, the

Snowstrich can run really fast. The Flying Snowstrich is very clumsy so you mightsee it tumbling down the hills or anywhere else. It will also fall a lot because of the

earthquakes in the mountains.The Snowstrich has many unusual ways to get food and water. It has a

shovel mouth so it can dig the snow and dirt to find bugs. It also eats many greens

and berries if it does not have any meat left from the previous fight. If the

Snowstrich wins a fight, it will sometimes take the meat of the enemy and carry it

home with its feet. To get water, it scoops it up with its mouth. The Snowstrich can

go weeks without eating. Every day it doesnt eat it grows a feather.

The Flying Snowstrich can protect itself from many things since it is white

like the low clouds and snow. The mouth is basically a built in shovel. It can

whack its enemies and knock them out so it can take flight. The mouth shovel can

also dig in the ground super fast and make a little hole to sleep in. The feathers

stick out of the ground to look like plants. It also has the great ability of flight. It

can fly away from the enemy, but only if it wants to. The Snowstrich sometimes

wants to fight, so it will have some meat to feed the family. The Snowstrich is as

big as an ostrich so it has some advantages over small animals. The Snowstrichs

main enemy is the snow leopard. Snow leopards are ferocious animals. They live

in the snow, so it lives in same place as the Snowstrich. They are like cats and

dogs. They hate each other and fight all the time. The Snow Leopard mostly wins.

The Snowstrich digs really deep holes for shelter and many other things like

hiding its food. Some people might think that it could not survive in the cold snowwhen it digs down, but the Snowstrich has lots of fur that is like a heating device.

The Snowstrich hibernates in the summer when most of the snow melts. A big

group group of them huddles together like penguins to keep warm. The animals

that are on the outside trade spots with the ones on the inside so they can get warm.

It also sheds in the warm seasons if it is not cold, but the Himalayans stays cold

even when it is the warm seasons. The Snowstrich cannot survive the warm


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weather so if you want the Snowstrich in a zoo you should put it inside and make it

very, very cold in there.

The Fire Owl

By Emmy

My eco-critter is called the Fire Owl. It is called that because it shoots

fireballs, and its feathers are mostly red and orange. The ecosystem my critter lives

in is the forest. The forest has lots of trees. There are also plenty of bushes, and

wildflowers. There is moss on logs, on the forest floor, and on trees. Forests are

home for deer, wolves, hawks, owls, and songbirds. It is a very wet environment,

and the tree shade cools the air in the summer.

The Fire Owl has an excellent protection system. It can burn an enemy with

its fire shooting belly button, it can stab with its horns, and it can blow enemies

away with its big orange wings. It flies at 60 mph. Its horns are blood red and have

a bit of white fur at the bottom. It also has talons that it uses to squeeze enemies.

The fireballs it launches are very hot (mostly purple fire), and it can shoot them

rapidly, at 70 mph. Fire Owls have very few predators, mostly humans or if they

are babies, foxes.


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For nourishment the Fire Owl eats, bugs, small rodents, and little birds

including the sparrow and the robin. To trap its prey it glides low to the ground.

When it sees its prey, it rams its horns at it. Now it has skewered its prey on its

horns! Then it picks it apart with its red beak and devours it. It can also use its fire

shooting belly button to cook its food. It gets water at creeks, lakes, and rivers

around the forest. It doesnt need much water.

The Fire Owl has splendid communication! It makes a very loud squawking

noise with its red beak. That is how it communicates. It also tells enemies like

humans and foxes, to back off. Another way for The Fire Owl to communicate is if

he needs help, he will shoot a fireball high in the air. When the other Fire Owls see

the fireball shooting through the sky, they know to come help. The Fire Owls

throwing the fire cant burn themselves.

The Fire Owl can move pretty fast. They have big orange wings. The wingslight up when it is dark, and they are bright orange. They can fly at 60 mph. They

also have small furry white feet with sharp orange talons at the end. They are veryslow walkers, so they mostly fly rather than walk. They usually fly low to the

ground, near wild flowers, moss, and bushes on the forest floor. They dont like to

fly way up in the open sky, where everyone can see them.

The Fire Owls shelter is usually in trees. They usually like the elm trees and

the oak trees. They are big, leafy, and protective. They usually carve a hole in the

tree, and then hollow out the center. They use their horns and their beak to hollow

out the tree. That is where they make their homes. If they are not around trees and

they need protection, their natural instinct is to burrow. They are great at digging

with their talons.

That is all about fire owls, folks!


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The Twilight CrawlerBy Henry

My eco-critter is called a Twilight Crawler. The reason its called this is

because it is nocturnal and hunts at night for various animals, such as copepods,

crayfish or dragonflies. It lives in swamps of all kinds because it can adapt to any

form of marshy area, as long as it contains tall grass, shrubs, and some sort ofmuddy terrain. Since swamps are about 90 percent water, the earth mixes with

water to make lots of wet soil, so lots of vegetation can grow there. The main

vegetation in most swamps is duckweed or cattails. The Twilight Crawlers size is

about as big as shown, but when it mates and lays eggs the babies are one sixteenth

the size of a full grown adult.

One way the Twilight Crawler communicates is by rattling the spikes on itsback together to make a clattering noise, it does this in the middle of a large area of

water in the swamp so it echoes in all directions. Another way of communication is

it clicks its wings together like a cricket to make noise. The last way the Twilight

Crawler communicates is by its mouth. It either hums or chirps like a bee or a

bird.

By its name, the Twilight Crawler is a nocturnal creature. Therefore, it

sleeps during the day, but first it has to find a shelter to keep away from its only

predator, the Adapting Phlatapus. The Twilight Crawler usually hides in the muddy

water that covers 90 percent of the swamp. The main swamps the Twilight Crawlerlives in are the Amazon, Mississippi, or the Congo. Its higher extending eyes reach

out of the water slightly to see its surroundings. The water is fairly shallow in

swamps usually. If its an emergency, the Twilight Crawler hides in shrubs for a

short period of time and then goes back into the water.

To survive, the Twilight Crawler protects itself in many ways. One of which

is that it has six huge spikes on its back, but thats not all. The Twilight Crawler

has millions, possibly billions of microscopic spikes all over its body. The main

protection system of the Twilight Crawler is when it eats, the food goes down to

the stomach, but the unneeded or unwanted remains go to the second stomach

where its processed into a fluid acid. The acid runs through the Twilight Crawlers

entire body then makes its way up to the microscopic hairs so whenever any other

critter touches the Twilight Crawler when its resting in the shallow water, it burns

the skin off the bone.

All things have to have some form of movement. The Twilight Crawler has

beetle wings. When the Twilight Crawler is in flight, it can reach at least 60 MPH.


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It has strong, but nimble legs to crawl around on. Like a spider, you cant see its

feet, but they're there. The Twilight Crawler can climb up tall cypress trees all

around the swamp. A cypress tree is the most common type of tree that grows in

swamps.

The Puff-bellied Forest CrawlerBy Franny

The Puff-bellied forest crawler was given its name because of its fluffy body

and its amazing ability to crawl. It lives in the Giant Sequoia National Monument

in California. Its stick-like legs give it great camouflage because of the forests

brush and twigs, and it makes its home in the many burrows left by small animals

hibernating for the winter as the Sequoia forest gets very cold during that time of

year. It makes its beds out of the moss, pine, and leaves that make up the beautiful

forest that it lives in. It also nestles in hollow trees and stumps, so as to sleep,

because the Giant Sequoias are very old. For the hot summers that the forest gets

every year, it sheds itself of its fur then it grows it back for the rainy andsnowy/cold winters of its habitat. When the Puff-bellied forest crawler burrows, it

uses its fluffy body to hide from the cold and covers itself with leaves and moss.

The forest crawler is always on its feet, as the Giant Sequoia forest is 404,063


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acres. The crawler doesnt stay in one place, so it keeps moving and sleeps in a

different place every night. The female forest crawler has bright colored feathers

on its body to attract males and the male has dark to say back-off to predators.

The Puff-bellied forest crawler needs some form of protection to hide from

predators in the harsh conditions of the forest. Bears roam the forest, and hawks fly

overhead. It has green and blue on its body for camouflage to blend into the forest.

It crawls low to the ground for extra protection and camouflage because of all the

predators in the forest. Its bright colored feathers on its head say back-off to

predators, and its fluffy fur on the abdomen keeps it warm and helps protect it from

the rain that the forest gets every year, since the Sequoia forest gets up to 140

inches of rain a year. Its stick-like legs and arms help it camouflage into the many

plants and twigs that make up the forest. It has trusty shooters on its leg so it can

lure in prey with the camouflage of the shooters. Then it pulls them in and shootsout poisonous barbs. It may also burrow in the huge sequoias making up the

monument that is its habitat. It can also burrow in some of the giant sequoias thathave fallen or are very old.

The forest crawler feeds off the many plants and animals in the forest. It has

nice sticky fur to pick up food. It also camouflages to pick up bugs when it lies on

its stomach. Its shooters on its leg also work as feelers, so it can feel for food. It

can get food in the harsh winters of the Giant Sequoia forest by camouflaging, and

then jumping out at its prey. The crawler eats nuts, fruits and seeds, bugs, some

plants, and occasionally small birds and animals. Although the crawler is prey to

lots of animals many times its size, it is fairly close to the top of the food chain.

The forest crawler eats lots of things smaller than it, but if its lucky it will have a

meal of an animal that is lots bigger.

The forest crawler moves with swift, but clumsy movements. It has feathers

on its body to brush anything away to have easier movement. The stick-like legs on

the crawler also work for fast, accurate movements. It can walk on its legs and

arms, and when it walks on its hands, the feelers on its legs help to feel for food

and other movement in the forest.

For shelter, the Puff-bellied forest crawler has a built-in umbrella that repels

water, and feathers on its head to protect it from the rain. It also has feathers on its

arms and soft fur to cover it up while its sleeping. The soft fur on the crawler

keeps it warm and shelters it from the rain, and the feathers on its arms also workto wrap around it while its sleeping. If it finds any stray rocks, the Puff-bellied

forest crawler will crawl under them to have extra shelter at night, as it is always

moving. Since the forest crawler doesnt sleep in one place every night, shelter is a

crucial part of survival for him. The crawler is a master at seeking out homes for

him/herself, and happens to find a different place to sleep every night.


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MicoricBy Mike

The Micoric got its name from the amazing hearing it has like a microphone.It lives in a lush tropical environment called the Amazon Rainforest that receives

over 400 centimeters of rain a year. All the rainforests in the world contain over

half of all land animals and are located in a belt around the equator. The Amazon is

home to many deadly animals like caimans (deadly alligators), anacondas, jaguars

and pumas. The Micoric is one foot by two feet and is a very tasty insect to large

rats and snakes.

The Micoric has a very strong protection system because there are a lot of

deadly animals in the rainforest. Like poison dart frogs, the Micoric has poison as a

protection device so if bitten the animal will spit it out. It also has elephantinehorns so its dreadfully painful to bite it. The Micoric can shoot poison out of a

hole in the backside. The poison quickly shrivels up its attacker into a ball. One

thing that the Micoric cant defend against is the poison from the curare plant that

looks appetizing, but is deadly.

The Amazon is a huge rainforest at 2.1 million square miles, so thats why

the Micoric can move at a steady 11 mph and roll at six mph. It might not be the


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the fastest animal in the Amazon but its faster than its killers, snakes, rats and

plants mainly. Micorics can climb fast because rain comes pouring down

sometimes out of nowhere. The Amazon is filled with water because of all that

rain, thats why the Micoric can also float in puddles so it doesnt drown.

Food and water is vital to thisbug. If it cant find water, it can turn blood

and guts into it. With 30,000 fruit species in rainforests one of the most consumed

fruits by the Micoric is the waree palm. The flower and heart of the waree palm

tree tastes wonderful and is a great source of food and protein. A vital part of the

Micorics system is its large mouth so it can chip wood, like woodpeckers, to get

bugs.

The Micoric has a hard shell to shelter its organs from falling branches.

Also, it has astonishing antennas that can sense when a storm is brewing so it can

hide. This ability is not that important since in rainforests it usually rains everyafternoon. Like a potato bug it can roll up in a ball and scurry off and hide in the

mud.To conclude the Micoric is built to survive in the Amazon Rainforest.

Growing in population, maybe the Micoric will be one of the top predators later

on. Perhaps there will be a dispute between Micorics and snakes for prey and

predator and the Micoric might just win one of these days.

Fuzzel-BulbisBy Peyton


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This is my Eco-Critter. The name of its species is Fuzzel-Bulbis for its bulb

and fuzziness. My creature lives in the middle of the forest, where it can find many

resources and live a long life. My creature lives 90-110 years and grows an average

of 13-26 inches tall.

My Eco-Critter has many ways it protects itself. Its wings look like leaves to

blend in with the treetops and the plants on the ground. It uses its wings to grasp

onto trees or other plants for many reasons. For example, it can use them to hold

on to a stick to make a shelter, to grab a long bark plank and put it in the water as a

makeshift boat, or to grab a leaf and make it a hat. Its bulb is its mouth, and it is

used as a weapon or a way to disguise itself. The bulb looks like a flower to attract

prey. Its fur is also a disguise. It looks like fungi and mushrooms. The eyes of

Fuzzel-Bulbis see heat in any direction, to help it find prey and stay away from

predators. My creature uses its legs to poison enemies and hold on to trees.

My creature has ways to make shelter. It uses objects like fur, sticks, stones,mud, leaves, animal pelts, feathers, teeth and bones, and it molds them into ahome. My creature also extends its bulb with a tube attached to its back and opens

it to form an umbrella. It also uses its bulb as a blanket by opening it and spreading

it out.

My Eco-critter communicates by making noises so high pitched that no

human can hear them. The sound also echoes in the forest so other Fuzzel-Bulbi

can hear it. It shows emotion by changing the color of its bulb. Pink is sick, yellow

is mad, blue is sad, green is normal, rainbow is excited, purple is confused and red

is fearful.

The Fuzzel-Bulbis bulb is its mouth. The Fuzzel-Bulbis eats bugs, small

birds, wild flowers, small fish, bark, small animals, twigs, wild grapes, wild

carrots, wild plants, moss, tadpoles and eggs. My Eco-critter gets its water from

bugs, tree leaves, sap, puddles, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and dew.


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The North Pacific Moon SnailBy PhilipThis creatures name is Snail Giganteus or the Pacific Moon Snail. Why is

this creature named that? Well, scientists have discovered that the snails skin hada little moon color in it. Be careful around it because the snail will deliver a

venomous bite like snakes. With its massive body the snails body covers almost

its whole shell. This snail lives all around the Pacific Ocean and in rivers. Like

turtles the Pacific Moon Snail can tuck under its shell.

What's it like in a ocean or river? Well scientists check the temperatures ofthese cold cold places to see if moon snails even live there. The Pacific Ocean hashuge tides compared to the east coast. The tide is a huge and is a big part of how it

eats. It lives in cold waters, but it can also survive the warmth. Oceans and rivers

have a big population like the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. Oceans have

a cold temperature, but rivers have a much warmer temp.


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The Pacific Moon Snail has many protection systems. Inside of its mouth it

has a producing tube where it produces acid. This does not harm the snail, but

predators better watch out! If a predator touches or tries to eat it, the snail will

squirt poisonous acid from its mouth. The animals that it has to watch out for are

scallops, birds and many other predators from the mighty Pacific Ocean. The

moon snails shell is its home away from home. If a predator tries to eat it, it will

slip right into its slimy shell. You may think the Pacific Moon Snail looks pretty,

but that means it is a warning! If you look at the snail, you can see that he has lots

of colors. That signals that hes poisonous to predators. This critter has a breathing

tube that it uses for breathing and smelling. Predators may think that its a snake

because it points upward like a snakes body.

The moon snail fills itself up with water and thats what makes its water feet.

The water feet are like suction cups because they stick to things like the sea bed orsea floor. The slime on this critter is also a useful tool for moving, like a snail,

except under water. Its body produces a wet slime that allows it to move or slipalong the sea bed or floor in an ocean or river. The belly of this beast is also used

for walking or moving.

This creature eats tiny shrimp, which is its favorite food! It also eats lug

worms, trout and baby salmon, which are all a great source of protein. The mouth

supports like a slurper in a way. The mouth can form itself into a straw-like mouth.

To get its food or to track it prey down, the snail uses a siphon to sniff out tracks.

Mostly, its body produces water throughout the body like a tank. The North Moon

Snail has a tube that squirts water, then the water goes through the body and into

the mouth. The North Pacific Moon Snail opens its mouth when its underwater it

will suck up water and into its mouth.

Sand is very useful for this creature to hide in. The North Pacific Moon Snail

digs in the sand to hide from animals that want to eat it. Some moon snails hide in

their shell! If a north moon snail was surrounded by scallops, birds, octopuses,

clams or any of these advanced sea creatures it would just slip right into its shell

and come back out when the sea creatures are gone.

The North Pacific Moon Snail communicates by blowing air on another

Moon Snail. Why does this creature do that? Well scientists unraveled that when

they do that they are actually talking to each other. Another thing these snails use

to communicate is their slime. The North Moon Snail wipes slime onto anothermoon snail this is a communication signal that the snails use to talk and then they

blow air on each other.


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The Cactus Drill BugBy Simon

The cactus drill bug is a large bug about one foot by one foot that lives in

saguaro cacti of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. It gets its name from the fact that ituses his drill to burrow into cacti. The Sonoran Desert covers 120,000 square miles

of land. The saguaro cactus can get to be 66 feet tall. The cactus drill bug can go

ten weeks without water or liquids and it eats cactus fruit. It is brown with a little

black so it can blend in with its surroundings. It burrows into cacti with its drill and

gets the liquids that the cactus has in it. A saguaro cactus at full height can weigh

over a ton.

The cactus drill bugs protection is critical because it is small and has a lot of

predators. Some of its predators are humans. More than one billion people live in

deserts across the world. Not all deserts are warm and humid. Some deserts likeAntarctica are cold and snowy. Deserts are defined as a place that gets 10 inches or

less of rain per year. Its skin is thick and hard to pierce and sort of feels like rhino

skin, which is made out of keratin the substance that make up our hair and nails. Its

11 eyes help it spot predators, and then it runs away with its long springy legs. It

can use its drill as a weapon if needed as a last resort, but it does not like to fight. It

can also blend in like a chameleon or an octopus.


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The cactus drill bug communicates by using its purple orb below its

abdomen (the stomach or belly). It uses bioluminescence and it lights up a

fluorescent blue like morse code. Bioluminescence is light produced by a chemical

reaction within a living organism that helps animals see in the deep ocean..It also

makes loud screeching noises using its mouth which is right below its main eye.

They do not need to make that noise loudly because the desert the Sonoran Desert

is very flat and sound travels quickly and easily.

To eat, it steps on its prey and makes it look like moosh and then it devours.

To attract the food it makes its orb light up and the food get drawn to it and then

the cactus drill bug eats it. Its eyes help see prey. Since it is nocturnal, it is very

effective. It can also eat the fruit from cacti which are called in Latin Opuntia. To

drink it bites into cactus and sucks up the liquids inside. They can digest the spikes

because their throat is lined with acid glands that melt the spikes into dust whichthe cactus drill bug can easily digest. One of the animals that it preys on is the

desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). It crushes the shell then eats the tortoise rightout of the shell.

It dwells in Saguaro cacti in the Sonoran Desert. It burrows into the cactus

with its drill then makes a little home inside the cactus. It will also do this in the

prickly pear cactus which is native to America, but was exported to Australia in the

18th century. When the cactus drill bug burrows into a cactus you can hear the

whirring noise. It will also occasionally make its home in a barrel cactus, crimson

hedgehog cactus, or an ocotillo, also known as vine cactus.


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Aeroporosby Sadie

My eco-critters name is Aeroporos (Iro-poor-Ose). Aeroporos is the Greekword for flyer, and my eco-critter is a very speedy flyer. My eco critter has fur on

its face and a line of yellow fur across its back. Its a medium sized critter, about

10 inches long. Its home is in the Sahara Desert, the largest hot desert in the world.

It covers over 3,500,000 square miles of the northern portion of Africa. There is

less than an inch of rain a year. In fact in the summer of 1922, it reached 136 .

The Aeroporos has many ways to protect itself. One is its small wings. They

are colored brown, orange and yellow. With them it can simply fly away up in to

the clouds. The wings are much like bird wings because they glide in the sky. A

different use of the wings are its poison. The wings hold a toxic chemical that kills

any animal that touches the wings. Two micrograms of the poison could kill a large

animal or even person. Another way of protection is hiding. It can use its knifelike

claws to dig under the hot sand to hide. The last part of its protection system is

using its sharp claws. The claws are extremely serrated, so they are used to get

food such as rattlesnakes, lizards and other animals.

One way my critter moves is its feet. This way of moving is not very useful

because they are not only very lackadaisical, but it is challenging for it to walk so it

wastes its energy. A better way of getting to and from places is flying. The wings

have poison, but they also help it get around. Using its claws for digging is another

way of movement. Since the desert covers over of earth's land it is also a swiftdigger. Surprisingly, the large amount of sand is not hard for the critter to dig in,

and it can get through the all the Sahara very fast. Its sharp claws help it get food,

and get to its sleeping area.

My eco-critter does not stay in the same spot. In fact, it sleeps in a different

underground spot every night. It digs deep down in the sand to make a

commodious place to sleep. As you know it get very hot in the desert, especially in

the summer. So for shelter it needs shade. In the daytime to shelter my eco-critter

from the hot sun, it has fur on its face and back. Though it has much fur it is never

too hot. For shade, my eco-critter can get some leaves or some grass, which is done

by the flying to the Atlantic Ocean, which borders the Sahara. It then uses the

leaves or grass to block out the sun. To protect the critter from blowing sand, it

either digs underground and walks there or rolls up into a ball.

My eco-critters favorite foods are birds, including the Black Billed Magpie,

the raven and many more. Rattlesnakes are also an appetizing food. It also eats

Desert Jack rabbits and the chuckwalla lizards. Some ways it can get rabbits and


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birds is to use its wings poison. For lizards and snakes, it can use the claws. One

of the only ways to get water is to dig for it. To find it my critter just goes far under

the sand. You would have to dig approximately 150 metres to get water. Another

way is if its not very windy then it can fly over to one of the few oceans close to it.

My eco-critter, Aeroporos, can hide, fly, poison, and use claws as ways of

protection. Its feet, wings, and claws act as the different kinds of movement, It has

digging underground, fur, ways to get shade, and ways to handle blowing sand as

its kind of shelter. For food and water it can dig, use wings and claws to get her

food.

Hina

By Madalinny

My eco-critters name is Hina, which means goddess of the ocean. She has

red, green, and pink feathers, and her skin color is green. Hina lives in the sea, and

she sleeps in caves in the bottom. Only 5 percent of the ocean has been explored.

There are 2,300,000 known species of animals that live in the ocean. The average

temperature of the ocean is two degrees. The ocean covers three quarters of the

earth.

She can protect herself by shooting out spikes from the back, which fly out

when an animal tries to get her. She can also camouflage, but it can not camouflage

into other animals. My eco-critter also can blend in like yellow is for sand and pink

and red is for flowers also green is for grass and plants. Hina can also disappear,

but not all the time. It can disappear when predators come. Another protection it

uses is a smoke that makes predators faint if they are near it. This smoke comes

from the back.


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She also has a web that can wrap predators in a ball like a spider, but she can only

do that when danger is coming. Her final protection, is that she can spit goo out of

her mouth that covers their eyes.

My Eco-critter gets it food by using the things from her protection system,

like the spikes. She shoots them out at prey and then eats them. She also uses the

smoke to faint them and eat them. It eats greens. That is also how she gets all her

energy.

It moves by flying, but it can only fly for ten minutes. It can breath in the air

and underwater. Its tail can flap, and it swims and floats. It can also teleport into

any cave it wants, but it cannot go anywhere else.

It communicates with its eyes by how she moves them and color of them. It hears

by its feathers and it can also hear from far away. Her feathers can also help her

communicate and also how she moves them and by the color.

Desert CaterpillarBy LawsonMy critters name is Bob. Bob likes to live in the cool underground caves of

the Great Basin desert. They are a fascinating place in the Great Basin desert. The

Great Basin desert, which is located in the southwest, is one of the largest desert in

the states and the coldest! It covers 190,000 square miles! In the underground


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caves there are crystals. He gets inside by using a long sharp tube-like point at the

end of his nose. He sleeps inside the crystals because nocturnal predators like bats

would not think he would be inside of a crystal. When hes outside the cave in the

daytime, he likes to live inside a cactus because deserts dont get much water, and

cactuses have a lot of water for a lifetime inside their roots. The last place he likes

to live in is the dirt because on a hot summer day he can cool off in the moist dirt.

Bobs best protection is camouflage! He can hide on the sand, and some

predators wont know that he was there! He can change color like a chameleon! In

caves it is really easy for him to hide because it is dark, and his predators, like

rattlesnakes, wont know he is there. Leg knockers are very useful because if a

predator finds him he can use them to knock the predator out. Then right after it

hits the predator he buries away underground. Another one of his protections, is his

rollers. When a predator from ground sees him he knows that he has to get out ofthere fast, so he uses his rollers to get out of there. He can go 35 mph up a hill and

70 mph downhill, so on normal ground he can go about 55 mph! His last protectionis the sixth sense. He can sense anything from a mile away up and down! It is very

useful because he knows somethings coming so he can get ready for it he can hide

until he sees it!

The first movement is that he can hop over a poisonous bush or cactus that

has fallen down. He can use his vacuum to fly. The vacuum is under the bottom of

his legs. He is so light he can point the vacuum at the ground and fly up so he can

get a birds eyeview of everything that is going on. Another one of his movements

is his wings. He only uses his wings for an emergency. For example, if he could

not get out of a predators grasp he could use his wings to get out. The last one of

his movements is the roller legs. His roller legs can roll on any surface.

The rainfall in the great basin is 7 to 12 inches per year. The great basin is a

cold desert because of the rain shadow effect from the Sierra, Nevada to the west.

Even though it doesn't rain much, there is lots of water in cactuses and

underground! When my critter is thirsty it goes into the saguaro cactuses roots to

get some water. The food he eats is mostly ants and worms. Once in a while, it will

vacuum up dirt and eat it if it is really hungry.


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The Adapting PhlatapusBy Peter

My critters name is the Adapting Phlatapus. It is called this because it isremarkably flat and resembles a platypus, since it lays eggs and is a mammal. It is

only half the size of a Platypus. The Phlatapus lives in the swamp. It is very wet,

and there are a lot of humongous trees and moss. This critter is mostly found in

New Orleans, Louisiana swamps.

For movement, the Phlatapus stands on top of sawgrass waiting for a breeze.

Sawgrass is found in Louisiana and Florida, and it is a type of plant. The

Phlatapus is paper thin so it is easy for them to take flight. It can swim very well.

It can hold its breath for 24 hours, which is very helpful in case of emergency.

This critter can also hover by blowing out air onto the surface of the water, which

helps it get places faster.For shelter, they burrow into the sludge at the bottom of the swamp to make

an underwater cave. This shelter is important when they find a mate. They use

rocks inside the cave so they can camouflage themselves if an intruder enters.

Their skin is dark in color with water-repellent fur. This helps them to hide in the

swamp. On their backs, they have two small humps that are filled with

phosphorescence that they can control when then need light. When not in caves,


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they can hide along mangrove roots at high tide. Mangroves are big and have

holes in the wood sometimes.

The Phlatapus is interesting because it has four stomachs, all with different

functions. Stomach number two is where all the liquids go at first, and then they go

to the fourth to be stored until needed. Stomach number one is where all the solid

food starts. Here the food is digested very slowly, unless the critter is in danger. In

that case the digesting food is sent to the third stomach, where it can digested very

quickly to make energy for swift use. The Phlatapus enjoys eating sun-bathing pit

vipers, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes. The Phlatapus can smash them to death.

These cold blooded animals are often found warming themselves on rocks in the

sun. They are easy prey. However, the Phlatapus must watch out for their deadly

fangs. Sometimes swamps are near the salty water of the ocean. These estuaries are

great sources of dietary salt. The critter can store the salt in the fourth stomach forlater use.

For protection and hunting, the Phlatapus is able to spray out boiling hotwater to stun its prey. It uses its third stomach to boil the water. It can also increase

or decrease its size/volume to intimidate its predators by breathing in air and

increasing volume. This critter has the ability to feel vibrations in the mud or the

bottom of the swamp, which alerts it to other animals near by. It must be able to

hide from alligators, crouching bobcats and sharp sighted birds, like the little blue

heron. All of these animals are native to Louisiana swamps.


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The Bright Eyed MossBy: Ashley

The Bright Eyed Moss lives in a freshwater swamp in southern Brazil in theAmazon Basin. When it rains in Brazil it can pour, but most likely wont pour.

Brazil gets most rain between November and March. Brazil can get 39 to 59 inches

of rain. The Bright Eyed Moss cant breathe underwater unless it puts air bubbles

in its nostrils. It got its name because when its body is warm two eyes light up. The

moss part of its name is because its only camouflage is moss, and it must live

somewhere with moss and duckweed.

The Bright Eyed Moss has a few ways to protect itself. First, it can use the

Spring Punch when it only punches if needed and ONLY hits eyes. Second, by

using the side stabbers it makes predators go away. Third, on its arms it has

poison ivy hair. Fourth, the eye lights are so bright it causes a type of a physicalinjury to the predators. It uses camouflage as moss or hides in the moss. It uses

trees as protection by digging holes in the trees and hiding in them. It uses shrubs

and bushes under water for camouflage. When hiding in trees it can dig so high in

the tree it can go up to 13 feet inside a tree. It hides in trees when theres a heavy

rain so it wont flood with the swamp. This is useful because in the depression area

of the Pantanal water basin, where it lives, has been filling throughout the area

with some rivers to make some swamps. The Bright Eyed Moss sucks some warm

water out of Cypress trees so its body is warm. This species is rarely found in

saltwater swamps. It uses other droppings to fertilize its shelter. It lives around3,500 plant species.

The Bright Eyed Moss moves in its own way. For a friendly movement, it

bounces off of things. It sometimes swims, but it only goes about 3 mph which

makes it look like a human sometimes. It uses its arms to crawl, then it acts like a

predator so that nothing will attack it. It can go 95 mph, but thats nothing to it

when it floats it can act dead and goes about 195 mph. When it acts dead, nothing

feeds off of it. The reason it moves fast is because hunters attempt to hunt it in the

swamps. It also needs to move fast because different species of aquatic birds

attempt to catch its own prey. Brazil has 1,000 species of birds around swamps.

Some varieties of food for their species are baby fish, but it only eats the finsand uses its arms to catch it, alligator eggs, it eats the whole thing and rarely eats it,

and last moss because it gives it water and food. The other way it gets water is by

sucking it out of trees, bushes and small pebbles. It eats some sea snakes, but its

very dangerous for it to do that. It also nibbles at mudskippers. It has a good

varieties of food because there are 400 species of fish and 480 reptile species.


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The Bright Eyed Moss has a few different ways to communicate. It uses its

mini mouth for the easiest way and only its species can understand what it is

saying by making noises. It uses its side whiskers to communicate with predators.

It also uses its flashing eyes to communicate. The only friendly way for

communication is by using its arms so that other fish and things wont be harmed.

The fresh water helps it turn neon so others can see it. The freshwater swamps are

found by land and saltwater swamps are found by coastal areas. Saltwater swamps

are made by oceans.

ErzaBy Kaylee

The name I chose for my critter is Erza. The reason why I chose Erza is

because Erza means quick, analytical, and clever mind. Erza would be happiest in

positions where she is free to express individually and creatively and whereopportunities are not restricted. Erza desires freedom, and does not tolerate being

possessed by others. Erza is a greek chinese name for free will, warrior, and strong.

My eco-critter is a silver snake with feathers. It is about three feet long. Erza needs

to live in active volcanoes because there is more heat around active volcanoes. She

could live in a non-active volcano, but she would have to live inside it. She could

find great volcanoes to live in in Hawaii.


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The protection Eza has is a fireball. It has many different elements the main

ones are fireball, lavaball, and Iron Ball. Erza makes all of this with her mouth. She

is also a fire breather, which once again comes from her mouth. Erza has different

colors of fire, but the main ones are blue and red fire. Flying is also useful for her

because she glows silver and smoke comes out her feathers to blind predators and

prey. She has to use biting often because she contains venom and lava. The lava

comes from the heart and through her teeth. The venom comes from her lungs and

is used with her mouth. She gets a lot of the lava from volcanic ashes. One hazard

of volcanic ash is that it can be a threat to aircrafts, especially those with jet

engines where ash particles can be melted.

The shelter Erza needs is a rock cave with lava and iron. She needs the rock

cave because it keeps her warm because of the fire bed. A fire bed is technically

fire on the floor. Next is iron, the iron can be hard, but it needs to be hot. Otherthan that its normally melted, but it needs to be hot and also boiling. Last but not

least Ezra needs lava. She can float and relax on lava. She can also lie dormant onmagma, but it needs to be hard and once again they both need to be HOT! The

volcano crust is helpful. It is a planetary mass object, such as the earth, which

allows hot lava to flow through. Magma from beneath the earth reaches up to the

surface and erupts lava, ash, and rock.

The main movement Eza does is slither like a snake. It helps her to ambush

prey more easily. She can also teleport. She uses teleportation to get to places

faster and also to break away easier. Flying is helpful. She can glide calmly or go

fast as lightning at 100 miles per hour. Swimming she uses a lot like slithering. It

helps if it is lava or melted heated Iron. She hates swimming in water and

slithering in snow, but she can deal with it. There will be times when she melts the

snow. Erza like to find her food in subduction zones. Subduction zones are places

where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide.

Eating and drinking are easy for Erza because she is an amazing hunter. The

foods she eats are fire, iron, and animals. The fire she eats is blue, and she uses red

fire to catch her energy. The iron she eats is for energy also. The animals just get

her stomach full. The liquid she drinks is the lava, which gets her energy and

water, which gets her stomach full. Finding the food is easy. She uses her six

senses to find prey. Camo, teleportation, and stalking are helpful to Erza. Stalking

the prey leads her to find more prey. The camo and teleportation helps Erza runaway from predators. At mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one

another. Erza will teleport there some times. New oceanic crust is formed by the

cooling and solidifying of hot melted rock.

The communication Erza uses is her tail, roars, growls, and eye contact. The

roars she uses are a bewildered roar and a furious roar. Her tail whip she uses side

to side when she is jubilant. She whips her tail up and down like a wave for when


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she is enraged. Growling she uses when shes exasperated and when she is

contented. Eye contact can be very helpful with prey and predators. It can be

helpful with prey and predators because glaring at prey and predators either means

to back off or attacking. She rolls her eyes, glares, and uses regular eye contact like

humans do. This also helps her get through lava more easily. By rolling her eye,

she can see under lava and all the pathways. There will be times where she erupts

the volcanoes. Earths volcanoes occur because the planets crust is broken into 17

major rigid tectonic plates. The plates float on a hotter, softer layer in the earths

crust.

Spiky BackBy Natalie

Spiky Back is covered with millions of prickly spikes on her back. She can

sit on her head and look like a cacti. She lives in an extremely scorching desert,

called the Atacama desert, which is located in Chile. This desert is 50 times

warmer than death valley. Her skin doesnt mind the burning sun. The desert is40,600 square miles. It is mostly made up of salt basins, lava flows, and sand. The

spikes that her name suggests function to protect her from other unpleasant

animals.

Spiky Back moves fast with six legs and rarely walks slowly. When she is

looking for her food she walks very unhurriedly, then she springs to get the food

she desires. She eats small tarantulas, darkling beetles, caterpillars, and ants. Her


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tail unravels the shelter and the tarp spreads over her back. She jumps, walks, runs,

and sometimes swims. Her elastic tail helps her stabilize when she is walking. Her

tail also helps communicate. She has a small eye on her tail, and two gigantic eyes

on her head.

Her shelter is located on her back with her tail holding it in place. When it is

raining, the tarp located by her tail is meant for the rain, and keeps her dry. Most

deserts get less than 10 inches of rain a year, so she doesnthave to fret about this

very often. The Atacama Desert is even drier. This desert doesnt get much more

than a millimeter of rain every five to 20 years.

Spiky Back communicates with her tail, eyes, legs, and her spikes. Her tail

and eyes move up and down. Her legs get curvy when she is angry or mad. When

her prey is stalking her, her legs get curvy, her tail and eyes move up and down,

and her spikes move. Spiky Backs spikes move up and down at differenttemperaments. When tourists come to visit, they often look at the different colored

sands in the desert. Spiky Back sometimes likes to hide under the sand, so sometourists are amazed to see this creature that they've never seen before. She is about

the size of a water bottle.

Spiky Backs greatest protection system is her back. She can just sit on her

head when an animal is passing by and disguise herself as a cacti blending in with

the other cacti. She looks somewhat like an Adromischus Phillipsiae, which is a

kind of cacti. She has an eye on the end of her tail so she can see behind her. This

is helpful because prey might be behind her, and she can get out of the way before

she cant escape. Some of her easiest plants to camouflage behind are the salt bush,

rice grass, black sage, and chrysothamnus.


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Swamp DragonBy Alex

The Swamp Dragon is a unique critter. It gets its name from its green color,its dragon-like wings that have scales, and a long dragon-like tail with a

humongous fishy tail. The Swamp Dragon can be found in the urban city or

outlying Amazon swamp, where they breed. Both of these environments have

existed for thousands of years. When they breed in the swamps they usually have

seven young. Though the Amazon Rainforest is shrinking, and between 2000 and

2005 more than 50,000 square miles were lost because of deforestation, Swamp

Dragons are still able to find breeding grounds there.

The Swamp Dragon uses its gills for breathing under and over water. This is

useful because in the tropics each canopy tree can release 200 gallons of water per

year. The rainforest is nearly self-watering. Plants release water into the

atmosphere through a process called transportation. Did you know this species of

Swamp Dragons has seven stomachs? One stomach is for water and the other six

are for food. The main food source for these Swamp Dragons is ginings. Ginings

are fuzzy and love to bite. Ginings hate silver and brongs, which are types of

snakes.

Swamp Dragons protect themselves by spitting acid at their foes. The acid

spit melts flesh and bone, but can't melt through its stomach. Swamp Dragons can

fly and swim away from enemies fast. They change their fins to wings and back

again. The Swamp Dragons can have four eyes looking forwards. Two can lookanywhere, but the other two have to look straight. This helps the Swamp Dragon

not get attacked in the air, on land, and underwater because it can always see

incoming critters. This is useful in the busy city where the population can range

between 8 and 40 million people.

A Swamp Dragon moves by flying, floating, teleporting, walking and

swimming. Teleportation is when a Swamp Dragon teleports. It stands there and

disappears. To the ordinary observer or any predator that might be on the prowl

and ready to slaughter, the Swamp Dragon looks like it is dead. Then it falls over

and slowly disappears. When the Swamp Dragon floats, it just hovers in one spot.

It might hover over the Amazon River to avoid being consumed by piranhas. TheSwamp Dragon looks like a bird when flying. It flap its wings, but slower than a

hummingbird or a crow. Flying is better than walking and being consumed by

creatures on the ground. If it were surrounded by lions, it would tuck its legs under

and take flight because the sky is a safer environment. When it walks, it is sort of

slow like a turtle, but still faster. In the water, it tucks it legs under its body so that


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it is harder for predators to grab onto. When swimming the swamp dragon looks

like its flying under water.

The Swamp Dragon seeks shelter in the clouds high above the city. It will

drift up into to them so that no one can see it. It can also hide in heat waves. To

do this, it will slowly disappear into the heat wave and blur. To communicate all

Swamp Dragons speak dragonese, which humans cannot understand. It sounds

like some sort of weird growling gibberish.

The Man Eating Gloffer FlofferBy Hannah

My eco-critters name is the Man Eating Gloffer Floffer, and he lives by a

swamp! His name is that because he eats people if theyre already dead! (He just

does. Its not my fault!) At first glance, he appears to be extremely fuzzy andfriendly, but looks can be deceiving. He is particularly fuzzy, but deadly. The Man

Eating Gloffer Floffer lives by the murky swamp water.

The Man Eating Gloffer Floffer has many protection systems. His tail can

grow and smack enemies in the face. If the tail hits them, the enemy will fall down

for an hour. The Man Eating Gloffer Floffer also has horns to hurt other animals.

The ball at the end of his horns will shoot out and hurt the other animal. He will


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grow new horns every time they shoot out! He also has eyes on his wings to see

other animals. He will attack if he knows there's danger! He has red on his feet to

scare other animals away!

My eco-critter has a blue circle on his wing to drink water with. He also has

red circle on his wings to eat with. He eats big bugs and mice (like I said before not

my fault). He does not eat anything green like plants, celery, or broccoli. He also

kills certain animals if theyre mean to him.

The Man Eating Gloffer Floffer communicates with other animals in several

ways. If he attacks you, hes telling you that he doesnt like you. He doesnt use

words at all. Instead, he dances doing a different movement every time he speaks

to a different animal according to what he is saying. For example, if he likes you,

then he will fly in circles around you. The Man Eating Gloffer Floffers movement

strategies are flying, jumping, and swooping. He can shoot himself up in theskyand disappear! He can't fly if his wings are wet, so he shoots himself up and gets

dry! He can shoot forward to get away from other animals.My eco critter lives in lots of places in the swamp like a dead Cypress trees,

but prefers a damp cypress tree not a dry one! He hops from tree to tree, lily pad to

lily pad! His ant-like antennae fold up to make a umbrella for protection. He will

kill another animal and use its fur for shelter. It rains a lot in the swamp, and my

critter hates the rain so he snuggles up in a cypress tree.


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Big Bite n Tail Whipping Assassin

By NakoaMy critters name is Big Bite n Tail Whipping Assassin. My critter is

named that because it eats everything in one bite. Its best protection is its tail,

which it uses primarily when it comes in contact with an enemy. With one swoop

of its tail, the enemy is whipped with the ultra pokey tipped tail. After dropping to

the ground, this critter spits on it with fire to cook its meal and devours its dinner

in one delicious bite. My critter lives in the desert and has been in every desert on

the face of Earth. Deserts cover more than one fifth of the earth, and they are found

on every continent. The desert receives less than 10 inches of rain each year.

My critter is well equipped with many weapons for protection. Its tailprotection shoot spikes and whips predators. Its mouth protection can blow a

tornado and spit fire. Its feet have very sharp spikes, and it is also the fastest

running critter in the world. For flying, it is the fastest flying critter in the

Universe. Its eye protects it by twisting and turning to see everything. It can even

smell with its eye. Invisibility is another important protection. My critter can hide

and can't be seen. It can even teleport away from danger.

Every critter needs food and water. This critter catches food by sitting there

with its mouth wide open hoping something lands in its mouth. If that doesn't

work, he finds something to kill and eat. If he wants water, he uses his eye to findwater. If he cant find water, he uses his tail to chop down a cactus. Every cactus

has water in it. There are very sharp spikes on a cactus, but the spikes on my

critters tail has even sharper spikes so it doesn't spike my critter.

My critter needs to communicate to other critters, animals, and it is able totalk to other animals. If it needs to talk to something in front of it, it uses its mouth.

If it needs to talk to something around the world, it uses its eye. It usually uses its

eye.

Movement is something every living animal has, so that is why my critter is

able to move around and teleport. My critter has legs to walk, run, sprint and leap.

It has a tail to fly and hook to other animals to ride them. It has hooks on its feet towalk up rock walls and to climb.


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The Silver-Backed, Eleven-Eyed,

Four-Fanged, Flying Abominable

Rockman

By Kellen

The Silver-Backed, Eleven-Eyed, Four-Fanged, Flying Abominable

Rockman is named for its silver back, eleven eyes, four fangs, its tendency to eat

Sherpas, its wings (so it can fly) and its rock like shape. It lives in mountain

ecosystems such as Mount Everest. They love European mountains, but any willdo. There are a lot of freezing temperatures, so it is very thick-skinned.

Occasionally, there are high temps, but that is the season when it flies to the North.

(Yes, its colder there.) And no, this isnt Alfheim online. It doesnt have a limit on

how long you can fly (for those of you who dont understand my Sword Art Onlinereference, its an anime on Netflix. You should see it someday.)

The food and water system includes stuff like during the spring, when all the

snow melts, the Rockman has its annual drink of water. Its body works not unlike a

camel, but instead of fat, the back holds up to ten oz of water. When the Rockman

is thirsty, it just takes a sip of its emergency water supply. One sip should keep it

hydrated for up to two months. When it needs to refill, it visits places like Lake


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Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,812

meters. When the Rockman refills, it makes a motion like its sunbathing. It lays

on its back and lets the water soak in. This process takes about one to two hours.

Its processing system is very unique. Its bowels can digest only two food types.

Those food types are diamonds and dirt. Its bowel tracts make it so that when the

Rockman eats diamonds it poops dirt, but when it eats dirt it poops diamonds.

However, if its hungry enough, it will eat anything in the Earth, although this will

give it terrible diarrhea. When its eating, it bites the dirt to make it easier to chew,

but if its still tough it will use its tail to Whip it! Whip it good!

The Rockman is a very sheltered nocturnal creature. So it can take freezing

cold temperatures, but it cant take temps like the spot along the Antarctic ridge,

which reached a temperature of -91 celsius (-131.8 fahrenheit). When it gets this

cold, it goes deeper into the heart of the mountain. When its hot it just goes closerto the mouth of the cave. As you mightve guessed, it doesnt take much to make it

hot. Certainly it would have a burning sensation in the sweltering heat in FurnaceCreek, California when temperatures reached 134 fahrenheit. When it sleeps, both

eyes are closed, tricking predators into thinking its a harmless boulder.

This boulder system just happens to be part of its protection system. If you

found one asleep, you would not know what it was. Its sad that its part Silence.

As soon as you you see it and you turn around, youll forget about it. (The Silence

are an enemy from the show Doctor Who) But that only works on Humans. With

other predators, it will roll on top of the cretin thats trying to eat it. This works

best on places like Mount Everest. The peak reaches 29,029 feet. It can fly to the

top, it has very strong, sturdy lungs, and roll down on top of its predator. However,

that does not always prove successful, as sometimes it runs into crocodiles on its

annual trip around the world. When it doesnt work it gets in close proximity and

tries to bite it. That usually doesnt work either, so it tries to whip it with its tail.

That works almost all of the time because the tail is very long and has exactly two

eyes which improves its agility. Of course, if it runs into a bask it will just fly away

as fast as it can. Theres no shame in running away! Like on The Flash episode on

11/18/14. Sometimes to survive, you must run.

The movement system is pretty strange. When its scared, it will fly away at

speeds of 109 mph, which takes the equivalent 820 horsepower (the equivalent of

Ken Block's Ford Fiesta). When the Rockman lands, it does something totallystupid. It rolls at a speed of 10 Mph. This usually gives it a headache so bad that

Ibuprofen wont help. Only a prescription from a doctor will cut it (literally). When

it rolls on the ground, it will go up to 9 Mph. I know i t doesnt seem right (even I

can hardly believe it, and Im watching it right now!)


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Lepus Fugiendo: Flying RabbitBy Connor

Lepus fugiendo originated in the Adirondack Mountains, in New York state.

It has tusks, a rabbit body, legs, and a head with wings sprouting from the waist. It

is a mix of snake, eagle, rabbit, and fish called theLefug (incredibly bad name) forshort. It is an adaptable, or able to deal with changing, animal. TheLefugis able to

give painful, venomous, or poisonous bites. Its main enemies are the dan quail,

the cheney swan, the bush duck and the justin beaver.x

The environment of the Lefug is varying. The urban or city lefug lives in

parks. It raids picnics. It also sneaks into homes by mimicking a stuffed childrenstoy. It waits until the inhabitants are dormant, sleeping, then proceeds to raid their

food source, the fridge. The urban dan quail lives in venture capital firms, where

people beg for money to be told no. It is only the woodland dan quail that fights

the Lefugs indigenous home is the deciduous forest.The Lefug makes its shelter in the ground, or the forest floor. It lives in

burrows. It makes its nest/bed out of its own shedded fur. The entrance of the

Lefugs home is a narrow passage, allowing only the Lefug and its family to fit.

This prevents larger carnivores, or secondary consumers from pursuing the Lefug.

The Lefugs burrow is like an ant colony, only larger. There are many tunnels


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leading to rooms for specific functions. There are rooms for dining, sleeping, a

nursery, storage, and fecal disposal.

The Lefug is an omnivore, which means it eats both plants and meat. Meat is

an option, but preferably not. It drinks water (obviously). Vegetables are best.

Grass and nuts, even cotton sometimes, is preferable to meat. If it eats meat, it will

eat bugs such as the american burying beetle, which lives in Rhode Island.

Every creature needs a good defense. Agility is one of the Lefugs good

traits.

Intelligence is another. Flying is a good help when any predator, like the hawk, a

carnivore has trapped it or is trying to sneak up on it. Lefug is a brilliant hider.

The entrance to its burrow is incredibly small, the size of a straw, and

camouflaged with leaves that match the surrounding environments color. This

critter will also hide in the grass when sneaking up on a juicy plant for the energyin the leaves or if something is trying to find it. It can make tools if needed.

The 14 Eyed Stabber Sea MonsterBy Austin


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My critters name is the 14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monster. It's called that

because it has 14 eyes, a horn that stabs its prey to death, and it lives under the sea

in the Pacific Ocean. The 14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monster is as big as shown and is

very poisonous like the 30 to 50 different poisonous snakes that live under the sea.

It lives on the bottom of the sea, which is very dark. Its dark because it 2.65 miles

to the bottom. It uses its 14 eyes as night vision to see. Also, since the sea covers

71% of the earth, it has a lot to travel and a lot to see the with 230,000 different

animals. Most other creatures live in one spot, but the 14 Eyed Stabber Sea

Monster likes to travel a lot. The sea is 3% salt and is very dangerous for humans

to drink because the human kidney is not designed for so much salt. However, the

14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monsters kidneys can handle salt.

For movement, the 14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monster has four different ways it

can move. It has its tentacles like an octopus, it can float, swim, and it can also

walk. When it floats it acts dead, and when something approaches it (like a fish), itwill strangle it to death with its tentacles. It can also swim at 207 mph! No othercreature swim that fast under the sea. The way it does that is because it uses its

tentacles like paddles, and when it gets tired it will just walk like a crab on its

tentacles.

When it comes to eating, the 14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monster will eat anything.

The main thing it eats is salmon, carp, flounder and oysters. It also enjoys eat

jellyfish (which live under the sea). It can stab its prey to death or it will shoot out

poison out of its horns and then eat its prey. It can strangle its prey by using its

tentacles and sneaking up from behind.

The 14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monster has a great system for protection. First, it

has tentacles that will squeeze you to death like an octopus. When its in trouble it

will use its red eyes to tell its prey to back off. Plus, its eyes can see everywhere,

around, black, under, over, anywhere. That is probably the biggest protection

system it has.

For shelter, my critter will hide anywhere in the vast Pacific Ocean, which

has 187 quintillion gallons of water. For one, the 14 Eyed Stabber Sea Monster

will hide in a cave underwater that it makes like bears, but underwater. It makes it

out of rocks and seaweed and then attacks when it is a good time. Its hands are like

shovels, so when it needs to dig it has no problem. The one last thing that it can dois hide in sunken ships.


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The White Mountain FluffBy Lesly

The name of my Eco-critter is the White Mountain Fluff! I named it this

because its fur is white, it lives in the mountains and its fluffy (very, very fluffy!).

Animals that live on mountains must have protection from the cold, be able to find

enough food and avoid being eaten. Did you know that some mountains are made

by volcanic activity?

The white mountain fluff is an omnivore and eats berries, plants, bugs andsometimes small rodents. A favorite plant of the fluff is the gentian, which are

found on alpine meadows in many mountain regions. When it finds a good plant to

eat it uses its teeth to cut it, and then carries it back to the shelter. To get berries it

uses its hands or paws to grab them, and then uses its strength to pull them off and

take them back to the shelter. To catch bugs and rodents, it pounces on them and


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then bites into its prey to kill it. They can survive about five days or less without

food.

The white mountain fluff, like all other animals, needs water to survive. The

way it gets water is sort of like the way a bee gets nectar from flowers. It uses its

straw like tongue to suck up water once its found. If water cant be found they will

take snow and eat it instead. Without any source of water at all, they can not last

more than a day.

Mountain fluffs live on all parts of mountains from the beautiful alpine

meadows, which provide food for the herbivores to the snowy, windy and rocky

mountain tops. So its home can vary from a hole in a tree, to a cave or merely a

hole in the ground. The higher up you go the harder it is to survive. The reason for

this is because it gets colder, and there is less food to eat (especially for herbivores

because up on the mountain tops only lichens can survive the lack of water andfreezing cold weather). The fluff is not a very territorial animal and will take in a

fluff if its lost, an orphan or homeless. Fluffs are social animals and live in groupsof about five to ten fluffs. However, some fluffs do prefer to live alone. A fluff

unlike some other animals that live on the mountains (like chipmunks) does not

hibernate in the winter. Fluffs have a lot of fur to keep them warm. Their fur, like a

snow hares, is brown then it changes color in the winter to camouflage with the

snow.

To avoid being another animals lunch (predators vary from snow leopards

to red foxes), a fluff has to be able to protect itself just like everyone else. Fluffs

have different way to protect themselves with their fur, poison, their eyes and their

noses. Their fur protects them from the cold by changing colors to camouflage

with its surroundings. It can sense movement so theyll know if something is trying

to sneak up on them. he bright colored hairs on their fur are a warning sign to other

animals, but if an animal still eats them the colorful hair poisons them.

Fluffs communicate by using a series of squeaks and clicks. They also use

body language. For example, when theyre cold a fluff starts to shiver and then

tightens into a ball. A fluffs colorful hair isnt just for scaring off predators. A

male fluff also uses them to attract females during the mating season. Females

have colorful fur, but not as bright as the males. However, theyre still pretty.

When male fluffs fight over a female they pounce on each other and bite each

other. Whoever wins the fight, wins the female. If more than one female wants amale, the male chooses which one he wants. Once a male and female mate, they

stay together for life.

A fluff has a few different ways to get around. The first is walking. When

they walk they go at about 5mph. They walk when theyre getting food or water or

doing any other normal day things. They use running when they're scared, when

theyre running away from predators, or are just in a hurry. They can run at about


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50mph at their fastest. Another way they move is climbing. The reason they can

climb is because they have a sticky substance on their feet, which helps them stay

on. They can climb at 10mph. Climbing is handy when you're trying to get away

from a predator that cant climb. Lastly, they can pounce. They use pouncing when

fighting over females and for catching bugs and rodents.

The SongbirdBy Tate

This creature is known as a Songbird, a small crow-like desert bird found in

the sandy badlands around Pakistan and Rigestan. This huge desert is about

halfway from China, and borders Pakistan (Rigestan is often called chl). Their

young are among the strangest looking creatures. Songbirds look very similar to

clots of wet sand making them almost invisible to the naked eye. Songbirds live in

burrows that are connected by systems of tunnels that go almost 10 kilometers

underground. It gets the name Songbird mainly because of its chirps that echo

through its burrows, making it sound almost like a lullaby.Songbirds are mostly located within the Thar Desert, which spans 175,000

square kilometers, making it the seventh largest desert on the planet, and the third

largest in Asia. It is only four to six inches long, rendering it microscopic among

the hundreds of thousands of sand dunes that is the Thar Desert.

Its movements consist of hopping, gliding, crawling, digging, and running,

which are all movements of a common feeder bird (except the digging part).


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Hopping allows it to spring into gliding easily when it is on the ground, and

running allows it to gain momentum as it gets faster and faster every second. It is

able to run and fly up to 513 mph, even outflying the Peregrine Falcon at 210.

Digging allows it to make small holes so its predators cant fit.

It is able to make a small burrow entrance out of chunks of sandstone and

grit from underground The entrance is only seven by four inches, so it is almost

impossible for predators of elephantine size to enter, but exceptions would be most

types of snakes, including the Sand Boa, the Black Cobra, and the large Rat Snake,

which are some of the most dangerous snakes in the world and the Thar Desert.

The Songbird also has many methods to get food and water (even though the

desert only gets 10 inches of rain a year). It eats small insects and lizards, such as

the Indian spiny tail lizard. It has a very interesting way of getting water, it gathers

morning dew on its largest feather, and wrings it out on a rock, which then it wouldput its tongue at the bottom of the rock as the dew drips down.

It communicates in different ways depending on its situation. If its near apredator, it will either change its eye color or move its feathers in patterns to warn

other Songbirds. This tactic is known as feathering. If its safe, it will genuinely

chirp to communicate.

The Songbird protects itself in many ways. It can flap sand at predators,

similar to a humboldt squid. It has amazing camouflage and has a poison gland in

its brown feather. It creates friction by rubbing another feather to make a smog.

For camouflage the adult and adolescents, they would look like grit and red

sandstones, similar to a corn or milk snake.

Reference

The Songbirds name is a reference to The Songbird in a game called Bioshock

Infinite.

Documents

Eco Critter Essays