| Zoo and Aquarium Visitor
News Year of the Frog 
2008 was celebrated as the "Year of the Frog" by
zoos and aquariums around the world. Several facilities established
special displays and educated millions of visitors about the plight of
this unique species. Many environmentalists consider frogs to be the
canaries of our fresh water systems. As the "Year of the Frog" comes to
an end, I want to share my favorite frog photo. Several years ago I
took my daughter, Kelly, (right) and niece, Stacy, out on a rainy day to
catch frogs. The frogs were kept for two weeks and then released. The
black and white photo was taken by my sister, Jennie, who went along on
our frog safari. | Meet the Aquarium
Director |  | Meet the Aquarium
Director - December - Mike Leven, Georgia Aquarium | 
Name: Mike Leven
Actual
title: Chief Executive Officer
Name of
your aquarium: Georgia Aquarium, Inc.
URL
for your facility: www.georgiaaquarium.org
Number of species at your facility: More than 450
Your favorite critter at the facility: Nandi,
the manta ray. Nandi is the first manta ray to ever be in a United
States aquarium, making Georgia Aquarium one of only four aquariums in
the world to house them. Georgia Aquarium hopes to educate millions of
visitors each year about manta rays and inspire conservation.
Total number of animals or fish at your
facility: Tens of thousands of fish and animals
MORE...
| Meet the Zoo Director |  | Meet the Zoo Director -
December - Tony Vecchio, Oregon Zoo | 
Name: Tony Vecchio
Actual title: Zoo Director
Name
of your zoo: Oregon Zoo
URL for your
facility: www.oregonzoo.org
Number of
species at your facility: 256
Your
favorite critter at the facility: Currently the baby Hoffman
two-toed sloth that we are hand-raising.
Total
number of animals or fish at your facility: 2,134
MORE...
|
FUN
STUFF A Christmas School of Fish This is a very inexpensive and simple project.
Materials:
1 box paper clips
String
Red and green construction paper
Scissors
Crayons,
markers, or colored pencils
Steps:
Pick the wall or
window area where it will be hung and measure the length. Add 24 inches
to allow for a center dip.
Tie the narrow end of the
paper clips to the string every 6-8 inches.
Take the total
number of paper clips and divide by two. Using that number, draw and
cut-out an even number of green and red fish.
Draw eyes,
mouth, and fins on each fish.
Clip fish on the paper clip
string.
Hang in your designated spot.
Ostrich Joke A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown
ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders.
The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke," and turns to the
ostrich, "What's yours?" "I'll have the same," says the ostrich.
A short time later the waitress returns with the order "That
will be $9.40 please," The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the
exact change for payment.
The next day, the man and the
ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke."
The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."
Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.
This becomes routine until the two enter again. "The usual?"
asks the waitress.
"No, this is Friday night, so I will
have a steak, baked potato and a salad," says the man. "Same," says the
ostrich.
Shortly the waitress brings the order and says,
"That will be $32.62."
Once again the man pulls the
exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.
The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me,
sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your
pocket every time?"
"Well," says the man, "several years
ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a
Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I
ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and
the right amount of money would always be there."
"That's
brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a million
dollars or something, But you'll always be as rich as you want for as
long as you live!"
"That's right. Whether it's a gallon
of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there", says the
man.
The waitress asks, "What's with the ostrich?"
The man sighs, pauses and answers, "My second wish was for a
tall chick with long legs who agrees with everything I say."
Caterpillar Joke A lonely man sat in his dark, small apartment, in
dire need of some company. I'll buy a pet, he thought.
The
teenage cashier at Pet-O-Rama showed him all kinds of pets. Dogs. Don't
have a place to walk 'em.
Cats. Allergic. Rats. The
apartment already has them.
The man decided on a
caterpillar. Just the right size, he thought.
He took the
caterpillar home and placed it in a tiny, darkened aquarium in the
bathroom. All was quiet.
"Caterpillar," the man said,
knocking on the aquarium glass. "I'm going to get some dinner, do you
want to go with me?"
Silence. "I'll come back in a few
minutes just in case he's sleeping".
The man returned a
few minutes later and knocked on the glass once again. "Caterpillar, I'm
going for Chinese food down the street. Lots of leafy greens! Wanna
come?"
Silence. "Maybe he doesn't like Chinese".
The man decided
he would go back again in five minutes. But this was the last straw.
"Caterpillar!" he said, raising his voice. "I'm going to dinner now,
with or without you!" Had he gotten this tiny friend for nothing?
A voice finally came from behind the aquarium glass. "I heard you
the first time!" the caterpillar belted. "I'm still putting on my
shoes!"
Hummingbird Joke "You know why
hummingbirds hum?"
"Because they don't know the words."
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P.O. Box 410
Lorain, Ohio 44052 |
