LCPS

Jessica:

I am a swimmer and I love

writing! I was born in Chi-

cago, Illinois before I

moved to Hamilton, Vir-

ginia when I was 5. I love

being lazy and listening to

music. I play the flute and

wish I play the saxophone.

Microsoft Clipart

Microsoft Clipart

Sydney:

I am a basketball player.

And I enjoy writing. I grew

up in Purcellville Virginia.

Besides Basketball I enjoy

cheerleading and cooking. I

love music and playing the

trumpet.

Michael:

I play three instru-

ments, the piano,

baritone, and saxo-

phone! I was born in

upstate New York,

and I love cats!

Editors:

Sydney Koslowski

Jessica Lu

Michael DeLuke

Endangered Birds 2

Endangered Tigers 3

Maneki-Neko 4

Bibliographies 5

Contact Us 6

Our Amazing Articles:

Meet the Editors/Writers!

Animal Times

December 14, 2011 Volume 1, Issue 1

Microsoft Clip Art

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CNWD1qbe8who1_400.jpg

Birds have been alive for hundreds of

years, but why are some of them disap-

pearing? One reason is that they are en-

dangered. There are three big reasons for

birds being endangered. They are loss of

habitat, pollution, and predators. Birds

such as Whooping Cranes and California

Least Terns are some of the many endan-

gered birds. It is important to keep the

environment clean and healthy to keep it

safe for birds to live without any danger.

Why are birds endangered? Their

habitats are constantly destroyed by hu-

mans. They tear the ground up and chop

down the trees for their own needs. With

the lack of trees, birds are forced to adapt

to other environments, such as beaches.

Pollution is also very dangerous to birds.

The lack of fresh supplies makes it hard

for birds to survive. When a hunter shoots

down some prey and leaves it there with

the bullet still inside it, a bigger bird, such

as an eagle, may eat it. Then the lead bul-

let may poison them and eventually kill

them. Another problem is other animals.

Predators, for example domestic cats and

dogs, hunt smaller birds. Sometimes when

the population is over populated this is a

good thing, but other times the birds are

hunted until they are endangered.

The Whooping Crane, the tallest

bird in North America, is an endangered

bird. It is known for its long neck, used for

many different reasons. It has snowy

white feathers and a red crown as an

adult. It also has black tipped wings. Im-

mature Whooping Cranes have cinnamon

brown colored plumage. As they grow older

their feathers grow lighter until they are

pure white. Whooping Cranes live in fresh-

water/

saltwater

marshes,

edges of

shallow

lakes, grain fields, and lagoons. They stay

in the shallow parts of areas of water so

they can hunt. They stand very still, so it

looks like their long legs are part of the

environment. Then very quickly, the crane

dips its beaks in the water and snatches

up its prey. They feed on fish, bugs, and

various berries. The Whooping Crane’s

population is now rapidly rising.

Another endangered bird is the

California Least Tern. They were hunted

for their beautiful feathers and more than

100,000 terns were shot down a year! Cali-

fornia Least Terns are small birds with

white and black feathers. They have black

heads and white bodies. California Least

Terns have small feet and long tail feath-

ers. They only live in California during

breeding season. In California, they usu-

ally breed on beaches on the coast of Cali-

fornia. The California Least Tern eats a

variety of different foods. They usually

only snack on small fish, but sometimes as

a treat, they munch on shrimp and other

small invertebrates. California Least

Terns are interesting birds that must be

kept safe from extinction.

Birds are gorgeous creatures that

should not be endangered. They often stay

hidden from humans to keep themselves

safe. With the lack of trees, they move

elsewhere. Sometimes they move to differ-

ent environments and even different conti-

nents. Birds are usually friendly and don’t

attack us, but why do we capture them

until they are endangered?

Pictures from:

<http://www.erikorganic.com/green/

eye-on-the-whooping-crane/>

<http://1x57.com/2011/09/25/walking-

with-endangered-species/ >

Endangered Birds~ By Jessica Lu

Page 2 Animal Times

Endangered Tigers~ By Sydney Koslowski

Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3

Did you know tigers

were endangered? Well, did you

also know that people still hunt

them illegally? Well if you want

to learn a lot about tigers in a

short amount of time come on

and read this article. You will

learn about tigers extinct alive

endangered and much more.

Caution, these facts may over-

whelm you.

In the past 100 years the

population of tigers has gone

from over 100,000 to between

4,400 to 7,700. One of the rea-

sons why is because poachers

poison water holes and set up

metal wire traps to kill tigers

and use them to make tradi-

tional Chinese medicine. The

tiger population could be in-

creased if the human race were

to stop killing them to be used

for carpet ,medicine and cloth-

ing.

Out of the eight original

species, three are extinct. The

species still alive include the

Bengal tigers, Indo Chinese, Si-

berian, South China tigers and

the Sumatran tigers! The Su-

matran tigers have 400 left and

are lost daily. The Bali tigers

became extinct in the 1930’s.

The Caspian became extinct in

the 1970’s and the Javan in the

1980’s.

Tourist may be banned

from seeing tigers at tiger habi-

tats. This is to keep tigers from

being bothered from the tour-

ists. People have different opin-

ions on that. For instance, I

think that it would be good for

tourist to be banned from tiger

habitats so the tigers could

roam free not be bothered from

humans and feel like they are

really in the wild. But some peo-

ple think that it’s bad because

they want to see tigers and in-

teract with them.

Tigers used to be very

common. Now it’s uncommon to

see them which is not a good

thing. Since the 1900’s people

have realized ways to use tigers

and that is why they are becom-

ing extinct. But if we want to

keep tigers we need to stop

thinking of the things we can use

them for and realize that we will

not have them forever if we keep

this up. So next time you pass a

tiger, think this could be the last

time I see one of these animals

in person unless you help.

Both pictures from

www.bagheera.com

Introduction

The Japanese

bobtail is a breed of

cat with a distinctive

bobbed tail mutation and usually

has a tri-colored coat and short

hair but a long hair although

less prominent than the short

hair, does exist. In America you

rarely see them besides at cat

shows, but in Japan they are an

average street cat that you see in

many homes and alleys. Some

believe this cat brings good luck

and good fortune, also believed

to give patience, protection from

demons and even mystical pow-

ers like strength and wisdom in

an extreme over blown state.

These tales usually aren’t taken

seriously; usually the little stat-

ues of the cat are just bought as

a souvenir to take home, but the

legends might be true you never

know.

Legends/ Folklore

There are many legends

surrounding the Japanese Bob-

tail so I am just going to tell you

the most known.

This tale says a sleeping cat

whose tail caught fire from a

spark from a nearby hearth. The

scared cat ran through the impe-

rial city, lighting all the houses

on fire with its tail. By morning

the city was destroyed and the

Emperor, angry at the destruc-

tion of the city, decreed that all

cats must have their tails cut

short to prevent another such

disaster from occurring. Another

much shorter tale tells of a beck-

oning cat guiding a samurai

through a storm.

History

The history of the cat is

very sketchy all we know about

the bobtail’s older history is

Japanese paintings and tales.

We do know that commonly they

were only given to royalty and

other important people. Later

when they we know when they

were an average cat they were

made street cats to protect silk

from vermin. Bobtails were pos-

sibly brought to Japan from Ko-

rea in the Sixth Century during

the reign of Emperor Idi-Jo (986-

1011) to protect manuscripts

from mice. The bobtail mutation

was probably native to Japan

but it is not certain. A clear part

of the Japanese bobtail’s history

is in 1968 when the first bobtails

were imported to America by

Elizabeth Ferret an American

breeder who went on a trip to

Japan. After she brought them to

the US breeding programs were

established and the breed was

accepted into the CFA, TICA and

FIFe, but curiously only white

with red and black patches

(tortie-and-white/western/

traditional colors) are accepted

in the CFA. The other colors are

accepted in the other breed regis-

trations (TICA and FIFe).

Statues

The statues might be the

most known part of the cat. They

are seen in most Japanese res-

taurants they are said to bring

customers and money to your

business. Also some people have

them as souvenirs and gifts,

most people don’t believe in

these having power. They are

called maneki-neko or beckoning

cat this comes from the samurai

in the storm legend I talked

about earlier. They are in two

basic kinds the filled kind usu-

ally just a statue and hollow

mostly when they are hollow

they are “piggy banks”.

Conclusion

This is a magnificent and

rare breed that has a long and

mysterious history. They are a

mix of truth and lies that have

inspired old and new culture.

Even though they are a rare and

energetic cat that will bring love

and peace to any home.

Maneki-Neko~ Michael DeLuke

Page 4 Newsletter Title

Wikipedia Foundation, Inc, Whooping Crane, last updated on December 11, 2011, used December 9, 2011,

<http://www.50birds.com/Gend8.htm>

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Whooping Crane, last updated in 2004, used December 12, 2011, <http://

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/lifehistory >

50 Birds, used December 12, 2011, <http://www.50birds.com/Gend8.htm>

Sayer, April Puller. Endangered Birds of North America. New York: Twenty-First Century Books, 1997. Print.

Bibliography~ Jessica

Bibliography~ Michael

Koster ,Katie. Endangered Species. San Diego

12-6-11,http://Bagheera.com

Http://youtube.com/watch?v=yud3ymLsuao&

12-12-11,http://www.tigersincrisisnews.com/

Bibliography~ Sydney

Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 5

Shruggs, Allen “Japanese Bobtail” History Dec 8, 2011 used

<http://nekomo.org/jbt_history.html>

Bengler, Barb “Japanese bobtail cat” Dec 8, 2011 used

<http://members.shaw.ca/jbobtails/jbtinfo.htm>

“Japanese bobtail” Sept 10, 2008

<http://animal.discovery.com/breedselector/catprofile.do?id=3000>

Fogle, Dr. Bruce. Cats. New, NY: DK publishing, 2006. Print .

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