Rain Forest Babies - Calhoun County Schools：热带雨林婴儿卡尔霍恩县学校

Rain Forest Babies - Calhoun County Schools：热带雨林婴儿卡尔霍恩县学校 1 Rain Forest Babies By Kathy Darling Tropical Rain Forests of the World The rain forests are Earth’s giant nursery. You can find new babies at any time of the year. Half of all living things on the planet are found in the rain forests. All the tropical rain forests are alike: hot, wet, and green. But each one has animals and plants that belong to it alone. Come and see what is hatching from the eggs and peeking out of the nests. The rain forests are home to some of the most interesting babies you will ever meet. Elephant The biggest animal in the rain forest is the elephant calf. Three hundred pounds at birth, it will become a thousand-pound baby in less than two years. That elephant milk is powerful stuff! The elephant baby sucks on its trunk just as human baby sucks on its thumb. Trunks are good for other things too: sniffing, putting food and water into the mouth, and playing with sticks and leaves. This calf is part of a big family called a herd. There are lots of other elephant babies in the herd, but this calf is only two weeks old and still too little to play with the other babies. Tiger This cute little tiger cub will grow up to be a hundred times bigger than the kitty in your house. It will do a lot of the same things a house cat does, but it will not be able to purr. The tiger is one of the “four who can roar.” Three of the roaring cats- the tigers, the leopards, and the jaguars- live in the rain forests. Lions, the fourth roarer, sometimes live in forests, but never in rain forests. Macaw Mother and father macaw have the most beautiful feathers in the forest. But their chicks have none at all. Only for a few days, though. Then fluffy “baby feathers” called down cover their wrinkly skin. This two-week- old Hahn’s macaw is warm in its down coat, but it can’t fly with this kind of feather. Down is not waterproof, either, so the baby macaw won’t go far from the nest hole. 2 At nine weeks, a blue and gold macaw baby already has most of the bright, strong feathers it will need to fly away. But the fledgling is in no hurry to leave its loving parents. Young macaws stay with their family for two or three years. Frog Look, but don’t touch! People who live in the rain forest know to keep away from these beautiful baby frogs. The golden froglets are small, but they are able to take care of themselves. If danger comes, a poison oozes out of their skin. This “sweat” is very deadly. Bright gold is one of the warning colors that poison frogs use. Here are some of the bright patterns they use to say, Danger! Keep away. Kangaroo Surprise! There are kangaroos in rain forests. These red-legged pademelons live on the ground. Other kinds hop around in the treetops. All baby kangaroos have the same name. When they are carried in Mother’s pouch, both boy and girl babies are called joey. This little one is too big for the pouch, but it will keep close to its mother’s side for protection. Don’t let Mom’s sweet face fool you. She can deliver a kick that would make a karate champion proud. Sugar Glider The sugar glider jumps out of the trees. Without a parachute … and at night. Its target is not the ground but a nearby tree. It leaps from tree to tree to get the sweet sap. Although it looks like a flying squirrel, the sugar glider is not even a close relative. It is a marsupial- an animal with a pouch. Only as big as a mouse, this baby, four weeks out of the pouch, is already a fearless leaper. Think Critically 1. Is “Rain Forest Babies” fiction or nonfiction? How can you tell? 2. What are some ways in which all rain forests are alike? 3. Why does the author call rain forests “Earth’s giant nursery”? 4. How are kangaroos and sugar gliders alike? How are they different? 5. Write How do rain forest frogs protect themselves? Use details from the selection.