7827 Writing Spider and Web

Mrs. Spider is waiting for her dinner. A fat fly may get caught in her web. A hard shake or jar tells her that her dinner has come. When an insect gets caught the spider rushes to it. She wraps the insect in a band of silk. She does this by turning the insect over and over while she spins. The she takes her catch to the center of the web. She sucks the insect’s blood and throws away the hard parts of its body.

If an insect breaks her web, Mrs. Spider spins a new one. Under her body at the tip are three pairs of little knobs. They are called spinnerets. Some of the spinnerets make a thread covered with glue. Can you see the tiny glue drops? Mrs. Spider can also make thread without glue. The threads go out from the center have no glue on them. The threads that go round and round have glue on them. The spider knows just which threads to walk on. She will not get her feet caught.

The spider lays about five hundred eggs. She puts them safely in a silken egg sac. In spring only a few young spiders come out. What do you think these spiders have done? They have eaten all their brothers and sisters.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

8285 Fox and Cubs

It was a sad day for the fox family when they were brought to live in the zoo. They had been so happy in their old home in the forest. Father and Mother Fox had dug a fine house in the ground near a large rock. It was a good hiding place. It has three doorways.

There was a snug room in which the cubs were born. They also had a storeroom. Here they kept their food when that had more than they could eat at one meal.

What fun it was to chase the rabbits and squirrels in the forest. Sometimes Father Fox would bring home a chicken or goose. He was much too sly to let the farmer catch him. Sometimes the fox family had fish or fat green frogs for their dinner.

Often the hunter’s dogs would chase the fox. Through woods and fields and meadows he would lead them. Just when they thought they had him he would be out of sight. The fox has more ways of fooling the hunter than any other animal has. The baby foxes learn all the sly tricks from their parents.

Do you know any stories about foxes? Make a list of all the fox stories you can find. Tell a story about a sly fox.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

8289 Ground Hog

Isn’t this a queer looking animal with his bright eyes and long nose and long. Sharp claws? He has several names. In Maryland they call him a marmot. In other parts of the United States he is called a woodchuck or ground hog.

He is a very lazy animal. He works hard to dig himself a hole, but after that he never works at all. He comes out of his hole right after sunrise to get breakfast. He comes out again at noon and takes a nap in the sun. Late in the afternoon he comes out again and feeds until sunset.

He likes the vegetables in the garden but he eats grasses and shrubs, too. He eats and sleeps so much that he becomes very fat. By the end of summer he is almost too fat to walk. Ad what do you think he does when winter comes? He sleeps all winter long. Wouldn’t you think he would starve? Does he?

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

V12117 Elephants Bathing in a Tropical Stream, Ceylon

If you were to travel on the streams of countries like Ceylon or Siam, you might have to stop your boat while a herd of elephants took an evening bath. In this picture one elephant is giving himself a shower bath. This is only one thing the elephant can do with his trunk. Did you know that his trunk is so strong that it can tear down a big tree? Did you ever see an elephant pick up a peanut or a bit of food?

Another picture shows an elephant which has been trained to work. Do you suppose these elephants know how to work? Some of them have been trained for riding. There is no bridge across this stream. Do you see two men crossing deep water on elephants?

Hunters tell that captive elephants often pretend to be dead. Then when left alone, they escape into the forest with screams of joy.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.

V21244 Reindeer Herd in Norway

Here we see the brothers and sisters and cousins of Santa’s reindeer. How many there are in this herd. In the country of Norway, the winter is long and cold. The reindeer have hard work to get winter food. They get very thin by the time spring comes.

Deep down under the snow grows a kind of moss. This is the only food the reindeer have in winter. When they have eaten all the moss in one place they must move on. When they come to a new pasture they paw the snow till they have made a hole. Then they dig themselves into the snow to get at the moss. Sometimes the snow is so deep that only the tails of the deer can be seen. It is a funny sight for they keep wagging their tails as they eat.

In the cold northern part of Norway live some people called Lapps. Many of the Lapps make their living by keeping reindeer. They tame some of them and use them to pull their sleds.

Almost all of the Lapps’ clothing is made from reindeer skin. Their gloves, boots, and coats are sewed together with thread made from sinews. The sinews are taken from the legs of the reindeer. The Lapps use reindeer’s milk like we use cow’s milk.

The deer in this herd may belong to many people. They are marked on the right ear to show to whom they belong. No two owners can use the same mark.

Copyright The Keystone View Co.