Amazing Animals- by Maddy

New Orleans Swamp Tour

Today I am writing about the wildlife!!!  

So, in Kentucky, we went to Mammoth Cave where we saw two bats, cave crickets, and a cave salamander. Also, at the campsite there, the office staff had a cat that Zach and I named Patch even though that wasn’t its name. We never learned what its real name was. 

In Tennessee, at the campsite, there was a speckled gray cat who kept coming to our site, looking for food. I earned its trust and it kept coming to me so I got to pet it. I named it Graystripe (from the book series Warriors, if any of you have heard of that. ) 

At the campsite in Mississippi, there were woods, a lake, and a playground around the corner. At the playground, I found a slug. Some of the people reading this might not like slimy slugs and whatnot. In the woods was even better!! I saw birds, bugs, and more! There was a creek running into the lake. I took an underwater video with my camera. It wasn’t that exciting. :( There were some water skiers zooming around in the deep part of the creek. And also, guess what!? We (Elliot and I) found a snake!! It was most likely a black rat snake. 

See the friend on Maddy's hat?

Next we traveled down to Louisiana and visited the Insectarium where we saw active butterflies, leaf cutter ants, leaf bugs, katydids, a variety of beetles, termites, millipedes, spiders, water bugs, cockroaches, and much more! They also had other wildlife such as frogs, and coy (the fish). If there were any others, I don’t remember them. 

I already wrote a post on the Louisiana swamp tour, but for the people who didn’t read that, I’ll give you the memo. I got to see wild alligators get fed marshmallows, hold a young one, and feel their scales.

At the campsite there was a playground near the bathhouse and relatively close to us. There were lizards on the bathhouse and butterflies on the trees. There was a frog hopping on the trash can there. There were some woods behind the park with a gap in it so you could see a small part of it. I saw a wild cat in that gap just sitting there! Mom said it probably wasn’t wild but I thought it definitely was! On the last night here, we were all going to take showers and an armadillo walked across the road!

On our last night at Louisiana, while walking away from the ferry, I saw a pure white moth.

Pondering at Padre Island

At Padre Island National Seashore, off the coast of Texas, we visited the Visitor Center and saw their pet pufferfish, hermit crab and other pet fish. I also got a book about snakes there. Okay! Out on the beach! We had gray pelicans fly over us a few times. I saw many birds including seagulls, sand pipers, and a great blue heron which I got to get close up to. While walking on the shore I came upon a dead crab and catfish. Two footprints were seen belonging to a dog and the great blue heron I had seen. 

Colin on Dunkel

Buckaroo

Big Bird the Rhea Bird

We drove down to the middle of the state to visit our Uncle John and Aunt Jane. They have about twenty-eight antelope, a bird that’s like a smaller version of an ostrich, four cats, a dog, and an Axis deer. The bird’s name is Fred, or Big Bird, the dog’s name is Sarah, the cats names are Cotton, Tinkerbell, Trekkie, and I don’t remember the other one, and the Axis deer’s name is Buckaroo. I got to feed and pet Buckaroo, feed Big Bird, pet and sit with Sarah in the house, and pet Trekkie. I also got to help fill the bird and hummingbird feeders.

        Aunt Jane's friend Mrs Bonnie, invited us over to ride horses, Blaze and Dunkel. She also had a speckled black and orange cat. I found a brown lizard there. It was really fun! She also had an RV and an ATV. Dad rode out on the ATV and gave us rides.

Then we went to the Alamo National Battlefield and I saw horses pulling transportation wagons.

In New Mexico we headed to White Sands National Monument where we saw a darkling beetle perform its defensive pose. 

In Arizona we went and camped at the Grand Canyon and Elk greeted us on our campsite! After that they just hung around in the shade. I got a wildlife book of the grand canyon that helped me identify some birds on the trail we did! We walked a trail called the Bright Angel Trailhead. A cute little rock squirrel came right up to us (Elliot and I)! We were able to get some really great pictures. 

        At the campsite in Arizona there was a park, a pool, and a small trail. Elliot, Zachary, and I went on the trail and saw lizards and ants with their larvae. At the park, I saw two little caterpillars. At the pool I saw a Flameskimmer Dragonfly. 

In Utah we traveled to Zion National Park we took a hike and I saw a beetle, Mule deer and a squirrel. 

In Arches National Park, I saw a some lizards, and chipmunks. While we were coming down a wild gopher snake slithered by our path! 

We camped at Coral Pink Sand Dunes I saw red beetles and there was a pet gopher snake in the Visitor Center.

There was a place near our campsite that we didn’t know about until Mom checked the newspaper. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. It’s where the workers take in hurt and abandoned animals and take care of them. The domestic animals get adopted. They have events such as strut your mutt to raise money for the Sanctuary. They take in wild animals, rabbits, parrots, cats, dogs, horses, goats, and sheep. Our family got a free tour and got to visit all the places in the Sanctuary, including visiting the cat and dog houses! And guess what?!?! Dad treated for the first year and I became a member!!! :) Now I am going to donate $25 each year. I will get a magazine every two months to keep track of what’s going on. I got a gift bag for becoming a member with two magazines, a calendar, post-it notes, memo papers, and more in it! It was awesome!! :) 

Then last, but not least, is the South Dakota campsite, where bison roam around! We drove around a wildlife loop and saw many wildlife including pronghorns, prairie dogs, burros,  bison, and a gopher. 

Burros are grazing animals related to donkeys. A nice lady at the Visitor Center for the park said that if you open your window or door while near them, they would come right up to you! And that’s what they did! Boy, we were surrounded! But two of them were cute babies!