Black Bear

Dear Lilliputian ,

This past weekend , as I was setting up some tables outside for a family picnic , I looked up and saw a large Black Bear watching me . I think when the Bear saw the picnic tables he knew there was going to be food and was hoping that he was invited to the picnic . I told him he wasn't and walked away slowly , as did the bear . I don't think his feeling were hurt because as he walked away he found a stick and he threw it into the air and then fell backwards to catch it . . . then he scooped it up with his large paws and tossed into the air several more times . He seemed to be having a good day .
He continued down the field until he came to an apple tree and he stood up on his hind legs and he started shaking the branches of the apple tree and when a nice amount of apples fell from the tree he began eating them until he had had enough . And off he went to find another tasty treat for his big belly .

Bears can run really very fast . The fastest human can run 27 miles in one hour . But . . . a Bear can run 40 miles in one hour . When your Mom or Dad are driving you somewhere this week ask them to show you how fast 40 miles an hour is . . . and watch out your window and imagine a bear is running beside the car and you will have a pretty good idea how fast they really are for a big chubby looking beast .





As you know , Summer is coming to an end and the cold weather will be coming in just a few
 months . A Bear has to think about these things because he has to get his body ready for a very long
Winter . There is very little food for a large bear in the forest in the Winter and so the Bear has to start to eat lots and lots and lots of food now . To make it so they don't starve during the Winter they eat large amounts during the fall and their body becomes like a refrigerator and stores the food and energy so its body can use it while it is sleeping during the Winter. To let you know how much a Bear should eat each day to get ready for its long sleep I have compared what a child has to eat each day to stay strong and healthy . A child of 6 years old should eat a little over one thousand calories a day . A Bear during the Fall has to eat fifteen thousand calories a day . Lets see . . . that means you would have to eat 6 peanut butter sandwiches a day , that is a two sandwiches  for breakfast , two sandwiches for lunch , and two sandwiches for dinner . A Bear has to eat 75 sandwiches a day which means . . . 25 sandwiches for breakfast , and 25 sandwiches for lunch , and 25 more sandwiches for dinner .  Of course neither of you are going to live on peanut butter sandwiches . . . but you get the idea . Those Black Bears must have very big stomachs !

If you like hearing about Bears you might enjoy playing a game called Going on a Bear Hunt . . .

This book is by Michael Rosen 

Until next time ,

Wildbee

Shooting star

Dear Lilliputian ,

When I was a child we believed if you just happen to see a shooting star you could make a quiet wish and that it would come true . Did you ever watch Pinocchio . the Walt Disney movie ? Do you remember Jiminey Cricket singing a song " When you wish apon a star, makes no difference who you are . . . " ? Do you remember that Jiminey is singing about making a wish on a star ?  So whether it is a shooting star or the " first star I see tonight " . . . stars have been thought to have a bit of magic in them .

 If  you have any wishes you want to make , this is the week to make them , because every night this week there will be shooting stars in the sky . I must say , you have to have patience to see a shooting star . And ,  you have to watch the sky very seriously , because if you don't they disappear before you even see them . The best way to watch for a shooting star this week is to sit or lie outside when the sky turns dark and watch in the Northeast sky . If you cuddle under a blanket and use some
 bug spray , the mosquitoes may not bother you . 

I know that often your bed time is too early to see shooting stars . . . but I wanted to tell you about the shooting star showers that are happening this week just in case you happen to be up when it is dark out . If you feel you are too young to watch for shooting stars . . . I completely understand because I was probably ten years old before I saw my first shooting star . The reason I am telling you about them is because seeing a shooting star " takes your breath away " . . .  or , in other words it makes you gasp because they are so beautiful . If you are too young this year to see a shooting star . . . just remember that every year the second week in August has Meteor showers and so sooner or later you will get to see a shooting star , so don't give up .

Here are some interesting facts about shooting stars .

1 . Did you know that scientists don't call them shooting stars . . . they call them Meteors ?
 Also when the shooting star is in outer space the scientists call them Meteoroids . When the shooting stars come to our sky the scientists change the name and call them a Meteors , and when it crashes into earth only as big as a grain of sand . . . then scientists call the shooting star a Meteorites .
2 . Shooting stars are very fast when they are in outer space . . . they travel at about 133,200 miles and hour !
3 . A shooting star is very , very , hot when they are burning up . . . They can be about 3000
degrees . If you see a shooting star and it is very bright that is when it is hot but when you see it dissapear that is when it becomes very cool and is not hot at all .
4 . When you see a shooting star it looks like it is going to crash into earth far, far away . . . but very few do . They usually disappear before they reach our land . If they do make it all the way to the ground they are usually the size of a grain of sand and or a pea . If they reach earth they don't look like a glowing star they look like a rock .

There are many more interesting things about shooting stars . . . but I will let you wait till you are in school or get a book out of the Library to read about them . . . I want you and I to enjoy this next week watching for a shooting star each night . . . and maybe even making a wish or two .

One of the ways I learned about the stars is by reading a book by the author and illustrator of the Curious George books . The author's name is H. A. Rey and he loves monkeys but he also loved the stars and so he wrote a  book that taught me a lot about the names of the stars and the pictures they form in the night sky and it is titled Find the Constellations . Mr. Rey shows you how to find the Big Dipper and Little Dipper and many more like Orion who is holding a bow and is called the Hunter . But if you don't feel like reading about stars . . . I know you will like to read the Curious George stories .

Until next time ,
Wildbee