Vocabulary:
agile ['æʤaɪl] – проворный, быстрый
leap (lept, leaped) [li:p] – прыгать, перепрыгивать
prey [preɪ] – добыча, жертва
swamp [swɔmp] – болото, топь
Rattlesnake
A rattlesnake, or a rattle, owes its name to the tail. When the rattlesnake shakes its tail, the separate pieces knock together, creating the rattling sound. It’s believed that rattlesnakes make noise to warn larger animals than they are. The rattle is made of the same material as your finger nails. A new “button” is added each time the snake sheds its skin. As a snake grows, its scaly skin becomes too small for its body so it regularly sheds the old skin. A new, larger skin replaces the old one.
Many people have nightmares about being bitten by snakes. But snakes are not interested in people. They eat rodents, lizards, birds and their eggs. A rattlesnake can identify and kill its prey in total darkness. If there is a mouse nearby, the snake’s infrared sensors can detect the rodent’s body heat. When the snake strikes, its head and fangs are guided by additional heat sensors inside its open mouth. A mouse in a rattler’s path can become a midnight snack without even seeing its attacker.
The rattlesnake’s jaws fit together loosely so the snake’s mouth can open really wide. That’s useful both for striking and swallowing animals whole – rattlesnakes don’t chew their food.
In winter rattlesnakes gather in underground holes or caves to sleep through the cold season of the year. During this hibernation period, their body processes slow down so much that they don’t need to eat anything. Sometimes as many as 1000 rattlesnakes will coil up together to hibernate.
Some people think that all snakes should be killed. But farmers all around the world could tell you that’s not a good idea. In areas where snakes have been destroyed, rats and mice have taken over are eating farmers out of business!
Vocabulary:
coil up [kɔɪl] – свертываться кольцом
fang [fæŋ] – ядовитый зуб
hibernate ['haɪbəneɪt] – зимовать, находиться в зимней спячке
hibernation [haɪbə'neɪʃ(ə)n] – зимняя спячка
jaw [ʤɔː] – челюсть
lizard ['lɪzəd] – ящерица
rattle ['rætl] – детская погремушка, трещотка
rattlesnake ['rætlsneɪk] – гремучая змея
shed [ʃed] – сбрасывать
swallow ['swɔləu] – глотать
Vulture
O
ne
of the biggest vultures in the world is the California condor. It can
have wingspans of more than 3 meters and casual observers have
sometimes mistaken them for small planes!
As other vultures, the condors hunt small animals and can take baby livestock. They look for food by circling high overhead and scanning the ground. With eyes that are better than many binoculars, the large birds can see animals up to 1,6 km away! But they prefer to find its food already dead.
The condors have very strong talons and beaks and can break through the skins of large animals. They have bald heads as many other vultures. This is a convenient feature – it allows the big birds to stick their heads into dead bodies of animals without getting their feathers all dirty.
The California condor is nearly extinct, but recently scientists have reintroduces a few to the wild.