Lunch Gone

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Volume 22, Number 6 July/August 2023

Ever e
Liz Huyck Editor
Tracy Vonder Brink Contributing Editor
Emily Cambias Assistant Editors
Hayley Kim
Anna Lender Art Director
Erin Hookana Designer
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“At the Animal Clean Plate Club,” text © 2015 by Alison Pearce Stevens, art © 2015 by
Dave Clark; “How to Swallow a Crocodile,” text © 2015 by Nicole Gill, art © 2015 by Denise
Ortakales; “When Plants Get Hungry,” text © 2006 by Pamela Dell; “Plush’s Perfect Projects:
Cat and Dog Delights,” art © 2008 and 2012 by Amanda Shepherd.
Departments
Photo acknowledgments: C - colacat/Shutterstock.com; 2 (RC) TRUMPF/Martin Stollberg; 3
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Suggested for ages 7 to 10. Ketchup with your antlers?

 chew?
wers
Features

che
osy
cho
6 At the Animal Clean Plate Club

do
t
by Alison Pearce Stevens

ha
W

14 How to Swallow a Crocodile

by Nicole Gill

18 You Eat What?

by Nosy Newsie

22 The Very Hungry Tiger Shark

24 When Plants Get Hungry
by Pamela Dell page 10

back?
Does lunch bite

page 26
 by
Elizabeth
Preston

Lightning
vs. Lasers This narrow
green beam
ionizes the
In stormy weather, lightning can seriously air to attract
hurt people, damage buildings, and start lightning.
fires. A lightning rod is a tall metal pole
that attracts lightning. If a lightning bolt
hits the pole, it won’t strike someplace else
where it might hurt someone.
Now scientists have developed a new
kind of lightning rod that can reach even
higher. It’s not metal at all, but a laser.
Researchers put a powerful laser on
top of a mountain in Switzerland. They
pointed the laser beam high into the sky,
much higher than a metal pole could Watch out
reach. The laser makes a thin column for planes.
of ionized air that draws lightning
bolts in a storm. This could help
protect rockets and weather
stations in high places.

Keeping Cool with Snot

Putting boogers on yourself probably can lay eggs, like a platypus. It can also
won’t make other kids think you’re use its long, pointed snout to sniff out
cool. But for spiny animals called bugs to eat. One thing the echidna can’t
echidnas, snot is a great way to keep do, though, is sweat. Sweating helps
cool on a hot day. people and other animals stay cool when
The echidna lives in Australia and it’s hot outside. Echidnas live in toasty
nearby countries. It’s a mammal that places—so why don’t they overheat?

2 ask
 Are You My Mother?
Animals called Cape fur seals live seals. Then they played these
in huge groups, with hundreds of recordings to the animals and
thousands of moms and babies in watched how they reacted. They
one place. This cuddly seal pile is saw that pups recognized their
pretty cute. But when moms leave moms’ voices just 4 to 6 hours
their pups to catch fish, how do after they were born. And a
they find each other again? mom seal could recognize her
To find out, scientists made own pup’s special squeak even
recordings of mom and baby more quickly.
Mom! I’m
over here!

Where’s my
Kevin?

I think I’ll
stick with
iced tea.

Scientists found that

when it’s hot out, echidnas
blow snot bubbles from the
tips of their noses. Like
drying sweat, a damp snout
seems to help the animals This infrared photo sho
ws the
parts of
keep cool. temperature of different
a hot face
an echidna’s body. It has
(bl ue).
(yellow) but a cool nose

ask 3
 What’s in
here?

A snake!

It’s a
corn snake.

He’s No! No
Don’t worry, Does snaky
friendly. human food.
they’re not like cheese?
venomous.

They make
good pets.

Do snakes
eat bugs?

4 ask
 I caught a fly,
but it’s kind
of squished.

So what DO
they eat?

You’re not
gonna like it.

They eat
mice.

I can’t do it,
the mouse is
too cute!

Snakes are nice, but

our new pet is much
easier to feed.

ask 5
 At the ANIMAL
F
or a mouse wandering around But there are some picky eaters
How do you the forest floor, dinner might in the animal kingdom—and some
know you don’t
like it if you be seeds, or mushrooms, or extra adventurous eaters too. So
won’t try it?
berries, or beetles—whatever it can how do animals choose what to have
find. Eating a mix of food is a good for lunch?
strategy for a mouse. It makes it
easier to get all the protein and energy
and vitamins the animal needs.
And if a mouse is willing to eat
different things, it’s less likely to go
hungry. No berries today? Try a nice
root! Still, there are some things a
mouse won’t eat. Wood, crocodiles,
and poisonous mushrooms are never
Mice are on a mouse’s menu.
foragers— Most animals, like the mouse, eat
they wander
different things but mostly stick to
around and
eat what they their favorite foods, suited to their
find. Berries needs and where they live.
are a favorite.

If it's on the
ground, it
must be good!

6 ask
Clean-Plate CLUB
Do you have a favorite
by Alison Pearce Stevens,
art by Dave Clark
food? Turn your nose up at
anything new? You’re
not alone.

ask 7
 D a ily S p e ci al s

Many animals specialize a bit—they

prefer to eat mostly meat, or mostly
plants, or mostly insects.
Animals that eat meat are called
carnivores. But as long as it’s meat,
they will eat just about anything
they can catch with their sharp claws
and teeth. Meat is easy to digest, so
carnivores have simple digestive
systems. Of course, catching a meal
Carnivores’ can be hard work—no animal
sharp, pointy
wants to become another one’s
teeth are
good for lunch. So meat eaters have to be fast
catching and and strong, and they often go hungry. guts are full of special bacteria to help
slicing meat. Herbivores, on the other hand, them digest rough plant fibers. Some,
eat plants. Some eat only a few including cows, have several stomachs.
kinds of plants, but others Cows chew and re-chew their grass
will munch on anything many times to completely digest it.
green. Plant eaters have Then there are the omnivores—
big, flat teeth for grind- they’ll eat both meat and plants, and
ing up tough stems. other things like insects and honey.
Their long Bears are omnivores—and so are we.
In a balanced ecosystem, there
is an eater for every available kind
lion

Omnivores
have a mix of
different kinds
of teeth.

Herbivores And cupcakes!

have broad, ze
br
flat teeth for a
grinding up plants.
ba

ge
r
d

8 ask
of food. Sometimes, what an
animal eats depends on who
else is living in the same
area. Small South American
hoary foxes share a forest
with larger maned wolves
and crab-eating foxes. The
big wolves and foxes hunt for
crabs and mice. The smaller
foxes can’t compete, so they have
learned to eat termites and fruit
instead. This lets them share the
forest with their larger cousins.

Bears eat berries in the

spring, fish when the
salmon run, nuts in the
fall, and nothing all
winter, when they’re
hibernating.

I found this
delicious nut just
lying on
the ground!

I'll trade you

that enormous
nut for 10 of
mine!
Chipmunks do
love nuts, but
they also eat
fruit, mushrooms,
bird eggs, and
tree buds.

ask 9
 I'm not picky,
I'm discerning. What Picky
E a te r s P i c k
A few animals, like some people, are picky
eaters. They just like to eat one thing.
Take the koala, a cuddly Australian
animal related to kangaroos. Koalas
live in eucalyptus trees, and all they
eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are
eucalyptus leaves.
Eucalyptus leaves are not very
nutritious. They are also full of a strong
oil that smells like cough drops. But
Koalas are not koalas don’t mind. They have evolved
bears—they’re
marsupials,
an ability to digest the eucalyptus oil,
like kangaroos, so they don’t get stomach aches. And
with pouches since other animals avoid eucalyptus,
to carry their the koalas have it all to themselves. They don’t need to be fierce or fast to get a
young.
meal. That’s a good thing—the leaves
And for don’t have much energy, so neither
dessert...
eucalyptus! do the koalas. They spend 18 hours a
day sleeping and digesting.
We usually think of picky eaters
as demanding only the best or most
tasty food. But among animals, the
picky eaters often eat what other
animals don’t want. That means they
can have all that food for themselves.
If you eat the same food all the
time, you can be pretty sure it’s safe
Hmm...tastes like and won’t make
cough drops.
you sick.
Animals
that eat just
one thing
can develop

10 ask
mouths and claws shaped to get that food
very efficiently. But if you only eat eucalyp-
tus, you need a lot of it! Picky eaters often
require lots of space to graze in.
Being too picky also has risks. If a tree
disease or insects wiped out the eucalyp-
tus trees, the koalas might go hungry.
Beautiful monarch butterflies are
picky eaters too. Monarch caterpillars Mmmmilkweed!
feed only on milkweed, which is full The long,
of poisonous white sap. But the poison sharp beak of
a Clark's nutcracker
doesn’t hurt the caterpillars—it protects
is just the right
them. Birds quickly learn to leave the shape for digging
bad-tasting black-and-yellow caterpillars out pine nuts.
alone.
Because milkweed protects their
caterpillars, monarchs only lay eggs Monarch
caterpillars
on milkweed plants. And that can be a munch
problem—as milkweed gets harder to milkweed.
find, fewer young monarchs are born. Wouldn't you rather
have a nice mango?
Picky eaters will often go to
great lengths to get their favor-
ite food. Clark’s nutcrackers I Love Leftovers
Vultures are picky eaters in a strange way: they don’t care
are birds that are nuts for pine what they eat, as long as it’s been dead awhile. Vultures are
nuts. If they collect more nuts scavengers, animals that like to eat what other animals leave
than they can eat, they hide behind. They play an important role in cleaning up nature’s
some for later. Nutcrackers messes. Vultures are well adapted to their decaying diet. Ever
smelled a dead animal? It stinks! Those smelly gases guide
can remember their hiding
vultures right to the carcass. A curved beak helps them tear
places for up to nine months, in to get at the meat inside, and a bald head helps them
so they can munch on their keep clean. Rotten meat is
favorite nuts all year round. crawling with germs that
But even the most picky would make most animals
sick. But a vulture’s
animals usually eat other
stomach is full of super-
foods once in awhile. Some strong acids that kill
nutcrackers will nibble insects nasty germs. And their
or even toads if they find intestines host microbes
them. that knock out any germs
that survive the acid.

ask 11
 Bring
Every meal
should be an
It On!
adventure!

Some animals are the opposite of

picky. They’re willing to try just about
anything that looks like it might be
edible. Of course, many other animals
are competing for the same food. But
if you’re willing to eat anything, you
can always find a meal.
Adventurous eaters can be
carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores.
Some, like the monkfish, aren’t very
adventurous in other ways. The
odd-looking monkfish lies on the The praying mantis is an insect
Come just ocean floor, waving around a long, fat ambush hunter. Perching on a flower,
a little quill that looks like a worm. When a the mantis looks like part of the plant.
closer.... fish, squid, or other critter swims up Large eyes track flies, bees, and wasps
to take a nibble, the monkfish opens that come to sip nectar. When it spots
its enormous jaws and sucks the movement, it darts out lightning-fast
visitor down—whatever it legs covered with spikes. Hungry
happens to be. mantids are not choosy—they have

Try It, You’ll Like It!

Just like humans, within any species, some individuals are
more picky than others. Clark’s nutcrackers mostly eat pine
nuts, but some are happy to try a bug or frog. Others
are more cautious and stick to nuts. Even among
raccoons, some are more choosy about their Want some?
trash. This range of
eating styles is good for a
species. Picky eaters are
less likely to eat something
Monkfish lure their dinners dangerous, keeping the
in by pretending to be species safe. But their
dinner themselves. adventurous brothers and
sisters just might discover
something delicious that
everyone can share.

12 ask
been known to catch and
eat small lizards and even
hummingbirds. Sometimes,
they even eat each other.
This mantis
The “try anything”
has nabbed a
approach to eating can passing cricket.
be risky—there’s always a chance
that your meal may be poisonous or
fight back. So adventurous We're praying
eaters need to be tough, with it doesn't
spot us!
mouths, stomachs, and claws
that can handle a wide variety of
food. And their gut bacteria need to
be strong. In fact, bullfrogs have been known
But adventurous eating has many to eat 82 different kinds of animals.
advantages. For one thing, it means Although such a varied diet helps the
you can live in a lot of different bullfrog survive (unless, of course, it
African bullfrogs
places—including cities! Some of the is eaten by another bullfrog), it’s bad are also eager
most successful city animals, such news for other creatures when the eaters.
as rats, pigeons, and raccoons, are bullfrogs move in.
naturally curious and daring eaters. For every animal in every place, Sorry,
I couldn’t
This has made it easy for them to there’s a different best way to eat. resist.
move into cities, where they soon For some, it’s better to corner
learn to like people food and trash. the market on one
favorite food. For
Please Don’t Eat others, it pays to eat
the Daisies what no one else
Adventurous eaters can sometimes wants, or to eat
be a big problem. American anything and
bullfrogs, for example, will eat any everything. There
critter they can fit into their mouths. are plant lovers
Snails, insects, crayfish, spiders, and meat lovers
leeches, tadpoles, and smaller frogs and those that like
The best time
are all on the bullfrogs’ menu. And both. But they all of day is
that’s not all! They will also eat agree, the best time of dessert!

mice, birds, bats, and small turtles. day is—lunchtime!

ask 13
 HOW to SWALLOW
For extreme eating, snakes may take the prize.

Y
ou know that feeling you to use energy to heat their bodies. A
get when you’ve eaten a huge snake resting in the warm sun can
meal and need to lie down for slow down its breathing and heartbeat
a bit? Now imagine how you would so it uses almost no energy at all.
feel if that meal weighed as much as That means that snakes don’t need
you do (or more!) There’s no way to eat very often—a large snake like
you could eat something that big, but a python may eat only a few times a
pythons regularly do.
Snakes are creatures of extremes.
Most of the time, when they’re not
hunting, they’re pretty lazy. Snakes
are cold-blooded, so they don’t need
Kidneys

Intestines

Snakes have the same organs inside as you do—heart,

liver, lungs, stomach, intestines. But in a snake’s long
body, these organs are long and thin.

Yeah, Stomach
crocodiles are
much tastier
than rats!

Liver

14 ask
a CROCODILE
We must be
going now!
by Nicole Gill
art by Denise Ortakales

year. One big meal gives it enough rev them-

energy to last many months. selves up,
This trick helps snakes survive in putting on a burst
places where food is scarce. And it of speed to catch
keeps them safe—the less often they unwary creatures.
have to go out to hunt, the less risk After a python
they run of being eaten themselves. catches and kills its
But when it’s time for a meal, snakes prey—maybe a careless
crocodile—comes the first eating
challenge: how to swallow it?

A python’s sharp teeth angle

backward to help move food
into the stomach.

Pythons coil
themselves around
their victims and
squeeze until the
prey’s heart stops.
Lung Heart

ask 15
 Pythons are big snakes. Some can
reach 30 feet (10 m) long and weigh
200 pounds (90 kg). But with no
hands and small teeth, they can’t tear
apart their food. Instead, they stretch
their jaws wide and slowly swallow
their dinners whole.
Powerful muscles move the meal
along. And inside, the python’s
whole body changes. Breaking down
a crocodile is hard work! The heart
and liver nearly double in size. Body-
building cells multiply like crazy.
The stomach and pancreas pour out
digestive juices.

Snakes have evolved flexible jaws to

swallow large prey. A python’s lower
Inside the snake, powerful stomach acids break down
jaw is connected by a stretchy tendon
the meal to store as fat in the snake’s body.
at the bottom. This allows the python to
The snake will use this energy for months to come.
open its mouth extremely wide.

And I thought Plush

Hey!
had a big mouth!
Muscles constrict to
push the food along.

Anything the snake can’t

digest is expelled as a small
pellet through an opening
near the snake’s tail.

16 ask
 In fact, a python Egg Swallowers
digesting can burn 20 to Pythons are not the only
great gulpers. For their
45 times more energy than size, small egg-eating snakes
when it’s resting. That’s manage something almost
like the difference between as impressive. There are 12
a sleeping horse and a known species of egg-eating
horse running a race—but snakes, most in Africa. They
swallow the eggs of birds and
in a snake, all the action reptiles that nest on the ground.
happens on the inside. A row of sharp spines on the inside
The digestive frenzy of its backbone slices open the swallowed A snake’s hard
scales are
continues for a week. Then egg, allowing the snake to suck out the attached to very
the python’s body slowly egg’s insides. When it’s done, it spits out stretchy skin
the shell and moves on. underneath.
returns to normal.
So never challenge a
python to an eating Ready for
dessert?
contest—it will
beat you (no) hands down!

The stretchy stomach

walls and intestines
expand to hold the
huge meal.

The liver and heart

swell up to pump
more blood around
to busy cells.

It takes snakes about six days to

fully digest a meal. This python
won’t need to eat again for
weeks, or even months.

ask 17
 u t
Yo
art

y This week on Nosy News we’re

Ru
b

p er t
van speaking with some animals who
Wyk have pretty weird tastes in dining.
Hold onto your menus, we’re
going in!

Antlers
Yup. Mmm-mmm!
Mr. Porcupine, I see you’re I love these things. Talk
about to dig into—what is that? about crunchy! And Mom says
An antler? they’re good for me too, full of
protein and minerals.

Oh, sure!
I just hope Deer and elk drop these
the deer was things all over the place, grow a new
done with it. set every year! I mean, if we didn’t eat
them, the forest would be knee deep in
antlers. So we’re doing everyone
a favor, really.

18 ask
 Now here’s a
Rocks Skin Corrrrect.
speedy eater, look at her Oh, I meant to do Sir Crucifix Toad, I thought of it
scarf up those grains and that. All birds eat rocks, I hear you’ve come up with myself. My skin oozes
grubs! Whoa, slow down, you don’t you know? Got no teeth! a new way to catch flies. You glue, so when a bug lands
just swallowed a rock! So we keep rocks in a little muscle trap them with your skin, on me, it sticks. Then I shed
pouch called a gizzard to mash up is that right? my skin and eat it up, bugs
tough stuff before it gets to and all! Mmmm, crunchy and
the stomach. Helps the chewy. And I get back all the
digestion! protein and stuff I used
to make the skin!

That’s a good
trick, skin recycling!
Well, that’s…. I think I’ll try it! Go green!
Can’t talk,
very efficient.
eating.

Hey!

More Rocks
Just for that, I’m
not going to tell you.

Now why are YOU

eating rocks? You aren’t a Breaking
bird, and you have plenty of teeth! news! Why
Do tummy rocks help you stay under do alligators
water? Do they help you digest? Or eat rocks? Still a
are you so greedy you swallow mystery.
them by mistake?

ask 19
 You look like you’ve Whoa!
Dung The world would
got a lot of lunch there— Why not? certainly be a messier
That's poop! I'm a dung beetle. Dung is place without you.
what is that delicious You’re really going
morsel? great stuff! It’s already half digested!
to eat that? Less work for me. Plus it comes in this handy
Dung.
moldable form, and it’s everywhere! And no one
else seems to want it! So I take it home to
feed the family. Yummy! Gotta go, lots
more to clean up!

Dirt
Now here’s a big
eater with a big appetite
for—cave walls?
Salt is kind of hard to find in the
forest. But we discovered this great cave where
there's lots of salt in the walls. Mmmm, that really hits
the spot! We've been coming here for generations. My grand-
dad chewed out a whole room! I also know a great place to get
clay, if you have a tummy ache or need to get rid of parasites
tickling your insides. Don’t you humans do that? Oh, that’s
right—you put your stomach clay into pills and pink
liquid medicine. Whatever!

Well, thanks, don’t

mind if I do.

20 ask
 Your Own Dung Vomit
I suppose that goes
Hey, you’re not It was good the for you too?
a beetle. Why are first time, why not eat it
YOU eating your own again? Seriously though, look at
poo? this body—I don’t have space in
here for a lot of guts. And believe me,
digesting grass takes a loooong time.
So I gotta do it twice, so to speak.
Don’t look at me like that, it
makes perfect sense! Lots of
us little guys do it!

If it was good
I guess enough to eat once, it’s
when you put it good enough to eat
that way. . . again!

Well, there
you have it folks—
And finally, meet an
insect even spiders fear, the
Living Spiders something for everyone
at the wild cafe. Now,
tarantula hawk wasp! Madam, I any takers for that
Heavens, no! I’m going to broccoli?
see you eyeing that tarantula.
paralyze it, bury it, and lay an egg on it.
Are you going to eat it?
When the egg hatches, my little darling will burrow
into the tarantula and eat it up from the inside,
leaving the important bits for last to keep it alive
as long as possible. Then, out pops Waspy! It's
the least a mother can do.

ask 21
 Ans w e r
22
:
ask
Merm
aids a
re n ’t real, s
o eve n a tiger
shark
c a n ’t eat on
e.
tires, right?
It was the
impressed!
I’m
The
Very
Tiger S h a r k Hi! Tiger Shark here.
I just want a chance
to set the record
uc e
y H e a t h e r Hopp-Br straight.
art b

g
I m a y h ave eaten B u t n o w it’s causin
OK ,
f u n n y t h ings. a b it o f a problem.
some fault!
us
e frankly,
n o t m y b e c a u s
But it’s That’s
, w e t ig e r s h a rks
e d a y s t he ocean
See the s f!
e p r e d a t o r s . A nd
is f u ll o f weird stuf
ar
re a lly g o od at it! e t im e s w hen I go
we’re So m
e ’ll e a t f is h , s e als,
a f t e r a shiny fish,
W
le s , j e lly f ish, squid, t u r n s o u t to be a
turt it
a b s — p r e t t y much
li c e n s e p late. Bleh!
c r
h in g w e c an catch. o la t e , I’ ve already
anyt T o
s c ap e s these
Not mu c h e eaten it.
t h, le t m e t e ll y ou .
B u t r e a lly, what’s
tee doing
t of our nse plate
The secre a li c e
c homp first ??? If
suc c e s s is : down here
uestions cean, it
and ask q it ’s in the o I
e r . O t h e r sharks
h o u ld b e something
lat s
h o o sy,
are m o r e c can eat!
t ig e r s h a r k
j u s t h u n t ing in the of our lunchroom! If
but if a in t h e I’m
e f f ic ient e p y o ur boots
t h in g u s ly ou r k e
sees some stupendo ays y
B A M , g u lp !
ig e r s h a r k s a lw
o n la n d , I promise
water— ! way t s t ead ’t eat them.
s , e a t it Ple a s e , in yo u , I w o n
If it move s k e p t have. f u s for
eg y h a
making f u n o Thanks,
This strat o f , g e t k
top of the g weird st
uff Tiger Shar
us at the e a t in fo u t
o d c h a in for millions a ll t h a t weird stuf
f o
of years.

ask 23
 Just like people, plants need food Plants that grow in good soil make
to stay alive. But some plants have protein from nitrogen and minerals
an unusual diet. They eat insects! they suck up from the ground through
Once a bug lands on one of these their roots. But carnivorous plants
sneaky plants, chances are it grow in bogs, swamps, and marshy
won’t escape. It becomes places where there is little nitrogen
lunch instead. in the soil. The ingredients to make
protein aren’t down in the ground,
Please
but flying and crawling around them.

W
don’t
eat me.
hy do some plants have All animals, even tiny flies and
such a quirky diet? Because spiders, contain nitrogen (for their
that’s the best way for them to own body protein). By trapping and
get the good nutrition they need. digesting insects, carnivorous plants
Most carnivorous (insect-eating) are able to get the protein their cells
plants contain chlorophyll and can make need.
Carnivorous
plants often
their own food from sunlight, air, and But how can a plant catch a bug?
live in wet, water, just like other plants. But they also Each family of carnivorous plants has
boggy places.
need protein (just as you do) for their cells its own devious ways of capturing
to be healthy and strong. prey. Take a look!

Springy Venus fly

traps will snap up
any bug that lands
on them.

24 ask
by Pamela Dell

Oops.

This unlucky moth

has stumbled onto
a sticky sundew.

ask 25
 TRIGGER TRAPS

Venus fly traps open their leaves to display

sweet nectar. Attracted by the nectar, an
guard hairs
insect comes calling. If the bug touches
any of the trigger hairs twice within about
20 seconds, the jaws of the Venus fly trap
snap shut, trapping the insect inside.

trigger hairs

The Venus fly trap has leaves that open like jaws.
Sharp “guard hairs” grow from the edges of each
leaf. Inside are trigger hairs that tell the plant to
close. The inside is covered in sweet nectar.

There’s a good reason the hairs must

be touched twice. A falling raindrop
or leaf might bump a trigger hair
once. But twice sends the signal that
something alive has arrived.

Ouch!

Once the bug is trapped, glands on the leaves ooze a

red sap full of digestive juices called enzymes. These
enzymes dissolve the insect into a liquid the plant
can absorb as food. Digestion lasts about ten days.
Then the leaf opens again, ready for its next meal.

26 ask
 This little frog has
found a good place
to wait for an insect
meal—inside a pitcher
plant. Attracted to

Pitcher plants digest

only the soft insides
of the insect. The
hard shells, or
exoskeletons, drop to
the bottom of the
plant, where they

plant has been cut

in half to show the
plant’s former victims.
A large plant might
contain the remains of
thousands of bugs (and
snails)!
ask 27
 STICKY TRAPS

Sundews get their name from the

sticky hairs that cover their leaves. It
looks like dew glistening in the sun,
but it’s actually digestive juices made
by glands in the sundew’s leaves.
Insects can’t resist the shining dew,
but instead of a drink, they get stuck.
OK, who’s
As they wriggle to get free, they brush been petting
the sundew?
more and more sticky hairs. The leaf
bends to trap the bug alive, and the
sticky droplets suffocate it.

Unlike a Venus fly

trap, a sundew
leaf doesn’t
snap shut.
Once its prey
is stuck, the
leaf can take
hours to fold
over and begin
digestion.

covered with a greasy, sticky

goo that attracts insects.

But it And then

was such what
a pretty happened?
flower!

28
Adeline in Lots of things can Or spin around! But why The culprit is
Georgia wants cause dizziness. does moving make you dizzy? your ears!
to know, why People sometimes feel
do people get light-headed if they...
dizzy? Don’t drink enough water
and get dehydrated!

Stand up too
quickly, or for
a long time

Deep inside your ears are three fluid- The fluid in your ears keeps sloshing
filled tubes that bend in different for a bit, like chocolate syrup swirling
directions. Whenever your head moves, in milk after you stop stirring.
the fluid sloshes around. This bends
tiny hairs attached to sensor cells in
the ear wall. And they tell your brain
how you're moving.

But why will my head feel like it's So my inner ears say I'm still moving,
spinning even after I've stopped? but my eyes say I've stopped.

The mixed signals confuse your How can ballet We learn to

brain, and you feel dizzy. And over
dancers twirl focus on a time, our
so fast and distant ‘spot’ brains learn
not get dizzy? as we spin, so to ignore the
our heads don't dizzy signals.
move as much.

What's next, spinning chairs How about

or topsy-turvy? miniature golf?
 Send your letters to Ask, 1 East Erie Street,
Suite 525, PMB4136, Chicago, IL 60611,
In our February issue or have your parent/guardian email us at
[email protected].
we asked you to draw
us a picture of a lava-
loving creature. Thanks Arlo P., age 8,
Massachusetts
to all you visionary
vulcanologists for firing
us up!

Elena M., age 10, Michigan

Brendan S., age 9,

South Dakota

Cora M., age 9,

Fire Snail
Washington
Thea F., age 8, Washington

Dear Elvis, Dear Marvin, Dear Lucia,

How do birds fly? Do you have any good pranks? Well, it was a good plan...
Will D.N., I do. Put a bucket of water Marvin told Plush he’d eaten
New York on the top of Plush’s door and all the cake batter, but then
make her really mad. She will when she chased him he
Dear Will, bust in the door and it will forgot and opened the door
Very beautifully, don’t you drop on her! first. Oops. He’s drying off
agree? Lucia L., but wanted me to tell you
Up Up and Away! Michigan we’ll get it right next time!
Elvis Prankster in training,
Rats

30 ask
 Livia D.,
age 8,
New York

Isabella S., age 9, Hawaii Thermoblast, Lava God

Thomas M., age 9, Canada
Lava goddess Kia, which
means Guardian or Protector
in Hawaiian.
Eva R.,
age 10,
Puerto Rico

Wolagonix (a hybrid of a dragon,

phoenix and wolf), nests on volcanoes Lava Girl!
Gabe GB, age 9, Grace K., age 11, Maryland
Kansas

Volcano
Purrupon! The Snake
Roark B., of Fire
age 10, Thomas K.,
California age 9,
Maryland

Dear Ask, Dear Adri, it. She chooses by a mysterious

I am wondering if you could We get so many beautiful, process which might involve
tell me how you always choose fantastic pictures every singing and seeing which ones
the people who are the contest month! We start by looking at make all her fur stand on end.
winners? all the entries together and I’m pretty sure that’s how big
Sincerely, choosing only our absolute museums pick art. WE LOVE ALL
Adri L., total favorites. Then we realize YOUR ART SO MUCH!
Utah that we’ve picked them all. But Keep making and imagining!
we don’t have enough space! We are your biggest fans!!!
We need 100 more pages. It is The Ask Gang
terrible! So we get Zia to do

ask 31
 July/August Contest

Critter Cake
You may not know when your pet’s birthday is,
but that’s no reason not to have a party! For
this month’s contest, design a magnificent
birthday cake for your special friend or favorite
wild animal, full of their favorite things to eat.
Keep the chocolate for yourself, and think, what
would Turtle Tim really like? Send us a picture of
the lucky birthday animal with their special treat,
and we’ll host a party for them in an upcoming
issue of Ask.
Contest Rules:
1. Your contest entry must be your very 5. Your entry must be signed or emailed 7. Email a photo or scan of artwork to:
own work. Ideas and words should not by a parent or legal guardian, saying it’s [email protected], or mail to:
be copied. your own work and that no one helped Ask, 1 East Erie Street, Suite 525,
2. Be sure to include your name, age, and you, and that Ask has permission to PMB4136, Chicago, IL 60611
address on your entry. publish it in print and online. Entries must be postmarked or emailed
3. Only one entry per person, please. 6. For information on the Children’s Online by August 31, 2023.
4. If you want your work returned, enclose Privacy Protection Act, see the Privacy 8. We will publish the winning entries in an
a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Policy page at cricketmedia.com. upcoming issue of Ask.

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32 ask
Plush’s art by Amanda Shepherd

Cat and Dog Delights

Do you have a furry friend around the house?
Liven up their lunch with these yummy treats—safe for both Fluffy and Fido!

It’s cookies
for carnivores!
What you’ll need:

2 cups wheat germ

3 small (2.5 ounce)

jars of strained
chicken baby food

1 tablespoon water

Baking sheet

What to do:

1. Ask an adult to preheat the oven to 350° F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the wheat germ, baby

food, and water together. Add more water if
necessary to form a thick dough.

3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, and place on a

lightly greased cookie sheet or parchment paper.

4. Flatten the balls slightly with a fork dipped

in water, or shape with a cookie cutter.

5. Have an adult put the cookie sheet in

the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

6. Cool before serving. Prepare for

happy pet snuggles!
 text and art by Thor Wickstrom

Acorns for Avery, grubs for

Whatson, pepperoni for Marvin...This
pizza has something for everybody!

July/August 2023 Volume 22 Number 6 cricketmedia.com $6.95

Er, I think I'll just put Worms? Yum! But I'll

this worm here. trade you these acorns.
Here it is—the
Clubhouse Special!

Want to trade for Two mango bits for Want my

my worms too? your pepperoni? mushrooms
too?

So how's But Ratz, what about you? Me? I get my very

the pizza? What are you having? favorite thing of all—
leftovers!
Delicious!