User:Elizabethkate66/sandbox

Fantastically Practical Adaptations - Would you rather live in the cold tundra, or the hot desert? Well, if you like winter, you’d probably want to live in the tundra. However, you would definitely need the right gear; like a hat, scarf, warm coat, extra socks, pants, and boots. If you like summer, (and I mean really, really hot summer) you might like the desert. You would need loose and airy clothes, shelter, and lots of water! The Snowy Owl and the Sand Cat have the right gear for these environments because they’ve adapted their appearance, diet, and defense to keep themselves alive.

The Snowy Owl (Bubo Scandiacus) and the Sand Cat (Felis Margarita) have adapted their appearance to stay safe in their harsh environments. The Snowy Owl has fluffy feathers and fuzzy-covered talons to keep them warm in the freezing, cold tundra. On the other hand, the Sand Cat has the “purrfect” paws for digging cool burrows, so even though it has fur, it still has a way to stay nice and cool in the boiling, hot desert. The Snowy Owl also has white feathers to blend in with the snowy ground, hiding from both predators and prey. Similarly, the Sand Cat has sandy-tan fur that camouflages it in the desert. The Snowy Owl and the Sand Cat have also adapted their diet, so they aren’t picky eaters. The Snowy Owl eats rodents and other birds, but when food is scarce, lemming (a small rodent, related to the vole family) will do. It has killer eyesight and awesome talons (or awful, depending on who you are in the food chain) that help it spot and grab prey. The Sand Cat eats small rodents and birds too, but also spiders, insects, and reptiles – even venomous snakes! Sand Cats can abstain from water for a long time, because they get all the moisture they need from their prey. When Sand Cats hunt, they press their furry heads onto the ground and listen for their food to come scurrying by, into their waiting paws.

The Snowy Owl and the Sand Cat have adapted to defend themselves and their young from predators, too. The Snowy Owl has a sharp beak and dangerous claws to protect itself, but they usually try to avoid being seen instead. The Sand Cat likes to stay close to the ground, hiding under anything that will keep it covered. It usually tries to stay away from places with water because it knows predators usually lurk there. After learning more about these animals, are you more like a tundra-surviving Snowy Owl or a desert-dwelling Sand Cat? The Snowy Owl is never cold, seldom goes hungry, and is a fierce and protective bird. The Sand Cat burrows into the ground, so it’s rarely hot, eats a variety of things, so it isn’t usually hungry, and is a fierce (and cute) little cat. The Snowy Owl and the Sand Cat each have acclimated themselves to survive in their harsh environments, using appearance, diet, and defense to protect themselves. These animals are fantastic examples of the practicality of adaptations. - Information from: Smithsonian's National Zoo, and Wikipedia