110.DOES A SHEEP GROW WOOL EVERY YEAR?
The wool that grows on a sheep is like the hair that grows on your head. It grows the same way and is the protective covering of the sheep against cold weather.
Once a year, usually in the spring when warm weather is ahead and the sheep no longer needs its “protection,” the sheep are given a haircut and all the wool is sheared off. It is usually full of burrs, thorns, and natural oil which is called “lanolin.” It comes off almost whole, like a hide, and is then rolled up and tied with wool twine.
109.CAN SEALS LIVE UNDER WATER?
Because we have all seen trained seals in the circus, and because seals are such fun to watch in the zoo, they have a kind of fascination for us. Yet surprisingly little is known by most people about these creatures.
The order of seals includes the fur seals, the sea lions, hair seals, sea elephants, and the walrus. Seals are mammals, and they stand halfway between typical mammals such as cows and dogs, and such sea mammals as whales.
108.ARE THERE SQUIRRELS IN OTHER COUNTRIES?
The squirrel is such a familiar sight to us in parks or in the country that we might imagine that our own land is its home. Actually, there are squirrels in every part of the world except Australia!
In fact, there are very many different kinds of squirrels. They may be as large as cats or as small as mice. They may have soft, warm fur or prickly spines. They may scamper through the branches or glide easily through the air from treetop to treetop on flaps of skin that are like parachutes. Some of them even live in the ground. But almost all of them are friendly, chattering little animals with long bushy tails and bright beady eyes.
