Hayleigh’s Blog

Giraffes arenative only to Africa but they are still found in many different countries throughout sub-saharan Africa. Hunting and loss of habitat have forced the giraffe population to find refuge in national parks in East Africa and the northern parts of South Africa.

Giraffes are herbivores that prefer to eat leaves from various deciduous[deciduous means the dropping of a part that is no longer needed, or falling away after its purpose is finished.]  and evergreen trees found in open woodlands and wooded savannas. They tend to favor Acacia trees. Giraffes drink water every two to three days and can go without water for weeks. When a watering hole is available,giraffes will drink up to twelve gallons of water at a time.

Giraffes are the tallest living animals on earth. The male giraffe’s height from hoof to the top of his head can be up to nineteen feet. The giraffe can weigh up to 4500 pounds. The female is usually two feet shorter and can weigh 2600 pounds. A lot of the height and weight of a giraffe is from its incredibly long,heavy neck.

A giraffe’s neck can be eight feet in length, weighing as much as 500 pounds. Even though the giraffe is much taller than a human,it has the same number of vertebras in their neck. Both giraffes and humans have seven vertebras in their necks. A giraffe’s neck contains a special vascular system equipped with special valves to aid in pumping sufficient blood to the brain.

African lions occupy a wide variety of habits in Africa. The majority of the lions are found in East African national parks and reserves. They also roam the vast African grasslands and savannas. Lions can be found in forested,mountains and semi deserthabitats. The only habitats in which they are not found are tropical rainforest’s and arid deserts. Lions are carnivores. Theirmain source of food comes mostly from their killings of hoofed animals such as zebras, antelopes,wildebeast and defenceless young or injured animals. The number of lions in any habitat depends on the availability  of their prey. Lions roam where  there is sufficient food to feed their pride or group.

African lions are the second largest cats in the world. The largest cat is the tiger.Male lions can weigh between 330 to 500 pounds and the females can weigh 260 to 400 pounds. Both female and male lion are very powerful they  are extremely muscular with back legs that are made for pouncing and front legs made for grabbing and knoking down prey.

On Sunday me my family and some friends went horse trekking. I rode a horse called barbie she is white and very cute. The last horse I went on was called Harley he was very fast he was brown. There was one mare with a baby that kept following her. My dog,biscuit was chasing the hens she caught one white one four times but it played dead so she left it alone. Biscuit was playing with a little foxy terrier called rip he didn’t really like biscuit. My mum and dad both went on horses. We went near the beach when we were on a very long trekk. It was in Kawhia, the house was yellow and was right next to the beach. For dinner we had sausages in bread with tomato sauce. My dad was trying to shoot a black swan but missed it eighteen times. Some other people that went with us had turns with the gun. It was very loud and frightened rip and biscuit [the puppies]. The gun shot hurt my ears so I took biscuit for a walk. There were horses on the path and hill side. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed it I can’t wait to go again.

My mum and dads friends Donna and Shawn own some cows and some cute little baby goats. We went to see the goats on Saturday. The goats suck your fingers. Their names are Flip and Flop. In England a flip flop is another name for a sandal. They are small and white I get mixed up with their names because the both look the same. Flip is a bit bigger than Flop and they are both very cute. Flop is a bit softer than Flip. Donna and Shawn also have two dogs as well as four cows, Flip and Flop. The dogs are called Elly the jack Russell and Tess the golden labrador. They are getting some horses soon I am allowed to ride them. Horses are one of my favorite animals. My mum and Donna are best of friends and we always go over to their house. My dad and Shawn always go shooting together. Donna and Shawn are from England as well. They have a nine year old son called Josh and another son called Steve and another son in England. 

On Sunday morning my puppy,Biscuit went running around my street. She ran out in front of a car and almost got squashed. She ran in front of another car well and almost got squashed. My mum was running after her in her nightgown. She went in the neighbours gardens. It took us half an hour to catch her. I caught biscuit by the collar and put her lead on. I had to drag her back because she knew she was in trouble. Mum put her in her cage, Biscuit hates her cage and tries to bite the bars. She was howling for ages. One of my little brothers let her out so we all ignored her for about an hour. She was whimpering and she tried to climb on the sofa to play. She started to chewmums new chairs she got put back in her cage for that. The dents from her teeth were really deep mum and dad payed 800 dollars for them and a table. Dad said that Biggles my old dog was easyer to train than Biscuit. Biscuit is a pedigree dog.

On Monday it was my dad’s birthday. For a present i got him a keyring saying world’s greatest Dad and a pen with his name on it. He also got from my two brothers a hunting jumper. My family in England sent him some things as well. Dad was at work on his birthday. My mum made him a big chocolate sponge cake with marshmallows and pebbles on top. My two brothers decorated the cake. For dinner my mum made him a fry up. A fry up has fried toast, beans, sausages and bacon.

On Thursday it was my youngest brothers birthday I bought him a book about airplanes. He had a birthday tea with some friends. He got loads of presents. I got to decorate his cake it was all chocolate [chocolate sponge, chocolate filling, Chocolate icing and chocolate mini flakes on top] The only thing that was not chocolate were the marshmellow number six on top. My dog biscuit loved all the attention from everyone.

  1To speak louder in public and school.I will do this by trying to improve my confidence.    2 To get better at maths and spelling. I will do this by working harder.3 To be a quicker worker. I will do this by trying to work quicker. 4 To be more confident in things I do. I will do this by trying to become confident. 

I have not achieved my first goal and I aim to keep working on it. I also have not achieved my forth goal but I aim to keep trying to become more confident. I have not achieved to become a better speller. 

I have got better at maths but I think I could be better at it and will keep working on it. I think I have achieved my third goal to be a quicker worker.     

Giraffes are my favorite animal. There are lots of cool facts about giraffes.Giraffes have very long tongues which helps them to reach leaves that are on the top of the tree. Their tongues are very hard so that prickles don’thurt them.The tongue on a giraffe is black but is sometimes looks dark blue.Giraffes have been my favourite animal for as long as I can remember.I think giraffes are quite elegant and are very beautiful.They are tall so that they can eat the leaves of trees.It is hard for giraffes to get up when they lay down so they sleep and do everything standing up. There are different kinds of giraffes that you can recognize by the shape and pattern of the spots. Most people think giraffes are weird . I don’t think they are weird I think they are cool. I have a collection of giraffes my oldest one is almost as old as me. I got him when I was almost one. He is very special to me.

My friend from England might be coming out for a holiday.Her name is Hannah. She has one horse, Two dogs, Two cats and one fish.We have been friends since nursery.We have always been friends I was very sad when we had to move to New Zealand.It will be a couple of years before I see her again.Hannah writes to me a lot and sends me E-mails.We send each other gifts I send her gifts you can not get in England and she sends me gifts you can’t get in New Zealand.I miss Hannah a lot and hope to see her when we go back to England for a holiday or when she comes here.Hannah might be coming out to New Zealand in 2010 which will be great!The other day Hannah sent me a small spiky ball saying someone special.I sent her a charm bracelet with  a glittery charm saying NZ with tikis on and other New Zealand things.Hannah used to live near me in England but then she moved to darbyshire.Every weekend I used to sleep at hers untill sunday or she used to sleep at mine.We would ride her horse Rosie at her house and at mine play with my old dog called biggles.Hannah is very shy but my english best friend!!!!

The other day my dog, Biscuit went toilet on our carpet. She got told off and put outside. It smelt and I didn’t know what it was but then I heard my mum yelling at Biscuit. So that’s when I went through to see what she had done this time. That is so disgusting.  So she does get up to trouble mostly. Biscuit is going to puppy training classes on Tuesdays. She sits and gives you her paw but only when you have a treat or she thinks you have a treat. We are going to show her as a show dog so we are teaching her down and stand. Show dogs have to stand in a certain way , they have to have their back legs out and apart a bit.