Battle of Yorktown

Thus the last battle in the American Revolution and an amazing battle strategy planted to destroy the British. Yorktown is my favorite siege. The battle took place on Octer 19th 1781.

Washington was in New York. The British were slowly tracking him and attacks became more frequent. Until he heard that General Cornwallis was in Yorktown Virginia. If he could defeat Cornwallis this means he wins the war. Most of the troops are with him and the British would forcefully surrender.

The Americans knowing the French were on their side and knew they had a good navy decided that they would attack the British soldiers coming on ship to Yorktown. If the French don't reach there on time, the British would get the supplies and men to Cornwallis and he would be unbeatable. The Americans and the French armies would corner him at the bay. If Cornwallis tries to leave by boat, the french Navy should be able to bombard them. But...what if the French arrive too late.

The answer is. They weren't. Clinton's army were bombarded and they retreated. The French continued their voyage to the York river where it is written Ocean Battle on my fail picture. The Americans attacked at early morning. The British didn't know what in the world was happening. But soon. The Americans and French captured Yorktown and the battle was over.

America gained independence. The treaty of Paris was in 1783. The war was over.
What I want you to think:

Think about all those soldiers who died in believing.
Think of how many didn't see their families ever again.
Think of what would happen if the French were too late.

Battle of Bunker-Hill

In  this epic battle of history, 1 side suffered heavy losses and learned allot but the most important part was that the American army showed their courage in fighting.

The attacks started at around 3:30 pm. The Americans were led by Colonel William Prescott as the Britsih assaulted. On the heavy rain off bullets by the Americans, they were told to pick off officers. And a famous saying by Prescott 'Do not fire until you see white in the Britishers' eyes' since they were low on ammunition. Guarded by a stonewall they had something to duck under and to doge. The British were working their way towards the fences and against the force of gravity. This made slaughter and bloodshed for the British. Exhausted soldiers being picked off effortlessly by the Americans. The first force was defeated. The general of the British side William Howe felt embarrassed.

And again the second time the British tried to get past the fences. But the heavy musketry was too heavy. The way the British fired was like this. The first row of soldiers crouched and shot giving way to the second row. After the first and second row finished they ducked and let the 3rd row fire. And again and again. First the light British troops attacked on foot. As soon as they came close BANG they were shot down. The remaining retreated and joined the force and so on. But as the Americans failed to keep the 3rd brigade of Britishers off, the British succeeded their plans. The British had bayonets at the end of their muskets. This means they can stab with their sharp tip on their musket but Americans don't have these.

They attacked brutally. The Americans were forced to retreat. The Americans had barely any ammo left to fire back as they ran. And therefore, the British captured Bunker Hill. But this proved to many people that the Americans could fight back. This battle is also known as Battle of Breed's Hill. The battle ended around 5:30. The important lesson learnt was to Howe. Never underestimate Americans.

Hippos

The African Hippo, It causes the most deaths of all other large animals to humans. But, it is geared with survival adaptations that come in handy a lot.

Hippos cannot survive out of water. When in the sun they get this pink looking substance on their body. You might think they are sunburns, but actually, they are a kind of sunscreen that the hippo makes itself. It travels at night to feed. They travel at least 5 miles to find grass through the forests into fields. And just when the sun peeps out. They Stampede in an enormous herd knocking down everything in their path. This is the time when villager wake up. When they see the hippos, it's too late.

Hippo males are dominant animals. All they care about is, who controls what. In a large herd of hippos, all are female but 1. This is the dominant male. He will fight till death to be dominant. The reason, is because he has mating rights. To say he is dominant, he wriggles his tale, which splashes some water and spreading their feces. Males can get into gruesome fights. When males fight, their wounds should be infected, but they don't. The same fluid that gives in for their sunscreen gives in as an anti-biotic

It is believed that hippos are related to whales. They have a bone that connects both hind legs that is unique to other animals and this family includes whales. They evolved from a four legged animal millions of years ago. Soon it stretched and evolved into what we see now.

Carnivorous Dogs

There are many carnivorous animals but to main groups
1.Cats
2.Dogs

And I am going to talk about the dog family in these 2 groups.
Dogs are highly successful animals thriving all around the world in different species. Some of these include. In this I will talk about wolves and hunting dogs.

• Wolves
• Foxes
• Hyenas
• African hunting dogs
• and many more such as the bush dog

African Hunting Dogs
These dogs are the most successful hunter that chase their prey in the world with 8/10 of their hunts successful. They are led by an alpha male and female. This is the only pair in the whole clan that can breed. These animals are not that common to find for their burrows are well hidden in the shrubs. Their litter can have 20+ pups and as a pack they can hunt in up to 50 in a pack. a few usually chase the herd from behind and drive them into the waiting dogs. Therefore in t heir sheer number they usually manage to take a target down such as an animal as big a wildebeest. When the hunter reach home to feed their pups, the pups lick the adults mouths to indicate that they want food. The adult regurgitates food. As most dog pups fight for food, these share even as pups.

Wolves
Wolves are another part of the dogs' family. Whereas these are not as successful in hunting as the hunting dogs and only 1/10 of their hunts are successful and they hunt quite often. They travel with the elk herds picking on the weaklings. Wolves can be howling for 2 reasons
1.  To warn of other wolf packs
2.  To reunite again after a long chase
Wolves use the same method as their relatives in Africa but have less number of them in a pack.
Wolves usually prey on large herbivores such as deer, elk, and moose. But they need lots of power to take down a moose for they are large and powerful. These wolves have a strict hierarchy and just like hunting dogs only the alpha male and female can mate. The females have their own hierarchy and the males too. 

The Omnivorous Opportunists

Animals such as Pandas are very picky eating only bamboo. And when humans destroyed bamboo forests their population crashed. They had no other food to fall back on. But many other animals have. They are all successful omnivores.

The Raccoon
With and extreme sense of touch these are very successful omnivores. When in a creek, they feel underwater and build an image of what there is. And they can distinguish the difference between Oysters and rocks. When they feel a crayfish which has pincers they quickly kill it by disarming it and then eating the soft underside.

Skunks
In caves for a few months skunks dwell in them. Bats poo and produce a strong ammonia smell and the ground is full of flesh eating beetles. But still skunks prefer this place. It's when young bats are born. These bats are flightless and the huge number of them causes some to lose gripping. The skunk uses its hearing and depends on bumping into them. But if the bats once again reaches the wall, its safe.

Grizzly Bears 
These animals consume at least 12 salmon a day. Salmon in this season of late summer migrate in great numbers of 1,000's together and an easy feast of fat. And a few months before hibernation they eat berries because it's berry season. They can consume up to 200,000 berries a day. This boosts their hope of hibernation survival for 4 months in the winter.

Credits to David Attenborough and the series "Life of the Mammals"

Crocodile's Digestive System

Crocodiles are reptiles and like most reptiles they cannot chew, for their mouth cannot move sideways. And the Crocs have adapted away to deal with this problem.

Over the past millions of years, crocs have evolved bigger bodies and longer mouths. This enables more muscle for dragging in animals and for catching fish easier. But out of all these advantages, it forms a disadvantage. They cannot chew. And this calls for only one alternative...swallow chunks of their prey. This is bad for most animals like use for they will not digest properly.

While the food is going down the food pipe, it is met by sand and rocks. These elements help break down the horns, hooves, hair, and flesh. Now the more broken down material enters a pool of hydrochloric acid(hcl). But to keep from digesting itself the crocodile has layers in its body made of epithelial cells to protects itself from the deadly acid.. Otherwise the croc will be digested instead of its meal!


So now you know how the crocodile's digestive system works.