God Save The King!
And his kingdom!
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"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, any one can start from now and make a brand new ending." - author unknown
Well, I had other pages ready to go, but my scanner decided it wasn't going to work anymore. So, no new coloring pages until I figure something out.
I had some more activity pages done before, so I'll just upload those instead. You can find them all on the GSTK Activities page.
This set is the same animal words put into code - some using different letters, some substituting numbers for the letters. Have fun! ^_^
^_^ I got the scanner to work again - not sure how ^,^, just kept messing with it until it cooperated. So, you get these as bonus pages - orginal planned post below. ...Hope it stays working. ^^[This George and Yame scene is from Beat the Clock!.] Fun page, but serious thoughts... In Kevin's latest video with George and Yame, he brings up people asking why shouldn't they be able to do what they want and pet a lion cub?
Unfortunately, I know people exactly like how he describes. "What's the big deal? I want, I want, I want." Even people in my own family would only think about their own pleasure and not consider the cub's life. They would gladly cling to those false promises and gimmicks the cub petting facilities feed tourists - and habitually ignore me or argue with me about it, as if what could I possibly know.
"A prophet is not without honour, save in his own Country and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." - Matthew 13:57-58
It's disappointing. Some people are just not interested in being enlightened, because reality disrupts their wants. I hope people like this wake up one day, but, in the meantime, I'm not one to let sleepers drag me into indolence of soul. If anything, I hope my brightness makes them restless. ;p
You can join the waking world, or you can sleep and get left behind.
What's the harm in cub petting? Coloring page 3, from way back at the beginning of this site in 2017, still says it pretty well for me. Cub petting facilities have no intention of taking care of those thousands of cubs until they die naturally of old age. The cubs people pet today are going to become trophies and snakeoil as soon as they're adults. When people pay to pet and handle cubs, they are encouraging and enabling the continuous overbreeding of more and more cubs that have no good future.
They don't stay little for long, so take your hands off your ears, open your eyes, stop singing "lalalalala" and look at the big picture. Like Kevin points out, even just one lioness being bred at each of those facilities produces thousands of cubs. Think about how many cubs thousands of overbred lionesses produce - and then think about their lives.
What _I_ want is for people to wake up.
There's mentions all over my site about the cub petting and canned lion industry, with links to more info. I also have specific sections for Cub Petting and Canned Lions, and KRF has a page outlining all about captive lions, including cub petting, as does the KRWS site's page on conservation. If you're new, explore and catch up! ^_~
Side note: 2021July - Yes, even though I'm vaccinated and the mask mandate has been lifted here, I still wear mine inside public places. ;p I like my mask, but there's also a lot of people who can get vaccinated yet are refusing to and giving the virus lots of opportunity to mutate. The pandemic isn't magically over. Just because you see the finish line doesn't mean you should stop running. Maybe it's more symbolic than protective (unless I add a filter ;p), but I'll be seen with mine for awhile yet.
If you missed the George and Yame coloring page for the last post, go to that post for it now. ^_^ I was able to get the scanner working last week and uploaded it the next day. So, you ended up getting bonus pages. ^_^
Back when I had a farm and a car and spoiled barncats, I actually loved my car getting covered like this after a rain (photo). I had always felt the muddy pawprints were perfect illustration to go with my bumper sticker of, "There aren't enough homes for them all. Spay or neuter your pet.", and I'd leave them on 'til they wore off on their own. ^_^ (My barncats were all adopted strays and spayed/neutered. ^_~) They not only liked the vantage point of being up there, but the metal was also warm on cool days. I was glad they climbed up there and not into the engine.Even big cats will take advantage of such a handy vantage point, but leave pawprints that are a little bit bigger... and sometimes dent the hood... ^,~ This coloring page scene is of two of the naughty energetic lionesses from Thor's pride from a fun video of them on a walk.
Poor Bobcat. ^,^ He's so lovable. These lions are based on photos from old KRWS/KRF posts. Lions don't actually laugh like we do, but some of their expressions can look like they are. ^_~ I think they were actually doing the flehmen grimace, but one maybe was a yawn...
I've added a bonus page with an activity where you can see if you remember what some of the different expressions lions make are. ^_^
. . . If I took videos, all the audio would be giggling. ^,^
Monday, while sitting on a rock at the reservoir, watching the little green heron fish, I heard rustling behind me and thought it was one of the songbirds. Yet, it was a little red squirrel sneaking toward my bike. ^,^ He froze at the tire, and I think he'd been planning to climb up to check my handlebar satchel for anything interesting. I thought it'd be great to get a photo of it, but some people came along the trail just then and curtailed that. He skittered off to hide until they passed.
My attention back on the green heron, just out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in the groundcover below the rock. I thought it might have been a frog or mole or something coming out from under the rock, but suddenly the little squirrel poked his head up right next to me. ^o^ He kept ducking down then starting back up partway, keeping a close eye on me as if not sure if he'd been seen. He seemed focused on my backpack, as if hoping he could check it out without me noticing. ^,^
I tried not to move too much to aim the phone/camera and couldn't see the screen that well, but the photos actually came out nice and clear. ^_^ He soon skittered off again, only to sneak along the trail behind me and back into the groundcover to try from the other side. ^o^ I don't know why he was seemingly focused on my bags, or was this daring, even if picnickers might have fed him or left food behind before. His bold curiosity was just so odd and giggly cute. ^_~ [As a rule, I don't feed wildlife - especially with toxic human food. ;p] You can click on the photo for another view of the encounter.
Sometimes I feel like that squirrel, curious and open but unable to get to where I want to be.
Okay, I think I got the folds and directions worked out. ^_^ Here's a hyena pop-up card that is sized to fit into regular letter envelopes. It was kind of hard to draw a hyena in this postion. I hope you can tell what it is. ^,^
The photo below illustrates the direction the folds should be. If it helps you line the diagonal folds up, you can fold them back first then fold them forward. All folds should meet at the center of the bottom edge.
spotted ~*~ Thank You ~ Happy Birthday
Green herons are much smaller than blue herons. They like to perch on the fallen tree trunks (or the stump in the background) and snatch fish and frogs that come out from under them.
Monday was a fun morning. ^_^ Not only did I get to encounter the blue heron that isn't skittish, but also the calmer green heron at the same time. ^_^ The only blue heron and green heron I saw there until this summer are pretty skittish, but the new additions aren't. Lots of people, including a couple of dogs, went by on the trail, and this blue heron was completely unfazed. He merely raised his head a bit to keep an eye on each dog.
World Lion Day is August 10.A lot of people don't realize that cubs offered for petting or photos don't live very long lives. People either simply don't think about it, or they may assume the cubs are well cared for until they die naturally of age. Follow the links in the sidebar to learn what really happens to them. A little thought can go a long way toward change. ^_^
And think about assumptions: Too many humans live by them. Part of why I like animals is because I'm a pretty direct person and animals don't dance.
People have made remarks as if on assumption that I'm not doing something by choice rather than inability. I'm not afraid, I'm not indecisive. I was decided long ago, and I had thought that was understood. When I can do something, I'll do it. I don't mess around. No one's spoken to me directly about it, and I'm not aware of any changes that would make me able, so I don't know what they think they know.
Younger people may not have heard this old addage before: When you "assume", you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me". If you don't speak directly to someone, operating on assumptions can hurt both sides.
My mom was a Leo. ^_^ She taught me to always keep my priorities straight, but never forget how to have fun. My characters here represent that. They advocate something serious, but embody the good-natured fun we'd have with her. She would have loved these simple crafts like these pop-up cards - probably would have helped me come up with all kinds of crafts for this site! ^_^
Below is a photo of a sample card. Color the background however you like, before attaching the pop-up figure - just remember that glue won't stick well to crayon. (If you attach the figure first, color down behind it a bit to avoid a blank spot. ^_~)
World Lion Day is August 10.
Follow the links in the sidebar to learn
more about helping captive lions.
World Elephant Day was August 12. I often think about elephants and lament the loss of tusks among them. Just saving elephants isn't enough: They haven't really been saved, if they all become tuskless. I see articles and such about the loss of "big tuskers" and even that, because they're taken out of the gene pool, now many elephants are even born without tusks. Yet, it's rare to hear anything about what that means for the environment - or humans.
African elephants use their tusks in numerous ways that other wildlife depend on as well. Remember the salt caves? They use their tusks to dig into cave walls (or the ground) for salt, an essential nutrient, and other animals benefit as they're unable to do it for themselves. Elephants dig into large baobab trees with their tusks for water and fiber. Other wildlife benefit from the access to essential moisture and exposed food sources - even holes for homes. Elephants also use their tusks to dig for water, creating new waterholes that help other wildlife survive the dry seasons. Elephants aren't the only animal that depend on elephant tusks. ~ see also bonus page 28 and page 152.
If African elephants become tuskless, other wildlife is going to suffer, too. Yet, what humans really need to consider is: Humans causing elephants to become tuskless is going to create more human-wildlife conflict. When elephants can no longer create their own access to necessary water and minerals in the wild, they, and the wildlife dependent on them, are going to seek it elsewhere. And that 'elsewhere' is human crops and water sources.
Science ABC has some ads but great, easily digestible info about the role of elephants in ecosystems.
~*~ In 2021 March, African elephants were officially recognized as two genetically separate species: Forest Elephants (critically endangered) and Savanna Elephants (endangered).
When gluing on the trunk piece, line it up below the trunk on the elephant's head - the trunk's crease will match the card's crease, while the head's crease is the opposite so that it pops up. Only glue down the tab-size left part of the trunk, with the crease lined up with the card's. Then, to glue the tab that sticks out from the heart end of the trunk, hold the folded tab flat to the trunk, put a little glue on the end part and lay trunk down, pressing the tab area to affix it to the card underneath the trunk. The fold of the tab, and the trunk, should remain loose, so that the trunk pops up a little when the card is open. ~ You could also just cut that tab off and glue the trunk flat, if you like. Actually, you could use many of the pop-ups flat, if you like. ^_~
^_^ I think this elephant card came out really cute! ^_^ I just hope I got the directions worded well enough to make sense. ^.^ Here are a couple of photos to help out.
blahhh ;p I don't mind the heat, but this record day after day, week after week of "air you can wear" oppressive humidity I could sure do without! I think of how it's winter in South Africa, right now, and wish I was there! ^_~ Parts of it even got some snow recently. ^_^ They rarely do.
I've been lucky to get any signal for over a month, too, so getting on the InterNet has been touch and go and everything takes forever to load or konks out and has to restart - took me two hours to see all of an 8min video. ^.^; Also need to order a new battery for my laptop. It won't hold a charge at all now and sometimes doesn't even want to work while plugged in. ;_; So, it's been difficult to work on things and even to get my updates to upload to the site, sometimes needing to try multiple times. But eventually I get through. ^_^ So, don't worry if I'm late in posting. I'm still here and full of mischief - um nice, well-behaved fun. ^_~
I'm doing different animals for these pop-up cards so that there's fun options and to spread a bit of awareness about other animals that share habitat with lions. Saving habitat for lions will save it for them, too. ^_^ This card is a cheetah. I hope you can tell. ^.^
[See coloring page 28 for more about cats that roar or purr.]
spotted ~*~ Thank You ~*~ Happy Birthday
Unless you're new, you will have heard that the Sanctuary is working to raise and rewild 5 cheetah cubs that were orphaned by poachers. Now, 3 more orphaned cheetah cubs have been added to the group. If you'd like to donate to help out with this project, or to help rangers protect their habitat, go to the Foundation's support page.
This photo shows pieces of turtle egg shells at the reservoir. Unlike bird eggs, turtle eggs are leathery.
2021Aug28 saturday - Aw, the snapping turtle nest I was keeping an eye on, hoping to see them hatch, got dug up yesterday. ;_;
It was fine yesterday morning, but somewhere between then and this morning it was dug up - no sign of the eggs. When I checked it early yesterday, you could tell something had dug a bit at it but had barely scratched the surface. Then, early this morning, I found a big gaping hole where the nest had been. ;_; So disappointing. They would have hatched any day now...
The other nest I knew about was at the reservoir, and I think those hatched a couple weeks ago. There may have even been two nests there, because there were two separate indentions a couple feet apart where the dirt had sunk a bit; and I saw egg shell pieces in separate trails down to the water. So, I'm optimistic that those ones made it. ^_^
Snapping turtle nests in our region will be hatching through Sept / Oct, so keep an eye out and maybe you'll be lucky and see some tiny baby turtles. ^_^
Glad I waited til I could check the urls still worked - I found out the white mother giraffe and calf I'd heard about have since been killed by poachers. ;_; They were leucistic, like the white lions, and not albino. She'd had a male calf before, and he's now collared to help protect him.
Here are some other interesting bits about giraffe I came across before:
One doesn't think of giraffe making vocalizations, but giraffe hum to each other at night. The World According to Sound has a great audio file of it with their info. It's not really a hum, but that's the closest anyone could come to in labeling it. It sounds like creaking doors and would probably be pretty creepy to hear at night! Well, maybe for cultures that have haunted houses... Maybe I should have saved this for Halloween... ^_~
There are two known dwarf giraffe - You can really see how they're stocky adults with short legs, rather than juvenile-short.
and that giraffe spots act like air conditioning - I wonder if strongly dappled lions stay cooler...
Their legs are so long, I had to erase the whole giraffes multiple times to try to get them to fit! ^.^ - and they still don't... ^,^; The rest of their legs are just hidden in the grass. ;p Maybe I should have made them dwarf ones...
Pangolin are considered the most trafficked animal in the world. They have absolutely no defense against humans. ...except other humans. ^_~
Pangolins are covered in scales and curl up into balls when threatened. They can't be pried open, and their scales keep teeth at bay. In the wild, this protects them really well, even against large predators like lions. Yet, this great defense makes it easy for humans to just pick them up and take them - mainly for those scales to be ground up and sold as "medicine".
The Asian pangolins have been decimated, and now African pangolin are being used to replace them in the market. The scales are simply keratin like hair and nails and don't contain anything special. They certainly don't contain anything worth killing for, nor for driving species to extinction for.
Kevin made a great video about pangolins. You can also learn more at Fact Animal. The Fish & Wildlife Service has info on the Countries that met to discuss pangolin threats and how to protect them, and Mongabay has an article about pangolins being reintroduced in a region they'd been eliminated from.
Leopards are another big cat that share habitat with lions. Leopards as a whole are listed as vulnerable, but many of the subspecies are endangered or critically endangered. The biggest threat to them (have you noticed the pattern?) is humans. Loss of habitat is at the top of the list, but leopard are also killed for ego-boosts, trophies, their spotted fur and because farmers feel threatened simply by their presence - none of which are very good reasons.
Leopards, like lions and other predators, can peacefully coexist with humans with a little tolerance and understanding and steps to protect domestic livestock - like penning domestic animals in at night, or using specially trained guard dogs, and not pressuring leopards into going after livestock for food by chasing off their natural prey. Protecting natural habitat helps the humans as well as the animals.
You can learn more about the different species of leopards at the World Wildlife Day website.
spotted ~*~ Thank You ~*~ Happy Birthday
... Um, our swan has lost some weight... ^o^ (that is not the swan ^_~)
What a beautiful day! ^_^ It wasn't anywhere near as humid as forecast, so I went out to the lake this morning and was able to get a few good photos of the roosting turkey vultures - using binoculars to boost the phone's zoom. Click on that photo (below) to see a neat wide view and see if you can spot all of them. ^_~
These are the birds you see in groups circling about the sky in our area. When I was young, I was told they were hawks, but I've since seen them close enough to see the heads - and those are not hawks. ^,^ ~ interesting bits about turkey vultures
The day continued to be so mild and not feeling humid that I decided to go out to the reservoir in the afternoon. Hoo hoo! What a beautiful day! ^_^ Not only did I discover a white heron, also called a "great egret", at the reservoir, but not far from him was a blue heron sunbathing! Wow! ^_^ Just like I saw before (photo at the bottom of this page), with the wings oddly curved about his breast... So cool. ^_^ ~ You can click on the egret's photo to see another photo of him. Photos of both herons were also taken using binoculars to boost the phone zoom.
I sat and watched them for a bit, then wandered further down the trail and came back through there later - coming across a young snapping turtle along the way! ^_^ He really didn't know what to make of me and would freeze forever ^_~ anytime I moved. So, it took a while to get a photo of him walking and not hiding in his shell. ^.^
African painted dogs go by many names, the most accurate translation being painted wolf. However, they're a species of their own - with less than 7,000 left in the wild. They are uniquely multi-colored, many with streaks and patches of white (like calico cats ^_^), which is why they're called "painted". Like spotted hyenas, they have a matriarch in charge, but, unlike hyenas, painted dogs have large litters of offspring. Yet, despite being the most efficient hunters and having large litters, their numbers are in such decline.
Kevin supports Painted Dog Conservation and often speaks at their fundraisers in Australia.
People who think my favorite color is purple, don't really know me. How well do you really know hippos? Hippos have fish clean their teeth, graze on dry land and can't swim even though they're related to whales and porpoises.
Hippopotamus mouths are pretty strange, and they can open so wide that even I could stand up in one. ^,^ I would never try it, but it gives you an idea - and maybe will educate you to think twice about getting out of a vehicle at a park. For some reason, tourists seem to respect lions while giving no thought to walking up to hippos. Hippos may be known as the "river horse" and eat grass, but they are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa! They are very aggressive and kill humans more than any predator does.
Yet, they have their precious sides, too. Their boundaries just need respected and any approach done with care and safety above photo-ops. PBS Nature has a bunch of clips and information about hippos, as well as a nice fact sheet that also touches on how they're killed for their tusks, which has put their numbers in decline. African Wildlife Federation has more detail about that market. Hippo ivory is cheaper and easier to smuggle than elephant ivory.
"Namaste." ^_^ That means "peace" and is used in meditation. ~ At the reservoir. ~ This blue heron was pretty relaxed this day and amazed me with this pose after about an hour of watching him and the little green herons fishing. My guess is that he was absorbing the warmth of the morning sun. I've seen other animals sunbathe, but this was a first for me with a bird. ^_^
I'd only ever seen one blue heron and one green heron there before, but about two weeks ago (mid July), another of each has shown up and neither of the new ones are skittish. ^_^ The ones I was seeing til now would see a human in the distance and take off, would never let anyone close. I think they are female, and that the new ones I've seen with them are males - the males not being skittish. I often see the two green heron together, and one will still take off the moment a human is noticed, while the other is more relaxed.
A man passing on the trail stopped to admire the birds and called the green heron a "shy-poke". I wondered if I had the identity wrong, or if it was just another name for the bird, and looked it up later: Herons and other water birds tend to let out a stream of huanu (bird doo) when startled and taking off and earned the nickname. It's from "shitepoke", which means "feces sack". It's pronounced like "shy", which is also a good description of the skittish birds. Other birds do it, too, though, and I've heard before that the behaviour is because it makes birds lighter and gives them an edge in escaping whatever startled them. I've only seen the female blue heron do it once, and I haven't noticed it in the others here at all. Another term for the droppings is "chalkline", and that's what big blue heron droppings looked like streaming down. ^,~
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Coloring pages may be printed from here and made copies of for non-profit, free-of-charge use only. ~ Don't have a printer? Out of ink? Libraries are typically happy to print things like this out for you. Some may charge a small fee, others will print a page or two at no charge. ~ Please do not hotlink to or use my images on other websites. Simply direct people to my homepage: godsavetheking.neocities.org , thanks! Plant seeds!
[I'm not a professional and have limited resources/access; so the image quality isn't very 'clean' on some, but they print/copy fine. I make the printable images to be around 8x11 inches to fill a sheet of regular letter-size paper.]
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"Believe Me Now" - Steven Curtis Chapman
When you don't have the strength to fight,
Have the faith to stand.
~ A long time fav'. ^_^ ~
