Deer Family of North America

Drawings are of a Whitetail Deer, a Mule Deer, an Elk and a Moose.  All drawings are of males.  I have not included a reindeer or caribou nor a red deer or a pronghorn antelope...yet.  I'll do some of them for a later post.  There are actually many members of the deer family.  

Mule Deer

Mule deer are our native deer here in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.  They weigh up to 300 pounds and they are up to 7 feet long.  The males, if you count their antlers, can be over 5 feet tall. Mule deer are named for their long mule-like ears.  They are twice the size of their smaller whitetail deer cousins.  Mule deer have a white tail that has a black tip.  Mule deer antlers branch or in a two tonged fork pattern.  

Whitetail Deer

Whitetail deer are smaller.  They only weigh up to 150 pounds.  They have a tail that is brown on the back but the underside is bright white.  They lift it to warn other deer in the herd of danger.   Whitetail deer are found mostly east of the Rocky Mountains.... They are very common east of the Mississippi River.  Whitetail deer have a black tips on the end of their ears.  Whitetail deer antlers branch by smaller points come off of one main branch.

Bull Elk calling for a Mate

Elk are a larger member of the deer family.  They are native to our rocky mountains.  They have loud horn like sound when the males are calling for females.  Male or bull elk are over 700 pounds and are over seven feet tall…if you count the antlers. 

Bull Moose eating Lily Pads

The Moose is the largest member of the deer family.  It can be over 9 feet tall (if you count the antlers)  and weigh 1600 pounds.  Moose love to eat lily pads while they wade in ponds…during the summer.  I once got too close to a mother moose and her calf in Yellowstone National Park.  She charged me and I dived into a small thicket of trees so she could not get at me to stomp me.  She was only defending her baby…but all I had was a camera.   In fact, you can’t even hunt in Yellowstone National Park.   Still, I learned my lesson about getting too close to wildlife.   ESPECIALLY a mother who feels she is defending her young!

Paint Ponies and Unicorn

A Paint horse is a specific breed that has the outstanding characteristic of dual colors or spots.  So today we have a paint pony and posterity... (posterity means children or grandchildren etc.).  We also have a paint unicorn with a rodent friend.  Rodents are usually small mammals that have teeth up front that continue to grow throughout their life.  Rodents include mice, rats, guinea pigs, chipmunks, beavers, and of course squirrels.  A foal is a young or baby horse under a year old.  A filly is a female foal.  By the way, a colt is a male foal.

Paint Horse and Filly

Well, if there can be paint horses and ponies then I figure there can be paint unicorns too.  The traditional unicorn is white with goat hooves, but I always picture the unicorns as a wide variety, just like horses come in many sizes and breeds.  

Paint Unicorn and Rodent Friend

  

Animal Behavior

T. rex, Triceratops, and Pteranodon Friends

I know that is is improbable that a young T. rex would be friends with a Triceratops and a Pteranodon.  But in nature strange things can happen.  There is a dinosaur track site in Northern Wyoming (called Red Gulch Dinosaur Track Site) and another track site in Southern Utah (Near St. George).  These two sites have hundreds of tracks that show mixed herds may have existed.  We can infer this because there are several species of dinosaurs represented by the tracks.  .   . and it appears that they were possibly traveling or migrating together.    

Cretaceous Dinosaurs in a Mixed Herd

Animals of different species will sometimes work together for their mutual benefit.  Birds eating bugs off of rhinos and elephants, cleaner fish grooming a shark's mouth, etc.  Then of course there is the wolf raven connection... Did you know that Ravens are friends with wolves.  Ravens show them where they have seen injured prey animals and the ravens lead the wolf pack to their meal.  Then the ravens get the leftovers.  Ravens have even been seen and filmed playing with the wolves.  So maybe some species of dinos working together is not so far fetched.  I highly recommend the movie, Land Before Time.  It was one of the first movies to show dinosaurs migrating in a mixed herd, caring for their young, and being more than a dumb lizard.  

Raven with Wolf Cub or Pup

Modern animals, like birds, often chew up the food to barf back for their babies to eat.  In the very good movie, Walking With Dinosaurs 3D the young Ceratopsian says something like, "MMMMMM Mom's cooking!"  There is lots of fossil evidence that Ceratopsians laid eggs and cared for their eggs and then cared for their young as well.  In fact most of the dino groups DID lay and guard their eggs and care for their young after they hatched.  

Triceratops Mother feeding the Kids

.  The only known exception to egg laying dinos caring for their young is the Sauropods.  It appears that they laid many many eggs and abandoned them to their fate...kind of like sea turtles do.  There is a Sauropod nesting site that goes on for miles in Argentina, It appears that a flooding river buried the site in silt and sand so the eggs became fossilized and were preserved for us. It is thought that a herd of Argentinosaurus migrated into the area, laid their eggs, covered them in leaves and abandoned the nests and their young to their fate.  It is thought that only one in a hundred would have survived to also one day reproduce.  By the way, Argentinosaurs is the largest known dinosaur yet.  It was 115 ft (35 m) long.  It possibly weighed around 110 tons.  That is 220,000 lbs. (99,790 kg)!!   WOW!  I'd love to see one of those!  

Argentinosaurus gathering Cycad leaves to place upon newly laid Eggs

NOTE:  All drawings and content are Copyright 2017 by Robin Andrew Lyman unless otherwise noted.  Permission IS granted to print coloring pages for kids or adults to color. 

Young Jesus Teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem

Young Jesus at the Temple

I always thought Jesus, being a Nazarene, would have had long hair by the time he was 12.  Remember that Jesus had traveled to Jerusalem with His parents.   When they were a day or two on their return journey His parents found that he was not with a relative.  It was common for kids to travel in the large group and be with relatives, cousins, aunt and uncle etc.  So Jesus' parents, well, his step father, Joseph and his mother Mary, were assuming that He was with extended family.  Then, to their surprise, He was not.  So, they traveled back to Jerusalem and found him after a few days.  He was in the Temple teaching the learned men.  HE knew more than they did and they were amazed at His knowledge.  When reprimanded He said, "I must be about my Father's business."  (He was not referring to carpentry.)

Penguins

Today was Penguin Day at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.  #LLPAPenguinRecord

We participated in setting a world record for the most people doing a penguin call at the same time.  There were 350 people doing the call.   We also went to see the Gentoo Penguin exhibit and took the below  photo.  The male penguins pick up hundreds of rocks, one rock at a time, to impress the females.  They both use the rocks to make a nest with like 1500 rocks.

 Two Gentoo Penguins at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium

So, I drew these penguins for you to color!  I left the head white for you to color.  Of course it should be black if you are going for realism.  But, it is yours to color so you could make them purple... or one pink one blue, for female and male.., etc.  Have fun!

Penguins - Gentoo Penguins to color

Auburn Fairy and a robin

Auburn Fairy

This photo is of a fairy figurine we bought for our garden.  She has auburn hair.  Auburn is a brownish red color of hair.  I call our fairy the Auburn Fairy.  Fairies are mythological beings from European folklore.  They have magical powers.  Some stories report that they are noble but rather vain.  They are almost always beautiful.  They are said to be caretakers of the land.  The leprechaun is actually a type of fairy.

Feel free to to color this drawing as you see fit.  Or you can try your hand at coloring her from the photo I took of her in the corner of our  garden.  However, since my name is Robin, I drew the coloring page with the Auburn Fairy holding a robin.

The coloring page of this, our Auburn Fairy, is available for you to print by clicking on the above link that says "Free Printable Downloads".  You will need to scroll down to this most recent drawing.

Auburn Fairy

If you want to color the robin realistically I have included a photo for you to use.  The male robin has a black head and a bright red-orange breast.  Robins are sometimes called "Robin Redbreast".  They are a migratory bird, flying south for the winter.  Often a first sighting of a robin in the spring is considered the first sign of spring.  Although most fly south in the fall, some robins, if there is enough food available, will stick around in northern locations throughout the winter.  

American Robin, Scientific Name: Turdus migratorius

American Robin drawing

Jesus Ascending into Heaven

Well, Easter is over.  But Jesus is still the leader of His people.  His work continues on the Earth too.   Many days after His resurrection Jesus took his Apostles to the top of a hill near Jerusalem.  He told   them to,

"Go ye into the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

Jesus was  taken up into heaven to sit on the right hand of God.  

This drawing does not show the other 7 Apostles...  (imagine them off to the right and left of the picture).   There were only 11 apostles at the time because of Judas' betrayal and subsequent death.  A new apostle was chosen shortly after this.  

Drawing is Copyright 2017 by Robin Andrew Lyman.  Permission to print and color page is granted.
Click on 'Free Printable Downloads" at the top and scroll down to see all pages you can print and color.   

Elf Warrior Princess Tori

Tori Undomiel Elf Warrior Princess

There was a history on our planet long before our age, the age of Men.  We knew nothing about it until "The One" communicated to the mind of a linguistics and English professor named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.  Back then much of the Earth was known as Middle Earth.   This is Tori,Undomiel...a cousin of Arwen Undomiel.  The two princesses shared a last name.  Undomeil means Evenstar.  When the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings stories were revealed to J.R.R. Tolkien the story of Tori was left out.  Tori was a brave elf princess who also helped defend the forests of  the Woodland Realm.  She had to deal with orcs and the occasional troll.  She would also visit her relatives in Rivendell for years at a time...especially when she had had a hard few years like when Smaug took over the nearby Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor in The Lonely Mountain.

Tori had a friendship with a dwarf noble who she met in her people's trading negotiations with the dwarfs.  She had a huge influence on her friend Tauriel.  So when Tauriel met the young dwarf prince-ling Kili she was willing to give him half a chance.  (That relationship never worked out because Kili was killed in the Battle of Five Armies.)

Tori eventually ran into her dwarf  nobleman a few years after Smaug destroyed the dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.  Tori had not seen her friend for several years but when she was on a trading mission for Rivendell, staying at the Prancing Pony, she ran into him.  He had been living in the Iron Hills.  Their friendship was rekindled, along with love, so she ran away with him.    The dwarf nobleman she married was named Hadoras.  He took her to a small valley in the Iron Hills and they raised a family.  Interestingly enough, their offspring looked very human and were eventually incorporated into the population that now rules the Earth...in the Age of Men.  So, there are people among us who are part dwarf and part elf.  This is not a well known fact.  If you are particularly lucky it may be that you have some of those magic genes of power from your ancestor Tori Undomiel.... the elf princess.  Of course, it could be that you are a decendant of Arwen and Aragorn instead. When a descendant of Tori and Hadoras meets a descendant of Arwen and Aragorn, they feel a familiarity and often get married.  This helps preserve those precious elf genes in our population.

I am convinced that this is why my wife, Laurel, and I felt such a familiarity when we met.   That or some kind of premortal existence we must have shared together.

The above drawing is a coloring page drawing of Tori.  The below drawing is not a coloring page.  It is Arwen, Tori's cousin.  This my fan art drawing.  It took MUCH longer to do than a coloring page drawing.  I think the actress, Liv Tyler did a magnificent job portraying the Elf Princess Arwen in The Lord of the Rings movies.

Arwen, by Robin Lyman

All drawings on my blog belong to me, Copyright:  Robin Andrew Lyman, 2016-17, however, the drawing of Arwen was done in 2008, so Copyright 2008.  "Artist Corner" is where I do my detailed drawings in pencil or with pastel chalk.  My detailed drawings are not printable on this site.  My art teacher is Tim Bird and he has greatly improved my art abilities.   Free printable coloring pages are available to download by clicking on the 'FREE PRINTABLE DOWNLOADS" link above the blog pages.  Permission is granted to print any of those printable pages and use at home or church or in the classroom.  If you want to make comments to me there is a comments link at the bottom of the FREE PRINTABLE DOWNLOADS section.  

The Real Meaning of Easter

Easter is fun for us.  We always enjoyed the Easter Egg hunts etc.  
But for this post lets think about what we are really celebrating:

Those of us who  believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God honor our Savior's resurrection at Easter.  It reminds us that no matter how hard life is on you, no matter the physical defects and mental challenges etc...we one day, after we die, get to be resurrected and return to Earth with Jesus Christ.  Our bodies will not be flawed like many of our bodies are.  We will not be sick ever again and we will live forever with our Savior.   Being a Latter Day Saint Christian I also believe that I will get to live with my family there too.

Jesus Suffered for our sins.  This process started in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

Jesus was crucified and died outside of Jerusalem.

After his death, Jesus went to the Spirit World to teach the spirits His Gospel.

Jesus was Resurrected after three days. 

Jesus appeared to His Apostles after His Resurrection. 

Someday we will all be Resurrected.  Even those who died in war.  

Country Bunny

Remember to check out the song parody at the bottom of this post.  

Country little girl Bunny

Today's post is in honor of the great children's book, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. I first read this as a kid myself.  It tells the story of a country bunny who is scoffed at for aspiring to be one of the 5 Easter Bunnies.  It is a tale of following your dreams and of being brave, wise, swift and kind.  She grows up and gets married and has 21 babies.  Then she teaches them to help around the house.   (NOTE to parents:  A study was done on successful people and they had only one thing in common:  They all had chores to do when they were kids.)  Eventually Mrs. Bunny's kindness, wisdom and swiftness makes her so impressive to old Grandfather Bunny that she gets to be one of the Easter Bunnies!

I was a country kid, with big dreams myself.  I find this book inspiring so I read it to MY kids when they were growing up.  I read it to my students when I was still teaching.  I also wrote a song parody to the tune of "On Top Of Old Smokey."  I sang the song with my own kids and my students.  I am including the song parody here if you want to sing it with your kids or students.   My daughter helped me write a couple of additional verses last year.  I think this is especially inspiring for little girls.  .   . but as a little country boy I liked it too.

The Amazing Book, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

 I see the book every year at this time, Easter time, at Barnes and Noble.  It is also available on Amazon.com.  I highly recommend it!

My drawings from this post are fan art, they ARE inspired by the book The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, but they are done in my style and they are certainly not exact copies.  

Country Bunny taught her kids to work.

Country Bunny delivering Easter Eggs

Country Bunny Song

Sung to the tune of:  On Top Of Old Smokey

Copyright by Robin Andrew Lyman 1987 verses 1-3
Copyright 2016 by Robin Andrew Lyman & Kimberly Sullivan,  verses 4 and 5

A small country bunny

Said I'm going to be

A great Easter Bunny

Just you wait and see

She had twenty one babies

She was wise swift and kind

She was the best mother

Grandfather could find

He made her a bunny

Who brought all the eggs

And gave her some gold shoes

When she hurt her leg

Other Easter Bunnies

Really did not mind

Cause to be Easter Bunnies

You're wise swift and kind

So if you're some-bunny

Who has a big dream

You may turn out to be

Much more than you seem

Ellie the Maltese

Ellie Dog, our Tiny Maltese Doggy

Today I am paying tribute to our sweet doggy Ellie.  She passed away yesterday after a sudden medical problem.  She loved to go bye bye and she loved her "Mamma."  Namely my wife.   She went blind two years ago and got along much better than you would think.  We taught her "No" when she was walking the wrong way.  We taught her "Yes" when she walked the right way.  We also said "Bonk" if she was going to run into something.  She had some doggy dementia going on, but it was not too advanced yet.  She is in Doggy Heaven now.  

Ellie Inside

Ellie Outside

Grizzly Bear Mother and Cub

Grizzly Bears are the largest land predator on Earth...although some biologists give that distinction to Polar Bears.  In Alaska a type of Grizzly called a Kodiak Bear is absolutely huge.  The largest Kodiak Bear ever found was 2,500lbs (1090 kg).  . . and they can stand 14 feet 94.3 meters) tall.  Generally though, the majority of Kodiak bears weigh between 800-1500 lbs (363-680 kg).

Grizzly bears are omnivores.  They can eat both plants and other animals.  They eat berries, salmon, even larger prey like deer, moose, and elk.  I was told a story from a military officer who told of two soldiers seeing a Kodiak bear take down a moose or elk.   Mother Grizzlies have one or two cubs that they care for.  The cubs stay with their mother for up to 2 years.

A funny story I experienced when I lived in Juneau Alaska.  .   .   I just moved into a basement apartment at a large house in the woods near the Mendenhall Glacier.  The landlord called me out to see what had happened to his large plastic garbage dumpster.  About 100 yards (91 m) into the woods was a torn up dumpster...in little pieces.  There was bits of cut grass scattered all over the snow.  It was late spring but some areas in the forest still had snow.  It seems that Kodiak Bears LOVE grass!  But they can't graze on it easily because they have sharp teeth up front with canine teeth.  So to eat grass the bears have to bite it from the side of their mouth.  My landlord has just mowed his grass for the first time in the spring so when the bears smelled the cut grass in the dumpster they hauled it into the forest and had a grass eating party!  

Cartoon Dinosaurs and a Pterosaur for Kids

Today we are looking at some fun cartoony drawings.  The first is an Allosaurus mommy with her chick.  Yes, a baby Theropod dinosaur is called a chick.  The modern animals in the crocodile family carry their babies in their mouth so we could infer that baby Theropod dinosaurs, like Allosaurus, may have also carried their babies gently in their mouth.  Allosaurus was a dangerous dinosaur to be around, unless you were her chick.  Theropod dinosaur eggs were found in Portugal and the babies were born with little teeth but clearly needed parental care. So Theropod dinos must have been caring parents.  Other evidence indicates that Theoropod dinosaurs mated for life.  So BOTH mommy and daddy took care of the chicks.  By the way, the meat eating dinos are called Theropods.  This would include dinos like T. rex, Velociraptor, and of course Allosaurus.  Allosaursus was one of the top predators of the Jurassic Period.  Notice that there is no grass.  Grass had not evolved yet.

Allosaurus Mommy and Chick

This second picture is of a young Sauropod dino with her friend, a young Pteranodon. This drawing is from the Cretaceous Period.  There were Sauropods in both the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, but Pteranodon lived only in the Cretaceous Period.  Also, Grass first appeared in the Cretaceous Period.   So if there is grass in a dino drawing, it must be the late Cretaceous Period.  There was also a lot of volcanic activity during the late Cretaceous Period.  By the way, the Pteranodon was NOT a flying dinosaur.  It was a flying reptile called a Pterosaur.  Pterosaurs ate primarily fish, but probably were scavengers too.  Some of the larger Pterosaurs may have hunted dino eggs and baby dinos when a nest was left unguarded.  

Sauropod and Pteranodon Friend