Makuraati

PELLET TASTING

”These roaches are pretty cute alright. What do they eat?” //
”Veggies, I often give them apple. And these bunny pellets, too.” //
”What do those taste like?” ”I don’t know, I haven’t tested.” //
”Well, I’ll taste them.” ”Me, too!” //
”Hmm…grainy. Not bad.” ”Surprisingly salty.” ”Like a meadow pressed into a block.” ”Piquant! Green…” //
”Like some sort of tea powder.” ”Yes. Kinda, like, forest-y.” //
”The aftertaste is rather long.” ”Let’s have more.” ”Hey seriously now.”

Balinmuurdrilli

THE BALI ANTRILL

Paluu eläinyhdistelmähaasteen pariin! Tällä kertaa ihan oikeasssa elämässä… Tämänkertaiset internetin ihmemaan satunnaisgeneraattorin valitsemat eläimet olivat balinkottarainen, muurahaiskarhu ja mandrilli. Tapani mukaan aloitin piirtämällä kuvia oikeista eläimistä.
Return to animal mash-up challenges! This time in real life… The animals that a random animal generator somewhere in the Internet gave me were Bali myna, anteater and mandrill. As usual, I started off by drawing pictures of the actual animals.

Seuraavaksi suunnittelin, miten nämä eläimet muodostaisivat yhden eläimen, jossa olisi kaikkien kolmen piirteitä.
Next I planned how these animals would merge together into one creature with characteristics from all three.

Ja tässä on lopullinen balinmuurdrilli!
And here’s the final Bali antrill!

– can lift and lower its crest according to its emotions
– thick tail help in keeping balance while climbing
– males have more brightly-colored facial patterns than females
– catches insects with its long tail
– flexible toes and opposable thumbs help in climbing and strong claws in ripping tree bark
– walks on its knuckles to prevent its claws from wearing
– a young individual is grey and its face less colorful than adults’

Jos jollain lukijalla on hyviä ideoita eläinyhdistelmiin, niin kertokaa toki! (Kesäkurpitsa ei ole eläin.)
If some of you readers have good ideas for animal mash-ups, feel free to tell me! (A zucchini is not an animal.)

Torakkakoulu

ROACH SCHOOL

”Hey, easy now…” ”Heeeeeellllppp!!!” //
”My roaches are not at all used to be held on hand so they really freak out about it. I’m sure they get used to it eventually but maybe I could train them a little.” //
”If they could connect being held to something nice… Maybe they’d like to eat jam if I put some on my hand.” //
Tony didn’t care about jam. ”There’s jam.” ”Oh. Well, I’ll just sit here.” //
Bruce didn’t even notice the jam. ”There’s jam – ”Ruuuuuunnn!” //
Neither did Steve. ”There’s j – ” ”Aaaaaahhh!” //
But Clint… ”Hey, what’s this –?” //
”Oh boy, JAM! Munchmunchmunchmunchmunchmunch…” Clint might be the brain of the operation.

Torakkostajat

THE ROACHVENGERS

”Most roaches are apparently bought for food for pet lizards….” ”Well, then you can be like…” //
”You have been chosen! You have been saved!” ”<3" //
In reality: "Most of these cockroaches are bought to be pets. People buy the smaller species for food." //
"You have been… Hey, don't go!" "Escaaaaaape!"


”Years ago we zoo summer guides had our own ’summer roaches'”. Someone had named them Wanda, Thor, Black Widow and Hulk.” //
”So they were all super heroes, which I found hilarious. I named my own roach boys according to the same principle.” //
”Bruce, after Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk; Steve, after Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America; Tony, after Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man; and Clint, after Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye.” (Hawkeye is a bit ironic name for a creature that sees very little.)


BRUCE
– all black
– the largest of the roaches
– the left antenna has broken
– a feisty fellow with very loud hissing
STEVE
– easy to recognize by the brown splotches on his sides
– broken antennae
– almost as large as Bruce
– hisses a lot and often jump out of your hands
TONY
– all black
– smaller and wider than Bruce
– very long and elegant antennae
– pretty calm personality
CLINT
– dark brown back
– very skinny abdomen
– rather calm fellow
– possibly the brain of the bunch

Torakka saapuu taloon

ROACHES COME TO THE HOUSE

”I again worked in the zoo throughout the summer and showed cockroaches to people every day. And many really liked them, despite of not expecting it!” //
”And, well, I like them, too.” //
”I’ve always liked animals, but I can’t (at least for now) have a cat or a dog. I wouldn’t have the time to take care of one.” //
”Nut roaches! They’re really easy to take care of, and at the same time they’re fashinating little creatures!” //
I got a used terrarium for them. //
”Cockroaches don’t eat that much. One apple is enough for a bunch of them for two weeks.” //
”After decorating the terrarium I was ready to get some new friends.” //
”But, many might ask… what are these roaches like?”


”There are approximately 4,500 species of cockroaches in the world! That’s about as many as species of mammals.” //
Cockroaches have a rather bad reputation even though they’re mostly totally harmless and important decomposers. //
”My roaches are Madagascar hissing cockroaches, often just called ’hissers’. They are popular pets.” //
Madagasgar hissing cockroach (
Gromphadorhina portentosa)
– Smells and feels its surroundings with antennae
– Has no wings, therefore doesn’t fly.
– Can climb up a class wall with the hooks and suckers of its feet.
– Females can reproduce without males so I only got males. These roaches don’t lay eggs but give birth to live young!
– Eats fruit and other plant material.
– The head is under the body. Poor eyesight.
– Males have humps in their front back, females lack the humps.
– One of the largest species of cockroach – up to 8 cm long!
– When they get scared they let air out of the breathing tubes in their abdomen producing a strong hissing sound – hence the name!
– Coloration varies from mahogany brown to all black.

Torakoiden seikkailut jatkuvat… // The roach adventures will continue…

Työpaikkaäiti

WORK PLACE MOM

”…” //
”What’s up?” //
”I’ve just totally run out of energy.” //
”Do you need chocolate?” ”Well, actually…” //
”…right now I’d need someone to firmly but gently tell me to go home.” //
”Kati. Go home.” //
”Yes.” //
”Would you like that chocolate, too?” ”Yes <3"

Eläinyhdistelmä

ANIMAL MASH-UP

”Hey, I’ve got a drawing challenge for you!” ”Yes?” //
”Draw a mash-up animal that is a combination of human, panda and zucchini!” ”Okay!” //
… //
”Here’s the result. It looks pretty much like a Tyrannosaurus… except that it spits pickled cucumbers!” //
”It doesn’t have much human or panda in it, though…” //
”…” //
”That was one dumb dream.”

Kuukausihaasteet

MONTHLY CHALLENGES

Täältä pääset näppärästi hyppäämään kaikkien ”X:n kuukausi” -postausteni alkuun!
– fiktiivisiä sankareita käsittelevä Sankareitten kuukausi eli H is for Hero (helmikuu 2017) alkaa täältä.
– suosikkieläimiäni esittelevä Eläinten elokuu (elokuu 2018) alkaa täältä.
– tarinoiden parhaita pahiksia esittelevä Kelmien kuukausi (helmikuu 2019) löytyy täältä.
– sukupuuttoon kuolleita eläimiä esittelevä Kadonneiden kuukausi (elokuu 2019) alkaa täältä.
– parhaita liikkumismuotoja esittelevä Kulkemisen kuukausi (helmikuu 2020) löytyy täältä.
– hauskimpia epäsanoja selittävä Month of Nonsense (elokuu 2020) lähtee täältä.
– mahtavimpia fiktiivisiä ystävyyksiä esittelevä Ystävyyden kuukausi (helmikuu 2021) alkaa täältä.
– muistettavimpia fiktiivisiä perheitä ruotiva Perheiden kuukausi (elokuu 2022) starttaa täältä.
– kiinnostavimpia fiktiivisiä matkakohteita esittelevä Matkustamisen kuukausi (elokuu 2023) löytyy täältä.

Here you can easily jump to the beginning of each one of my Month of X challenges!
A Month of Heroes, or H is for Hero (February 2017), introducing my favorite fictional heroes begins here.
Animal August (August 2018), telling about my favorite animals can be found here.
A Month of Villains (February 2019), all about the best fictional baddies, starts here.
A Month of the Lost (August 2019), introducing extinct animals begins here.
A Month of Moving (February 2020), which is about best ways to move around, can be found here.
A Month of Nonsense (August 2020), describing the best nonsense words starts here.
A Month of Friendship (February 2021), introducing the most awesome fictional friendships begins here.
A Month of Families (August 2022), all about the most memorable fictional families is here.
A Month of Travelling (August 2023), introducing the most interesting fictional travel destinations begins here.