Dr. Splatt and Mrs. Roadrash took a plane and decided to go to a continent for a wild road trip.
"I can't believe you messed up our car rental!" said Dr. Splatt. "Well I hate to break it to you, but you're the one who called the rental agency." said Mrs. Roadrash.
"Don't be so illogical it's still your fault, I didn't say we wanted a PURPLE HEARSE!" said Dr. Splatt
"Oh, be quiet or I'm going to throw you into the Limpopo River!" "When are we going to get back to our hotel in Gaborone, it's getting really late."
"As soon as we see some animals. This safari hasn't been very successful, so far. The only animal I've seen is you!"
"Well, you're the one who wouldn't hire a professional because you thought you could do a much better job on you own," said Mrs. Roadrash rather pompously. "When is this desert going to end? We've been driving on it for hours now and we haven't seen a thing."
THATHUNMP!! They hit a hole, they thought it was just a pot hole so they kept on driving. A few seconds later they were arguing again and not paying attention to what they were doing, and then it happenedÉTHUMP!! They hit an animal, when they got out of the car it was dead.
"Great, while on our safari all we see is a dead dog," said Mrs. Roadrash.
"This isn't a dog, it looks more like a hyena. I wonder it they are from the same family?" questioned Dr. Splatt.
" He looks like he's been dead for a while now. His jaws are weak, I don't think he could fight off his predator." commented Mrs. Roadrash.
"Let's try to figure out what it is!" said Dr. Splatt.
Dr. Splatt went back to the hearse and opened the back door. His Doctor's bag and a wooden box about six feet long flew out and hit the Doctor in the chest. Dr. Splatt got up grabbed his bag and yelled to Ms. Roadrash that he was all right. Rushing back to the dead animal, the Dr. asked Ms. Roadrash if there were any cough drops in his Doctor's bag. Ms. Roadrash asked why cough drops and he said that he thought he thought he was going to have a coughing spell. The Dr. burst out laughing and Ms. Roadrash just shook her head thinking he was crazy. Once the Dr. composed himself he then got out the instruments and started doing tests on the dead creature.
"Isn't he cute?" asked Ms. Roadrash. "His dark stripes and grayish tan body kind of remind me of a raccoon but his long coarse neck and his 10 inch bushy tail don't."
"Oh he's SO cuteÉ" said Dr. Splatt mocking his partner. "Let's hurry up and try to figure out what it is."
They took the animal's measurements and were surprised to see it was only about 20 inches high at his shoulders. The animal had black feet and noticed that the tongue rather long and sticky. Even with this they still couldn't figure out what animal it was, so they decided to dissect it.
They started by making an incision down the animals belly. When it finally split open the two scientists were disgusted by the smell of harvester termites and larvae that they found in the stomach. They also noticed that there were three small babies that were not yet developed.
After getting no where with the investigation Dr. Splatt got up and headed back to the hearse.
"That pothole we hit back there sure did a number to this hearse," commented Dr. Splatt. "It's kind of odd to have a pot hole in the middle of the desert," said Mrs. Roadrash. "I wonder if that was her den? Let's go back and check."
So they walked back one hundred yards and they found what looked to be the animal's home. "Let's hurry up and get back to the hotel so I can look up and see what animal this is on my lap top." said Mrs. Roadrash. "Yes, I'm dying to find out what this animal is." laughed Dr. Splatt.
So the chugged off in
the purple hearse to find out the identity of the animal with
Ms. Roadrash groaning all the way from the sick joke Dr. Splatt
just made.
Questions (all are worth 1 point each)
1. What was the animal that Dr. Splatt and Mrs. Roadrash found?
2. What is the scientific name of the animal?
3. What is the country they are in?
4. This country was originally named _____
5. Name the countries that border the country Dr. Splatt and Ms. Roadrash were in?
6. What is the capital of this country?
7. What is the name of the desert they were driving through?
8. The Limpopo river empties in what ocean?
9. How long is the Limpopo river in kilometers? (must be within 100 kilometers more or less).
10. Harvester termites
were found in the mystery animal's stomach, name the major insect
predator of this termite.
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