Good evening, friends and family! Today was Clifford day down on the farm! Well, it was really ruminant animal day, which means the peppers spent time with the ruminant animals on the farm, like me. Ruminant animals have a stomach that is very different from my pepper friends. We don’t have to completely chew all our food because instead of one compartment to the stomach, we have four. We are known as ruminant animals because of our first compartment to the stomach, the rumen. The rumen stores food that we snack on later to break it down further. The peppers learned all this and more with a morning visit to my enclosure.
The Green Pepper checking me out.
Mr. Alan introduced me to the peppers first thing in the morning. I was very excited to finally meet the peppers in person and really enjoyed all their company. Mr. Alan explained to my new friends that I was a calf and that when I grow up I will be called a steer. He also explained to the peppers three ways to identify that I’m an herbivore. The first way is the placement of my eyes: eyes on side to hide. The second is my cloven hoof, a hoof split into two toes. Animals with cloven hooves have no sharp, canine teeth. Mr. Alan demonstrated by showing off my huge chompers. The peppers gasped to find that I have no teeth on top, which is how they can identify me as an herbivore.
The Red and Orange Peppers trying to show how big the rumen is.
I was a bit tired after a morning visiting the peppers, so Mr. Alan took over and taught the peppers all about my insides. As I mentioned before, I have four compartments to the stomach: the rumen, recticulum, omasum, and abomasum. There’s even a silly song Mr. Alan loves to sing to remember the names of the compartments. You can hear Mr. Alan sing the song here. The first compartment, the rumen, can hold up to 42.5 gallons of food! The peppers discovered how much this was by filling a trough with 42.5 gallons of water. They even had a chance to feel the insides of a rumen (not a real one, but something very similar). Past the stomach are my intestines, which are over 130 ft long when stretched out. No wonder I’m so big! The peppers played jump rope with the rope representing the length of my intestines to hype themselves up for a delicious snack!
Red and Orange Peppers feeling the inside of a rumen.
In the Garden Kitchen, Mr. Alex, Ms. Jackie, Ms. Mandy, and Ms. Courtney helped the peppers prepare homemade bread for the afternoon and hummus and pita bread for the morning snack. The peppers learned that yeast is a living thing and if it makes contact with the salt in the bread mixture, the salt will kill the yeast. This is why the salt has to be at the bottom of the bowl when making bread. The bread and hummus smelled so yummy! I sure do envy all the delicious food they make and eat!
The Green Peppers pouring their mixture into the bread maker.
After snacking on hummus and pita, Mr. Alex, Ms. Jackie, Ms. Mandy, and Ms. Courtney helped the peppers prepare for tomorrow, Fishy Thursday. They taught the peppers how to cast a fishing line and discussed safety issues involved with fishing. When the peppers are out fishing tomorrow they have to be very cautious using their fishing poles and look behind them before casting their lines because someone might be walking behind them and they could get hit in the head with the fishing pole or even hooked. Learning how to safely handle a fishing pole will certainly make tomorrow’s fishing adventures a lot of fun!
The Red Peppers practicing casting their lines.
To further prepare for the fishing trip, the peppers went on a worm hunt in the Maple Forest. They had to dig for the worms because the worms enjoy the cool earth beneath the surface. It was a dirty process but the fish will be grateful for the worms tomorrow.
Mr. Alex explaining how to tie different knots.
In the afternoon, the peppers met with my sheep friends and learned about their wool. Mr. Alan taught the peppers that a sheep’s wool contains lanolin which is an oil that helps keep them from getting really wet when it rains. He also helped them identify the breed of sheep on the farm that is used for its wool, the Columbia breed. The peppers had a chance to meet with a ewe, a mother sheep, and feel her soft wool. They also received a piece of raw wool to clean with soap because soap breaks down the lanolin. After washing their wool, Mr. Alan and the counselors helped the peppers card the wool to straighten it and separate the wool fibers for an activity tomorrow.
Mr. Alex giving the peppers some water to clean the wool. Some of it may have gotten on the peppers!
After meeting the sheep, the peppers played with some Oobelck, an interesting substance that acts like liquid when you touch it, but is like a solid when you pick it up. It’s so weird and gooey looking! The counselors discussed the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) with the peppers and helped them identify the state of the Oobelck. I could hear the fascination from the little peppers and all the fun they had with the substance.
Pasquale snacking while the peppers are off playing with Oobelck.
In the Garden Kitchen, the peppers made ricotta cheese to spread on their bread along with the butter they made in the morning. I think they must have really enjoyed the bread because the only sounds in the kitchen were the peppers munching on their snack!
Mr. Alan showing the Yellow Peppers how to make ricotta cheese.
It was a really great day here at MSU Tollgate Farm, but all the excitement has made me very tired. I’m off to get some rest so I’ll be prepared for another fun-filled day tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the gallery below to relive Ruminant Animal Day.
Goodnight my peppers, friends, and family!
Until tomorrow,
Clifford the Calf
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- Nicholas showing the Yellow Peppers raw wool.
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- Pasquale the ewe saying hello!
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- Ms. Courtney helping a Green Pepper card her raw wool.
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- Carding wool takes a lot of strength, but the peppers are big and strong!
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- Mr. Alan showing the Yellow Peppers how to make ricotta cheese.
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- The Green Peppers feeling Pasquale’s soft wool.
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- Pasquale enjoyed all the attention.
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- Red Peppers looking at wool under magnification.
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- A silly Yellow Pepper using his raw wool as a beard.
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- The fibers in raw wool are mismatched and interlocked, so we card the wool to straighten out the fibers.
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- The Orange Peppers washing their raw wool.
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- Soap breaks down the lanolin.
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- Once all raw wool is clean it will become white.
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- Mr. Alex giving the peppers some water to clean the wool. Some of it may have gotten on the peppers!
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- Red Peppers inspecting their wool for dirt.
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- Orange and Red Peppers meeting Pasquale.
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- A Red Pepper experiencing the gentle Pasquale.
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- Orange Peppers petting Pasquale.
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- Mr. Alan showing the Orange and Red Peppers raw wool.
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- Products from sheep can create shoe polish, violin strings, matches, dice, glue, and so much more!
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- The Orange and Red Peppers ready to learn all about sheep.
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- Yellow Peppers mixing items to add to the bread maker.
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- Mr. Alan showing the peppers my teeth.
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- Hello peppers!
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- The Green Peppers coming to visit.
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- The Green Pepper checking me out.
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- The Yellow Peppers giving me a warm greeting.
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- The Yellow Peppers were very gentle petting my head.
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- Mr. Alex explaining how to tie different knots.
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- The Red Peppers practicing casting their lines.
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- Mr. Alex showing how to properly cast a line.
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- The Red and Orange Peppers walking to the Garden Kitchen.
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- The Orange Peppers saying hello.
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- The Red and Orange Peppers trying to show how big the rumen is.
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- Mr. Alan showing the peppers my cloven hoof.
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- Red Peppers petting my head.
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- The Green Peppers pouring their mixture into the bread maker.
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- A Green Pepper mixing ingredients in the Garden Kitchen.
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- The Green and Yellow Peppers visiting with the sheep.
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- Mr. Alan created buckets to simulate what a rumen feels like.
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- Mr. Alan explaining the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum.
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- The Orange Peppers playing jump rope with the rope representing the length of cattle intestines.
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- The Orange Peppers are great at jump roping.
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- Good timing pepper?
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- The human intestines is 30 ft long.
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- Red and Orange Peppers feeling the inside of a rumen.
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- The peppers representing the length of a cattle’s intestines.
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- Mr. Alan describing the function of the rumen.
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- Mr. Alan describing the digestive system for cattle.
