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get the picture?
Cranberry-Crane
| about CROCTALES The following information is rated D = duckling
tale = story Croc = (keep reading and you'll see) Croc and his friends live on the sunny beaches of South Florida where they have fun come rain or sun. Each picture tells a little story and if you look closely you might discover there's more to CROCTALES than just cute little drawings. You'll figure it out; just take a close look . . . So, why is an alligator called Croc? There's a simple explanation: When the little ducklings first met the alligator, they didn't know a lot of words, let alone the difference between an alligator and a crocodile. As hard as they tried - whatever they said sounded like QUACK or CROC - so the name stuck. They never managed to say his full name, which is Francis the Friendly Alligator. (to follow the story in pictures click on the small pictures; the big picture will appear below)
Of course over the years the ducklings learned a lot of words and how to tell a crocodile from an alligator - by looking at the snout - from a safe distance. The snout of an alligator is rounded. A crocodile's snout is pointed and even when the mouth is closed you can see a crocodile's sharp teeth. Now, take a good look:
Do you see any teeth or a pointed snout? Right, nothing like it, because Croc is an alligator. Usually alligators are just as dangerous as crocodiles, but not our pal Croc. He eats bagels, fruit and most of all he loves cookies and doughnuts. So do his little friends. They share everything; including their love for word games. A few months
later the Cookie-Mouse joined Croc and his friends. Yes, "she" is a mouse girl.
She had to leave the house she had lived She's still a little shy but that's o.k.; not everybody can be as wild and adventurous as the ducklings. Sometimes it's even better to be extra careful.
Can you find the Cookie-Mouse? One year Croc took his friends on a trip around the world in a hot air balloon. The even went to Pisa, Italy:
Hey, it wasn't us! The leaning tower in Pisa looked like that before we even arrived!
You speak Italian, right? No? Of course you do! It's a bird, it's a plane . . .
. . . it's a PIZZA. (See, you DO speak Italian)
Do you know, where
Italy is? Italy is located in Southern Europe. You can easily make out the
boot-shaped Italian Peninsula on any map. But that "boot" is only a part of Italy. There is also the area to the North between the peninsula and the Alps and a number of islands. The two biggest islands are called Sardinia and Sicily.
There are
50 states in the USA, some are square like Colorado, small like Delaware and
some are odd shaped like
Can you find
FLORIDA on the big map? It's in the south-east which means you can find it in the lower right corner.
Do you know what
the Florida state fruit
is? Chances are, the juice you had
for breakfast was made from it - the ORANGE.
Kids CAN make a difference! In the South where
Croc, the ducklings and the Cookie-Mouse live, the climate is tropical. Which
means instead of seasons like spring, summer, fall and winter Floridians enjoy
the "dry
season"
with mild and sometimes even cool
temperatures from October to March, April or even May and the
There is also a "third" season: HURRICANE SEASON. It officially starts on June 1st and ends on November 30th.
When hurricane season starts: stock up on non-perishable food
What is a HURRICANE? It's a large storm in which the maximum sustained surface wind is 64 knots (74 mph) or greater. Just think about the speed of cars on the Interstate, it's usually 50-65 mph, so 74 mph is really fast. A hurricane develops
over the ocean
and builds up strength as it moves across the water. The worst hurricane which
hit South Most hurricanes start out as Tropical Depressions. When wind speed exceeds 38mph a Tropical Depression becomes a Tropical Storm and gets a name. The next step is a Hurricane with wind speed of 74mph or higher. But don't let the wind speed and
Saffir/Simpson Scale fool you.
When hurricane
WILMA
reached Ft. Lauderdale in October 2005 it was
only a category 1
hurricane but the damage was huge.
Thousands of people were without power for days. It took residents months to get
new windows, some buildings were damaged beyond repair.
It can take days or even more than a week for a Tropical Depression to become a Hurricane. But not every storm goes from Tropical Depression to Hurricane. Some storms diminish over the ocean, some storms start as Tropical Storms or even as Hurricanes. When a Hurricane reaches land it's called land fall.
Now, that you know something about Hurricanes - let's compare HURRICANE and TORNADO: What is a tornado? A tornado is a storm that develops usually on land, with no warning, and moves in a circular motion with heavy winds with a funnel shape, picking up and carrying dirt, dust, and even objects. A tornado can demolish entire neighborhoods in a matter of a few seconds to a few minutes. For more information check out the NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER web site. Stay safe! For more fun facts and CROCTALES history check out www.croctales.de, www.croctales.info and www.croctales.net & check out our new CROCTALES for kids A-B-C site Pass the word - ENJOY and come back soon. CROCTALES MissionIf CROCTALES®
makes you smile Contact InformationCroc & Pals, on the Beach, now with their very own web site
 Gratis Counter by GOWEB
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in, because the owners
bought a cat. Croc
and the ducklings were happy to take her in. 
For more pictures
from the trip around the world click
Now
that you've discovered a funny shaped country let's take a look at the United
States of America.
FLORIDA,
the home of Croc and his friends.
of the United States of America, 
Florida
is nicknamed the
"Sunshine State"
because of its generally warm climate. In central Florida and the northern part,
called panhandle, the climate is subtropical and rather mild.
But did you also know,
it was a group of elementary school students we have to thank for having a state
fruit in Florida? In 2004 those students discovered, even though the state
beverage was the orange juice, Florida didn't have an official state
fruit. They put together a petition, wrote letters to their local
lawmakers and even wrote a song about the orange. They were so persistent the
orange finally became the official Florida state fruit in 2005. 
"rainy
season" usually from May until
September. Those aren't fixed dates as you can tell; it depends on the amount of
rain during the month.
Florida in recent years was hurricane
ANDREW
in August 1992.
at least once -
mission accomplished! If you happen to learn
something at the same time - even better!
Copyright
© 2000-2014 CROCTALES INTERNATIONAL,
Eva M. Schemmerer