2020-12-01 National Geographic Kids

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Snowy
Owls

How fluffy chicks
become fierce fliers

COOL FUN COMIC EXTREME
INVENTIONS PUMAS

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Five Brainy Buddies
Are Ready to Rule...

and tackle every challenge in middle school!

A CROWDED NEW SCHOOL AND
A CRAZY CLASS SCHEDULE ARE
ENOUGH TO MAKE IZZY DIZZY.
It may be the first day of middle
school, but as long as her best friends
Allie Einstein and Charlie Darwin
are by her side, Izzy knows it’ll all be
okay. But first-day jitters take an icy
turn when Izzy’s old pal Marie Curie
gives her the cold shoulder and the
school’s air-conditioning goes on
the fritz, dropping the temperature
to near freezing. Cold classrooms
and a frigid friendship? Izzy has had
enough of feeling like an absolute
zero. Sherallies the girls to use their
brainpower and science smarts to
tackle the school’s chilly mystery ...
and hopefully to fix a certain frozen
friendship along the way.

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meet the characters,
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IN THIS ISSUE

Editor in Chief and Vice President, 12 From Fluffy to Fierce
Kids Magazines & Digital
Rachel Buchholz Find out how snowy owl chicks become powerful predators.

Design Director, Magazines Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson 20 10 Cool DEPARTMENTS
Inventions
Editorial Kay Boatner, Senior Editor / Digital Producer; 4 Weird
Allyson Shaw, Editor / Digital Producer Get the scoop on supersmart But True!
gadgets and vehicles that
Photo Shannon Hibberd, Senior Photo Editor could change your life. 5 Guinness
World Records
Production Sean Philpotts, Director 24 The Perfect
Puma 6 All About Money
Digital Laura Goertzel, Director 7 Bet You
These mountain lions
PUBLISHED BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC thrive in an extreme Didn’t Know!
habitat. 8 Brain Candy
Chairman of the Board of Directors 10 Amazing Animals
Jean Case 26 30 Cool Things 28 Fun Stuff
to Make You
Chairman, National Geographic Partners Chill Out PPOAFGUSETSN1E8–R19!
Gary E. Knell
Discover fun facts COVER: JIM CUMMING / ALAMY (OWL);
Editorial Director that will make you shiver. MICHAEL DURHAM / MINDEN PICTURES
Susan Goldberg (FROG); RADIUS / SUPERSTOCK (PENGUINS);
JUST FOR PARENTS BELL (FLYING TAXI); STRIKA ENTERTAIN-
Managing Editor, Magazines MENT (COMIC); GABRIEL ROJO / NPL /
David Brindley For corrections and clarifications, MINDEN PICTURES (PUMA). PAGE 3:
go online. natgeo.com/corrections MLORENZPHOTOGRAPHY / GETTY IMAGES
Advertising Offices John Campbell, Senior Vice President, (OWL); MARCO KOTHE / MANTA 5 (WATER
Partnerships, [email protected] Follow us on Twitter@NGKids BIKE); SEBASTIAN KENNERKNECHT /
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because of you.
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Jessica Bates, Senior Director

Advertising Production Kristin Semeniuk, Director;
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Publicity Anna Kukelhaus, [email protected];
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Check out these CHECK OUT
outrageous facts. SEASON 3
OF WEIRD
BY JEANNETTE KIMMEL BUT TRUE!
ON DISNEY+.

MELTED SNOW To celebrate Cows

from the Australian Alps International can drink a
Pancake Day,
GENERATES bathtub
ELECTRICITY racerunnwersith
pancakes full of water in a day.
for parts of the country.
in frying pans.

mEngudlsanoedughmcaosdalnelaveornste.tdirteo Aulophobia

is the fear of
flutes.

Giraffe You can buy LOLLIPOPS Male lesula monkeys THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY IS MAJORITY OWNER OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS. MARGOUILLAT PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK
made with FLECKS of (PANCAKES); © GEORGE KROLL / DREAMSTIME (COW), © NOMADSOUL1 / DREAMSTIME (BATHTUB), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED;
“horns” 24-karat GOLD. are known for their © VACLAV VOLRAB / DREAMSTIME (GIRAFFE); JULIDE DENGEL / NG STAFF (DOG TAG); © UDW / UPPA / ZUMA PRESS / NEWSCOM
(LOLLIPOP); PHOTO BY MAURICE EMETSHU (MONKEY); © NATHALIE SPELIERS UFERMANN / DREAMSTIME (MOSQUITOES)
are actually bright blue
called
bottoms.
ossicones.

Love-struck mosquitoes harmonize their buzzing sounds.

4

GUINNESS
WORLD
RECORDS
BY BRANDON McINTYRE

DOG UNTIES paws
BOWS crossed
that chew
Give this pooch all the toys are
presents! Simba the Jack
Russell terrier holds the InsIde!
record for the most
ribbon bows undone by PRICEY
a dog in one minute. CHEESECAKE
Taking the ribbons’ ends
in her mouth, the pup You won’t find this treat in a bakery.
undid the bows off of The world’s most expensive cheese-
eight wrapped boxes to cake sells for $4,592.42 at a New York
claim the record. Better City restaurant. Made with formaggio
keep Simba away from cheese and white truffles from Italy,
your birthday gifts. the cake has a homemade biscotti
crust and is topped with lighted spar-
klers. What, no ice cream on the side?

HUUUGE

How long

HULA HOOPdoesittake

to master
spinning a
hula hoop that’s approximately five times bigger than the average
hoop? For Getti Kehayova, the record holder for largest hula hoop
spun by a woman, it took about a year to learn to handle the
17-foot-wide contraption. Her first attempt at the record didn’t
go well: The circle bumped her in the face—ouch. But her second
try was a success. Hoop, hoop, hooray!

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS (ALL). INFORMATION PROVIDED 5DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS
BY © 2020 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED.

ALL BY KRISTIN BAIRD RATTINI

ABOUT

MONEY

In Spain, “PASTA” is a slang term for In 2005, thieves stole In 2013,
“MONEY.” a 1794 U.S. silver
$70 MILLION dollar sold for
A $3 bill is used in the Bahamas.
from a bank in $10,016,875.

Fortaleza, Brazil, after

posing as landscapers

and digging a

262-FOOT-LONG
TUNNEL

under the building.

During the 2002 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City, Utah, a Canadian

$1 COIN

was secretly placed under
the ice in the hockey rink
to bring Canadian athletes

LUCK.

A porcupine appears Soldiers in MONEY TIP! © ISTOCK / ALEAIMAGE (PASTA); STACK’S BOWERS GALLERIES / PCGS (1794 SILVER DOLLAR); © ISTOCK / APOMARE (WATER), B.A.E. INC. /
ALAMY ($3 BILL, FRONT AND BACK), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; DAVID COOPER / TORONTO STAR VIA GETTY IMAGES (CANADIAN
on a collectible 50-tenge coin ANCIENT ROME BEFORE COIN), © ISTOCK / WALIK (HOCKEY STICK), © ISTOCK / FRANCISBLACK (ICE), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; KIEV.VICTOR / SHUTTERSTOCK
from Kazakhstan. BUYING AN ITEM, (50-TENGE COIN); © ISTOCK / PIXWORK (SALT); © ISTOCK / MLENNY (PUFFIN); KELLEY MILLER / NG STAFF (PIGGY BANK)
were paid in
A British RESEARCH
businessman SALT.
created ITS PRICE
his own A California couple ONLINE OR USE A
found nearly
CURRENCY— PRICE-
$11 million COMPARISON
named the
worth of APP TO SEE WHICH
PUFFIN— 19th-century STORE HAS THE
gold coins buried
for an LEAST
in their EXPENSIVE
ISLAND backyard.
HE OWNED OPTION.

off of England.

6 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

Antarctic facts that

6 will give you chills
BY ERIN WHITMER

1 2

penSogmue inscan No dogs
are allowed in
dive 1,000 feet deep— Antarctica.

150that’s about times

deeper than an Olympic

swimming pool.

3 4
About The

400 lakes ozone hole
are hidden over Antarctica
under Antarctic is larger than

ice. Australia.

5

KING PENGUIN Wind gusts

6 here can blow more
Antarctica
than 200 miles an hour—
was located near about as fast as a
the Equator
race car’s
hundreds of millions top speed.
of years ago.

© PAUL SOUDERS / WORLDFOTO 7DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

BY JULIE BEER AND CHELSEA LIN

C AN DY

SOME ANIMALS

FEMALE
ANGLERFISH
ATTRACT PREY WITH
A GLOWING LURE
EXTENDING FROM
THEIR HEADS.

8 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

CHECK
OUT
THE

BOOK!

VAMPIRE WANT TO FIREFLIES
“GLOW”OUT GLOW
SOMETIME? TO HELP

SQUID EJECT THEM FIND
BIOLUMINESCENT A MATE.

MUCUS FROM THEIR
ARMS TO DEFEND
THEMSELVES.
Bioluminescent
animals can produce
light from chemical

reactions in their
bodies.

CYCLOSERIS EROSA, MORE THAN SOME
A TYPE OF CORAL 80 PERCENT MILLIPEDES
GLOW UNDER
OF DEEP-SEA BLACK LIGHT.
CREATURES ARE
BIOLUMINESCENT.

MANDARINFISH SUPERJOSEPH / SHUTTERSTOCK (ANGLERFISH); STEVE DOWNER / SCIENCE SOURCE (VAMPIRE
SQUID); TED KINSMAN / SCIENCE SOURCE (CORAL); DWIGHT KUHN (FIREFLY); HOWARD CHEW /
9DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS ALAMY (MANDARINFISH); DANTÉ FENOLIO / SCIENCE SOURCE (MILLIPEDE)

AMAANZIIMNAGLS

SIGn my
Casts!

Hedgehog
Fashion

Statement

Buckinghamshire, England
When Trifle the hedgehog injured three
of his legs, he received a lot of TLC—and
some fancy-looking footwear. To help the
prickly animal recover, veterinarians
at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital fitted
his legs with miniature blue casts.

Trifle had been rushed to the hospital
after he was found limping badly. An x-ray
showed that the hedgehog’s front leg
was broken and his two back legs were
fractured. So vets wrapped the limbs in
bandages and plaster, just like casts
made for humans. Soon Trifle was on the
move again.“This little guy had so much
energy, even casts couldn’t stop him
from running around,” nurse Clare
Campbell said. “And they positioned his
bones so they could heal more quickly.”

After a couple of months, Trifle’s casts
came off and the hedgehog was set free
in the hospital’s garden so vets could
keep an eye on him.“Trifle is coping very
well without the casts,” Campbell said.
“He doesn’t miss them—even though
they did make him look pretty stylish!”
—John Micklos, Jr.

10 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

I’M
BUZZING

WITH
EXCITEMENT!

MIGUEL WATTSON

MIGUEL

What’s in a

Zappy Holidays! name?“Miguel”is a
common one in South
America,where these
fish live;“Wattson”is all

Chattanooga, Tennessee about electricity(like

This electric eel is in charge of spreading holiday cheer. The flashy a 100-watt bulb).

fish, named Miguel Wattson, lights up a Christmas tree next to his

tank at the Tennessee Aquarium with pulses of electrical discharge called shocks.

As Miguel explores his tank, he gives off electric energy. Then metal wires conduct

the energy in the water and transmit it to a light-covered tree.“You can see the tree

faintly flickering when Miguel’s just checking out his environment,” says Miguel’s

caretaker, Kimberly Hurt.“But he gives off really bright flashes when he’s eating,

since electric eels use their charge to stun prey.”

Electric eels aren’t technically eels—they’re a type of knifefish that live in South

American rivers. They use pulses of electricity to sense their environment, stun their

prey, and defend themselves.“Electric eels can produce enough electricity to power

10 lightbulbs,” says C. David de Santana, a fish researcher with the Smithsonian

Institution’s National Museum of Natural History.

Thanks to Miguel, the aquarium is absolutely electrifying. —Bethany Augliere

ELECTRIC EEL 11NAT GEO KIDS
Chattanooga,
Tennessee

HEDGEHOG
Buckinghamshire,
England

JEFF MOORE / SPLASH NEWS / NEWSCOM (TRIFLE); TENNESSEE AQUARIUM (MIGUEL, BOTH)

‹ How snowy owl
chicks become
powerful predators TO STAY EXTRA WARM,
YOUNG SNOWY OWLS
BY SCOTT ELDER HAVE BOTH DOWNY
FEATHERS THEY HAD
A brown lemming cautiously steps AS NEWBORNS AND
out of its burrow into the 24-hour THE BLACK-AND-
sunlight of the summer Arctic. The WHITE FEATHERS OF
small, mouselike animal scampers ADULT SNOWY OWLS.
across an open field to munch on
short grasses, sure that it’s safe.

It’s not.
A male snowy owl swoops down
from a tree branch he was perched
on, his golden eyes locked on his
prey. He drops low and glides just
above the flat ground. Then the
winged hunter extends his legs,
snatches the rodent in his long
black talons, and turns around to
return home with his catch.
A female snowy owl greets her
arriving mate. He lands and pres-
ents her with the freshly killed lem-
ming. Nestled beside the female
owl are seven fuzzy, temporarily
blind hatchlings, each smaller than
a tennis ball. The youngest, which
hatched earlier that day, only weighs
as much as 10 nickels.
The mother tears off bite-size
pieces of meat and feeds the babies
beak-to-beak. The father flies off to
continue his hunt. He’ll need to catch
about 250 more lemmings for each
of his hungry hatchlings before they
can feed themselves in roughly two
months, when they’ll leave their par-
ents to live on their own. At four
months old, the nearly full-grown
birds will take to the Arctic skies for
their first migration—and leave
behind the only home they’ve
ever known.

12 NAT GEO KIDS





AN ADULT An adult snowy
SNOWY OWL owl can eat
WALKS ACROSS
THE SNOW IN 1,600 lemmings
CANADA. each year.

IMAGEBROKER / ALAMY (OWLET, LEFT); MARKUS 13
VARESVUO / MINDEN PICTURES (OWL, RIGHT)

GROWING UP OWLET SNOWY OWLETS
REMAIN IN THE
Most people imagine owls nesting in NEST WITH THEIR
trees and hooting in the woods. But MOTHER FOR ABOUT
snowy owls breed far north on flat, THREE WEEKS AFTER
mostly treeless land called tundra. With THEY HATCH.
few trees to shelter in, the females dig
a shallow, bowl-like nest on high ground
for laying eggs and raising their young.
That way the home won’t flood from
snow or rain, which could be dangerous
for the baby owls, called owlets.

Even though snow is melting, Arctic
temperatures in June can still dip below
freezing. The seven chicks—whose only
feathers are a short, fluffy layer called
down—press against their mother for
warmth.“They’re not big enough to keep
themselves warm yet,” says J.F. Therrien,
a scientist who studies the owls in the
Canadian Arctic.“So the female will
cover them with her body like a blanket.”
When a wet snow begins to fall, she
extends her large wings over them like
an umbrella.

OWLET

dive-bombed himself. “They strike you on Though rare,
the head, the back, the butt, wherever snowy owls have
they can get you,” he says. “One even been spotted as
grabbed my hat and flew away with it.”
far south as
© DANIEL J. COX / NATURALEXPOSURES (NEWBORN OWLETS); MICHIO HOSHINO / MINDEN PICTURES (MOTHER WITH CHICK NEWBORN SNOWY OWLETS READY FOR TAKEOFF Florida.
UNDER WING); MARKUS VARESVUO / MINDEN PICTURES (MOTHER OBSERVING OWLETS); COURTESY OF BLACK SWAMP BIRD Thanks to the OPEN THEIR EYES BETWEEN
OBSERVATORY (OWL WITH BACKPACK); © ALAN RICHARD (FLYING OWL WITH BACKPACK); MARTIN WALZ (MAP) lemmings that 3 AND 14 DAYS AFTER It’s now August. The owlets take turns
HATCHING. venturing away from the nest, going for
short runs to practice using their legs.
the owls’ father Mom keeps an eye on them, while Dad
continues to make regular food drops.
brings, the birds triple their weight in But instead of feeding from Mom’s beak,
the chicks must gulp down the lemmings
the first week after hatching. By two on their own. They pounce excitedly on
the dead rodents with their claws to
weeks old, their eyes have opened and practice their hunting skills.

they begin to sprout a heavier, smoky-

gray layer of down.“At this stage, they

look a little odd,” Therrien says.“Sort of

like a work in progress!”

At three weeks old, the one-pound

chicks can walk—but that won’t help

them escape predators like arctic foxes.

So if a predator gets too close, Mom and NORTH EUROPE
AMERICA
Dad fly into action. The pair aggressively ASIA

dive-bomb and scratch the intruder with ATLANTIC PACIFIC
OCEAN
OCEAN AFRICA

their supersharp talons until it finally PACIFIC SOUTH INDIAN
OCEAN AMERICA OCEAN
leaves the area.
AUSTRALIA
“Snowy owls are very protective of

their young,” says Denver Holt, founder

of the Owl Research Institute. Holt, who ANTARCTICA

visits snowy owl nests in Alaska to count Where
snowy owls
chicks and assess their health, has been live

14 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

These birds lay BACKPACKS FOR BIRDS
3 to 11 eggs at
In the Arctic, snowy owls stick close to their
a time.
nests, so scientists can easily observe them.
A SNOWY OWL
MOTHER OBSERVES But once the owls fly south for the winter,
HER CHICKS AS THEY
EXPLORE OUTSIDE experts aren’t exactly sure where they go or
THEIR NEST IN
FINLAND. what they do. Project SNOWstorm is trying to

solve these mysteries.

Launched in 2013, the program uses GPS

tracking devices to follow snowy owls across

the United States and Canada on their winter

migration paths. But where do you put a tiny

tracker on a big bird? In a tiny backpack,

of course.

First, scientists catch an owl using a harmless

net trap. Then they fit the bird with a light-

weight backpack that won’t affect its ability

to fly. The solar-powered tracker transmits BACKPACK

the bird’s location back

to scientists through cell-

phone towers.

Project SNOWstorm

has so far tracked nearly

a hundred owls. Scien-

tists have discovered

that though some birds

remain in the same small

patch of land every

winter, others travel hun- THIS OWL’S BACK-
dreds of miles in a few weeks. Many PACK WEIGHS
of the owls stay near water, with some ABOUT AS MUCH AS
camping out by openings in the frozen SEVEN QUARTERS.

Great Lakes to hunt waterbirds such as

ducks and geese.

The tracking data also shows that owls in

some areas are making lots of short flights.

Project SNOWstorm co-founder Scott Weiden-

saul thinks that’s because the birds keep having

to fly away from curious people in populous

areas. “Humans might love snowy owls a little

too much,” Weidensaul says. “If you’re lucky

enough to see one, give it plenty of space.”

WATCH A VIDEO OF OTHER BIRDS IN ACTION.
natgeokids.com/december

15NAT GEO KIDS

LEAVING THE NEST

Snowy owls don’t hatch from their
eggs looking like fierce predators.
Check out how these birds go from
clumsy chicks to fearless fliers.

1 Snowy owls
have been
About three weeks after hatching, recorded flying
owlets leave the nest to toddle around over 800 miles
the tundra on their wobbly legs. in 10 days.

2 The oldest owlet, an eight-week-old that quiet the noise from flapping wings,
female, sprints forward on her tiny, thin and velvety down on their bodies muffles
Young snowies take their first real flight legs. For days, she’s been running and other sounds they make. Prey don’t even
when they’re about six or seven weeks flapping her wings, trying to fly for more realize stealthy snowy owls are around
old—after a lot of practice. than a few seconds. She pumps her until the moment they strike.
black-speckled white wings and eventu-
3 ally catches some air. Like a kid who’s fig- FLYING SOLO
ured out how to ride a bike, she’s finally
After two months, the owls are almost doing it! She triumphantly swoops to the Before the end of summer, the three-
fully independent and will soon migrate ground some 20 feet from where she month-old owls are catching their
to a warmer habitat. They’ll return to started, before crashing to a stop. She’ll own rodents and swallowing them in
the Arctic in the spring to have chicks of practice a little more tomorrow. one gulp like their parents. By early
their own. October, the young adults have mostly
Flying comes naturally to the young mastered flying and hunting.
owls, now called fledglings, but hunting
doesn’t. Scientists believe that the Once helpless babies, the owls are now
birds are born with the instinct—but stealthy predators. It’s time to spread
that they also learn a lot by imitating their wings and leave their birthplace
their parents. behind by making their first migration
south for the winter. Next spring they’ll
They also have some secret weapons fly back to the Arctic to find mates, dig
to help them hunt. Their huge eyes work nests, and raise owlets of their own.
like binoculars, spotting scurrying prey
from far away, even at night.(If your “People are naturally fascinated by
eyes were as big as a snowy owl’s, they’d snowy owls,” Holt says.“Like animals in
be about the size of grapefruits!) Their a fairy tale, there’s something magical
flight feathers have comb-like fringes about them.”

16 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

PLAY! 1

GUESS THE BEAK 3

Snowy owls use their sharp
beaks to, um, tear apart
their prey. Other birds have
distinctive beaks that they
use to help them eat too.
Match the pictures of the
beaks with the animals they
belong to.

2

45

ABC DE

A YOUNG Yellow-billed King Pileated Keel-billed Great
SNOWY OWL oxpecker vulture wood- toucan white
TRIES TO TAKE They use Their hooked pecker They use pelican
FLIGHT IN their beaks beaks are They use their long Their huge
ALASKA. like tweezers strong their bills to bills to pluck beaks help
IF THIS SNOWY OWL’S to pry ticks enough to drill holes in and peel dif- them snag
WINGS WERE STRETCHED out of other tear into trees to get ferent kinds fish out of
OUT, THEY’D MEASURE animals. tough hide. insects to eat. of fruit. water.
ALMOST FIVE FEET FROM
TIP TO TIP. ANSWERS: 1. B, 2. A, 3. D, 4. E, 5. C.

MICHIO HOSHINO / MINDEN PICTURES (OWL IN TUNDRA); MLORENZPHOTOGRAPHY / GETTY IMAGES (FLYING OWL); NICK FOX / GETTY SEE MORE BABY ANIMALS!
IMAGES (BEAK 1); BERND WESNER / GETTY IMAGES (BEAK 2); ©JUAN CARLOS VINDAS / GETTY IMAGES (BEAK 3); SENG CHYE TEO / GETTY natgeokids.com/december
IMAGES (BEAK 4); KYLE KRAJNYAK / GETTY IMAGES (BEAK 5); CHRIS WARE (COMIC). © IMAGEBROKER / FLPA (RED PANDA, PAGES 18-19)
17NAT GEO KIDS

Red pandas have extra-long wrist bones that work like thumbs. The animals wrap themselves in their fluffy tails

for warmth. One of the red panda’s calls sounds like a “quack-snort.” Thick fur covers the red panda’s paw pads.

10 COOL

INVENTIONS

SUPERSMART
GADGETS,
ROBOTS,
AND VEHICLES
THAT COULD
CHANGE
YOUR LIFE

BY CHRIS TOMLIN

1

WATER
BIKE

An off-road bike is pretty
cool, but what’s even better?
An on-water bicycle! Just
wade into a lake or calm
sea and then hop on the
Hydrofoiler XE-1 to cycle on
the water’s surface. Riders
activate a battery-powered
propeller by pedaling their
feet, while two long gliders
attached to the bottom of the
vehicle keep it afloat. The
craft can move up to 13 miles
an hour, about as fast as the
average cyclist. Just don’t
try to catch a big wave—
you’ll definitely wipe out.

20 NAT GEO KIDS MARCO KOTHE / MANTA 5 (1); NEXTMIND (2, BOTH); PUDU TECH (BELLABOT), MICHAEL
FLIPPO / DREAMSTIME (SANDWICH), IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED; PIX (4, BOTH)

How meow
I help you?

2

MIND-
CONTROLLED

REMOTE

Tired of losing the TV MIND-READING
remote? That won’t be a DEVICE

problem once you’re

able to change the

channel with your

mind. A device called

NextMind clips to a

headband or the band of 3

a hat and uses a comb- ROBOT WAITER

shaped device(so it can move Next time you go out to eat, your food might be delivered by
a robot … with a cat’s face. Using sensors, BellaBot rolls over
through your hair to get to your to your table without bumping into guests, tables, or other
bots. Once it arrives, grab your food off its built-in trays. If
scalp) that reads the activity generated by you’re happy with the service, pat your waiter on the head
and listen to it purr. But don’t take too long. BellaBot will roll
your brain’s visual cortex. For instance, when away once it’s had too much affection—just like a real cat.

you concentrate on a shape on the screen that

represents volume, the device picks up on

waves of electrical signals transmitted by

neurons in your brain. Then it translates your

brain’s signals into commands, and sends them

to the TV. Presto! You’ve just turned up the TV.

Being a couch potato has never been easier.

4 YOU CAN CREATE
YOUR OWN
LIGHT-UP BACKPACK BACKPACK
DESIGN USING
Create a wild light show on your back AN APP.
with the Pix Backpack. Just beneath its
water-repellent fabric, the bag has 320
lights that can create over 16 million color
combinations. Using an app, you can create
your own art or choose an emoticon or
cartoon—then change it anytime you want.
You can even display video games or rolling
text on the backpack. You’ll never lose your
bag in the pile again.

21

A SENSOR INSIDE THE 6
DEVICE PICKS UP ON
CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS, TOOT
WHILE ALL YOU SEE IS A DETECTOR
CUTE BEAR FACE(BOTTOM).
Save your sniffer from stinky
SENSOR bathrooms with SmellSense, a
two-part device that includes a
5 POCKET sensor mounted to your bath-
MOVIE THEATER room wall and a display panel
you can place outside. The
It’s movie night! Grab the popcorn, reach electronic sensor detects
into your backpack, and pull out the airborne traces of carbon dioxide
Nebula Capsule Max, a portable projector. and hydrogen sulfide—gaseous
About the size of a soda can, this device chemical compounds that are
can display a seven-foot-wide image present in the average bathroom
wherever you find a flat surface. Just pair toot.Then a panel display outside
the device with a streaming app or video the bathroom alerts you with a
website to start watching. The Nebula “go” or “no go”indicator.Your
Capsule Max also acts as a speaker, giving nose will thank you.
off sound from all sides of the device.
Going to the movies might soon mean
going to your own backyard.

7 SWIMMING
VACUUM

8 AN AVATAR
SHOWS OFF
VIRTUAL DRAWINGS OF
HANGOUT PENGUINS IN A
VIRTUAL ROOM.

Scientists estimate about 17.6 billion pounds of trash enter Spatial lets you and your friends create a high-tech
the ocean each year. Beach cleanups are great, but we’re clubhouse. Just slip on a virtual-reality headset,
going to need a bit more help to clean the seas. Enter create an avatar, then meet up with 3D holograms
WasteShark, a water drone modeled off of the wide mouth of your pals.You can stand next to your friends’avatars,
of a whale shark. It skims the water’s surface, sucking up move around a virtual room, and even pick up virtual
trash and monitoring the water quality as it moves. Each objects. Want to hang out at your house? Spatial
go-cart-size WasteShark can remove up to half a ton of can also layer the holograms of your friends’ avatars
waste each day. That’s one helpful shark! on top of the room you’re sitting in. Go ahead and
give your friends a virtual high five.
22 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021
ANKER INNOVATIONS (5, BOTH); CHARMIN (6, BOTH); RANMARINE (7);
SPATIAL (8); BELL (9); SCS DIRECT PHOTO DEPT. (10, BOTH)

9 Take a ride in the car of the future with the Bell Nexus air taxi. The five-
seat vehicle—which sits four passengers and a pilot—uses tilting fan-
FLYING like propellers to fly horizontally and vertically. (Think of it like a
TAXI car-size version of the Avengers’ Helicarrier!) Inside the taxi, you can
wear special augmented-reality goggles that point out landmarks and
provide information about what’s below. It’ll probably be a lot more fun
than being stuck in the back seat of a minivan.

10 BUILD WITH TAKE A COOL INVENTIONS QUIZ!
WAFFLES natgeokids.com/december

Who says you can’t play with your food? Pour some batter
into the Building Block Waffle Maker, and in just a few
minutes you’ll have edible, stackable blocks you can use

to create delicious sculptures. The bricks fit into
each other for stability, and you can even build

(and eat!) off of special plates with notches
that the waffles fit onto, giving your
stacks a solid foundation. The only
downside? Really sticky fingers.

23DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

THE

PumaPERFECT
‹ These mountain lions thrive
in an extreme habitat. PARK
PROTECTIONS
BY KITSON JAZYNKA
Before the Chilean government
A mother puma, trailed by three cubs, walks established Torres del Paine National Park
along a snow-capped hill in Chile’s Patagonia region. in 1959, pumas in the area were hunted almost
A large group of llama-like animals called guanacos to extinction by farmers protecting their live-
graze nearby, stretching their long, furry necks to nibble stock. But then Chile banned hunting the cats, with
on the grass. The cats pause—and watch. Their patience help from park officials to enforce the rules. This
pays off when a guanaco calf strays from the herd. allowed more of the felines in the park to survive to
The mother puma tenses. She crouches on her adulthood and have cubs, ensuring that the puma popu-
legs and feet before launching herself toward the lation could keep growing. Today about 50 of the ani-
guanaco. She lands directly on the prey and mals live in the park. The no-hunting
subdues it before bringing it back to her rule has been so successful that
cubs for dinner. Patagonia is one of the few
places in the world where
Found all the way from Canada to southern Chile, 
pumas live in more places than any other land- visitors are likely
dwelling mammal in the Western Hemisphere. They’re to spot one of
considered among the most adaptable animals in the the cats.
world and can survive almost anywhere. About 50
of these wild cats can be found in an especially harsh spot:
Patagonia’s Torres del Paine (pronounced TOR-ays del PIE-
nay) National Park, a super-dry habitat known for its high
peaks and 100-mile-an-hour winds. Check out four reasons
why Patagonia’s pumas are able to thrive in this extreme
environment.

BRING 1 TIGER 2 LION 3 JAGUAR 4 PUMA 5 LEOPARD
ON THE 200-660 pounds 265-420 pounds 100-250 pounds 65-230 pounds 66-176 pounds
BIG CATS

Pumas may be the top
predator in Patagonia,
but they’re only the
fourth-heaviest wild cat
in the world. See which
cats outweigh them and
where other felines fall
on the size scale.

24 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 SEBASTIAN KENNERKNECHT / MINDEN PICTURES (MAIN, CAMOUFLAGE, GUANACO); INGO ARNDT /
MINDEN PICTURES (CUBS); MARTIN WALZ (MAP); SUZI ESZTERHAS / MINDEN PICTURES (TIGER); WINFRIED

WISNIEWSKI / MINDEN PICTURES (LION); NICK HAWKINS / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (JAGUAR);

A puma TOP
is also called a PREDATORS
mountain lion,
Pumas in other parts of the world
cougar, and
panther. compete for food against other preda-

A puma’s tors like wolves, jaguars, and bears. But in
paw is as large
Patagonia, pumas have little competition
as a big
pancake. when it comes to snatching prey.“Aside

from condors and other pumas, pumas

don’t have to share much of their food

source,” says Mark Elbroch, puma pro- GUANACO

gram director for Panthera, a wild cat

conservation organization.“They’ve

been the number one predator in

Patagonia for 10,000 years now, PREY BUFFET
aside from humans.”
Pumas aren’t the only animals

protected in the park—guanacos are

too. That means the wild cats get regular

feasts. But these llama-like creatures aren’t

exactly willing prey.“Guanacos can be danger-

ous,” Elbroch says. They often outweigh pumas

and can run longer distances. They’re also not

afraid to fight back with claw-like toes that

PUMAS can tear into a puma’s skin. But because the
guanacos are protected, they’re in high

supply in the park. If a puma can’t

catch one, plenty more are on

the menu.

CAMOUFLAGE CATS NORTH ATLANTIC
AMERICA OCEAN
In places like Yellowstone National Park,
pumas have a golden-brown fur color that PACIFIC
helps them hide in their habitat’s tall, golden OCEAN
grasses. But Patagonia’s pumas have developed a
duller hue that helps them blend in better with Where SOUTH
Torres del Paine’s craggy rock formations, called pumas AMERICA
stromatolites(stroh-MA-toh-lites).“When I try to live
find one with binoculars, I look for a rock with
legs,” Elbroch says. Their fur also blends in PACIFIC OCEAN ARGENTINA

with the region’s sun-bleached grasses, Patagonia
letting the big cats sneak up on unsus- ATLANTIC OCEAN

pecting prey like guanacos
or hares.

CHILE

Torres
del Paine
National

Park

6 SNOW LEOPARD 7 CHEETAH 8 EURASIAN LYNX 9 CLOUDED LEOPARD 10 SERVAL
60-165 pounds 75-140 pounds 40-66 pounds 25-50 pounds 18-40 pounds

GABRIEL ROJO / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (PUMA); ANN AND STEVE TOON / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (LEOPARD); THOMAS MARENT / 25NAT GEO KIDS
MINDEN PICTURES (SNOW LEOPARD); BILDAGENTUR ZOONAR GMBH / SHUTTERSTOCK (CHEETAH); RUDMER ZWERVER / SHUTTERSTOCK
(EURASIAN LYNX); SANDESH KADUR / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (CLOUDED LEOPARD); SUZI ESZTERHAS / MINDEN PICTURES (SERVAL)

1 DURING THE LAST ICE AGE 902 3
PERCENT
11,500 YEARS AGO, OF ALL RECOVERED Icebergs are formed from glaciers
on land and drift out to sea.
one-third of Earth’s surface was METEORITES
covered in ice. Today, THEY ARE MOSTLY
ice covers only a 10th. MADE OF FRESHWATER.

4 COME FROM ANTARCTICA.

5

Snowflakes HAWAII’S MAUNA KEA VOLCANO

GET SMALLER AS THE
TEMPERATURE DROPS.
IT’S POSSIBLE
TO SNOW SKI ON
30 COOLYOU CVOLCANOESINHAWAII.
TO MAKE
THANK YOU / SHUTTERSTOCK (SNOWFLAKE, 4); MARCELCLEMENS / SHUTTERSTOCK (2); GEN PRODUCTIONS / SHUT-7 8 DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME:
6 TERSTOCK (3); ROBERT MADDEN / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (5); SEMEN LIXODEEV / SHUTTERSTOCK
(6); JENNIE BOOK / SHUTTERSTOCK (7); JOEY BOYLAN / ISTOCKPHOTO (8); IGOR SHPILENOK / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (9);SNOWIf you touch your tongue to a metal pole
An ICE PALACESTEVEN COLING / SHUTTERSTOCK (10); DMITRYND / GETTY IMAGES (12); CAROLINA K. SMITH, M.D. / SHUTTERSTOCK (13)CONES on a below-freezing day,

built in St. Petersburg, THINGSsold during the IT COULD
Russia, was an exact Great Depression GET STUCK
were called “hard
replica of one built by times sundaes” THERE.
Empress Anna Ivanovna because they were
cheap to make.
some 200 years ago.
10 ON MARS, WATER BOILS 11 12 AN ARCTIC FOX
9 THE ARCTIC-DWELLING AT 10 DEGREES ABOVE HAS A BUSHY TAIL
FREEZING. REINDEER can
WOLVERINE THAT
travel more than
HAS PAWS LIKE CURLS
800 miles
SNOWSHOES AROUND
round trip during
SO IT CAN their yearly ITS BODY
WALK ON TOP migration in
OF DEEP SNOW. FOR WARMTH.
the Arctic.
13 WOOD FROGS
have special antifreeze-like chemicals 14 BRAIN FREEZE
that allow them to
FREEZE NEARLY SOLID HAS NOTHING TO DO
IN THE WINTER, WITH YOUR BRAIN. IT
then thaw out in OCCURS WHEN THE
warmer weather.
BLOOD VESSELS IN
26 NAT GEO KIDS YOUR HEAD SWELL.

15 16 SIBERIA 17

Each year, GETS SO COLD THAT An 11-year-old
a hotel in YOUR BREATH CAN left a soda-
Sweden is
rebuilt from TURN TOICE IN MIDAIR. filled cup with
a mixture of a stick in it
ice and snow. outside on a
cold night,
EVEN THE accidentally
CHAIRS, inventing the
TABLES,
AND BEDS ICE POP.
ARE MADE
OF ICE! 19A MAN SET 2020 On average,
A RECORD BY INCHES
18 POLAR BEARS CLEAN BALANCING of SNOW
equals 1 INCH of WATER.
THEMSELVES by RUBBING THEIR 120 FROZEN
BODIES on the ARCTIC SNOW. WAFFLES

IN HIS
HANDS.

CHiLLOUT MARCO REGALIA / ISTOCKPHOTO (15); TIM UR / SHUTTERSTOCK (16); STEPHEN COBURN / SHUTTERSTOCK (17);
21 A Dutch artist made 22 23 24 JOSHUA LEWIS / SHUTTERSTOCK (19); ANDRZEJ GIBASIEWICZ / SHUTTERSTOCK (22); IPGGUTENBERGUKLTD /
An ICEBERG is a chunk of ice larger GETTY IMAGES (24); ARTMIM / SHUTTERSTOCK (27); FANTUZ / SHUTTERSTOCK (29)
an ice sculpture called IN SOME PARTS OF EMPEROR
than 16 feet across. BERGY BITS are PENGUINS
“SUNGLACIER” chunks between 6.6 feet and 16 feet ANTARCTICA,
IN THE MIDDLE OF A across. GROWLERS are chunks less 3THME IICLEEISS can stay
DESERT than 6.6 feet across. THICK.
to bring attention to UNDERWATER
CLIMATE CHANGE.
for up to

20

MINUTES.

25 IN THE 26 27
ANTARCTIC, THERE’S A
WHEN LIGHTNING ICEBERG
30-30-30 RULE: LETTUCE IS
When the temperature is OCCURS WITH A SNOW- ALSO CALLED
minus 30°F and the wind is STORM, IT’S CALLED “CRISPHEAD.”
30 miles an hour, human
skin freezes in 30 seconds. THUNDERSNOW.

28 29 Earth’s two ice sheets 30 CHECK
OUT
The lowest temperature cover most of Early hockey pucks THE
ever recorded on Earth was were made of
GREENLAND and BOOK!
minus 144°F, ANTARCTICA, FROZEN
COW DUNG
IN ANTARCTICA. and make up about
(er, poop).
99 percent

of the world’s glacial ice.

27DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

STUFF

GAMES, LAUGHS, AND LOTS TO DO!

Peep the Plastic

Your home is probably full of plastic. And it’s
not all bad—just don’t leave the stuff outside
(where it could become litter or ocean trash)
or toss it before you absolutely need to!

Find at least 15 items in this bathroom made
partly of plastic. ANSWERS ON PAGE 35

YOU CAN SAVE THE EARTH FROM PLASTIC TRASH! MASEZDROMADERI / DREAMSTIME
natgeokids.com/KidsVsPlastic

28 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

CHECK
OUT
THE

BOOK!

29DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

1

23 4

5 7
6

30 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

8 9
10 11
13
12

31DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

4 13 OF THE

5 67 SIGNS TIMES

32 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

2

Seeing isn’t always believing. Two of
these funny signs and signals aren’t
real. Can you spot which two are fake?

ANSWERS ON PAGE 35

TRAVEL PICTURES / ALAMY, IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED (1); THOMAS WINZ / GETTY IMAGES (2); RICHARD NEWSTEAD /
GETTY IMAGES (3); CHARLES GULLUNG / GETTY IMAGES (4); OWAKI / KULLA / GETTY IMAGES (5); ANDREW HOLT /
GETTY IMAGES, IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED (6); MYLOUPE / UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES (7)

In the new book Explorer Academy: The Star Dunes,
13-year-old Cruz Coronado breaks secret codes in order
to fight dangerous villains and solve mysteries. Test your
own skills by cracking the maze on this page, then check
out more about the book at ExplorerAcademy.com .

BY TRACEY WEST AND GARETH MOORE

START SAILOR

PLAY! ON THE RUN

Cruz and two of his classmates,
Sailor York and Emmett Lu, are
being chased by a mysterious
agent through the winding
lower decks of the ship Orion.
Help them find a way out.

ANSWER ON PAGE 35

EMMETT

CRUZ

FINISH CHECK
OUT
THE

BOOK!

SCOTT PLUMBE (CHARACTER ART); PAVEL MITROFANOV / SHUTTERSTOCK (BACKGROUND) 33DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

ART ZONE SUPERHEROES

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a
bunch of new superheroes drawn
by Nat Geo Kids readers!

S Ballet Girl W Super Aardvark
Liberty H., 10 Lydia L., 12
Lilburn, Georgia Rockledge, Florida

Recycling Rachel X

Adelaide K., 12
Denver, Colorado

34 NAT GEO KIDS • DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021

Draw a vacation Send us Nat Geo Kids— Include your name, address, phone number, date of birth, a title for your drawing, a statement that
postcard. your Postcard Art Zone it is your own work, and the name of your parent or guardian. Your parent or guardian must sign a
original P.O. Box 98002 release for publication if your illustration is selected. Submissions become the property of National
drawings: Washington, DC Geographic Partners,and all rights thereto are transferred to National Geographic Partners.Submis-
20090-8002 sions cannot be acknowledged or returned. Selection will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids.

S Mighty Lightning Chicken
Reese W., 12
Lockwood, Missouri

S Super Cheetah
Emily P., 11
Newberg, Oregon

S Nature Girl Ocean Man X
Päivi V., 13
Bloomfield, New Jersey Marcus A., 13
Leola, Pennsylvania

Statement of ownership, management, and monthly circulation of “Signs of the Times” (page 32): Signs 3 and 6 are fake.

National Geographic Kids 15. mouthwash bottle bottle

OWNER AND PUBLISHER: National Geographic Partners, LLC 7. nail polish remover 14. contact solution
Gary E. Knell, Chairman
13. nail polish 6. lotion bottle
Susan Goldberg, Editorial Director
David Brindley, Managing Editor, Magazines 5. toilet scrubber 12. duck toy

Rachel Buchholz, Editor in Chief
HEADQUARTERS OF PUBLISHER AND PUBLICATION:
1145 Seventeenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036

STOCKHOLDERS; BONDHOLDERS; MORTGAGE;
OTHER SECURITY HOLDERS: National Geographic Society

and The Walt Disney Company

Average no. copies Single issue 11. mascara tube 4. razor
nearest to
each issue during filing date 10. hair dryer 3. toothbrushes
Sept. 2020
preceding 12 mos.
722,558
A. TOTAL COPIES PRINTED Oct. 2019-Sept. 2020 9. soap dish 2. comb
623,170
(Net Press Run) 762,628 - 8. cream container 1. glasses

B. PAID CIRCULATION 59,522
-
1. Outside-County Mail Subscriptions 641,953
682,692
2. In-County Mail Subscriptions -
5,881
3. Non USPS Distributed 59,721 - 14 3 7 5
- 13 9
4. Other Classes Mailed Through USPS - 12
5,881 2 11 1
C. TOTAL PAID CIRCULATION 701,674 - 8

D. FREE DISTRIBUTION BY MAIL 5,881
688,573
(includes samples, no news agents) 33,985 10 15
722,558 46
1. Outside-County 6,385
99%
2. In-County -

3. Other Classes Mailed Through USPS -

TOTAL FREE DISTRIBUTION BY MAIL 6,385

S Super Star E. FREE DISTRIBUTION OUTSIDE THE MAIL -
Dane V., 8
Brookfield, Wisconsin F. TOTAL FREE DISTRIBUTION(Sum of D and E) 6,385 “Explorer
Academy”
G. TOTAL DISTRIBUTION(Sum of C and F) 708,059
(page 33):
H. OFFICE USE, LEFTOVER, ETC. 54,569 Answers

I. TOTAL(Sum of G and H) 762,628 “Peep the Plastic” (pages 28-29):

J. PERCENT PAID 99%

35DECEMBER 2020 | JANUARY 2021 • NAT GEO KIDS

AAnwemsomaels!

RED-EYED TREE FROG

TEXT BY RUTH A MUSGRAVE COPYRIGHT© 2020 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC

RED-EYED TREE FROG

A This tree frog is a picky eater.
FALSE: It’ll eat any insect—or even

a frog—that fits into its mouth.

B These frogs are great swimmers.
FALSE: They spend most of their lives

climbing and jumping in trees.

C Mom lays eggs within dropping
distance of water.

TRUE: She lays 20 to 60 eggs on the under-

side of a leaf over water.

One look from a red-eyed tree

D frog stops a predator in its tracks.
TRUE: Its red eyes and flashy colors may
startle a hunter and give the frog a split
second to hop away.

E If an unhatched frog gets a bad
feeling, it escapes from its egg.

TRUE: It can tell the difference between

vibrations caused by a moving snake or

rain. If it’s a snake, the tadpole hatches

early and drops into the water to escape.

MICHAEL DURHAM / MINDEN PICTURES

AAnwemsomaels!

SERVAL



AAwnesommeals!

EMPEROR PENGUINS



AAnwemsomaels!

CARIBOU

CARIBOU

A Caribou and reindeer are the

same species.

TRUE: But caribou are native to North
America, and reindeer are native to north-
ern Europe and Asia.

B Caribou, a kind of deer, are slow.
FALSE: They can run up to 48 miles
an hour.

C It’d be cheap to cater their spring

gathering.

FALSE: A spring herd might have 500,000
caribou, which could eat six million
pounds of food a day.

D A caribou’s flexible hoofed foot

is an all-purpose tool.

TRUE: It’s a paddle in water, a snowshoe,
and a shovel for digging up food in the
snow. Its sharp edges grip rocks and ice.

E Only male caribou have antlers.
FALSE: Caribou are the only kind of deer
in which both females and males have
antlers.

DONALD M. JONES / MINDEN PICTURES

AAnwemsomaels!

WALRUS

WALRUS

A A walrus’s delicate tusks are only

for looks.

FALSE: Walruses use their strong tusks
as weapons and to help them climb out
of the water. Males also use their tusks to
establish who’s boss.

B The tusks can be as long as

baseball bats.

TRUE: A large walrus can have tusks that
are 39 inches long. Both males and fe-
males have tusks.

C Walruses compete with penguins

for food.

FALSE: Walruses live only in the North-
ern Hemisphere. Penguins live in the
Southern Hemisphere.

D Polar bears eat walrus pups.
TRUE: Young, ill, or injured walruses
can become dinner for polar bears.

E A walrus avoids cold water.
FALSE: It spends about two-thirds of its
life at sea in Arctic waters. Its thick layer
of blubber keeps it warm.

AGE FOTOSTOCK / SUPERSTOCK

AAnwemsomaels!

SKIMMER DRAGONFLY