Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Butterfly And Hummingbird Day. They both fly and drink nectar from flowers, but their similarities end there. Butterflies are insects, that transform from caterpillars. Hummingbirds are tiny birds that can hover in midair, by beating their wings up to 200 times-per-second. They hatch from eggs the size of a small jelly bean!

Today is Look At The Leaves Day. Are they turning red, orange, and yellow yet? The Fall Foliage Prediction Map, at SmokyMountains.com, has updates so leaf peepers, can travel to see the colors at their peak. Search for spectacular leaves in your yard or the park, to press them, or create a colorful bouquet.

Today is World Smile Day! It’s easy to start a smile chain, if you smile at everyone you see. There’s a lot to smile about, like Kids Music Day. Form a band with your friends, making instruments out of anything that makes noise, then play a concert. Everyone will love your awesome music.

Today is Virus Appreciation Day. What? Viruses are pretty amazing, the way they spread so quickly between people, or computers. Show them you respect how dangerous they are, by washing your hands! To prevent computer viruses, keep your computer up to date, don’t open unexpected email attachments, and use anti-viruses and malware scanners.

An alligator has been spotted wandering around Belle Isle, an island in Detroit Michigan. As it is far from its natural habitat, the gator was likely a pet, that someone released when it got too big. Officials from Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources will try to find the alligator a more appropriate home.

The results are in, for Katmai National Park’s “fattest bear” competition, and 1200-pound Chunk, was the big winner. The brown bears have a few more weeks to stuff themselves, before they start to hibernate for the winter. You can still watch them catch salmon, on explore.org’s Brooks Falls bearcam.

Sargassum seaweed can blanket coastlines, leaving smelly decay that releases harmful carbon. A robotics company designed robots shaped like manta rays, to keep that carbon from reaching the air. The robots collect sargassum floating on the surface, and deposit it deep, where the lack of sunlight will cause it to die and sink.

Today is Smarties Day. The sweet-and-sour candy tablets, were introduced in 1949. Put some in your pockets, and be a Smartie-Pants. It’s also Poetry Day. Read your favorite poem to someone, or write your own! Here’s a poem from 10-year-old Declan, titled “Something.”

It’s Salty. It’s Spicy. It’s Sour. It’s Vomit.

What’s your car’s name? You ride in a car all the time, but you don’t even have a name for it? Well, today is Name Your Car Day, so pick a good one! It’s also World Farm Animals Day. Visit a farm with a pumpkin patch and cows, chickens, and goats just for fun!

Let’s celebrate Fire Pup Day, by recognizing canine firefighters. It’s also Black Dog Day, and International Raccoon Appreciation Day. They’re all cute and fuzzy, but don’t put them in a room together! Speaking of fuzzy, don’t forget Hair Day. Did you know sea otters have super-fine hair? Their fur has 1,000,000 hairs per-square-inch!