ALL ABOUT ALLIGATORS

MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM Thursday, April 25, 2013 3second season so stay tuned for those toair later this year! We finished filming seasontwo of “Life With Boys,” so I’m on a hiatusfrom that right now.”Q: You also have a summer birthday.Any special plans this year?A: “I am really excited about turning 15in July but I haven’t even thought about howI’m going to celebrate it yet since I’ve beenso busy! I’m thinking maybe something likea beach party since it’s so hot in L.A. in July!It will probably just be something low-keywith my close friends because I’m savingthe BIG bash for my Sweet 16!”Q: Last time we talked, you shared thatyour older brother. Sergeant Pettis, wasstationed overseas with the U.S. Army. Ishe still away? You also volunteer your timewith military causes. What have you beeninvolved with lately?A: “Yes, my brother is still a sergeantin the U.S. Army and he’s stationed inGermany right now. I’m definitely stillworking with various military charities andsupporting militaryfamilies. Hopefully, I’ll get to do anotherUSO tour soon where I visit schools onmilitary bases and meet the kids who haveparents serving. Those trips are always soinspiring to me because I appreciate thesacrifices their families make for us everyday!”Q: The First Lady is also very passionateabout supporting our troops and militaryfamilies. Have you had a chance to meetMichelle Obama through any of yourvolunteer efforts?A: “I haven’t gotten the chance yet tomeet First Lady Michelle Obama or the FirstFamily, but I would be HONORED to! I reallyrespect that she’s such a strong supporterof our military and their families, just like Iam, so it would be incredible to meet her& the whole First Family! Especially since Iplayed the President’s daughter on “Cory InThe House” – LOL! So it would be very coolto meet the real ones!”By Janis CampbellPhoto by Ken Woroner/Nelvana StudioMadison Pettis stars as Allie on “Life with Boys.”Tune in to TeenNick to catch episodes throughoutthe week.FUN FACTS:Home Life: Madison lives with her family in L.A.,except when she’s filming her show in Toronto, OntarioCanada.Career: When Madison was 5, her mom entered herphotograph in a magazine contest in her home stateof Texas, which landed Madison on the cover of themagazine! From there, she began modeling and landingcommercials. Her first big job was a Hasbro commercialfor the FurReal Friends. At 7, she landed the role of thefirst daughter on “Cory In The House.”Puppy Love: She reports that she has no pets at themoment. “I’m traveling all the time right now so it justwouldn’t be very practical to have a pet since I’m awayfrom home so much, but I want a puppy SO badly! Iwant a little Maltese – one day!”Going Social: “I actually just hit one MILLIONfollowers on Twitter this morning which is INSANE!!! I’mso thankful for my incredibly amazing and loyal fans! Ilove Twitter, Facebook, and also Instagram to keep myfans updated on everything I’m doing.”Photo by Ken Woroner/Nelvana StudioMeet the cool cast, pictured from left: Jake Goodman, NathanMcLeod, Torri Webster, Michael Murphy and Madison Pettis starin “Life with Boys.”

4 Thursday, April 25, 2013MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COMFIELD TRIPGodzilla rules the sanctuary.He’s nine feet long and themost dominant male.Lina Critchlow with one of the sanctuary’s many American alligators.Photos by Debbie CritchlowSee Them Now, Not Later – Alligators!We hope you read our March 11story about the Great LakesSociety’s World of DiscoveryReptile Zoo in Ann Arbor. (You can read thestory online at www.yakscorner.com.)Most of the zoo’s 75 reptile specieswere rescued or donated, “but we don’taccept alligators,” curator John Lebert saidwhen we visited, adding. “We send them toCritchlow’s Alligator Sanctuary.”“Where’s that – in Florida?” we asked.(Florida has about two million wildalligators.) His answer surprised anddelighted us: The gator sanctuary is righthere in Michigan, near Battle Creek. So ofcourse we had to visit.What we discovered was a caring,stimulating home for 100 Americanalligators, the only native U.S. gator species.Many of the gators were donated by peoplewho no longer wanted them. The restwere confiscated for being owned illegally.(Alligators are a legal pet in Michigan, buthave been outlawed in some communities,including Detroit.)“I have gators from 14 states right now,”said David Critchlow, who opened the fouracresanctuary five years ago. “We are theonly place for 700 miles that specializes inalligators.” About 80 of the 100 gators camefrom somewhere in Michigan.“You can buy alligators at pet stores oronline,” he said. “They get to be three tofour feet long and that’s when they bitesomebody, or the wife says, ‘Get rid of it.’There are easily 500-1,000 gators in Detroitand thousands more across the state – notin the wild, but in people’s homes.”Gators On The MoveCritchlow’s alligators spend the winterin a cozy greenhouse. On April 4, the daywe visited, they looked content, baskinglike logs in the warm, filtered sun. Davidwas preparing to release them into a largefenced-in enclosure that resembles a horsecorral, but with ponds.As we walked toward the greenhouse,we heard what sounded like lions roaring. Itwas gators bellowing at a garbage truck thatwas loudly emptying a garbage can. “Theythink it’s another alligator,” David said. “Onewill start, usually Godzilla because he’s thelargest and most dominant. Then the otherswill join in. They’re saying, ‘You stay out ofour territory.’ ”Temperatures inside the greenhouserange from 45 to 55 degrees, which is a littletoo cold for gators to digest food. So Daviddoesn’t feed them. “Alligators can go for ayear without eating,” he explained. Later thisyear, he plans to build a new, much larger,permanent facility that he’ll be able to heatmore efficiently. So he’ll be able to expandhis collection and accept more gators.The Sanctuary’s MissionThere are no shows featuring stunts orgator wrestling. “We don’t do that,” David

6 Thursday, April 25, 2013MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COMYakking about the newsA weekly wrap-up for young readersof other storm names, you will not see Sandy on the name list in2014 for hurricanes. Because super storm Sandy was so horrific onthe East Coast last fall, that name has been retired. Instead, Sara willbe on the list.File PhotoThis is the Ambassador Bridge, the first bridge from Detroit to Windsor.Bridge On The WayA new bridge to Canada is on track. Gov. Rick Snyder celebratedthe announcement on April 12 when a presidential permit wasgiven. The bridge will be the second between Windsor and Detroit.This bridge will be located in the southwest Detroit neighborhoodcalled Delray. Because Canada is paying for the new bridge, it willbe Canada who starts the process by assembling a bridge team,buying land and hiring contractors, reported the Detroit Free Press.The bridge completion probably would not be until 2020. Thereis objection to the planned bridge from Matty Moroun, owner ofDetroit’s other bridge to Canada, the Ambassador Bridge, whichwas built in 1929, and lawsuits could possibly delay the start.Meanwhile, this bridge doesn’t have a name yet. The Free Press hasasked readers for naming ideas, but the Yak wants to know whatyounger readers propose. A Yak Bridge? You can mail your namesto Yak’s Corner, DNIE, 615 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226,and we will share them in an upcoming issue. Can you remember thename of the other bridge to Canada at Port Huron?Stormy SpringAt Yak’s Corner press time, April was finishing off the month withwintry weather, including winter storm Walda. The Yak expects wecould reach the end of the alphabet (Z for Zeus) before the winterweather moves on. Walda hit the upper Great Lakes hard, withMinnesota shoveling and Michigan flooding in parts. The springtornado season, off to a slower start, hit hard with more than a dozentwisters hitting the southern part of the U.S. recently. And speakingDinosaur Growth SpurtDinosaur discoveries always have the Yak amazed. This month,paleontologists (pay-lee-on-tahl-o-jists), who study fossils of ancientlife, have reported in the journal Nature that studying bones andfossilized eggshells show that dinosaur babies grew very fast.The discovery of the fossilized eggshell and tiny bones from adinosaur embryo was made in southern China. The remains – atlest 190 million years old – were from a plant-eating dinosaur calledLufengosaurus, which grew to 30 feet long. “These things weregrowing faster than anything we’ve ever seen – faster than any livingmammal or bird today or any known dinosaur,” Robert Reisz ofthe University of Toronto Mississauga, said in a Wall Street Journalreport.Kids Making NewsYoung Golfer Makes CutThe recent Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, hadplenty of big stars on the course like Tiger Woods. One golfer stoodout because he was the youngest – 14-year-old Guan Tianlang. He isthe youngest player ever to compete in this prestigious tournament.Not only that, but he is the youngest to compete in any major golftournament in 148 years. The talented player told media he beganhitting golf balls at age 4. He was penalized with one stroke for slowplay (by an official referee at the tournament), but still made thecompetition. Keep your eyes on the talented golfer, who may be thenext Tiger Woods!Compiled byCathy CollisonAP PhotoGuan Tianlang, 14,made the cut to playin the Masters. He isthe youngest golferever to play in thattournament.

MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM Thursday, April 25, 2013 7THINK ABOUT ART:You’ll see a few flowers in today’s spring art. Yourassignment for May: Flower power! Create some artwith bold and beautiful flowers. Pay attention to petalpatterns and the many colors you can show.Fill the paper!By Christin Akrawee, 10, TroyBy Lydia Hall, 10, Clinton Twp.By Hanna Okai, 9, DetroitBy Aniyah Samuel, 10, DetroitBy Isabella Webster, 9, DetroitBy Cornelius Crawley, 10, DetroitSend usyour artDraw on only white 8 -by-11 paper and use bright colors. Be sure to print your name, age, city and phonenumber clearly on the back of your drawing. Send your art to Yak’s Corner Art, c/o DNIE, 615 W. Lafayette Blvd.,Detroit, MI 48226

8Thursday, April 25, 2013MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. | WWW.DNIE.COM This page for young Yakkers is brought to you this week by readers of The Detroit News andDetroit Free Press who donated their vacation newspapers.