Not a Whale of a Tail, but a Manatee Moment, Christmas Ornament Crochet-a-long Week 11

     Who doesn't love a manatee?  While looking for a manatee pattern for my Whimsy Tree, I came across this very cute pattern!  Simple and free, two very good reasons to give it a try!

     I love the way this designer used a special 'front post single crochet' to help define the shape of this project.  Her pattern is detailed and easy to follow.  Her finished manatee is about 10 inches long.  But I was looking for a much smaller one to serve as a tree ornament.  My efforts to scale it down with the materials I had on hand (I was out of town visiting family at the time)  were only partly successful.  My manatee ended up being 9 inches long.   Still adorable, but much too large for what I wanted.


                        http://hookedbykati.com/2018/08/01/free-manatee-crochet-pattern/

Well, once a project is finished I like to keep it around for awhile until I decide what I will do with it.  And, as I often do, I sent a pic of this one to my sister because she loves manatees! 


This is the same sister who has an eye for details and lots of worthy suggestions.  And I do tend to take her suggestions to account.  So a few embellishments were added to this gal.                         

A pretty flower over her fin and a bit of green salad in her mouth and she took  on a bit of personality.






In the meantime, I was musing over how to recreate a smaller version of her when I ran across this link on Pinterest for a mini-manatee!


           https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-manatee-3

In less than an hour's time, baby manatee was finished!  The
trouble with manatees is that they are not very striking animals
in appearance.  Although they are huge and graceful, they are
otherwise rather dull looking.  Once again, my detail oriented
sister came to the rescue.
 "He would really be cute if he had a pacifier!"

That's it!  A binkey for the baby!

So there we have it!  Momma Manatee and baby.  Baby can float on the tree while momma watches from below.


Many thanks to the designers of these two patterns!  I really enjoyed making them!

Blessings!
Reny

This is written by Kathy Bates who loves manatees and has spent considerable time learning about these awesome mammals.  Kathy is my sister and a constant source of amazing info and facts that I would never have thought of myself.  Her sense of humor and wit keep us both laughing all the time!

Am I Part Manatee? 

     The manatee, or Sea Cow, is a sweet, gentle animal, roly-poly in shape with a flat tail. (Hmmm… that sounds like me, (except for the tail – mine is more plump than flat.) They are mammals, and so do not have gills and cannot breathe underwater. (Me neither!!!) They spend their lives in shallow waters, coming to the surface for a breath every 4-6 minutes, but can go as long as 15 minutes. When they do take a breath, they refresh 90% of the air in their lungs, which is waaaay more than we humans do when we inhale!  
   
The Big Three activities for a manatee are eating, sleeping and looking for their next meal. They actually spend half of their day sleeping. (I could do that!) The other half of the day is spent looking for food and eating. (Uh-huh, I can relate!) They are vegetarians, and weeds, algae, mangrove leaves, and sea grass are always on the menu. And they eat a LOT of it!

     Looking at a manatee, you might think it has a nice thick insulating layer of fat on its body (just like me!), but they really are not well insulated in that way at all; most of their huge abdomen is taken up with stomach and intestines. It’s kind of understandable that they need that much digestive equipment when you consider that we humans would have to eat 15 POUNDS of food in one day to match what the manatees eats!
 
     Baby manatees are born under water, of course, and mama helps them get to the surface for their first breath. Then the hungry baby looks for breakfast and finds it in Mama’s ARMPIT! Yes, the nipple is placed behind Mama’s flipper – a nice little protected place for baby to feed while Mama cruises to her next ‘salad’. 

     And imagine this: they’re related to the elephant! Like the elephant, manatees have 3-4 ‘fingernails’, a similar circular-shaped heart, and can grow ‘replacements’ when their diet wears down their teeth. In fact, the manatee has an unlimited supply of replacement teeth! (Wish I had that!)

     Manatees have no natural enemies, except maybe boat motor propellers, which is one of the leading causes of death for them. Recognized as a Vulnerable Species – declining in number – they are protected by many laws, including speed limits for boats in area where manatees are found. In fact, even TOUCHING a manatee can get you arrested in Florida and can result in hefty fines and jail time!

  If you ever get a chance to visit an area with manatees, be sure to try to see them. There are many places in Florida where manatees are visible, and even places where you can get in the water with them, under close supervision of course! And they even have their own special holiday: the last Wednesday in March is Manatee Appreciation Day! Whether you see them live or just enjoy them in pictures and crafts, these gentle sea creatures will win your heart!