mammals Archives

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

Looking For Signs of a Squirrel – Our Rodent Nature Study

Squirrel nature study happens quite frequently at our house. We tend to have squirrels that are not shy about making themselves at home in our birdfeeders and in our trees, especially the walnut tree. I knew we had a squirrel challenge to complete this month so I have been waiting for one to come along to observe. Wouldn’t you know it? We could hear them chattering up in the tree a few times over the past few weeks but we have not actually seen our resident squirrels.

Our Outdoor Time
Kona and I completed this squirrel challenge on our own today…it was a drizzly, gray day. Kona is the squirrel hunter in our family and she will chase them along the fence line and watch them from the base of the tree. She loves a good squirrel chase. Today though there was no squirrel around.

We made use of our time by trying to find some signs of squirrels. We found quite a few walnut shells which are dead giveaway. We looked up in the tree but we couldn’t see any squirrels up there. We made our way around to the side of the house and the birdfeeder where the squirrels sometimes sit and munch on seeds. No squirrels today.

We then went around the side of the house and we saw some tracks in the mud. I think they are cat tracks.

One last tree to check out…nope, no squirrels today.

Well, we didn’t see a squirrel to observe but we ended up really enjoying our time outside. I gathered a colorful leaf bouquet, watched a flock of finches in the feeder (post to come), and we got some fresh air before it really started to rain. Successful….yes!

I did pull out the field guide and look up squirrels and read through the pages. Mr. B and I will be keeping our eyes out for squirrels as the month goes by and once the leaves are all down for the season I know we will be able to see more clearly when we hear the squirrels chattering.

Don’t forget you can study any rodent this month and there is a free printable notebook page for you to use with your Handbook
of Nature Study.Rodents included in the Handbook of Nature Study are the muskrat, house mouse, woodchuck, red squirrel, and the chipmunk.

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Barb — Leave a comment

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Signs of Mammals

“The alert field naturalist learns to look for signs of mammals, even where there is little likelihood of seeing the animals themselves. He becomes an expert at interpreting tracks in mud, dust, or snow; at analyzing scats; at recognizing claw marks, gnaw marks, nests, houses, mounds, ridges, food piles, and other telltale indicators.”
Complete Field Guide to American Wildlife by Henry Hill Collins

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
For this nature study challenge we will be looking for signs of mammals. You can look for mammal tracks, holes, scratches on tree trunks, scat, hollows in the trunk of a tree, burrow, holes in the lawn.Record your findings in your nature journal along with a drawing, the date, the weather, the time of day, and the type of animal if you have identified it at this time.

We always enjoy following tracks to see where they will lead…this is especially fun in the snow! Make a mental note to try this activity the next time you have snow in your area.

Helpful challenge from the past: Winter Series #9 Mammals – Tracks
Helpful Link: Animal Tracks – Mammal Tracks
Printable Track Guide: Pocket Guide to Animal Tracks

I am highly recommending this book from Amazon.com:Tracks, Scats and Signs.

I know many of you own it already and now would be the perfect time to pull it off the shelf. It is also contained in this book if you own this one instead: Fun With Nature: Take Along Guide.

Printable Notebook Page

Mammal Letter Notebook Page:After your Outdoor Hour time, write a letter to a friend or relative and tell them about your experiences. You can share anything you observed including any mammals or signs of mammals that you found. Include a sketch of your mammal, the tracks you saw, or tell a story about a mammal. If you saw some tracks, explain how you think the tracks got there. Was the animal looking for food? Finding a place to hide? You can make a copy of your letter and put it in your nature journal.

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own the Getting Started ebook, use the suggestions in Outdoor Hour Challenge #1 for your Outdoor Hour time. Although we are looking for signs of mammals this week, make sure to follow up any interest that comes from your time outdoors. You can use the notebook page provided in the ebook to record your experience or you can use the suggestion above to write a letter to a friend or relative about your experience. Above all, enjoy a few minutes outside in your own backyard or neighborhood.

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

Mammal Grid Study – Stimulates Our Nature Study

We have fallen into a nice rhythm with the grid study printable from the monthly newsletter. For November and the mammal grid, we decided to print and place it into our nature journal as a reminder of things we could be on the lookout for as we go about our outdoor time during the month.

I had prepared a page to record my observations using the ideas from my Watercolor Block Nature Journal entry. I didn’t want to use another page so I made the grid a “flap” by taping one edge into the journal so you can lift it up and still see what is underneath.

Of course you can just adhere the grid onto a page if you want to and not worry about making a flap.

I pulled our mammal resources off the shelf- field guide to California mammals, field guide to the Sierra Nevada, and my track finder reference. Sometimes just gathering a few resources will spark a new interest in a nature study area you have covered before. This was the case for our family this month. We paged through the field guide, looking at the illustrations and discussing which animals we have seen and which animals we hoped to see in the future.

I added a short list of “hope to see” mammals in my nature journal. We realized that if we were ever going to actually see these animals in the wild we would need to do some more research about where they live, what their tracks look like, and then what their identifying features are.

Of course, none of the mammals on our list is in the Handbook of Nature Study so we are gleaning from books we have on our shelves and from the internet. I wrote our plan for preparation in my nature journal…good reminders since we will be spending a few days up in the mountains later this season and it would be the perfect time to do some observations. There may even be some snow to look for tracks!

Example of the free mammal notebook page available here on my blog.

I printed a few of the mammal notebook pages from my Freebies page and I have them all ready to go when we have a chance to observe any of the mammals from our list. I think we will use the field guide to fill in most of the factual parts of the page but them leave the observation part blank.

I think we are off to a great start on our focus on mammals for the month!

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Barb — 2 Comments

Outdoor Hour Challenge – Mammal Grid Study

Outdoor Hour Challenge:
This week we will be using the Mammal Study Grid from the November 2012 Newsletter. Print the grid out, cut it to include in your nature journal, and then take a few minutes during your week to complete some of the suggested activities. If you haven’t subscribed to the blog yet, you can do so now and you will receive the newsletter link in the next entry.

Suggested Activity:
This week’s extra is a YouTube recording with a catchy little song about mammals.
If you don’t see the YouTube player you may need to click this link: Mammal Song.

Getting Started Suggestion:
If you already own this ebook, this week’s challenge would correspond nicely with Outdoor Hour Challenge #4. Start a focus study of mammals this month and see how many mammals you can find to learn more about in your local area. You can use the notebook page provided in the ebook for each mammal you study.

If you need an explanation of how the Outdoor Hour Challenge is going to work from this day forward, please read this entry:
Nature Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge – How to Steps and Explanation.

Hearts and Trees Mammal Lapbook Kit

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Barb — 1 Comment

Learning About Wool – More Nature Study

More Nature Study Book 2 – Sheep/Wool Study

Since we don’t have access to a sheep to observe up close, we opted to study wool instead. Mr. B was not all that excited about this particular challenge but once we started we had some fun with it. We did notice some sheep in a pasture over the weekend but that was about as close as we got to a real sheep.

We started off with the video on YouTube showing how wool is made and we also watched a few videos on shearing sheep. This led to a few more videos on spinning yarn from the wool roving. Now we have more of an appreciation for the wool yarn that goes into our hats and scarves.
With new interest, Mr. B completed his research into the Artiodactyla order and Bovidae family of animals, finishing off with a written narration of his investigation. Links found in the original challenge. If you want an interesting discussion, try to find some information online that discusses the Artiodactyla order and whales. It led to some interesting thoughts in our home. (You can Google “Cetartiodactyla”.)
Lastly we looked at wool under the microscope…amazing to see up close. I encourage you to give it a try if you have a microscope.

Sometimes our nature study is not of the outdoor variety but I knew that when I included sheep in this series of challenges. We chose a rainy day to complete this study and it was fun to think about wool when we were out on our snowshoe hike recently. Nature study can connect many real life experiences if we give it a chance. I look forward to seeing if any other families took this challenge and found a way to make it successful with their family.

If you want to look at other mammal using the Outdoor Hour Challenges, you can find a list here on this page: Outdoor Hour Challenges – Mammals

You may also be interested in another Winter Mammal Challenge found here on the Handbook of Nature Study.

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Barb — 3 Comments

OHC More Nature Study Book 2 – Sheep/Wool

More Nature Study Book 2
Sheep and Wool Study

Inside Preparation Work:
1. Read pages 270-274 in the Handbook of Nature Study (Lesson 66). Since most of us do not have access to a real sheep to study up close, use this information as preparation for any future encounters with sheep. For this challenge you can spend time learning about how man uses the sheep’s wool to make fabric. Make sure to have at least one item made of wool for the children to observe (or a ball of wool yarn will work as well).
2. View these videos on YouTube.com: Sheep Dogs in Training and How It Is Made-Wool.

Outdoor Hour Time:
If you have the ability to observe a real sheep and make direct observations, this is the best way to learn about sheep. If you don’t have access to sheep, there are several alternative ideas.
1. Take a walk outdoors wearing a wool hat, sweater, mittens, coat, or scarf. Enjoy the warmth and be grateful for sheep.
2. Observe another mammal and compare it to the sheep: size, fur/hair/wool, feet, teeth, eyes, tail.

Follow-Up Activity:
1. Spend a few minutes after your outdoor time to review your experience. If you found anything of interest, make sure to talk about it and look up any additional information in the Handbook of Nature Study or at your next library visit.
2. View wool and hair with a hand lens. You can sketch what you see in your nature journal or on the back of the sheep notebook page. Ebook users: Complete the sheep notebook page with information from the Handbook of Nature Study.

3. Advanced study: The Handbook of Nature Study suggests writing about the method by which wool is made into cloth. Research at the library or on the internet and then give a summary.
4. Advanced study: Research the Artiodactyla order and Bovidae family of mammals (links below). Use resources from your public library or the internet.

Additional Links:

Sheep coloring pages to print
Wikipedia articles: Sheep, Artiodactyla and Bovidae. (Please note: All Wikipedia articles have references to evolution.)
Additional sheep information (child friendly): All About Sheep For Kids

You can see our family study here: Wool Study.

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Barb — 5 Comments

Chipmunks or Squirrels? Our Study Using the Outdoor Hour Challenge

When you spend as much time outdoors as our family does, you eventually come across squirrels and chipmunks. Squirrels are an everyday occurrence in our yard but we do not see chipmunks at all. Chipmunks sometimes find us when we are out hiking, always when you stop to eat a picnic at Yosemite. I think the Chipmunk study as part of the More Nature Study series of Outdoor Hour Challenges will be one that is on-going since we were unable this week to observe any up close.

This past summer we had an experience where we thought we had seen chipmunks but turns out they too were squirrels.

This little rodent was very curious about us as we sat on the granite rock taking a rest after a long hot hike. He was not afraid of us in the least bit, begging a bite of our granola bars. We know better than to feed wild animals but he didn’t understand that people food is not good for him and insisted that he investigate our pack from the inside out.

We thought he was a chipmunk because of the stripes but when we got home and pulled up the field guide we realized he was a Golden-mantled ground squirrel. Our book says he is “medium sized” but we thought he was rather small compared to our other squirrels that we observe in our backyard, the Western gray squirrel and the Fox squirrel.

So how can we tell in the future that what we see IS a chipmunk? They have stripes on their head and our little ground squirrel does not.

Interesting facts:

Traditional hibernator- subject of much research on hibernation.
Eats leaves and seeds of grasses, occasionally eats nuts, roots, bulbs, and other underground plant parts.
Lives in the coniferous forest at elevations of 5,200 to 12,500 feet.
It is prey for hawks, jays, foxes, bobcats, and coyote.
Has cheek pouches for carrying food.
Digs shallow burrows (up to 100 feet) with hidden openings.
Cleans itself by rolling in the dirt.

Since we don’t have chipmunks in our neighborhood but we know we see them all the time when we are at Yosemite. Sounds like a good reason to take the drive soon!

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Barb — 1 Comment

OHC More Nature Study #6 Chipmunks

“While the chipmunk is a good runner and jumper, it is not so able a climber as is the red squirrel, and it naturally stays nearer the ground.”
Handbook of Nature Study page 239

OHC More Nature Study #6
Chipmunks

Inside Preparation Work:

Read in the Handbook of Nature Study pages 239-241 (Lesson 58). Take note of the differences between a squirrel and a chipmunk.
Listen to Chp. 6 in The Burgess Animal Book For Children: Striped Chipmunk and His Cousins.
View this website that has simple information for chipmunks and squirrels: Backyard Nature: Squirrels.
Optional YouTube video: Chipmunks Eating.

Golden Treasury of Natural History from 1952

Outdoor Hour Time:

Go on a chipmunk hunt! Spend a few minutes of your Outdoor Hour time for this challenge looking for chipmunks. Chipmunks and squirrels are diurnal, or active during the day.
If you observe a squirrel instead of a chipmunk, make some observations and comparisons. Compare color, stripes, tail, and behavior.

Golden Treasury of Natural History from 1952 – love the expression

Follow-Up Activity:

Give the opportunity for discussion and follow-up to your chipmunk hunt. Complete a notebook page (ebook users), a nature journal page, and/or the coloring page (ebook users only) for you nature journal.
Advanced Follow-Up: Compare a chipmunk and a squirrel by careful observation. Subjects can include: stripes, tails, behavior, diet, size, voice.
Advanced Follow-Up: Research and record in your nature journal about the method the chipmunk uses for building his home. There is a notebook page in the ebook to record your study.

Additional Links:
Chipmunk Lapbook and Unit Study on HomeschoolShare.com
For Advanced Study: Chipmunks.

This challenge is part of the More Nature Study – Autumn series. All of the challenges are gathered into one ebook with notebooking pages (regular and for advanced students) and additional resources. You can gain access to this ebook by purchasing an Ultimate Naturalist membership here on the Handbook of Nature Study. See the Join Us page by clicking the link at the top of the website for more information about what comes with your Ultimate membership.

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Posted on August 5, 2011 by Barb — 12 Comments

Wyoming in the Summer – Roadtrip

Roadtrip – California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah

Mr. A loved driving across the Nevada landscape and setting the cruise control at 75 MPH. This was his first real roadtrip where he did a lot of the driving for us. I enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat and soaking in the big skies and the distant mountains still iced with snow.

Although we enjoyed the whole trip, the star of the show was most definitely the Grand Tetons. We were able to swing a room at the Jackson Lake Lodge for part of our trip and it was great home base. It was everything a lodge should be and more.

Wyoming landscapes…sun, clouds, and terrain are quick to change.

My sons were both feeling crummy with colds when we were in the middle of our trip so the long hiking days we planned had to be adjusted. Instead, we drove one day up into Yellowstone National Park and did a quick circle tour of some interesting spots in the southern part of the park.

We walked on the boardwalks around the Lower Geyser Basin. It was a fairly active day and we got to see a couple of geysers spout that don’t regularly put on a show. In fact, we got caught in the spray of one geyser….that was a first.

I spent time on the lookout for interesting wildflowers which were abundant during our trip. This Elk Thistle was interesting and beautiful as it grew alongside the boardwalk.

Our one hike of the day was down the switchback trail to the brink of Lower Yellowstone Falls. The flow was at a near record high when we were there and it was roaring down the canyon. Amazing to stand right at the edge of where the water falls over the rocks!

It was a quick Yellowstone trip but we soaked in the wonderful landscapes and made some great memories. We headed back into Grand Teton Park and alongside the road near the Jackson Lake Lodge we spotted a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs. We stopped across the road and down a little to watch the cubs playing in the meadow. This was a first for our family….we have seen lots of black bears but these were our very first grizzly bears. We didn’t stay long since we really didn’t want to disrupt them but I have to admit very exciting to see this in the wild.

One night we drove up Signal Mountain and watched the sunset over Jackson Lake. As sunset grew closer, the group of us up there got larger. I was pleased that most of us were there to sit quietly and watch with cameras in hand. The one thing about going to national parks is that you realize there are many people visiting from outside the U.S. They have come clear around the world to see what we have in our own backyards. It gives you fresh eyes to think about what you have and need to appreciate.

Those clouds in the sunset photo above turned into thunderheads and by bedtime it was quite a show. We watched from our room window as the sky came alive and the thunder was louder than I have ever heard before…almost like explosions. It rained just a little and then the storm disappeared. Perfect Wyoming experience for the boys!

When morning dawned, the skies were clear and the sun was warm. On our way out of the park we stopped to enjoy the reflection of the mountains in the lake in the early morning light. Breathtaking!

When we stopped to take the reflection photos, I noticed these huge seed clouds at my feet. We looked them up in our guide and identified them as Yellow salsify. The flowers look much like dandelions but the seeds heads are much larger. I had my son put his hand in the photo so you could see how large they are.

Our road trip is over for the summer and we have packed in some great family memories. The boys enjoyed the wildlife and the great food we enjoyed on our trip. I packed breakfast and lunch but we ate our dinners in restaurants. The most memorable meal ended with fresh homemade huckleberry pie. I am going to dream of that slice of heaven for a very long time to come.

It is nice to be home, back to my garden but it is always refreshing to get out on the open road and see some new and exciting things. I have a couple more posts to share with other aspects of our trip so stay tuned.

Category: mammals