ANIMALS OF THE RIVERBOTTOM FOREST

ANIMALS OF THE RIVERBOTTOM FOREST Habitat Means Home Grade 4 Curriculum Guide S. DANGERFIELD Interpretive Planning

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S MAMMALS

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S BADGER The badger has a white and brown face with a white stripe between its eyes. It is a short, squat and powerful animal. It likes to live in the woods near rivers. Badgers are good diggers and live in underground dens. They have great long claws so look for tracks in the mud. A badger can take on a bear so stay back if you see one. It is a carnivore, eating rabbits, moles, snakes, mice, insects, eggs and snails.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S CHIPMUNK The little chipmunk is a friendly animal. It is smaller than a squirrel with a stripe on either side of its back. You can see them darting through the forest with their cheek pouches full of seeds or nuts. Chipmunks are herbivores. They live in burrows underground. Chipmunks hop so look for their tracks as four small prints close together.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S COYOTE Coyotes are about the size of a German shepherd dog, a greybrown colour with a bushy tail. You may not see a coyote but listen for their yipping and barking at night to know if they are in your area. Coyotes are carnivores that eat mice, voles, frogs, birds and even grasshoppers. Look for dog-like tracks.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S RED FOX The red fox is common in the riverbottom forest. It is part of the dog family but smaller than a coyote. Foxes are most often red with a white tip on the tail and black socks. They can also be black or grey. The fox is an omnivore 75% of its food is plants. It also eats mice, birds and rabbits. Its tracks look like a medium-size dog s.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S JACK RABBIT The jackrabbit is a fast runner. Its long feet help it run fast especially in snow. It turns white in the winter. If you see a rabbit that is brown in the winter it is probably a cottontail bunny. It feeds on bark, twigs and other plants.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S STAR-NOSED MOLE The star-nosed mole is not easy to find because it lives underground most of the time. Look for little piles of earth where it has been digging burrows. If you do see one look for the funny starshaped nose. This furry little creature eats worms and insects.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S DEER MOUSE A deer mouse is very small when born it weighs less than a penny. It mostly comes out at night. During the day it hides in other animals burrows or logs or in old buildings. Deer mice are brown with a white belly. The tail is 5cm long. They eat seeds and plants.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S MUSKRAT Muskrats are mostly found in the water, especially where there are lots of cattails which they use to build their house. A muskrat is brown and smaller than a beaver with a skinny tail. Muskrats are omnivores. They eat water plants, snails and small fish. Look for a V-shape on the water when the muskrat is swimming.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S RACCOON You can always recognize a raccoon by the black mask it wears and the black rings on its tail. It looks like a really big grey house cat. Raccoons are omnivores they eat plants like berries and animals like crayfish, turtles, mice and frogs. They are nocturnal that means they come out at night. They sleep in trees during the day. Riverbottom forest is their favourite place to live.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S RED & GREY SQUIRRELS There are many kinds of squirrels in the forest. Red and grey squirrels are the ones you will likely see. Flying squirrels only come out at night. Red squirrels are smaller than grey squirrels and are red with a white belly. They often chatter at you for being in their territory. Grey squirrels are bigger and grey-coloured with a white belly and bushy tail. Both are herbivores. Look for a red squirrel nest of sticks and leaves in the trees. Another sign of a squirrel is a pile of seed or nut shells.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S SKUNK Everyone knows the skunk black fur with a white stripe down its back and big bushy tail. If you see a skunk you better get out of its way it sprays a foul perfume if scared. Skunks are omnivores. They like birds eggs, insects, mice, plants and even carrion dead animals.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E M A M M A L S WHITE-TAILED DEER White-tailed deer are large herbivores. You can see them eating grass at the edge of the forest. They are red-brown in summer and grey-brown in winter. Male deer grow antlers over the summer that fall off in the winter. Baby deer are the size of you. Their mom hides them in the grass during the day if you find one just leave it alone, because mom is close by but hiding. The best time to see deer is early morning and sundown. Look for their tracks in mud or snow along trails.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S BIRDS

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S BALD EAGLE The bald eagle is a big bird with a brown body, white head and tail, and yellow feet. You can often see it migrating along the river valleys in spring and fall. It feeds mainly on fish and carrion dead animals. Bald eagles are scavengers. Their call sounds like kleek-kik-ik-ik-ik.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE These plump little birds flit around in a gang. They look like they are wearing black motorcycle helmets. Chickadees stay all winter long and will come to bird feeders if you put seeds out. They often call their name chick-a-dee-dee-dee.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S CROW The big black crow is one of our most common birds. It likes riverbottom forest where it feeds on mice, turtles, snakes, frogs, even eggs and young birds. Crows make stick nests in trees. They call caw-caw-caw.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S DOWNY & HAIRY WOODPECKERS Downy and hairy woodpeckers are similar. They are both black and white and the males have a red patch on the back of their head. The hairy woodpecker is a little bigger. They peck at trees to find eggs, cocoons, larvae and adult insects under the bark. They will come to suet feeders in the winter.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S FLICKER The flicker is another kind of woodpecker. You can see it hopping around on the forest floor looking for ants and other insects. It has a buff face and grey head with a red crescent on the back. Its body looks speckled. When it flies you can see yellow underneath its wings. The flicker nests in holes in trees. Sometime it calls its name flick-a, flick-a.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S GREAT HORNED OWL The great horned owl hunts in the riverbottom forest at night. It likes to eat mice, birds, snakes and frogs. This is one of the few animals that will eat a skunk. It is a big owl that is light greybrown with black stripes on its chest. It has feather tufts that look like ears on top of its head and big yellow eyes. It calls hoo, hoooo, hoo, hoo.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S KINGBIRD The western kingbird likes riverbottom forest where it hunts for insects when flying. It eats bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers and flies. It has a grey head and back with dark grey wings and tail, and a yellow tummy. Kingbirds have a chatty call whit-ker-whit.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S KINGFISHER The kingfisher is a squat bird with a head that looks too big for its body. It is blue-grey and white with a long dagger bill it uses for fishing. It eats small fish and frogs. It nests in holes in the riverbank. The kingfisher s call sounds like a rattle.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E B I R D S WOOD DUCK The male wood duck is very colourful a dark green with white stripes on its head and shiny multi-coloured body. He looks like he is wearing a helmet. The female is mostly brown and white with a white eye patch. Wood ducks perch in trees and lay their eggs in a nest in a hole of a tree. When the young are old enough they leave the tree and live on the river.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S AMPHIBIANS & REPTILES

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S GARTER SNAKE Garter snakes are not poisonous but will bite if scared. They are green and black and as much as a metre long. They hibernate in the winter, then migrate to marshes and riverbottom forests for the summer. They are carnivores and eat frogs, mice, baby birds and even fish. They are good swimmers.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S LEOPARD FROG Leopard frogs got their name because of the spots on their backs. They have green and brown bodies with black spots. They like to eat grasshoppers, crickets and spiders. Leopard frogs spend the winter at the bottom of the river. A leopard frog call sounds like a long croak followed by a few grunts.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S PAINTED TURTLE You can often see the painted turtle basking on a log or the bank of the river. Its body has green with yellow stripes. Its shell is orange, green and yellow. The bottom shell is very colourful. It is an omnivore, eating plants, small fish and snails. If you find one away from the water leave it alone it may be going to lay its eggs.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S SNAPPING TURTLE This turtle is a snapper so watch out. It has no teeth but a hard beak that can hurt. Its shell and body are dark brown or green, sometimes with moss on its back. It is most active at night and eats plants and animals it can find in the water. Snapping turtles can live to be 50 years old. They spend the winter in the mud at the bottom of the river.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S TOAD Unlike frogs, toads have dry skin. It is thick and warty so they can live farther away from water than frogs can. Their colours vary grey, brown, red, yellow or green. They eat insects they catch with their tongue flies, spiders, mites and beetles. Their call sounds like a trill that lasts for two to eight seconds.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E A M P H I B I A N S & R E P T I L E S WOOD FROG The wood frog wears a black mask across its eyes from its nose to the edge of the mouth. Its body can be green, brown and black. It catches insects with its sticky tongue. The wood frog call in spring sounds like a frog pretending to be a quacking duck.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S INSECTS, BUGS & OTHER THINGS

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S ANTS Ants can be black, red or brown and some are two colours. They are busy little insects that live in a colony. You may see an ant trail across the path, where thousands of tiny little ant feet have worn a trail. They eat other insects and sometimes nectar from flowers. Careful not to step on the anthill it is their house and they may get mad and bite.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S BEETLES Beetles have a hard case covering their wings on their backs. There are lots of ground beetles in the riverbottom forest. Most are active at night so look for them under rocks or leaves during the day. Put the rock back carefully after you have had a look. Beetles eat lots of things like roots or leaves of willow and cottonwood trees. Draw pictures of the beetles you find so you can name them later.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S CENTIPEDE Centipedes are carnivores, predators that hunt other insects. They look like a flat red-brown worm with lots of legs. Their name means a hundred legs but they don t really have that many legs. Their bite is poisonous to paralyze their prey.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S DRAGONFLIES Dragonflies are fierce carnivores both as larvae in the water and flitting about eating mosquitoes as adults. There are lots of kinds of dragonflies that are identified by their colours and wing patterns. Draw pictures of the dragonflies you find so you can name them later.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S FLIES There are lots of different kinds of flies. Flies have two wings. Bluebottle flies are big and hairy. They taste food with their feet. Because they lay their eggs on garbage and dead things they make good composters.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S LADYBUG BEETLE Ladybugs are also called ladybird beetles. They have red, yellow, black or orange shells with black spots that cover their wings. The red warns predators that they are poisonous to eat. The spots do not tell you how old they are but they tell you what kind they are. There are more than 350 kinds of ladybugs. Be sure to draw any ladybug you see with the correct number of spots.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S MILLIPEDE Millipedes are scavengers. They eat dead plants. Like the centipede they look like a worm with lots of legs 115 pairs on the common millipede. They are a reddish-brown colour. You can find them munching on dead plants under logs or piles of leaves. They lay tiny eggs in a nest that the mom millipede guards.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S MONARCH You may know the monarch butterfly because of its orange and black wings. The caterpillar has white, yellow and black stripes. Because the caterpillar eats the poisonous milkweed leaves it too becomes poisonous so predators won t eat it. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico and back, but it takes several generations.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S MOSQUITO Did you know there are 57 different kinds of mosquitoes in our area? These little carnivores love to suck our blood. They lay their eggs in the water of the river and the larvae hatch into the water. Mosquito larvae and pupae are important food for lots of ducks, fish and other animals. Adult mosquitoes are important food for frogs and birds.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S SPIDERS Spiders come in different shapes, sizes and colours. Some spin webs and wait for their prey while others hunt for dinner on the forest floor. They are carnivores, eating insects and even small fish. If you find a spider be sure to draw a picture of it and note if it is hunting or sitting in a web.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S SPITTLE BUG Spittlebug larvae have a very smart way of hiding from predators. They make white foam that looks like spit, on the stem of a plant, and hide inside it. If you wipe away the spit you find a tiny green bug. As an adult the spittlebug hops around from plant to plant like a tiny frog.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E I N S E C T S, B U G S & O T H E R T H I N G S SWALLOWTAIL The swallowtail caterpillar is disguised to look like a snake. It eats the leaves of the giant cottonwood trees in the riverbottom forest. The adult butterfly is a beautiful yellow with black stripes like a tiger. It is called a swallowtail because it has long tail-like pieces from the bottom of its wings.

H A B I T A T M E A N S H O M E THANK YOU