2011 Winter Series OHC #9 and Winter Wednesday #9 - Mammals in Winter Nature Study

Our Resident Pair of Fox Squirrels in Our Backyard

This week you are going to spend some time focusing on mammals.

OHC Winter Series #9 Mammals

Winter Wednesday #9 Mammals

Link for you to check out: Hibernation
This pdf can be printed out and shared with your children.

Ideas for you to try:
1. Keep a record of animal tracks you have observed in the snow or mud. 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.
2. Compare a dog’s and a cat’s footprints in the snow or mud.
3. Research an animal that hibernates and record what you learn in your nature notebook. You can also sketch your animal and what its tracks look like.
4. Squirrel study ideas - Outdoor Hour Challenge #45 (printable from Scribd).
5. Rabbit study ideas - Outdoor Hour Challenge #44 (printable from Scribd).

Winter Series Challenge For Mammals: A Hike and a Study of the Douglas Squirrel

Yesterday we were able to take a hike out in the snow at our favorite spot. It felt like spring and the sun warmed my neck in a welcome way. I realized I can smell the forest again. This is the first time I noted that during winter there are far less fragrances in the air. Yesterday we smelled the piney woods fragrance of the evergreens in the warming sun. It smelled delicious.

We tried to focus on finding signs of mammals on our hike as part of the Winter Series Challenge for mammals.

The squirrels have been busy munching on cones.


Isn't this just the most wonderful cone you have seen in a long time?


The snow is melting a little on this familiar hike. The beaver dam is still visible with all the leaves gone from the trees and bushes.


Here you can see the snow pulling away from the creek water and exposing the grasses underneath. It feels like spring here for the first time.


I am thinking these are dog tracks but perhaps coyote since we have seen them in this area before.


Now these I am pretty sure are rabbit tracks...or perhaps snowshoe hare tracks.


We spotted this trail of tracks to the left of the snowy log and if you look carefully you can see them disappear in the distance. I have no idea who made them but they were fun to see and to talk about.


Here are some more tracks down by an icy spot on the creek.

We came home and decided to look up and learn about a mammal from our field guide. There are quite a few to choose from that live in this particular area, but we chose the Douglas squirrel (or Chickaree). We often hear squirrels in the trees and now we know that in this particular area, the only tree squirrel is the Douglas squirrel. They have a chattering sound that is distinct, making it easier to identify even if we don't actually see them in the trees. Our mammal field guide says that they are active all year long, but they still store a winter cache of cones. We also learned that the piles of leftovers where a squirrel eats are called middens. There is an actual name for those piles we see under trees!

We used this online book to learn more about our local mammals: Nature Guide to...
Wikipedia Article: Douglas squirrel
Link to its tracks at BearTracker: Douglas squirrel
This site has some great images: Nature Works

"Nature has made him master forester and committed most of her coniferous crops to his paws. Probably over fifty percent of all the cones ripened on the Sierra are cut off and handled by the Douglas alone, and of those of the Big Trees perhaps ninety percent pass through his hands."
John Muir on Douglas squirrels, The Mountains of California.

Isn't that interesting? I love when we take a few minutes to learn a little more about something in our nature study that really is meaningful and will help us understand our local environment better.

This was a great challenge for us this time around.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Winter Day Hike: Animal Tracks

It was a day of hiking in the aspens and pines....there is something so refreshing about hiking in the snow on a sunny day. The light must be different or perhaps it is the air. Whatever it is about winter hikes, I feel more alive. The indoor life does not suit me very well and getting the chance to spend a few hours hiking with my family makes me smile even now just thinking about our time outdoors.


Although there were no other hikers on the trail this time, we knew there were other living creatures near-by. The snow recorded their activity for us. We always have a great time imagining who the tracks belong to and then discussing what they may have been doing out here in the woods.


Many times as we hike along we spread out and have some alone time. I love to walk and pay attention to the crunching of the snow under my boots. There were a few birds that showed their faces while we walked and a few that just let us know they were there by knocking on the tree or whistling a little tune.


These ducks don't seem to mind the cold, cold water.

Our Bird List for the Day:
Mallard ducks
Ravens
Steller's jays
Red-breasted nuthatches



The creek was flowing along with crystal clear water, much deeper this time of year than in the summer and fall. We observed lots of tracks on the other side of the bank....big tracks where it looks like someone came to get a drink perhaps.


I told the boys to be on the lookout for interesting tracks in the snow and if they found some to call me over. These are the "dinosaur" tracks they found....very funny.


Seriously though, this photo shows the most interesting and most abundant track we noticed through the trees. It looks like footprints with something that made a line to the side....a tail perhaps? I would love to know what made this track in the snow.

Maybe this is why I love winter hikes so much....there is an air of mystery and awe to them that I love and crave. We are looking forward to more snowy hikes in the near future.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom