Atlantic Puffins

Atlantic Puffins in Elliston, Newfoundland

When we visited Newfoundland this summer, we found a wonderful bird called the Atlantic Puffin.  These funny birds are often called sea parrots. 

Puffins are sea birds.  They are very special in the bird family.  They are one of a few birds that have solid bones.  This makes them great divers.  It also makes it hard for them to fly. 

Because their bones are heavy, they fly close to the ground.  Puffins must flap their wings 300-400 times per minute to fly.  They don't land very well either.  Most of the time, they crash or tumble onto the grass or into the sea.

We saw many young puffins practicing flying when we visited Elliston's Puffin Viewing Site.  They flapped their wings until they were airborne for a few minutes.  Then they would hover back to land.  Here's a short video of some of the puffins that we saw:

Puffins may not be good fliers but they are very strong swimmers.  They dive deep into the water to catch fish.  They normally catch 10 fish per dive.  Sometimes they catch as many as 60 fish in one dive!  Puffin teeth point backwards and that helps them to catch lots of fish.

Puffin Colony near Elliston, Newfoundland

Puffins nest in colonies on rocky islands.  They dig burrows into the cliff side.  They lay one or two eggs in their burrow.

The mother and father puffin care for their baby for about six weeks, until the baby fledges (learns to fly).  After the young puffins fledge, the flock flies out to live at sea for the rest of the year.  They may live at sea for eight to nine months each year.

Puffin burrows in Elliston, Newfoundland

More than half of all Atlantic puffins breed on the eastern shores of Newfoundland.  A small colony also lives in the United States, off the coast of Maine.  

For more information about Atlantic puffins, just click on one of these two sites:

• Puffin Activity Book
• Puffin Facts

Here's a a puffin picture for you to color:  Color a Puffin

You can also check out these great books about puffins from your local library:

• Atlantic Puffin:  Little Brother of the North, by Kristin Domm
• Project Puffin:  How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock, by Stephen W. Kress

My Doctor Is Called a Veterinarian (Vet)

I really like my doctor.  He is called a veterinarian (or vet).  A veterinarian is an animal doctor.  He has been my only doctor for my whole life!

I go to visit my vet at least once a year for a check up.  I also visit him when I am sick.  I visit him when I need a vaccination.

Are you afraid when you go to the doctor?  Sometimes I am!  Sometimes I am afraid that my doctor might hurt me.  I hide my head between Mom's knees so that he won't see me.  It doesn't seem to work very well.  He always finds me!

Have you ever taken your dog to visit a vet?  This site will help you to learn what will happen when you take your dog to an animal doctor:

• http://www.akc.org/pdfs/public_education/bailey_veterinarian.pdf

Would you like to be an animal doctor when you grow up?  If you would like to become a veterinarian, here's a great activity book:

• http://ebusiness.avma.org/EBusiness50/files/productdownloads/CareerColoringBook-English.pdf

Feeling Better

Roxanne in her new no-skid booties.

Dear Friends,  Wow!  It has been a long time since I posted.  I want to tell you why.  I hurt myself while we were on our vacation this year.  I ran down some slippery stairs.  I made a fast turn and did the splits with my back legs.  Ouch!!!

Since we came back home, I have had trouble walking.  It hurts when I stand.  It hurts when I sit.  It hurts when I lay down.

I have been very sad because I can't do all the things that I want to do.  Mom and Dad have been very worried about me.

Mom took me to my veterinarian (or "vet").  A vet is a doctor for animals.  My vet said that I needed to do some special exercises.  He said that I needed to get strong again.

He also said that I needed to work.  I am a therapy dog and working makes me happy.

Because my back feet keep slipping out from under me, Mom found some new booties for me to wear.  They are red!  I wear them on my back feet.  They have special bottoms.  They keep my feet from slipping when I walk on tile and wood floors.

Last week Mom put my service jacket on me.  She took me to visit a group of twelve young people who were very sad.  They loved on me, and I loved on them!  When our time was up, we all felt much happier.  I will go to see them again today.  I know we will have fun together.

Mom is also helping me to do some special exercises.  She is taking me for short walks.  We walk once in the morning and once in the evening.  We use to go for one long walk every day, but I think that I'm beginning to like taking two short walks!

When we get home from our evening walk, Mom rubs my hips.  Then she gently stretches my legs.  I am beginning to feel much better and much stronger.

Mom is also helping me to keep mentally active.  Here is a video of me playing with two of my puzzles.  I find the hidden treats.  With one puzzle, I have to move the puzzle pieces to find the treats.  The other puzzle is a ball with treats inside.  When I roll it down the hallway, treats fall out of it.  Have you ever played "hide the treat" with your dog?  It's a great game!

Do you have a dog who needs to get healthy?  Maybe you want to keep your dog active.  Here are some great sites to help you.  Just click on the links below to learn more!

These websites give some great exercises to keep your dog fit:

• http://www.amcny.org/sites/default/files/pdf/10_Exercise_Tips_for_Dogs.pdf
• http://careanimalclinic.com/rehab.html

This website will help if your dog is overweight:  

• http://www.pfizerah.com/slentrol/healthy_dog.pdf

This website has great ideas to keep your dog active... even on a rainy day:

• https://www.dreamdogproductions.com/livingwithkidsanddogs/downloads/pelar_rainyDayActivities.pdf

HAVE FUN WITH YOUR DOG!!!

Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn sheep are incredible animals.  We saw the sheep in this photo when we visited Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  Bighorn sheep have special, split hooves.  These hooves allow them to walk easily along steep, rocky cliffs.  It is amazing to watch them walk narrow paths on the sides of a rocky mountain!  

The most amazing thing about a bighorn sheep is its horns.  Both male and female bighorn sheep have horns.  Grown males have a special curl to their horns.  These horns can weigh up to 50 pounds.  The horns grow as the sheep grow and become part of their massive skulls.

When the males fight for the attention of a female, they ram their heads together.  One ram will raise up on his back legs and charge full speed at the his competitor.  You can hear their head butts echoing across the mountains.  If humans butted their heads together like bighorn sheep, they would die in an instant!     

Male bighorn sheep are called rams.  The females are called ewes.  They eat grasses.  In the spring and summer, they live in small herds of ten or more.  In the winter the herds may number up to 100.

You can see bighorn sheep on steep mountain sides from Canada through the United States and into Mexico.

To learn more about Bighorn Sheep, check out these sites:
http://www.ferris.edu/card/Animals/Herbivores/Rocky-Mountain-Bighorn-Sheep.pdf

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/animal-facts/pdf/bighorn_sheep.pdf

http://wildlife.utah.gov/publications/pdf/2010_bighorn_sheep.pdf

Here's a great coloring page for Bighorn Sheep:

http://www.familyfunshop.com/bighornsheepcoloringpage.pdf

What in the world is a Prairie Dog Town?

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

When we visited the Great Plains, we saw some amazing little critters.  They are called Black-tailed prairie dogs.  They live underground in burrows.  They dig tunnels to connect their burrows to other prairie dog homes.  All the tunnels and homes make a prairie dog town.    

Prairie dogs live in community.  Most of their towns cover around an acre of land.  Some towns can be really big.  The largest prairie dog town ever was discovered by pioneers in West Texas.  The town covered an area 100 miles wide by 25 miles long.  It was home to around 400 million prairie dogs!

When prairie dogs see something strange near their homes, they bark.  When the coast is clear, prairie dogs raise their arms and yip.  Soon other prairie dogs join in and raise their arms and yip.  It is fun to watch them.  Here's a short video to show you their funny "high five" yip:

Pioneers thought that these barking animals were little dogs.  Prairie dogs are not dogs.  They are actually members of the rodent family.  They are herbivores, which means that they eat only vegetable materials like grasses, roots, and seeds.
   

Like wolves, many people don't like prairie dogs.  Some people see them as pests.  They think that prairie dogs ruin the earth because they dig so many tunnels.  They think that grass won't grow in prairie dog towns.  They fear that if grass won't grow then there won't be enough food for cattle and sheep.  

Scientists have discovered that the opposite is true.  They have learned that prairie dogs are very special to the environment.  Prairie dogs are called a keystone species.  A keystone species means that prairie dogs are so important to an environment that if they do not survive, it could ruin an entire ecosystem. 

Without prairie dogs, the earth suffers.  Prairie dogs help the soil when they dig their burrows.  They plant seeds.  They help grass and special plants to grow.  Their tunnels help more rain to soak into the earth.  

Without prairie dogs, animals suffer.  Prairie dogs are a food source for many animals like coyotes, rattlesnakes, eagles, and hawks.  Their burrows are homes to other creatures, like owls and ferrets.

Ferrets are a good example of what can happen when there are no prairie dogs.  Ferrets live in prairie dog burrows.  Their main diet is eating prairie dogs.  People killed so many prairie dogs that both prairie dogs and ferrets almost became extinct. In 1986, only 18 black-footed ferrets were alive.  In order to save these ferrets, scientists learned that they needed to save prairie dogs.  To learn more about prairie dogs and ferrets, just click here:  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0023_ferret_prairiedog.pdf  

When people learned how good prairie dogs can be to the environment, they began to let the prairie dogs live and build their prairie dog towns.  National parks saved their prairie dog towns.  They began reintroducing ferrets to these areas.  Today, ferrets are beginning to make a comeback, too.  

If you would like to learn more about Black-tailed prairie dogs, just click on one of these sites:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_1123.pdf

http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/wildlife/prairie_dog/facts.pdf

Here's a great activity book on prairie dogs:  http://prairiedogcoalition.org/docs/coloringBbook.pdf

If you have prairie dogs in your area, click on this site to learn how you can help scientists learn more about them:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_1123.pdf

The Big, Wonderful Wolf!

One of my favorite creatures is a wolf.  Two kinds of wolves live in North America.  Gray wolves mostly live in the northern areas.  Red wolves live in a few southern states.  Wolves are the largest wild member of the canine or dog family.  Gray wolves can weigh over 150 pounds.  Red wolves weigh can weigh up to 80 pounds.  Sadly, wolves are endangered animals.

Wolves live in packs or groups.  Most packs have 5 to 15 members.  The packs are led by an alpha or lead male and female.  

Wolf packs live together and hunt together.  When wolves hunt together, it is easier for them to bring down big game such as deer and elk.  Each pack has a large territory and defends their territory from other wolf packs.

Wolves howl when they talk with other wolves.  When I watch movies about them on the television, I howl too!

When we were in Denali National Park, we watched wolves playing together.  Two pups were playing with two adult wolves.  They might have been their parents.  They also could have been other members of the wolf pack.  Sometimes younger members of the wolf pack babysit the pups so the older, more experienced hunters can find food.  

It was so exciting to watch the wolves playing together!  The wolves were very far away, but it was so fun to watch them!

Many times, adult male wolves leave their pack when they want to start a new pack of their own.  While they are by themselves, they are called lone wolves.  When we were camping on the Dempster Highway in Canada's Yukon Territory, we saw a lone wolf walk behind our camp site.  He was beautiful!  Mom took this photo of him through the screen of our camper.  It is my favorite wolf picture!

Some people do not like wolves.  In fact, wolves were so hated by some people that they began killing wolves by the thousands.  Wolves almost became extinct.  They are now considered an endangered animal.

Why do some people hate wolves?  Wolves are carnivorous and only eat meat.  Wolves are also predators.  A predator is an animal that kills other animals to survive.  In nature, animals want to survive.  They especially want their babies to survive.  They are not being cruel when they kill another animal.  For a very good explanation of a predator, please click here:  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/nonpwdpubs/young_naturalist/animals/predator_prey_relationship/

Wolves are considered apex predators.  Apex means the highest.  An apex predator is an animal that is at the top of the food chain.  Humans, mountain lions, bears, alligators, and wolves are a few apex predators in North America.  

Apex predators are important to any ecosystem.  They keep other animal populations in check.   For example, if too many deer live in an area, there will not be enough food for them.  The deer may become sick or starve.  Apex predators help to keep the deer population in check.  Sometimes, however, wolves have attacked domestic animals like cattle and sheep.  This has led some people to dislike wolves.

Today, more and more people are beginning to understand how important wolves are to the environment.  Scientists learned that apex predators are important to a healthy ecosystem.  As a result, gray wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park.   Red wolves were reintroduced in Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.  Now wolves are beginning to make a comeback across America.  They are making the ecosystems healthier.  But some people still do not like wolves.  

What do I think about wolves?  I think they are wonderful!!!  Of course, I'm a canine... just like wolves!

To learn more about wolves, check out one or more of these sites:

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/animal-facts/pdf/wolf.pdf

http://www.ferris.edu/card/animals/Carnivores/GrayWolf.pdf

http://www.worldanimalfoundation.net/f/Wolf.pdf

http://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2007/gray_wolf_factsheet.pdf

http://library.fws.gov/Pubs4/endangered_red_wolves.pdf

http://www.easternwolf.org/linkedfiles/FactFictionFactSheet8-05PDF.pdf

Here are some great wolf activities:

http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/justkids/mask/mask.asp

http://www.fws.gov/redwolf/ft/033-037Red_wolves_ahead_activity07.pdf

http://www.wolfcenter.org/pdf/wordsearch.pdf

If you would like to help wolves to make a comeback, check out this site to see what other kids are doing:

http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/justkids/wild/wildkids_summer2006.pdf

Nature detectives: Know Your Tracks, Scat, & Facts!

Have you ever been a nature detective?  When we go hiking, we like to look for animal signs.  We look for animal tracks, animal scat, and try to remember our animal facts.

As an example, I remember walking in the woods with Mom and Dad when I was very young.  We saw animal tracks that were small and pointed, almost like deer tracks.  We saw lots of acorns on the ground.  We saw places where animals had dug and wallowed in the dirt.  

Mom was thinking hard.  She was trying to put all the clues together.  Suddenly, she turned to Dad and said, "We've got to get out of here!"

She was a good detective.  She saw the animal tracks and knew that they were too small to be a deer.  She saw the acorns and thought about the animals that liked to eat them.  Then she tried to remember what animals dig and wallow in the dirt.  

It was a javelina!  Javelinas can be very dangerous.  They have long tusks that can rip a dog into pieces.  

Then we heard a javelina snorting at us from a distance.  We all stopped to listen.  We heard other noises.  It was a mother javelina, and she had babies!  Any mother is extra dangerous when she has babies!

Javelina

Thankfully, they had me on my leash.  Mom and Dad quickly led me far away from the javelinas.  We were safe but it took a good nature detective to know that we were in danger in the first place!

Do you know your animal tracks?  It can be fun to look for animal when you go hiking.  Some people can identify animals by their tracks.  Some people can even identify an animal's scat (their poop).  I just smell them and know!  :)

It is not only fun to know your animal tracks.  It is smart to know your animal tracts!

If you would like more information on learning about animal tracks and their scat, just click on one of these websites:  

• http://www.tahoma.wednet.edu/subsite/ths/teachers/szkweb2004/apweb2005/envirothon/pdfs/Track1.pdf
• http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_k0700_0001.pdf
• http://ajefferies.myclassupdates.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/wildlife.pdf
• http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Kids/Wildtimes_issues/Wildtimes_issue18.pdf

For information on wildlife viewing, check out these sites:  http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCollectionDocuments/DOW/Education/pdf/Viewing/WildlifeViewingTips.pdf

• http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Kids/Wildtimes_issues/Wildtimes_issue4.pdf

Here's a fun activity that shows you how to make plaster casts of your animal prints:  http://education.usgs.gov/kids/assets/tracks.pdf 

If you want to read a great book about animal tracks, check this book out of your local library:  Big Tracks, Little Tracks:  Following Animal Prints by Millicent Ellis Selsam