Animals of the Rogue Valley

We’d like to introduce you to your neighbors:

the animals that share our valley. Your adventure begins at school and continues at North Mountain Park. This workbook will prepare for

your field trip and help you remember what you learned.

An Activity Book for Grades 3-5

North Mountain Park Nature Center 620 N Mountain Ave ~ Ashland, OR 541.488.6606

Name ____________________________

2010 Spring

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Pre-visit Activity Wild Animals

Can you match the animal to its track? Use a ruler to connect the name of the animal to its print.

Red-tailed Hawk

Black Bear

Black-tailed Deer

Coyote

Killdeer

California Ground Squirrel

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Which end of this stick looks like it’s been chewed?

Does this look like a comfortable place to sleep?

Do you think this animal eats plants or animals?

These look like signs of a ___ _E_ ___ _R_ Do you think this is the work of a small or large animal?

Why do you think this animal damaged this log?

Do you think this animal eats plants or animals?

Pre-visit Activity Wild Animals

Why study scat? Scientists study scat (animal droppings) to find out what animals eat. Animals that eat plants (herbivores) make scat that is small and round. Animals that eat meat (carnivores) and animals that eat lots of different foods (omnivores) make scat that is larger and may even contain hair, bones, fish scales and seeds. Animals leave lots of clues, not only tracks and scat. Look at the pictures below and have fun answering the questions!

These look like signs of a ___ _E_ ___ _R_

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CATS _______________________________________

CATTLE _________________________________________

CHICKENS ______________________________________________

DOGS ______________________________________________________

GOATS ______________________________________________________

HORSES ______________________________________________________

SHEEP __________________________________________________________

Pre-Visit Activity

Domestic Animal: An animal that, through breeding, has come to rely on humans to meet its needs for food, water and shelter. Use the domestic Animal Cards to learn where and why each animal was domesticated. 1. Select a color for each of the animals below. Color the

box next to the animal’s name. Then, use that same color to shade the area of the map where that animal was first domesticated.

2. In the space next to the animal name, write in the main reason that animal was domesticated.

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Pre-Visit Activity

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Pre-Visit Activity Domestic Animals

Domestic Animal: An animal that, through breeding, has come to rely on humans to meet its needs for food, water and shelter. Look at the following list of animals. Circle all of the animals that you think are domesticated. Hint: There are seven. (Use the Animal Cards to check your answers.) horse caterpillar cow snake turtle goat raccoon lizard duck cat frog sheep chicken turkey dog

Use the Animal Cards to find out when each of the circled animals above was first domesticated. Place the names of the animals onto the timeline at the time that they were first domesticated.

15,000 10,000 years ago years ago

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Pre-Visit Activity Domestic Animals

Which domestic animal provides us with each of the following? Each space should have a different animal name. Leather = ___________________________ Eggs = _________________________________ Transportation = ______________________ Cheese = _________________________ Mouse control = ______________________ Wool = ________________________________ Protection = ________________________ 5,000 Present years ago Day

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Pre-visit Activity Animal Habitats

Snag

Riparian Corridor

Understory

Canopy

Stream

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1. Wood ducks build nests in holes inside of standing dead trees. Find them in a... 2. Lizards need cool shady places to hide. Find them under a…. 3. Small mammals, like mice, may forage under shrubs looking for food. Find them in the... 4. Hawks like to perch high in trees so they can look for prey. Find them in the... 5. Beavers build burrows out of mud and branches near the water. Find them in the... 6. Nocturnal animals, like raccoons, need a protected pathway to travel through towns. Find them in the... 7. All animals need a protected place where they can come for water. They all use the...

Fallen Log

Bank

Where are the animals? Color the picture of the riparian corridor below as you learn about the different places that animals live. Now see if you can fill in the blank spaces below. Use one phrase for each blank space. You may want to add animals to your colored picture when you’re done.

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NMP Activity Wild Animals

My animal is a: (circle one) Mammal Bird

My necklace has this part of my animal:__________________________________________________

My animal uses it to: __________________________________________________________________

My animal’s track looks like this:

It has _______ toes on the front foot and ______toes on the back foot. It looks like it: Hops Walks Runs Gallops

My animal’s scat or egg looks like this:

Other signs my animal might leave are: ______________________________________ ______________________________________

Two words that best describe my animal: _____________________ _______________________

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NMP Activity Wild Animals

Scouting Mission:

1. Look for your animal’s home. What did you find along the way? Animal Food or Tracks?

Notes: ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

2. Search for water sources. Where is the closest place to get a drink of water? Is it clean?

Notes: ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

3. Evaluate the animal’s home. What is its shape? What is it made of? Where is it found?

Notes: ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

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NMP Activity Wildlife Habitats

Look: Do you see any animals using the habitat? What animals do you see? Listen: Can you hear any bird calls? How many different calls do you hear? Monitoring Habitat Use: Describe what you find in each of these activities. Cover Board:

Track Plate:

Trip Camera:

Snag Observation: Insect Netting: Other Evidence of Animals? Circle the types of evidence you find.

Scat Holes or burrows

Gnawed wood Browsed shrubs

Tracks Rustling in underbrush

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Post-visit Activity Find out more...

Choose one wild animal from the list on the back of the workbook and do some research to answer the following questions: Name of Animal: _____________________________________________ Type of Animal: Mammal Reptile Amphibian Bird Insect (circle one) Type of Habitat: Forest Dry Hillside Meadow Riparian Area (circle one) Number of young: ___________________________________________________________________ Challenges or conflicts faced by this animal: __________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ What can people do to help this animal or improve its habitat? _________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________

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Post-visit Activity Animal Diary

Think of the animal you researched on the last page. Write a short story from that animal’s perspective (using “I”). In your story, describe a challenge that your animal faced, and how humans helped it overcome the difficulty. Write a short journal entry telling about what happened. Dear Diary,...

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Libby spent several months traveling in Ireland in 2005 and 2007. The highlight of her experience was working on a sheep farm in West Cork, where the O’Leary family has been raising sheep for countless generations. Libby worked with her “Irish family”, to care for, feed, and

groom the flock. It was a thrilling adventure, scouring the hills with border collies to help round the sheep up for market. Careful grazing practices are vital to the local ecology, just as traditional farming is important to maintaining the Irish culture, language, and sense of

place. She traveled with the help of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Learn more at http://www.wwoof.org/

Kari, along with her husband Steve and son Joey, traveled to the Channel Islands off the coast of Ventura California to help the Island Fox. This small breed of fox, which only lives on these islands, was in danger of going extinct due to predation from Golden Eagles. Kari and her family went to San Miguel Island to help build one of the many pens that were needed to protect the foxes from the Eagles. Since then, the Eagles have been relocated to the mainland (in Idaho) and many more foxes have been born. Most of these have been released into the wild and are still alive on the islands. In June of 2007, Kari and Steve returned to San Miguel Island to help take down the pens that were no longer needed. \For For more information about the Channel Island Foxes, go to www.nps.gov/chis/naturescience/island-fox.htm

Karin spent a month in Greece helping the Loggerhead Sea Turtles. She worked with people from all over the world educating beach visitors about how their actions impact sea turtle nests and baby sea turtles. At 6:00 in the morning they went down to the beach to look for turtle tracks and pick up trash, or took a small boat to a nearby island to monitor nests. During the day, the crew walked the beaches and educated visitors. At night, they presented sea turtle slide shows. For more information, go to www.archelon.gr/eng/index_eng.php

Kari

Post-visit Activity You can help wild and domestic animals!

Do you have a favorite animal that you would like to help? If you’d like to do something right away, you can volunteer at the local animal shelter walking dogs and petting cats. Here’s what three of our education staff members have done to help animals.

Karin

Libby

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Animals I learned about on my field trip WILD ANIMALS: Big Brown Bat Killdeer Black Bear Monarch Butterfly Black-tailed Deer Pacific Tree Frog California Ground Squirrel Raccoon Cougar Red-tailed Hawk

Coyote Western Pond Turtle

DOMESTIC ANIMALS: Sheep Dog Chicken

Donkey Goat Llama Cow Cat Horse

EXOTIC PETS: Do you know anyone who keeps these wild animals as pets? Rabbit Parakeet

Snake Turtle

Lizard Skunk

My favorite animal that I learned about on my field trip was a ________________ because__________________________________________________________________