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!! Polar bears give birth in the Arctic!! Sockeye salmon hatch out in North American rivers!! Elephants trek across Africa in search of food!! In Australia, cockatoos drum sticks to attract mates !! Emperor penguins head to the Antarctic coast

... plus things to do and look out for in December

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NNAATTUURREE YYEEAARR

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First published in 2012 by Orpheus Books Ltd, 6 Church Green, Witney, Oxon OX28 4AW England

www.orpheusbooks.com

Copyright © 2012 Orpheus Books Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilizedin any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrievalsystem, without permission in writing from the publisher except by a

reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Created and produced by Nicholas Harris, Sarah Hartley, Katie Sexton,Ruth Symons and Erica Williams, Orpheus Books Ltd

Text by Ruth Symons

Scientific consultant: Chris Jarvis, Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Illustrated by Martin Camm and Ian Jackson

ISBN 978 1 7418 3790 1

Printed and bound in Singapore

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THE WORLD - 6 central asia- 12

NORTH AMERICA - 14

central america - 16

ARCTIC - 8

EUROPE - 10

south america - 18

East africa - 20

southern africa - 22

AUSTRALia - 24

ANTARCTICA - 26

THINGS TO DO - 28

IIN THE NORTHERNhemisphere the shortest day of the year approaches.

It may be bitterly cold and there islittle animal activity. Meanwhile, itis summer in the southern hemisphereand temperatures are at their highest.

In northern temperate regions, berries areone of the few food sources for birds. Hungrymammals, such as rodents, rabbits and deer,may strip bark off trees. Most insects migrateor hibernate, often tunnelling into the soil toavoid winter frosts. A few insects, such asgrasshoppers and some moths, spend thewinter as eggs or larvae under the ground.

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A blackbird sings tomark his territory. The land may befrozen now, but heneeds to maintainhis territorythroughout theyear, not just in the breedingseason. Behindhim, holly andmistletoe are bothbearing berries.

Camouflaged in a bed ofbracken, a poorwillhibernates throughthe winter. It is theonly bird known todo so. The poorwill,known as holchko, or “sleeping one”, by native Indians,may hibernate for about three months, while food isscarce. Like other hibernators, its heartbeat andbreathing slow down and its body temperature drops.

In Australia, this huge Hercules moth caterpillar hassafely survived the spring. This is thanks both to itsbright warning colours, which make animals think it ispoisonous, and its long yellow spines that make it trickyto swallow. Now it spins a huge, pear!shaped cocoon,in which it transforms itself into an adult.

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IIN HER DEN, deep inside a snowdrift, a femalepolar bear gives birth to two tiny cubs. Littlelarger than guinea pigs, the newborn cubs

are blind, naked and helpless.

The cubs will not be able to leave their home for another three months. During that time, theyfeed on their mother’s fatty milk, and stay close to her, nestling in her thick white fur for warmth.The igloo-like maternity den also keeps themsheltered from icy winds and the Arctic cold.

In a month or so, the cubs will open their eyes forthe first time. Not long after that, they will taketheir first steps. After just two months, the cubsalready weigh 25 times what they did at birth. By this time they have started to grow their ownthick coats of fur and rows of small, sharp teeth.

A mother polar bear curls around hercubs. When the cubs are not feeding,the whole family sleeps.

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EEUROPEAN LOBSTERS spend most oftheir lives in shallow coastal waters.But in winter, they retreat a few

kilometres out to deeper waters wheretemperatures are slightly warmer. Here,the lobsters shelter in caves and crevices.

The deeper waters are still cooler thanwhat the lobsters are used to. They eatonly occasionally during their stay here.This is because cooler temperatures slowdown their metabolism—the rate at whichanimals get energy by breaking down food.

Lobsters use their claws to grab fish and shrimps or todig for clams and urchins to eat. Their larger claw isused for gripping and crushing prey. The other claw actslike a pair of scissors, to cut the prey into pieces.

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IIN THE DEPTHS OF WINTER, snow leopards leave theexposed mountain slopes where they usually hunt, andfollow their prey down to lower altitudes. Here, forests

offer some shelter, and food is a little easier to find.

Camouflaged against the snow-speckled trees, a leopardsneaks up on its prey. Its huge paws act like snowshoes,

spreading its weight so that it does not sink into thesnow. With a sudden leap, the leopard pounces

on an unsuspecting marmot. It wouldusually hunt larger prey, such as

goats or deer, but at least it will not go hungry today.

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NN OO RR TT HH AA MM EE RR II CC AAWhen the salmon leave their gravel nest, theyare known as fry. They slowly make their waydownstream. After several months, theydevelop stripy markings. At this stage theyare known as parr. Parr spendup to three years in freshwater before swimmingtowards the sea.

IIN THE AUTUMN, thousands of sockeye salmonswam up the rivers of their birth to spawn. Now,three months later, thousands of pea-sized eggs are

hatching out. The young salmon are called alevins. Theystill have balloon-like yolk sacs attached to their bodies.These provide the young fish with food for about amonth, while they live in gravel on the riverbed. At this point, the

young fish, now calledsmolts, cluster together in

large schools and swim out intothe Pacific Ocean, where they will spend

the next five years of their lives.

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DDURING AUTUMN AND WINTER, huge schools ofscalloped hammerhead sharks congregate in thewaters around Central America. The sharks

gather in deep waters around seamounts (underwatermountains), close to their main feeding areas.

By day, groups of up to 500 sharks, mostly females,cruise together. Individuals use displays, such as suddentwisting or thrashing movements, to win the bestpositions at the centre of the school. During the day, the sharks show no interest in food, but at night theysplit into smaller groups to feed on squid and stingrays.

The unusual shape of the hammerhead shark’s head, withone eye sticking out on each side, gives it 360 degreevision, which helps it to look for prey. Its head alsocontains sensors, which detect electrical signals given offby other creatures. These can help the shark locate evenstingrays that hide under the mud on the sea floor.

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HHIGH ABOVE THE Andes Mountains in SouthAmerica, the Andean condor, one of the largestbirds in the world, soars on rising warm air

currents. It can fly for many kilometres without flappingits wings, as it searches for carrion, its principal diet.

Lying between the mountain summits are grassyplateaux, where guanacos, wild relatives of the llama,roam. Now it is summer, the snows have largelymelted, revealing new plants for the guanacos to eat.Guanacos can carry more oxygen in their blood thanany other mammal, enabling them to cope easily withliving at high altitudes where the air is much thinner.

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AALTHOUGH GIRAFFES can cope quite easily in thecoming dry season, they drink as much as they canwhile the river waters are still high. Because their

legs are so long, they have to splay them wide to reachdown far enough to take a drink.

IIN EAST AFRICA, December marks the end of therainy season. As dusk falls, an aardvark leaves itsburrow for the night to feed on ants and termites.

It uses its shovel-like paws to dig into the side of termitemounds and ants’ nests. This is much easier now, in thesummer, when the earth has been softened by rain, sothe aardvark stays active right through the night.

As well as probing for antsand termites, aardvarks dig burrows to live in.Temporary burrows aredotted around the edge of its feeding range, ashideaways in case dangerthreatens. A main burrow,where it will raise itsyoung, needs to be much larger.

IIN SOUTHERN AFRICA,elephants have spent the last three months in a

sheltered forest, foraging forshoots, bark and roots. The grassesthey usually eat have withered anddied during the dry season.

In December, the rains at last return. The elephants can finally leave the forestand head for the open grassland. By now, theyhave demolished much of the forest, overturning treesand eating everything in sight, so moving on gives theforest some time to recover.

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Several families of elephants may traveltogether, led by the matriarch, the oldest cow in thegroup. The youngest elephants often walk in themiddle of the group, touching trunks with the adultsfor reassurance.

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AAT THE START of themating season, male palm cockatoos employ

a clever technique to attract a female. The male makes adrumstick from a small twig, which he trims to justthe right shape. He thenclasps it in his foot and beatsit against the trunk of a

hollowed nesting tree, creating a loud noise that canbe heard up to 100 metres away.

The female watches the male’s performancecarefully. If she is interested, she will inspect thenest, give her approval and fly away with her newmate. After mating, the female lays a single egg,which hatches out a month later.

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WWITH THE START of the monsoon season, aperiod of heavy rain, a frilled lizard leaves thetreetops to lay her eggs in the ground. At the

first sign of danger, sheruns to a high spot,opening her mouthand unfurling herbright orange ruffto make herselflook as big as possible.

As soon as shedecides it is safeagain, the female returnsto the ground, digs one ortwo holes, lays her eggs andcovers them over with soil.

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TTHREE MONTHS AGO, the Emperor penguincolony set off from their inland crèches towardsthe sea. Along their journey, both the adults

and the young moulted. The young penguins, alreadyat their full size, grew an adult coat of waterprooffeathers. It will be another year before they developthe yellow-orange markings of their parents.

Having arrived at the coast, the young penguinstake to the water for the first time, sliding in ontheir bellies. Now that they can hunt forthemselves, they are finallyindependent.

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3 Cut the lard into blocks andleave it out of the fridge tosoften for an hour or two.

4 Mix the ingredients togetherin a bowl.

8 See what birds come to yourfeeder. How many differentspecies can you spot?

9 You could also put out abowl of water. Birds will use it for drinking and may washthemselves in it, too.

2 For your mix you will needlard, birdseed, raisins andpeanuts (not salted or roasted).

GGive the birds in your area ahelping hand this winter bymaking a bird feeder.

1 Using a sharp pencil, make a hole in thebase of a yogurt pot. Thread a piece of stringthrough the hole and knot it inside the pot.

5 Put the mixture into the yogurtpot and pack it down firmly.

6 Leave the feeder in the fridgefor the mixture to set.

7 Tie the feeder to a branch.Always make sure feeders are outof the reach of cats and dogs.

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Holly berries

A teasel head

Bark that hasbeen nibbled byanimals

An owl

Mistletoe

See how many of these things that typically happen in Decemberyou can spot. Award yourself the points on the right!

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CConifers are evergreen trees with long,narrow leaves, called needles. The needlesare tough and can survive wind, frost

and long periods of drought. This means thatconifers can grow in areas where theclimate is hot and dry.

1 Look for conifers, such as firs,pines and spruces, in your park orgarden. If you get a Christmas tree, that will be a conifer, too.

2 Scrape the surface off one pine needle using a fingernail.

3 Beneath this waxy surface there is asticky liquid that nourishes the treeduring the winter. You will be able tosee this through a magnifying glass.

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