Posts Tagged With: mammals

RABBIT WEEK DAY # 5

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

RABBIT WEEK # 5

It’s the last day of Rabbit week and we have one more for you! We’re heading to Europe to meet today’s special hare. You may recognize this rabbit from the book “Alice in Wonderland” as the March Hare! Are you ready to meet the last rabbit of the week?

MEET THE EUROPEAN HARE!

Range/Habitat: Europe-North-South America/ grasslands, farms

Diet: Herbivore: grass, herbs, bark

Length/Weight: 19-28”/ 5 ½-15 lbs

Conservation Status: Common- Near Threatened in areas

Fun Facts:

European hares are also known as the brown hare.
European hares are nocturnal (active at night).
They are also solitary.
European hares have fluffy cottontails.
They have a tawny-rust colored fur.
They are the fastest land mammal in the United Kingdom.
European hares hide in depressions in the earth instead of burrows.
European hares box during mating season.

We think these hares are super cute, but man can they box! Check it out! Do any of our readers have some in their backyard? We hope you have enjoyed Rabbit week! We’re back to our regularly schedule programming next week :)! We hope you have a hoppy weekend!

Categories: Animals, Children, education, Environment, mammals, nature, rabbits, science, wildlife | Tags: animals, children, education, environment, mammals, nature, rabbits, science, wildlife | 2 Comments

RABBIT WEEK # 4

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

RABBIT WEEK # 4

Have you enjoyed meeting the rabbits so far? We just love how each rabbit is so different! And do we have a different rabbit for you today! We’re heading to the Southwestern U.S. desert to find this very fast rabbit with extra large ears!

MEET THE BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBIT!

Range/Habitat: Southwestern United States-Mexico/ desert-shrub

Diet: Herbivore: grasses, herbs, cacti

Length/Weight: 18 ½-25”/ 9-13 lbs

Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

Black-tailed jackrabbits are also known as the American Desert Hare.
They are actually hares.
Black-tailed jackrabbits have long legs that help them move fast! They can reach speeds of up to 35 mph!
They are the 3^rd largest hare in North America.
Black-tailed jackrabbits are nocturnal (active at night).
Black-tailed jackrabbits have huge ears. They can regulate the blood flow in their ears, which can help heat them up at night or cool them down during the day.
They get most of their water from the plants they eat instead of drinking it.

Wow, did you see that jackrabbit go by? They sure are fast! It is hard to miss those giant ears as they go by!

RABBIT WEEK DAY # 3

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

RABBIT WEEK # 3

Here comes Peter Cottontail hoping down the bunny trail… Who else thinks of this song when you think of rabbits? We just love this song and every time we see today’s rabbit it pops in our head! That’s right; we’re taking a stroll in our own backyard to see today’s rabbit! Do you have guess on who it is?

MEET THE EASTERN COTTONTAIL!

Range/Habitat: Southeastern Canada- Central America-parts of Europe/ forests,

grasslands, suburbs

Diet: Herbivore: grass, bark, twigs

Length/Weight: 15-19”/2 ¼-3 ¼ lb

Conservation Status: Common

Fun Facts:

Eastern Cottontails have reddish brown fur.
They are mostly solitary animals.
Eastern cottontails have fluffy white tails.
They are most active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular).
Eastern cottontails use burrows dug by other animals.
Eastern cottontails thump the ground often as a warning

We love to see Eastern Cottontails out in the yard munching on some clover. You have to be very quite because they can move fast! Hop! Hop! Hop!

Categories: Animals, backyard, Children, education, Environment, mammals, nature, rabbits, science, wildlife | Tags: animals, backyard, children, education, environment, mammals, nature, rabbits, science, wildlife | 4 Comments

RABBIT WEEK DAY # 2

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

RABBIT WEEK # 2

We’re heading to the chilly Arctic today to meet today’s rabbit! Actually this animal is a hare! Hares are members of the lagomorph family. They usually have larger ears than rabbits and live in nests above ground vs burrows. Hares also have babies that are born with hair and open eyes. Today’s hare lives in a very snowy climate! Put on your cold weather coat and snow shoes and let’s meet today’s hare!

MEET THE ARCTIC HARE!

Range/Habitat: N Canada- Greenland/ snowy arctic tundra

Diet: Herbivore: grasses, moss, lichen, shrubs

Length/Weight: 17- 26”/ 6 ½-15 lbs

Conservation Status: common

Fun Facts:

Arctic hares are built to live in cold climates.
They have thick coats of fur that turn brown-gray in the summer and white in the winter to help them camouflage.
Arctic hares have large feet that help them walk in the snow.
Arctic hares have smaller ears to help them regulate their body heat, smaller ears lose less heat!
They hide in rocky outcrops and crevices.
Arctic hares are fast, they can go as fast as 40 mph!

Arctic hares have beautiful white coats! It has to be hard to see them in all of that snow! These hardy rabbits have some great adaptations for living in a harsh climate! Now, who’s ready to warm up with hot apple cider? It’s Edmond’s specialty!

RABBIT WEEK!!

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

RABBIT WEEK!

April theme week is here and we are celebrating rabbits! We’re featuring a rabbit a day along with a special craft and an interview with one of our rabbit pals! So are you ready to get this week started? We sure are! Rabbits are classified as lagomorphs and include hares and picas. They have large ears and four incisors in the upper jaw. They range in size and live all over the world except Antarctica. Besides being amazing animals, they are just plain cute! We’re heading south of the border (as we like to say in the U.S.) to some volcanoes outside of Mexico City to meet today’s rabbit!

MEET THE VOLCANO RABBIT!

Range/Habitat: Central Mexico/ forests, mountains

Diet: Herbivore: grasses

Length/Weight: 9- 12 ½”/ 13-21 oz

Conservation Status: endangered

Fun Facts:

Volcano rabbits live in pine forests near volcano peaks.
Volcano rabbits are one of the smallest rabbits in the world.
They live in small groups of 2-5.
Volcano rabbits have small rounded ears.
They build their burrows.
Volcano rabbits are mostly active at dusk and dawn (crepuscular).

How cute are these Volcano Rabbits? You would think with a name like that, they would breathe fire, but nope! There are efforts to make sure these little rabbits have enough habitat in their native Mexico! That is great news!

We Go on WILD ENCOUNTER at Zoo Atlanta!!

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

We have WILD ENCOUNTER at Zoo Atlanta

Wowee! We were invited to Zoo Atlanta for a Wild Encounter with Slasher the Komodo dragon! That’s right folks, we went behind the scenes to meet and feed mice to a Komodo dragon! Zoo Atlanta is starting a new program on March 31^st called Wild Encounters where you can go behind the scenes and meet a Komodo dragon, an elephant or a panda! How cool is that? Well let’s just show you!

First we met outside of Slasher’s habitat. Our guide Shelby gave us instructions and some great information about Komodo Dragons! (60/72)

Slasher the Komodo dragon!

Shelby our Wild Encounter guide!

Did you know that komodo dragons live in Indonesia? They live on 3 different islands including Komodo Island. They are considered vulnerable, due to habitat loss and loss of some of the prey they eat. Slasher is a big guy and we were so excited to meet him! The humans were given booties to cover their shoes and a glove to wear on the hand that would hold the tongs!

Aren't these booties attractive?

Off we went to behind the scenes of the Komodo dragon habitat, where we were greeted by a reptile keeper. He showed us a skeleton of the Komodo dragon skull and some teeth!

Komodo dragon skull! Look at those teeth!

Wow these lizards have a mouth of serrated teeth that fall out often are replaced by teeth behind them, kind of like sharks. We finally met Slasher, where he was waiting for lunch!

We were given a pair of tongs with a small mouse on the end to feed Slasher. Each person took turns giving Slasher one mouse and he chomped those down in one bite!

Slasher getting a mouse!

We also learned that komodo dragons have a special organ or third eye on their head that helps them detect light and dark! Isn’t that amazing? Soon, everyone had given Slasher a mouse and he went back into his habitat. It went by so fast, but WOW, it was such an amazing experience! We were so thrilled. We sat and watched him for a bit as he lounged around.

We're watching Slasher! Edmond was too short & had to sit on Ellie!

He probably was a bit sleepy after eating all those mice. Normally you would have to head all the way to Indonesia to see a komodo up close and let us tell you, that is long trek! But all you have to do to enjoy a WILD ENCOUNTER at the zoo is get in the car! Want to learn more? Of course you do! Check out the zoo’s website! Trust us- you’ll be so happy you went!

We had such a great time meeting Slasher. We didn’t want our adventure to end, so we made a stop at the new Twiga Terrace.

Welcome to Twiga Terrace!

Did you know that twiga is the Swahili word for giraffe? FUN! Zoo Atlanta is opening a new feeding station for giraffes, also on March 31^st. We stopped by to see the zoo’s giraffes and give them some tasty romaine lettuce. We had a hard time not eating the lettuce ourselves. The zoo has four giraffes, Mona, Glenda, Abu and Lily (the baby)!

Hanging with the giraffes!

Glenda came on over to sniff out our lettuce and to take a nibble.

Glenda!

We could just watch giraffes for hours! They are so graceful and beautiful!

Aren't they gorgeous?

You can feed the giraffes too! Check out the zoo’s website for more info! After such an amazing day, this elephant and horse were tired! We headed home with great memories of a fabulous adventure!

It’s a great time of year to get out and enjoy Zoo Atlanta! Did you know that when you visit the zoo and feed giraffes and have Wild Encounters that you’re helping support the animals at the zoo and their wild relatives! COOL! Zoo Atlanta is one of our favorite places and hopefully one of yours!

Categories: Animals, Atlanta, Children, education, Environment, Local, nature, reptiles, science, wildlife | Tags: animals, atlanta, children, education, environment, mammals, nature, reptiles, science, wildlife | 3 Comments

FARM DAY AT CHATTAHOOCHEE NATURE CENTER!

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Ellie and Edmond ©

Farm Day at Chattahoochee Nature Center!

We received a lovely invitation to go to the Chattahoochee Nature Center recently and luck would have it that we were able to go to their Farm Day! Man, were we excited! We’d never been to the Chattahoochee Nature Center before! We arrived early in the afternoon and we weren’t alone, the center was jamming! After meeting our new friend Rebecca who invited us we went to check out the main building!

They have a lovely display all about fresh water systems! Know why? Well, the center is located on the Chattahoochee River just north of Atlanta! The Chattahoochee River and surrounding area is home to loads of amazing animals, including turtles, owls, snakes, catfish and beavers! The center has a great area where you can not only learn about some of these animals, you can see them!

One turtle was hanging on the log and one was trying to get up there!

Owl!

One of favorite things in this area was the animals made of junk! Yep, they had an otter made from a dust buster & a beaver made of clothespins! FUN!

Heron made of parts!

An otter made from a hand held vac! So cute!

Beaver made out of clothespins! FUN!

As we headed outside we found an alligator snapping turtle that you can touch, don’t worry he wasn’t real. We’re adventurous, but not insane :)!

Here we are with the snapping turtle! Look the sign says you can touch!

We were excited to meet the farm animals that were at the center that day, so we waited in a line for our turn. While we waited, one of the center’s naturalist introduced us to a red shoulder hawk!

Red Shoulder Hawk! He was sooo pretty!

These birds are native to Georgia and came to the center because someone had taken him when he was little to be a pet. Trust us when we say hawks are not pets, they belong in the wild. It is also illegal in the state of Georgia to take a native animal from the wild.

Whew, when we finally made it to the front of the line we made sure we read the rules!

Farmer Sue's rules!

The animals for Farm Day had come from The Art Barn, a working farm not too far from the center! It’s run by Farmer Sue!

Farmer Sue with a duckling!

They had ducks, chickens, giant rabbits, a goat and a sheep! We loved the giant rabbits Godiva and Butterscotch!

Here we are with Butterscotch the Bunny! HE WAS HUGE!

The black sheep was super cute too, he just kept eating grass- our favorite! We wanted to join him for a browse but it was bit crowded!

A very hungry and wooly sheep!

There was a miniature horse too, but we were unable to get a good picture of his face and we figure you guys wouldn’t like rump pictures :)!

We decided to walk around the rest of the center’s grounds. They had lemonade and arts and crafts and loads of nature trails to explore. We found this excellent hollow tree stump that you can play in!

Cool isn't it?

As we strolled around we found out that the center has a bunch of aviaries with native birds. Can you say Bald Eagles? Yep, they have two of them and man, are they beautiful. Unfortunately they were up so high that we couldn’t get a good picture; so you’ll just have to go for yourself and see them! We also spotted barn and barred owls, turkey and black vultures in the aviaries.

They also have a lovely area for a beaver. We got a great shot of him and man was he sleeeepy!

One very sleepy beaver!

Trust us, he was breathing.

The grounds of the center are so beautiful! We saw all kinds of trees and flowers in bloom! One of our favorites is the dogwood. We wonder where the dogwood got its name, it doesn’t bark! Haha!

Dogwood blossoms are so pretty

We decided to chill for a bit by the river, it was so peaceful.

We decide to take a break!

We made our way back just in time for another animal encounter! This time the naturalist brought out a Virginia Opossum (and yes you pronounce the O)!

Time to meet an Opossum!

This little one was only about 8 months old. Did you know that the Virginia Opossum is the only marsupial in North America? They are just so cool! You can learn more about opossums here.

We were pretty tired from all the excitement and decided to head home. We did stop by the membership booth to learn about becoming members.

Become a member!

As we left, we saw that they had fun imprints on the sidewalk just outside the front door! We liked the kingfisher one! The center’s summer camp is called Camp Kingfisher! We wonder if they let elephants and horses come?

We loved the sidewalk imprints!

There’s so much to see and do at the Chattahoochee Nature Center! It’s a great place to learn and explore. Check out their website, they have loads of fun events coming up! Bring a picnic lunch and spend the day at this special place!