The Pacific Rattlesnake is found throughout in
many places in California, from sea level on the Pacific Ocean, the
inland prairies and desert areas, to the mountains at elevations of
more than 10,000 feet. Click HERE
for links to many other places where they can be found, and extra
information.
From Lake Tahoe north, on the east side of the
Sierra, the Great Basin rattler. From Tahoe south through Death
Valley, the Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes) and Panamint
rattlers. Along the Colorado River, the Western Diamondback
(Crotalus atrox). In the southwestern area, the Red Diamondback
(Crotalus ruber) and Speckled (Crotalus mitchelli) rattlers.
The Mojave Desert is home to both the Mojave Rattlesnake and
the Sidewinder.
The Pacific rattler sometimes attains a length
of 5 feet, but the average adult size is between 3 and 4 feet. Rattlesnakes
eat lizards and small rodents such as ground squirrels, small rabbits,
rats and mice, striking rather than attempting to hold their prey.
When the hollow fangs of the rattler penetrate the victim's flesh,
venom is injected as though through twin hypodermic needles. Plan
a trip to the American
Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque, NM
The Enchanted
Learning site has neat rattlesnake pictures, print outs and details.
Rattlesnakes like hot dry places where they can hide from the sun
under large rocks, or trees. Desert areas of California, Montana,
Nevada, etc., are where they like to slither and hide. Like people,
they come in different sizes, colors, and dispositions. This
Page gives you a list of all the rattlesnakes you could think
of + their common and latin names. Click on the latin names for more
details about each rattler.
If rattlesnakes were people, I doubt
they would have friends. Most descriptions use words like sullen,
irritable, agressive, toxic and nervous. WOW! No wonder they like
to hide out in the desert. CLICK
HERE to read for yourself.
NUTTY NOTES:
Rattlesnakes are just humongous worms with rattles and attitude -
RUN!
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GRIZZLY
BEARS - Yikes! Don't take this
teddy to bed with you!
Grizzly Bear
Ursus arctos - The following comes fromBC
adventure.com In some areas of North America Grizzlies are extinct
or had their numbers greatly reduced. Description - This large
animal reaches weights of 300-1500 pounds. The coat color ranges from
shades of blond, brown, black or a combination of these; the long
outer guard hairs are often tipped with white or silver giving it
a grizzled appearance hence the name. The grizzly has a large hump
over the shoulders which is a muscle mass used to power the forelimbs
in digging. In spite of their mass size this bear runs at speeds of
up to 35 mph.
The grizzly bear is primarily nocturnal and for
the winter puts on up to 400 pounds of fat.. Although they are not
true hibernators and can be woken easily, they like to den up in a
protected spot, such as a cave, crevice or hollow log during the winter
months. Being omnivores, they feed on a variety of plants and berries
including roots or sprouts and fungi as well as fish, insects and
small mammals. Normally a solitary animal, the grizzly congregates
alongside streams and rivers during the salmon spawn. Every other
year females produce 1-4 young which are the size of rats, weighing
only 1 pound.
The prints of the grizzly bear are characterized
by an oval pad with five toes along the wider top of the pad on the
hind feet. The front feet have a smaller heel pad and a dew claw which
may be present in the print. Claw marks over twice as long as the
toe pads are usually evident.
NUTTY NOTES: These
guys sleep all winter - and your mom said YOU'RE lazy!
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HUMMINGBIRDS
They invented fast-forward!
Each hummingbird species has its own migration
strategy, and it's incorrect to think of "hummingbirds"
as a single type of animal, all alike. This article will discuss Ruby-throated
migration, because it's likely that more people see that species than
all the others in North America combined, and its dynamics are similar
to other species, although the dates and locations vary. An exception
is Anna's Hummingbird, which typically does not migrate but may wander
up- and downslope following seasonal food resources.
Click HERE
to read more
fun facts. Click HERE
to see pictures of a nest -- and MORE.
NUTTY NOTES:
Hummers are colorful hovercraft - complete with feathers.
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SQUIRRELS
They have made food storage into a
fine art.
Squirrels are fun to watch. Let me
tell you about the four main kinds of tree squirrels here in USA.
First of all, there's the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger). They are the
largest tree squirrels here. In Florida, they are very beautiful,
but not seen much 'cause they are always hiding.
Next is the famous gray squirrel (Sciurus
carolinensis). They are about half the size of a fox squirrel, and
no matter where you go, they're everywhere.
Next is the red squirrel (Tamiasciurus
hudsonicus). These wee little guys don't live in Florida, but they
are common up north. They are smaller than gray squirrels, and when
you're near them they'll chatter up a storm! Many people say these
are the cutest squirrels ever.
Last but not least is the flying squirrel
(Glaucomys volans & G. sabrinus). These two species are the southern
and northern flying squirrels, respectively. They are famous for their
excellent gliding ability.
There are other species of squirrel
in the USA, such as the Western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) common
to California, Oregon, and Washington State; and the tassel-eared
squirrel (Sciurus aberti) common to Arizonia, Colorado, and New Mexico.
There are other members of the squirrel
family in USA, such as several species of ground squirrel (Spermophilus
and Ammospermophilus), Chipmunks (Tamias), Woodchucks and Marmots
(Marmota) and Prairie dogs (Cynomys).
For
a complete list of the world's species of squirrels,
CLICK
HERE -
For Vampire Squirrels (I am not kidding)
CLICK
HERE
NUTTY NOTES:
Squirrels are just furry tree-huggers.
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BUMBLEBEES
How can they fly with that football
shape?
Bumblebees are the workaholics—diligent
and dependable, but a little dorky as they lumber around the garden.
The bumblebee isn't the most glamorous insect around, but the lovable
bear of a bee surpasses even the celebrated honeybee in the industriousness
department. Bumblebees are often up and out of the hive before dawn,
way before the honeybees, and they're frequently still hard at work
after the sun has set.
In fact, the bumblebee is one of
the world's most proficient practitioners of the pollinating arts.
Its distinctive striped fur coat is tailor-made for attracting pollen,
and the plump pollinator is built like a Mack truck to carry a lot
of cargo. We live on a planet pollinated primarily by bees. Bees fertilize
most of our favorite flowers, and pollinate a third of the plants
we eat. Bumblebees are important pollinators of tomatoes, eggplants,
peppers, melons, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries,
and many other crops, and are the only known pollinators of potatoes
worldwide.
SURF
HERE for everything you want to know about
bumblebees.
NUTTY NOTES: Bumblebees
love to make scientists scratch their heads.
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KITTY CATS
They make the Pu-u-u-u-rfect
pet
So, you've decided that you want to have a pet
cat. However, before you shop for your kitten, you may need to consider
if a cat is the right pet for you-or not. After you've already grown
attached, it can be heart breaking if you discover you are alergic
to its fur. There is a huge variety of cats and kittens available
out there, from pedigreed Princes, to girls from the Street of Hard
Knocks. This Website covers a
multiple of issues and offers good pet advice.
False Economy in Cat Food Choices. Money saved
by buying cheap cat food will be spent hundreds of times over on veterinary
care. Cats are obligate carnivores, and need a good source of meat
protein. They do not need large amounts of grain fillers, especially
corn, which is a cheap source of protein used by many cat food manufacturers.
Learn how to choose cat food and select the best brands you can afford.
You'll find your cat may eat less of the high quality food because
they don't have to gorge to get the nutrients they need.
NUTTY NOTES:
Cats are a bundle of furry love - IF they feel like it.
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PRAIRIE DOGS
Better not try taking take them for
a walk.
Prairie dogs live in a secret world beneath the
plains of North America—complex underground burrows that spiral
for miles, and shelter prairie dogs from birth until death. "If
the prairie dog goes, so goes an entire ecosystem. Prairie dogs create
diversity. Destroy them and you destroy a varied world."
~Terry Tempest Williams
MYTH: No One Will Miss Prairie Dogs When They're Gone. This is not
true. Ferrets inhabit prairie dog burrows
and depend on prairie dogs for more than 95 percent of their dietary
needs. The war against the black-tailed prairie dog, which began at
the beginning of the twentieth century, is the main reason the black-footed
ferret is endangered. The swift fox and ferruginous hawk also depend
on prairie dogs for food, and their numbers have declined along with
the prairie dogs'. The mountain plover and burrowing owl depend on
the habitat prairie dogs create, and their numbers have also declined
throughout their ranges. There are many others–small mammals,
birds, reptiles, amphibians, plants, and insects–whose worlds
are crumbling as prairie dogs and their towns continue to be destroyed.
GO
HERE to read
more info about this cute little critter. VIDEO
of PD warning about rattlesnakes.
NUTTY NOTES:
They're watchdogs that don't wag their tails or like belly
rubs.
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BALD EAGLES
The king of our skies.
The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), our
national bird, is the only eagle unique to North America. The bald
eagle's scientific name signifies a sea (halo) eagle (aeetos) with
a white (leukos) head. At one time, the word "bald" meant
"white," not hairless.
Bald eagles are found over most of North America,
from Alaska and Canada to northern Mexico. About half of the world's
70,000 bald eagles live in Alaska. Combined with British Columbia's
population of about 20,000, the northwest coast of North America is
by far their greatest stronghold for bald eagles. They flourish here
in part because of the salmon. Dead or dying fish are an important
food source for all bald eagles. Eagles are a member of the Accipitridae
family, which also includes hawks, kites, and old-world vultures.
Skunks are members of the weasel family (Mustelidae).
There are four species of skunk in North America: striped skunks (Mephitis
mephitis), hooded skunks (M. macroura), spotted skunks (Spilogale
putorius), and scarce hognosed skunks (Conepatus mesoleucus). Although
their markings vary, these bushy- tailed creatures are always back
and white and absolutely unmistakable. A litter of from one to seven
young, averaging five, is born from late April to early June.
An individual's territory may span 30 to 40 acres.
In the wild, skunks tend to den in shallow burrows or hollow logs.
They are hardly ever found more than two miles from a water source.
In urban territories, skunks den beneath buildings, decks, dumps,
and woodpiles. They are capable of burrowing a den a foot or so underground,
with well-hidden entrances. They like warm, dry, dark, and defensible
areas; most house basements and crawl spaces qualify.
To discover more Skunk History, and
why Skunks have stripes: CLICK
HERE .....Living
with (Skunk) Wildlife CLICK
HERE
NUTTY NOTES:
Just a cute cat who could use a heavy-duty deodorant
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I
would love to hear from children who read this page, or my books.
I will reply to every e-mail. . . I
promise!
of Writing for Children
..*Mama
Grizzly Bear
*Prairie
Dog Play Days 
BUY
WILD USA Territory!
Run for your life!
Ursus arctos - The following comes from
They invented fast-forward!
They have made food storage into a
fine art. 
How can they fly with that football
shape? 
They make the Pu-u-u-u-rfect
pet
Better not try taking take them for
a walk.
The king of our skies.
Better hold
your nose, mate!