Guide 6C Animal Care

Resources

Additional activities, a behind-the-scenes gallery, recommended books, and more.

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About this Guide

Let it Snow

We don’t typically get much snow in the Willamette Valley; maybe an inch or so, once or twice a winter. As novel as it is for us, imagine what it is like for all of the animals that have never experienced snow before. This week we had two light snowfalls and Mark was out at the crack of dawn to put out extra bird food and defrosted hummingbird juice. I tracked our fox who is hanging out around the cargo container, probably attracted by all of the animal noises. It was a brief and beautiful winter wonderland.

Lesley

Just for fun

Its been busy, but watching Sebastian mow through grass is totally worth the time.

Additional Activities

Archiving Nests

Generally it is not a good idea to collect nests; they often contain parasites that are difficult to remove and can fall apart over time. If you place the nest in an air-tight clear plastic bag, it is startling how many things crawl out from between the leaves and mud. An alternative is to photograph nests, tag them with field collection information, and keep a digital collection that builds over time.

Care Goes Both Ways

Service dogs flip the table: an animal caring for us, sometimes in life-saving ways. If you have access to a highly trained dog, it is an opportunity to study the animal-human relationship and the degree of learning that occurs in both species.

Behind-the-Scenes

Consistent Maintenance

To support western bluebird populations, it will take many years and potentially generations of birders setting up, cleaning, and repairing nest boxes, year after year.

Bold Moves

Two of the six rats were bolder right from the start: Binx and Blaze are explorers and get carried around while the other rats run on their wheels or wrestle on the ramps.