Today was our last visit with Beverly from Wildlife Experience!
They are a non-profit wildlife education organization that brings native and exotic animals to schools and teaches children about the importance of our natural world.
Today, Beverly taught us about canine mammals, called foxes.
The kit fox is the smallest in California
The fennec fox from Asia and Africa is the smallest in the world!
Since Wildlife Experience does not have a kit fox, Beverly brought a fennec fox!
Meet Moose, the fennec fox!
When three-year-old Moose arrived, he was very noisy and had to be taken out of his crate right away.
Beverly had to hold him up on her shoulder, so that he would not feel intimidated by all of us!
help him cool off in the heat of the desert, his natural habitat.
Do you know how his ears keep him cool?
Look at Moose's beautiful creamy-colored coat!
A fennec fox's fur color camouflages with the desert sand.
Speaking of the desert.....
Meet Mojave, the California desert tortoise!
The California desert tortoise is an endangered species.
Mojave, a reptile, is 9 years old and will triple in size by the time she is full grown!
Beverly allowed each of us to gently touch the top part of Mojave's shell, called the carapace. It is actually part of her back bone!
A tortoise is a land animal and has a short tail, as you can see! That way it can be tucked into its shell for protection. Turtles that live in water have long tails to help them swim.
Tortoises, like Mojave, are herbivores, but other turtles are omnivores.
Here you can see the underside of Mojave's shell, called the plastron. Notice the part of the plastron that is right below Mojave's head. Beverly told us that on a male tortoise, that part of the plastron is much larger. Do you remember what the male's use it for?
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What did you enjoy learning during today's Wildlife Experience?
Do you have any additional facts to share about the fennec fox and California desert tortoise?
Read more about these two animals on World Book Web!
Hey Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteI forgot how much fun it is to read your blog! I miss 3rd grade it was fun and exciting. I remember when The Wildlife Experience came. We had to reach in a bag and guess what was in it, for us it was a peeled snake skin!
Your old student,
Joshua Burkett
P.S. For the question about the fox, the ears help it cool of because wind blows on them making their whole body cooler. Which is sort of like putting ice on your head, it cools u off. :D