Today I'm going to share some of the wildlife we've found in our backyard so far this summer.
My challenges to you are:
1. Identify what is pictured here. How can you tell what animals these are? What types of observations lead you to your discoveries?
2. Post some of your own backyard (or front yard or park, etc) nature encounters!
I hope this will get you out and exploring, and then reading to identify the cool things you find.
Happy hunting!
Oops! I should have said "identify the animals and PLANTS"! The first image is a plant, of course.
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs. Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the first plant is, but I think it might be a lily.
The turtle next to Jack is a eastern box turtle, I know because of the markings on the shell and because I've seen and identified it before.
The green snake is a green tree snake, probably because it is in a tree and it is green.
The last snake is probably a black snake or a rat snake, because it is black and those are the two most common snakes in North Carolina.
I have a question- my mom and I are going to get school supplies soon. Are there any things we need for next year that are different from the standard 5th grade list?
Allie :-)
Hi there, Allie! Good nature sleuthing. You are correct on the eastern box turtle - our state reptile! - but the contest is still open for those who are interested in taking a guess at the others. You are absolutely right that the snakes have "green" and "black" in their names, but they are more specific than that. The plant may be fooling folks, as these flowers ARE quite beautiful (at least I think so) but in some cases are almost considered weeds!
ReplyDeleteThe school supply lists are out in stores, and those are the official word. I tend to not love binders so much, as we have so little room, but I think Ms. Langham feels differently. I prefer the composition book style notebooks to spiral, and I think she'll be fine with that preference. I would say, though, that everybody may just want to wait till Open House just to be sure.
Thanks for checking in. Enjoy the last little bit of summer!
Hi this is Raquel,
ReplyDeleteI think the plant is a morning glory (i have those in my back yard)
The turtle looks kind of like the box turtle Rachel brought in
and the green snake in the tree looks kind of like a vine snake.
The last one looks like a black snake to me there usually pretty long like the one in the picture.
Hi this is Jaelyn,
ReplyDeleteI think the plant is a Morning Glory.
I think the turtles are the box turtles from our classroom.
I think (and i looked on google) the snake is a vine snake.
I think the last snake is a black snake (Because i had one last year.
I have 2 toads in my back yard. Ones orange and brown looking and anothers greenish.
Yes, the plant is a Morning Glory (very good!) and I'm pleased that everybody is recognizing our good ol' buddy the Eastern Box Turtle, state reptile. Did you notice the box turtle was checking out our class painted turtles in one of the pictures? They're doing well and looking forward to coming back to school when I come back.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are close with the black snake - there are actually more than one common type of black snake in our state, and they are pretty difficult to tell apart. The interesting behavior the snake is showing in the picture is one clue to which it is!
The green snake is not a vine snake - but I"m glad you guys guessed that, because I got to look up vine snakes and learn about them. I'd never heard of them before!
That's cool that you found toads in your yard, Jaelyn! We have lots of toads, too. They're cool little critters. We also have lots of juvenile five-lined skinks, which are VERY pretty little lizards. I don't have any good photos of the ones we've seen - I'll have to link to some photos in my next post.
Any more guesses? Remember, this is ALL native wildlife (meaning, they are things that naturally live right here in our area).