53 (D-78) Wildlife: plants and animals

WARNING: Vocabulary work to do here!
But, you know that your dictionaries are nearby:
http://wordreference.com
http://dictionnaire.reverso.net/anglais-francais/
And when you can't find the translation, try a monolingual dictionary:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/
And for pronunciation, don't forget:
http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php?sitepal TEXT--TO--SPEECH

53 (D-78) There are many ANIMALS that make Arches National Park their home. The National Park Service tells us that 52 species of mammals have been seen in the park and 186 species of birds also live there. There are reptiles, amphibians, fish and many insects. However, most animals in this desert climate are nocturnal, so we may not see many.
To name of few:
Rodents: squirrels, packrats, chipmunks and porcupines.
Rabbits: desert cottontails and black-tailed jack-rabbits.
Mule deer.
Coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions = the park's large predators.
There is the magnificent desert bighorn.
Lizards: the western whiptail (its tail is more than twice the size of its body) and the western collared lizard (very striking, with bright green coloring and a distinctive black collar).
Arches is also home to a variety of poisonous animals, including rattlesnakes, scorpions and black widow spiders.

The advice I read:
ALWAYS WATCH WHERE YOU ARE WALKING AND NEVER PUT YOUR HAND ON A SURFACE THAT YOU CANNOT SEE!
(One of my sisters also gave me this advice, but for The Grand Canyon where there are many tarantulas! However, a tarantula's venom is not at all lethal to a human. If you harass a tarantula enough, they will bite, but this will only cause a little pain and swelling. If you are curious, take a look here: http://www.hitthetrail.com/tarantulas.php )
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The elevation of the park (4,000 to 5600 ft. = 1219m to 1717 m) and the snow create what is called a cold or high desert. As a result of these unusual conditions, the PLANTS found here are a unique blend not found in other deserts of the world. Desert plants must be able to adapt to extreme variations in temperature and water availability, as well as intense sunlight.

Many visitors are surprised at the amount of VEGETATION in Arches. Nearly 500 kinds of plants grow in Arches National Park, despite extreme temperatures and low rainfall.
There are three categories of plants: drought escaper's, drought resistors and drought evaders.
1) Drought escapers are plants that make use of favorable growing conditions when they exist. These plants are usually annuals that grow only when there is enough water. (Most grasses and wildflowers that bloom after seasonal rains in the spring and summer.)
2) Drought resistors are typically perennials. Many have small, spiny leaves that reduce the impact of solar radiation, and some may drop their leaves if water is unavailable. They can survive without much water. (Cacti, yuccas and mosses are examples of drought resistors.)
3) Drought evaders, the final group, survive in riparian areas (=near rivers, lakes) where water is plentiful. (Monkey flower, columbine and maidenhair fern ... Cottonwoods and willows ...blackbrush and purple sage ....greasewood and Mormon tea ...and even poison ivy. (BE CAREFUL! I remember bad experiences with poison ivy when I was a child.)
The dominant plant community in Arches is the pinyon-juniper woodland.
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A lot of vocabulary you perhaps don't know...(I needed to use the dictionary too!) A little long, I'm sorry. But, I've given all this information because I know some of my students are very interested in plants, flowers and animals.
If you would like to see a few PHOTOS and have more information, go to
http://www.nps.gov/arch/forkids/upload/StudentGuide_LowRes.pdf


Jane
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VOCABULARY:
Just a little help:
--wildlife = wild animals and vegetation, especially animals living in a natural, undomesticated state; flora and fauna
--drought = "sécheresse" (pronounced like the preposition "out")