105 (D-26) Yosemite's scenery is breathtaking and its wildlife is diverse and fascinating. Will we be lucky? Will we see -->
Mammals:
Mammals:
Black Bears; Mountain Lions; Mule Deer; Bighorn Sheep; Coyotes; California Ground Squirrel; Western Grey Squirrel; Marmots; Chipmunks; Sierra Nevada Red Fox
Birds:
Golden Eagle; Acorn Woodpecker; Stellar's Jay (known as a "thief"...it likes to steal picnic food); Raven; Dark-Eyed Junco; Red-Tail Hawk; Pelegrine Falcon; Great-Grey Owl
And:
Rattlesnakes; Rainbow Trout; and...Mosquitoes (During ""mosquito season", March - July, there can be millions. They are very important as food for Yosemite's wildlife.)
If you are curious, you can read about Yosemite's fauna at
And you can read about George Melendez Wright (photo), a scientist and visionary at
Jane
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VOCABULARY:
marmot / groundhog / prairie dogs =
--Marmots are basically large ground squirrels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmot (yellow-bellied marmots in Yosemite)
--The groundhog (Marmota monax), also know as a woodchuck, or Eastern Marmot, is one of four species of marmot in North America. In my classes, we talked about Groundhog's Day, which is on February 2nd in the United States. We also talked about woodchucks in some of my classes:
" How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=marmot&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=3
-- Prairie dogs belong to the same family as marmots, but are generally smaller. More information and photos here:
--Chipmunks = a little animal I miss since I moved to France. http://www.treknature.com/gallery/photo223154.htm
A lot of links ("liens") for information and photos....and to keep you busy during the long Spring holidays! Take a look if you are interested.
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