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Self-guiding in the Galleries
Pre-During-Post Visit Resources
Berkshire Backyard: Mammals

Grades 1-2

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During Your Visit
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Things You Don't Want to Miss
Discussion Questions
Activities
Go to Berkshire Backyard Gallery Page

Before and After Your Visit
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Important Terms and Concepts
Activities
Print and Web Resources

	Black Bear Black bears are the only bear species that can be found in Berkshire County. In recent years this large mammal has become increasingly common and less afraid of people. Though black bears are generally timid and not interested in hurting humans, they are often found in neighborhoods scrounging for food, so it is important to recognize the potential danger and warn youngsters not to approach one. Black bears may weigh as much as 450 pounds. This species is omnivorous, feeding on a wide variety of vegetable and animal life: grasses, fruit, berries, roots, ants, honey, and any birds, mammals, fish and frogs it can catch. For additional information on local bears and other large mammals, visit The Massachusetts Wildlife Program and Lynn Roger's organization dedicated to bear research and education, The Wildlife Research Center.
	Star-nosed Mole This mole is North America’s only semi-aquatic mole. Star-nosed moles prefer to live in marshy areas around ponds and are strong swimmers, and use their powerful hands and shoulders not only for burrowing in the earth, but to swim and fish for small minnows. The star-nosed mole gets its name from the 22 projections around its nose. This is one of the most complex, mobile, and touch sensitive noses in the animal kingdom. The projections fold in so the mole can eat. They also seal the nostrils to keep the water out. Waterproof fur is another adaptation of this swimming mole.
	Muskrat One of the larger rodents found locally, it is almost never found far from water where it feeds mostly upon aquatic plants. Its home, while superficially resembling that of its larger cousin the beaver, is made of rushes, cattails and other aquatic plants.
	Hares and Rabbits Rabbits and hares are common names, often applied interchangeably, for small, furry mammals with long ears, long legs, and short tails. Rabbits are distinguished by the helplessness of their offspring. Young rabbits are born naked with their eyes closed. The cottontail (top picture on left) builds its simple nest on the surface, usually in grass or brush, and rarely lives in social groups. Hares are generally larger and have longer ears with characteristic black markings. The skulls of rabbits and hares are also different. The varying or snowshoe hare (lower picture) and cottontail rabbits are both found locally, with hares found chiefly in the uplands (at higher elevations) and rabbits in the lowlands.

Here are some questions for teachers, chaperones and students to think about while visiting the exhibit.

• What features do these animals have that help them to survive?
• What might this animal do in the rain? Snow? Winter? Summer?
• Where does this animal spend most of its time?
• How many carnivorous (meat-eating) mammals are on display? How many herbivores (plant-eaters)? How many omnivores (meat & plant eaters)?
• If you had to compete with one of these mammals in a race, which one would you pick? Why?

Adaptation Hunt
Students are given a clue card with an image of an animal's physical features like a bird beak, insect wings, or mammal’s claws. Their challenge is to find an animal in the BBY with this adaptation or feature. Then discuss as a group the following questions:

• What animal did you find?
• In which animal group does it belong (fish, bird, insect, mammal, etc.)?
• How is that adaptation or feature helpful?

Click here for complete directions/worksheet.

Global Animal Hunt
A scavenger hunt with images of animals that can be found in the Museum's World in Miniature Gallery. What are the names of the animals? Where do they live?

Click here for scavenger hunt.
Click here for answer key.

You may want to familiarize your students with the following terms before your visit to the museum.

• Mammal
  an animal that has fur, makes milk for its young, and is warm-blooded (endothermic).
• Camouflage
  when something blends in with its background.
• Hibernate
  a deep sleep during the winter months to conserve energy and warmth. A hibernating mammal will slow its breathing rate, its pulse, its metabolism, and lowers its body temperature a few degrees. Migrate moving to a different area for better resources.
• Migrate
  moving to a different area for better resources.
• Scat
  the scientific word for animal poop.
• Tracking
  following the signs that an animal leaves behind. These signs can be footprints, scat, scratched trees, etc.

Adaptation Collage
Students cut different animal parts out of magazine and paste together to create a new animal. Then students answer questions about their animal like, what name would you give your animal? What would it eat? What special adaptations does it have to help it survive? How well would it survive in the Berkshires? What changes would help your animal to survive better in the Berkshires?

Use the Berkshire Athenaeum’s on-line catalogue to search for these print resources in Central/Western Massachusetts.

Print and Web Materials for Students

Nail, Jim. Who's Track's Are These? Nimot, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1994. Follow children through the woods investigating tracks and discovering the mammals they belong to.

Parker, Steve. Eyewitness Books: Mammal. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1989. Here is a spectacular and informative guide to the natural world of mammals. Stunning real-life photographs of bushbabies, badgers, wallabies and more offer a unique "eyewitness" view of the natural history of mammal behavior and anatomy.

Print and Web Materials for Educators

Enchanted Learning - All About Mammals
Get lesson ideas, printouts, and information on mammals, their evolution and classification.

Parker, Steve. Eyewitness Books: Mammal. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1989. Here is a spectacular and informative guide to the natural world of mammals. Stunning real-life photographs of bushbabies, badgers, wallabies and more offer a unique "eyewitness" view of the natural history of mammal behavior and anatomy.

The following is a list of all of the mammal specimens on display in the Berkshire Backyard. A laminated copy of this list can be found hanging from one of the mammal cases in the Berkshire Backyard, or you can print this version out and bring it with you to the Museum. The numbers on the list refer to the number given to each specimen in the cases.

Click here for a printable list.

1	Opossum	28-29	Bobcat
2	Big-brown bat	30-31	Northern flying squirrel
3	Northern red bat	32-33	Gray squirrel
4	Short-tailed shrew	34	Red squirrel (melanistic)
5	Long-tailed shrew	35	Red squirrel
6-7	Star-nosed mole	36,38	Eastern chipmunk
7	Hairy-tailed mole	37	Eastern chipmunk (melanistic)
9	Gray fox	40,42	Woodchuck (groundhog)
10	Red fox	41	Woodchuck (juvenile)
11	Raccoon	43	Meadow vole
12	Black Bear	44	Woodland jumping mouse
13	Short-tailed weasel	45	White footed mouse
14	Long-tailed weasel	46,47	Muskrat
15	Skunk	48	New England cottontail (partial albino)
16	Fisher	49	Eastern cottontail
17	River otter	50	Snowshoe hare

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities supports the Berkshire Museum.

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