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

Grades 3-5

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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 adaptations 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 (plant & meat eaters)?
• If you had to compete with one of these mammals in a race, which would you pick? Why?
• Pick one Berkshire mammal. What different kinds of adaptations or features might it have if it lived in a rainforest or a desert?

Tracking Activity
Read the tracking story to your class, then pass out tracks to each student. They can find the mammal that fits their track. The tracks are actual size to the specimens in the display cases. Look carefully! Hint: Does your track have toes? How many? Are there claw marks in the track? If so, then you know that your animal walks with its claws out. If there aren't any claw marks, then your animal either doesn't have claws or it retracts its claws when it walks.

• Click here to get the tracking story.
• Click here to get track pictures.
• Click here to get answer sheet.

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).
• Ectothermic
  an animal that relies on outside sources such as the sun to heat or cool its body. Reptiles are ectothermic.
• Endothermic
  an animal that creates its own body heat. Mammals are endothermic.
• Herbivore
  an animal that only eats vegetation.
• Carnivore
  an animal that only eats other animals.
• Omnivore
  an animal that eats both plants and animals.

Rabbit Camouflage
Each child is given a piece of paper shaped like a rabbit. They are to color their rabbits any way they would like. Then the group is divided in half. One half has 3 minutes to hide their rabbits (preferably outside) while the other half is kept from seeing where the rabbits are hidden (a short game or story would be good here). The group that hid their rabbits sits down while the other group "hunts." You can pretend that the group is a pack of coyotes or great horned owls. They have 5 minutes to hunt and catch rabbits. (The rabbits that weren't found can be gathered up separately.)

When the time is up, gather all the students together to discuss your findings. Were their any similarities among the rabbits that got caught first? Which rabbits didn't get eaten? Switch groups and repeat the process to let the other group hide their rabbits. Gather students and discuss findings. Would the rabbits that got eaten be able to reproduce anymore? Would the rabbits that didn't get eaten be able to reproduce again? How would this affect the genetic make-up of the rabbits living in this area? What do you imagine would happen to the rabbit population if this trend were to continue? What would the rabbits look like in a hundred years?

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

Print and Web Materials for Students

Canadian Museum of Nature: Mammals
Pictures and descriptions of over 75 mammals from the African Elephant to the Eastern Chipmunk to the Zebra.

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

Macdonald, Dr. David, ed. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. 1984. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc., 1995. Contains information about mammals throughout the world including animal behavior, conservation, skull size, geographical location, and ecology. Sections are broken down by family and the animals within the families.

Stokes, Donald & Lillian. Stokes: Guide To Animal Tracking and Behavior. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1986. A great resource to help in identifying animal tracks, trails, scats, and signs left behind by North American mammals.

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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