Just a tawny glimmer, a dash of red and gray, Was it a flitting shadow, or a sunbeam gone astray! It glances up a tree trunk, and a pair of bright eyes glow Where a little spy in ambush is measuring his foe. I hear a mocking chuckle, then wrathful, he grows bold And stays his pressing business to scold and scold and scold.~~From the
Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford ComstockToday our nature study was about squirrels! I've never really cared for squirrels, and would always feels a little nervous if they got too close. While reading up on them, though, I found out that they are the cleanest mammals in the rodent family.
Since Big Daddy was home today on Veteran's Day, and since it was cold and rainy, the 4 biggest and I decided to venture outside, especially around back where we have observed squirrels from our deck.
The first thing we observed was that the lining of Joz's hood of her coat looked like a squirrel!
Here is the little guy (or gal) we observed while we were outside. We first found him on the ground and he ran under this bush as we tried to (quietly) get closer. We are pretty sure he is an
eastern gray squirrel.
We then observed him as he ran up the tree to his nest. We couldn't get a good look at him once he was up there. Rayzor observed that when he ran up the tree he ran around the tree, instead of shooting straight up the tree.
The best part was when we observed him as he jumped from branch to branch and tree to tree and finally finding a resting spot in a tree several trees away from his nest. There was another nest in this tree as well.
This picture was originally quite dark. I was able to lighten it to show that the squirrel (huddled in the center) found it's resting spot in the final tree. He was hanging out there (or chillin' as the kids said) for awhile, so we decided to look for more squirrels. We never found anymore so we headed inside to work on the notebook pages.
The kids had brought peanuts, pistachios, and almonds outside and scattered them to entice the squirrel to come a little closer. I'm sure he waited until we left to get his treasure. We also put a handful of peanuts on our back deck, so we could get a closer look at our new friend.
As the kids were sketching, Big Daddy told the story about how when he was a boy, he rescued a baby squirrel who had fallen from his nest, and had him for a pet for a while until he released it.
B-Rad fills out her notebook page...
By: Joz
By: Ev
By: B-Rad
By: Rayzor
By: Seany "I almost threw up on the steps because looking at squirrels is pretty ugly"...
We are also looking forward to working on our
mammals lapbook in the next couple of days and weeks!
The End
Just a tawny glimmer, a dash of red and gray, Was it a flitting shadow, or a sunbeam gone astray! It glances up a tree trunk, and a pair of bright eyes glow Where a little spy in ambush is measuring his foe. I hear a mocking chuckle, then wrathful, he grows bold And stays his pressing business to scold and scold and scold.
The first thing we observed was that the lining of Joz's hood of her coat looked like a squirrel!
Here is the little guy (or gal) we observed while we were outside. We first found him on the ground and he ran under this bush as we tried to (quietly) get closer. We are pretty sure he is an eastern gray squirrel.
We then observed him as he ran up the tree to his nest. We couldn't get a good look at him once he was up there. Rayzor observed that when he ran up the tree he ran around the tree, instead of shooting straight up the tree.
The best part was when we observed him as he jumped from branch to branch and tree to tree and finally finding a resting spot in a tree several trees away from his nest. There was another nest in this tree as well.
This picture was originally quite dark. I was able to lighten it to show that the squirrel (huddled in the center) found it's resting spot in the final tree. He was hanging out there (or chillin' as the kids said) for awhile, so we decided to look for more squirrels. We never found anymore so we headed inside to work on the notebook pages.
The kids had brought peanuts, pistachios, and almonds outside and scattered them to entice the squirrel to come a little closer. I'm sure he waited until we left to get his treasure. We also put a handful of peanuts on our back deck, so we could get a closer look at our new friend.
As the kids were sketching, Big Daddy told the story about how when he was a boy, he rescued a baby squirrel who had fallen from his nest, and had him for a pet for a while until he released it.
By: Joz
By: Ev
By: B-Rad
By: Rayzor
By: Seany "I almost threw up on the steps because looking at squirrels is pretty ugly"...
When in the night we wake and hear the rain Which on the white bloom of the orchard falls, And on the young, green wheat-blades, where thought recalls How in the furrow stands the rusting plow, Then fancy pictures what the day will see -- The ducklings paddling in the puddled lane, Sheep grazing slowly up the emerald slope, Clear bird-notes ringing, and the droning bee Among the lilac's bloom -- enchanting hope -- How fair the fading dreams we entertain, When in the night we wake and hear the rain! 
Seany gets to work right away on his coloring page...
B-Rad looks upward to perfect her cloud sketches while Rayzor and Joz work on their pages...
By: Seany
Seany decides to take his horsey for a ride...
Ev follows on the scooter...
By: Rayzor "Temperature 52 degrees, Clouds are stratocumulus"
By: Joz "Temperature 54 degrees, Clouds are altostratus"
By: B-Rad "Clouds are altostratus". Her picture makes me laugh because the bottom picture tells them to "Sketch the view from your window each season". Apparently she sees a scary sun with glasses and teeth when she looks out the window. Good thing we are moving!
By: Ev
Rayzor rakes...
...while Seany digs for worms...
B-Rad reluctantly gets in on the action...
CANNONBALL!!!
One last thing...
The End
Pumpkin as Obese Pirate
Rayzor as Orange M&M!
Joz as Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!
B-Rad as Ballerina!
And Seany as the Monkey!
The Crew minus two who were sick
