Let’s put your animal identification skills to the test! Can you guess what animal is hidden in this picture? Make your guess in the comments.
Looking for more fun stuff? Click here to come up with a funny caption, take a quiz or watch a cool video!
What do you think animals say to each other when we’re not around? They might not speak the way we do, but they communicate by using things like sound, body language, and facial expressions! For today’s eco-activity, tell us what you think these otters are saying by filling out the comic strip below:
Download your printable river otter comic strip here!
Share your comic strip with us on social media by December 20th for your chance to be featured!
Need some inspiration? Check out our sample comic!
This summer, our friends at The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) asked for your help to design their 2021 holiday card! Earth Rangers from across Canada got crafty and created some incredible artwork that captured the beauty of forests and trees!
“FPAC sends out holiday greetings every year, and we thought that featuring original artwork from a young Ranger would be a great way to highlight Canada’s Earth Ranger program and our partnership.”
After looking through all of the amazing artwork that was sent in, the FPAC team made their decision (drumroll please!).
Congratulations Earth Ranger Livia, your artwork will be featured on FPAC’s 2021 holiday card!
Not only will we see Livia’s fabulous drawings on FPAC’s holiday card, but FPAC sent her a special prize pack that included forest pods, a chapters gift card and other goodies!
A note from Livia:
The page folds in half to be the front (winter scene) and back (holiday Earth Ranger logo – an ornament, and FPAC symbol – turned into a Christmas tree) of a holiday card.
There were so many amazing cards with wonderful artwork that FPAC sent prize packs to two more Earth Rangers!
Congratulations to runners-up Rayyaan and Maiya!
A note from Maiya:
It’s Christmas time for the animals! From the biggest bear to the smallest mouse, everyone is welcome at this Christmas tree! My card depicts a child hugging a tree, surrounded by nature. She is expressing her happiness to be outdoors and her gratitude for the forest. The winter scene also shows some animals, such as a cardinal, hare, and squirrel.
A big round of applause to these amazingly talented Earth Rangers!
Want to enter this year’s contest? Click here!
You probably know that oil spills are bad for the environment, but do you know why? What really happens when oil gets into our waterways? For today’s Eco-Activity, try out this experiment to see what happens when oil and water mix!
Instructions:
1. Fill a jar about halfway full of water
2. Add a few drops of food colouring
3. Pour in some oil so that there’s about a 1-inch-thick layer above the water
4. Screw the lid on tightly and shake the jar for about 30 seconds
5. Put the jar down and watch what happens to the oil and water. Write down what you see
Take a couple of minutes to think about the experiment. Can you see why oil spills are so bad? Oil isn’t broken down by water. We need to use special cleaning products to break the oil down and remove it from the ecosystem. What are some other harmful toxins that we need to keep out of our waterways? Write them down and share them with your family.
As the weather gets colder you might find it hard to wake up in the morning, but don’t worry you aren’t the only one. In fact there are some animals that, no matter how loud their parents may yell, don’t get up at all, choosing instead to stay asleep all winter!
When the environment becomes too hostile for an animal, they have to find a way to cope. Some animals migrate out of the area while others enter an inactive state, which they stay in until conditions suit them better. If this inactive state lasts for a long time during the winter, it is called hibernation, but if it is in a hot climate, it is called estivation. We’ve gathered up ten of the coolest true hibernators and some seasonal deep sleepers like bears in this top ten list.
Be sure to leave a comment to tell us which hibernator is your favourite!
Marmots hibernate for up to eight months! They spend the four months they are awake having babies and preparing for the next hibernation. During hibernation they take only 2-3 breaths a minute and their heartbeat slows down from their normal 120 beats to 3-4 beats a minute!
It isn’t often that you hear about a bird that sleeps the bad weather away, that’s because the Common Poorwill is the only known bird species to hibernate. It picks a spot under shallow rocks or rotten logs and stays there for up to five months. Its daily energy needs drop by 93% and it can stay asleep for 100 days! Once hibernation is over, it needs seven hours to get back to its normal temperature.
Only four species of bear are hibernators: American Black Bear, Asiatic Black bear, Brown bear and Polar bear. These furry mammals don’t hibernate in the true sense because their body temperature only drops a little bit and they can wakeup at any moment. In fact, a pregnant mama bear will have her cubs during the hibernation period. Like true hibernators, the bear’s heartbeat will slow down and they can go for a long time without having any food. During hibernation a Black bear’s heart can drop from 40-50 to 8 beats per minute and they can last as long as 100 days without eating or drinking!
When bats are left alone, they can be some of the longest hibernators. In the wild, big brown bats have spent 64-66 days in hibernation while in captivity one lasted an incredible 344 days! These little guys don’t have to eat but they do wake up to drink. Their heart rate drops from 1000 beats per minute to only 25 and some bats only take a breath every 2 hours.
Fat-Tailed Dwarf Lemurs live in Madagascar where temperatures in June and July usually stay about 30 degrees C. Now that might seem pretty warm to you, but this is actually the coldest time of the year for these lemurs. During this cold spell Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemurs pick a tree and settle there for about seven months until the rains return in November and food is available again. During their hibernation, they live off the fat in their tail (hence fat-tailed) losing close to 50% of their body weight!
Hibernating box turtles are found in well hidden spots around Southern North America (USA and Mexico). The length of their winter sleep depends on the location and turtle subspecies: some can last as short as 77 days or as long as 154 days. Their heart beat drops to just one every 5-10 minutes and they don’t have to breathe in air at all (although they do take in oxygen through their skin). They are still very sensitive to the changing environment around them, if they wake up too early they will likely not survive.
When the temperature drops, males and worker bees die off but the queen survives by hibernating. She hibernates in a hole in the soil, in rotten tree stumps or under leaf litter. She will emerge 6-8 months later, warm-up and then find a nice spot to build a nest and create a whole new team of bees.
Unlike the bumblebee queen, who hibernates alone, garter snakes hibernate in groups. In Canada, where winters are exceptionally cold, there can be hundreds and sometime thousands of snakes grouped together for warmth. Once spring arrives and the snow melts, they head out of their winter homes to bask in the sun. It’s quite a sight to see!
Hedgehogs are some of the deepest hibernators around. Some can sleep through the whole winter! Their body temperature drops and they breathe so little that it can hardly be seen. They have special cells that release heat 20 times faster than white cells. If temperatures drop too low, their heart beat picks up to produce more heat, which wakes them up briefly before they fall asleep again.
Snails have a built in bed for their hibernation. They go into their shell, close up the hole with a skin made of chalk and slime that keeps the moisture in. During this time, they use almost no energy and don’t have to eat anything at all. In some areas where there is little rain, snails can hibernate for years!
Â
Join Earth Ranger Emma as she travels the world on a quest to solve some of nature’s greatest mysteries! With top ten countdowns, animal guessing games and epic animal showdowns, this is a journey you won’t want to miss!
References
Clive Roots, Hibernation. Page 127-128
https://eol.org/pages/45509468
Mark Carwardine, Animal Records. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2008
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/bear-essentials-of-hibernation.html
Terry A. Vaughan, James M. Ryan, Nicholas J. Czaplewski. Mammology, Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2011
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v429/n6994/abs/429825a.html
Carl H. Ernst, Jeffrey E. Lovich. Turtles of the United States and Canada. JHU Press, 2009
William H. Robinson. Handbook of urban insects and arachnids. Cambridge University Press, 2005
Joanna Burger. Whispers in the pines. Rutgers University Press, 2006-03-20
Maurice Burton, Robert Burton. The international wildlife encyclopedia. Marshall Cavendish, 1970
Mark Fox. Discovering night creatures. Curriculum Press, 2002
Andrew Hipp. The life cycle of a snail. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2002: Page 18
We need your help! This kangaroo is trying to tell us something but we can’t figure it out! Do you know what it’s thinking?
We need your help! As we were writing this Eco-Activity about grizzly bears, we dropped our notes and now all of our words are scrambled! Can you help us fix it? For today’s Eco-Activity, unscramble the grizzly bear words below:
Think you’ve got them all? Find out if you’re right! Next, challenge a friend or family member to beat your score!
Turning down the temperature in the winter may sound crazy, but it’s the best way to protect your home from the Thermo Inferno, one of the 7 energy-wasting culprits from Operation Conservation! These guys have been contributing to climate change and we need your help to stop them.
The Thermo Inferno loves it when you keep your home too warm in the winter so it can steal all the extra energy. All you need to do to stop this culprit is lower your thermostat by 2°C! Aim to get to 20°C to keep the Thermo Inferno out for the whole winter! Now we know it’s going to be a little chilly when you do, but don’t worry, we’re here to help! Check out these top ten ways to keep warm while you save energy!
Have you checked out the Act Like an Animal Challenge yet? It’s all about adopting habits from the animal kingdom to help us slow down climate change. We’re very excited to say that we’re so close to meeting our goal. Will you help us get there?
One of the habits is to snack like a rabbit and leave the meat behind. This will be no problem for our vegetarians, but it might be a little harder for the meat-lovers out there. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Bust out those veggies because we’re making some delicious lettuce wraps!
Instructions
1. Ask your parent or guardian to help you with this dish
2. If you’re using beans and rice, prepare them according to their instructions, or for extra eco-friendly points, use leftovers!
3. Wash and chop up your veggies. Cook them up if you want them to be softer, or leave them raw for some crunch!
4. Remove some leaves from the head of lettuce, wash them and let them dry.
5. Grab some of your prepared ingredients and veggies, and place them in the centre of one of your pieces of lettuce.
6. Add some hummus for some extra flavour.
7. Fold your lettuce around the ingredients and enjoy!
Looking for more meat-free meals? Check out these ideas to help you get started!
We need your help! This bear is trying to tell us something but we can’t figure it out! Do you know what it’s thinking?
© 2025 | Earth Rangers is a registered charity: 8922 00528 RR0001 | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
