In an open sunny meadow in Colorado there was a prairie dog town. All over the grassy field were dotted little mounds of dirt, and on each mound there was a little opening. Each of these openings was the front door to some little prairie dog’s house. Thousands of prairie dogs lived in the town. They all led busy lives of work and play, working together to gather food, clean their burrows, and always to keep an eye on the sky in case there should be a cruel hawk flying overhea

While we were fishing a lake in Colorado, we saw a large lake trout. We wanted to catch one, but we didn’t have the right gear to get deep enough. Maybe someday we will catch a lake trout!   The lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush , is native to Canada, Alaska, and the northern parts of North America. The lake trout is the largest species of char, growing to 102 pounds (46 kg.) and 24-36 inches. There are three subspecies of lake trout: the common lake trout, the siscowet lake t

When we were hiking high on Mt. Elbert in Colorado, we saw lots of ptarmigans. They were so white we could hardly see them against the snow. They waited until we came very close before thundering off to another place. We think they were White-tailed Ptarmigans!   The White-tailed Ptarmigan is the smallest bird in the grouse family. It lives above tree line in Canada, Alaska, and the Western US. Ptarmigans grow to 12.2 inches and weigh about 16.9 ounces. In summer, ptarmigans

Whisk is a squirrel. His house is a hollow tree in a quiet pine forest. Like most squirrels, Whisk is usually busy gathering nuts and storing them up for the winter. But even though Whisk is so busy, he still has time for play once in a while. Most of the time, Whisk plays by himself. But one day, he met another squirrel, who was very friendly and just as playful as Whisk. This squirrel’s name was Batter. Whisk and Batter played together for a whole afternoon. They had so muc

Photo by Jenny Venturo In Westcliffe, Colorado, we saw a few horned lizards. They were slow and easy to catch. We looked at them closely, but we still don’t know what species they were. They could have been Texas Horned Lizards, San Luis Valley Horned Lizards, or some other kind of short horned lizard. We do know that they were in Genus Phrynosomatidae , which means “toad-bodied.”   Horned lizards are also called horned toads. The horns on the lizard’s head are the only true

Drawing by Daniel Venturo In my last post, I told you the story of Crank-bait and Curly-tail, two chipmunk brothers who found a deadly snake right in the middle of a chipmunk highway! These two chipmunks realized how important it was for them to warn other chipmunks of this danger, so that no little chipmunk would be eaten! I told you that, just as it was important for Crank-bait and Curly-tail to warn chipmunks about the snake in the path, it is also important for those of u

While we were near Grape Creek in Colorado, we had a chance to fish for brook trout. We brought our fly rods down to the creek and cast out our flies. At first, we didn’t catch anything, but soon I got a 9-inch brook trout! Several other people got some too.   The brook trout is a type of char native to the Appalachian Mountains and the Great Lakes. Several populations are found in the Rocky Mountains too. Brook trout grow to 28 inches and weigh up to 14 ½ pounds. They are mo

All throughout the Rocky Mountains, we were looking for bighorn sheep. We saw several signs saying “ Watch for Bighorn Sheep,” but still, we did not see one. Then, one day, we were driving high in the mountains through Monarch Pass. Right next to the road was a herd of bighorns! Only, these bighorns did not have big horns! They only had small nubs. So we kept looking . . . In Glacier National Park, we saw some better bighorns. They had big, curling horns and were climbing on

The Wichita Mountains were full of cracks and crannies that were perfect for collared lizards. Our mission that week was to catch one. One day we set off up a small, round mountain to look for some lizards. We scoured the rocks on all sides, hoping one would scurry out. Then, finally, we found one! right under a small rock was a large collared lizard! Suddenly, it darted out and ran up the slope. We stumbled and ran after it, trying to grasp it, but it just darted under anoth

The adult antlion looks like a damselfly, and grows to about 1 ¾ (45 mm.) inches. As an adult, it eats nectar and pollen, but it is named after the carnivorous habits of the larvae. Once the larva hatches, it digs a small pit, about 1 inch across, and waits for an ant or other small insect to fall down the sloping sides. Then, it grabs the insect with its jaws and pulls it under the sand. Next time you are out in a sandy place, look for small pits in the sand. Sometimes the a

There once were two little chipmunk brothers named Crank-bait and Curly-tail. They lived in a cozy hollow log in a quiet spruce forest. Their beds were made of soft, springy moss, and their door was a large, rough piece of pine bark. Every day, when the weather was nice and the sun was bright, these two chipmunks were outside scurrying through the leaves. Sometimes they were playing games like Tag or Hide-and-Seek, and sometimes they were looking for juicy nuts to eat.  But C

The collared peccary is a pig-like mammal that lives in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. It grows to 40 in. and weighs up to 65 lbs. Peccaries run at up to 25 mph but will defend themselves with their tusks if you corner them. A peccary’s diet includes plants, invertebrates, frogs, lizards, mice, birds, and snakes. Peccaries can usually be found in rocky canyons, brushy deserts, and wastelands. They travel in herds of 6-30 animals. When we were in Big Bend, Texas, we saw a lot

Is there anything so brilliant as the sun? Every night, just as everything seems darkest, a hint of light begins to glow at the horizon. As the minutes go by, the light gets stronger and stronger until suddenly, a glowing orange sliver peeks over the edge of the earth. The sliver grows and grows and all of a sudden, a great golden ball appears majestic in the sky, flinging its light and warmth into every corner of the dark waiting world. All over, people and animals begin to

©2025 by Jenny Venturo Many fascinating creatures live on the rocky shores and in the mighty waters of the Pacific Ocean. Here, the whales spout, the kelp beds gently wave, and the sea otters play among it all. In every crack and crevice of the rocks, there are hundreds of tiny animals, living. There are purple starfish, green sea anemones, and tiny fish called sculpin. There are tiny hermit crabs and limpets. Every day the ocean tides cycle in and out. When the tide is low,

Deep within the foggy rainforest, underneath a mossy log, there lived a newt. He was brown on top and yellowish below and had a good, honest face. The rainforest where he lived was, as the name suggested, nearly always wet and muddy since it rained a lot. But the newt did not mind this. Actually, he liked it. He made his way delicately through the soggy leaves carrying a large black umbrella and wearing a big floppy leaf for a hat. The newt’s bed was a big, fluffy mound of mo

Once upon a time, there lived a marmot. A marmot is a large type of rodent that lives high up in the mountains. This marmot had a very cozy home under a rock. The top of this rock was his porch, and every morning he sat there and had breakfast while he watched the sun come up over the snowy peaks where he lived. Sometimes, he liked sitting there, all by himself, watching the sunrise. But sometimes, he felt lonely. One day, he felt especially lonely. This was because today was

©2025 by Joshua Venturo Ambystoma gracile is a species of mole salamander native to the eastern Pacific coast. It grows to 8.7 inches (220 mm.). This salamander lays eggs in water. When the eggs hatch, the hatchlings have feathery gills and are 1-35 mm. long. Northwestern Salamanders have spots in the northern end of their range, but southern salamanders have no spots. Their diet includes insects, worms, and arachnids; juveniles eat snails and tadpoles. We found a Northwester

The chiton, or sea cradle, has a shell made up of 8 shell-plates, called valves. It has a soft covering for this shell, a girdle, which is usually only covering the edge of the shell. It also holds the valves together. The chiton lives around the world, and has a strange habit called homing. It will choose a “home,” which it always comes back to after long searches in the rocks for food. People still do not know how they find the same spot again. The chito

The sea lion is a medium-sized mammal that lives in subarctic and tropical waters in all oceans except the North Atlantic. Sea lions grow to about 10 feet long and reach weights of up to 2,200 lbs. Sea lions can swim from 18 mph to 35 mph and can stay under water from 10-20 minutes. The sea lion is aggressive and will sometimes attack humans, but it usually eats squid, crabs, clams, seals, and fish, such as mackerel and pollock. Its main predators are sharks and killer whales

The sea otter is a large member of the weasel family. The average sea otter weighs about 22-99 lbs., but the largest one recorded was 4’11” and weighed 119 lbs. The sea otter is the only marine mammal with no blubber. Its thick fur keeps it warm. The sea otter’s fur is the densest of any mammal, with about 150,000 strands of fur per square centimeter. Sea otters feed on sea urchins, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish. They are diurnal, which means they sleep at night and are awa