The End to a Busy Week!

On Thursday night we went beaver watching at a pond near where we are staying. While we were there, we saw two types of animals, a beaver and a muskrat. Can you tell which picture is a beaver and which picture is a muskrat? What is the difference between a beaver and a muskrat? The third picture is of a beaver splashing in the water. He was splashing at us because he saw us and he was telling us that he had seen us and wanted us to leave. The last picture shows a beaver lodge. This is a very active lodge. According to our scientists, beavers mate for life and usually two to four beavers live in a lodge at one time, the mom, dad, and their babies.
On Friday morning, we went back to the field and checked our trap for the very last time at the East Port research site. Caroline and I had two traps that had closed doors but when we brought them back to check them, we only had one trap with something in it. We had trapped another red-backed vole. However, our other trap had nothing in it. Why do you think the door on the trap was closed but we didn't find anything in it?

I also have an update on the huge snake we found last Thursday. We sent pictures off to several scientists and university professors who specialized in snakes, and it is not a rat snake like we first thought. Some of the experts emailed us back and they thought it was a species of garter snake that was unusually large. We still don't know for sure but I will keep you posted as we get more information about it. I also was able to add the picture on Friday's post that I was unable to load then of the snake so you need to take a look at my last post and check out the new picture that I posted of that snake.

Saturday was our only research-free day and we spent all day in Halifax, which is the capital of Nova Scotia. Please find this on a map if you haven't already. We went to several different places in the city and ate some really good food. A lot of the people that are with me like seafood so they were able to eat really good seafood since we are very close to the ocean. In fact, we ate dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the ocean. I also bought something to bring back to our classroom that represents Nova Scotia and I will share that with you when I return.

Finally today, we visited Nova Scotia's National Park called Kejimkujik National Park. We went on a 7 mile hike through the park and saw two deer while we were there. I got a great picture for you and I will share it with you on my post tomorrow. We were very tired when we returned. We hiked through a hemlock forest. What do you think a hemlock forest is? We also saw another porcupine and tried to get a few good pictures we had some camera issues and couldn't get one taken. Hopefully we see another one this week that I can share with you. I have updated my "Animals Seen" list at the bottom of the page. I have added a turkey, guinea foul, grouse, an osprey, and a partridge. If you do not know what these animals are, look them up if you get a chance. We are going out to a new research site tomorrow (Monday) and will be setting new traps so hopefully I'll have some new animals to share with you on Tuesday, if Caroline and I are lucky enough to catch anything in our traps. Hope you all had a great weekend! If you have any questions, please let me know. I hope to Skype with you again on Thursday afternoon!

Love,
Mrs. Quam :)

Chipmunks: 2
Voles: 7
Mice: 3
Garter Snakes: 2
Mystery Snake: 1
Porcupine: 2
Muskrat: 1
Beaver: 2
Deer: 7
Toad: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Grouse: 1
Red Squirrel: 2
Partridge: 1
Osprey: 2
Turkey: 1
Guinea Fowl: 4