| A. |
I love to swim no matter what the weather is like and it seems I am always on the move, busy, busy, busy…except for when
I’m napping! I may look playful but I’m a very efficient predator and a member of the weasel family. I used to be hunted for
my fur and pollution in our waterways almost wiped me out but now I’m back and looking good! I’m a North American
. |
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| B. |
I am far from my native home in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. Some people think I don’t look real; that I look like a
cute stuffed toy you can buy in a store! I’m very distantly related to bears and raccoons and I like to spend most of my time
resting safe in the treetops. There aren’t many of my kind left in the wild anymore. Bamboo is our main food, which isn’t
very nutritious but it was once very plentiful year round. With bamboo disappearing, our food choices are disappearing as
well. Several countries are trying to save what is left of our bamboo forest homes so that we can continue to survive. I am a . |
|
| C. |
Whooo says I’m so wise? I’m just a special bird with really great night vision. But I don’t need to see an animal to catch it;
I have incredible hearing that helps me do that! Since I’m up all night hunting I like to sleep during the day. My dull
feathers help me blend into the background so others can’t find me easily. My kind is adaptable and able to live in many
different North American habitats. I’m a . |
|
| D. |
When the Corps of Discovery, led by Lewis & Clark, first saw me they were totally amazed at how well I climbed mountains.
They were also amazed at my magnificent headgear! Back then you could find my kind all over western North
America, but now there are only a few of us left…separated into small, isolated bands. For all our toughness, we just don’t
compete well with others and have been pushed into less hospitable habitat. Oh, by the way, we don’t drink “Mountain
Dew” and we would win any head-butting contest with humans. I’m a . |
|
| E. |
Some people think we are “perfect angels” and some people think we are “absolute devils” but actually we are neither! We
are just very efficient predators that work together to bring down our food, which is usually much larger than ourselves. We
were once found throughout the Northern Hemisphere (Europe, Asia and North America) but have been exterminated in
many lands. Although those of us in the wild are feared and generally misunderstood, our domesticated relatives are considered
“Man’s Best Friend” because of our shared traits of loyalty, cooperation and companionship. It has taken many years
but people are finally beginning to see how we actually help an ecosystem by existing. We are. |
|
| F. |
I’m a wild resident of ZooMontana. I spend my day searching for food. I will come down to forage on the ground but most
of the time I am up in the trees. I don’t hibernate so it is important for me to cache as much food as possible. I won’t
remember every place I hide my supplies but I will still find enough to keep me going over the winter months when food is
scarce. I am very agile and a wonderful climber. I can leap from tree to tree easily and like to build my summer home out on
the branches of the trees. These summer homes are called “dreys” and look like big messy bird nests full of leaves and bark.
My winter home is usually an abandoned woodpecker hole that I’ve enlarged and taken over. I stay snug and safe inside the
tree when the weather is cold. I’m a . |
|
G. |
I’m considered the symbol of our country and I’m no turkey! I’m a majestic looking raptor that specializes in eating fish. I
was very nearly wiped out a few decades ago by the chemical pesticide called DDT, which caused my eggshells to be brittle
and easily broken. It took banning DDT and many years of protection by the Endangered Species Act but now my population
is doing better and expanding back into historic habitat. I’m a . |
|
| H. |
I’m approximately 600 lbs. of pure muscle and the largest of my kind. I’m a native of Northeastern Russia. Our wild
population isn’t doing too well but it is better off than my smaller relatives further south that are in extreme danger of
becoming extinct in just a few years. You can consider me the top of my food chain and that is why I’m struggling in the
wild: people are very afraid of me, they don’t want to compete with me and they certainly don’t want to meet me without a
fence between us! My orange and white fur with black stripes helps me to hide and my footfalls are almost soundless. I am
the perfect hunter. I am a . |
|
I. |
I’m not on exhibit; I actually live here wild and free with all my relatives (and there are a lot of them!) I spend my daylight
hours running around gathering and eating food. I do tend to fight with my neighbors, as we all want to eat as much as we
can before we start hibernating for the winter. If we don’t eat enough we won’t wake up in the spring. I am a member of the
rodent family but I’m not a little prairie dog or even a gopher, even though people often think I look like them. I’m a
Richardson’s . |
|
| J. |
I am an elusive and rare member of the weasel family. Little is really known about me because I try very hard not to be seen
and to stay away from people. I tend to live in remote and rugged terrain. I am clever and tricky and have great endurance.
Stories about me have grown; taking my natural talents and making them seem larger than life. I will protect my food and
family, even against larger predators like the grizzly bear. Just like the rest of the weasel family, I can get real stinky when
I’m upset. I have strong claws for climbing and digging and my jaws are second in strength only to the hyena. I don’t see
too well but my sense of smell is very keen. Lucky is the person who actually sees one of us in the wild. I’m a . |
|
| K. |
I am a seasonal visitor to Montana, I show up when the weather gets warmer. I have excellent eyesight and a fantastic sense
of smell (very unusual for birds). I spend most of my day sailing effortlessly in the skies, riding thermals in slow, lazy
circles, searching for stuff to eat. I don’t talk much and some people think I’m “ugly” but I do a great service in the ecosystem
because I am Nature’s garbage man and I clean up anything dead. I’m so good at my job that I even prevent diseases
from spreading! I am a . |
|
| L. |
I’m one of the most dangerous animals found anywhere in the world. My kind is incredibly adaptable and has the ability to
change any habitat to meet our needs of survival and comfort. We are doing extremely well in most lands, although over
crowding, disease, starvation and aggression towards our own kind is ongoing in other places. We can be found living on
every continent, even Antarctica! We are capable of wholesale destruction and yet we are also capable of great learning,
reasoning and compassion. I am . |
