ioo NATURE STUDY \BY GRADES 



LESSON XXIII 

 SHELTERS FOR WINTER DWELLERS 



Mention all the natural shelters you can think of sought 

 by wild animals that remain during the winter. Which 

 animals take shelter in caves and underneath overhanging 

 rocks ? Do any live in hollow trees ? Which burrow under 

 the bark of trees? Cracks and crevices form a winter 

 shelter for what animals ? 



What animals burrow in the ground and live there during 

 the cold weather ? Discuss the gopher, the prairie dog, the 

 ground squirrel, etc., and their winter homes. Why is the 

 ground owl so called ? How deep do such animals have to 

 dig to get below the frost in the ground ? 



What can you say of snow as a protection from the 

 cold? Snowbirds often bury themselves at night in 

 the snow. Eskimos' houses are made of snow and ice. 

 Travelers and mountaineers often find a covering of snow 

 a secure protection from freezing to death. Snow is 

 useful also to the farmer in keeping the fall grain from 

 freezing. 



How does the beaver protect himself at once from cold and 

 other enemies in the home he builds? What can you say 

 of the winter home of the sparrow ? What birds seek the 

 shelter of the dense foliage of the pine and other evergreens ? 

 Does the rabbit provide for himself any protection except 

 his fur? 



Describe the winter home of the mud-wasp. Do any 

 insects remain alive all winter in their fully developed state? 

 Where do they hide till spring ? What animals will you find 

 in early spring under stones or boards that have lain all 



