Animal Homes

[Abby Brown] I'm so excited because even though I'm in one of Iowa's biggest cities, I'm going on a nature hike to find some  animal homes. Come investigate with me! Lots of animals make their homes in the wild here at Stone State Park, but this animal has its home at the nature center, right Theresa?

[Theresa Kruid] Yes.

[Abby] Tell me about him!

[Theresa] He lives here because he is permanently injured, he can't fly very well anymore.

[Abby] Okay. And this is an owl, right?

[Theresa] This is a barred owl.

[Abby] A barred owl. If he didn't live here at the nature center and if he was healthy, where would his home be?

[Theresa] His home would be in the timber and the edges of the timber so he could hunt for mice,

[Abby] Okay.

[Theresa] maybe some rabbits, and other small rodents that would be on the forest floor or in that edge of the the grasses and prairie areas.

[Abby] So there are other barred owls like Harlan in the wild, right? So how can kids hear for them or watch for them?

[Theresa] So the best time is a night

[Abby] Okay.

[Theresa] or that dawn and dusk, time that is when I hear Harlan talk the most.

[Abby] Oh okay.

[Theresa] Kind of makes the sound "who cooks for you? who cooks for you all?"

[Abby] Yes. So can you help me find some other wild homes at the park today?

[Theresa] Yes let's go!

[Abby] Yes! There are lots of holes in this tree right here, tell me about this animal home.

[Theresa] I call this the woodpecker hotel because it has lots of woodpecker holes in it.

[Abby] Oh my gosh.

[Theresa] We have seen downy woodpeckers and mostly red bellies nesting in this tree.

[Abby] Okay very cool. I'm gonna get that. So check this out a friend of the nature center found this dead tree in their yard cut it out and brought it in so we could learn more about woodpeckers. So you guys see these holes, right, but when we open this up you can actually see inside and take a look at how deep that is! That would make a nice cozy home. So it's kind of hard to see but there is a little mound in the earth right here and this is an animal home?

[Theresa] Yes!

[Abby] Who lives here?

[Theresa] This is a mole tunnel that's going along this way.

[Abby] Okay so as they burrow underneath the ground they're so close to the surface that, as they dig that hole, what's left is this mound of dirt, right?

[Theresa] Correct.

[Abby] Where are they going?

[Theresa] They're looking for worms, and grubs, and sow bugs, all kinds of yummy things to eat.

[Abby] Okay. Do they share this home or is it just just one mole's home?

[Theresa] Could be that it's shared by multiple, immediate family.

[Abby] Oh cool.

[Theresa] It is very tricky to see the mole tunnel and hill in the fall so in the spring or summer it would be easier to see.

[Abby] Okay, yeah. Right now it's kind of covered with all of these beautiful falling leaves. That one's hollow? That could be a good animal home! So my friends and I are checking under this log which is a great place for animals to live, and hide, and find protection. So I got some great pictures of some animal homes today and I wonder if any of the things that we saw today would be something you could find  in your own neighborhood? And how can that be that the same animals live in both places? What's similar? What's different? Have fun investigating!

[Announcer] Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by the following supporters.

(text on screen Find Iowa, Coons Foundation, Pella, REAP-CEP, Gilchrist Foundation)

(text on screen Iowa PBS Education)