does anyone keep life lists?

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Do any of you guys keep life lists? Thats where you keep track of the various types of wildlife you see on your property. I don't have an official list but I do keep track.

-------------------------------- Mammals

Deer, Racoon, Flying Squirrel, Weasel, Chipmunks, Grey and Red squirrel, Otters, various mice, ground hog, skunk, thirteen lined ground squirrels, cottontail rabbits, red fox, coyotes(heard but not seen), black bear, bats ----------------------------

Snakes------Pine snake, garter snake, grass snake, fire snake

------------------------------- Turtles

Western painted turtle, Snapping turtle

------------------------------- Frogs

Bull frogs, Leopard frogs, tree frogs, spring peepers, american toad --------------------------------

Blue spotted salamander ------------------------------- Birds

Robin, Ruby Throated Hummingbird, sparrows (various), Crows, Turkeys, Wood ducks, Mallard ducks, Cedar waxwings, goldfinches, black birds, plover, starling, purple grackle, cardinals, orioles, nuthatch, flicker (yellowhammer), pileated woodpecker, downy and hairy woodpecker, chickadee, crested flycatcher, phoebe, kingbird, kingfisher, red tailed hawk, blue heron, green heron or night heron, bluebird, indigo bunting, bluejay, catbird, brown thrush, brown thrasher

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 01, 2002

Answers

Sounds like you live in a great place John. We see many of the same ones, but sometimes I don't even know the names of all the birds at my feeders.

Sounds like it would make a great home-schooling project. Have the kids keep a list and research each animal and prepare a report. It could be put together in a book with pictures and added to your personal library!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), January 02, 2002.


That sounds like a great project for homeschoolers!! Thanks for the idea! Do you also keep track of days, times and under what conditions?

-- Dawn (olsoncln@ecenet.com), January 02, 2002.

That sounds like a great project for non-homeschoolers! I'd like to pick up some Peterson's Guides-I kept dropping hints at Christmas, but.....

We did actually see a coyote a few weeks ago. They are pretty thick here-so much so, I don't let our pets out after dark. We saw him (could have been a her, who knows?) just at dusk in the middle of the hay field. Dawn and dusk are the best times here to spot animals. I'd like to do a plant list too.

-- kelly (homearts2002@yahoo.com), January 02, 2002.


I have kept a life list of birds since 1966 (that's alot of birds,LOL)...my favorite new birds since we moved to ALabama are two pair of Piliated Woodpeckers who are here yearround..for those of you who do not know birds well, these are the woodpeckers which are 17inches tall, black with white under the wings and have a brilliant red crest. The cartoon character, Woody Woodpecker" is a piliated woodpecker....since they only frequent heavily wooded areas, alot of folks never get to see even one in their entire life, so I feel very blessed to have seen 4 ALL the time..now if I can just find where they have their nests,........would love to see the babies!

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), January 02, 2002.

I just found the 4H site for keeping records. If you scroll down, you'll find several forms to copy. One of them is Wildlife Observations. Now, I'll try my hand at creating a link. Wish me luck.

click here

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), January 15, 2002.



If you want to see a LOT of woodpeckers, build a log home.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), January 15, 2002.

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