Minnesota Wildlife

Ashlyn has spent a bit of time the last two days gathering facts about area "wildlife" from a few different categories. Here is what she came up with:

Bald Eagles:

They are white and brown. Females are larger. They are a symbol of America. We have lots of them around where we live.

Loons:

They are our state bird. They live in every state except Alaska. There are lots of them where we live also.

Walleye:

Fishermen catch and keep 3.5 million walleye in Minnesota each year. They are our state fish. The cousin of the walleye is the sauger. This is a picture of my dad and I last summer - it was the first walleye I caught of the season.

Deer ticks:

Deer ticks suck on people blood. They are like wood ticks but smaller. They live in the woods.

Chipmunks:

Chipmunks are really fast and hard to catch (me and my sisters have tried). They live in trees and are brown and white and black.

Foxes:

There are lots of different color foxes. Foxes hunt alone. They eat mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, birds, snakes, fish, insects, nuts, seeds and berries.

Clams:

They are members of the second largest group of animals that live under water. They live in rivers and lakes in Minnesota. We like to gather them in buckets when we swim at my Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Snakes:

There are only two species of venomous snakes that live in Minnesota. They are very rare and do not live near our town. Venomous snakes are dangerous but there bites are rarely fatal in Minnesota.

Turtles:

The Snapping Turtle is the largest turtle in the upper midwest. Their shell is normally covered with algae. We also have mud turtles that look the bottom of their shell is painted orange, red and yellow. This is a picture of a mud turtle swimming by the boat.

The types of wild animals I have seen in Minnesota are:

Deer, Bears, Wolves, Owls, Loons, Eagles, Snakes (Non Venomous), Turtles (lots of turtles), Muskrats (my Mom is terrified of these), Beavers, Otters, Fish, Foxes, Rabbits, Porcupines, Racoons, Skunks (usually dead ones on the road) and Woodchucks.