Summer Feast

Imagine hiking on a warm summer day. You wade through a field of tall grass. Butterflies and bees flit from flower to flower. As you walk past a stream; a turtle slips off a log. Along the muddy bank you find fox tracks and raccoon prints. Blue jays perch overhead. Everywhere you hear and see animals.

In summer, animals are busy. Many give birth to babies in the spring. During warm summer days and nights, they show their youngsters how to find food and care for themselves.

A mother and father fox teach their youngsters to hunt. A pup sniffs the ground outside her den, then pounces on a grasshopper. Fruits and berries ripen in summer. The fox parents lead their pups through thick bushes, where they enjoy a feast.

At night, a mother brown bat hunts for moths and mosquitoes. Her baby stays behind, hanging upside down in their cave. Before sunrise, the mother bat returns to feed him.

In just a few weeks, the young bat learns to hunt for himself. Every night he swoops through the dark sky, catching flying insects.

When the weather turns warm, you put away your winter coat. Animals also take off their winter coats in summer. Coyotes shed their thick fur. They look thin and scraggly. On hot days, coyotes pant. When they pant, they lose extra heat through their mouths, and their bodies cool down.

Busy honeybees collect nectar from summer flowers. They work together to cool their hive. Worker bees gather water from puddles or ponds and spread the water in the hive. Other workers fan the water with their wings. They blow cool air through the hive and push hot air out.

Many animals avoid the sun during the heat of the day. Squirrels lie on shady branches.

Raccoons and opossums sleep in their cool dens all day. They hunt after the sun sets.

On a moonlit night, five little skunks trail their mother. It is their first time out of their safe den. She shows them where to find beetles, grubs, caterpillars, and berries. The skunks eat and eat, growing fat before the summer ends.

In the summer sun, plants and flowers grow quickly. There's plenty of food for animals to eat. They feast and grow fat, getting ready for the cold, snowy winter.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company May/Jun 2006
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved