Waiting for the bus with great anticipation!
In the theater awaiting the Tropical vs Temperate Rainforest presentation.
Tropical rainforest floor with its leaf litter and crawling creatures.
There she is volunteering to be our temperate rainforest floor.
Leaf litter and small creatures like a bunny and its predator the fox and there is a banana slug in there somewhere, too!
The next layer of the rain forest is the understory. Here we see bromeliads, ferns, and animals such as the monkey.
In the temperate rainforest, there is an understory layer, as well. Home to plants like the ferns, and animals.
The rainforest canopy is the next layer - home to vines, lianas, sloths among other creatures.
The temperate rainforest has an understory layer, too. Here is where one can find raccoons and bald eagles.
The final layer of the tropical rainforest is the emergent layer where the birds, such as toucans and macaws live. Note the big buttress roots of the tropical rainforest trees. These roots have to grow in such a way because the tropical rainforest floor is very thin due to the large amounts of rain that fall. The soil just washes away with the heavy rainfall.
Our field guide, Kate, tells us about the day.
We are looking at the various layers of the rainforest on our walking tour.
Animals who have pelts, like a fox, have a summer layer that is thinner than the thick winter layer. We got to feel both.
Kate gives us a demonstration of an owl feather's design. An owl hunts at night because owls are nocturnal. The owl has a silent flight in order to sneak up on its prey. We got to hear the quiet of an owl's feather versus an eagle's feather.
The two different feather features.
The jaguar!
My camera steamed up when we entered the tropical rainforest exhibit.
A big THANK YOU to the chaperones who came with us. These volunteers make it possible for us to be able to take field trips!
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