Wilds of the United States: The Animals' Survival Field Guide
REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES Covering over 3.5 million square miles and stretching from the Arctic to the tropics the United States has one of the most varied landscapes of any country in the world Each of these environments has something distinct to offer the animals that make their home there but they each come with their own unique challenges as well START YOUR ADVENTURE HERE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS GUAM AMERICAN SAMOA HAWAII EQUATOR 10 PACIFIC ISLANDS PAGES 117-125 Isolated laboratories for evolution the Pacific Islands are home to strange and incredible animals that are unlike any others in the United States 9 FAR NORTH PAGES 105-116 Stretching across Alaska the Far North is an expansive and rugged wilderness of mountains tundra and icy Arctic seas 8 PACIFIC COAST PAGES 87-104 There’s little boundary between land and sea on the Pacific Coast where marine fog nurtures lush forests and predators from dry land rely on the ocean’s bounty for their survival 7 DESERT WEST PAGES 71-86 Only the toughest animals survive in America’s vast Desert West where temperatures soar and months can pass without rain 8 INTRODUCTION
1 EASTERN WOODLANDS PAGES 10-20 Animals in the Eastern Woodlands must live by the rhythm of the seasons enjoying the richness of summer and braving the challenges of winter 2 APPALACHIANS PAGES 21-26 One of the oldest mountain ranges in the world the Appalachians shelter animals in mist-cloaked valleys dense temperate rainforests and icy mountain streams 3 THE SOUTH PAGES 27-40 Wetlands take a variety of forms in the South from forests flooded by the Mississippi River to coastal marshlands that rise and fall with the tides 4 TROPIC SEAS PAGES 41-48 The warm climate of the Tropic Seas creates a unique refuge in the United States for animals from Mexico Central America and the Caribbean 5 THE GREAT PLAINS PAGES 49-60 In the past America’s vast grasslands provided open territory for wildlife to graze and roam but today only fragments of these ecosystems remain PUERTO RICO U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS 6 THE ROCKIES PAGES 61-70 Stretching from Canada almost to Mexico the Rockies are a vertical landscape of towering forests pounding rivers and remote alpine tundra INTRODUCTION 9
AT FIRST LIGHT As the sun rises over the United States light lands first on the forested coastline of eastern Maine The early morning light makes visible the meeting of two worlds As the creatures of night are finishing their waking hours the rest of the forest prepares to start its day Bald eagles can have a wingspan of 7 feet and can soar up to 10,000 feet high ATHLETICS DIVE BOMBER When diving to attack prey peregrine falcons move at more than 200 miles per hour faster than any other animal NAVIGATION SUMMER HOUSE Atlantic puffins spend the winter on the open ocean returning in the summer to nest on islands off the coast of Maine FORAGING VARIED VEGETARIANS White-tailed deer feed on a wide variety of plant matter including grasses ferns mushrooms and acorns UNIFORM CONTENT WARNING The striped skunk’s high-contrast black-and-white fur helps warn predators not to mess with it it sprays an unpleasant liquid when attacked 10 EASTERN WOODLANDS
SHELTER HOME EXPANSION Bald eagles build a large nest out of sticks moss and grass If a pair of bald eagles like their nesting site they’ll reuse it over many years adding more material and expanding the nest each time The largest bird’s nest ever recorded belonged to a pair of bald eagles it was over 9 feet wide 20 feet deep and weighed more than 2 tons PERFORMANCE DRUM SOLO To attract attention the male ruffed grouse stands atop a log puffs up his feathers and beats his wings across his chest at a high speed making a sound like a lawn mower starting up NAVIGATION TO STAY OR TO GO Green darners have two options as winter approaches They can travel south some flying as far as 900 miles Or they can lay their eggs in northern ponds where their young will survive winter under the ice Zip to page 49 to follow the green darner south SHELTER LOG CABIN American mink hunt in estuaries and waterways for fish crustaceans and frogs They often build their homes in hollow logs or tree stumps using grass or leaves to create a cozy nest PERFORMANCE THE TURTLE’S TAP DANCE To get worms to come to the surface the wood turtle stomps its feet imitating the sound of rain EASTERN WOODLANDS 11
