Red Bellied Woodpecker

Our neighborhood has quite a few Red bellied Woodpeckers. Though this is the most common woodpecker in Florida, it's one I've had trouble capturing for a photo. We see and hear them often, and even saw an entire family at the feeder once (of course my camera wasn't handy then). I finally caught this female in our backyard.

Continuing Dog Study

We're enjoying our study of the dog, and having fun with the activities in How Smart is Your Dog? (see sidebar). As suspected, Dingo is a willing, though unenthusiastic, specimen. We briefly covered the parts of a dog, learned about dewclaws and stop pads, and that dogs come in more shapes and sizes than any other mammal (I'm not sure if that fits nature study since the many varieties are due to man's interference).

We now know that Dingo has a plumed sword tail, almond shaped eyes, and semi-prick ears. We found out that a dog's nose print is like a human fingerprint. Each one is unique. Dog nose prints have actually been used for identification. Want to take your dog's nose print? Follow these instructions, which we found in the book listed above:

• Pour some food coloring on a paper towel. (we used green)
• Dry the dog's nose and try to keep him from licking it.
• Gently rub his nose on the paper towel to transfer the food coloring to his nose.
• Gently press a sheet of paper to the front of his nose, letting the sides of the paper curve around his nose.
• You want a print where you can see the little patterns, and might have to try more than once to get it. If the nose print is too light, try more food coloring on his nose. If it's a blob, try less.
  
• If you have more than one dog, get each of their nose prints and compare.

We also took Dingo's paw print. The plan was to make a negative, then make a cast print. Unfortunately, the two stuck together even though we followed directions and put petroleum jelly on the negative. We were able to get them apart by breaking the cast print. Dennis didn't want to take a chance again, so we saved the negative and will end it there. Next up, we'll study the dog's bones.