Explore the Outdoors!
Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are burrowing rodents that spend a large majority of their lives underground. Groundhogs are native to North America and can be found in the eastern and central United States as well as parts of Canada. Groundhogs spend most of their time underground, but they do come up multiple times a…
Reptiles are fascinating creatures and there is a huge variety of these animals out in the world, all with unique characteristics and diets. You might have wondered, though: do lizards eat frogs? Most lizards are known to eat frogs if they are small enough. The majority of all lizard species are either omnivorous or carnivorous…
Seahorses are some of the strangest creatures in the animal kingdom, and there have a large number of interesting quirks that make them fascinating to learn about. You might have wondered, does a seahorse have teeth and a stomach? Seahorses do not actually have teeth or a stomach, making them quite unique animals. Their digestive…
Blue whales are the largest animals on the planet and can weigh up to 150 tons. These massive creatures are actually gentle giants and have a diet that consists mostly of krill – tiny shrimp-like crustaceans. A single blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill in a day! Blue whales are primarily carnivores,…
Gulls (seagulls) are omnivorous birds that live near the coast. In the wild, gulls play an important role in the food web as they eat a wide variety of food items and sometimes also scavenge for food. However, gulls are not true scavengers, but they can function as scavengers because they eat almost anything they…
Sharks are carnivorous fish that live in the ocean. In the wild, sharks play an important role in the food web since they eat a wide variety of fish and provide a nutritious meal to many other animals in the sea. Sharks are not decomposers but can function as scavengers in the ocean. Whereas they…
Corals, along with sponges, are members of the Phylum Porifera, which literally means ‘pore-bearing’. This name refers to the pores that allow gas exchange (similar to fish gills) and for the release of waste products. Coral are omnivorous animals that play an important role in the food web of the reef ecosystem. They are…
In the wild, lobsters form an important part of the food web since they eat a wide variety of food items and provide a nutritious meal to many other animals in the sea (and some of us on land…). Lobsters are omnivores and can function as scavengers in the ocean. Whereas they mostly eat living…
Anemones are beautiful creatures that live in the ocean. They are related to corals and jellyfish and have a very interesting way of eating. Although they might look like plants (producers), sea anemones are animals and secondary consumers (omnivores), which means that they eat both plants and other animals. They use their tentacles to capture…
The food chain is basically a chain of meals preferred by different animals. The further along you are in the food chain, the more organisms have been eaten along the way. For example, the grasshopper that eats plants is a primary consumer. The shrew that eats the grasshopper is a secondary consumer. The snake that…