A marmot is a large rodent that lives in rocky mountain areas, alpine meadows, and open grasslands. Marmots will dig burrows into the ground. They spend their days foraging for grasses and other plants, and many hibernate for long stretches during cold winter months. They're known for sitting upright and watching for danger.
A marten is a small wild animal that lives in forests. It looks a bit like a weasel and has soft fur.
Martens hunt small animals and birds, and they also eat fruit and nuts. You can find them in many parts of Europe and Asia, and some live in North America. They often make homes in trees or hollow places.
Scientific name: suricata suricatta
Meerkats are members of the mongoose family that is native to parts of Africa. They live in large groups, with 20 to 30 members in a group. They live in burrows underground. Meerkats eat mostly insects but will also eat anything else small they can catch. They are immune to scorpion venom.
When meerkats are out looking for food during the day, some members of their group will stand guard and tell the group of they see any predators coming.
The common merganser or goosander is a large sea duck that lives in rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees.
The photo is of a hooded merganser.
Scientific name: subphylum: myriapoda, class: diplopoda
Millipedes are a type of creature that has many body segments, and two pairs of legs on each segment. They are related to centipedes, but they move a lot slower. Centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment.
Scientific name: neovison vison (American mink) and mustela lutreola (European Mink)
