Xplor More

Wild Times

In nature, some things happen quickly and some things happen slowly. For example, during the summer, a thirteen-lined ground squirrel’s heart beats about 300 times each minute. That’s fast! But during hibernation, the same squirrel’s heart slows down to only 300 beats each hour. That’s S-L-O-W.

Instructions

Do you have a good sense of time? Let’s find out. For each of the following facts, circle the choice for how long it takes to happen.

1. At the peak of growth, a white-tailed deer may add half an inch to its antlers each ___ .

• minute
• hour
• day

2. River otter pups learn to swim when they’re about 12 ___ old.

• hours
• days
• weeks

3. Scarlet tanagers are beautiful bug-bashing machines. The flame red birds can eat 2,000 caterpillars in one ___ .

• hour
• day
• week

4. Super poopers: On average, a snow goose goes to the bathroom every four ___ .

• seconds
• minutes
• hours

5. Using only its teeth, a beaver can chew down a willow tree that’s thicker than your leg in under five ___ .

• seconds
• minutes
• hours

6. Bumblebees are buzzy — and busy. On average, this hardworking insect visits 500 flowers every ___ .

• hour
• day
• week

7. Little brown bats are better than a bug zapper. A single bat can catch and eat up to 1,000 insects in one ___ .

• minute
• hour
• day

8. Pouch potatoes: Minutes after they’re born, baby opossums crawl into their mama’s pouch and don’t come back out for 70 ___ .

• minutes
• hours
• days

9. A ruby-throated hummingbird flaps its wings about 50 to 200 times each ___ .

• second
• minute
• hour

10. The spiders living in a patch of woods the size of a football field eat more than 80 pounds of insects in one ___ .

• day
• month
• year

11. On moonlit nights during mating season, an eastern whip-poor-will can sing its name 60 times each ___ .

• second
• minute
• hour