Porcupine
Caribou Migration
Winter: December - March
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Porcupine
Caribou MigrationRange Courtesy PCMB |
 |
Looking
for lichens, winter food, under the snow |
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A
grizzly with his prey |
Unlike many animals that migrate during two main periods of the year, spring and fall, the Porcupine caribou’s annual migration is divided into 8 major periods with many smaller movements in between. We will make this simpler to fit our 4 major seasons- Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer.
December
1 - March 31:
In February the caribou will be in their winter feeding grounds. They
will have endured the deepest part of winter, when darkness prevails and
temperatures commonly drop far below zero. During this coldest time of
the year the caribou are grazing lichens under the snow in protected mountainous
areas of the Brooks Range, the farthest northern section of the Rocky
Mountains.
Lessons for Winter
- Caribou
Range Cookie Map: An Edible Lesson in Geography
Study the Porcupine Caribou migration range to learn the paths the caribou travel, then make a cookie map of the landscape they roam. - Caribou
Digestion: Ruminators Chew Their Cud
Ruminates are animals that possess complicated digestive systems. - Winter’s
Dining Selection: Lichens
After dining on the last of the vegetation of the coastal plain, the caribou shift into their new food source for the winter: Lichens! - Why
Do You Suppose Caribou Have Antlers?
Year after year, the antlers on both caribou sexes are grown and shed, then re-grown and shed again. Learn more about this phenomenon and practice some reading skills with your classroom. - Caribou
Foes: Natural Predators in the Wilderness
Each season the caribou face their foes. Learn about some of them. As the colder winter arrives the caribou leave the coastal plain heading south into the shelter of the mountain ranges. - The
Twilight Zone: Darkness, Light and What Lies Between
All of life in the high latitudes of the Arctic regions is provided with an astronomical phenomenon most of us in the warmer regions are unaware of - a winter full of twilight.
Follow the Porcupine caribou migration this year:
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