Daytime visitors
Look first at the lawn. An American robin tilts its head to spot worms and tugs them out of the ground, and in spring it sings early in the morning. An eastern gray squirrel runs along fences and branches, burying nuts and acorns. In the flower bed, a honey bee collects nectar, a monarch butterfly sips it, and a ladybug, a small red beetle, eats the tiny aphids that nibble leaves, which makes gardeners glad.
On a warm, sunny day, look for a common garter snake, a striped snake that soaks up the sun on a flat rock or in the grass. It is not dangerous to people, but it still wants to be left alone.
At dusk and after dark
When the light goes soft, new animals come out. A firefly flashes its own light in a pattern, and on a summer evening a yard full of them is a show. An American toad hops out of its hiding place to catch insects. A little brown bat swoops overhead, listening for the echoes of insects in the dark. And a raccoon wanders through, looking for fruit, nuts, eggs and snacks, feeling things with its clever front paws.
Where you live changes the list. Fireflies, for example, are far easier to find in the east than in the west.
How to watch without touching
The best way to meet a wild animal is to be as still as a stone. Sit in one spot, stay quiet, and let your eyes do the work. Early morning and dusk are the busiest times. A magnifying glass lets you see a ladybug's spots without ever picking it up, and a pair of binoculars brings a bird close without scaring it.
Take a notebook and draw what you see, or ask a grown-up to take a photo. Notice what the animal is doing: eating, resting, calling or flying. Then look up its page on Peabody to learn more.
Never pick up a wild animal
Wild animals are not pets, even small, friendly-looking ones. A scared animal may bite or scratch, and some carry germs that can make people sick. Bats and raccoons are two to watch from far away, always. Picking an animal up can hurt it, too: handling a butterfly can damage its delicate wings.
If you find a baby bird on the ground, do not pick it up, and tell a grown-up. Many baby birds that look lost are learning to fly, and their parents are close by. If an animal looks hurt, or is somewhere it should not be, such as a bat inside the house, stay back and tell a grown-up, who can call a wildlife helper. And never feed wild animals: it teaches them to depend on people.
For Big readers: be a backyard scientist
Scientists who watch wildlife keep notes: what they saw, where, at what time, what the weather was, and what the animal was doing. You can do the same with a notebook by a window. After a few weeks you will see patterns, such as which animals come at dusk, or which flowers the bees like best.
Some projects collect what people like you write down. Ask a grown-up about citizen science projects for counting birds, butterflies or fireflies where you live. A real observation, with a date and a place, can help real scientists.
Pick Big at the top to see the part for older readers.