Wild Animals Of Virginia (1967)

[Music] [Music] in the woods fields and waterways of Virginia there is exist another world the world of nature the world of the birds and animals that live [Music] there there is within this world a law a law of nature there are those that hunt and those that are hunted [Music] in Virginia today there are many species of wild animals that were here when Captain John Smith and the settlers first explored this territory such animals as the Chipmunk the Chipmunk is found throughout the wooded areas of the state Chipmunks are small but very quick like other animals the color of the Chipmunk coat helps him hide among the leaves and grass can you see the [Music] [Music] Chipmunk the Chipmunk carries food in his cheek pouch he stores food in a barrel so that he may sleep during most of the winter a relative of the Chipmunk is the squirrel the gray is the most common in Virginia and is found in every part of the state the squirrel eats about the same as the Chipmunk mostly nuts and berries during the fall they are very busy storing away food for the winter which they put in the ground or in hollow parts of trees they live in trees often in nests made from leaves like the chipmunk and all animals in Virginia squirrels do not actually hibernate during the winter but they do take time out to rest a [Music] lot a third member of this family is the woodchuck or groundhog this furry overgrown ground squirrel is very common in Virginia they're so popular that many folktales are told about them they have a special day reserved for them on the calendar Fe 2nd Groundhogs Day groundhogs like to dig their favorite foods are grasses vegetables and juicy plants and they're often a nuisance to Farmers they live in Burrows under trees or Rock piles they will dig several entrances to their homes which other animals will occasionally borrow during the late summer and fall they eat a great deal and become quite fat when winter approaches they get very sluggish and will sleep during most of the winter some animals live their lives in or around water for example the beaver which is the largest rodent found in America spends most of his time in the [Music] water of all the wild animals it is said that beavers are the hardest workers perhaps you've heard the saying busy as a beaver when the Beavers move into an area they first build a dam on a stream when the water backs up and a pond is formed they build a house or Lodge the lodge is partly under the water as well as partly above the Bieber Dives under the surface of the pond and enters his home from under the water [Music] the Beavers webbed hind feet make him a good swimmer and he can stay underwater for some [Music] time the beaver had a great deal to do with the settling of this country the early Pioneers learned that the fur of the Beaver was in high demand and people who tra these animals could make much money when they sold the pelts this encouraged more people to come to this country in fact so many people trapped beavers for a living that by 1910 the beaver population in Virginia was almost wiped out a few years later the state passed laws to protect the beaver and they are now quite common the beaver eats bark from trees as well as plants growing in or near the water he gnaws down trees with his big front teeth the beaver uses Limbs and sticks along with mud to make sturdy dams and lodges the beaver tail is Broad and flat and he uses it as a warning device by slapping his tail against the water the beaver always keeps busy living up to his reputation [Music] the Muskrat is like the beaver and that he stays near the water however the Muskrat is much more common in the state [Music] [Music] these animals especially like marshy areas and will often build their houses on top of the water using reads and sticks much like the beaver they will occasionally live in Burrows dug in the side of river banks muskrats look very much like very large jats like the beaver they're also fur bearing animals although their coats are not as beautiful as the [Music] Beavers here is an animal whose fur is one of the most prized of all the mink the minks are surprisingly common in Virginia although like the Beavers they seldom leave their shelter in the daytime they live in wooded areas near streams and make their homes in Burrows which they line with leaves and grass for a nest The Mink is a member of the weasel family and therefore it eats other animals and sometimes he kills just for the joy of killing a mink is aggressive but he's also quite small the adults weigh only 2 to 3 lb a close relative of the mink and another animal which has a beautiful coat is the otter otters are considerably bigger than their relatives the m mature otter weigh an average of 20 lb otter actually spend most of their time in the water but will occasionally cross land between streams they're usually found along swamp rivers and Mountain Streams [Music] [Music] they're excellent swimmers and are good at catching fish they live in a burel which they dig in the Bank of a stream otters are the most playful of all wild animals but are also shy and are rarely seen by man another character that shows a fondness for water but in a different way is the raccoon if a raccoon is near water he will often watch his food before eating [Music] it his diet varies greatly all the way from clams to corn and from eggs to small birds [Music] raccoons are expert climbers and usually live in Hollow trees they're quite common throughout Virginia and the Eastern 2/3 of the United States [Music] the largest of Virginia's wild animals is the Elk elk once roam throughout Virginia but were completely wiped out by 1855 several years ago however elk were brought back into the state today there are two herds in Virginia totaling about 200 animals one of the outstanding features of elk is the light colored patch on the rump bull or male elk can get to weigh as much as 1,000 lb and have antlers as much as 5 ft long they eat grass and the leaves on bushes and [Music] trees in the fall of the Year bull elk will round up their own group of cows at this time one bull may become very jealous of another and he will insult him by making a thin almost bugle like [Music] sound sometimes Bulls even fight each other but at last they go off each with his own herd until next summer the best known and favorite big game animal in America and in Virginia is the Virginia white tail deer the deer is a close relative of the elk and is found throughout the state and English mathematician working for Sir Walter Raleigh was the first to describ the deer in a visit to Virginia in 1585 200 years later this animal was cataloged scientifically as the Virginia deer deer meat called venison was the principal meat source for the Indians and the early settlers a coat of the animal called buck skin was used for clothes deer eat mostly leaves from brush and Woody plants and also grass the male deer or buck will weigh between 150 to as much as 300 lb each spring the bucks shed their antlers and grow new ones by the Fall [Music] [Music] the dough or female deer will weigh from 100 to 150 lb the Dos have the same color and markings as the Bucks except they do not have antlers the white tailed deer get their name from the underside of the tail which is white when the deer are fr and run they raise their tails perhaps as a signal that danger is near [Music] [Music] when deer run they actually leap and they can jump very high in the spring of the year the dough gives birth to the baby deer called Fawn the young Fawn has white spots on his coat which will help him hide because the color of his coat Blends in with the surrounding underbrush [Music] here is an animal that is familiar to everyone the cottontail rabbit the rabbit is one of the most common and abundant wild animals in the nation cottontails live in nest in the underbrush OR in holes dug in the ground rabbits eat grasses berries tender roots and bark and they can be damaging to farm crops rabbits are very fast for short distances but also rely on cunning to outwit their enemies often they will sit perfectly still and allow danger to pass by them one of the biggest enemies of the Cotton Tail is the fox this is the red fox besides rabbits they eat birds snakes and other small [Music] [Music] animals the red fox is common in the farmed areas of the state and the open Woods a cousin of the red fox is the gray fox these these foxes are not seen as often because they prefer wild heavy Forest areas they come out of their den or burrow usually at night the coat of the foxes are fairly valuable and at one time there was much trapping of foxes it wasn't always easy to trap a fox however because they were very cunning you've probably heard the phrase Sly as a fox the mother foxes have their young in the spring about may they are are usually four or five babies called kits to the litter the young stay with the parents throughout the summer and then are on their own [Music] another North American big game animal which is a favorite among Sportsmen is the black bear in Virginia the black bear is found in the mountain areas and also in the Dismal Swamp black bears are the smallest of bears found in North America but the adults still grow to be better than 5 ft long and weigh from 150 to as much as 5 500 lb their eyesight is poor but they can rely on their excellent sense of smell and hearing Bears can climb trees especially if they're tempted by one of their favorite foods such as honey [Music] bears eat a great variety of foods including Roots berries fish mice honey grass and some times young farm animals their varied appetite prompted the expression hungry as a bear many bears sleep during much of the winter in a simple cave or Den however they can be awakened easily by any disturbance they are powerful animals but they're also shy and will not attack man unless cornered or wounded there are many stories told about bears but no animal is more popular in southern folk stories and song than is the opposum or posum as it is commonly called Captain John Smith wrote one of the earliest descriptions of the opposum while he was exploring Virginia around 16007 he stated that and opossum had a head like a swine and a tail like a rat and is the bigness of a cat this uncomplimentary description is nevertheless accurate for the possum is a rather ugly animal opossums are at home either on the ground or in [Music] trees they sometimes will hang upside down from a tree limb wrapping their tail around the limb as an anchor when an AP possum meets an enemy he will play possum or pretend to be [Music] dead like the bear the aasum will eat almost anything from young birds and eggs to corn and chots of plants the opossum is the only marsupial animal in North America that is it is the only animal that has a pouch in which it carries and nurses its young the mother aasum will give birth to about 20 Young from this litter 8 to 13 babies will survive after the babies are about 2 months old they will leave the mother's pouch and will often ride on her back an enemy of the aosom is the Bobcat sometimes called the lynx or wild cat the Bobcat is found in the mountains and in the Dismal Swamp they make their den in Hollow trees are small caves the wild cat usually hunts at night and therefore is rarely seen he will occasionally kill deer but the usual food includes rabbits mice and other small animals the important characteristics of the Bobcat are its short or Bob tail and the small tufted ears the animal weighs up to as much as 40 lb and will grow to be 3 ft long the wild cat is normally shy but if he's aroused or cornered he's a ferocious and dangerous fighter [Music] [Music] the Bobcat is also an excellent climber he will climb high in a tree especially if pursued as he finds this an easy means of Defense but here is a fellow that has the best defensive weapon of all and neither man nor animal fails to take heed when a skunk is angered [Music] the skunk seems to know that the odor which he can give off is powerful and he is neither hurried nor afraid this is the striped or Eastern skunk also found in Virginia is the smaller or spotted skunk these animals prefer cleared Farmland they will usually live in Burrows dug by other animals or around rock pile they live on insects and mice which they get by digging or rooting in the [Music] dirt vegetable matter and eggs are also a part of their diet and judging from this fellow's size he likes to eat [Music] so this is Virginia's other world the world of wild animals much as it was three and a half centuries ago when John Smith and the first settlers arrived in America [Music]