Kevin Cook: Colorado Creatures

Quaking aspens and ponderosa pines, golden eagles and yellow-bellied marmots come quickly to mind when thinking about Colorado wildlife.  Our wildlife community, however, includes various animals, fungi, and plants that exist in the shadows of our celebrity wildlife; and many of them lead extraordinary lives that make them quite interesting.  Yes, animals eat plants; but amazingly, we also have six plants and some mushrooms that eat animals!  We have wildflowers that trap their pollinators and some animals that hitchhike on other animals.  This class will look at the lives of wildlife species that defy our sense of normal living.

February's Topic: Kind not Size, A Nest Helper, and Unexpected Venom 

Slurring names imposes misunderstanding that becomes culturally accepted. And who would expect a snake could help an owl raise its offspring? Speaking of snakes invokes images of venom, but no one associates venom with mammals even though we have one.