Animal Behavior

One of the perks of being a Biology major is that we get to take some really interesting classes. Most of the Biology classes have a lab component to them which means that we get to dissect animals, analyze DNA, work outdoors and go on some awesome field trips. Animal Behavior is the best class I have taken so far. We usually get to watch videos of animals in class. These videos are so fascinating that I often share them with my friends. For example, during one of the first classes we got to watch crows using a vending machine. It turns out crows are much smarter than I thought. During another class we got to watch some shark videos and find out why sharks tend to not bite humans more than once during an attack.

The lab portion of the course is also very interesting and exciting. After learning how to record behavior we got to go on a field trip to the Montreal Biodome. We observed and studied many animals including monkeys, puffins, and lynx. My group focused on the puffins and studied their interactions with humans. It was an awesome trip!
The lynx got really close.
The otters were very playful.
The puffins came over see what we were up to.
We also went on a hike to look for signs of animals. We were able to see some scent markings and well as claw marks from bears and bobcats. It was supposed to be a snowshoeing trip which would have been even cooler but since we didn't get much snow this year we had to settle on a hike.

The labs that we have at school are a lot of fun too. We are in the process of performing our own experiment with squirrels right now. Some groups even bought pets for their experiments and the Biology department completely covered the cost since they are being used for lab. My group was going to get a chameleon but no one wanted to take care of it after the class ended.

I have learnt so much about why animals act the way they do and can't wait to find out more during the last few weeks of class.

Comments

  1. KatelynApril 10, 2012 at 1:18 PM

    Can non-majors take this class? It sounds so cool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MikeApril 10, 2012 at 1:54 PM

      Sadly not. You have to take both Gen Bio classes first and the second Gen Bio class is only open to Biology majors and minors. So if you want to add a Bio minor you could!

      Delete

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