Scavengers: Eating Nature's Trash

Fascinating insects, yellow jackets are aggressive wasps that like to eat rotting fruits and meat. Many people fear yellow jackets for their reputation as quick to sting. Yet they are just trying to protect themselves and their nests. Inside the nest are larvae that they care for and feed and which, in turn, provide adult yellow jackets with food for part of their lives. Once the larvae grow up, the food source disappears and so yellow jackets head out looking for sweet juices found in rotting fruit and soda cans. Readers will learn a lot more about yellow jackets and what else they eat when they are not scavenging.

This insect's name alone is enough to make your skin crawl as you envision what it must eat. True to its name, the flesh fly likes dining on rotting flesh! Learn why this insect's gross eating habits are actually important to our ecosystem. Sidebars highlight interesting facts about the flesh fly while the body text gives in-depth information about flesh fly life cycles, diet, and other key life science information.

Famed for their masked faces and intelligence, raccoons are omnivores and happily scavenge rotting meats, fruits, or vegetables. They will steal pet food and break into garbage cans, too. They have many disgusting food habits, and yet these animals are well known for washing their dinners. This edition features intriguing sidebars and loads of life science data for young zoologists to explore, all while learning about one of nature's most successful scavengers.

Ravens are often feared as symbols of bad luck or even death. And they can often be spotted eating rotting meat. However, ravens are smart, adaptable birds and excellent hunters and foragers. They use tools, work together, and even plan traps to catch prey. Readers will be enthralled to learn more about these birds including how they have been known to lead wolves to prey and then wait patiently for the scraps!

Famous for their unlucky penchant to become road kill, opossums are actually smart and adaptable. Opossums are known to walk along roads looking for dead animals. Unfortunately for them, one of their main defenses against predators works against them in this situation. When threatened, opossums play dead, which means they often get hit by cars. Full of details, scientific data, and gross facts about the opossum's diet, this title will make readers see the scavenger in a new light.

Coyotes are one of the most successful animals in North America. They can live almost anywhere and eat almost anything. This adaptability allows them to survive, despite encroaching human development or environmental and climatic changes. Opportunistic and omnivorous, coyotes will eat berries, bugs, snails, small mammals, and are more than happy to dig into another animal's rotting remains. Readers will learn about the many ways coyotes hunt as well as the ways they communicate. Coyotes are not only a vital part of their ecosystem, but they are fascinating members of the scavenger family.