January 24 - Polar Bear

Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) - native largely within the Arctic Circle, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear. Polar bears are listed as a vulnerable species and are in serious danger because of global warming and decades of large scale hunting.

Rising temperatures are causing unprecedented melting of sea ice, especially in the summer months when polar bears are most active. They depend on the sea ice as habitat for hunting and denning. As available sea ice decreases, they are forced to swim farther and farther to find food.

January 1 - Great Gray Owl

Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) - In terms of body length and large wingspan, the Great Gray Owl is the world's largest owl. However, they are outweighed by several other owl species even though they are larger in size. They live in dense coniferous forests near open spaces such as meadows or bogs in North America. Their populations are found mostly along the Pacific Northwest from Alaska as far south as the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

Great Gray Owls do not build nests, so typically they will use nests previously used by a large bird. They will also nest in broken-topped and cavities of large trees. They are silent stalkers with a very acute sense of hearing. During the winter they can hear the scurry of a mouse under two feet of snow.