We spent some time at the local nature center today. I happen to work at this one, and I was coordinating a talk about hibernating bears. At the talk, our speaker linked to a great bear webcam that features a hibernating female bear and her newborn cub.
Last spring, my daughter and I became addicted to another webcam, the eagle cam. That one involved a mother and father eagle who were waiting for their eggs to hatch. We followed the pair until the eggs hatched and watched the new parents feed their hungry chicks.
There are some amazing animal webcams out there. Now, normally I’m all in favor of getting outdoors with your child to explore the real world of animals and plants. However, webcams are an excellent addition or occasional rainy-day alternative to a walk. They’re educational and they are completely addictive. And it’s not as if you can take a walk in Africa every day, unless you live there. Here are a few of my favorites.
Lily, the mother bear who is hibernating with her cub. You can watch the baby bear nurse and watch the mother sleep in the snow.
Here, you’ll find eagle cams and a spawning salmon cam. Be warned that sometimes the eagles’ eggs do not hatch, but of the cams on the site you can generally find one that does.
Here’s a webcam that shows animals visiting water holes in Africa. There will be a time difference between you and the water hole, since it is live. There are not always animals at the water hole, but if you catch it at a good time, it’s pretty exciting!
Our local aquarium has an otter cam. All of their otters are rescues.
See otters are extremely cute and playful, but their grooming habits may lead to talks about the birds and the bees … you’ve been warned!
If you tend to have a computer on during the day, place a webcam on the desktop and crank up the volume. It’s fun to keep an eye on what the animals are doing as you go about your daily activities with your preschooler!