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Article: Cattails.(how animals use cattails)(Cover Story)
- Article from:
- Ranger Rick
- Article date:
- April 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 National Wildlife Federation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Cattails are neat plants. More than that, they make neat neighborhoods - for lots of wildlife neighbors.
Check for cattails growing in slow-moving or still water near you - a marsh, a pond, a wet ditch, or along a river bank. Find some? Let's explore.
Over here a grasshopper just landed on the "cat's tail" - that hot-dog-shaped part near the top of a stalk (see photo, left). The hard, velvety-brown cat's tail is crammed full of seeds - up to 200,000 of them!
During early summer, the cat's tail was green. As the tiny seeds grew inside, the tail turned brown. Then, by late winter, the tail began to break apart (below). Those white fluffs then ...