The Call of the Wild—Wildlife Biology Member's Manual Book I

Appendix A: Lake States Wildlife Card Games

Wildlife Fact or Fiction

Object of the Game:

To test knowledge of common animals and plants in the Lake States. The player with the most correct answers (the most cards total) is the winner.

Number of Players:

Two or more.

How to Play:

Start the game by shuffling the cards and laying them face down in a pile. The first player draws the top card and asks the player to his or her right a question based upon the information on the card. For example, the player might ask, "What does a raccoon eat?," "What type of habitat does a mallard prefer?," or "True or false, a moose is a good swimmer." The question must have an answer that is given on the card. If the question is answered correctly, the person who answered the question gets the card. If the question is not answered correctly, the player who asked the question gets the card.

Next, the person who was asked the question picks up a card and asks a question of the player to the right. Continue until you have used up all the cards in the pile. The player with the most cards wins.

If there is disagreement about the question or the answer, put the card face down into the pile and draw another card.

Spin a Web of Life

Object of the Game:

To create a food web with animals and plants. The winner of the game is the first person to use all of his or her cards building a food web.

Number of Players:

Two or more.

How to Play:

You will need a flat area for the cards (tabletop, floor, etc.). Shuffle the cards and deal each player six. Each player should look at his or her cards but not allow others to see them. Place the remaining cards face down in a pile where everyone can reach them. Turn the top card face up-this is the start of the food web.

Each player in turn tries to add as many of their cards to the food web as possible by playing cards depicting animals/plants that are directly connected in the food web to the animals or plants already in the web. For example, if the first card is a great horned owl, the player may place a mouse, a turkey, a duck, or a decomposer next to the owl card. (Place the cards so they slightly overlap the card they are connected to in the web.) If the player does not have a card that will fit in the food web, he or she must draw a card until one turns up that fits or until five cards have been drawn.

When the player has placed all the cards he or she can on the food web, or drawn five cards, then the next player takes a turn. The game is over when the remaining cards cannot fit into the food web, when there are no cards in the stack, or when one player has played all of his or her cards onto the food web. The player with the fewest cards at the end is the winner.

Spin a Web of Life-Solitaire

Object of the Game:

To create a food web with animals and plants, and use many cards to create the largest web possible.

Number of Players:

One or more (can be played alone).

How to Play:

Mix the cards and make one pile. Take the top six cards for your hand. Place the card from the top of the deck face up on the table. Play according to the rules of the game above. You win if you are able to use all the cards in your hand. Another way to play is to see how big a web you can create. Is it possible to make a web of life that includes all of the cards?

Sly as a Fox

Object of the Game:

To get rid of all cards as quickly as possible.

Number of Players:

Three to six.

How to Play:

This game is similar to one called "I Doubt It." Four categories are important for this game: decomposers, producers, herbivores, and carnivores. To begin the game, deal all the cards. (Some players may have one more card than the others.) The first player places from one to four cards that fit the category "carnivores" face down in the middle. The same player states how many cards and what category they are in. (For example, a person playing a fox and a hawk would say, "Two carnivores.") The next player must play herbivores, the next plays producers, the next, decomposers. Then the players start again with carnivores. The played cards are all placed face down in a central pile.

If a player doesn't have any cards in the category, then he or she must bluff, playing a card that is not in the category, but pretending that it is. For example, if you don't have any producers, you might choose a hawk and put it down saying, "One producer." A player also may add cards that do not fit into the category with cards that do. For example, a player may say, "Three producers," and discard two plants and one otter.

After a player puts down his or her cards, the other players may challenge by saying, "You're sly as a fox." When challenged the player turns the played cards face up to show the other players whether or not he or she was bluffing. If it was a bluff, the player must take all of the cards in the central pile. If he or she was not bluffing, the player who challenged must take the pile of cards.

A challenge may be made only after the player puts the cards on the stack in the middle. The player must say which cards are being played before he or she puts them down on the table. The winner is the person is the first run out of cards.

If there are four people playing the game you'll need to adjust the categories so that the players aren't playing the same category in each round of the game. An easy way to do this is to add a category, such as omnivore, bird, or mammal.

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