Boy Scouts of America

Mammal Study Merit Badge

Mammal Study
Merit Badge

Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Hub

Boy Scouts of America
Merit Badge Hub

MammalStudy

Mammal Study Merit Badge Overview

A mammal may weigh as little as 1/12 ounce, as do some shrews, or as much as 150 tons, like the blue whale. It may spring, waddle, swim, or even fly. But if it has milk for its young, has hair of some kind, is relatively intelligent, and has warm blood, then it is a mammal.
Mammal-Study_merit-badge-overview

Mammal Study Merit Badge Requirements

The requirements will be fed dynamically using the scout book integration
1. Explain the meaning of "animal," "invertebrate," "vertebrate," and "mammal." Name three characteristic that distinguish mammals from all other animals.
2. Explain how the animal kingdom is classified. Explain where mammals fit in the classification of animals. Classify three mammals from phylum through species.
3. Do ONE of the following:
  • (a) Spend three hours in two different kinds of natural habitats or at different elevations for a total of 6 hours. List the different mammal species and how many of each you identified by sight or sign. Tell why all mammals do not live in the same kind of habitat.
  • (b) Spend three hours on five different days in at least a 25-acre area (about the size of 31/2 football fields) for a total of 15 hours. List the mammal species you identified by sight or sign.
  • (c) From study and reading, write a simple life history of one nongame mammal that lives in your area. Tell how this mammal lived before its habitat was affected in any way by humans. Tell how it reproduces, what it eats, and its natural habitat. Describe its dependency upon plants and other animals (including humans), and how they depend upon it. Describe how humans have benefited from the mammal you have chosen and whether the mammal has benefited from association with humankind.
4. Do ONE of the following:
  • (a) Under the guidance of a nature center or natural history museum, make two study skins of rats or mice. Tell the uses of study skins and mounted specimens respectively.
  • (b) Take good pictures of two kinds of mammals in the wild. Record the date(s), time of day, weather conditions, approximate distance from the animal, habitat conditions, and any other factors you feel may have influence the animal's activity and behavior.
  • (c) Write a life history of a native game mammal that lives in your area, covering the points outlined in requirement 3c. List sources for this information.
  • (d) Make and bait a tracking pit. Report what mammals and other animals came to the bait.
  • (e) Visit a natural history museum. Report on how specimens are prepared and cataloged. Explain the purposes of museums.
  • (f) Write a report of 500 words on a book about a mammal species.
  • (g) Trace two possible food chains of carnivorous mammals from the soil through four stages to the mammal.
5. Working with your counselor, select and carry out one project that will influence the numbers of one or more mammals.

Get the Mammal Study Merit Badge Pamphlet

Have you ever been curious about our fellow fuzzy and warmblooded creatures living with us on this planet?

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Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.