OUT!! #31: Roadkill Redux

On my way back from spending a lovely weekend in Ohio with my girlfriend (she is a songbird nest technician for the summer), I couldn't help but notice the high numbers of roadkill lining the sides of the highway. Well...not lining like a procession, but more like a body every couple of miles or so. The most common sight was of what I assumed were female White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in varying states of pulverization. Some were intact but resembled burly, bloated flour sacks with legs splayed in different directions. Others had the calling cards of traumatic injury such as broken or even severed limbs and still others, having been hit in the middle of the road, had been ground into the pavement by the repeated and monotonous hum of vehicular traffic.

It must be a regular sight for the seasoned traveler to find animals that once were alive, but now often lay plastered across the pavement in great streaks of flesh and entrails. One becomes desensitized to the idea of death being so prevalent on our roads and often people don't even glance back at the lifeless form that sits before them. If possible, I prefer to get close and covet what is left of the creature. It may look weird to others, but I feel that it is one of the best ways to appreciate the body of an animal, even a recently deceased one.

I took these photos some time last fall or winter near Walden Pond in Concord, MA. Just by the side of the road being passed by car after car after car was a doe, recently killed by a motorist and lying prone by the side of the road. What struck me about the doe's presence in that place was the obvious nature of her being there. Even in death, people were passing her by without really acknowledging her. They might have tutted or sighed with the loss of a "beautiful wild creature" but without closer inspection, I feel like their sympathy for the loss of the deer was not so heartfelt.

Judging by her splayed legs she, like so many of the dead deer I saw along the highway, was probably shocked after being hit broadside by a vehicle and probably died of a combination of internal trauma and shock. The life had since faded from her eyes leaving only the glazed over cornea that can be seen in the head shots above. The complete opacity of the cornea indicates that the deer had probably been dead longer than 24 hours by that point and probably died within the last day or so.

What does this mean ultimately? And why do I have such a morbid (haha, bad pun) fascination with death and roadkill? I think what holds the greatest interest for me is what has captured the attention of biologists, naturalists, and anyone who's been alive on this planet since ever! It is the "spark" of life that seems to move us while we're alive and seems to exhale out of us when we die. To become nothing but inanimate flesh and bone after death seems so foreign and unpleasant, I can see why some people are bothered by the sight of dead animals by the side of the highway. But after such a traumatic death, they are not what they once were. Their still forms dot the roadsides, reminding us of the life that surrounds us, but unfortunately and all too often meets its end by colliding with man's wheeled convenience machines. While I've seen plenty of roadkill in my life and even handled (with gloves!) some creatures out of curious observation, I can't help but wonder if there is more to the death of some creatures than others. Not just the process, but the act of dying itself is what I find most compelling.

There is a book by Bernd Heinrich called "Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death" which focuses on how death is equal to life in that it's role is just as important for maintaining the lives of the many species that live upon this planet. He discusses the roles of scavengers and predators, as well as the importance of understanding the role that death plays in all of our lives. I look forward to reading it as Heinrich is one of my favorite authors with his succinct, yet rich writing detailing the lives of the animals he observes around him. I'll talk about my thoughts on it another time (I have thought about turning this blog into a nature book review blog, but I'll have to experiment with that first) and hopefully I will come back with a glowing review. Hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day and enjoy the rest of your week.

OUT!! #30: The Humble Spittlebug

For those of you wanderers of field and meadow, you've probably noticed the globs of "spit" that are attached to the stem of certain plants. Rather than being the random oral ejections of some passing human, they are instead the unique protection device of the spittlebug nymph. The spittlebug produces this by feeding on the sap of the plant that is hosting it, while simultaneously releasing the waste product as a foaming mass of liquid.

They are most notable in the month of May after the young hatches out and begin to feed on the young stems of tall perennials and other herbaceous vegetation. After they morph into adulthood however, they shed their dribbling habits and hop at breakneck speed across their leafy habitat.

I'll be doing a series of these easy insect guides to help identify some of the commoner late spring and early summer insect life. This allows me to present good and simple info to my audience and promote awareness for these species in general. Have a great week everyone.

OUT!! #29: Urban Dictionary Describes Bugs and Other Internet Maladies

Over the past few days, I have been doing insect programs at work and I wanted to know what people's perceptions of insects are in general. And what better way to find that out by doing two basic tests: The Urban Dictionary Test and the "What Does the Internet Think?"Scale.

The five test words are the following:

1. Bee
2. Wasp
3. Spider
4. Stink Bug
5. Insect

First up, the Urban Dictionary Test revealed the following:

1. Bee

 

 2. Wasp

3. Spider

 

4. Stink Bug

5. Insect

A series of mixed results indeed. The stronger, "What Does the Internet Think?" scale should be able to determine the people's thoughts about their invertebrate counterparts.

1. Bee

2. Wasp

3. Spider

 4. Stink Bug
 








5. Insect

Mostly negative with the stink bug being inconclusive. Clearly this tells me two things: 1. the people hate bugs and 2. I didn't have a good topic for this week and wanted to squeeze a subpar blog posting. I promise I'll have something better next week!

Enjoy your weekend all!

OUT!! #28: You Put the Lyme in the Coconut

It's official. I have Lyme disease, I'm being treated for it. After a month of having a swollen knee that wasn't being healed by rest, ice, and elevation, the diagnosis came as a shock, but being able to treat it calms me down quite a bit. I'll have to avoid the sun and drink lots of water however, but it'll be worth it in the long run to be able to bend my knee again.

But for those of you wondering what Lyme disease is, you've come to the right place. Lyme disease was first discovered in Old Lyme, Connecticut in the 1970s and has since spread to much of the Eastern seaboard with the majority of the cases coming from the mid Atlantic states and southern New England. A key indicator of Lyme's presence can often be tied to the number of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) living in the area. Around Pennington, NJ, it can be said that there is an overabundance of deer with people being able to spot them almost nightly basis. Everywhere you go, their sign can be found ranging from scat, tracks, trails, and even their carcasses from a bad winter or coyote attack in the past. The deer themselves don't spread Lyme disease, but a parasite that targets them does.

Any outdoors lover will have heard of and interacted with ticks at some point. The most likely way people get Lyme disease is by being bitten by a deer tick (Ixodes scapularis). The best way to prevent this is to be vigilant and cautious. If you really don't want to be marauded by ticks, don't walk through tall grass or in areas with high deer numbers. However since most of the eastern seaboard has an overabundance of deer brought on by a lack of apex predators, an unwilling generation of children wanting to become hunters, and the continued "Bambification" of the American mindset towards wildlife (I've exaggerated the last one, but you hear it enough when you talk to city folk), the tactics change up a bit. The best way to avoid getting bitten is to give yourself regular tick checks after going through tick country. This will ensure that you find them crawling rather than imbedded and give you more time to remove them before they become a problem. While small, they are generally distinguished from freckles by the fact that they move and possess eight legs (they are arachnids after all). If you find them crawling, flicking them back into the grass is the best policy. However, if you feel the need to cripple them by removing the head with pliers or taking off their legs, be my guest.

The ecological part of me recognizes the importance of ticks in the environment. They provide food for other animals and spread disease that helps to manage populations of large ungulates. However, as an annoyed sufferer of Lyme, I instead wish them a harsh death and while I'm willing to compromise in that I'll put them back, they might not go back in one piece.

I realize this is more of a rant than a coherent argument put forth to protect oneself from Lyme disease, but to be honest, I'm annoyed that I wasn't able to get this over with quicker and be able to run at 100% again. I can at least feel thankful that I now have the meds to fight the bacterium spread by the biting freckles of the grass and woods. I'm just about done with it though and hope that things clear up for the better and I can get back to business as usual.

Have a great week everyone and enjoy the sunshine if you can. And if not sun, then rainshine will do just as well.

OUT!! #27: Phone Scoping and Other Technical Mishaps

Phone scoping refers to the practice of using one's camera phone and a scope/binocular in order to get a closer shot. This can produce varying results and is best done with a steady hand and extreme patience. This is a good way to get acquainted with digi-scoping as well. It differs in the sense that a digital camera is specially mounted onto a spotting scope in order to take distant pictures of birds, animals, ships, or any other object of interest.

This was taken on 1x zoom or regular

This one was taken using 3.5 to 4x zoom

The first photos show a Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) seen at the pond last week. For the most part, the phone takes a good picture, but gets overexposed in the noon day sun and causes most of the lighter lines and shades to look as if they're glowing radioactively. Having the bird close by makes the shots a little clearer however and they are fair for identification purposes.

Another selection of pictures shows a Green Heron (Butorides virescens) I saw preening near the dock today. While the top picture shows a clear image, the bottom one reveals the effects of shaky hands that are to be expected when holding up a heavy pair of binos and balancing a camera phone against one of the lenses in order to snap a picture. Did I mention I have finite patience? So far the only clear image I got out of five photos was the top shot, so you can't win them all can you?

Aren't you just a little darling?!

Lastly, this lovely little Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) was found by a coworker and of course, I had to get a picture. As we can see, there has been no photo manipulation or use of a scope to enhance the image. Just a creature in hand as a simple photo subject (and yes, they are that small when they hatch). It was such a little cutie, but we had to return it to the wild.

Overall, camera phones are useful pieces of technology that are so simple to use and can make for some interesting wildlife shots. So even if you don't have a proper camera, if you have a steady hand or at least some patience (binoculars help if you need zoom too), you'll be able to take some fantastic shots.

Have a lovely weekend and I'll be back next week.

OUT!! #26: Just a Pond?

As it starts to get warmer and sunnier, many of us start to look outside with growing anticipation. Summer is coming and soon there will be warm temperatures, buzzing cicadas, ice cream vans, swimming children, sweating grandparents, and millions of mosquitoes waiting to sample the populous for their yearly blood tax.

But as the days get warmer, only one thing's on my mind. Ponding. What's ponding you say? I learned the fine art of ponding as a first year counselor at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln, MA and ever since then, it has stuck with me as the ideal nature exploration activity. Oh sure, you could go into the field and catch insects...you could even look for tracks and scat along the trails. But for up close and personal experiences, I would pick ponding any day! Simply put, ponding is the art of exploring the biodiversity of a pond with any tools at hand. Got some fish nets? Excellent! Got a sieve? Even better!

Yep, you heard me! Item number one on any ponders list is a sieve. They have finer holes than nets and are more rigid making for tougher mudders when you're trying to power through algae to test the waters for crayfish and other aquatic invertebrates.

Afraid to get your feet wet? Well it defeats the purpose of ponding if you don't get a little wet. But if you're adamant about staying dry, birding is another good way of taking nature into account. Water bodies of all sizes have some form of bird life inhabiting them from loons and diving ducks on reservoirs to Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and Marsh Wrens (Cistothorus palustris) in cattail (Typha spp.) marshes to the gulls and terns of our coasts. Where ever there's water, you're bound to find a huge variety of bird life abounding just a few feet away.

Curious about the finned inhabitants of your local pond? Go fishing! It's one of the easiest ways to get in contact with members of a food web as well as seeing the variety of forms that fish have evolved into in order to survive. Using baitfish to catch Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), one can notice that the bigger fish tend to take bigger meals and will attack a wide variety of lures. Catching sunfish off the nest can illuminate the tenacity of these disc-shaped fish as well as reveal their intriguing breeding style. Rather than spawn in riffles of a river like trout, sunfish (Largemouth Bass included) carve a nest out of the muddy bottom using their fins and tails as fans. After the females have laid their eggs in the nest, the males defend their clutch with amazing ferocity, attacking anything that seems like a threat including a fisherman's lure.

There are more ways to explore ponds and other waterways! Kayaking and canoeing put you right on the waters film where all the action takes place, while swimming and diving allow you to see the world as a fish sees it. One can also look for frogs in the shallows and try to catch them too or watch turtles basking on logs and rocks along the shore.

With so much to explore out in the pond, it's a wonder more people haven't tried it! So get out there and find somewhere wet to investigate. It needn't be a wilderness lake for it to be an amazing experience. Just so long as you have the spark of discovery and the curiosity to pursue it, the natural world will provide like a well thumbed book. It may be old, moth-eaten, and sometimes downright dirty, but it's often the best place to start.

Have a lovely week.

OUT!! #25: Herbarium

Recently in my quest to become the best naturalist ever (well that's not strictly true. I'm trying to learn other things natural that don't have feathers, fly, and possess the terminal velocity necessary to carry a coconut.), I've decided to start a herbarium. For those unfamiliar with the practice, it involved collecting, pressing, and preserving plant specimens for personal or scientific consumption. I'm making one so that I can sharpen my pressing skills (in case I get crafty and bedazzle a lampshade one of these days) and to increase my plant identification skills. Below, I've included a few photos of plants and wildflowers I've found so far.

Red Maple (Acer rubrum) buds sprouting in the late evening at Bombay Hook NWR. The flowers are bunched together

Lesser Celadine (Ranunculus ficaria) carpets the ground in many places. They are an alien species that originally comes from Europe and Asia.

Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) just starting to sprout in the moist woods on the SBMWA property. These pictures were taken along the Stony Brook Trails.

Magnolia spp. Probably a cultivar or some sort. Very pretty blooms that only last about a week unfortunately

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is another alien species that is familiar to most people as the nemesis weed. The weed that people despise to have upon their monotonous greenscapes.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia spp.) is a common springtime bloom to be found on the quiet lawns and field edges of New Jersey.

Onion Grass (Allium spp.) is also a common springtime plant that can be distinguished from regular lawn grass by their tubular structure, their tall green stems, and strong onion smell when crushed in hand.

Puffballs aren't plants, but they are cool to find. These spherical fungi can be poked or prodded slightly. When you do you will notice that "smoke" appears to billow out of them. These are spores and when released from the body of the fungi will settle nearby and sprout during the next growing season.

With such a variety out there, it makes one wonder what other amazing plants there are to find out in the woods and fields in the months to come. I can't wait to see what I can find.