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To
identify the species of amphibian that may be living in your pond is
very simple. There is a ridge of skin that runs on both sides from the
back of the eye, this is called the dorsolateral ridge. If the ridge runs from the back
of the eye to the hind end you have a green frog. If the ridge
runs around the eardrum and curves down to the front legs you have a bullfrog.
To sex your frog, notice the throat. Male frogs have yellow throats
and eardrums much larger than the diameter of the eyes. Females have
white throats and eardrums about the same size, if not smaller than their
eyes. Green frogs produce six different vocalization,
the most common is the single note which sounds like a plucked banjo
string. They will also give a sharp yelp when startled. Male bullfrogs vocalization sounds like
"jug-o-rum". After mating each species deposits huge,
semi-floating masses that look like frothy, tiny bubbles. The eggs hatch
relatively quickly, and the mass will disappear within a week. Bullfrogs
grow up to 7 inches in length and are quite long-lived. They can remain
tadpoles for up to 2 years. Maturity for mating may take up to 4 years.
The great blue heron has the widest range of all the long-legged
waders found as far north as
Butterflies are insects belonging to the order lepidoptera
whose members differ from all other insects because they have scales over
all or most of their wings and body. Within the order, butterflies are
separated from moths due to their wing structure and behavior.
Moths are for the most part nocturnal whereas butterflies are active during the
day. At rest butterflies tend to hold the wings vertically over their
back and moths may fold or keep their wing extended. All butterflies have
knoblike clubs at the tips of the antennae, moths lack this feature. The
order lepidoptera is broken down into two superfamilies, true butterflies and skippers.
Skippers are stocky, compact, and hairy with short triangular wings. True
butterflies tend to have narrow bodies, long antennae and brightly colored,
full wings. From superfamilies butterflies are
then distinguished further to families, genera then specific species.
The Chippewa Indians named the adorable rodent chetmon
which eventually evolved to chipmunk. There are 21 species of
ground-dwelling, solitary, diurnal chipmunks in
Crickets,
grasshoppers and katydids
are famous for their chirping song in the late summer into fall. Combined
with the "song" of the cicadas evenings can be a deafening
cacophony of clicks and trills. All belong to the order orthoptera and all are champion
jumpers. They have powerful jumping legs as well as two sets of wings and
their hearing is acute. The life cycle is considered an incomplete
metamorphosis comprising of three stages; egg, nymph and adult. Molting
their exoskeletons as many as 15 times during their life, they grow but
otherwise change very little as they develop. Eggs hatch in the spring
and may take forty to sixty days to reach adulthood. Each species has a
distinct song or stridulation that the male uses to
attract females. Crickets create their song by rubbing their front wings
together. Grasshoppers move the bumps on their hind legs against their
front wings like pieces of sandpaper. Katydid males like to gather in
groups in the summer and sing throughout the day to attract females but
generally all are solitary types. But, and this is the stuff legends are
made of, if they become crowded and their food sources diminish, they gather in
huge swarms, migrating long distances to find a better place to feed and breed
often traveling hundreds of miles. Individually all these bugs will eat
their own weight in plant material in a day; a swarm devours all plants, fruits
and flowers within hours. Certainly we have all heard that crickets can
tell the temperature, andn fortunately they announce
it regularly. Count the number of chirps in 14 seconds,
add 40 and you have a very accurate estimate of the temp in Farenheit.
The American Crow is considered to be one of the most intelligent birds
and it is one of the most widespread. They feed on carrion, garbage,
insects, worms, invertebrates, eggs, nestling, small reptiles, grain, fruit, suet... basically anything edible. Relative to ravens,
jays and magpies this is the black bird of songs and nursery
rhymes. They enjoy the company of their own kind and will congregate in
huge community roosts where there is much raucous cawing before they settle for
the night. In early spring, the flocks break up and pairs begin the
business of nest building, preferring tall evergreens with concealing
branches. The nest itself is a course affair built of sticks and twigs,
comfortably lined with strips of soft bark, straw, hair, moss and fine
roots. The female lays 4-8 eggs which may be bluish green, spotted or
blotched irregularly. Eggs are rather large, 1 1/2" long, with the
female doing most of the sitting while the male brings dinner in. Growing
19 to 21" a crow knows little fear except owl and man. They are
smart and have the ability to learn and mimic the human voice. A flock of
crows will post a sentinel to give signal when danger approaches.
When fish spawn it is a frenzied activity that takes place early till
mid morning, daily for a week or so. Females full of ripe eggs are hotly
pursued by a gang of males into the nooks and crannies of the pond's
edge. The eggs are deposited and then the swarm of
males fight for the honor to fertilize the eggs, often to the peril of the
female. Later in the day the fish feed on the eggs but plenty survive to
compete for life within the pond community. Examining the eggs, eyes are
visible on day 2 of gestation and fry are hatched after four days. At
each stage they are a food source for the general pond population and
visitors. The list of predators at any
given stage of development is impressive and answers Mother Nature's reason for
the gazillion eggs necessary for a handful to survive. Complicate matters
by adding the human touch with pond filters and water condition, plant cover
and pond depth and current, many eggs never become viable. Species that
dine, whether under the cloak of darkness or by light of day are snakes, toads,
frogs, ducks, turtles, salamanders, larvae of beetles and dragonfly, worms,
crustaceans, underwater spiders, marsh hawks, herons, raccoons, and
muskrats. All of which find your pond fish a wonderful part of their diet
depending on size.
The Canada goose is the most widespread of North American waterfoul, whoops, waterfowl. "Honkers" eat
mainly grasses, sprouting crops, mollusks and crustaceans. Their nest is
a pile of vegetation gathered by the female, usually near water and close to
other nesters of their kind. They lay on brood per season, 4-6 large,
white eggs and incubation is by the female for 25-28 days. They mate for
life in their third spring, but remate if their
partner dies. Often seen in flocks of thousands, it is the strongest male
who leads the way, breaking the air for others behind. Mostly we are
plagued with locals who only seem to move from one spot to the next in a
limited area. Once close to endangered protected breeding brought the
Canadian goose back with a vengence.
Once called the sparrow hawk, the American kestrel is the most
common member of the falcon family. They are easily recognized by
their hunting habits of hovering above on an updraft, or sitting on a wire
searching for prey. Once spotted they will swoop down and take a small
bird, rodent, reptile or frog with their talons, but generally during times of
plenty, large insects. This marauder will indeed visit bird feeders but
not for seed. The kestrel has a rust-colored back and tail, pointed wings
and white underparts. Once spotted there is no
mistaking this for anything other than a meat eater.
The kestrel nests in tree cavities and nest boxes and claims a home range of
250 acres and defends his territory with vigor. Jays can be counted on
for sounding the alarm that a kestrel is in the area.
The opossum is prehistoric, while dinosaurs and mammoths perished , this critter remains relatively unchanged, laying
claim to the smallest brain and at the bottom of the IQ range if compared to
similarly sized species. A solitary creature possessing no social skills,
there is no courtship rituals if a male scents a female in heat they
mate. Transient, therefore no interesting nests to report, any old place
will do, and they have adapted very well to urban sprawl. Will feed on anything and everything scavenging dinner from
delectable roadkill, berries, corn, fruits and
insects. Slow moving with too short legs and nocturnal eyesight is
generously described as myopic, the hearing senses nothing special. A
plus is a long coat that can look well groomed but often is wind blown, dirty
and unkempt. Weight and height comparable to a
household cat. A distinctive grin with more than 50 sharply
pointed teeth, more than any other mammal in
The great horned owl is one of the most powerful of all North American
birds. Preeminently they are birds of twilight and darkness, when most
birds are flying swiftly to their roost the owl is galvanizing themselves to action. Owls have the most frontally
situated eyes of all birds which narrows their field of vision, but owls are
particularly well equipped to make use of whatever light is available, and can
detect and approach objects in conditions of illumination that far exceed most
mammals by 35 times and 100 times better than our own! Their hearing is
just as acute as their eyesight. When a mouse first rustles some leaves
the owl turns its head toward the prey to orientate location. Many
nocturnal rodents have miserable sight, their power of hearing adequately
compensates for survival. Owls have silent flight as they are endowed
with generously proportioned wings supporting body weight over a low wing load
enabling an easy glide at low speed through woods. And
owls can actually out climb a swift flying peregrine falcon. The
wing structure also aids maneuverability, an important asset in habitats
crisscrossed by twigs and branches. The weight and body of an owl is
relatively small; it is the feathers, their construction and arrangement giving
an illusion of bulk and weight. Prey of the great horned owls consists of
other birds, small mammals ranging from shrews to rabbits and occasionally
fish. They take the prey whole often crushing the skull. Owl
pellets are used to monitor changes that may be taking place in the small
mammal community in the owl's hunting area. Pellets may be dissected by
soaking in warm water then separated on paper using tweezers,
a good lens is useful in identifying the remains. They will nest in large
aboandoned nests of squirrels and crows and they will
take to an open ended nest box at least 15 feet from the ground. They lay
1-3 white eggs. Incubation is by both parents, January through June.
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