While cleaning up your yard during late summer, consider building a simple butterfly log to help hibernating visitors.
The top layer protects hibernating butterflies from rain and snow. The thinner the logs the more cavities there are to attract wintering butterflies.
Put the log pile in the shade. Plant nectar shrubs close to it this fall. If you already have the nectar producing plants, place the winter pile close to them.
All butterflies have to have shelter from rain, snow, wind and other weather elements. Also, they require a safe place to roost at night.
By constructing a butterfly log pile, you are giving butterflies a helping hand in your own back-yard.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Interesting butterfly facts
*** Butterflies visit sunny areas more often than shaded gardens. Create a sunny, butterfly corner in your garden.
*** Butterflies warm the muscles in their wings in sun before they fly every morning.
*** Two of the most serious threats to butterflies is wind and man. Create a windbreak in your garden for your butterflies.
*** Butterflies use mud-puddles like birds use bird baths. Keep a mud-puddle in your backyard for butterflies. Robins will visit it also to get mud for their nets.
*** Leave a weed border in an inconspicuous spot so butterflies will have natural weeds to feed and raise their young on. A perfectly groomed lawn is a "turn off" to butterflies.
*** Butterfly predators include: man, lizards, birds, snakes, spiders, and other insects.
*** Caterpillars are susceptible to viral, bacterial and fungal diseases.
*** The cabbage butterfly is an introduced species from Europe, 1860. Some people consider it a nuisance because it feeds on leafy, garden vegetables. It is difficult to not appreciate its delicate, almost transparent beauty!
*** As a caterpillar, the native Eastern black swallowtail is considered by many to be a pest.
*** Some butterfly larvae absorb toxins from the plants they feed on and become very distasteful to predators.
*** If not interrupted by winter dormancy, the entire butterfly metamorphic process spanning the time period of from egg to adult, requires some four to five weeks to totally complete.
*** Each completed life cycle is called a brood. Many butterflies complete three or more broods every year from spring through fall.
*** On the average, butterflies live only a few weeks. Monarchs live some six or more months. The migratory butterflies like the Monarch have longer life spans.
*** The mourning cloak, spring's earliest butterfly, is non-migratory, but lives some six or so months.
*** Migrating brood monarchs fly some 2,000 miles from Canada to winter ground in Mexico. They ride northeasterly winds and move great distances without expending very much energy. They can literally float on the winds.
*** Monarchs wintering in Mexico do not make the return trip in the Spring. Successive broods move northward until they once again re-populate ancestral ranges.
*** Don't cut down that stand of Queen Anne's Lace. Butterflies use it to lay eggs on, and larvae feed on it.
*** Some butterflies are very fond of verbena, vetch and lantana. Plant some, you'll enjoy it also. It is very colorful.
*** Habit destruction especially in the Florida Keys and Everglades and in many parts of California is the main destructive forces costing butterflies their lives.
Helping butterflies in our back yards, helps bring out the best in us while helping a beautiful insect survive in a often hostile world.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
*** Butterflies warm the muscles in their wings in sun before they fly every morning.
*** Two of the most serious threats to butterflies is wind and man. Create a windbreak in your garden for your butterflies.
*** Butterflies use mud-puddles like birds use bird baths. Keep a mud-puddle in your backyard for butterflies. Robins will visit it also to get mud for their nets.
*** Leave a weed border in an inconspicuous spot so butterflies will have natural weeds to feed and raise their young on. A perfectly groomed lawn is a "turn off" to butterflies.
*** Butterfly predators include: man, lizards, birds, snakes, spiders, and other insects.
*** Caterpillars are susceptible to viral, bacterial and fungal diseases.
*** The cabbage butterfly is an introduced species from Europe, 1860. Some people consider it a nuisance because it feeds on leafy, garden vegetables. It is difficult to not appreciate its delicate, almost transparent beauty!
*** As a caterpillar, the native Eastern black swallowtail is considered by many to be a pest.
*** Some butterfly larvae absorb toxins from the plants they feed on and become very distasteful to predators.
*** If not interrupted by winter dormancy, the entire butterfly metamorphic process spanning the time period of from egg to adult, requires some four to five weeks to totally complete.
*** Each completed life cycle is called a brood. Many butterflies complete three or more broods every year from spring through fall.
*** On the average, butterflies live only a few weeks. Monarchs live some six or more months. The migratory butterflies like the Monarch have longer life spans.
*** The mourning cloak, spring's earliest butterfly, is non-migratory, but lives some six or so months.
*** Migrating brood monarchs fly some 2,000 miles from Canada to winter ground in Mexico. They ride northeasterly winds and move great distances without expending very much energy. They can literally float on the winds.
*** Monarchs wintering in Mexico do not make the return trip in the Spring. Successive broods move northward until they once again re-populate ancestral ranges.
*** Don't cut down that stand of Queen Anne's Lace. Butterflies use it to lay eggs on, and larvae feed on it.
*** Some butterflies are very fond of verbena, vetch and lantana. Plant some, you'll enjoy it also. It is very colorful.
*** Habit destruction especially in the Florida Keys and Everglades and in many parts of California is the main destructive forces costing butterflies their lives.
Helping butterflies in our back yards, helps bring out the best in us while helping a beautiful insect survive in a often hostile world.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Summer Butterflies
Butterflies occupy a unique place in the chain of insect life. They also add a lot of beauty and pleasure to the wildlife lover's life.
Appreciating a creature's beauty is no longer enough to help it maintain its place in nature. Knowing how it lives helps man realize how important it is to make sure each species survives the ultra modern world.
There are four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. There are the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis (pupa), and adult. When you observe these changes up close, you will see they are fascinating. Metamorphosis is the scientific name for a butterfly's complete seasonal change.
Female butterflies lay eggs only on plants that provide nourishment to her offspring. A butterfly's feet are unique and are the chief tool used to locate the right host plants on which eggs will be laid. A butterfly's feet scratch a plant's leaves and receptors located on the bottom of the feet taste the plant to identify it as a correct host.
Butterflies lay single eggs and clusters of eggs. Many do not survive hungry predators. A caterpillar emerges from the egg. It feeds almost constantly and sheds its skin several times before forming a chrysalis. Butterfly silk is spun to form a supportive protection for the chrysalis.
During the chrysalis stage of butterfly development rest is the order of the period. The chrysalis is usually camouflaged and may resemble leaves, stems or wood.
When a butterfly reaches an adult stage, the chrysalis splits open and a beautiful fully formed butterfly emerges. It rests on a leaf as blood is pumped into its fragile wings. Before taking off on its maiden flight, the wings must be completely dry and have hardened.
A caterpillar munches its way through leaf after leaf. This is not true of the adult butterfly. It drinks nectar and other nutrients. The straw-like proboscis is the tool used to intake nectar.
Butterflies must maintain a body temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit to fly. You will often find them sunning lazily moving their wings. They are soaking up sun to increase their body temperature.
Many butterflies live only a few short weeks. However, some species live several months. The Monarch survives to migrate north and south. However, a Monarch does not survive to make both the north and south migration in one year. After flying south, it breeds on the way back and the offspring
complete the migration.
The Monarch usually chooses the milkweed plant as its egg host. Meadows with milkweed growing are favorite breeding grounds. Eating the milkweed plant makes the Monarch poisonous food for predators. The Cloudless Sulfur butterfly likes partridge peas, clovers, and other legumes as host plants for egg laying. This butterfly is found in the southern states close to open spaces, gardens and along seashores.
The most help that you can give all species of butterflies is to plant flowers that they enjoy for egg laying and for nutrition. Do not use deadly chemicals that prove fatal to these fragile flying flowers. Remember, adult butterflies enjoy nectar producing plants where caterpillars enjoy leaves, leaves and more leaves.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Appreciating a creature's beauty is no longer enough to help it maintain its place in nature. Knowing how it lives helps man realize how important it is to make sure each species survives the ultra modern world.
There are four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. There are the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis (pupa), and adult. When you observe these changes up close, you will see they are fascinating. Metamorphosis is the scientific name for a butterfly's complete seasonal change.
Female butterflies lay eggs only on plants that provide nourishment to her offspring. A butterfly's feet are unique and are the chief tool used to locate the right host plants on which eggs will be laid. A butterfly's feet scratch a plant's leaves and receptors located on the bottom of the feet taste the plant to identify it as a correct host.
Butterflies lay single eggs and clusters of eggs. Many do not survive hungry predators. A caterpillar emerges from the egg. It feeds almost constantly and sheds its skin several times before forming a chrysalis. Butterfly silk is spun to form a supportive protection for the chrysalis.
During the chrysalis stage of butterfly development rest is the order of the period. The chrysalis is usually camouflaged and may resemble leaves, stems or wood.
When a butterfly reaches an adult stage, the chrysalis splits open and a beautiful fully formed butterfly emerges. It rests on a leaf as blood is pumped into its fragile wings. Before taking off on its maiden flight, the wings must be completely dry and have hardened.
A caterpillar munches its way through leaf after leaf. This is not true of the adult butterfly. It drinks nectar and other nutrients. The straw-like proboscis is the tool used to intake nectar.
Butterflies must maintain a body temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit to fly. You will often find them sunning lazily moving their wings. They are soaking up sun to increase their body temperature.
Many butterflies live only a few short weeks. However, some species live several months. The Monarch survives to migrate north and south. However, a Monarch does not survive to make both the north and south migration in one year. After flying south, it breeds on the way back and the offspring
complete the migration.
The Monarch usually chooses the milkweed plant as its egg host. Meadows with milkweed growing are favorite breeding grounds. Eating the milkweed plant makes the Monarch poisonous food for predators. The Cloudless Sulfur butterfly likes partridge peas, clovers, and other legumes as host plants for egg laying. This butterfly is found in the southern states close to open spaces, gardens and along seashores.
The most help that you can give all species of butterflies is to plant flowers that they enjoy for egg laying and for nutrition. Do not use deadly chemicals that prove fatal to these fragile flying flowers. Remember, adult butterflies enjoy nectar producing plants where caterpillars enjoy leaves, leaves and more leaves.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Butterfly hibernating box
With the loss of so much natural habitat, non-migrating butterflies like the mourning cloak can be helped with man-made shelters.
This is an excellent summer time project to have ready for fall positioning.
Some butterflies hibernate in the winter in all parts of North America. The mourning cloak spends the winter in many regions, the question mark and comma in the east, and the satyr anglewing in the west.
You can provide thes e and others with a suitable hibernating spot in your back yard. All you need is rectangular wooden box - probably cedar is the best - with narrow vertical holes cut into it. These are for the butterflies to enter and leave.
Place long strips of bark inside the house. The bark gives butterflies something to hang onto while hibernating.
Many home improvement places and garden centers sell butterfly hibernating boxes.
Always place a butterfly hibernation box in the shade as the occupants will not overheat. Also, place it close to nectar producing shrubs and flowers.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
This is an excellent summer time project to have ready for fall positioning.
Some butterflies hibernate in the winter in all parts of North America. The mourning cloak spends the winter in many regions, the question mark and comma in the east, and the satyr anglewing in the west.
You can provide thes e and others with a suitable hibernating spot in your back yard. All you need is rectangular wooden box - probably cedar is the best - with narrow vertical holes cut into it. These are for the butterflies to enter and leave.
Place long strips of bark inside the house. The bark gives butterflies something to hang onto while hibernating.
Many home improvement places and garden centers sell butterfly hibernating boxes.
Always place a butterfly hibernation box in the shade as the occupants will not overheat. Also, place it close to nectar producing shrubs and flowers.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Replacing a dove nest
It isn't unusual for a dove nest with babies to be blown out of a tree during a wind storm. Most doves cross a few sticks loosely held together and call it finished.
Place the baby doves in a box with a heating pad under the box cushioned with a folded towel. Set the heating pad on low. If a heating pad isn't available, secure the baby doves in a container and place it where it will be shielded from the elements.
Materials:
***12-inch square of 1/4 or 1/2-inch wire screen.
Cut a 12 inch circle.
Then cut a 2 1/2-inch pie-shaped wedge from the circle, and discard it. Pull the circle into the shape of a cone. Over lap the edges and wire them together.
Secure the nest basket close to the crotch of a tree limb from eight to 16 feet above the ground.
Replace the baby doves and watch from a safe distance. The parents should return quickly to feed and shelter them.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Place the baby doves in a box with a heating pad under the box cushioned with a folded towel. Set the heating pad on low. If a heating pad isn't available, secure the baby doves in a container and place it where it will be shielded from the elements.
Materials:
***12-inch square of 1/4 or 1/2-inch wire screen.
Cut a 12 inch circle.
Then cut a 2 1/2-inch pie-shaped wedge from the circle, and discard it. Pull the circle into the shape of a cone. Over lap the edges and wire them together.
Secure the nest basket close to the crotch of a tree limb from eight to 16 feet above the ground.
Replace the baby doves and watch from a safe distance. The parents should return quickly to feed and shelter them.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
May Brings Abundance in Nature
Whatever Mother Nature does, she does it with all her heart. She
dishes out recovery with blooms and new leaves, songbirds, butterflies,
and bees.
The mountaintop reeled under the devastation of the Easter weekend freeze. The Quantum Cherry tree is still struggling to put on new leaves as if the star magnolia. There aren't enough leaves to provide a canopy for the tender pot plants from the greenhouse. I fear the Clendendron trees, one of all time favorites, are dead. There is no sign of life after six weeks since the freeze. They were not only my favorites, but butterflies covered them from the time they bloomed until fall. The oldest stood 30 feet tall, and provided shade for the Pilgrim geese during the heat of summer. Their demise is much like losing an old friend on the mountaintop.
A few of the Iris are showing buds, and the late blooming peonies are opening. What a luxury to have flowers in bloom again. Spring without blooms is hard to imagine, after waiting months through winter for them to arrive. Some of the lilies are nodding in the warm spring breezes with heads full of buds. Others did not show buds this year.
The laurel is in bloom, and it is a welcome escort down the mountain each morning. Bees are back out and humming, and at evening the whippoorwills call. Although it is past mid-May, it seems that is was March only yesterday. Every year we worry about if spring is early or late, and we fear for plants, blooms and buds. But the plants don ' t
forget, because their memory is not like ours. Plants have a fundamental memory, a response to the rhythms of time. It is part of the order that keeps days and nights, season and years in their immutable sequence.
The scarlet tanager has found the mountaintop again. Some call it a black-winged redbird or firebird. Nobody ever forgets the scarlet tanager, once one visits. Beside the tanager, the cardinal' s deep red seems a bit dull. Only the males are clothed in the vivid red, and then only in the spring and summer. The females have yellowish
olive-green feathers. Her wings are a brownish-gray. When winter approaches the male tanager will look much like the female.
May' s air holds the golden dust that sends many humans hurrying for the tissue box. The air itself is dusted with the substance of life, the pollen crop of the trees. The hickories, oaks, walnuts, and all the conifers spread clouds of sulphur-yellow pollen. It is one of the
oldest fertility rites on earth. Some of the pollen reaches the female flowers and produce the seeds that keep the planet green. It will be over soon, and red noses and eyes will be able to return to normal.
The day begins early now. At first light, the birds begin to celebrate the dawn. The dawn chorus swells into a full cathedral choir by 7 a.m. No one complains that May is a noisy month.
Wisps of silver mist still hug the hollows with memories of midnight coolness at daybreak. The busyness of the day hasn' t intruded yet.
You can hear the breeze whispering through the treetops. The sunrise is the day's beginnings. Perhaps that is what the birds are celebrating. Those who know another dimension of time can, for a little while, participate in genesis itself.
June bugs are already on the back walk. They are blundering beetles
that appear at dusk and linger well into the dark.
Fawns are beginning to appear in the woods. Leave them where you find them. A fawn lacks scent and with their dappled coloring, they are well camouflaged, and usually remain safe from predators. The doe returns to the fawn several times a day to nurse it and clean it. Staying only a few minutes each time, she leaves again to seek food. Most
fawns do not do well in captivity. Leave nature where you find it.
Bees are in serious trouble in the Valley. They are suffering "bee hive collapse." The bees leave the hive in search of nectar and pollen, and never return. This is drastic, because man depends on bees to pollinate crops to produce food. Man cannot replicate what the bees do. There is no substitute for trillions and trillions of honeybees
worldwide, pollinating hundreds of thousands of square miles. If
honeybees become extinct, man may not be far behind. Mites and pollution, including pesticides, had already compromised bees and now a new plague has struck.
"We don't know what is causing the hives to collapse," Edd Buchanan, master beekeeper says," We are meeting and we are studying, but we simply don't know yet."
Researchers have decided to call the latest bee plague "colony collapse disorder." A Cornell University study estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, which includes fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
"Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee
to pollinate that food," Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation, said.
Some beekeepers on the east coast report losses of more than 70 percent of their hives. Beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the off-season normal. Colony Collapse Disorder is not just a United States problem. It is occurring in Spain and Poland as well.
With global warming threatening many species, and now bees seriously endangered, it may be later than we think.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
dishes out recovery with blooms and new leaves, songbirds, butterflies,
and bees.
The mountaintop reeled under the devastation of the Easter weekend freeze. The Quantum Cherry tree is still struggling to put on new leaves as if the star magnolia. There aren't enough leaves to provide a canopy for the tender pot plants from the greenhouse. I fear the Clendendron trees, one of all time favorites, are dead. There is no sign of life after six weeks since the freeze. They were not only my favorites, but butterflies covered them from the time they bloomed until fall. The oldest stood 30 feet tall, and provided shade for the Pilgrim geese during the heat of summer. Their demise is much like losing an old friend on the mountaintop.
A few of the Iris are showing buds, and the late blooming peonies are opening. What a luxury to have flowers in bloom again. Spring without blooms is hard to imagine, after waiting months through winter for them to arrive. Some of the lilies are nodding in the warm spring breezes with heads full of buds. Others did not show buds this year.
The laurel is in bloom, and it is a welcome escort down the mountain each morning. Bees are back out and humming, and at evening the whippoorwills call. Although it is past mid-May, it seems that is was March only yesterday. Every year we worry about if spring is early or late, and we fear for plants, blooms and buds. But the plants don ' t
forget, because their memory is not like ours. Plants have a fundamental memory, a response to the rhythms of time. It is part of the order that keeps days and nights, season and years in their immutable sequence.
The scarlet tanager has found the mountaintop again. Some call it a black-winged redbird or firebird. Nobody ever forgets the scarlet tanager, once one visits. Beside the tanager, the cardinal' s deep red seems a bit dull. Only the males are clothed in the vivid red, and then only in the spring and summer. The females have yellowish
olive-green feathers. Her wings are a brownish-gray. When winter approaches the male tanager will look much like the female.
May' s air holds the golden dust that sends many humans hurrying for the tissue box. The air itself is dusted with the substance of life, the pollen crop of the trees. The hickories, oaks, walnuts, and all the conifers spread clouds of sulphur-yellow pollen. It is one of the
oldest fertility rites on earth. Some of the pollen reaches the female flowers and produce the seeds that keep the planet green. It will be over soon, and red noses and eyes will be able to return to normal.
The day begins early now. At first light, the birds begin to celebrate the dawn. The dawn chorus swells into a full cathedral choir by 7 a.m. No one complains that May is a noisy month.
Wisps of silver mist still hug the hollows with memories of midnight coolness at daybreak. The busyness of the day hasn' t intruded yet.
You can hear the breeze whispering through the treetops. The sunrise is the day's beginnings. Perhaps that is what the birds are celebrating. Those who know another dimension of time can, for a little while, participate in genesis itself.
June bugs are already on the back walk. They are blundering beetles
that appear at dusk and linger well into the dark.
Fawns are beginning to appear in the woods. Leave them where you find them. A fawn lacks scent and with their dappled coloring, they are well camouflaged, and usually remain safe from predators. The doe returns to the fawn several times a day to nurse it and clean it. Staying only a few minutes each time, she leaves again to seek food. Most
fawns do not do well in captivity. Leave nature where you find it.
Bees are in serious trouble in the Valley. They are suffering "bee hive collapse." The bees leave the hive in search of nectar and pollen, and never return. This is drastic, because man depends on bees to pollinate crops to produce food. Man cannot replicate what the bees do. There is no substitute for trillions and trillions of honeybees
worldwide, pollinating hundreds of thousands of square miles. If
honeybees become extinct, man may not be far behind. Mites and pollution, including pesticides, had already compromised bees and now a new plague has struck.
"We don't know what is causing the hives to collapse," Edd Buchanan, master beekeeper says," We are meeting and we are studying, but we simply don't know yet."
Researchers have decided to call the latest bee plague "colony collapse disorder." A Cornell University study estimated that honeybees annually pollinate more than $14 billion worth of seeds and crops in the United States, which includes fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
"Every third bite we consume in our diet is dependent on a honeybee
to pollinate that food," Zac Browning, vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation, said.
Some beekeepers on the east coast report losses of more than 70 percent of their hives. Beekeepers consider a loss of up to 20 percent in the off-season normal. Colony Collapse Disorder is not just a United States problem. It is occurring in Spain and Poland as well.
With global warming threatening many species, and now bees seriously endangered, it may be later than we think.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Some birds enjoy air bathing
Game birds and sparrows enjoy a good wallow in dust to clean their feathers, while other birds enjoy a dip in a puddle or bird bath.
Sometimes you may catch a glimpse of a bird air bathing. The bird is stimulated to go through the motions of bathing while watching other birds in water.
The air-bathing bird goes through all the motions of taking a bath with no water. After taking the imaginary bath, the bird preens its feathers just as it would after a real bath.
Some behavior truly falls in the category of mind over matter.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Sometimes you may catch a glimpse of a bird air bathing. The bird is stimulated to go through the motions of bathing while watching other birds in water.
The air-bathing bird goes through all the motions of taking a bath with no water. After taking the imaginary bath, the bird preens its feathers just as it would after a real bath.
Some behavior truly falls in the category of mind over matter.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Bluebirds are an early summer favorite
Eastern and western bluebirds are among the most favorite of spring songbirds.
Populations have made great strides in stabilizing since the species almost became extinct. The eastern bluebird can be found in hardwoods and grasslands mainly in rural settings. Grassy areas like meadows, pastures, roadsides, yards, rights-of-way, and farmlands attract the gentle bird. The more open grassy areas provide foraging habitat. Nearby trees are used for perching and nesting sites. The largest threat to the bluebirds' future is the continued loss of nesting area.
Landowners are important in the struggle in keeping bluebird populations stable. Keep the snags or dying trees rather than destroying them. They provide cavities for nesting.
Approximately two-thirds of the diet of an adult eastern bluebird is made up of insects and other invertebrates. The remainder of the diet comes from seasonal fruits. Favorite insect foods include crickets, katydids, beetles and grasshoppers. The birds also enjoy spiders, earthworms, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs and small snails. When insects are scarce, fruits become very important.
During the winter months, eastern bluebirds consume dogwood berries, hawthorn berries,wild grapes, hackberry seeds and sumac. Supplemental fruits include blackberries, honeysuckle and bayberries. Virginia creeper, red cedar and pokeberries are enjoyed. The availability of winter foods often determines whether bluebirds migrate or stay. If they decide to stay in a region, they gather in flocks and seek cover in orchards, and heavy thickets. A brush pile is a delight for bluebirds.
Bluebirds feed by sitting prey from high perches. They swoop down to catch insects on the ground.
The eastern bluebird's winter and summer ranges differ primarily in how far south the bird reaches. Eastern bluebirds nest from southern Saskatchewan, east across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, south to southern Florida, and south from eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains from Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and the Dakotas south to Texas. Bluebirds winter in the middle parts of eastern North America south into Mexico, the Gulf coast, and southern Florida. Populations have also been found in southeast
Arizona and south into Nicaragua.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Populations have made great strides in stabilizing since the species almost became extinct. The eastern bluebird can be found in hardwoods and grasslands mainly in rural settings. Grassy areas like meadows, pastures, roadsides, yards, rights-of-way, and farmlands attract the gentle bird. The more open grassy areas provide foraging habitat. Nearby trees are used for perching and nesting sites. The largest threat to the bluebirds' future is the continued loss of nesting area.
Landowners are important in the struggle in keeping bluebird populations stable. Keep the snags or dying trees rather than destroying them. They provide cavities for nesting.
Approximately two-thirds of the diet of an adult eastern bluebird is made up of insects and other invertebrates. The remainder of the diet comes from seasonal fruits. Favorite insect foods include crickets, katydids, beetles and grasshoppers. The birds also enjoy spiders, earthworms, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs and small snails. When insects are scarce, fruits become very important.
During the winter months, eastern bluebirds consume dogwood berries, hawthorn berries,wild grapes, hackberry seeds and sumac. Supplemental fruits include blackberries, honeysuckle and bayberries. Virginia creeper, red cedar and pokeberries are enjoyed. The availability of winter foods often determines whether bluebirds migrate or stay. If they decide to stay in a region, they gather in flocks and seek cover in orchards, and heavy thickets. A brush pile is a delight for bluebirds.
Bluebirds feed by sitting prey from high perches. They swoop down to catch insects on the ground.
The eastern bluebird's winter and summer ranges differ primarily in how far south the bird reaches. Eastern bluebirds nest from southern Saskatchewan, east across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, south to southern Florida, and south from eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains from Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and the Dakotas south to Texas. Bluebirds winter in the middle parts of eastern North America south into Mexico, the Gulf coast, and southern Florida. Populations have also been found in southeast
Arizona and south into Nicaragua.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Did You Know? (Crow facts)
*** Crows show strong group loyalty. Despite man's hunger to always expand taking more and more habitat. This bird has not only survived but thrived.
*** Crows incubate their eggs for 18 days. Within five weeks the baby crows are able to fly.
*** A crow can eat almost anything. Diet includes grains, insects, eggs, fruit, even carrion. Rarely do crows face a food shortage because they are so adaptable.
*** A crow gives up flock loyalty during nesting season. Attention is transferred to the female. Researchers believe that they mate for life and are model wildlife parents. A mate knows where the other is at all times. Even in flight, a slower mate is waited for so that the two can fly as a team.
*** During nesting the male provides the female with food. When the eggs hatch, the pair provides their offspring with a minimum of eight full meals every day.
*** Crows have very rapid digestive systems. This accounts for them being able to eat large quantities of food even when they are babies.
*** The raven and crow are two different birds. The raven is larger and remains in northern regions throughout severe winters.
*** A crow, like a parrot, can learn to repeat words and even long phrases. This indicates a high degree of intelligence. It can associate words with meaning. Also, the crow responds to commands.
*** The crow is a scavenger and hunts along the sides of roads.
*** Crows warn each other of danger.
*** Crows build large basket type nests of sticks, bark, fur, leaves, and whatever else they can find that attracts their attention. Yearlings often help.
*** Scarecrows are useless in discouraging crows from raiding the garden.
*** Researchers have succeeded in distinguishing some 300 different crow calls. Five different crow calls have been distinguished to refer to different kinds of danger.
*** Crows dislike hawks and owls and chase them when the opportunity arises.
*** The crow's ability to learn new behaviors in a changing environment is one of the reasons they are as common as they are.
*** Crows have forward pointing bristles which cover their nostrils. This aids in preventing bacteria from entering their bodies when they feed on carrion.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
*** Crows incubate their eggs for 18 days. Within five weeks the baby crows are able to fly.
*** A crow can eat almost anything. Diet includes grains, insects, eggs, fruit, even carrion. Rarely do crows face a food shortage because they are so adaptable.
*** A crow gives up flock loyalty during nesting season. Attention is transferred to the female. Researchers believe that they mate for life and are model wildlife parents. A mate knows where the other is at all times. Even in flight, a slower mate is waited for so that the two can fly as a team.
*** During nesting the male provides the female with food. When the eggs hatch, the pair provides their offspring with a minimum of eight full meals every day.
*** Crows have very rapid digestive systems. This accounts for them being able to eat large quantities of food even when they are babies.
*** The raven and crow are two different birds. The raven is larger and remains in northern regions throughout severe winters.
*** A crow, like a parrot, can learn to repeat words and even long phrases. This indicates a high degree of intelligence. It can associate words with meaning. Also, the crow responds to commands.
*** The crow is a scavenger and hunts along the sides of roads.
*** Crows warn each other of danger.
*** Crows build large basket type nests of sticks, bark, fur, leaves, and whatever else they can find that attracts their attention. Yearlings often help.
*** Scarecrows are useless in discouraging crows from raiding the garden.
*** Researchers have succeeded in distinguishing some 300 different crow calls. Five different crow calls have been distinguished to refer to different kinds of danger.
*** Crows dislike hawks and owls and chase them when the opportunity arises.
*** The crow's ability to learn new behaviors in a changing environment is one of the reasons they are as common as they are.
*** Crows have forward pointing bristles which cover their nostrils. This aids in preventing bacteria from entering their bodies when they feed on carrion.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Offering nesting materials to songbirds makes life easier for them
Birds can find nesting materials without our help, but having them readily available entices birds to nest in favorite backyards.
Place the nesting materials where birds can see them easily. Place nesting materials on shrubs, over a clothesline or in a suet basket and hang from a tree branch. Never place nesting materials in a nest box. Birds might think it was already occupied.
What to offer birds?
String that is no longer than 4"
Yarn that is no longer than 4"
Small rope no longer than 4"
Soft cloth pieces
Upholstery stuffing
Scraps of fur
Recently shed or combed pet hair
Cotton
Sphagnum moss
Clean Poultry feathers
Dried grasses
Healthy human hair
Pieces of wool
Soft bristles from old paint brushes
Do not offer terry cloth because of the possibility of birds getting their feet entangled in the strings. Also, yarns, strings, threads and ropes longer than 4" can be hazardous, because birds can entangle their delicate feet. Pet hair is a favorite as are poultry feathers because they contain enough natural oils to help a bird's nest repel water.
Food crop of berries for next years friends. Another 20 fall through early winter berry bearing bushes feed wildlife naturally.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Place the nesting materials where birds can see them easily. Place nesting materials on shrubs, over a clothesline or in a suet basket and hang from a tree branch. Never place nesting materials in a nest box. Birds might think it was already occupied.
What to offer birds?
String that is no longer than 4"
Yarn that is no longer than 4"
Small rope no longer than 4"
Soft cloth pieces
Upholstery stuffing
Scraps of fur
Recently shed or combed pet hair
Cotton
Sphagnum moss
Clean Poultry feathers
Dried grasses
Healthy human hair
Pieces of wool
Soft bristles from old paint brushes
Do not offer terry cloth because of the possibility of birds getting their feet entangled in the strings. Also, yarns, strings, threads and ropes longer than 4" can be hazardous, because birds can entangle their delicate feet. Pet hair is a favorite as are poultry feathers because they contain enough natural oils to help a bird's nest repel water.
Food crop of berries for next years friends. Another 20 fall through early winter berry bearing bushes feed wildlife naturally.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Spring has Sprung
Spring has Sprung
Spring has taken her rightful position as queen of the season only yesterday. Winter will tease spring several times during the next few weeks until the cold winds are blown out for another season.
Spring will not be deterred, thank the power that steers the universe. Whether is has been a cold, snowy winter, or a mild one, spring renews man's spirits, as it has for eons. Our ancestors surely crawled out of the caves, shed their animal skin coverings, and warmed themselves in the sun. The feeling is still the same.
Man sheds his heavy winter coats, gloves, and toboggans and sweatshirts, and greets the sun enthusiastically every year.
Man is still awed by the magic of seeds sprouting. It is still somewhat magical to ponder how sap at the roots of trees and shrubs knows when to begin its methodical movement upward toward leaf buds. Last weekend I pushed the leaves away from a portion of the lily bed, and surprised budding plants and myself. It is time that they were pushing through the earth, but finding them working, as they should be is always a pleasant early spring surprise. They have lay dormant for months, and now are working hard to put on an early
summer show that I wait for 11 months every year.
The early spring garden always brings my grandmother close to me again, as does the summer growing season. My fondest memories of her are in her kitchen creating delicacies for her family and preserving food for the worst of all winters to come. When she wasn't in the kitchen, she was in the garden prodding plants to produce for her kitchen. She knew flowers and vegetables like she knew her children and their children.
My grandmother had firm thoughts about daylight saving time. Her clock, the one that hung in the kitchen on the wall above her dough board table, always showed "God's time," and she didn't believe in setting it ahead or back.
The days are beginning to stretch in the morning and evening. Man earns his keep day to day, but those in tune with nature also live season to season. You sense the changing seasons most when you dig in the dirt.
Spending early years on a west Tennessee farm, tagging around after a German grandfather who spent his life farming, gave me a keen sense of what it meant to live season to season. The mind works with the season at hand, but ponders the season to follow.As I uncover plants beginning their spring growth cycle, my mind sees them in full bloom in early summer. It makes all the early spring gardening work well worth the aching back and sore muscles.
Regardless of how you feel about starlings being the one of the major pests of the western world, notice their brilliant yellow bills. They turn yellow as the breeding season approaches. The bill begins to change color at the base and the yellow spreads outward to the tip. The robin's bill is the same color in the springtime. It is signs of the season.
Purple martin houses need to be up and in place to receive the flocks coming in. Blue birds are already examining houses and choosing where they will nest this year. If you are putting up new houses, don't be discouraged if bluebirds decided to not nest in them this year. Sometimes it takes a season of looking,
examining, and then accepting them by the birds. All birdhouses should be cleaned and ready for use by the
time spring arrives.
In nature, spring is the season of reproduction. Wild turkeys are courting and will establish continue to gobble through April. Male red-winged blackbirds are arriving and setting up territories around area ponds. Mourning doves are beginning to pair and coo. Some doves will raise as many as five pairs of
offspring before next fall. The female lays only two eggs, and then begins to incubate them. Squirrels are already busy having their first babies of the year. Songbirds are singing and calling for mates. Nature has risen from the depths of darkness and cold again.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Spring has taken her rightful position as queen of the season only yesterday. Winter will tease spring several times during the next few weeks until the cold winds are blown out for another season.
Spring will not be deterred, thank the power that steers the universe. Whether is has been a cold, snowy winter, or a mild one, spring renews man's spirits, as it has for eons. Our ancestors surely crawled out of the caves, shed their animal skin coverings, and warmed themselves in the sun. The feeling is still the same.
Man sheds his heavy winter coats, gloves, and toboggans and sweatshirts, and greets the sun enthusiastically every year.
Man is still awed by the magic of seeds sprouting. It is still somewhat magical to ponder how sap at the roots of trees and shrubs knows when to begin its methodical movement upward toward leaf buds. Last weekend I pushed the leaves away from a portion of the lily bed, and surprised budding plants and myself. It is time that they were pushing through the earth, but finding them working, as they should be is always a pleasant early spring surprise. They have lay dormant for months, and now are working hard to put on an early
summer show that I wait for 11 months every year.
The early spring garden always brings my grandmother close to me again, as does the summer growing season. My fondest memories of her are in her kitchen creating delicacies for her family and preserving food for the worst of all winters to come. When she wasn't in the kitchen, she was in the garden prodding plants to produce for her kitchen. She knew flowers and vegetables like she knew her children and their children.
My grandmother had firm thoughts about daylight saving time. Her clock, the one that hung in the kitchen on the wall above her dough board table, always showed "God's time," and she didn't believe in setting it ahead or back.
The days are beginning to stretch in the morning and evening. Man earns his keep day to day, but those in tune with nature also live season to season. You sense the changing seasons most when you dig in the dirt.
Spending early years on a west Tennessee farm, tagging around after a German grandfather who spent his life farming, gave me a keen sense of what it meant to live season to season. The mind works with the season at hand, but ponders the season to follow.As I uncover plants beginning their spring growth cycle, my mind sees them in full bloom in early summer. It makes all the early spring gardening work well worth the aching back and sore muscles.
Regardless of how you feel about starlings being the one of the major pests of the western world, notice their brilliant yellow bills. They turn yellow as the breeding season approaches. The bill begins to change color at the base and the yellow spreads outward to the tip. The robin's bill is the same color in the springtime. It is signs of the season.
Purple martin houses need to be up and in place to receive the flocks coming in. Blue birds are already examining houses and choosing where they will nest this year. If you are putting up new houses, don't be discouraged if bluebirds decided to not nest in them this year. Sometimes it takes a season of looking,
examining, and then accepting them by the birds. All birdhouses should be cleaned and ready for use by the
time spring arrives.
In nature, spring is the season of reproduction. Wild turkeys are courting and will establish continue to gobble through April. Male red-winged blackbirds are arriving and setting up territories around area ponds. Mourning doves are beginning to pair and coo. Some doves will raise as many as five pairs of
offspring before next fall. The female lays only two eggs, and then begins to incubate them. Squirrels are already busy having their first babies of the year. Songbirds are singing and calling for mates. Nature has risen from the depths of darkness and cold again.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Bats See with Their Ears
Bats actually "see" prey with their ears. Through the somewhat complicated process of echolocation, a bat learns from echoes how big its prey is, how fast it is moving and in which direction it is going.
As a bat approaches its prey it increases the number of signals it produces fixing it precisely in the surrounding landscape.
A bat can detect prey, follow its protective evasive movements and catch in less than one second! Scientists blocked bats' ears, and found they crashed into objects while flying in the dark and were unable to catch prey.
The puzzle was unraveled in the 1930's when Harvard University researchers found that bats emitted high frequency sounds that bounced off objects and returned to the bats as echoes. Scientists labeled this ability as "echolocation."
Many bats cannot locate objects more than 10 to 15 feet away from them. Some species have to be closer than that.
Between the emission of a pulse signal and the reception of a returning echo, just six-one thousandths of a second passes.
A bat thinks very quickly in just under a second. It locates its prey, decides if it is edible, tracks the creature's evasive moves, and then catches it. All of this takes just one second. Once a bat locks onto to the exact location of an insect, it rarely escapes being caught. Some moths are able to pick up on the pulses of a bat and begin evasive moves, while others actually send out signals of their own that act as jamming devices to bats' echolocation.
While roosting bats make notices that are detectable by the human ear. We cannot hear the ultrasonic sounds of echolocation. Roosting bats peeps and squeals.
Other creatures that use ultrasonic sounds to help them survive include whales,dolphins, shrews, moths, grasshoppers, crickets and cicadas.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
As a bat approaches its prey it increases the number of signals it produces fixing it precisely in the surrounding landscape.
A bat can detect prey, follow its protective evasive movements and catch in less than one second! Scientists blocked bats' ears, and found they crashed into objects while flying in the dark and were unable to catch prey.
The puzzle was unraveled in the 1930's when Harvard University researchers found that bats emitted high frequency sounds that bounced off objects and returned to the bats as echoes. Scientists labeled this ability as "echolocation."
Many bats cannot locate objects more than 10 to 15 feet away from them. Some species have to be closer than that.
Between the emission of a pulse signal and the reception of a returning echo, just six-one thousandths of a second passes.
A bat thinks very quickly in just under a second. It locates its prey, decides if it is edible, tracks the creature's evasive moves, and then catches it. All of this takes just one second. Once a bat locks onto to the exact location of an insect, it rarely escapes being caught. Some moths are able to pick up on the pulses of a bat and begin evasive moves, while others actually send out signals of their own that act as jamming devices to bats' echolocation.
While roosting bats make notices that are detectable by the human ear. We cannot hear the ultrasonic sounds of echolocation. Roosting bats peeps and squeals.
Other creatures that use ultrasonic sounds to help them survive include whales,dolphins, shrews, moths, grasshoppers, crickets and cicadas.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
February is the most temperamental month of the year
February rushes into the year like an excited little girl with her first handful of valentines, proclaiming herself the best of the best. The month is the spoiled brat of the year, not being able to make up its mind whether it wants spring or winter.
In February, there are spring- like temperatures one day, and flying snow the next. For the Western North Carolina Mountains, snow in February is usually Gulf-driven, which means it falls heavy and wet with flakes as big as goose feathers. It is a month of early jonquils finally brave enough to blossom, and crocus blooms pushing through the earth. These early bloomers are determined to announce the approach of another spring, regardless of what wind chills rattle man's bones. February is more a phase in nature than a month.
It is hard to take February very seriously for long. She sulks, she beams, and she changes from one minute to the next. It is reassuring that February matures into March with mad, whirling winds when spring is no longer a drop in visitor, but a full time resident.
Groundhog Day on February 2 anchors the month in ancient lore. The whistle pig or woodchuck, better known as the groundhog, has pull in high places. It is the only animal to have a day named in its honor. Noself-respecting groundhog is up and about on February 2. It is one of the true hibernators in the mountains.
German immigrants, the Pennsylvania Dutch, brought the legend of the groundhog to America in the 18th Century. In Europe, they had regarded the badger as a spring barometer. According to legend the burrowing groundhog awakens on February 2, emerges, and if it sees its shadow, it will return to the burrow for six more weeks of winter. If it does not see its shadow, the whistle pig will remain outside and start
another year, bringing spring to the Valley. There has to be plenty of succulent green shoots for the rodent with a voracious appetite to munch on to tempt it to stay up.
Punxsutawney Phil, America's official groundhog that predicts the weather, lives in Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania. He is reputed to be more than 100 years old. Have many Phils have there been? No one in the know is confessing.
Gus is the official groundhog of the Asheville area. He lives at the Western Carolina Nature Center. Gus is as adept at predicting winter-spring weather as is Punxsutawney Phil. He is a cousin of the squirrel, but shy and reclusive. In the wild, it eats succulent green plants, like dandelions, clover and various grasses. They are literally tiny mowing machines. Gardeners are not fond of the groundhog. Early plants have little
chance of surviving the razor sharp teeth of the totally vegetarian.
February is a prime squirrel mating month. It is during these times that the squirrels are oblivious to car horns, cats and humans. They are caught up in the pandemonium of noisy mating romps through the trees.
It is just Mother Nature regenerating herself.
Notice how the winter wrens have added several notes to their brief calls. Just a week to 10 days ago, their calls were one note only. Hairy and downy woodpeckers have stepped up the drumming from last week.
They are insistent that potential mates hear them. Both the male and female woodpeckers drum to announce territory. They drum also to renew pair bonds. It won't be until the last part of March or early April thatthey will excavate cavities for nesting.
Male cardinals are beginning to sing fragments of their mating song. Both the male and female cardinal sing beautifully. Rabbits are beginning to strip bark from young fruit trees. Doves can be heard cooing every morning and evening. Titmice and song sparrows are beginning to sing as well as mockingbirds.
Flocks of robins have invaded the Valley. These majestic birds that man always associates with spring can sing for long stretches of time.
The rains have brought worms to the surface, and robins are feasting. Those that remain in the Valley throughout the winter live on berries. Nature is making promises and reassuring man of the vitality of life.
The light is noticeably changing now. It is the lengthening of days that triggers hormones in birds that cause them to sing, and begin to send out mating calls. February means sunrise by 6:30 a.m. for the first time since last November. The daylight hours are as long as they were in October. Its nights can be more cold than December's darkness.
The sun is noticeable swinging north. It is only about eight weeks until spring officially arrives, with nature's gate swinging shut on winter for another season. The full moon of February is called the owl moon.
Screech owls continue to trill, calling for mates. They will nest next month.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
In February, there are spring- like temperatures one day, and flying snow the next. For the Western North Carolina Mountains, snow in February is usually Gulf-driven, which means it falls heavy and wet with flakes as big as goose feathers. It is a month of early jonquils finally brave enough to blossom, and crocus blooms pushing through the earth. These early bloomers are determined to announce the approach of another spring, regardless of what wind chills rattle man's bones. February is more a phase in nature than a month.
It is hard to take February very seriously for long. She sulks, she beams, and she changes from one minute to the next. It is reassuring that February matures into March with mad, whirling winds when spring is no longer a drop in visitor, but a full time resident.
Groundhog Day on February 2 anchors the month in ancient lore. The whistle pig or woodchuck, better known as the groundhog, has pull in high places. It is the only animal to have a day named in its honor. Noself-respecting groundhog is up and about on February 2. It is one of the true hibernators in the mountains.
German immigrants, the Pennsylvania Dutch, brought the legend of the groundhog to America in the 18th Century. In Europe, they had regarded the badger as a spring barometer. According to legend the burrowing groundhog awakens on February 2, emerges, and if it sees its shadow, it will return to the burrow for six more weeks of winter. If it does not see its shadow, the whistle pig will remain outside and start
another year, bringing spring to the Valley. There has to be plenty of succulent green shoots for the rodent with a voracious appetite to munch on to tempt it to stay up.
Punxsutawney Phil, America's official groundhog that predicts the weather, lives in Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania. He is reputed to be more than 100 years old. Have many Phils have there been? No one in the know is confessing.
Gus is the official groundhog of the Asheville area. He lives at the Western Carolina Nature Center. Gus is as adept at predicting winter-spring weather as is Punxsutawney Phil. He is a cousin of the squirrel, but shy and reclusive. In the wild, it eats succulent green plants, like dandelions, clover and various grasses. They are literally tiny mowing machines. Gardeners are not fond of the groundhog. Early plants have little
chance of surviving the razor sharp teeth of the totally vegetarian.
February is a prime squirrel mating month. It is during these times that the squirrels are oblivious to car horns, cats and humans. They are caught up in the pandemonium of noisy mating romps through the trees.
It is just Mother Nature regenerating herself.
Notice how the winter wrens have added several notes to their brief calls. Just a week to 10 days ago, their calls were one note only. Hairy and downy woodpeckers have stepped up the drumming from last week.
They are insistent that potential mates hear them. Both the male and female woodpeckers drum to announce territory. They drum also to renew pair bonds. It won't be until the last part of March or early April thatthey will excavate cavities for nesting.
Male cardinals are beginning to sing fragments of their mating song. Both the male and female cardinal sing beautifully. Rabbits are beginning to strip bark from young fruit trees. Doves can be heard cooing every morning and evening. Titmice and song sparrows are beginning to sing as well as mockingbirds.
Flocks of robins have invaded the Valley. These majestic birds that man always associates with spring can sing for long stretches of time.
The rains have brought worms to the surface, and robins are feasting. Those that remain in the Valley throughout the winter live on berries. Nature is making promises and reassuring man of the vitality of life.
The light is noticeably changing now. It is the lengthening of days that triggers hormones in birds that cause them to sing, and begin to send out mating calls. February means sunrise by 6:30 a.m. for the first time since last November. The daylight hours are as long as they were in October. Its nights can be more cold than December's darkness.
The sun is noticeable swinging north. It is only about eight weeks until spring officially arrives, with nature's gate swinging shut on winter for another season. The full moon of February is called the owl moon.
Screech owls continue to trill, calling for mates. They will nest next month.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
Winter continues to tease the mountains
Winter continues to move in and out of the Valley flexing its seasonal muscle, and reminding man that its presence will be felt.
The jonquils that became confused and shot up blades at least six inches high, and some set buds, are delayed only. They will not be killed,unless winter moves in with a fury for weeks. They are hardy flowers determined to grace yards with their cherry blossoms every late winter and early spring.
The Lenten roses are especially pretty this year, and blooming only a couple of weeks earlier than usual. It seems every year; these unusual flowers are suddenly in bloom, adding charm to their particular corner
of the garden.
The jay, crows and titmice rule the bird feeding station currently. The jays are not bashful about criticizing slow moving humans who haven't put out the peanuts. The titmice and chickadees call for the suet early. Daybreak finds juncos on the ground cleaning up any left overs that have fallen from the feeders the day before that the ever hungry raccoons missed the night before.
From the number of hawks that have made their presence known lately, one wonders if they are congregating, making preparation for an early departure south, or maybe they are just hungry and have their vigilant eyes on the songbirds for a meal. The large red tails are year round residents, and they have not been among the evident hawks. Usually the crows route out the hawks and put them to moving, but occasionally one escapes the diving, screaming crow machines that are determined that a hawk will not stay
in their territory.
Winter wind is deadly as it gusts to more than 50 miles an hour on the mountaintop some nights. The wind has an elemental voice that roars through the night. It rattles the shutters and panes and whistles around the corners of the house. Wind is homeless, because it is forever on the move. If it seems to relax momentarily, it is merely gathering strength for the next blow. It thickens the ice in the ground drinkers, and it swirls even a small amount of snow, blowing it completely off the mountain at times. I try to remember what an old timer told me about mountain winds. "Remember girl. It is just winter blowing itself out."
January doesn't have just two faces like its mythological namesake, but 31. It seems different every day and night. It's temperament rangers from spring like frolicking to dead of winter huddling.There are some robins that refuse to migrate, weathering the ups and downs of January, feasting on overripe berries, and sunning themselves sober after a bout of mid-afternoon snacking. Most birds participate in eating too many too ripe
berries at times, as do raccoons and other animals, and suffer the consequences of the staggers and snoozes.
If you happen upon one of these creatures, leave it where you find it. Nature will take its course. However, if you have an outside cat that can find the bird, it may be best to pick it up, place it in a small box, and let it go when it has its wits about it. Never, never pick up a raccoon for any reason.
Pinecones are terrific barometers of what the humidity is like outside. On dry, sunny days, the cone opens widely. When the air is moist, the cone closes tightly. The fibers of the pinecone respond to the rise and fall of humidity, as do the leaves of the rhododendron open and close as temperature changes.
Deer seek the shelter of evergreen thickets to avoid the biting January wind. Also, they alter their behavior, slowing the loss of fat and protein energy reserves during severe weather. Their winter hair is thick and long, providing a comfortable winter coat by this time of the year. Their hair works much like a down comforter wrapped around the body.
Good-hearted wildlife lovers who feed deer may be doing more harm than good. What kills a deer when it is fed during the winter is an imbalance in the beneficial relationships that must exist between microorganisms in the rumenticulem compartment of their stomach. Rapid changes in diet produce digestive disruptions, which can prove fatal. It is likely that winter conditions in Western North Carolina will ever be severe enough to warrant supplemental deer feedings.
A brush pile is one of the most beneficial things the backyard wildlife lover can do for smaller critters. One provides escape places for small songbirds, and animals. Also, it gives shelter from winter's cold wind and snow. Even some butterflies choose to over winter in a brush pile.
A compost pile is a favorite of insects and wrens. The wrens love to explore and find insects in the pile. January is the height of mating season for fox. The fox bark is one you will never forget. They emit short triple barks or screams, communicating with one another. They look for suitable places to create a den for three to four cubs, which are born in March. The family group stays together throughout the summer,
breaking up in early fall.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
The jonquils that became confused and shot up blades at least six inches high, and some set buds, are delayed only. They will not be killed,unless winter moves in with a fury for weeks. They are hardy flowers determined to grace yards with their cherry blossoms every late winter and early spring.
The Lenten roses are especially pretty this year, and blooming only a couple of weeks earlier than usual. It seems every year; these unusual flowers are suddenly in bloom, adding charm to their particular corner
of the garden.
The jay, crows and titmice rule the bird feeding station currently. The jays are not bashful about criticizing slow moving humans who haven't put out the peanuts. The titmice and chickadees call for the suet early. Daybreak finds juncos on the ground cleaning up any left overs that have fallen from the feeders the day before that the ever hungry raccoons missed the night before.
From the number of hawks that have made their presence known lately, one wonders if they are congregating, making preparation for an early departure south, or maybe they are just hungry and have their vigilant eyes on the songbirds for a meal. The large red tails are year round residents, and they have not been among the evident hawks. Usually the crows route out the hawks and put them to moving, but occasionally one escapes the diving, screaming crow machines that are determined that a hawk will not stay
in their territory.
Winter wind is deadly as it gusts to more than 50 miles an hour on the mountaintop some nights. The wind has an elemental voice that roars through the night. It rattles the shutters and panes and whistles around the corners of the house. Wind is homeless, because it is forever on the move. If it seems to relax momentarily, it is merely gathering strength for the next blow. It thickens the ice in the ground drinkers, and it swirls even a small amount of snow, blowing it completely off the mountain at times. I try to remember what an old timer told me about mountain winds. "Remember girl. It is just winter blowing itself out."
January doesn't have just two faces like its mythological namesake, but 31. It seems different every day and night. It's temperament rangers from spring like frolicking to dead of winter huddling.There are some robins that refuse to migrate, weathering the ups and downs of January, feasting on overripe berries, and sunning themselves sober after a bout of mid-afternoon snacking. Most birds participate in eating too many too ripe
berries at times, as do raccoons and other animals, and suffer the consequences of the staggers and snoozes.
If you happen upon one of these creatures, leave it where you find it. Nature will take its course. However, if you have an outside cat that can find the bird, it may be best to pick it up, place it in a small box, and let it go when it has its wits about it. Never, never pick up a raccoon for any reason.
Pinecones are terrific barometers of what the humidity is like outside. On dry, sunny days, the cone opens widely. When the air is moist, the cone closes tightly. The fibers of the pinecone respond to the rise and fall of humidity, as do the leaves of the rhododendron open and close as temperature changes.
Deer seek the shelter of evergreen thickets to avoid the biting January wind. Also, they alter their behavior, slowing the loss of fat and protein energy reserves during severe weather. Their winter hair is thick and long, providing a comfortable winter coat by this time of the year. Their hair works much like a down comforter wrapped around the body.
Good-hearted wildlife lovers who feed deer may be doing more harm than good. What kills a deer when it is fed during the winter is an imbalance in the beneficial relationships that must exist between microorganisms in the rumenticulem compartment of their stomach. Rapid changes in diet produce digestive disruptions, which can prove fatal. It is likely that winter conditions in Western North Carolina will ever be severe enough to warrant supplemental deer feedings.
A brush pile is one of the most beneficial things the backyard wildlife lover can do for smaller critters. One provides escape places for small songbirds, and animals. Also, it gives shelter from winter's cold wind and snow. Even some butterflies choose to over winter in a brush pile.
A compost pile is a favorite of insects and wrens. The wrens love to explore and find insects in the pile. January is the height of mating season for fox. The fox bark is one you will never forget. They emit short triple barks or screams, communicating with one another. They look for suitable places to create a den for three to four cubs, which are born in March. The family group stays together throughout the summer,
breaking up in early fall.
May you always hear the whisper of wings.
© Copyright North American Wildlife Health Care Center
P.O. Box 155
Black Mountain, North Carolina, USA 28711
A non-profit 501-3-C organization dedicated to wildlife research and education
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