Young Pickerel Frogs Underfoot
If you remember visiting a pond last April or May and hearing a low, snoring sound (the mating call of the male Pickerel Frog) you might see the end results of those snores if you re-visit the pond now. Young Pickerel Frogs the size of quarters are currently abundant on the banks of the ponds in which they grew up, as well as in nearby vegetation. After emerging from the water sometime between July and September, many of these first year frogs move into nearby fields, meadows and damp woods. They are only a few weeks away from burying themselves in mud at the bottom of the pond, where they will hibernate all winter.
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A Great Christmas Present!
If you’re looking for a present for someone that will be used year round, year after year, Naturally Curious may just fit the bill. A relative, a friend, your child’s school teacher – it’s the gift that keeps on giving to both young and old!
One reader wrote, “This is a unique book as far as I know. I have several naturalists’ books covering Vermont and the Northeast, and have seen nothing of this breadth, covered to this depth. So much interesting information about birds, amphibians, mammals, insects, plants. This would be useful to those in the mid-Atlantic, New York, and even wider geographic regions. The author gives a month-by-month look at what’s going on in the natural world, and so much of the information would simply be moved forward or back a month in other regions, but would still be relevant because of the wide overlap of species. Very readable. Couldn’t put it down. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about the natural world, but there was much that was new to me in this book. I would have loved to have this to use as a text when I was teaching. Suitable for a wide range of ages.”
In a recent email to me a parent wrote, “Naturally Curious is our five year old’s unqualified f-a-v-o-r-I-t-e book. He spends hours regularly returning to it to study it’s vivid pictures and have us read to him about all the different creatures. It is a ‘must have’ for any family with children living in New England…or for anyone that simply shares a love of the outdoors.”
I am a firm believer in fostering a love of nature in young children – the younger the better — but I admit that when I wrote Naturally Curious, I was writing it with adults in mind. It delights me no end to know that children don’t even need a grown-up middleman to enjoy it!
White-tailed Deer Fawn
White-tailed Deer fawns are close to two months old now, and will retain their spots until their gray winter coat grows in this fall. The dappling of the spots enhances a fawn’s ability to remain camouflaged up until it is large enough and strong enough to outrun most predators. However, it doesn’t hide them from biting insects. During the summer months, when White-tailed Deer, including fawns, have a relatively thin, cool coat of hair, they are very vulnerable to biting insects such as female horse flies and deer flies. These flies make tiny slices with their blade-like mouthparts in their host’s skin in order to have access to their blood. This fawn was being constantly bothered by such flies.
Aging a Red Fox Pup
There are several ways to estimate the relative age of a red fox pup, one of which is by noting the color of its coat. It is gray for their first month of life, when pups are in their den, sandy-colored for the next six to eight weeks, and red from about three months on. The color of the eyes of a red fox pup also tells you something about their age. For the first eight weeks of its life, a red fox has blue eyes. Around the age of two months, its eyes turn brown. All you have to do to utilize this knowledge is get within a few feet of a pup!
Frolicking Red Fox Pups
These red fox pups are roughly 7 to 8 weeks old…they’ve worked out sibling hierarchy, sampled solid food in the form of moles, squirrels, snakes and turkey and gone on short forays with their mother, but most of the day is spent tumbling with, pouncing on, chasing, biting and sitting on each other. Occasionally they stop long enough to take a nap. (Note the white toes!)
Red Fox Kits Nursing
When red fox kits are roughly five weeks old, not only do they begin spending time outside of their den, but they also start eating solid food and weaning begins. This mother is still nursing her young, but soon she will start discouraging them by not always giving them access to her milk through tactics such as lying on her stomach when they approach her for a meal. Within three weeks the kits will be completely weaned.
Red Fox Kits Emerge from Den
For the first month or so of their lives, red fox kits remain in their den. They are born with a coat of dark gray fur, which is replaced when they are about a month old and starting to emerge from their den. Their second coat is sandy-colored and blends in well with the soil surrounding the den entrance, where the kits spend most of their time. By late June they will have acquired the red coat we associate with adult red foxes. Meanwhile, if you know the whereabouts of an active den, there is no better or more fun time of year to watch the antics of young kits than right now – they entertain themselves while their parents are out hunting by pouncing on each other, having mock fights, playing tag and chewing on all kinds of things from sticks to feathers – all of which is interspersed with frequent naps.
Naturally Curious with Mary Holland 
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