A True Mystery Photo

A discovery recently brought to my attention has stumped this naturalist.   What you are looking at is a collection of Flying Squirrel tails lying within a 30-square-foot patch of ground adjacent to a stand of Eastern Hemlocks. For several days in succession, additional tails appeared each morning, eventually totaling 20 or more.

Flying Squirrels, both Northern and Southern, are part of many animals’ diet.  Among the documented predators are Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls, Screech Owls, Northern Goshawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Martens, River Otters, Weasels, Fishers, Red Foxes and Bobcat.  Many of these animals can gain access to the trees where the Flying Squirrels reside.  Others take advantage of squirrels foraging on the ground.

The puzzling part of this mystery is the large number of tails.  In cold weather (usually in winter, but we’ve had below-freezing nights recently), Flying Squirrels huddle together in tree cavities in an attempt to provide themselves with added warmth.  Did a foraging Fisher discover a communal den?  How did it manage to capture so many squirrels?  Did the survivors remain in the same cavity, only to be captured in subsequent nights?  So many questions that this naturalist cannot answer. Perhaps a reader can! (Thanks to John Quimby and Michael O’Donnell, who kindly shared their fascinating discovery with me.)

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Semipalmated Plover Migration Winds Down

During the peak of their migration in the fall (August and September), Semipalmated Plover sightings occur inland but are especially concentrated along the East coast.  Sightings are decreasing now as we approach the tail end of their flight from their Arctic and sub-Arctic breeding grounds to their wintering grounds which range from the southern U.S. through southern South America.

In general, plovers (Charadriidae) are small to medium-size, plump shorebirds with long wings and short necks and rounded heads.  The Semipalmated Plover, during the breeding season, has a black crown, eye patch and single breast band.  These areas are brown in nonbreeding adults (pictured).

Fortunately, there is no evidence that the estimated breeding population of 200,000 birds is diminishing. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The Semipalmated Plover is among the few plovers whose numbers are apparently increasing, perhaps owing to its versatility in food and habitat choice, its wide-spread coastal winter distribution, or its habitat expansion in the sub-Arctic as a result of disturbance by both humans and arctic geese.”

For those curious about this shorebird’s name, “semipalmated” in a wading bird’s name indicates that its toes are webbed for part of their length (barely detectable in photo, but if you look hard you’ll see partial webbing in the left foot).

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Some Spiders Still Active

Spiders are ectotherms – warmed and cooled by their environment. In the fall, those outdoor species that remain alive through the winter begin preparing themselves by producing antifreeze proteins that allow their tissues to experience below-freezing temperatures. When a small particle of ice first starts to form, the antifreeze proteins bind to it and prevent the water around it from freezing, thus preventing the growth of an ice crystal. Some species survive in temperatures as low as -5 degrees Celsius.

The pictured hammock spider, still active in late October, is nourishing itself by drinking the dissolved innards of a fall-flying March fly, whose name comes from the predominantly springtime flight period of most March Flies (of the 32 species in the genus Bibio in North America, only three fly in fall).

A common belief is that once cold weather appears, outdoor spiders seek shelter inside houses.  In fact, only about 5% of the spiders you find in your house lived outside before coming into your house, according to Seattle’s Burk Museum.  The reason people tend to notice them more inside may be because sexually mature male spiders become more active in the fall, wandering far and wide in search of mates.

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Eastern Red-backed Salamanders Still Active

The Eastern Red-backed Salamander is the most abundant terrestrial vertebrate in New England.  Unlike many salamanders, it is terrestrial year-round – living, mating, laying eggs, feeding, and hibernating.

Eastern Red-backed Salamanders can occur in two color phases, lead-back and red-back. The lead-back phase salamanders are a consistent gray to black color while the red-back phase is characterized by an orange to red stripe down the length of their body and tail. In both phases, they are distinguishable by their mottled white and black undersides and five toes on their hind feet.

Due to its lack of lungs, this slender salamander must live in damp or moist habitats in order to breath. It is active into late fall, inhabiting rotting logs or living under moist leaf litter, bark, stones, etc. When cold weather really sets in, it will hibernate down to 15 inches in the soil, or in deep leaf litter or rock crevices. (Congratulations to Helen L., the first NC reader to correctly identify the latest Mystery Photo as an Eastern Red-backed Salamander!)

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Reminder: Naturally Curious Calendar Orders Can Be Placed Until Nov. 10

There are roughly two more weeks left in which orders for 2019 NC Calendars can be placed. The calendars are printed on heavy card stock and measure 11” x 17” when hanging. There is one full-page and one thumbnail photograph (new this year) per month. The calendars are $35.00 each (includes postage). Please specify the number of calendars you would like to order, the mailing address to which they should be sent and your email address (so I can easily and quickly contact you if I have any questions). Your check can be made out to Mary Holland and sent to me at 134 Densmore Hill Road, Windsor, VT 05089.

Guaranteed orders can be placed up until November 10th. Orders placed after this date will be filled as long as my supply of extra calendars lasts. (To be candid, I have had so many last-minute requests in past years that I have not been able to fill all of the orders placed after November 10th, so if you want to be sure of having your order filled, I encourage you to place your order before that date.)  Calendars will arrive at your door by mid-December. Thank you so much!

Monthly subjects: January – Snowy Owl; February – Otter Slides; March – Spotted Salamander; April – Spring Peeper; May – White-tailed Deer Fawn; June – Gray Fox kit; July – Red-bellied Woodpeckers; August – Chicken of the Woods; September – Monarch; October – Moose; November – Ruffed Grouse; December – Black Bear mother & yearlings.

 

 

Mystery Photo

Any idea what lurks under the bark of this rotting log (look through hole)? If so, go to the Naturally Curious blog (www.naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com ) and enter your “comment.”

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.

Snapping Turtles Entering Hibernation

Most Snapping Turtles have entered hibernation by late October. To hibernate, they burrow into the debris or mud bottom of ponds or lakes, settle beneath logs, or retreat into muskrat burrows or lodges.  Once a pond is frozen over, how do they breathe with ice preventing them from coming up for air?

Because turtles are ectotherms, or cold-blooded, their body temperature is the same as their surroundings.  The water at the bottom of a pond is usually only a few degrees above freezing.  Fortunately, a cold turtle in cold water/mud has a slow metabolism.  The colder it gets, the slower its metabolism, which means there is less and less of a demand for energy and oxygen as temperatures fall – but there is still some.

When hibernating, Snapping Turtles rely on stored energy.  They acquire oxygen from pond water moving across the surface of their body, which is highly vascularized.  Blood vessels are particularly concentrated near the turtle’s tail, allowing the Snapper to obtain the necessary amount of oxygen to stay alive without using its lungs.

Naturally Curious is supported by donations. If you choose to contribute, you may go to https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com and click on the yellow “donate” button.