Species of the Month

This month’s species of the month celebrates independence with America’s newest national symbol, the bison, which became the national mammal in 2016. For the Plains Indians, the bison meant life. To me, it represents strength, power, and resilience as it was hunted nearly to extinction but has since recovered to an estimated population of 31,000 wild bison. While it’s a far cry from the tens of millions roaming the prairies and woods in the 19^th century, it is much better than the thousand or so that remained in 1889. 

Bull bison at Yellowstone

Scientific name: Bison bison

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class:   Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Cetartiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Grazing bison

Range: Historic range runs from Alaska and northern Canada west of Hudson Bay south to northern Mexico, Intermountain West east to the Appalachians. Current range is limited to national parks and preserves, private wildlife conservation areas, and private ranches scattered about the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Habitat: Forest and/or prairie habitat; can be found in tallgrass, shortgrass, or mixed grass prairies

Lifespan: 15-20 years

Diet: grasses, sagebrush

Bison herd at Custer State Park in South Dakota.
The orange colored calf is known as a "red dog".

Predators: wolves, mountain lions, humans

Conservation Status: Listed as near-threatened due to reliance on conservation for survival by IUCN. Listed as endangered under ESA.

Other Information: Bison were long a source of sustenance for the Plains Indians, who used every part of the body for food, clothing, shelter, and tools. They were hunted nearly to extinction in an effort to subdue the tribes that depended on them. Of the roughly 31,000 wild bison, only a small percentage are purebred. The rest are hybridized with domestic cattle. Wild bison herds are scattered throughout the West. Notable herds are found in Yellowstone, Wind Cave, and Wood Buffalo National Parks. There are two subspecies of bison: the familiar plains bison and wood bison, which lives in northern forests of Alaska and Canada. Bison grazing influenced plant communities, which in turn affected what other animals lived in the ecosystem. Bison form segregated herds based on age and sex. Male herds are smaller than female herds, although more males will join as the rut approaches. The rut happens in late summer/early fall. A dominant bull controls a female harem, and younger bulls will challenge him. A bison’s shoulder hump is a mass of muscle that helps support the large head. The giant head works as a snow plow in the winter, clearing snow off the grasses. Despite their docile appearance, bison are capable of inflicting serious damage. They are fast- they can run up to over 30 miles per hour and have no problem using their horns. Keep your distance.

Resting captive bison in Washington

Lamar Valley bison at Yellowstone

Lamar Valley bison at Yellowstone

This week's information comes from University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web, The Nature Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Environment News Service. 

Species of the Month

November’s Species of the Month is another animal that is related to Thanksgiving. Last year, we covered the turkey, which is the traditional centerpiece in many a holiday feast. But recall that Massasoit’s braves also arrived at Plymouth with five deer. There are several species of deer in the world, and even in the US there are more than one. But the species found in Massachusetts and much of the country is the white-tailed deer.

Scientific name: Odocoileus virginianus

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Range: Southern Canada to Bolivia in South America

Habitat: Nearly universal in their range: forest, grassland, swamp, and urban areas. Wooded cover and open browse are ideal.

Lifespan: 2-3 years in the wild, on average with a maximum of 20 years.

Diet: Grasses, forbs, shrubs, succulents, twigs and shoots of trees

Predators: Wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, jaguars, bears, humans

Conservation Status: No special protection

Other Information: The white-tailed deer is one of America’s most popular game animals. Hunted nearly to extinction, due to better game management and habitat enhancement (often incidental to loss of habitat for other species) it is believed that there are more deer now than in pre-Columbian times. White-tailed deer are a nuisance in some areas, destroying crops and ornamental plants, striking vehicles, and overconsuming forest resources due to overpopulation. They are also disease vectors, hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease. White-tailed deer also played an important role historically in the US. Native Americans and European settlers alike used the deer as a source of food, clothing, and tools. White-tailed deer mate in the fall, usually in their second year. Births are usually single or double. Fawns can walk immediately and have no scent. Lack of scent, coupled with camouflage pattern that makes them resemble the forest floor, is an adaptation to protect against predators. When startled, the mother will bolt and leave the fawn(s) behind, triggering a predator’s chase instinct. Bucks grow antlers annually prior to mating season. They will spar with other males, using antlers as a weapon and to impress females. Antlers, which are made of bone, grow covered in velvet, which supplies blood to the growing bone tissue. After the velvet is shed, the antlers stop growing and eventually weaken and break off after mating season ends. Summer and winter coats differ in color, ranging from brown to grayish. The underside of the tail is white and is flicked as a warning signal to others, giving the white-tailed deer its name. White-tailed deer is an ungulate and as such, has a multi-chambered stomach like cows. Food is partially broken down, regurgitated, and digested more completely. This allows the deer to break down tough cellulose in plant material to more efficiently gain energy from it.

November’s Species of the Month is another animal that is related to Thanksgiving. Last year, we covered the turkey, which is the traditional centerpiece in many a holiday feast. But recall that Massasoit’s braves also arrived at Plymouth with five deer. There are several species of deer in the world, and even in the US there are more than one. But the species found in Massachusetts and much of the country is the white-tailed deer.

Scientific name: Odocoileus virginianus

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Range: Southern Canada to Bolivia in South America

Habitat: Nearly universal in their range: forest, grassland, swamp, and urban areas. Wooded cover and open browse are ideal.

Lifespan: 2-3 years in the wild, on average with a maximum of 20 years.

Diet: Grasses, forbs, shrubs, succulents, twigs and shoots of trees

Predators: Wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, jaguars, bears, humans

Conservation Status: No special protection

Other Information: The white-tailed deer is one of America’s most popular game animals. Hunted nearly to extinction, due to better game management and habitat enhancement (often incidental to loss of habitat for other species) it is believed that there are more deer now than in pre-Columbian times. White-tailed deer are a nuisance in some areas, destroying crops and ornamental plants, striking vehicles, and overconsuming forest resources due to overpopulation. They are also disease vectors, hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease. White-tailed deer also played an important role historically in the US. Native Americans and European settlers alike used the deer as a source of food, clothing, and tools. White-tailed deer mate in the fall, usually in their second year. Births are usually single or double. Fawns can walk immediately and have no scent. Lack of scent, coupled with camouflage pattern that makes them resemble the forest floor, is an adaptation to protect against predators. When startled, the mother will bolt and leave the fawn(s) behind, triggering a predator’s chase instinct. Bucks grow antlers annually prior to mating season. They will spar with other males, using antlers as a weapon and to impress females. Antlers, which are made of bone, grow covered in velvet, which supplies blood to the growing bone tissue. After the velvet is shed, the antlers stop growing and eventually weaken and break off after mating season ends. Summer and winter coats differ in color, ranging from brown to grayish. The underside of the tail is white and is flicked as a warning signal to others, giving the white-tailed deer its name. White-tailed deer is an ungulate and as such, has a multi-chambered stomach like cows. Food is partially broken down, regurgitated, and digested more completely. This allows the deer to break down tough cellulose in plant material to more efficiently gain energy from it.November’s Species of the Month is another animal that is related to Thanksgiving. Last year, we covered the turkey, which is the traditional centerpiece in many a holiday feast. But recall that Massasoit’s braves also arrived at Plymouth with five deer. There are several species of deer in the world, and even in the US there are more than one. But the species found in Massachusetts and much of the country is the white-tailed deer.

Scientific name: Odocoileus virginianus

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Range: Southern Canada to Bolivia in South America

Habitat: Nearly universal in their range: forest, grassland, swamp, and urban areas. Wooded cover and open browse are ideal.

Lifespan: 2-3 years in the wild, on average with a maximum of 20 years.

Diet: Grasses, forbs, shrubs, succulents, twigs and shoots of trees

Predators: Wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, jaguars, bears, humans

Conservation Status: No special protection

Other Information: The white-tailed deer is one of America’s most popular game animals. Hunted nearly to extinction, due to better game management and habitat enhancement (often incidental to loss of habitat for other species) it is believed that there are more deer now than in pre-Columbian times. White-tailed deer are a nuisance in some areas, destroying crops and ornamental plants, striking vehicles, and overconsuming forest resources due to overpopulation. They are also disease vectors, hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease. White-tailed deer also played an important role historically in the US. Native Americans and European settlers alike used the deer as a source of food, clothing, and tools. White-tailed deer mate in the fall, usually in their second year. Births are usually single or double. Fawns can walk immediately and have no scent. Lack of scent, coupled with camouflage pattern that makes them resemble the forest floor, is an adaptation to protect against predators. When startled, the mother will bolt and leave the fawn(s) behind, triggering a predator’s chase instinct. Bucks grow antlers annually prior to mating season. They will spar with other males, using antlers as a weapon and to impress females. Antlers, which are made of bone, grow covered in velvet, which supplies blood to the growing bone tissue. After the velvet is shed, the antlers stop growing and eventually weaken and break off after mating season ends. Summer and winter coats differ in color, ranging from brown to grayish. The underside of the tail is white and is flicked as a warning signal to others, giving the white-tailed deer its name. White-tailed deer is an ungulate and as such, has a multi-chambered stomach like cows. Food is partially broken down, regurgitated, and digested more completely. This allows the deer to break down tough cellulose in plant material to more efficiently gain energy from it.

November’s Species of the Month is another animal that is related to Thanksgiving. Last year, we covered the turkey, which is the traditional centerpiece in many a holiday feast. But recall that Massasoit’s braves also arrived at Plymouth with five deer. There are several species of deer in the world, and even in the US there are more than one. But the species found in Massachusetts and much of the country is the white-tailed deer.

Scientific name: Odocoileus virginianus

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Range: Southern Canada to Bolivia in South America

Habitat: Nearly universal in their range: forest, grassland, swamp, and urban areas. Wooded cover and open browse are ideal.

Lifespan: 2-3 years in the wild, on average with a maximum of 20 years.

Diet: Grasses, forbs, shrubs, succulents, twigs and shoots of trees

Predators: Wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, jaguars, bears, humans

Conservation Status: No special protection

White-tailed doe resting in the cover of a forest

Other Information: The white-tailed deer is one of America’s most popular game animals. Hunted nearly to extinction, due to better game management and habitat enhancement (often incidental to loss of habitat for other species) it is believed that there are more deer now than in pre-Columbian times. White-tailed deer are a nuisance in some areas, destroying crops and ornamental plants, striking vehicles, and overconsuming forest resources due to overpopulation. They are also disease vectors, hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease. White-tailed deer also played an important role historically in the US. Native Americans and European settlers alike used the deer as a source of food, clothing, and tools. White-tailed deer mate in the fall, usually in their second year. Births are usually single or double. Fawns can walk immediately and have no scent. Lack of scent, coupled with camouflage pattern that makes them resemble the forest floor, is an adaptation to protect against predators. When startled, the mother will bolt and leave the fawn(s) behind, triggering a predator’s chase instinct. Bucks grow antlers annually prior to mating season. They will spar with other males, using antlers as a weapon and to impress females. Antlers, which are made of bone, grow covered in velvet, which supplies blood to the growing bone tissue. After the velvet is shed, the antlers stop growing and eventually weaken and break off after mating season ends. Summer and winter coats differ in color, ranging from brown to grayish. The underside of the tail is white and is flicked as a warning signal to others, giving the white-tailed deer its name. White-tailed deer is an ungulate and as such, has a multi-chambered stomach like cows. Food is partially broken down, regurgitated, and digested more completely. This allows the deer to break down tough cellulose in plant material to more efficiently gain energy from it.

Information this month comes once again from University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity Web. 

A mother and two fawns browse in edge habitat.
A buck is behind and uphill.

White-tailed buck (Pennsylvania Game Commission)

Animal Attraction

In a previous episode of Nature Minute we talked about porcupine love. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner it’s time to revisit the subject.

In the human world, success is usually measured in money and power. In the natural world, success is measured by passing on genes to a new generation. Darwin proposed evolution as natural selection by survival of the fittest. Those best equipped to survive their environment will have the most offspring, in theory.

There are two ways in nature to ensure that your offspring will survive to produce offspring of their, furthering your own genes. The first is a high reproductive rate (fecundity) with little to no parental care. The second is lower fecundity with a high rate of parental care.

Some examples of high fecundity animals are insects, which lay thousands of eggs, and mice, which may have multiple litters of a dozen or more in a single year. Surviving mouselings reach sexual maturity at a very early age and have babies that are older than their aunts and uncles. Many plants fall into this category also. Think of how many wishes you’ve made with dandelion seeds. Or if you are like me, think of how many mornings you woke up to a yard full of dandelions that weren’t there the night before.

Lower fecundity breeders are typically larger than high fecundity breeders (this is a general rule, but there are exceptions of course). We fall into this category, along with whales and elephants. We all have a relatively long gestation period (40 weeks for people, 20 months for elephants) and births are commonly single. Sexual maturity takes years to reach and mothers do an excellent job of caring for their young.

Just as there are two ways of breeding, there are also two ways of breeding- monogamy and promiscuity. Monogamy is what we think of in human relationships, a pair mating for life. Bald eagles and barn owls are monogamous.

Promiscuity can be either male or female. Male promiscuity is very common in the natural world (and humans too). A successful male has many offspring, but why should he limit himself to a single female? In these situations, frequently a dominant male will have a harem of females to mate with. Elk and bison are great examples. Going back to a previous Nature Minute on the elk rut, we learned that young males will challenge the older dominant male for the right to mate.

Elk rut, photo by Tom Bartel

Female promiscuity is way to confuse males. In some species, a male will kill any young that are not his own. He wants his own genes, and not someone else’s, to be passed on in perpetuity. To counter infanticide, in some species the female will take multiple mates. Since no one is really sure who the father is, all males assume fatherhood and are unlikely to kill any young since it very well could be their own. It is even possible for all of them to be the father. Bees, hedge sparrows, and garter snake females will all take multiple mates.

In the human world, typically a boy will ask a girl out on a date. Females hold all the power. The same is true in the animal world in many cases. Males will put on a courtship display or perform a courtship ritual, hoping to catch the attention of a lucky lady. Prairie chickens have a lek, which is similar to a middle school dance, but the stakes are higher. Boys on one side, girls on the other. The males strut their stuff and the females pick out their favorites. After it’s over, they all go back to their home territories. Usually there is some desirable trait that females are looking for that demonstrates the male’s fitness (as is “survival of the fittest”, not like a fitness test in gym class). It can be brightly colored feathers, awesome dance moves, the loudest croaking, huge antlers, or any number of other things. The male with the best traits gets to pass those on to the next generation through his genes.

Greater prairie chicken lek, photo by Adrian Binns

So what did we learn today? When it comes to love, people are still pretty much animals. It’s ladies’ choice, and the guys really don’t care as long as she says yes.

In A Rut

Spring is when new babies appear all over the woods and fields, but the miracle of life is starting right now with the rut, also known as mating season. Now is the time of spectacular antler battles as young males challenge the older, established males.

Among the hoofed mammals like deer, elk, and bison, one or a handful of males control harems of females. While we humans concern ourselves with obtaining the next shiny piece of technology to come along, these guys are driven only by passing their genes to the next generation. Do successfully do that, they must either challenge the big guy or fend off a challenge.

All that fighting sometimes takes a toll on dominant male. Fatal injuries are not common, but exhaustion with sometimes take a life. Other times, an opportunistic male with sneak in and steal a mate while the alpha is fighting a challenger.

This is peak season for deer vs car incidents because they are only thinking of one thing, and it’d not safety. They are crepuscular- most active around sunrise and sunset so use extreme caution at those times.

Elk are known for their bugling sound during the rut. This National Park Service link will let you have a listen at this eerie phenomenon.

Why are all these critters mating now? Because the births are timed to occur in spring when food is plentiful. If there is anything nature is good at, it’s timing.