Oh Deer!

In August 2017 I had the opportunity to visit Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, Minnesota. Located just outside Minneapolis, it's an urban oasis of forest, prairie, and wetlands. While walking on a trail through the wooded section, my companions and I saw a doe with two fawns up ahead of us. They crossed the trail and disappeared into the woods. I thought we were done with them. A few minutes later, the doe ran back across the trail the way she originally came from but without the fawns. My friend expected the fawns to follow any second, but they never did. What just happened?
The doe treated us as predators and was protecting the fawns. In her secret deer language, she instructed them to lay low on the forest floor. With their brown coloring and white spots, they would blend in well, even though there wasn't much sunlight dappling the ground that day. They likely had no scent, also. Meanwhile, Mama Deer took off running right in front of us, making as loud as crashing sound as she could. She wanted to attract our attention and trigger the chase response, leading us away from the fawns. Lucky for them, we're just normal humans who were out enjoying nature that day, not expecting to become part of it.

The doe came into view first

Later, we caught a glimpse of the fawns. One is to the left, the
other is slightly visible behind the doe.

This was the last wild adventure from my journey across the country that began with the total solar eclipse. I've shared some other stories from that trip, such as Volcanic Idaho, and there will be more to come in the future. If you plan on visiting the Twin Cities, here is a link to Springbrook Nature Center.

Species of the Month

This month we are looking at one of the largest mammals in North America, the moose. Since they are
found in the northern areas, I decided the dead of winter is a great time to profile this great beast. If you
are ever lucky enough to see one, they are best viewed from a distance. Size may be deceiving. They
move quickly and won't hesitate to mess you up!

Moose in Alaska (NPS)

Scientific name: Alces alces

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed mammals)

Range: Northern North America

Habitat: Forested areas near freshwater

Lifespan: 8-12 years on average

Moose shedding his antler velvet (NPS)

Diet: Twigs, bark, and roots of trees- especially aspen, willow, and conifers; aquatic plants during
summer months

Predators: Wolves, bears (black and grizzly), humans

Conservation Status: Species of Special Concern in Michigan; no special protection in other areas

Other Information: The moose is so cool! Or at least it strives to be. Body size, coupled with an
inability to sweat, means they have to seek shade and water in or to avoid overheating during summer
months. Just how big is a moose? They can grow to be 7 feet tall at the shoulder! Males grow antlers
for mating season and shed them afterwards. Those antlers, largest in the animal world, can span 6 feet.
Calf mortality is high- 50%. Due to their size, calves are more likely than adults to suffer predation by
wolves or bears. Adults are armed with sharp hooves, in addition to those huge antlers on males. Moose
disease is a fatal brainworm parasitic infection, also seen in deer. Ticks also present a problem. They
can weaken a moose to the point of death from blood loss.

Mama moose with calf in Michigan (NPS)

Our moose information comes from University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web.

Nature Minute Book Club

Winter is my least favorite time to be outside. It's cold, dark, and precipitating. In fact, I'm expecting snow the day after tomorrow. It's a great time to grab a cup of tea and a good book. Here are some more suggestions for your reading pleasure.

Dolphin Diaries by Dr. Denise L. Herzing

Herzing spent a quarter century in the Bahamas, essentially living among the spotted dolphins, if only
during the summer. During her seasons there she was able to gain unprecedented access to their
behaviors, communications, and rituals. She was seemingly accepted into their society. This book
chronicles the amazing discoveries she made in her time with these fascinating creatures and will
challenge what you think about animal intelligence.

A Sting in the Tale by Dave Ghoulson

Learn about British bumblebees. Ghoulson recounts the history of bumblebees from their appearance
in natural history when dinosaurs roamed the Earth to their problems today. All this, of course, is
interspersed with his own humorous tales from a childhood fascinated with wildlife to his more recent
time in the field tracking down some elusive bees. Oh, and there’s pie.

The Invention of Nature, Alexander Von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf

This biography of Humboldt explores his development from a dutiful son to the father of ecology, even
if the word didn’t yet exist. A contemporary of Darwin’s father, it was he who planted the seeds that
germinated into the theory of evolution. He even warned of human activities influencing the climate,
making him possibly the world's first environmentalist. We discover his intellectual, philosophical, and
artistic influences as well as tag along on his adventures around the world. 

Winter World by Berndt Heinrich

Heinrich is an entomologist by trade, but his keen eye for observation makes him a great naturalist as
well. Part science, part personal narrative and drawing on his own research and observations, in this
book he takes us for a walk through Maine woods to see how critters from flies to bears survive the
brutal Down East winters.

Christmas is for the Birds

This year is the 120th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It began December 14th and runs through January 5th. The tradition started in 1900 in at the beginning of the conservation movement. Since the beginning, citizen scientists have used the information gathered to track trends in bird populations.
I took part on December 15th and had an eventful and cold day. Once again, I put my discomfort aside for the sake of nature. The day began at 4 AM with three hours of owling. My partner Chris drove us around to a few sites where we'd listen in the dark for owl calls. In an attempt to draw them out, he played owl calls on his phone. We heard a screech owl at one location and a pair of great horned owls in a duet at another place.

Great horned owl

After a pit stop around 7 AM we picked up the third member of our trio at sunrise and began our visual observations with nearly three dozen turkey vultures overhead near a roosting site. I happen to know about this roost because I drive past it on the way to and from work, and depending on my schedule I see the vultures either leaving for the day or returning for the night. Right away my presence paid off. In past years, Chris and John start their count headed the other direction.
Over half our time was spent in the car. Much of what we saw was from the road. We did some walking though, and it was tough in some places. Recent rain meant soggy ground. It's December and Pennsylvania, which is rarely a good combination. In addition to the cold, it was windy. The wind made for great raptor conditions, but bad for everything else. It was difficult to hear bird calls over the sound of the wind. Watching for motion in the trees and bushes was confusing because everything was moving.

Turkey vulture

This year we counted 47 different species, and a total of 735 birds. In 2018 we counted 38 species and 754 birds. Canada geese were the big winners this year, coming in at 266. However, they were mainly in two flocks. The birds we spotted the most times were turkey vultures and house finches. I look forward to counting more birds in 2020!

Canada goose

Species of the Month

Christmas is upon us once again and in keeping with tradition, we have another festive Species of the
Month. American mistletoe, like its European cousin, is a Christmas symbol dating back to the arrival
of European settlers who brought their customs with them. The mistletoe association with Christmas
dates back hundreds of years before Europeans reached American shores. Learn more about this little
plant below!

American mistletoe

Scientific name: Phoradendron leucarpum

Kingdom: Plantae (plants)

Class: Magnoliopsida (dicots)

Order: Santalales (hemi-parasitic plants)

Range: Eastern and Southwestern US

Habitat: Forest, swamps, and desert

Diet: Sunlight and water for photosynthesis; xylem and phloem of host plant through parasitism

Predators: Birds and small mammals

Conservation Status: No special protection

Mistletoe berries

Other Information: While it may bring good luck to have mistletoe in your home during Christmas, it
certainly isn't lucky to eat the berries. They are poisonous to humans, though not usually fatal. Mistletoe
is hemi-parasitic, meaning it is a parasitic plant but can also photosynthesize. Berries contain a single
seed, which is spread by when birds defecate after eating the berry. The seed is sticky, and with any
luck the bird will be sitting in a tree when it passes. This sequence of events gave mistletoe its name.
"Mistle" the Anglo-Saxon word for dung, and "tan", the word for twig were combined, as folks in
those days noticed mistletoe grew were birds left dung on the branches. Because it seems to grow out
of nothing, mistletoe was thought to have fertility properties. Mistletoe acts as a parasite by growing
a root-like haustorium (your big word of the day) through the host tree's bark and tapping into its sugars
and water. Parasitization can cause the host tree to become deformed or distorted.

Pine tree with deformations from mistletoe

This week's pictures and information come from University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse.