Friday, June 28, 2013

Tree Hog: A Groundhog Adventure

Maybe we shouldn't have been, but we were surprised the first time we saw a groundhog in a tree. We had always seen them on the ground, and it just didn't occur to us that, being rodents, they could probably climb. Our Uncle Dean told us he had seen them climb trees on a number of occasions; turns out they do so in order to get the lay of the land -- to scan the area for predators. 

For several years, we've had groundhogs living in our garden, and every spring we look forward to 'our' groundhog(s) waking up. There are three or four holes out back, most of them in our garden, but one in the neighbour's. Groundhogs, like other rodents, like to have an escape route handy. And their tunnels are big: they can be four to five feet deep and 25-30 feet long. 

Groundhogs do hibernate, but they will wake up if it's warm enough, and even go wandering about; one year we found our groundhog had climbed all the way up our back stairs to the door, as if considering whether or not to wake us for a cup of tea. (The pawprint was muddy and quite clear.) 

Groundhogs are quite hospitable. They sometimes share their dens with neighbours such as rabbits and other mammals. 

They mate in March or April, and have two to six young in April or May. 

Groundhogs will eat from gardens, but they also like weeds; our fellow has been seen munching on dandelions in the rain (groundhogs seem to prefer rainy or overcast days, probably because they're mostly diurnal). They also like acorns. We've had a groundhog eat fallen acorns off our front porch before, happily noshing until we tried to take a picture. He heard us, of course, and ran off -- they can run quite quickly. We've heard (in novels) that groundhogs like apples, and somewhere we heard that they like PB&J sarnies, as well . . . but we don't know if the sarnies are good for them or not, so we don't advise it. 

We got this information from our own experiences as well as Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider. The photo we found on Google Images is from entrepremusings.com (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=856&q=groundhog&oq=groundhog&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.993.2619.0.4934.9.6.0.3.3.0.234.681.3j2j1.6.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.16.img.JLTt9rvpw9U).  

Friday, June 21, 2013

Deer in the Garden

For a few years now, we've been getting white-tail deer rambling about our garden at night. The fact that they come at night makes it difficult to get good photographs, but we always like to see them. Sometimes we only hear them, making huffing noises as they munch on weeds and other delectables. 

Our neighbour isn't quite so enchanted. The deer keep eating his tulips; he has a scant few this year because the deer aren't put off by the lavendar he planted, which they're supposed to be. The deer, do, however, avoid the lavendar itself. And his wife (who must have better night capabilities on her camera than we do) does get some good shots of the deer.

We knew a bit about deer already, but we looked up some more interesting information, specifically on whitetail deer, from our copy of Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider and  Science Kids, where we also got the photo (http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/animals/deer.html):

Male deer are called 'bucks'; large male deer are sometimes called 'stags.' Females are called 'does,' and young deer are known as 'fawns.' 

Whitetail deer are a reddish colour in the summer, and blue-grey in the winter (also hard to distinguish in the middle of the night). 

They browse for acorns, twigs, shrubs, fungi, and whatever grass and herbs are in season. We're not sure what they eat in our yard, but we have seen them munching on greenery. They can also graze for fallen acorns in our yard, as well as the occasional toadstool. 

They can run 35-40 miles an hour, and jump 30 feet vertically. They can also swim.  

Their breeding season is Nov.-Feb., and they have their young around six and a half months later. The young may stay with their mother for a year. 

Male deer grow new antlers every year, so when we see them in the wintertime, it's harder to tell the males from the females. Males use their antlers to fight rivals for the mating privileges of females. 




Friday, June 14, 2013

Whitenose

Recently, we were on our way out when we noticed a (somewhat small) possum lurking next our ramp. She snarled at us, but silently, and we realised something was wrong. In the past, when we've seen possums in our yard, they've been unafraid (with the exception of a little one who fell out of a tree). 

When she tried to walk, it was clear her back or hip had been damaged, likely by a car; she moved slowly, and with much difficulty, but she had no visible wounds. So we called a wildlife rehabilitator. The rehabber told us to get her in a box and then call back for directions. So we wrapped the possum -- we called her Whitenose because we both noticed how white her nose was -- in a towel and put her in a box. She didn't fight us; another bad sign. 

But the rehabber must have been busy with another patient, because when we called back for directions, she didn't answer. And didn't answer. And didn't answer. So we made a quick trip to drop off and pick up some books from our editor.

When we got back, Whitenose was dead. 

We put her in the back yard, near a shrub. She inspired us to learn a bit more about possums. The photo above is from www.nouveausoccermom.com, which was on Google Images (https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=856&q=possum&oq=possum&gs_l=img.3..0l10.5086.6156.0.6482.6.5.0.1.1.0.61.287.5.5.0...0.0.0..1ac.1.16.img.VDCko9H_xNo).  Here's what we know and what we found out from http://www.planetpossum.com/facts.htm and Mammals by William H. Burt and Richard P. Grossenheider: 

Possums are carrion eaters and scavengers. This is an important role to play in the ecosystem; if we didn't have animals eating the dead, we'd be knee-deep in corpses. 

Possums are marsupials; the females carry their young in pouches until they're old enough to ride on the mother's back (we've seen that, too). They may look like it, but possums are not rodents.  

Possums have prehensile tails; that means they can grasp things with their tails, like tree branches. They use their tails to climb and to carry nesting materials (both males and females build nests). The young are able to hang upside down by their tails for short periods of time. 

When confronted by a predator, possums often 'play possum,' or pretend they're dead, until the danger has passed. 

Because they are scavengers, possums will go through garbage. 

Possums are whitish grey in the north and grey to nearly black in the south. Older possums may have a brownish or reddish hue to their fur. Just this spring, we saw our first brown possum in the yard. 

The inside toe on a possum's hind paw is opposable, which aids in climbing. 

Possums are about the size of a house cat.  

Friday, June 7, 2013

Wildflowers

This is what happens when you don't seed your lawn with grass or use weed killers. 





We found all these wildflowers either in our garden (yard) or (in the case of one) out by the letter box this spring.