Wordless Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Texas Lorikeet

Truly, you have not lived until you've had a lorikeet stick its tongue in your ear.

Going towards the light...

Morning, glory.

Black Widows and Not So Black Widows

A couple of weekends ago I was cleaning out a storage locker that we use to store the covers for our patio furniture on our back deck. I was concerned about a couple of paper wasps that had taken up residence in the locker and didn't see this spider until after the wasp nests had been dispatched. (Yes, there was more than one paper wasp nest. I'm surprised they tolerated each other in such close quarters.)

This is, I believe, a Northern black widow (Lactrodectus variolus). I say "I believe" because 1) I'm not a specialist of spider taxonomy and 2) I'm identifying this spider from my photos and not the actual specimen. Mature female Southern black widows, Lactrodectus mactans (the spider we think of as the "classic" black widow), are usually a shiny jet black with just the infamous red hourglass mark on their abdomens, but males and immature female L. mactans do have markings similar to these pictured here.

So why do I think this is L. variolus and not an immature or male L. mactans? The body of this spider was about a half inch in size, suggesting that it was a mature Lactrodectus female. Mature males are only about half that size. Again, the white bands on the dorsal side suggest L. variolus, but there's a better way to distinguish between the two species.

The red hourglass marking on the ventral side of the abdomen is incomplete in the Northern black widow. In contrast, the hourglass is complete with both triangles touching in the Southern black widow. My spider doesn't have a complete hourglass with both triangles touching, so I think this a Northern black widow, L. variolus.

Initially it may sound funny that the Northern black widow can be found in southwestern Virginia, but there's a good deal of overlap between the ranges of the Northern and Southern black widows. In fact, the Northern black widow can be found as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas, while the Southern black widow can be found as far north as parts of Canada. We have both species on our property, with a healthy population of Southern black widows in the stone block wall edging our driveway.

For more information about Lactrodectus spiders, Bugguide has great information on the genus Lactrodectus on their website and you can also find some terrific pictures there, too. And if you have any burning questions regarding these spiders or if you think you have one in your house, please contact your local extension agent for more information. Don't think you have a local extension agent? Don't be silly, they're in all 50 states of the USA and you can find yours here at the USDA website. 

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, June 6, 2012

I'm going to regret putting that salt block up so near the garden, aren't I?

Wordless Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Memorable Memorial Day Weekend, 2012

We had a busy holiday weekend with many activities, including hauling this black snake out of a bluebird nesting box.

On my way down to the garden out back I noticed the bluebirds and tree swallows calling widely and mobbing around a bluebird box we installed on one of the main fence posts around our vegetable garden. This snake had only about a third of its body in the box when I began pulling it back out. It took about ten minutes to coax it out as I didn't want to hurt it by pulling on it too roughly. I showed the snake to Ally and then released it in the ravine on the other side of the house, away from the bird boxes.

Black snakes are non-venomous and not aggressive. I was already wearing my garden gloves when I first noticed the snake so I didn't worry too much about a bite to my hand. This one managed to get its head free twice and would turn around to face me, but it never tried to strike even while I was clumsily trying to catch it behind the head again. Its skin was super glossy, slick, and supple, so I don't think it had been too long since it had last shed.

As for the bird nest, a female bluebird kept returning to the box and flying around but would not go into it. I don't know if there were young chicks or just eggs in the box, or how many the snake ate before I arrived. The birds may have abandoned the nest entirely at this point. While I hate to lose any bluebirds, I know a black snake is a good predator of mice and voles, too.

The Ugly Stick

You know the saying, "Nature beat him with an ugly stick"? Well, this is about as ugly as you can get. This is what you get when Nature hates you.

These are the larvae of the buck moth,  (Hemileuca maia), one of the poisonous caterpillars found in Virginia. (Yes, I did say poisonous.) You do not want to get close to these. See those tufts on the caterpillars? Each tuft is made up of a cluster of hollow, branched spines that are connected to a poison sac. They break very easily if you brush up against them, and the spine essentially injects the poison into your skin and you will think your skin is on fire. Fun! 


The caterpillars will aggregate like this but they tend to drop off very easily when disturbed. Hopefully that won't be down your shirt as you walk under an oak tree. These dropped to the ground right after I took this photo. I hope they regroup this afternoon, and then I plan to beat them ugly with a shovel.

Busy as a .....

Things are busy around here as spring gets under full steam. My seedlings are getting big enough to transplant out into the garden. I'm fighting weeds in the flower bed. So far this month we've had two (2!) honeybee swarms in our house. The coyotes woke me up the other night and last night the groundhogs were fighting. The air is full of wasps trying to make nests all over the back side of the house. My allergies are horrific. Ally will be turning five in two weeks and I'm in the middle of planning her birthday party.

Wheeeee!

On a Wing and a Prayer

Phoebe fledglings on deck! Squadron cleared for takeoff!







The Eastern phoebes built their nest under the eaves of our front porch in early April and just the other week we noticed little fuzzy heads poking up over the edge of the nest. Mom and Dad Phoebe have spent every waking moment flying in and out of the porch bringing food to their young ones. There's a wide streak of white wash on the railing and floor boards to demarcate their flight path. No matter. All that will come off with the pressure washer next week. Early this afternoon I found the fledglings had left the nest and were pondering their next move. By late afternoon I got to see the last one take its inaugural flight, and now five young phoebes have made their way into the world. We'll leave the nest up as the parents may use it again later this summer. And all that poop on the porch? It's a small price to pay for the pleasure of watching these guys swoop down and catch bugs in the front yard. (And it's certainly no worse than all the poop the bluebirds have left me out back.)

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Nothing else says "luxury living" like a billy goat on your billboard.

A Wordy Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Carpenter ants on a peony bud. No, they don't harm the flowers, nor are they are not necessary for the plant to bloom. Apparently they just like the secretions produced by the opening buds.

I love this image of new white oak leaves because of the pale celadon foliage and chartreuse pompom flowers underneath.













A firefly contemplating take off.











This little guy looks like a caterpillar dropping, but it's a warty leaf beetle, one of my absolute favorite beetles. You need to see one under the scope to truly appreciate the ornate sculpting and bronze coloration of the exoskeleton. You can see an excellent image of this at Bugguide.net.

Wordless Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Shamrock Deer

Unfortunately it's not a pot of gold that they leave in the field...

The Buzzards Have Come to Roost

This is not a bluebird.

Turkey buzzards, also known as turkey vultures, and black vultures are not anything new where we live in southwestern Virginia. We often see a solitary bird or a group of several of them soaring up high overhead like prehistoric pterodactyls. Sometimes the vultures will land on the corner posts of the garden out back to sun themselves.

Normally we see fewer than 5 or 6 birds, but lately they've been more numerous. They often spread their wings to maximize the sun exposure on their backs.

Just down the road from us, the city of Radford has been home to a colony of vultures for several decades now and even hosts an annual Vulture Fest in early spring. But I'm beginning to think that some of those birds have decided to move into Plum Creek based on what we've seen out back over the past month.


These trees full of buzzards are located on the ridge behind us. I'd estimate there were about 50-70 birds in this flock.



Turkey vultures have few natural predators and are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. According to the Wikipedia entry on the turkey vulture, "Its primary form of defense is regurgitating semi-digested meat, a foul-smelling substance which deters most creatures intent on raiding a vulture nest." And it that was attractive enough, "Like storks, the Turkey Vulture often defecates on its own legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces and/or urine to cool itself, a process known as urohidrosis." 

Boy howdy, I'd certainly leave them alone.

Turkey vultures are scavengers of dead animals. Black vultures are scavengers as well, but they will also kill an unprotected newborn calf given the opportunity. Normally the vultures around our house don't gang up and harass the neighbor's cattle, but lately they've been making a nuisance of themselves.

One morning a gang of vultures flew in and sidled up to the cows, who didn't appreciate the company one bit.

In response, the cows bunched up together and faced the birds. The vultures edged in closer with their wings outstretched, then ran or hopped as close as possible. Sometimes the birds rattle their wings as they move towards the cows. Vulture feathers must be awfully stiff to make as much noise as they do. It's a rustling, rattling noise and far more unnerving to hear than you might think. 

After lots of distressed mooing, this one momma and her calf decided to take matters into their own hands (hooves?) and charge the vultures.

The vultures scattered and flew off. The cows went back to grazing.

One of the cows has a young calf but the others are much older animals, far too old to be ambushed by a flock of vultures, so I don't know why the vultures do this. Are the birds really trying to attack the calves or are they just bored? And we've observed this behavior on several occasions now, so it doesn't seem to be just a random event.

In closing, Wikipedia states that "The Black Vulture appears in a variety of Maya hieroglyphics in Mayan codices. It is normally connected with either death or as a bird of prey." I'll refrain from making any comments about that Mayan Doomsday Prophecy again.

Gather Ye Toads

A couple of weeks ago we found a big toad in our backyard.



The toad was so big that we decided it must be a very old Grandma Toad.



No, it's not a comment on either of Ally's grandmothers.



"Mom, you are in so much trouble with this one."

I did think it was a pretty toad, as toads go. Thankfully Grandma Toad didn't pee on me, like many of her kind seem to do. We let Grandma Toad loose over by the compost pile, which seemed like an ideal toad habitat. I hope we see her again next spring!

Fun and Game Cameras

I gave Steve a game camera for Christmas last year. It's taught us a lot about the fauna around our house.

For instance, you get a lot of mundane shots when you set the game camera up beside the driveway.



This is just us in the car, unless a deer took it for a joyride one morning while we we're still asleep.



Sasquatch shovels the driveway.



A night shot of nothing.



Then the batteries died, probably because we took hundreds of shots of the cars going up and down the driveway. Months passed before we replaced the batteries and moved the camera over to the side of the yard.

Now we got hundreds of shots of Steve mowing the lawn.



Then we had proof that there is wildlife around our house. A crow.



Then, months after setting up the camera, we finally had photographic evidence of the deer that hang out in our yard at night.



'Cause, ya know, seeing them out there all the time in the yard and in the driveway just wasn't concrete evidence that we really had deer.



I think this may be a shot of our resident young buck. I recently saw him with his new antlers. He looks like he's a 4 pointer.



Another shot of Steve mowing our now dry lawn.



Then we moved the camera out back. We started getting more shots of interesting subjects when we set a bucket of water near the camera.

This may be a bird or a grasshopper flying close to the camera. I'm tempted to submit it to one of those cryptid zoology sites that show out of focus shots of Bigfoot and chupacabras. "It's clearly a flying rod!"

Another crow.

And then we got more deer.

Then the batteries died in the camera again. I'd like to get the camera set up again soon. This time I'd like to place it where we could take pictures of Sugar Booger coming and going. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to know that there might be more than two bats out there.

Holy guano, Batman!

Late yesterday I decided to go ahead and can the tomato sauce I had been cooking down all weekend. It had scorched a little on the bottom while I wasn't watching it, so I'm not sure if you could call it "fire roasted" or not. And while I was going for tomato jam, it might be barbeque sauce or perhaps spicy ketchup. Context is everything, even in the kitchen.

To gear up for canning a vat of tomato product after Ally had gone to bed, I went ahead and drank a cup of coffee around 5 pm. I hardly ever drink coffee that late any more, but once upon a time in grad school I could imbibe a lot of coffee round the clock without any ill effects. I have fond memories of going to the JFG Coffee House in downtown Knoxville at 11 pm and getting a bowl of a latte and a slab of red velvet cake, followed by another bowl of latte, and then getting back to our little UT-subsidized slum apartment and instantly falling asleep when I got to bed at 2 am. And when I woke up at 6:30 am, it was like someone had thrown a switch and I was instantly awake, ready to churn out another 10 pages of my master's thesis. Caffeine was my drug of choice and it was largely responsible for me finishing my degree. (Of course, three weeks after I graduated I learned that I had no fewer than six cavities in my mouth, so perhaps my graduate lifestyle was more about survival than proper health.)

Anyhoo, I got my jam/sauce/ketchup canned and went to bed around 11 pm. I promptly realized that those little caffeine molecules were still careening around my system and they had no intention of slowing down enough to let me sleep anytime soon. Eventually I dropped off and landed into some weirdly fantastic dreams that seemed plausible in the dark but make no sense now. I'd dream, then wake up, fall asleep and dream some more. I remember jolting myself awake to a screechy female voice saying something that sounded like "I won't take the responsibility again!" and not being quite sure if it was from my dream or I had actually heard someone talking. Back to sleep again. Then I awoke to hear what sounded like someone  running their hand over the screen door and immediately afterwards I heard that godawful soft whuff-thwup-whuff-thwup of bat wings in the bedroom. Oh, Sugar Booger.

Same scenario as last time: wake up Steve, scoop up the dog, evacuate the bedroom. Go out on the deck, open the screen door, and hope the bat flies out of the bedroom by morning. Steve went upstairs to sleep in the guest room and I shoved the dog down to the end of the sofa and slept there.

That screeching noise I heard? I think it might have been made by the bat. I also think that the sliding noise I heard was Sugar Booger pushing past the "fur" fringe on the edge of the screen door that normally would keep out bugs and bats and things like that. We'll be closing the sliding door at night until we can find a firm, rubber gasket to install on the screen door. Would I have heard any of those noises if I hadn't been hopped up on caffeine? Would I have been awake enough to figure out Sugar Booger's secret passage way? Who knows?

Clearly we're dealing with no ordinary bat. Also, sometimes a late cup of coffee can be an asset.

Bats in the Belfry

Okay, okay, when I was wishing for a fresh start with September I should have specified that I didn't want coyotes at 4:30 am or a bat in the house at 5 am.

This morning, the first of September, we woke up being serenaded by a pack of deranged banshees. It's the second or third morning in a row that I think I've heard the coyotes, but I wasn't fully awake the previous mornings to confirm that yes, that unearthly howling was indeed Canis latrans. Several of them, in fact. Steve and I mumbled something about country life and were on the verge of falling asleep when a weird whiffling noise began swooping about in the air above the bed.

"Uh Steve?"

"What is that?"

"There's something in the room."

"A moth?" Steve suggested hopefully.

By then I knew exactly what it was but didn't want to say it in a way that might encourage panic. "Nooooooo, I don't think so. I think it might be a bat."

Being nearsighted as a bat myself, I was reaching for my glasses on the nightstand when Steve said he saw the creature. "There's something swooping outside the screen door. It's outside."

"Are you sure?" I could have sworn that the soft whuff-twhup-whuff-twhup noise of bat wings had been right above my head.

"Yeah. There it is again."

Reassured, I stop reaching for my glasses and laid on my stomach, hoping to catch some more sleep before having to get up for the day. Silence, and then whuff-twhup-whuff-twhup filled the air again.

You can only imagine the panic that ensued. "Bat! Bat in the house! It's inside! Grab the dog! How'd it get inside? Bat! Out! Get out of the bedroom! Out! Out! Now!"

Steve scooped up Oscar and we hurried into the living room, shutting the bedroom door behind us. We stood in the kitchen and discussed what to do next. I convinced Steve to just open the screen door that leads from the bedroom to the back deck and let the bat find its own way outside. There was no sign of a bat in the room when I checked it an hour later.

And then we heard later that there was another aftershock measuring 3.4 in magnitude outside of Mineral, VA, this morning at 5:09 am. That was probably just us trying to get the hell out of the bedroom before the bat escaped into the rest of the house. Or maybe the coyotes were trying to warn us of an impending earthquake and that's what all that howling and yodeling was about at 4:30 am. Who knew they would be so thoughtful?

So before anyone can start asking about the R word, yes, I'm aware that bats can carry rabies. Some people advise that any bat found in the house should automatically be tested for rabies. We probably would have if we had actually caught the thing, just to be on the safe side, but the mere presence of a bat in the house does not signify that it was rabid. The bat was acting perfectly normal for a bat that wandered inside a house. We were not attacked and we have no bite marks on our bodies.

As of August 11, 2011, there were a total of 391 confirmed cases of rabies among tested animals in Virginia, according to the Virginia Health Department's website. Of those confirmed cases, 16 of the tested animals (or 4.09%) were bats. (In comparison, raccoons, skunks, and foxes represented 48%, 25%, and 14% of the cases respectively reported in 2011 as of August 11.) Other potential health problems associated with bats include histoplasmosis and bat bugs, but in reality, I probably took a greater risk to life and limb by driving my car through Radford this morning.

How did the bat get inside the house? We're not exactly sure, but Steve did discover a gap under the fascia boards above the bathroom window which might have been the entry point. It's now thoroughly caulked up.

Are we letting Sugar Booger 1 and 2 still roost outside?



Yes. I like bats and I'm comfortable with them roosting under the eaves outside as long as we don't have more than 2-3 out there.

Are we going to bat proof the house? Yes, as much as possible. I don't want a colony living inside the house. But bat proofing is really just an ongoing maintenance job that began last fall when we decided that we didn't want the mice and flying insects spending the winter with us.

Are we hiring a professional company to do any of this?



Um, apparently not. (I should point out that this jerry rigged bat barrier is only temporary and not a permanent solution. On the other hand, MacGyver would have been proud even if this temporary fix does not involve the use of a gum wrapper.)

What will we do if we find another bat in the house tonight? Probably panic.

Details at Eleven

In an unprecedented move, the Department of Agriculture raided an unlicensed all-you-can-eat bean buffet in Christiansburg, VA, that had become popular with undocumented Mexican bean beetles over the summer. Citing concerns for food safety and the blatant disregard for the economic injury level, the Bean Czar authorized the removal and destruction of a dozen plants known as “Half Runners.” Each of the plants is thought to have supported a multitude of bean beetle families whose fate remains uncertain. Particularly cruel was the use of a small black and tan dog that routed the area after the removal of each plant. Survivors were heard moaning, "Yo quiero mi frijoles." Families of the victims have begun referring to the event as “The Gleaning” and are organizing a protest in response to the day’s event.