Winter Temps and Insect Numbers

© Marlene A. Condon

October, 2012

The author has two small artificial ponds on her property that teem with numerous kinds of critters (such as this Green Frog), many of which feed upon mosquito eggs and larvae. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

People have the mistaken idea that cold winter weather kills insects and other invertebrates, thus limiting the numbers of these animals by the time spring arrives. But if it were true that harsh winter temperatures kill these critters, there wouldn’t be any of them at all in areas north of Virginia, where it typically gets much colder every year than it does here.

These animals need to make it through freezing conditions to perpetuate their kind. If they hadn’t figured out how to survive such conditions, they would have gone extinct by now. Therefore it’s actually adverse spring and summer conditions, such as drought, that are more likely to negatively impact the number of invertebrates each year.

Conversely, folks tend to think that mild winter temperatures will increase invertebrate numbers, but, in fact, this situation can be deadly. Many kinds of hibernators, such as insects, may die if they become active during the winter in response to warm temperatures because there simply isn’t going to be much food available for them. The lack of food at this time of year is one of the reasons they need to hibernate.

In 2012 the Centers for Disease Control blamed mild winter temperatures for the faster spread of West Nile Virus by mosquitoes. However, in a naturally functioning environment, such a scenario would be highly unlikely to happen.

If it’s warm enough for mosquito eggs to hatch or mosquito larvae to become active in ponds or still areas of streams, it’s also warm enough for their aquatic predators to be actively feeding upon them.

The result is that few mosquito larvae would be able to survive to adulthood, only enough of them to maintain the proper functioning of the environment. And, of course, adult mosquitoes would also be taken by predators, reducing the numbers of mosquitoes available to reproduce. The same holds true for artificial ponds in your landscape, as long as you allow them to work naturally.

If, however, you instead treat a pond as an aquarium that gets cleaned out every year and perhaps has chemicals added to it, wildlife will have difficulty surviving within it—and that means you won’t have your natural system of checks and balances to keep the pond (and yard) functioning properly. Under these circumstances, of course, you may indeed help mosquitoes to proliferate.

Other common ways in which people create breeding habitats for mosquitoes is by leaving standing rain water within gutters that need maintenance, kiddy pools, toys left outside, and tarps over outdoor furniture. Water features that function as gardens only (i.e., they are used only for growing plants instead of functioning as genuine ponds full of life) are problematic as well. These areas will usually be devoid of animals that feed upon mosquito eggs and larvae.

As for bird baths, they should be emptied every day and fresh water put in. It should be obvious that you need to replace the water daily because birds leave behind visible waste and debris. Yet retailers advertise mosquito dunks to use in birdbaths, even though this pesticide is totally unnecessary. It’s also not as harmless as many folks believe.

Mosquito dunks are composed of Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis, a bacterium that specifically kills mosquitoes (and their close relatives). Although this pesticide is touted as nontoxic to humans, if bacterial spores are inhaled or rubbed onto the skin, they act as foreign proteins and can cause allergic reactions. Thus Bti should be handled with care.

Additionally, studies have shown that Bti, which is used in spray programs, could be more persistent in the environment than previously believed, with the potential for bacterial proliferation and thus an increased accumulation of these bacteria in mosquito habitats. Such Bti persistence would lengthen the amount of time that organisms are exposed to the insecticide, increasing the risk that target insects could acquire resistance to it.

Bti spores have also been found in untreated areas, raising the concern that microbial insecticides can spread, causing ecological harm.

If homeowners were better about correcting the conditions on their properties that allow mosquitoes to increase in number, localities could do away with large-scale pesticide-spray programs that many citizens and all health departments demand, but which pose threats to the environment.

Additionally, if most folks weren’t constantly trying to banish practically all wildlife (except perhaps birds and butterflies) from their yards, they would not be faced with the need for pesticide usage in the first place. This is exactly the wrong course of action. Without a variety of organisms in your environment to keep populations balanced, you end up with overpopulations that can’t help but be pestiferous—to themselves as well as to people!

The reality is that we cannot change the way the natural world works. Instead we must change the way we live.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Winter Temps and Insect Numbers

Eastern Red Bat

© Marlene A. Condon

November, 2012

This female Eastern Red Bat was clinging to the wall right outside the entrance to a grocery store in Crozet. You never know where you’ll spot wildlife so keep your eyes open, no matter where you are! (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

The Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis) is perhaps the easiest of the 16 recorded species of bats in Virginia for people to get to see well. This beautifully colored flying mammal often migrates in fall during daylight hours when its red coloring is quite noticeable. Male red bats have bright orangey-red fur while females sport a dull brick-red or chestnut pelage (the technical term for a mammal’s fur coat).

Watch for red bats flying near woods and water as these animals move from northern states to southern ones. Historical accounts from the late 1800s tell of large migratory flocks of red bats flying during the day along the Atlantic seaboard, using the same routes as migratory birds. Sadly, there were no such reports during the 20th century, indicating a decline in their populations.

In Virginia, it’s not uncommon to see one or more red bats flying as late as December, usually on sunny days with temperatures in the 50s when there can be midge and stonefly hatches.

Midges are tiny insects related to mosquitoes, but only some species bite. The larva, or immature form, develops in water. When the adult stage is reached, the midges emerge in large numbers that can be seen as clouds of insects in the vicinity of streams. Stoneflies also spend the immature stage of their lives in water, emerging as adults in large numbers. Red bats can easily feed on these hatches by flying through them and catching the little critters directly in their open mouths.

If you are lucky enough to see red bats feeding, you will have the opportunity to watch them for several minutes as they swoop around in a limited area, providing you with great views. I’ve watched Eastern Red Bats feeding over my yard. I’ve also seen them flying in Douthat State Park in Bath County as I was birding.

On December 19, 2002, my husband reported seeing two of these animals flying along route 664 near Sherando Lake in Augusta County. This road runs by a stream so there could have been a hatch to feed the bats as they flew at, or just below, tree level.

This female Eastern Red Bat was clinging to the wall right outside the entrance to a grocery store in Crozet. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

The red bat feeds exclusively upon insects. Moths, beetles, plant and leaf hoppers comprise much of its diet in summer. In colder weather, flies and moths are its main sources of food because these particular insects are more active in cooler temperatures than most kinds of arthropods (invertebrate animals with jointed legs, a segmented body, and an external skeleton, known as an exoskeleton).

Stomach biopsies have shown that the red bat doesn’t just feed upon flying insects.  It may glean cicadas from leaves as well as take crickets and grasshoppers from the ground.

It’s not unusual for red bats to rest on buildings during migration.  If you notice one resting, keep your distance so you won’t scare it. You can get a good look by using binoculars.

And, of course, never handle a bat. Although the incidence of rabies is low in our wild animals (otherwise it would wipe them all out, as it is a deadly disease), you should never chance getting bitten by trying to pick up an animal with your bare hands.  Remember this general rule of thumb for all wild animals, and you are highly unlikely to ever be bitten by one unless you sit or roll over or step on one or otherwise somehow threaten the animal’s well-being.

Although Eastern Red Bats inhabit Virginia, I’ve only ever seen these bats during their migration. One spring day in May I spotted one clinging upside down under the overhang of my carport. I feel confident this animal was on its way north because otherwise these bats typically hang by one foot in trees. They are thought to resemble dead leaves, a form of camouflage which protects them from predators.

The environmental role of the Eastern Red Bat is to help prevent overpopulations of a variety of insects so the environment can function properly. The bat is itself a food source for such animals as hawks, owls, and opossums.

You can help all of our species of bats by allowing caterpillars to survive on your plants during the growing season. Those caterpillars that transform into moths become a prime food source for these flying mammals. (And caterpillars of all types provide a critically important food source for adult birds to feed their nestlings.)

You needn’t worry about caterpillars seriously harming your plants if you create a nature-friendly garden that supports numerous kinds of predators. Predators keep caterpillar numbers limited to a level that will only impact your plants aesthetically—and only for a few weeks at that. Both herbaceous and woody plants will re-grow leaves, unless it’s late in the season when it’s time for plants to go dormant.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Eastern Red Bat

A Spectacle of Nature: Periodical Cicadas

© Marlene A. Condon

May, 2013

This mating pair of periodical cicadas will leave behind fertilized eggs in the tips of small branches and twigs of trees, but that is not harmful to these woody plants. Photo: Marlene A. Condon.
This mating pair of periodical cicadas will leave behind fertilized eggs in the tips of small branches and twigs of trees, but that is not harmful to these woody plants. Photo: Marlene A. Condon.

Because a large emergence of periodical cicadas is expected in May, you’ve probably heard a lot about it. Unfortunately, much of the publicity is negative when, in reality, the emergence of these insects is a spectacle of nature.

Periodical cicadas spend, depending upon the species, between 13 and 17 years in the nymph (immature) stage of development in Virginia. Going about their lives unseen beneath our feet, nymphs exist underground where they feed upon plant juices that they suck from roots.

Once the nymphs have reached maturity, they exit the soil to mate. These adults die soon afterwards, but the females will have left behind fertilized eggs. More than a decade later, the next generation of periodical cicadas will again enter our sphere of existence.

Most of a particular population will come out in one particular year, as has been predicted for 2013 in the Eastern United States. While these insects can be very loud when many thousands of males emerge and sing simultaneously, I disagree that their en masse singing constitutes a “substantial noise problem” that is “annoying.” Rather, it’s truly an other-worldly experience that should be considered quite marvelous!

The singing insects are not deafening. If you are in an area where you can clearly hear the chorus of cicadas without the interference of other sounds, you will feel as if you are in an outer-space movie. It’s amazing!

It’s sad that people don’t allow themselves to enjoy such a unique and uncommon phenomenon. On the other hand, I can see where it could be unpleasant to find thousands of these insects underfoot once they die. However, all you need to do is to move the dead insects away from the house to a less-trafficked area of the yard.

You can accomplish this chore by sweeping the bodies into a dust pan from patios or decks and delivering them to their final destination. If you need to remove them from the yard right around your house, you can use a rake to get the carcasses to where you want them.

By doing this, you allow Mother Nature to dispose of the remains by recycling them, as is supposed to happen. Numerous kinds of critters will come to feed on the bounty of dead animals and the bodies will be gone in no time.

Virtually every article tells us that cicadas will cause damage to trees, both large and small. The “damage” refers to brown twig tips and brown leaves that appear some time later.

The tips of tree branches die after female periodical cicadas make slits in them to hold their eggs. But the dead twig tips, even on small trees, are simply not a health problem.

People have become obsessed with the idea that the natural world basically needs to be made safe from itself! Goodness, how could trees have survived throughout the eons of time if this impact were as detrimental to them as entomologists and others would have you believe?

Yes, the brown tips may be aesthetically displeasing to human eyes, but the cosmetic manicuring of the natural world is nonsense that is truly disastrous for our environment. We need to get away from it.

The reality is that many of the tips will break off naturally on windy days. You may consider them to be “littering” your lawn. But they will not harm your grass and you can certainly rake them off to the side of the yard if you are so inclined.

But please, don’t remove them from the yard by sending them to a landfill or burning them. These twigs are important to many kinds of critters as well as to the proper functioning of your yard.

The twigs will provide food for animals, such as some kinds of grubs (immature beetles) and termites, whose job is to recycle wood. By keeping dead wood within your immediate environment, you don’t force these animals to look to your home as a food source.

When the wood-eating organisms defecate, they return to the soil some of the nutrients they obtained by eating the twigs. In other words, they fertilize your growing plants so you don’t need to do it.

These recyclers will themselves provide nutrients for the many species of birds (such as Pileated Woodpeckers), skunks, lizards, salamanders, and numerous other kinds of wildlife that will search for them.

The twigs that don’t fall off the trees thanks to the wind will be broken off by the kinds of birds and squirrels that need such small dead twigs to make their nests. They cannot reproduce without them.

Extension agents, landscapers, and pesticide applicators often cite problems where none really exists because they don’t see the big picture. My hope is that by way of this column, you now do.

Adults and children alike should take advantage of this somewhat rare opportunity to enjoy what is truly an impressive show put on by Mother Nature. Periodical cicadas are big insects that are easy to observe; they don’t bite or sting; they won’t come after you (although they may buzz right by you!); and they are remarkably colored with their black bodies, orange wing veins, and bright-red eyes.

We should appreciate the free entertainment provided by these creatures as well as their role in helping so many other organisms to survive.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: A Spectacle of Nature: Periodical Cicadas

The Natural World Is an Open Book That Anyone Can Read

© Marlene A. Condon 

November, 2013

Although American Goldfinches can be seen almost the year-around in Virginia, the birds you see in summer are not the same individuals you see in winter, despite what you may read to the contrary. Photo: Marlene A. Condon.
Although American Goldfinches can be seen almost the year-around in Virginia, the birds you see in summer are not the same individuals you see in winter, despite what you may read to the contrary. Photo: Marlene A. Condon.

About the middle of April, just after the azaleas have begun to bloom in our area, you can expect to spot a male ruby-throated hummingbird. The males leave Central America before the females to head into the United States and Canada, where they seem to follow the northward progression of azalea bloom.

Many folks immediately put up sugar-water feeders once they know that these tiny birds have arrived, but then are puzzled and disappointed when the hummers disappear by May. Most people then assume that the first hummingbirds of spring are migrants with no intention of staying in Virginia and so they have left to continue their journey northward.

But that assumption is incorrect. Although the ruby-throats appear to be gone, I can assure you that they do not leave the area.

Every spring when the tulip poplar trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) start to bloom, hummers desert feeders to obtain their nourishment from tulip poplar blossoms.  I’ve been taking notes about the natural world for many years and the hummer “disappearance” each year correlates exactly with the blooming of the tulip poplar trees in my area.

And thanks to a microphone on my porch where the feeder is located, I know these birds are still in the vicinity because I continue to hear a hummingbird around the porch. The hum of its wings is quite audible. It doesn’t make use of the feeder, but it comes by once a day as if it just wants to make sure that the feeder is still there!

Tulip poplars produce huge flowers that provide an abundance of nectar to many kinds of insects as well as our hummingbirds. Consequently, the hummers do not need to depend upon human handouts because they can just spend each day up high in the tree canopy, visiting the tulip poplar blossoms that dwarf them.

By looking up at the tall tulip poplar trees with binoculars, anyone can ascertain that is, indeed, where the hummingbirds are “hanging out.” You might not always spy one up there (the trees are fully leafed out at this time), but with due diligence, you’ll get an opportunity to see that the hummingbirds are definitely still around.  And once those trees have stopped blooming, the hummers will immediately be back at the feeder!

Sometimes people have expressed doubts when I’ve put forth this information.  But what’s wonderful about the natural world is that it’s truly an open book that anyone can read and from which anyone can discern the truth.

All you need to do is to observe what takes place when there is no manipulation of nature by man. Of course, you must also have an open mind that harbors no prejudices as a result of what you’ve previously heard or read. It also helps to document your observations.

Having a microphone outside and keeping detailed notes helped me to discover the truth not only about hummingbird behavior in spring, but also about goldfinch behavior in fall in Virginia.

The American Goldfinch is a gregarious bird, so if you keep a feeder of sunflower seeds and/or a water pan filled with fresh, clean water in your yard, numerous goldfinches will visit for food and drink every day without fail.

But by the end of September, just a few weeks after the young-of-the-year goldfinches have left the nest (these finches are our latest-nesting birds), the goldfinch chatter and the “crying” of the juvenile goldfinches begging to be fed will be absent.

The feeder and the water pan will be far less busy because the goldfinches—young and all—have left.

The word from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is that goldfinches migrate, but only a short distance south and only from the coldest areas of the United States and southern Canada where they nest in summer. They move to more southerly regions where the minimum January temperature is no colder than zero degrees Fahrenheit on average.

Therefore experts consider our Virginia goldfinches to be “permanent residents,” which suggests that all of them will hatch, live out their lives, and die here in our state. Look in any guidebook or bird checklist and that is the description that you will see.  Look up the definition of “resident bird” and you’ll find that it’s synonymous with “non-migratory.”

But the experts are wrong. Although the disappearance of goldfinches goes unnoticed by most bird watchers (and, apparently, scientists) who don’t have an expectation that these birds will leave, I have been paying such close attention to what’s going on in the natural world for such a long time that I know for a fact that our goldfinches disappear for about a month or so every autumn.

One fall morning in 2011, I was outside well before the sun was due to come up when I suddenly heard goldfinches chattering from high above me in the pitch-black sky. I could tell they were going over from north to south in the darkness, as many of our migratory songbirds do. I couldn’t see the birds, but their abundant chattering for a minute or so suggested that there were quite a few of them on the move.

Birds don’t move northwards as the weather gets colder so our summer goldfinches have undoubtedly moved a bit farther south come fall when they disappear.  When goldfinches again appear, then, they must be migrants flying into the area from farther north.

The fact is that each and every one of us can freely take note of the natural world that surrounds us and we can often do this without special equipment and often without needing to leave home. Yet an incredible amount of misinformation is put out to the public, some by “experts.”

For example, entomologist Doug Tallamy writes in his well-known book, Bringing Nature Home, that the tulip poplar “is one of the least productive forest species in terms of its ability to support wildlife—insects and vertebrates alike.”

Yet nothing could be further from the truth, as you should expect for a native plant!  This stately tree provides nectar for an array of insects as well as obviously being an important food source for hummingbirds.

The numerous seeds that result from the fertilization of the blooms by the great variety of nectar-feeders provide a crucial supply of food for birds (such as titmice and cardinals) as well as mammals (such as squirrels and mice) from late fall into winter.

The leaves are fed upon by many kinds of caterpillars (such as those of the tiger swallowtail butterfly and the tuliptree silkmoth) and when the tree is young, deer feed upon the leaves that they can reach.

I can’t explain why so much information published about our natural world is incorrect. I suspect a lot of it has to do with people writing about subject matter that they have little, if any, personal experience with. And then this misinformation gets perpetuated by others who repeat it as if it must be true and soon no one questions it.

But if you pay close attention to the natural world, you can’t help but find out for yourself what information is correct and what isn’t. You might even discover something that no one else has noticed before.

According to a poster in my office given to me by my husband, “Discovery” results from “venturing beyond the obvious to see what others don’t see!”

Blue Ridge Naturalist: The Natural World Is an Open Book That Anyone Can Read

My Driveway Garden

 

Galium-hairy-bedstraw-adj-trim-247x300
The lovely-but-tiny red flowers of the Hairy Bedstraw (Galium pilosum) are best appreciated with a hand lens. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

By Marlene A. Condon
June, 2016

I absolutely love my 300-foot-long driveway garden. A gravel driveway is favored by many species of plants, especially rather small ones that you might not notice or pay attention to when they are in the mixed company of larger plants.

My driveway is yet another garden of delightful surprises every year, introducing me to flowers that I never before knew existed. Thus whenever people tell me they’ve paved their driveway, I can’t help but feel that they’ve lost a golden opportunity to see and learn about the wildflowers of our area.

I also feel that they might have lost the chance to meet new insects whose lives are closely tied to those particular kinds of blooms, and to notice bigger animals that might have taken advantage of the gravel pathway (which would feel much more natural to them than a surface of asphalt) to travel through their property.

Our first view of a Box Turtle for the year is often of one walking across the driveway from the forest to my planted flower gardens. And Red Efts (the terrestrial immature form of the Eastern or Red-spotted Newt) can often be found wandering around on the gravel following rainstorms when everything is wet.

Snakes, birds, and mammals regularly make use of the driveway. We’ve watched copperheads and rat snakes poking their faces down into the spaces between the rocks as if seriously searching for something. Unfortunately, I do not know what.

Brown Thrashers enjoy taking dust baths whenever a big-enough area somehow becomes pebble-less. We now try to maintain such an area close enough to the house to enjoy the goings-on.

And foxes used to be seen crossing the driveway at dusk. Unfortunately, both the Red and the Gray Fox have virtually disappeared from my area. The proof is evident by the noticeable increase in Eastern Cottontail Rabbits. (I believe the foxes have been extirpated, along with the coyotes I used to hear.)

But returning to my driveway garden, as my absolute favorite color is red, I was thrilled when numerous Hairy Bedstraw (Galium pilosum) plants showed up there. This wasn’t an easy plant to identify, however. My Peterson guide to wildflowers doesn’t include it.

The Newcomb guide contains this plant, but it tells us the bloom color ranges from greenish white to purple. The plants in my driveway are a true red (luckily for me!), which is an unusual turn of events in my experience.

I’ve purchased many plants that were supposed to have red blooms but ended up being various shades of pinkish purple. As a result, you would think that purple was my favorite color when you look around my yard. (The lesson to be learned is that you should never take the color of plant blossoms on faith—buy your plants when they are blooming, if possible.) So it’s rather amazing that red isn’t mentioned for Hairy Bedstraw, yet my plants are—for once—the color I adore.

Mind you, this is a tiny flower, but it’s absolutely lovely in close-up—as are many of the driveway plants. Bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum), American Penneyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides), and Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) are best viewed with a hand lens.

Another favorite of mine is Venus’ Looking-glass (Specularia perfoliata). The enchanting name makes me think of fairy tales, and the small purple blooms are pretty, but the heart-shaped leaves that clasp the stem are what really capture my fancy. It’s in the Lobelia Family, so many of its larger “cousins” are well known cultivated plants.

Venus’ Looking-glass is described in field guides as a plant of “sterile fields, clearings,” while Hairy Bedstraw is said to be a plant of dry woods and thickets. While these details do not exactly match the characteristics of my driveway garden, those of St. Andrew’s Cross (Ascyrum hypericoides) hits the nail on the head: “dry sandy or rocky soil.”

St. Andrew’s Cross is in the St. Johnswort Family, but it has such flattened yellow flowers that the first time I saw one of these plants (in a wilderness area), I couldn’t imagine what it was. I didn’t manage to identify it from field guide drawings that gave the impression that it was an upright plant when it actually grows more as a dense, discretely mounded ground cover. But once it showed up in the driveway, familiarity facilitated recognition.

The wildflowers in my driveway garden share the trait of growing well among small rocks surrounded by precious little soil for root growth or moisture retention. They are truly plants of great stamina that can even manage to obtain enough nutrients to be healthy even though they haven’t much access to organic matter. They are plants to be admired, really.

Yet I’ve noticed there can be a bias in wildflower field guides when it comes to how the location of these plants is described. When the plants are native, the places where they tend to be found are usually described simply in terms of the physical characteristics of the site (dry, fields). But sometimes, when the plants are not native to our area, the places you will find them are described more in terms of human opinion of the plant’s non-native origin rather than in a straightforward characterization of the site.

For example, Garlic Mustard (Alliaria officinalis), an alien species of which I have very few even though it’s considered by many people to be a serious “invader,” includes the term “waste places” in its Peterson guide write-up, as does the alien Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis) and Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). This site description is rarely found, if it’s found at all, for native plants.

Of course, many alien species do tend to be found in areas degraded by human activities, such as along railroad tracks, roadsides (current and historical), hiking trails, and within former or still active cow fields. They are therefore quite commonly seen because they are able to take advantage of destroyed soil profiles of compacted dirt containing little organic matter. They keep the ground productive (i.e., they provide habitat for wildlife) that bare dirt can never do.

Over four dozen species of plants comprise my driveway garden, with a bit less than 50 percent of them non-native. Many of these driveway plant species are not found anywhere else in my yard, not only because they obviously prefer dry, rather nutrient-poor soil, but because they are so small that they could easily be crowded out by much larger plants—whether those plants are native or non-native.

It’s a fact of life that there’s always this push-and-pull within the plant world. The plants that are best suited to a site persist, although they, too, will be replaced over time as conditions change.

Even my driveway garden changes from year to year, depending upon whether new gravel is added or new soil builds up among the rocks. It’s a classroom of sorts, one that provides beauty along with an education.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: My Driveway Garden

Who’s killing the Easter Bunny

“Who’s killing the Easter Bunny?”, published 03/23/2007, The Roanoke Times

Editorial commentary

Marlene A. Condon

Condon, of Crozet, is author of “The Nature-Friendly Garden.”

Soon Easter will be here. Smiling young children, no doubt, are eagerly looking forward to Easter morning.
If they have been good, they can expect to discover baskets full of sweets that were left by the beloved Easter Bunny.
But as the kids chomp down on their chocolate candy bunnies, they probably have no idea that the Easter Bunny’s real-life counterpart, the Eastern cottontail and many other species of rabbits, are disappearing from our landscape. These nonthreatening and lovable creatures are being killed off — not deliberately, but mindlessly.
Americans are so obsessed with manicured yards that no food or nesting spots exist around their homes to help rabbits and other wildlife to survive. Also guilty are the people in neighborhood homeowner associations who have such distaste for overgrown fields that they mow what are supposed to be “common natural areas” in their subdivisions.
Once upon a time, rabbits were common around houses in small towns and suburbs as well as in the country, but they are no longer wild animals that children (or anyone) can easily see. Indeed, rabbits may soon be as much a figment of the imagination as is Peter Cottontail hoppin’ down the bunny trail, Thumper, and the rabbit that Alice followed down the hole in her Wonderland adventures.
With so much prime grassland habitat being destroyed for houses and businesses, cleared for golf courses and plowed under for farmland, it is not surprising that many kinds of once-common wildlife are becoming scarce. Some of these animals are of particular interest to humans, such as butterfly species like the regal fritillary and numerous varieties of songbirds such as the Northern bobwhite and American woodcock. And as these animals disappear, the predators that feed upon them also disappear.
But a magician with his big black hat can’t bring back our adorable Eastern cottontails. The only way to save this species and others is for landowners to jump into action.
Huge, sterile yards around homes need to be replaced with more-natural landscaping. Allowing broadleaf “weeds” such as plantain to grow in lawns provides food for rabbits. Growing many kinds of nectar-producing flowers provides nourishment for numerous insects, such as butterflies. Letting flowers go to seed and leaving the stalks standing throughout the fall and winter assists birds and small mammals to survive the harshest time of the year.
In an out-of-the-way corner of the yard, a brush pile can be built so that a rabbit can make a nest at the bottom of it for her young. Letting another corner become a “wild” area of tall grasses and wildflowers will permit birds to gather nesting material and perhaps allow some kinds to actually nest there.
These practices can also be applied to businesses, golf courses and farms.
Twenty years ago, after I excitedly pointed out a wild bunny to my two young nieces, my sister-in-law asked, “Haven’t you ever seen a rabbit before?” She was amused that I could sound so thrilled to see one of these small creatures because rabbits were so easily viewed back then.
We can prevent wild rabbits from becoming nothing more than memories. If the Eastern cottontail becomes scarce, how will children understand the Beatrix Potter tales of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny or the story of Bambi and his friend Thumper?
Indeed, can the Easter Bunny exist if there are no real wild bunnies?

Water woes

“Renewable? Water woes require drastic measures”, published 11/08/2007, The Hook

By MARLENE CONDON | MARLENECONDON@aol.com
Published online 8:00am Thursday Nov 8th, 2007
and in print issue #0645 dated Thursday Nov 8th, 2007

It has been said that water is a renewable resource, but whether that statement is true depends upon the whims of Mother Nature. Weather is not predictable. We can’t assume rain will come; it’s quite possible it may not come. And if rainy weather does arrive, it may not bring enough moisture for all the people now settled in the region as well as future residents expected to occupy the huge number of homes being built.
Many streams in the Sugar Hollow area dried up this year, some for the first time in the more than 20 years I’ve been monitoring them. Even following the recent rains October 24-26 (during which I measured a total of 4.6 inches– a substantial rainfall) some streams remained dry! This is extremely serious because it illustrates how low our water table is.
According to the National Ground Water Association, ground water provides much of any stream’s flow, so they are “windows” on the water table, the ground water that also supplies private wells. Therefore “permanent” streams that have dried up are an irrefutable indication that our groundwater is being depleted, and if streams aren’t being replenished, water withdrawn from reservoirs won’t be replenished either.
It’s quite difficult to replenish ground water. According to the Association, only one quarter of all U.S. rainfall becomes ground water. Thus, when there’s lower-than-normal precipitation, that 25 percent represents a very small quantity of rain available for replenishment. When this goes on for years, the water table simply goes down as people continue to withdraw water from the ground.
Obviously then, residents on wells do not only affect their own source of water but also the amount of water available for stream flow to reservoirs. This is why our current policy of restricting water to those using publicly piped supplies while putting no restrictions on well users is completely nonsensical.
Another problem is that water flow through our clay soils can be quite slow, meaning that the water from rainfall requires time to reach the saturated area below the land surface where ground water collects. Where developers have exposed our landscape by totally removing trees and other vegetation far in advance of construction– think of the old Sperry Marine site for the future Albemarle Place and the Hollymead Town Center on 29N– rainfall hasn’t a chance of making its way downward before evaporating or running off bare ground.
Such open areas “see” an increase in sunlight and dry air, both of which rapidly deplete soils of moisture. Growing a sparse groundcover of grass doesn’t help to slow down evaporation very much. The Association has determined that “46 percent of the U.S. population depends on ground water for its drinking water supply– be it from either a public source or private well.” So denuding of the land should be regulated at the state level because it affects people across municipal borders.
Now consider that some areas acquiesced to the horticultural industry’s arguments to ease drought restrictions– an industry that devotes most of its effort to lawn-growing and maintenance that should not be embraced during drought-stricken times. It’s a disgrace to waste– yes, waste– dwindling supplies of water on a purely unnecessary bit of landscaping. Have you seen anyone lately actually doing anything– other than mowing!– on these large swards of non-native grass?
These properties should instead be growing other kinds of plants that could not only sustain the horticultural industry (in sales and maintenance) but also the wildlife we need to keep our environment working properly.
Meanwhile, proper lawn maintenance is important. Most homeowners and the companies employed to keep grass cut around homes and businesses mow lawns far too short. Extremely short grass can’t shade the soil to slow evaporation, so this increases moisture loss. Warm-season (Bermuda and zoysia) and cool-season (rye, fescue, and bluegrass) grasses should not be cut to less than three inches, especially during the summer. Taller leaf blades mean deeper roots less susceptible to drought and browning. And as most lawn grass in temperate areas can go dormant during drought, it should not be watered.
Local governments should immediately embrace the following actions:
(1) allow people to water only established plants in the ground with water from a rain barrel or other device that catches roof run-off (this could help support the horticultural industry if they sold and installed these systems).
(2) not allow new lawns– in either new construction or older residences– to be put in under drought conditions because they are likely to die anyway after the “establishment” period if there is insufficient rain. (In slope situations, erosion-control blankets can be employed for stabilization and control until sufficient rainfall brings the water table back up to normal levels. At that point, a groundcover (not grass) should be grown; it’s dangerous to mow slopes.)
(3) demand that automatic irrigation systems be shut off until drought conditions end because many of these devices run when it’s totally unnecessary. And it’s not at all unusual to see unregulated sprinklers watering the pavement.
(4) require builders not to clear any more area than necessary when starting construction.
Efficiency– as builders would probably argue– be damned! Desperate situations demand desperate measures.
People cannot afford to behave like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.
Marlene A. Condon (author of The Nature-friendly Garden) managed to take several geology courses while pursuing her degree in physics.

Keep your leaves

“Fall ball: don’t rake the leaves or tinker with daddy”, published 11/13/2008, The Hook

By MARLENE CONDON | marlenecondon@aol.com
Published online 8:00am Thursday Nov 13th, 2008
and in print issue #0746 dated Thursday Nov 13th, 2008
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Greg Rogers, right, gets engulfed October 30 in leaves on the UVA Grounds, with the Rotunda in the background.PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Leaves are falling from the trees. This year, instead of burning them or raking them into bags to be carted away, try gathering them together under your trees in a neat circle. Once thoroughly dampened, they will mat down and provide a natural mulch layer that moderates soil temperatures and helps preserve soil moisture for the benefit of your tree roots.

Numerous organisms depend upon such leaf litter to hibernate through the coming winter. For example, Gray Treefrogs that protect your trees and shrubs from too many insects during the warm months (thus serving as your natural insecticide) must move to the ground as it starts to get cold.
The treefrogs helped the leaves to survive all through the growing season. Now it’s the leaves’ turn to help the treefrogs to survive until next spring. They offer protection from freezing temperatures and predators to the cold-blooded amphibians.
Some kinds of animals, such as the Hackberry Emperor butterfly, overwinter as caterpillars that wrapped themselves in the leaves of Hackberry trees before autumn winds knocked them off. If you wish to experience the beauty of these butterflies next year, you must let those leaves stay put under your trees. When spring comes, the caterpillars can then climb back up into the trees to continue feeding, and you will be rewarded for your patience during the summer when the adults fly.
At this time of year, you may happen to spot a large grouping of daddy longlegs taking shelter in a protected area, their many legs overlapping. These spider relatives are trying to survive the cooler temperatures of the season.
If you live where it’s not usually freezing from late fall to early spring, some of these 8-legged creatures may survive the winter. But in areas that get quite cold, most or all of them will die, leaving behind eggs in the ground or among leaf litter to provide a new generation of individuals next spring.
Although very similar in appearance to a spider, a daddy longlegs has one main difference that is easy to see: its small oval body does not include the narrow waist that is typical of spiders. Another aspect of its anatomy that you might notice, but only if you get up close and personal, is that it has two eyes instead of the eight a spider usually possesses.
Daddy longlegs are also known as harvestmen. In fact, the indexes of many books only list them under one name or the other. If you don’t think to check under both names, you might not realize the book actually does contain information about this kind of animal.
There are varying accounts of how daddy longlegs got the name harvestmen. The most plausible is that these animals are more noticeable to humans in fall when, years ago, folks would be in the fields harvesting crops. An old English belief told of the critters assisting farmers with their reaping and it was said to be bad luck to kill one.
Worldwide, there are about 3,400 species, with at least 200 in North America. You can get an idea about the number of species around your home by checking out the various colors and patterns on your local daddy longlegs.
Because daddy longlegs are related to spiders, it’s reasonable to expect them to be hunters, just as spiders are. But I used to wonder how that could be since they seemed too small to be able to easily overpower many other creatures.
Then one day I stepped out onto my carport and spotted a daddy longlegs with a European Hornet— an insect much larger than the arachnid. I immediately realized that this daddy longlegs could not possibly have killed the big hornet that it was eating. I had discovered for myself that daddy longlegs, at least those around my home, were scavengers! Since that day, I have observed and photographed these animals taking advantage of the opportunity to feed upon many kinds of dead insects.
Although people often have the urge to touch wildlife, it’s always best to take a hands-off approach. In this way, you don’t needlessly frighten the critter (not a pleasant thing for it to experience), nor do you risk getting hurt or harming the animal as it tries to defend itself (it doesn’t know you mean it no harm).
In the case of daddy longlegs, you could cause one to lose a leg if you try to pick it up. This defensive tactic, similar to that of skinks whose tails break off to escape, allows the arachnid to scurry away from danger. But as adult daddy longlegs can not regenerate legs; the loss of one or more legs will impact their lives.
By the way, if you have not yet set up a system for catching and holding the rain that runs off your roof, you should consider installing rain barrels or other water-catching devices (I have two 350-gallon agricultural tanks). You will then be all set next spring to use less ground or reservoir water and instead take advantage of local rainwater— a resource that has been severely limited in recent years.
If you take your cues from nature, you’ll have less work to do and more time to enjoy your surroundings.