Spring arrives!

With the arrival of warming temperatures, more wildlife visitors are roaming at night. These two young skunks are taking advantage of seeds that fell from the bird feeders.

Blacklegged tick and Lyme disease

This is an adult female blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) also known as a deer tick. During three stages of its life; larval, nymph and adult, it can transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Results of New Hampshire state monitoring programs estimate that half the adult ticks collected in Rockingham, Strafford, and Hillsborough counties carry Lyme disease. Read more at UNH Cooperative Extension here http://extension.unh.edu/news/entomology/

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. It can be a debilitating disease that can worsen over time if not treated right away. Symptoms of Lyme disease may include a large red rash (though not always) fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, fever, or joint pain. The longer a tick has been biting you, the greater your chances of getting Lyme disease if the tick is carrying the bacteria. The sooner you remove the tick, the better. If you think you are exhibiting signs of Lyme disease, get to your doctor immediately and let him or her know about any ticks that were attached and removed. The sooner you are treated, the better!

Prevention is key.

It's a good idea to check for ticks after outdoor activity no matter which season it is. I have plucked ticks off my slacks during walks in the middle of winter with snow on the ground.

There are simple steps you can take to prevent contracting Lyme disease.

• Wear light colored clothing. Ticks show up much easier on light colors so you or a companion can remove them as soon as they are spotted.
• Tuck the bottoms of your pants into your socks. This will keep ticks from crawling from your shoes onto your socks then up the inside of your pant legs (this has happened to me a couple of times).
• Tuck in your shirt. This will help keep ticks on the outside of your clothing and off your body.
• Wear long sleeved shirts. This will help to keep ticks from going up your arms.
• Wear good shoes or boots with socks. Avoid walking in shoes that expose skin such as sandals or flip-flops.
• If you are walking with a partner you should both keep an eye on one another as you go so you can catch ticks before they climb too far up into clothing.
• Avoid walking in areas with tall grasses, weeds, and plants. Stay on established trails. Ticks hang out near the tops of plants waiting for a person or animal to brush against them.
• If you are going to be in an area known for lots of ticks, it will help to spray with a bug repellent containing DEET. Spray from just above the knees down to socks and shoes. Ticks may still get on you but will not be as mobile and easier to remove. Avoid getting DEET products on bare skin, in eyes or mucous membranes. DEET products should not be used on small children. Spray on boots, socks, and slacks. There are also other products on the market that do not contain DEET that may be effective repellents. Read the label on which ever repellent you decide to use.
• As soon as you get home remove all clothing and put them in the washer and dryer. The dryer is more likely to kill a tick than the washer as ticks are susceptible to desiccation (drying out).
• After removing all clothing, check one another for any crawling or attached ticks. Check for ticks on heads, especially on those with long hair.
• If a tick is found attached, remove it as soon as possible. The sooner you remove an attached tick the better your chances are of avoiding infection-especially removal within 24 hours for adult ticks, nymphs can infect you in less time than that.
• Talk to your vet about products you may use on your pets (dogs and cats).
• Consider keeping your cat as an indoor cat only. This will keep your cat from bringing ticks into your home. There are many other good reasons for making kitty an indoor cat, I will cover these on another post.

To learn more about deer ticks as well as other tick species and tick related illnesses, click on this link from the UNH Cooperative Extension  http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000528_Rep1451.pdf

Cozy

Late one October night I started to remove a bird feeder to fill it when I heard wings flutter then something flew into my chest. I thought either a bat or a bird flew out of the seed hopper. I kept thinking about that night and wondered what it was that flew out and bumped into me.

Then the mystery was solved. Watching the feeders one evening I saw a white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) climbing all over the suet finally settling down on the top. This bird spent almost every fall and winter night sleeping under the top of the suet holder.

February 6, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

Be sure to kiss the one you love this Valentine's Day!

Red eft (Notophthalmus viridescens) and slug look like they are kissing but were just checking each other out.

November 2008.

Flying squirrel

Driving out of a conservation area I saw a tabby cat in the road. I stopped the car near the cat and a tiny squirrel jumped up and the cat swatted at it. I quickly got out of the car to try and keep the cat from getting at the squirrel. I was able to shoo the cat away but it didn't go far. The small animal was frightened but seemed uninjured.

I believe this is a southern flying squirrel (G. volans) due to its small size. You can see its body is about the same length as a birch leaf. Northern flying squirrels (G. sabrinus) are larger (10 to 13.5 inches long) than southern flying squirrels (8 to 10 inches long).

October 24, 2011.

Leucism

Leucism happens when a mutation occurs that prevents melanin from being deposited in feathers or hair. Albinism is a condition in which there is a complete lack of melanin in the body. Melanin is responsible for dark colorations such as black/brown and red/brown variations.

These images show comparisons of animal species with leucistic pigmentation versus normal pigmentation.

The top left image shows a pale gray or leucistic skunk while its litter mate shows the usual black pigmentation. The two lower left-hand photos show a pale, leucistic female mallard and a typically pigmented duck. The two lower right-hand images show first, the winter plumage we see in an American goldfinch compared to a goldfinch with a white ring (pied) around the birds head.

Metamorphosis

On August 8, 2011 at 4:30 in the morning I spotted this Virginian tiger moth (Spilosoma virginica) caterpillar on a sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) leaf. The yellow larva in the top image is an early instar which was about to tranform to its next instar stage. The caterpillar measures 4 cm in length.

The lefthand image in the center photo taken 59 hours later on August 10 shows the caterpillar after it had completed ecdysis. The setae have emerged as a light brownish-orange color. The shed integument-in yellow-can be seen to the right of the caterpillar and is being eaten.

The righthand image in the center photo taken 5 1/2 hours later shows the caterpillar eating the shed integument with not much remaining.

The bottom image shows the caterpillar eating the fern leaf. The colors in the head have darkened since the the cuticle dried and hardened. The larva now measures 2.5 cm in length.