BLOG 8: Here Comes The Plethodons!

It’s so pathetic to watch the Rufous hummingbirds zip over to get a drink and not find anything because last night the feeder was ransacked by raccoons. Any and every night we forget to bring it in I come out in the morning to find an empty container hanging adorned with chewed up plastic flowers,  globes of sticky nectar all over the ground, and ants everywhere! What a mess! 

How is Mr. Rufous to know that when I finish typing this blog I’ll mix up some more of the good stuff and everything in is hyperkinetic little world will be A-OK again!? He’s in a panic! 

I’m sure glad we stick to the dollar store $3 feeders! (Hey, since when did things at the dollar store become more expensive than $1?)  It would be so much worse if those marauders had ravaged one of the deluxe $20 ones they sell at Home Depot or Petco.

But, that’s enough of my little ornithological oration let us forge ahead to the featured critter of this blog, the . . .huh? What?

Oh, all the bird huggers out there want me to stop typing and immediately restore Mr. Rufous’s nectar supply! Well sorry, he’s going to have to just hover out for a few minutes while I finish this.

So where was I? Oh, right! Today I’m going to write a bit today about this gentleman,

I think everyone is familiar with him right? These are probably the most commonly encountered amphibian in the Northeast.  I read a study once that in New Hampshire there were an estimated   1,000 of these per acre!  That was back in the mid-90s though. There may be even more of them now…but I suspect their numbers have dwindled like most other reptiles and amphibians. 

As a small boy living in Morris County, NJ I can remember heading out as soon as the weather began to warm up and filling up glass mayonnaise jars with dozens of these tiny animals. They were under almost every scrap of wood or stone or litter I overturned and are probably many herpetoculturist’s initial experience with collecting and caring for exotics. And, to be clear, I do not recommend removing any wild animal from its native habitat…times were different though and I was only about 6 or 7 years old! What did I know!? Here’s a snap shot I dug out of the archives of me critter hunting in my tender years!  I snagged many a plump tadpole in that net at Calamity Jane pond…but that’s some reminiscing for another time.

Hey, did you catch that back there? We had a  ten-dollar word alert! “Herpetoculturist.”  

“An herpetoculturist is one who keeps reptiles and/or amphibians in captivity, sometimes (but not exclusively) for the purpose of breeding.” 

Thank you Wikipedia for that!  Not sure about saying “an” herpetoculturist though. To my ears “a” herpetoculturist sounds more correct, but I digress as a man in linguistic vexation often will.

By the way, does anyone know what a Plethodon cinereus is?  Well you should but you don’t because as of this point in the blog I still haven’t told you that it’s the scientific name for your friend and mine the red back or redback or red-backed or sometimes even the “lead-backed” salamander!  

Mature Redback’s are supposedly 2 ½ to 5 inches long. I say “supposedly” because I have never found one over about 3 inches and I’d consider that a huge redback.  If you find one that’s 5 inches long please tell me because I really want to see it!

They range from Minnesota east through Quebec and New Hampshire and south to North Carolina and South Indiana. Hey, did you write all that down? Make your travel plans accordingly!

*****************************************************************************

I just took about a half hour break from this to puzzle over this size issue. Here is a comparison picture I took in the spring of a full grown redback (or so I thought) next to a 5 inch long Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). You can see the dramatic discrepancy in scale we’re discussing here!

My favorite naturalist John Serrao is more conservative in his size information than some other sources but even his claim of adults being 4 ½ inches suggests that my whole life I have only encountered juveniles!  I am so confused right now. How’s that for educational!?  Here I am writing a nature blog and I’m totally confused by the nature I’m reporting to you about . . . so now we’re both confused!  Super!

Anyway there are 3 main color variations to redbacks. 

Red-Backed

Lead-Backed

Interestingly enough it was because of the darker phase of this salamander that it was misnamed “cinereus,” meaning ash-colored by naturalist Jacob Green in 1818. See?  I’m just overflowing with useless information that I’m always willing to share!

another Lead-Backed

And lastly there is an extremely rare erythristic phase which is all red except for the belly.

It’s so rare, in fact, that I have never photographed it, sorry!  If you find one invite me over! Seriously!  And for those of you about to Google “erythristic” don’t bother. It’s just another “impress your friends” word meaning, to have a reddish complexion. Biologist James W. Petranka notes that, 

“The erythristic morph occurs in populations sporadically throughout much of New England westward to Ohio.”

If you live around there I’ll bet your running outside right now to find one! 

(Please note the sarcasm)

Reporting in Reptile Magazine in 1995 Allen H. Benton, Ph.D. also claims that certain individuals may have a yellowish stripe running down their back but that is also a variation I have never come across.

John Serrao gives a nice concise summery of their breeding habits, in his book, “The Reptiles And Amphibians of the Poconos and Northeastern Pennsylvania,"

"[The] female lays 6 to 12 eggs in summer inside rotting log or suspended from bottom of rock in a depression, and guards them until they hatch into fully terrestrial salamanders (no aquatic stage).”

Here are some more  tidbits I discovered about redbacks that I thought you might find interesting!

1). Redbacks are tough!  They are territorial and show antagonism to intruders on their turf!

2). Not recommended finger food! Redbacks secrete an “anti-predator” chemical that has been proven to repel short-tailed shrews and probably doesn’t make ‘em tasty to  you or me or many other hungry enemies.

3). Talk to the tail! It is assumed that redbacks, like anoles, can drop a portion of their tail to distract predators while they make their getaway! (I've tried it myself with limited success)  

4). Redbacks can smoke all they want! They don’t have lungs! In fact they are part of the family Plethodontidae (as you know by now!)  or lungless salamanders! They breathe through their skin and their mouths! (just like I try to do every allergy season!)

So do you want to know something else about redbacks?  Well allow me to introduce you to the Internet! Go ahead, just ask her anything! She knows! 

But seriously if you have any redback questions or comments or corrections (I’m not a zoologist folks) please feel free to post them here and thanks again for reading! 

It’s been another ridiculous, strange and hopefully informative excursion into the world of Kieran’s Critters!

Until next time, find some critters before they find you!

Yowks!  have to come up with a better sign off than that!

Oh, and don’t worry, I didn’t forget about Mr. (Nectar addict) Rufous! 

BLOG 7: Flutterbys

Grab a cup of coffee and a snack or 2 and plan for a long read. This runs on a bit longer than I originally planned!

This is the hardest nature blog I’ve written so far! Why? Because the day I got the bright idea to do a photographic survey of the butterflies that come through our yard we were hit by a punishing heat wave with temperatures in the upper 90s! So lately I’ve been running around in the blazing sun like a mental patient with my $1.27 butterfly net (thank you local Odd Lot) chasing down anything the flutters!

The problem is that although we have a plethora of dragonflies we really only get 5 or 6 butterflies passing though each day. Many of the critters I saw flitting around the flora and foliage turned out to be this moth!

What kind it is I have no idea but they are everywhere and near impossible to swoop up! (and kinda ugly) The few really attractive butterflies that zig-zag by only get within reach for a few seconds and then head up over the house and then deep into the tree line. But I kept trying! After almost collapsing one day from heatstroke (seriously) I was able to grab this photo of a very elusive species!

Behold Fictus papilio!  Um…anyone buying this? No?

OK…it was worth a shot!

Father: Does anyone know where the butter is?

Son: I needed it for my blog!

Father: What!??

Son: Never mind.

OK, that’s enough with the shenanigans! Luckily I was able to snare a one or two specimens to share with you here! (for real) Once I netted them I was able to very gently place them down somewhere in the shade and snap a picture or two before they flew off!

This sort of mothy looking fellow (butterfly purists would kill me for saying that) is the “Cabbage White” (Pieris rapae.)

male

They are found throughout North America and are only about 30-50mm across.  This one’s entire wingspan is just a bit larger than a quarter. Admittedly, he looks a little ragged but that’s not my fault! I was very gently with him! And he is a “him” by the way, the female’s forewing has two black spots and the male, like this one, has only one.

male

Here is a female (below) that I was lucky enough to spot while I was sitting out on my front porch doing the spellcheck on this blog!

female

The Cabbage White’s caterpillars favor cabbage (imagine that!) but eat many other crucifers and related plants.  And to be clear,  “crucifers” are plants belonging to the mustard family . . . didn’t want any of you thinking I was getting all religious on you all of the sudden! 

I also found this tidbit on-line, “Introduced accidentally near Montreal in the 1860s, this species has become an important pest.” 

Wow! OK…I guess we’ve all had enough of Mr. Cabbage then! Moving right along!

Now this even tinier fellow, just over an inch,  is the Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) which is found throughout southern Canada and most of United States except in Stroudsburg where I see 1 like every 6 days if I’m lucky!

By the way, Does that flow, “Eastern Tailed-Blue ?”  Shouldn’t they have called the thing “The Blue-Tailed Eastern?”  Maybe it’s like “The Surgeon General” instead of “General Surgeon?” Now I’m just confusing myself. Skip it!

So, I’m pretty sure this is a male because there is only one orange spot on each wing (females have 2-3) but he certainly wasn’t a looker! Some of this species are a bright, brilliant blue but this one was more subdued with a goodly amount of gray and brown mixed in. Hey, I photograph what I can get!

He was actually reluctant to leave the net once I set him free! I think he was actually beginning to tame out towards the end!

I have read on-line that in its caterpillar stage this butterfly feeds on Cow Vetch but I found him perched on Crown Vetch so I think it’s probably safe to assume they are able to make do with whatever’s available. And after all, remember what mother butterfly always said, “Eat your vetches!”  (Couldn’t resist…sorry!)

Seeing them all together like this really makes it look like I live in butterfly country but it’s been several days between each one I netted and photographed…not to mention the ones I netted that took off before I could even get my cheapo camera to focus! Grrrr...

Now, this beautiful creature is, I’m pretty sure, (Vanessa virginiensis), the “American Painted Lady” or just “American Lady” or “Painted Beauty” or   “Hunter's Butterfly” (don’t know how that last name fits in!) 

It's found in most of North America south to Columbia and Venzuela favoring higher elevations. It has even established itself on the Canaries (um...the Spanish islands off the coast of Africa, not the birds) and in Hawaii.

In my field guide from 1992 it says it was “Formally assigned to the genus Vanessa” and they call it “Cynthia virginiensis” but on most modern websites, including Wikipedia, it is STILL assigned the genus “Vanessa.”  Hunter, Beauty, Painted, Not painted, Cynthia, Vanessa…this name stuff just makes me nutty! Who knew a study in butterflies could become so befuddling…butterfuddling even! “Butterfuddling?” That doesn’t sound good.

Here is the one shot I was able to grab when it (he? She?) opened up for just a second before taking flight! I’d say from wing tip to wing tip was about 2”.  

It may look dangerous, by the way, but if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you!  Huh? Oh…that’s from an upcoming snake blog…sorry! My desk is such a mess…notes all over the place!

This, without doubt, was the most difficult butterfly to scoop up. I mean this thing was erratic and zany fast! I was literally out there cooking in the heat for almost 2 days before I chased one into the woods and snatched it when it whirled ‘round to speed past me again! This is the Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) the most common fritillary throughout most of the eastern United States.

I love that name “Fritillary” which the dictionary says is derived from 

“ fritinnire "to twitter," Imitative of the rattle of dice. The butterfly is so called perhaps from resemblance of its markings to those of dice…” 

Hey, there’s your chance folks! TWITTER is huge, right? Someone needs to come along now with “FRITINNIRE.”  You're welcome!

Great Spangleds have a wingspan of 2 1/2 - 4 inches.  I’d say this one was about 3”. 

Adults eat nectar from many species of flowers including milkweeds, thistles, mountain laurel, and, you guessed it, vetch! We’re like Vetch Central around here…I’m surprised we don’t get more of them!

And now for some more butterfly naming weirdness. This yellow gem is called the Orange Sulphur or the Alfalfa Butterfly (Colias eurytheme).

These small butterflies, 1 3/8 – 2 ¾ inches, are one of the most widespread and common  in North America except in Florida where, for whatever reason, they don’t exist!  The orange parts are on the upper wings and you can sort of see it here if you squint your eyes while you look at the picture. 

Mike Reese notes on his excellent site “Wisconsin Butterflies” that the,

 “orange on the top of the wing of the Orange Sulphur is very evident in flight, especially in summer individuals which seem to have more orange.”  

He also states, 

“It was very difficult to get a photo that clearly shows the orange on the upper wings. After years of trying, I finally found one that was so dark orange on top that it was very evident from below.” 

Not sure I entirely understand that remark except that it illustrates how dominant the yellow is and that I’m probably lucky to have even slightly captured that subtle coloring  in my first attempt!

And check out this photograph!  This is cool because you can see the Sulphur’s tongue! (Actually called its Proboscis)  That’s the coiled, spirally looking thing hanging in front that it uses to sip nectar from flowers.

OK, have you had enough of the butterflies? More than enough? Yeah, well this went a little longer than I anticipated.  Like I suggested I hope you made coffee and had a few snacks on hand!

To reward you for your stick-to-it-ive-ness I present you lastly and finally with (Papilio polyxenes asterius) the Eastern Black Swallowtail or Black Swallowtail (sans the Eastern) or Parsely Swallowtail or American Swallowtail. Well you just knew by now there’d be way to many names, didn’t you!??

This is the only one of its kind I’ve seen on our spit of property here in the Poconos. I didn’t even have to chase this one down! It just drifted down on some Bull Thistles near our porch! This was a large 3 ½” butterfly. I’m guessing because of the small size of its yellow spots and the large patches of iridescent blue that this was a female. 

And yes, those spots were a vibrant pale yellow. (as vibrant as a pale color can be) My bargain-bin digital camera in no way does its true colors justice. 

OK, guess what? You survived! You made it to the end of the longest blog I’ll probably ever subject you too! Please forgive me and I promise our next outing together will be a much briefer experience!  

Any questions, comments, suggestions or maps to buried treasure are always welcomed! 

Thanks a bunch for stopping by and be sure to check back soon for the next installment of Kieran’s Critters!

BLOG 6: Slow Down!

I cannot emphasize enough that I have NO intention of making this a dead critters blog replete with dead critter photographs. This is supposed to be places where we celebrate wildlife not lament its loss. I am going to make an exception just this on time, however. The reason is because this was so sad to me and the victim was so unusual…at least is was to me! I haven’t seen any of these around here at all!

I was travelling down rout 611 in the Poconos the other day near Tannersville when I saw this lifeless lump of prickers in the center lane.  I stopped the car and ran back to take a few pictures nearly ending up a casualty myself for my efforts!

Such a tragic way to present it to you, my friends, but here lays Erethizon dorsatum known to you and me as the Porcupine!

Now, to those of you who have these critters roaming everywhere around your home and gardens this is like a big “so what?” But for people like myself who have never even gotten within 5 feet of one (not to my knowledge anyway) this is quite an encounter (although I wish it were under very different circumstances)

Before this, the closest I ever got to one of these critters was this guy!

Any Pogo fans in the audience?  Huh? What?? OK…moving right along…

The porcupine’s generic name means “one who rises in anger.” This refers to the roughly 30,000 quills that cover its body and spring up, but do not shoot out, if it’s attacked or if an SUV decides to plow over it! They are solitary and active year round, resting in rock cavities by day or during periods of extremely cold weather. 

Pocono naturalist John Serrao describes them as “Our second largest rodent—up to 35 lbs” and he adds “They may stay up in [the same] tree for days.”  

Hey, what's  our first largest rodent? I'm assuming the beaver which can get to be over 60 lbs but that's just a guess. Anyone know?

Anyway, porcupines are strict vegetarians eating leaves, twigs, skunk cabbage (does that bother the skunks?) , clovers, conifer needles, apples and a variety of other greens including the inner bark of trees. They live 7-8 years unless they try to cross rout 611 in Pennsylvania where the speed limit isn’t enforced and people go as fast as they damn well please. 

They also are mad for salt apparently.  I came across this in John O. Whitaker, Jr.’s “Audubon Field Guide to North American Mammals,”  

“…the porcupine has a great appetite for wooden tool handles that have absorbed human perspiration through use.” 

That is absolutely fascinating and revolting! Oh lord I need a minute now…YECH!

OK…wow, that really skeeved me out! Do people still use that expression? Am I permanently stuck in the 80s?

OK, I'm over it! Now  here are some more interesting notes from Whitaker on porcupine warfare,

“If the [porcupine’s]  tail strikes the enemy, the loosely rooted quills detach easily and are driven forcefully into the victim, whose body heat causes the microscopic barblets on the end of the quill to expand and become ever more firmly embedded.” “Cutting the end of the hollow quill releases air pressure and allows it to be more easily withdrawn.”

Image from Dreamstime.com

YIKES! Remind me not to start any arguments with a porcupine!

Well that’s all I have for now.  I leave you with this short rhyme I scrawled  today over my morning cup of coffee. It’s a little rough in places but I think it gets its point across . . .  or its quill!

To The Forgotten

Will anybody eulogize

Our friends struck down each year?

The fox that met with cruel demise

Or the blithely prancing deer?

The lethargic crawling tortoise

Or the ill-fated raccoon

Lying now in rigor-mortis

‘Neeth the coldly glowing moon?

Will an epitaph be written?

To show we care and feel?

Are there flowers for these smitten,

Hapless victims of the wheel?

Creatures crushed upon our highways

As the fled to their abodes

Both the wild and the strays

Perish on our nation’s roads!

Armadillos and alley cats

And opossums and lost pups

And squirrels who are squashed out flat

And are never getting up!

Where’s the vigils of candlelight?

Where’s our calls to the divine,

To usher through the pearly gates

The woodchuck or porcupine?

For those souls who no one weeps for

For those sad, forsaken beasts

With this elegy let spirits soar

And may those fallen rest in peace.

******************************

Thanks again for reading and check back sometime soon for my next blog! :)

BLOG 5: Dragons!

I’d like to start my blog today with a short, spooky rhyme of unknown origin because I get the feeling the author was playing on the word “Dragonfly.” 

Dragging Flies

Don’t wonder down the Rib Rock Path  

Where it traverses Demon’s Glen  

For the dragging flies will grab you

And then you’ll not be seen again!

They’ll swarm upon you, hundreds strong 

Tangling snuggly within your hair

And then they’ll screech and buzz their wings

And you’ll be dragged off through the air.

I don’t know where it came from or who composed it but I thought it would be a neat way to kick this off!

Or maybe it wasn’t? Who knows!?? Anyway…onward to today’s blog!

For some reason our backyard is heavily populated with dragonflies! I have always known them to exist near ponds or lakes but we have no water near my house whatsoever!  It’s just dry, rocky, mountainous woodlands.  So why all the dragonflies? It’s crazy!  I thought it might be interesting to stroll around the grounds today and see if I could get close enough to any of these critters to get some decent shots.  It wasn’t easy! Chasing after these little speed demons on a 90 degree day in the blazing sun is a kind of self-imposed torture! I’ll do anything for my blog though!  Is that devotion or insanity? Maybe a bit of both?

Anyway, I was able to identify 3 different species.  Actually I was able to identify 4 but I just couldn’t manage to get close enough to the reddish ones! They were just too wary and fast. If I can manage to grab a photograph of one I’ll update this blog and add it at the end.

Out of the ones I did get pictures of, this is the most common. I’m pretty sure this is the “Black-faced” or “Spangled” Skimmer (Libellula cyanea).  

It’s about 2” long and according to “The Audubon Society Field Guide To North American Insects And Spiders” (gee, could they make that title any longer!?)  They are found near ponds and slow streams.  What ponds or slow streams? We have none of that! Not even nearby! Maybe they like my music? I listen to my CDs near an open window so you never know! Yeah, not MP3s…CDs!  I must sound like I’m 110 to anyone under 25.

After doing some reading around the ol’ Interweb I also learned that the females are yellow and black like that one above and mature males are uniformly blue. I haven’t seen any blue ones so now that makes me wonder why the land in back of our house is occupied by hordes of female skimmers. What’s up with that?

They especially like swarming around the invasive Bull Thistles that seem to be everywhere in the Poconos! 

I don’t think dragonflies really care much about flowers so I’m assuming they hang out there to pick off small flying bugs that are attracted to these purple flowers. Yes folks, dragonflies ARE predatory!  Meat eaters! Hope I haven’t upset too many of you!

The second type I see scooting around through the hot air are The Common Whitetail or Long-tailed Skimmer Dragonflies (Plathemis lydia).  I’m pretty sure this is a female:

And this ones the male!

And check this out from Wikipedia, “The Common Whitetail can be seen hawking for mosquitoes and other small flying insects over ponds, marshes, and slow-moving rivers in most regions except the higher mountain regions…” 

Again we don’t have any marshes or ponds around here and how much higher can you get then the Poconos?  OK, I mean you have things like the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina at 6,643 ft  and The White Mountains in New Hampshire at 6,288 ft but we’re The Pocono Mountains at a respectable 2,693 ft! And if you don’t think that’s very high consider what it’s like to a 2” long dragonfly! SO what’s going on here? Who knows!

Yes, I know comparing all those elevation was just riveting and you probably want more but I want to get to the last, and my favorite dragonfly! I only saw one of these beauties and was lucky to approach close enough to take this shot!

This is (Erythemis simpliciollis) the Green Clearwing or Eastern Pondhawk or The Common Pondhawk, (or the bug with too many damn names!)   The females are bright green and the adult males are blue and green.  Young males are green with square blackish spots on the abdomen so I’m guessing this was a young male...

but if you have an ID to the contrary please let me know! I’m the furthest thing from an entomologist…and I don’t know much about insects either. 

Here’s another befuddling tidbit I came across on-line about where green clearwing common pondhawks live, “Habitat: Most quiet waters…including slightly brackish waters but not bogs. Usually associated with mats of algae, duckweed, water lilies, or other flat, floating plants.”  

I don’t get it! This scrub land is my back yard! Where are the mats of algae and duckweed?

Well I can’t leave you with that! It looks like vacant lot (and we like it that way!)  So here are some interesting dragonfly factoids to impress your friends tonight in case there isn’t anything good on TV:

Did you know?

- People used to believe that sleeping outside put you at risk of having your eyes sewn shut by the dragonfly or "darning needle."

- Some Dragonflies can fly at nearly 60 miles per hour!

- Dragonflies cannot walk.

- All dragonflies have excellent vision. They can see colors that are beyond human visual capabilities, such as ultraviolet and infrared!

- And finally…I wrote the poem at the beginning! I admit it! I’m guilty!

OK, that’s enough of that!  Thanks for reading and be sure to check back in a few days when I’m sure to post yet another confounding installment of Kieran’s Critters! And feel free to leave any comments, questions, corrections or fanciful bits of nonsense!