Archives

BACKYARD SECRET – ARMADILLOS EAT FIRE ANTS

Mar27

     

       Some 50 percent of the armadillo’s diet consists of invertebrates such as ants, termites, beetles and the like.  In fact, ants are one of this odd creature’s favorite foods; an armadillo can consume 40,000 ants in a single day.

       However, many homeowners want to know if armadillos eat fire ants.  While many animals that consume ants shy away from eating fire ants, armadillos do dine on these dreaded imported pests. In fact, they will dig into mounds to reach the hidden insects.

       Some studies have shown that armadillos prefer to consume the defenseless broods that are often located near the top of a mound. Consequently, they do not eat the queens or enough of the members of the colony to destroy it.

 

GRAY FOXES ARE SOMETIMES SEEN NEAR HOMES

Feb18

        When we think of backyard wildlife, the gray fox does not usually come to mind.  However, as Georgia’s undeveloped lands are shrinking, we are seeing these fascinating animals more often in residential areas.

       Recently on a cold, dark February night, as my granddaughter was driving home, she was both surprised and thrilled that she spotted a gray fox quickly darting across the road in her neighborhood.  I am sure most people lucky enough to see a gray fox catches a glimpse of one in a similar fashion. However, they are also showing up on security cameras as they scoot across backyards.

       Since suitable den sites are becoming increasingly more difficult for gray foxes to find, they sometimes will try to raise their young in backyards beneath porches and outbuildings.

       If you are wondering how to respond, if a pair of gray foxes decides to raise their young close to your house, here are a few tips offered by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation:

  1. Do nothing. Enjoy watching fox kits grow up and play in your yard.

  2. Scare the family away. Making loud noises near the den could convince the parents to move their young to a new den.  Gray foxes typically have more than one den and will move their young if they perceive a threat.

  3. Remove artificial food sources. Feed pets indoors and secure any garbage or compost stored outside.

  4. Erect a fence around your yard or block holes or areas which fox may find desirable to make a den. Make sure that the animals are not inside your yard or den before blocking it off.

      

 

GRAY SQUIRRELS AND SUNFLOWER SEEDS

Aug9

        If you maintain a seed feeder for backyard birds in Georgia, stocked with black oil sunflower seeds, more often than not gray squirrels will visit it.  When this happens these furry visitors seem to draw the ire of the folks trying at attract cardinals, Carolina chickadees and other birds to their backyard.  When I ask people why squirrels irritate them so much they often say the critters eat more than their share of the seeds.  That begs the question how much is too much?

       While it is easy to believe that gray squirrels subsist on sunflower seeds alone. The truth of the matter is, although sunflower seeds are loaded with such things as calcium, protein, and phosphorus, this is not a balanced diet.  Consequently, they also eat other foods such as fruits, berries, bark, wild nuts, and seeds as well as other foods including bones to obtain the nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and the like they need.  Therefore, sunflower seeds typically make up only five percent of the gray squirrel’s diet.

       A number of factors including weather, nutritional needs and availability of other foods determine how many sunflower seeds they consume at your feeders. However, we know that a gray squirrel normally eats 1.5 pounds of seeds and nuts each week.  This is the equivalent to the body weight of a typical gray squirrel.

       While only a portion of these seeds and nuts our black oil sunflower seeds, it is hard to believe they are not gobbling up far more seeds. This is especially true when you watch a gray perched on your feeder eating one sunflower seed after another. They are so adept at this that one study found a gray squirrel is capable of hulling and eating 19 sunflower seeds a minute.

 

      

      

BACKYARD SECRET: THE FOX SQUIRREL HAS A TRAIT NOT SHARED BY ANY OTHER NORTH AMERICAN SQUIRREL

Oct19

One trait that the fox squirrel does not have in common with any of our other squirrels is that its teeth, bones and flesh shine pink when viewed under ultraviolet light.

     

THE RABBIT MOST COMMONLY SEEN IN GEORGIA BACKYARDS

Sep28

        If you live in the suburbs or a rural area, there is a good chance that rabbits appear from time to time in your backyard. However, since four species of rabbits live in Georgia, which species of rabbit inhabits your yard?  If I had to guess, I would say it is the eastern cottontail.  Here’s why.

       The Appalachian cottontail, eastern cottontail, marsh rabbit and swamp rabbit all occur in the state.  However, the rabbit most often seen in Georgia backyards is the eastern cottontail.

       Eastern cottontails are 14-17 inches long and can weigh from two to four pounds.  One of the easiest ways to identify it is to look at the color of the nape of its neck.  The eastern cottontail has a cinnamon-colored nape.  None of the other species of rabbits that inhabit the state displays this characteristic.

       Although I do not know of anybody that hosts a marsh rabbit or Appalachian cottontail, I know a couple that feeds swamp rabbits in their yard.  The swamp rabbit is our largest rabbit (3.5-6 pounds).

       The marsh rabbit is our smallest rabbit. This rabbit weighs only 2.5-3 pounds.   It lives in in the Coastal Plain and prefers marshy areas, wet bottomlands, and swamps.

       The Appalachian cottontail is our rarest rabbit.  This is because its range extends only into extreme Northeast Georgia.

BACKYARD SECRET—THE GRAY SQUIRREL’S FRONT TEETH NEVER STOP GROWING

Jun15

        A gray squirrel’s front teeth are constantly being worn down. If this was not the case, they would quickly wear down and lead to the animal’s premature death.  This fate is prevented because they are constantly growing at a rate of approximately six inches per year.

BACKYARD SECRET—BATS POLLINATE PLANTS USED IN MEDICINES

May25

     We are all aware that bats help control insect populations.

     However, it is less widely known that bats pollinate at least 80 species of plants that scientists have used to develop a wide range of medicines.

BACKYARD SECRET—CPT. JOHN SMITH NAMED THE OPOSSUM

May15

     Captain John Smith, a leader of the Jamestown Colony, is widely credited with naming the opossum. 

     Supposedly, Captain Smith came across an opossum while in the company of a member of the Algonquin Tribe.  When Smith asked the man what this strange looking animal was called, his companion told him it was an “aposum.”  The Native American name referred to the long-tailed animal’s white face.  However, as luck would have it, as the man uttered the word “aposum” he grunted.  This led Captain Smith to believe he said possum.  Is this story true?  We may never know for sure.  What I do know is the opossum is indeed an odd animal.

BACKYARD SECRET–GROUNDHOGS CAN CLIMB TREES

Jan23

      It is safe to say most Georgians have never seen a groundhog.  The reason for this is groundhogs are principally residents of the northern quarter of the state.  For the rest of us, our best chance of seeing this mammal is to spot one feeding in the grassy shoulder of a North Georgia highway.  However, those folks fortunate enough to live in this picturesque swath of the state are well aware of the fact that groundhogs will take up residence in or near backyards.

       If you live within the range of the groundhog, you are probably surprised to learn groundhogs are capable of climbing trees since they have stubby legs, weigh up to fourteen pounds, and rarely venture far from their burrows.

       Homeowners are not always pleased to find a groundhog living in their backyard.  This is because groundhogs eat up to 1.5 pounds of food a day, consuming a variety of plants such ornamental flowers such as roses, and food plants like a beans, strawberries, and carrots.  In addition, their burrows sometimes undermine walkways, driveways, as well as building foundations.

      However, in some backyards groundhogs are not a problem and provide homeowners with interesting wildlife viewing opportunities.  If you watch groundhogs long enough, you may have the rare opportunity to spot a groundhog perched in a tree high above the ground.  Groundhogs will climb mostly to either escape a predator or reach food.  Both coyotes and dogs prey on adult groundhogs. 

       With an abundance of food growing close to the ground, it is hard to imagine why a groundhog would climb a tree to feed, but they do.  The famous Pulitzer Prize-winning nature writer, Edwin Way Teale, wrote that he once spied a groundhog high above the ground dining grapes hanging from a grapevine that had snaked its way into the tree’s crown.

       Climbing up a tree would be hard enough for a groundhog; it seems to me that it would be even hard to climb down again.  

       Groundhogs in trees?  I find it hard to believe a groundhog is capable of such an athletic accomplishment.

SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF THE LUMPY SQUIRRELS

Nov7

       From time to time, all backyard wildlife watchers see something that they cannot explain.  For example, if gray squirrels frequently visit your feeders, chances are you will eventually spot one that appears to have lumps somewhere on its body. When this happens, it is only human nature to wonder what causes these mysterious lumps.  A vast majority of the time, hidden inside each lump is the larva of a parasitic fly known as the squirrel bot fly.

       Squirrel bot flies parasitize animals such as gray and fox squirrels, and rabbits.  The squirrel bot fly looks much like a bumblebee.  However, if you have the rare opportunity to examine one, you will see that it has one set of wings instead of two like the bumblebee.

       Adult bot flies live for only two weeks or so.  During this brief time, a female must lay her fertilized eggs on the branches of trees and other surfaces.  If a squirrel happens by and touches an egg, it rapidly hatches and the larva tries to hitch a ride on the squirrel.  The tiny larva must then make its way into the squirrel’s body via a body opening.  This often occurs when a squirrel grooms itself and unwittingly swallows a bot fly larva.  A larva can also gain access to the body through the bushytail’s eyes.

       Once inside, the larva travels through the squirrel’s body before eventually ending up between the animal’s skin and flesh.  Here it rapidly grows.  As the larva increases in size, it creates a noticeable lump.  Many people call these lumps warbles or wolves.

       Over time, the liquid-filled lump swells.  A bot larva can reach a size of 1.5-inches long and an inch wide.  During this period in its life, a larva chews an exit hole in the squirrel’s skin through which it eventually wiggles out and drops to the ground.

       Once on the ground it burrows into the soil and pupates.  It will remain there until spring when it sheds the covering that protected it throughout the winter and emerges as an adult.

       Meanwhile, once a larva leaves a squirrel, the open wound it left behind heals and any hair that was lost while the larva was living just below its skin will regrow.

       Fortunately, we, as well as dogs and cats, cannot be infected by coming into contact with a squirrel parasitized by a bot fly.

       The amazing drama involving the bot fly and the gray squirrel is played out in countless backyards across Georgia each year.  However, I had never seen a “lumpy” squirrel in my yard until this year.  Have you ever seen one in your yard?  If you have, you now know the answer to a mystery that has confounded many folks for generations.