One of the planet’s most successful creations, the mosquito, (various members of the Culicidae family) has been here for 50 million years. A female mosquito can suck up two and a half times her empty body weight in blood. This week garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis, are giving birth to live young. They are less common in coniferous forests because earthworms, their favorite prey, are scarce in these more acid soils. There are many garter snake species, but the northeast US has mostly Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
Canada lilies, Lilium canadense, are blooming. Like the garter snake, there are many otter species worldwide. In New England, ours is the North American river otter, Lontra canadensis). Look for otter latrines on stream banks and old beaver dams. Otter scat is often slimy and gelatinous looking, the result of copious amounts of digestive mucus that the animals use to break down vertebrae, chiton, and fish scales. As caddisfly larvae grow, they add new material to the front ends of their cases. A dozen species of caddisfly occur locally, members of the Trichoptera family. The sphinx moth, Sphinx ligustri, are flying now and are attracted to the porch light. Young red foxes, Vulpes vulpes, are learning to hunt.
Beavers, Castor canadensis, will abandon their lodges and move on when they have depleted an area of their preferred food species, including willows, aspens, and cottonwood. Honeybee lore: a swarm in July isn’t worth a fly. In ponds, water striders, Gerridae sp., are using their sucking mouthparts to drain the juices from mosquito larvae that come to the surface. Great horned owls, Bubo virginianus, are catching skunks, rats, hares, and muskrats, as well as the larger birds, to feed their growing chicks
Comments