CassieBash's Critters Spring 2018 edition

Yeah, so I probably should have just posted the Critters of the Week here and started this thread today, but I didn't think about it. I think it's safe now to say that at least spring is here, finally. For those who want to catch up on my fall/winter edition and see some pictures of various animals and plants there, you can click on this link.

Bonus picture for visiting my new thread:



'Cause everyone loves frogs, right?

>1 CassieBash: cute!

We had a chorus of frogs outside the kitchen window last night, probably the same green treefrogs as we had last year. They sound like an old fashioned bicycle horn: "waah waah waah!".

You can hear it here:
http://herpsofnc.org/green-treefrog/

>2 fuzzi: Yes, they really do sound like that! We don't have that species; we have the gray tree frog, which can be heard here. They sound like a type of bird. We also have spring peepers, which we hear all the time for a few weeks in early spring--sometimes when there's still snow on the ground--and wood frogs, bullfrogs, and American toads, but I don't really hear them often. We also occasionally (but rarely) see a northern leopard frog. We're too far north, of course, to have your southern leopard frogs.

>1 CassieBash: *I* love frogs. I also love the toads that are so prevalent here, especially around my house. At night the chorus is almost deafening, this time of year. It's really heaven.

>3 CassieBash: isn't that a nifty site?

That is a lovely frog!

>5 fuzzi: Yes! Much better than our DNR page (although they also have recorded calls, at least). I have yet to find something equivalent to that for Indiana.

This week's Critter is very important to gardeners, especially to those who love snapdragons.





It's the bumblebee! (We tend to say "bumblebee" as if there's only the one species, but in reality, there are over 200 unique ones out there in the wide world.) I had to really look carefully at both these pictures to determine whether I was really correct identifying this as a bumblebee, or if this week's critter was going to be an eastern carpenter bee. They look similar, but looking at the second photo, I determined that the body was entirely furry. All true bumblebees have completely furry bodies, and while the eastern carpenter bee looks like the species of bumblebee bombus impatiens (of which I believe the above is), unless the body is completely furry, it's a carpenter bee. Because of this lack of fur, though, watch for the black body to reflect light in a metallic way on carpenter bees--the second photo doesn't seem to be reflective and when magnified, seems to be covered in the same fuzz as the gold part. So as I said, I'm fairly certain this is a bumblebee, and a native to Indiana (unlike the honey bee, which was brought over from the Old World). These pollinators are generalists and they take nectar and pollen from anything from potatoes to hosta to the aforementioned snapdragons, that in some ways favor the bumblebee over all other pollinators. How? Glad you asked! Anyone familiar with bumblebees know that they're a heavy bee, and to pollinate a snapdragon, it's all about opening the jaws.


Antirrhinum majus, from Thasos, Greece; By User:Haplochromis - Self-photographed, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2177519

Snapdragons, for any readers who may not know, have flowers that have a hinged "jaw" that opens when squeezed from below (my sisters and I used to have fun doing that and making the dragon "roar"). While humans open the jaws by pinching the base of the bloom, bumblebees do so by landing on the bottom "lip", and the bee's weight and strength opens the flower so it can access the nectar and pollen inside. Some actually create openings in the side, which allows for pollination by other species that can't open the jaws.

Bumblebees have the same societal setup as honeybees, but they have much shorter lives, with all members of a colony except for the queen dying off by winter. The queen alone is left to re-create the colony, which lives in the ground. And like honeybees, the bumblebee species are also having many of the same problems that honeybee colonies are having.

And just FYI, the eastern carpenter bee is also pollinators, but are solitary and live in holes that they bore into wood.

I now have my first GGC--Generic Green Caterpillar! I found him on catnip. Photo will be coming later today.

Two pics of the GGC:

>10 CassieBash: any idea what it might be?

>11 fuzzi: Haven't a clue right now. For some reason, I want to say I've ID'ed this fellow's species before, but I get so many GGCs each year that look very similar that it's possible I'm thinking of another species. He's not a looper or inchworm, so that narrows it down a little when I finally consult the guide. There are a lot of GGCs that are inchworms....

One of the two woolly bears from this spring emerged yesterday!

>12 CassieBash: ooh! Pretty!

>10 CassieBash: So I've consulted the guide and while I'm not entirely sure what the little guys are--I have several now--I think they might be green cloverworms. The guide says that this species is "partial to low-lying legumes" but that they have been found on other things. I find it ironic that if this is indeed the correct species, I've found them on catnip, wild grape, and Virginia creeper. I've so far only found one on the listed food plant, clover (specifically red). The one thing I don't like about this ID is that the book describes the last pair of prolegs as being long and extended and I don't see signs of this, though in fairness the caterpillar I'm inspecting keeps hunching up defensively. With as many individuals as I have, I'm hoping that at least one will emerge healthy and identifiable.

I have also started the annual red admiral collection and I found two question mark caterpillars in the process as well. I've seen a few swallowtails--dark ones so either black, spicebush, or the dark color phase of the tiger. Most exciting is that I think I've already seen a stray monarch adult--this is quite early for us to see them so I'm hopeful that this is a good sign for their population this year.

Addendum to the previous post: I have about a dozen of those green caterpillars and I've seen a few when they were more relaxed, and the last pair of prolegs do extend outward. I'm a little more confident of the ID but will await the adult stage for a final analysis. As the book claims that they prefer legumes, I've put in some cuttings from the wisteria (a legume in bush format) to see if anyone partakes. Again, not the end-all of a positive identification but it would be more strong, compelling evidence.

Found a few more admirals while gathering food for the others.

Critter of the Week will be posted on Tuesday due to the holiday because I have several pics and, as you may know, my iPhone is my internet at home and it's a pain in the patoot to try to post pictures with the phone. A hint: it's another Indiana native. (That narrows it down some, doesn't it?). :) OK, OK--it's a mammal. That cuts down the playing field considerably.

Hmm, never realized the wisteria was a legume!

Have a lovely long weekend, hope your weather is better than ours is supposed to be (tropical storm, argh).

>16 fuzzi: I learned that somewhere and since then, I've been feeding any silver spotted skipper larvae I find on the edges of soybean fields on wisteria. I also find those caterpillars on vetch, another legume--but the wisteria is easy to get to and it always needs pruning--and it lasts longer when cut. It makes an ideal food source for hand-rearing legume-loving caterpillars.

Our meteorological issue right now is unseasonably hot and dry conditions. Right now, it feels like we skipped into July or August. But at least we aren't having severe weather. Take care and be safe!

>17 CassieBash: thanks!

I have a couple Silver-spotted skippers every summer, hanging around the ponds. Makes sense to me now, as we have TONS of wisteria in the wooded lot next door, and plenty of vetch growing all over the yard.

>18 fuzzi: Yep, that would do it. Look for rolled leaves or sections of leaves that are rolled or folded over and stitched with silk. Like admirals and spicebush swallowtails, the skipper family seems to have a tendency for creating leaf "tents" as they feed.

This week's critter is one that is much maligned but that deserves more respect than we give it, even though we tend to give it a wide berth. But it's rather unflattering when you call someone a "skunk"--and yet it shouldn't be! Once classified as members of the weasel family, Mustelidae (known for their anal scent glands) and now given their own family, these are very interesting creatures and are the probably one of the most easily-recognized omnivores of North America and Mexico; it's extensive habitat from southern Canada into northern Mexico, and it's highly adaptive nature, make it one of the most widespread mammals of the western hemisphere. They are beautiful animals--from a distance upwind, of course. And they are important pest controllers, eating a lot of creatures we find undesirable or damaging to our crops and homes, such as beetles, grubs, grasshoppers, and even small rodents like mice and young rats! Of course, like any general feeder, they also eat what we ourselves might want to eat or have around, including frogs, mushrooms, and berries. And then there is the trash we set out...but in all fairness, unless you smell the smell, your trash eaters might also be raccoons. Because you will know when a skunk has visited you, even if you don't see any signs (like little holes dug in your yard, which can also be raccoons), because the smell lingers, even if the skunk hasn't been frightened. And if something did frighten it, you'll know, potentially for days. Those anal scent glands can be fired at predators or other hazards to the skunk, either simultaneously or separately, and works against pretty much anything except for one major skunk predator: the great horned owl, which doesn't seem to have a good sense of smell. (Well, it is a sight hunter, isn't it? What does it need a sense of smell for?) The spray is made up of a mix of seven sulphur-containing compounds and our species can detect it in as small an amount as 10 parts per billion (yes, that's a "b"), and believe it or not, those little guys only carry around up to a tablespoon of it on them. If they use it all up, it takes over a week for their bodies to replace it. This is why, believe it or not, a skunk will do all it can to only use its spray as a last resort. Leave a healthy skunk to do it's business, and it will leave you alone. Which is why, when they cut our hayfield and the one across the road from it last week, I was able to get some great pictures of a live skunk digging for bugs in the field across from us, with no risk and no discomfort (I couldn't smell him, even at that fairly close distance, so the wind was in my favor and he wasn't nervous). This website even compares skunks to the Gone with the Wind character Melanie Hamilton; skunks are smart, mind their own business, and are seldom in a hurry--if only we could all be like them! So before you think about calling someone a skunk as an insult, you might want to think twice.







And yes, he knew I was there as I was taking pictures, but I never approached him close enough to bother him, and he seemed confident, after a few seconds of watching me at the initial photo shoot session, that I wasn't going to do him any harm. I even told him he was going to be honored this week. But it's OK; I don't think the fame went to his head.

Sadly, after the hay was baled and shipped off, my sister watched as the Mennonites who own the field dug holes around the perimeter along the treeline and put something inside each one; we suspect they also saw the skunk and have set poison.

>20 CassieBash: we don't have skunks in this area, for some reason. If I travel west, then I'll come across the smell or sadly, the evidence that a skunk didn't cross the road fast enough. They also carry rabies, as do most mammals.

I can't help but think of Pepe le Pew whenever I see a skunk:

>21 fuzzi: Odd; I wonder why you don't have them. I have to admit we had a black cat whose tail plumed quite a bit like a skunk's, though she was much smaller. We used to joke about painting a white stripe down her back, as so often happened to that poor cat in the cartoons.

Rabies has (knock on wood) never really been an issue where we live, and you'd think it would be, with all the raccoons, foxes, coyotes, bats, and skunks--the most likely wild animal vectors for the disease where we live. We worry sometimes more about our barn cats and horses getting exposed to it than ourselves or the dogs and inside cats, because we are always cautious around wild animals, the dogs aren't let out unsupervised, and the inside cats are...well...always inside. Since we had the new cap placed on our chimney several years back, we haven't had any issues with bats or birds getting into the house. The horses and barn cats are outside all the time. But we've been fortunate; we've never seen a rabid animal (knocking on wood again).

FYI to all readers: fuzzi said "most" and I'm guessing she's thinking of this exception to the rule: oppossums. Opossums are rabies-resistant, likely due to a lower body temperature than most mammals, thus making it difficult for the rabies virus to survive. Plus, as I always try to advocate for opossums, they eat a lot of ticks and thus are a natural control for insect-vector diseases such as Lyme and that weird enzyme-based "allergic" reaction to red meat, whatever it's called. If you live far enough south, the other resistant mammal I know of would be the armadillo, which has a low enough body temperature that it is the only other animal known to get leprosy, a disease which thrives in us because our 98.6 degree "normal" temperature is just low enough to be comfortable for it. This is why extremities are the first things to suffer from the disease.

Now I'm in the mood to read an infectious disease book for one of my 75. I don't think I've read any "disturbing" non-fiction this year yet, have I? I'd better get to it... :)

>22 CassieBash: I just borrowed the German translation of Pale Rider from the library. I figure that will give me a good dose of epidemic.

>22 CassieBash: correct, I was thinking of opossums, but technically they aren't mammals, they are marsupials...unless the science has changed recently? They're related to kangaroos, both have a pouch for their young.

One of my favorite books as a young child was Animals Do the Strangest Things. It has opossums on the cover as I recall.

>24 fuzzi: Mammals is the encompassing term for any animal that has fur and feeds its young milk, so marsupials are a type of mammal (as are the weird monotremes, which are the mammals that lay eggs include 4 species of echidna and the platypus), so you were correct with your first impulse to call an opossum one of the few mammals that are resistant to rabies. Those animals that aren't monotremes or marsupials are placental mammals.

This is a perfect time for the research librarian in me to talk taxonomy and give a refresher course in biology!

The scientific taxonomic breakdown is domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. So for an opossum, the breakdown would be as follows:

Domain: Eukarya (organisms with cells that have nuclei inside membranes--this was added in 1990 so many of us "old-timers" start with kingdom)
Kingdom: Animal (as opposed to plant, fungi, protozoans, etc.)
Phylum: Chordata (animals with backbones)
Class: Mammal
This is where it gets tricky; apparently, they've added what they call an infraclass, and this is where the marsupial part comes in. I don't think that all classes have infraclasses.
Order: Didelphimorphia (opossums)
Family: Didelphidae (American opossums--apparently, there are several species native to South America)
Genus: Didelphis (Large American opossums)
Species: Didelphis virginiana
Common name: Virginia opossum

Technically, at the very top is the classification "Life"--also newly added to the breakdown--and is basically classifying animals into non-cellular life for virus-like things and cellular life for the rest of us.

I've had a wonderful photo op for wildlife a couple of times this week, so I've already chosen next week's critter--another animal in Indiana that you probably shouldn't mess with, though rabies isn't an issue (so not a mammal). But they do have tempers, and they will bite. It's a reptile--and a pretty hefty one at that. The one I took pictures of wasn't even anywhere close to the top size I've seen. Any guesses, anyone?

This week's critter is the common snapping turtle, not to be confused with the alligator snapping turtle (both native to Indiana and both not to be messed with). While the alligator snapper is considered endangered in Indiana, having once been thought to be extirpated (extinct in a localized area) in the state until one was discovered in Morgan County, the common snapping turtle is...well, more common. It's range is larger than the alligator's but it can be distinguished from its rarer cousin by the smoother shell; alligator snapping turtles have three pronounced ridges running the length of the top of their shell. Both are large turtles compared to other such Indiana natives like eastern painted turtles and box turtles, but the alligator is the bigger of the two. Still, the common snapper is no lightweight, with their average weight being about 13 pounds, with some individuals weighing up to 35+ pounds. (The heaviest on record weighed a whopping 75 pounds.) They can be long-lived and can hit the century mark if not killed first. While the adults have few predators outside of man, when young or as eggs, their predators include foxes, skunks, raccoons, herons, crows, hawks, mink, owls, snakes, river otters, alligators, and even bullfrogs. Of course, not being an expert on reptiles, and not wanting to risk a serious bite with a closer look, I have no idea what gender, age, or weight this specimen I saw was:







The scientific name for this species is Chelydra serpentina, the "serpentina" part being a reference to the incredibly long necks these turtles have--which is one of the reasons these animals can be dangerous. They can whip their heads around to bite someone or something that's messing around behind them, and they have a have a powerful bite that can at the best mangle fingers if not take them off outright. If you contemplate helping one across the road (as I did at first with this one, until it solved my dilemma for me by turning around and going back into the grass), it's suggested that you push the animal using something very long and sturdy, rather than risk your hands. While considered to be "least concern" regarding conservation status, there has been a decline in some populations due to habitat loss and degradation and, believe it or not, the pet trade. That's right. Apparently, there are people out there that are crazy enough to think that a turtle that can weigh more than many dog breeds, that need a lot of room, have poor dispositions when confined in small areas, that can't be trained or restrained like more conventional pets, and that can bite hard enough to maim you is a good pet. These are wild animals and are not suited for pets or for domestication, and are best left to themselves.

I did a bit of gardening this weekend, as it was a complete reversal, temperature wise, from last weekend. We were in the 70s with a nice, cool, stiff northern breeze, and yesterday was overcast as well, providing a nice, shady atmosphere and helping to keep the temperatures cool. I'll share pictures later.

I saw this today. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44344859 Warning! High yuck factor! Tells about something you should not do with a snapping turtle.

>27 MarthaJeanne: they also euthanised the turtle? Unreal.

The point of that was that Idaho has them listed as an invasive species and the teacher didn't have a permit to keep it. I would have thought that they could have donated it to a zoo or something. But it had to be gotten rid of somehow.

>29 MarthaJeanne: Yes, it's not a native to the western quarter of the U.S., which makes you wonder how he got hold of it--through the aforementioned pet trade? You'd think a science teacher would know better, if not about the backlash of feeding a puppy to a turtle (which I'm sorry, being eaten alive isn't "merciful" or whatever the guy tried to claim it was) then about the non-native, invasive status and needing a license to raise it.

And speaking of raising....

My birthday is this weekend, and Mother Nature has given me the best gift of all: monarch caterpillars! And not just teeny first instars--great big ones ready to make chrysalises!

To understand my excitement, remember that in Indiana, it's rare for us to even see an adult, much less caterpillars this advanced in their development, before mid-June, and even that's a little on the early side. For caterpillars of this size, the adults would have had to be here at least two weeks prior to this one to lay their eggs, so I'm guessing mid-May. Exceptionally early! And I'm not talking about just a few caterpillars I found here and there; the milkweed stands in our horse pasture produced a couple dozen, at least:





Remember that there are even more further down in the bucket that you can't see.

And I didn't forget my promised garden pictures; here are a couple so that you can see the organized chaos that my garden always seems to be. A lot of that is due to the bushy Queen Anne's lace, I think, though the coneflowers are beginning to take over their dedicated area, and the lilies have begun to spread now that my mole issue is finally, at least for the moment, under control.





The little fenced-in triangle is a cat's grave; we lost Baron Von Tippypurr to the road last month. The colorful post is decor I bought a couple of years ago to act as a general monument to the many cats buried around our yard. This year I picked up a more general one that includes cats, dogs, horses, and even a pig (which we do have one potbellied pig buried on our property). You can just see a bit of it by the fence post to the left.



I'm not actively collecting any more garden statuary, except for dragons. I want to have a section of the garden to be like an annual dragon reunion area. As you can see, I've got a good start with three, hanging out underneath the dwarf lilac with the violets.

Thank you! You made me miss my geese and dragonflies enough that I went hunting again, and this time I found them!

>31 MarthaJeanne: Glad I could inspire! :)

I will be searching for more later today, weather permitting, but if I don't find any more, that's OK. I'm quite overjoyed with the ones I've got, and hoping this is the start of a long and prosperous monarch season.

My other Leps--mainly admirals and question marks now, are starting to make their chrysalises. The admiral population seems to be down, but perhaps that's just as well, considering the strong and early start that the monarchs have. I've decided that this year, I'm not going to go overboard with raising a lot of species at once--that was more work last year than I'd bargained for--but will concentrate on monarchs and swallowtails, and silkworm species if I can find any this year. I will probably end up with at least a few tobacco hornworms as well. But I don't think I'm going to go all-out looking for anything but monarchs, swallowtails, and hornworms--and those only because I'm in charge of keeping the tomato plants free of caterpillars.

>30 CassieBash: sorry for your loss. We sometimes "joke" that anyone who buys our house after us will wonder about all the cat skeletons buried in the side yard...there's no abattoir on the property, we just have attrition to the road and elements.

>30 CassieBash: - Wow, those caterpillars are gorgeous! We don't get Monarchs here, but I was lucky enough to see one of their wintering places along the California coast many years ago - amazing.

Sorry to hear about the cat.

>33 fuzzi: Yeah, we've thought the same, since we have all sorts of animals buried on the property: cats, dogs, chickens, even the occasional wild animal that was hit on the road if it was right in front of our house.

>34 NorthernStar: Thanks on both counts.

It's almost time to go home and see how many monarchs are at the top of the tank in J forms, ready to make a chrysalis.

Such memories, the discussion of burials of pets brought back. My daddy always used a bag of lime (or two) when putting an old friend in the ground. We had a private laugh about the folks digging out for a basement, and running into those white patches in the ground, many years later. I wonder if horses can haunt, where their graveyard is disturbed?

Man, that's a long time ago. I'm getting old.

>36 Lyndatrue: I'd like to think that animals aren't as tied to their graves or death sites as much as humans are supposed to. I'd like to think they're more at peace when they go.

If not, no one had better build much of anything on our land, since we have animals buried everywhere. Imagine being haunted by the ghosts of dozens of Rhode Island red hens....

A few of the largest monarch caterpillars have made "J"s at the top of the first tank. I had to separate them into two groups due to sheer numbers, which continue to grow as I find more I missed while looking for food for those I already have. If I were comparing "team" size this year, so far the monarchs would be winning, hands down. While I'd seen several admiral adults this spring, they weren't in large numbers like they often are, and I haven't seen many of their offspring, which may be just as well right now, since the county just mowed the edges of the road where the nettles (and milkweed) tend to grow. I'd already combed through the sections near our house, so I'm confident there weren't many, if any, losses.

Fortunately, there are several milkweed growing in gardens where they shouldn't, plus the horse pasture is a veritable goldmine (and where I found all the monarch cats). One of the three original eggs I'd collected has also hatched, so I have a first instar or two (a few of the caterpillars in the bucket were tiny--first and second instars).

I also have a couple of inchworms, as of yet unidentified--and one looks to be making a cocoon, so his color has changed and therefore he'd be difficult to ID. I also have a couple of copper underwings in cocoons; found one literally the day before he made one.

The GGCs had failure to thrive syndrome and all that survived were released. I'm not sure if it was a disease that went through them, or if they simply don't do well in captivity. I will hesitate before collecting any more of that species again.

No sign of any swallowtail cats yet, but I've seen the adults, mostly tiger and spicebush. I've yet to definitively ID a black swallowtail, though with the huge clumps of Queen Anne's lace, I'm obviously hoping for them.

Yesterday, 2 red admirals emerged, and today 1 admiral followed suit. Most of the Monarchs have made their chrysalises. Except for the Monarchs, I've had few caterpillars and I'm just not seeing a lot of variety in the adults--though I saw both a tiger swallowtail and at least one (maybe more) spicebush swallowtail.

Yesterday, I came across two black swallowtail caterpillars, one very large and green, the second still in an early instar, with the black body with the white saddle. And speaking of saddles....

Since we have yet another Triple Crown winner, let's honor the humble horse this week. Strong and beautiful but skittish creatures--they are, after all, prey animals by instinct--the horse is one of the most important animals in shaping history. People have relied on horses since we first shared the planet, first as food, but as we domesticated them, we began harnessing their strength, speed, and endurance for transportation, assistance in herding other livestock, war, sport, subjects for art (as early as the cave paintings), and of course some of us just have a horse or two for leisure and pleasure. I'll admit it's been well over a decade since I've ridden and I'm not motivated to pick it back up, despite our having a perfectly serviceable mount, but I do like to watch them, especially when they run.

These are our horses, and in order their names are Whimsey, Star, and Pewter. Technically, both Whimsey and Star are ponies, but scientists see horses and ponies both as Equus ferus caballus, regardless of whether they are tame or wild, so we'll group them all here together. Zebras, while a member of the Equus family, are not part of the caballus species.







I think most people know the basics; horses are familiar animals to most of us, I'm sure. But here are a few fun, quirky trivia facts you may or may not know:

Of all the land mammals, horses have the largest eyes.

Horses are not colorblind; they can see a few colors but not the range we humans can see. They see yellows and greens.

A horse's teeth take up more space in its head than its brain, which weighs half the amount (22 ounces) of an average human brain. Male horses have 40 teeth, females have 36, and horses have 205 bones--only one less than humans have. Like most mammals, horses have the same number of neck bones (7) as we do.

The fastest sprint time on record for a horse was a speed up to 55 mph (I'm sure it didn't last long), but most average about 27 mph. The highest jump on record is for 8 feet and 1 1/4 inches.

While horses can sleep lying down, they can sleep standing up as well to allow them to wake quickly and run from predators without having to do the slow task of getting to their feet. (If you've ever seen a horse that's been lying down get up, you know it takes them several valuable seconds.) However, to get REM sleep--which they fortunately don't need much of--they must lie down, and many domestic horses will sleep lying down because they feel comfortable and safe in their stalls, paddocks, pastures, etc.

Critters made the news in Vienna today after garbage men stopped a loud fight on the sidewalk. The attacker took off, and the injured victim was taken to the police station. The victim, when questioned by the police, only repeated the questions, so the cause of the fight and the identity of the attacker remain unknown.

The parrot was then handed over to the animal home, and the raven is gone.

>41 MarthaJeanne: lolol...

>40 CassieBash: lovely.

I love watching horses run, and jump. I often cry, there is something beyond beautiful in how they move.

Trivia: did you know that horses are the only animals mentioned in context with Heaven? It's also written that Jesus Christ is supposed to return riding a horse, followed by all His saints, like mounted.

>41 MarthaJeanne: Wow, that made the news? Why can't I hear more news like that?

>42 fuzzi: Horses have always had a special place in the human heart. Not so much this week's critter, who a lot of people may have never even heard of. For a long time, I've been kicking around the idea of throwing in an extinct animal, as a sort of reminder of what can happen if we aren't careful stewards. This week's critter is supposed to be extinct, though there are sometimes unconfirmed sightings, including a few recent ones. I'd like to think that a few still remain; after all, the fish known as the coelacanth and a bird called a takahe were both thought extinct until "rediscovered". This week's creature is the thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger--even though it's closest relative is probably the Tasmanian devil.


Specimen in the Oslo museum, showing colouration; By L. Shyamal, Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons

The thylacine was the largest modern marsupial carnivore. At 66 pounds, this animal, native to not only Tasmania but also New Guinea and Australia, where it was less numerous and already extinct by the time European settlers arrived. The only way scientists know they had been there once was remains discovered. Very similar in build to dogs, but completely unrelated, it's a good example of convergent evolution; species of different lineages and families that develop, due to environmental and habitat conditions, similar traits. In fact, I read that for a certain biology class at Oxford, students were asked to ID different animal skulls, and that the skull of a thylacine was used to trick students into putting down dog as the answer, so similar are their skulls. Apparently, word spread and students caught on, so the Oxford professor switched the skull on occasion with a real dog skull, so that students would really have to study the skull rather than answer automatically with one or the other. (Marsupials have two prominent holes in the palate, apparently, so students who knew this would, theoretically, have no difficulty then determining a thylacine skull from a dog skull.)

As far as the behavior and lifestyle of the thylacine, we know very little. It was nocturnal and shy, preferring to avoid humans if possible, and many scientists think that the striped coat was camouflage for the woodland habitat it preferred. Interestingly, the thylacine was one of two marsupials in which both males and females have pouches (water opossums are the other species). Their most famous "behavior", however, is probably their "yawn" (if you watch the video at the link above, you'll see it in action), which may have helped give rise to the bounties paid to rid farmers and ranchers of what was once considered an aggressive animal. Other theories relating to their extinction include the simultaneous extinction or reduction of prey species, loss of habitat, and canine diseases brought by settlers--or, of course, any combination.

There are lots of animals out there whose numbers are dwindling fast; let's hope that help comes to them before they follow in the pawprints of the thylacine.

My impression was that it was a slow news day for the Vienna police press speakers and they had fun writing it up as if it had been a human fight. Note: only a few days ago a 14 year old cut up a 16 year old badly on the sidewalk near their school in the same district. The 14 year old had aleady been suspended for other violence in the school. Even the police get tired of that sort of thing.

>44 MarthaJeanne: Oh, they get extra points for the write-up. And I would think every "normal" person gets tired of hearing human on human and human on animal violence, no matter their occupation--but I'd think that the police, having to deal with it in ways the rest of us don't, get particularly tired of it.

The first group of monarchs have begun to emerge; I had a whopping 6 with at least 3 females in the group, and all were healthy and flew immediately. Also had a questionmark butterfly emerge, and over the weekend I had two Carolina Sphinx moths emerge--and the first was one of the biggest I'd raised! (I got pictures of him or her that I need to share soon.) I'm expecting the last of my three sphinxes to come out today; the cocoon yesterday had a soft, papery feel to it instead of being hard and unyielding, and the moth inside moved a bit. Plus, I'm expecting at least 3-4 more monarchs. I've found the odd egg or caterpillar here and there but I'm guessing we're between generations for the most part, but now that mine are starting to emerge, in the next few days, there will probably be an uptick in eggs and small larvae again.

>43 CassieBash: how exciting! I agree, if these animals are not extinct, LEAVE THEM ALONE.

The Tasmanian Devil has its own issues, facial tumor disease is bringing about its decline and possible extinction. :(

http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/wildlife-management/save-the-tasmanian-devil-program

>47 fuzzi: Poor guys.

Lepidoptera update: last night I did indeed have a Carolina Sphinx moth, and over 20 monarchs, many of which were females.

Mostly I'm just going to post pictures of my garden, leps, and a pond picture or two. Oh, and the last one is the milkweed heaven we call the horse pasture, where most of my monarchs have come from so far. Enjoy!

13 monarchs and 2 question marks later, and we're ready to start my official summer thread!

>48 CassieBash: what a striking-looking moth that is!

I gasped over the Monarchs on the tree.

What pretty gardens and pond you have. I always enjoy your pictures.

I love the big black moth! I've never seen one of those before.

I'm vicariously enjoying your koi pond. Mine always get eaten by herons and raccoons.

>50 fuzzi: The monarchs on the tree were put there by me, because they were reluctant to fly off immediately and I needed to finish chores before it rained. They all eventually flew off but not before I snapped a quick pic. The tree is the old, multi-trunked limb that was featured in my racoon post in the fall/winter thread when the raccoon was the Critter (post 149). You can't quite see the hollow where the raccoon slept in this shot.

>51 Darth-Heather: The Carolina Sphinx moth's caterpillar name is the bane of all gardeners who love their nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers): the tobacco hornworm. More common than the tomato hornworm, but most gardeners in our area call them that anyway because that's what they tend to lay their eggs on. These moths are important pollinators of evening and night blooming flowers, however, so there's a trade-off. The good news is that the caterpillar isn't picky and will eat any nightshade, including the dreaded horse nettle or Jimson weed.

Raccoons are more likely to eat the frogs, who hang out in the shallows. The pond is very deep so that the fish can survive our freezing northern Indiana winters. The water is kept circulating year-round so that it won't freeze solid in winter. Last fall, we did have a great blue heron that took out a number of our fish, but between the encroaching winter, and our constantly going out to yell at him, I think he decided to move on, and so far we haven't seen him back. Once we even had a green heron try, but they have a different hunting style and prefer not to go into deep water, so he was discouraged in a few days and moved on.

I did not read all the messages but what a fun post. I live on a lake and one log that fell into the lake has turtles on it in the summer. My granddaughter takes her kayak over to it and checks on them. I will show her your site when she comes to visit.
Leona

>53 mnleona: Thanks! This week's critter is a beetle; perhaps you or your granddaughter has seen one? Check out the new thread here.