Listen and Look for A Vernal Pool Near You

Looking for nature close to home any time of year is restful, not to time-consuming, and a great way to spend time with a friend, your child, or alone. Mid-march is a perfect time to look for a vernal pool. The Connecticut Audubon Society tells us, "You may have a vernal pool in your backyard! In early March, listen for the quacking call of wood frogs arriving at the vernal pool. On the first warm, rainy nights you might find a parade of spotted salamanders risking exposure to predators and traffic as they make their way to their breeding pools. Vernal pools are small, temporary bodies of water that are critical breeding habitat for many amphibian neighbors that need our protection."

A Black Deer In Connecticut?

Do you think he is black? Unlike the very rare albino deer which is white or not white, the black deer's dark coloration can range from gray to very black. Some say it is more rare than an albino. It is the melanism, unusual darkening of body tissues caused by excessive production of melanin; especially, a form of color variation in animals.
Some more video of black deer.
Read More About It!
White-Tailed Deer (Early Bird Nature Books)
Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, William Munoz

A White Squirrel?

My son spotted a white squirrel in our yard today. We live in Durham: it is in the southern, central part of Connecticut. Like most of us, his first thought was albino. But this white squirrel is not an albino; according to biologists, it is a genetic mutation of the eastern gray squirrel. Its dark, not red, eyes reveals its true identity. They are, however, fairly rare. One observer in Ridgefield, Connecticut suggested that the other squirrels did not like him. How did he know this? Well, it seems that another gray was always chasing him.
Other interesting animal coloration included the piebald dear which brown and white patches making it look, more like a cow than a deer.
Share you other interesting sitings with my readers.

Read More About It
A new picture book, A Little White Squirrel's Secret: A Special Place To Practice, by Penny Hunt and others, captures the white squirrel's beauty and his triumph over being different.