Eastern Gray Squirrel

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This Eastern Gray Squirrel knew where to find his acorn breakfast. First, he tunneled through the snow to get a stronger whiff to locate the nut. In one experiment, the scientists hid the nuts for the squirrels. The rodents found just as many acorns as  they do when they store their own winter cache slightly below ground. This  proved that it is smell, not memory, that leads a hungry squirrel to his meal.

Read More About It:


The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri




http://www.amazon.com/Busy-Little-Squirrel-Nancy-Tafuri/dp/0689873417/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265771663&sr=8-

Mystery Bird?

Recently I glimpsed a bird flying away from my feeder which borders a Connecticut forest. I only saw it from the back. But as it flapped it wings fairly noisily to escape, it flashed  yellow stripes  beneath each wing.  It had  white and brown mottled coloring on its back and wings.  It was bigger than a songbird, but smaller than a turkey vulture; possibly the size of an owl or hawk? Nothing seems to match this description. Any ideas or pictures?

Groundhog! Groundhog! How Much Wood....?

Groundhog! Groundhog! How much wood can you chuck? This doesn't have quite the same ring as the familiar tune, "Woodchuck, woodchuck, how much wood can a woodchuck chuck?" When Punxsutawney Phil in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, or Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, Ontario, or General Beauregard Lee at Yellow River Game Ranch outside Atlanta, Georgia, climb out of their winter quarters very few of us think of this February 2nd celebrity as a woodchuck. So were did he get this name? Possibly from an Indian Tribe. The Agonquians of Narragansett Bay called this first cousin to the ground squirrel, "wuchak." Another question. How did a rodent make it on national TV every February 2nd? As they say in politics, he rode the coattails- not those who dress for the annual event in formal garb-but the coattails of Christianity. Early Christians who also felt pelted down with winter cold had a celebration on February 2nd to encourage a fertile spring ground.The legend of this festive occasion tells that the priests would scan the skies for clear weather But it was the four-legged mammal who made the call with his shadow. In Germany the badger played weatherman and in England and France the bear got the credit for predicting the length of winter. In America the Pennsylvanian community had to settle for the rodent, albeit, the biggest one. Bright skies brought gray shadows and foretold six more cold, winter weeks.

The Mighty Chickadee In The Colorado Forest

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describe the little bird that frequents most of Canada and North America as "universally cute." But Kailen Mooney, while a doctoral student at UC-Boulder in 2006 proved this "cute" bird can also save the magnificent pine trees. He found that these mountain chickadees , along with other songbirds such as the red-breasted nuthatch and the pygmy nuthatch who are year-round residents of the Colorado pine forests can change the "flavor" of a tree. Mooney put about 300 insects and spiders on some ponderosa pines in Colorado. Then he covered the pine with netting so the chickadees and his friends could not eat the aphids and caterpillars. While dining on the branches the tree, like other plant life, these insects cause the tree to give off an odor. When the birds ate the insects, the tree's "flavor," or odor, which Mooney explains is a chemical called terpene, changed. But wait there are three other actors in this environmental tragedy. In walk the bark beetle, the squirrel and porcupine. They smell a change. A whiff they dislike. Like so many of Aesop's tales, the largest forest inhabitant once again is saved by his tiny companion. But the play does not end here.

Need A Nature Idea?

Reading Jennifer Ward's I Love Dirt offers ways to engage your child with nature. A leaf, a worm, the sun, or a butterfly and one curious child and nature-loving adult are the only tools you need. Nothing to purchase, everything to gain.

The Red-Headed Woodpecker In Connecticut

The red-headed woodpecker is endangered in Connecticut. The DEP suggests keeping snags, or dead trees to provide maternity nests and storage cavities for their acorns. Prescribed burning by well-meaning forest management in Connecticut appears to disregard this need.

Live Tree or Dead Tree?

Here is a tricky question? Which has more value a live tree or a dead one? The answer might surprise you. Sure, the shape, the fall color, and cool breezes under a sprawling maple suggest the live one. But not for wildlife.

The more I read about how wildlife use these tree hollows, I disagree with "clearing out a forest" with a prescribed burn or simply cleaning out a patch of forest that may be on your property. Dead trees are called "snags." There are two kinds of snags, hard and soft. The hard snags are the maples and oaks. Since the trees are sturdy and not apt to decay, these make great dens for raccoons, fishers, weasels and black bear. The soft snags are the hollow branches of an evergreen which will decay. But the good news is that the decay draws insects for the birds.

So, the next time you decide not to clean up those fallen logs or dead trees in your forest patch, remember, a dead tree is more valuable than a living tree!