Foxy Redhead

Meet Vulpes vulpes – the Red Fox.  It is distinguished from the Gray Fox by a white-tipped tail visible in the photos.  After taking a few years off the last handful of years they've been appearing more frequently on the trail cameras.  I suppose the competing coyotes haven't succeeded in cleaning them out.  

It is terrific to see them around here; such a beautiful canid the fox is. 

They’re omnivores that dine-upon everything from rabbits, small rodents, roadkill, fruits and nuts and insects.   

They sometimes make their home in an enlarged woodchuck den, or hollow log, or underneath a log or rock in a stream bank or side of a hill.  A mated pair will defend their turf from other foxes but this canine frequently is prey to the resident coyotes and wolves.  

 

A female is called a vixen, a male is called a dog fox, newborns are called pups, kits or cubs.  And a group of foxes is called a skulk.   

 

 

They're breeding this time of year. 

 

Maybe I can expect to see more of them in the months and years ahead? 

 

 

 

Wiley Coyote

In the creation story of Idaho’s Nez Perce people it was Coyote who saved the creatures of Earth.

 

The monster Kamiah had stalked into the region and was gobbling up the animals one by one. The crafty Coyote evaded Kamiah but didn't want to lose his friends, so he let himself be swallowed. From inside the beast, Coyote severed Kamiah's heart and freed his fellow animals. Then he chopped up Kamiah and threw the pieces to the winds, where they gave birth to the peoples of the planet. 

 

 

The scientific name for the coyote is Canis latrans – literally barking dog. 

 

 

A diurnal or crepuscular creature (namely active during daylight hours or at dawn and dusk) coyotes that reside in closer proximity to people tend to be more nocturnal. Unless they become habituated to our presence wild coyotes will make every attempt to steer clear of people. If you were to inquire of a wildlife biologist they would tell you that there are nineteen subspecies of coyote that are exceedingly well-adapted to living in urban, rural and wild America. 

 

 Male coyotes tip the scales at about 44 pounds while females weigh-in slightly less. For scale our red-golden retriever, Ruby, weighs about the same. 

 

 

Coyotes dine on large prey and also eat snakes, insects, rodents, fruit and other mast. As an opportunistic hunter coyotes have been known to prey-upon small pets and livestock. In an urban setting they will eat garbage and pet food left on a deck or patio. 

 

 

The coyote is a gregarious animal - socially-inclined - like the wolf. This is likely a consequence of the need for a family unit or pack of animals combining to bring down large game.

 

Recent genetic studies suggest that coyotes are not native to the eastern United States - The implication is they largely evolved on the Great Plains. As the eastern old growth forests were cleared for settlement and agriculture coyotes adapted to the new environs. It is thought that coyotes dispersed to our neck of the woods early in the twentieth century. These canids are presumed to have come from the northern Great Plains and are unique in their genetic origins. 

 

 

Additional coyotes dispersed from here to New England via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada meeting in the 1940s in New York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes have inter-bred with gray wolf and Eastern wolf populations adding to their own unique genetic diversity and further contributing to their hybrid vigor and ability to adapt to an ever changing environment. Coyotes here are known as the Northeastern coyote.

 

Jill and I hear coyote vocalizations rather frequently. A live sighting is rare as in rural America coyotes share the same natural aversion to people that other wildlife do. 

 

They are scared-to-death of people. 

 

 

Nevertheless, digital trail camera images are common. Ruby and I ran the trail camera trap line recently and she sez that judging from the quantity of images over a couple of weeks that coyotes “are cheap” around here. 

 

These are all night IR images; not a single daylight photo. It’s mating season and maybe that has something to do with it?  

 

Coyote one followed by coyotes two.  A mated pair?

The Urban Coyote

From time to time I've had an opportunity to attend a woodland owner conference, compare notes with neighbors, chat with a wildlife biologist or simply ponder my own personal observations and encounters with the top predator in our neighborhood.  Sure, we may occasionally encounter a gray wolf or a black bear around these parts but they're generally dispersing males and not found as breeding populations.  And since we don't have large breeding populations of humans close to where I live; wildlife encounters around here are strictly from a rural perspective. 

The purpose of this post is to draw attention to how Wiley Coyote has adapted to urban life and what, if anything, you might want to know about it or do about it.   

The frantic animal in the photo below was photographed on a motion-activated trail camera while being pursued by a pack of trailing hounds belonging to some neighbors of mine a couple of years ago.  Around here, coyotes are universally wary of humans.  This is a consequence of being hunted.   

Meet Canis latrans.... 

The translation from Latin - barking dog.  Coyotes are wild dogs and depending upon their location sport a grayish-brown coat that can vary from silver-gray to black.  The tail uniformly has a black tip.  Unlike the brown eyes of a domestic dog a coyote's eyes are yellow.  Adults can tip the scales at roughly 25-35 pounds and occasionally a healthy, well-fed specimen might grow to 40-45 pounds. 

Native to the Great Plains and deserts of Mexico coyotes have dispersed over the last several hundred years and now range from the arctic to Central America.  An exceedingly adaptable predator its numbers have grown as settlement reduced the numbers of larger predators such as cougars, wolves and grizzly bears.

Coyotes are opportunistic hunters feeding mainly upon small rodents, fruit, rabbits and deer - all found in bountiful abundance in a city.  Regrettably, a small dog or cat is the same as any other smaller prey animal that a coyote might seek as a food source. 

In Wisconsin coyote numbers have steadily increased and their remarkable adaptability to the urban environment has given rise to coyote, pet and human conflicts. 

Most of these encounters arise because coyotes become habituated to the presence of people and lose their natural fear of humans.  It is the abundance of food resources at the root of this.  If you have a bird feeder coyotes will both eat from the feeder and eat the animals attracted to the feeder.  Feeding the family dog or cat from a pet bowl on the patio or deck is a singularly bad idea.  And the common denominator found in coyote attacks upon family pets is typically a lack of supervision while outdoors.  If you have to let your dog out to do their business stay outside with it - especially during the periods of dawn and dusk.  Finally, don't let your cats wander.  It is dangerous for the cat on too many levels to count and outdoor cats are the single largest predator of wild song birds.

Sure, I know someone reading this is going to think this is nonsense and a huge inconvenience.  They're likely thinking:  Why not trap the coyote and release it somewhere else?  of kill the varmint? 

While it may be legal to trap and relocate the animal doing so simply makes your nuisance coyote someone else's nuisance coyote.  Besides, in the absence of altering the conditions of wildlife feeding and corralling your pets you may most assuredly rely-upon another coyote moving-in to claim the territory of the prior occupant.

Counterintuitively, if a community expects to solve the problem by employing large scale lethal means to reduce coyote numbers the Town Fathers are going to run-up against the Law of Unintended Consequences.  The complex biological response of coyotes to large scale lethal control efforts is to have larger litters with more females per litter.  They are adaptable after all.

So what to do? 

Take steps to discourage coyotes.  In addition to removing food and being vigilant about your pets if you see a coyote you should haze it relentlessly.  If a coyote approaches you or a pet respond by throwing things at it, yelling at it, spray it with a garden hose, a super soaker or (with some restrictions) pepper spray.  Make the encounter miserable for the animal.  Be fearless.  You are bigger and coyotes naturally avoid people.  Moreover, there is not a single documented case of an attack upon a human by a coyote in the Midwest.  If your response is to pick-up Fluffy the Dog and run in the opposite direction you've reinforced the message to the animal that he is Top Dog.

This time of year is breeding time for coyotes and as a consequence activity will increase with the arrival of pups in the months of May and June.  If a person is attacked or you encounter an animal acting aggressively contact the Department of Natural Resources or local law enforcement.

A word about the Coywolf.  A coywolf - the eastern coyote - is a hybrid wolf coyote species that emerged a long time ago after coyotes dispersed from the central plains and colonized the northeast United States and southeastern Canada.  Contrary to any breathless report you might see on Facebook coywolves may possibly be found in the northernmost reaches of Wisconsin; but evidence is sketchy and sightings scarce.  Furthermore, to an untrained eye coywolves look and behave no differently than the coyotes we know to be around here.  So I suppose none of us would know one if we saw one.  You may relax.  

In closing, if you live in a city environment and care to engage in some citizen science you might want to check out websites like iNaturalist.org - Milwaukee County Coyote Watch. 

Chicago is not just home to the Bears it is also home to a resident population of several thousand coyotes.  Chicago coyotes have been participants in a longitudinal study for more than two and a half decades.  Started in 2000 this is the longest-running comprehensive study of its kind.  Remarkably, researchers have documented den site locations near Soldier Field and Navy Pier.  You can learn more about the Cook County Coyote Project here.

Meanwhile if you want to learn how to haze a coyote there is this... 

Winter Adaptations

Getting-up before sunrise, flipping-on the coffeemaker and taking note of the single digit temperatures is a huge change compared to rising to the double-digit negative temps of only a couple of weeks ago.  Change like this makes me ponder whether springtime is lurking just around the corner?  Nah.  I digress.    How do the resident critters that make their home around here adapt and adjust to harsh winter weather conditions anyway?

The short answer is that wildlife does have adaptations to the seasons and this time of year they manifest as both physical change, behavior or a combination of the two. 

Thinking of the critters that show-up most frequently on the trail cameras; the resident whitetails, raccoons, coyotes, fox and other mammalian species all grow a thicker coat of hair and fur that absorbs sunlight, and provides camouflage properties to avoid detection by predators.  Additionally, this fur coat generally consists of several layers; the softer, thicker layer adjacent to the skin traps air and retains body heat.  Next to this undercoat is an outer layer of guard hairs that repels rain, snow and wind.  

So efficient is this winter-wear that the snow accumulating on a whitetail doesn't even get close to melting....

 

 

Winter Adaptations

 

Sunrise the other day dawned at a brisk -4F (feels like -15F).  And while we have to deal with decisions about venturing outside our process has more to do with is it just taking the dog out to go potty, are we going out for an hour to check trail cameras or is this a trip to town for a scheduled meeting or a gallon of milk or do I have to dress for a Packer game at Lambeau Field.

All of the foregoing involve different sub-decisions about how to layer-up or is the trip even necessary.  How do the resident critters that make their home around here adapt and adjust?

The short answer is that wildlife does have adaptations to the seasons and this time of year they manifest as both physical change, behavior or a combination of the two. 

Thinking of the critters that show-up most frequently on the trail cameras; the resident white tails, raccoons, coyotes, fox and other mammalian species all grow a thicker coat of hair and fur that absorbs sunlight, and provides camouflage properties avoid detection by predators.  Additionally, this fur coat generally consists of several layers; the softer, thicker layer adjacent to the skin traps air and retains body heat.  Next to this undercoat is an outer layer of guard hairs that repels rain, snow and wind.  

As I observe the dark-eyed juncos scratching in the snow beneath my bird feeders they look like grey on white puff balls.  They also have two layers of feathers to repel the elements and retain body heat.  This effect, related to goose bumps, is called piloerection and animals puff up their fur or feathers to not only look larger as a defense mechanism but also as a means of thermoregulation to conserve energy and retain heat.  

In the run-up to winter wild animals consume more calories to build-up stores of fat. This additional fat not only adds an extra layer of insulation it also is a store of energy reserves that can be metabolized during periods of food scarcity. 

Deer and rabbits modulate their circulatory systems (an evolutionary mechanism - not a parlor trick) such that blood vessels found in the ears and other extremities have reduced blood flow helping to retain core body temperature. 

Naturally, many animals (just like many of my neighbors and friends) beat it out of dodge before the Thanksgiving holiday and return with the warmer temperatures and lengthening days of springtime.  The herons, cranes, orioles and many other birds winter in warmer climes along with many of their warm season human neighbors.  

Other animals split the difference.  They don't migrate and they don't recreate; they hunker down to ride-out the winter.  The resident skunks, snakes, muskrats, salamanders, chipmunks, badgers, bears, turtles and other burrowing wildlife retire to their underground dens and enter a state of torpor or hibernation - a condition characterized by reduced metabolism where they survive on fat reserves or food caches over the winter season.  While our apex species, the whitetail deer, do not have a location or den; they do regulate their movement during the harshest winter conditions and seek bedding areas in thick conifer cover which provides browse and serves as a windbreak and thermal protection. 

Over millennia native wildlife have evolved and developed adaptations to managing all seasons and living conditions.  It is both remarkable to witness and not so remarkable to understand.  Get yourself a trail camera and situate it within view of a deer trail.  Over the course of a season you can use your citizen science skills to document the changes one animal undergoes as they go through their annual molt.

The Big Sniff

A couple of weekends ago Ruby and I set out for a walk and a circuit to swap out the SD cards on the trail cameras.

Periodically, the dog would stop in her tracks on the trail, give a certain location a long and deliberate sniff followed by peeing on that specific spot.  Having accomplished that task at various seemingly random locations we would continue on our way.

I had my suspicions about this scent marking behavior and after I uploaded the photos from the memory cards onto the laptop sure enough; both red fox and our resident ditch tiger stopping to mark their spot on one of the trails.

Sorta like leaving a business card in someone's door jamb to let them know you've paid a call while you were out.

Winter Outerwear

If you're like me and don't head south for the winter months winter warmth is found in a walk in the woods with the dog, whipping-up terrific food in the kitchen and sitting fireside by the wood burner with a book or to watch British detective series or a good movie.

The critters that make their home in our woods have their own survival strategies to get thru winter.  Including the addition of new winter outerwear.  They do so by means of molting (shedding) their summer coat and swapping it out for winter pelage that is a thicker, denser, water repellent coat of fur that provides superior insulation and camouflage.  

When you live half-way between the equator and the North Pole the fall molt is especially important to animals adapted to cold climates. That new winter coat serves two purposes - warmth and concealment. 

This time of year the ubiquitous deer appear fuzzy or chubby in their cold weather wardrobe.  Whitetail deer sport a uniquely adapted winter coat that efficiently absorbs scarce winter sunlight.  Solar heat is trapped by coarse outer guard hairs - each of which is hollow.  For added insulation the layer beneath is dense and soft - retaining heat close to the skin.  Deer also produce an oily substance that works thru the entire coat to enhance waterproofing.  These insulating qualities are so efficient that falling snow will collect on the animal without melting.  Furthermore, the dull brownish-grey winter coat this time of year is superb camouflage.   

The long-tailed weasel changes into all white winter coat.  Brown in the summer months with an identifying field mark in the form of a black-tipped tail year-round.  This species is larger than the short-tailed weasel and the least weasel - who lacks a black-tipped tail.  

Then there is the larger mink who does not sport a white coat in the winter.

Indeed, like the mink, the fisher also does not sport white winter camouflage either. One of the largest members of the weasel family the fisher's coat is characterized by a soft suppleness and so prized as a fur bearer that is was oft referred-to as the American Sable.

Raising a toast to warm, winter outerwear.

Big Brown Bat

This critter met a terrible end.  With the start of the new year I swapped-out the furnace filter at its predetermined schedule and found this mummified surprise waiting for me.  

Meet Eptesicus fuscus - the Big Brown Bat.  Most of the time I find these occupying a songbird nest box or spot them flitting-about on a summer evening.  It's likely they hang-out (pun intended) from the rafters in the granary.  This critter likely found its way into the house via the fresh air intake for the furnace last fall following the October filter swap.  This species of bat likes to roost in houses over winter.

An insectivore this critter inhabits woodlands, farmlands and urban settings.  Maternity colonies can be found in hollow trees.  Their vocalizations include high-pitched clicks and the squeals of pups calling to mom.  They mate in August - September before hibernation and give birth to 1-2 (usually 2) pups from May to July.  Pups are capable of flight by 18 to 35 days.     

I feel badly for this one. Bats are good critters to have around, mice not so much.  Memo to self to install screens on the air-intakes this spring.

 

Fox Run

Meet Vulpes vulpes – the Red Fox.  It is distinguished from the Gray Fox by a white-tipped tail visible in the photos.  I haven’t seen one of these on a trail camera in years.  I had figured the coyotes pretty-much cleaned them out.  Then, all of a sudden, this spring and summer they've been showing-up on the trail cameras.

They’re omnivores that dine-upon everything from rabbits, small rodents, roadkill, fruits and nuts and insects.  They sometimes make their home in an enlarged woodchuck den, or hollow log, or underneath a log or rock in a stream bank or side of a hill.  A mated pair will defend their turf from other foxes but this canine frequently is prey to the resident coyotes and wolves.   

A female is called a vixen, a male is called a dog fox, newborns are called pups, kits or cubs.  And a group of foxes is called a skulk.  

Red fox going....

And red fox coming....

Along with take-away pheasant on the return trip!

A Fine Kettle OF Fish

The title of this post has origins in the Scottish tradition of cooking-up a kettle of fish parts to make guests feel welcome.  The modern etymology of the title is reference to an awkward situation.  And indeed, Alabamians and their lawmakers have found themselves in an awkward situation today.

Some basics about natural conception and reproduction.  

A male gamete (sperm) combines with a female gamete (ovum) resulting in a fertilized ovum called a zygote. The zygote holds 100% of the genetic material - mother and father each contribute one-half - this develops into an embryo.  When an embryo successfully completes its journey of days and attaches to the wall of the uterus it will develop into a fetus.  And a child is born in the end.  That doesn't sound very romantic but that's the science of it.  There's a lot of moving parts and plenty of opportunity for something to go wrong along the way.  In a perfect world all of this happens without scientific intervention.   

What about people who cannot naturally conceive and reproduce?

The term In Vitro - Latin for 'in glass' - describes medical procedures, tests and experiments that scientists perform outside of a living organism.  In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is a treatment process whereby a woman unable to naturally conceive a child can become pregnant.  IVF has been a godsend for people who cannot naturally conceive children.  Sperm and ovum are combined in a laboratory setting resulting in a fertilized zygote which will become an embryo.

IVF Human Embryo

This embryo is frozen for future implantation.  Once implanted, if the embryo successfully attaches to the lining of the uterus it becomes a fetus and, voila!  Maybe a child is born.  The uterine part of the process is critical because without that step the embryo cannot survive.

Collecting eggs for in vitro fertilization is complicated and includes some risk.  As a consequence multiple eggs are collected with the knowledge that once fertilized some will be genetically flawed (and discarded) and some will never successfully attach to the uterus following implantation.  Many couples naturally grow their families over a number of years so having some extra frozen embryos on hand solves the defective embryo situation along with implantation failures and can lead to more children.

Unused frozen embryos have typically been discarded.  Just as an acorn is not an oak until planted and successfully germinated; without uterine implantation the genetic material of the embryo cannot result in a child. 

Back to Alabama.  The Alabama Supreme Court ruled yesterday that frozen embryos - the product of in vitro fertilization - are children.  You can read the ruling here.  This complicates things for all of the embryos in cold storage.  What if the power goes off and they spoil?  Or you drop and break the container?  Discard genetically defective ones?  Discard good ones? 

It's none of my business if someone chooses to have a family or not to have a family.  Some couples have large families and some couples never have families for all kinds of reasons within and beyond their control.  That's their business and none of my concern.  Although I should add that I have personal knowledge of many families, immediate and otherwise, who have had children as a consequence of IVF treatments performed by doctors who God has endowed with tremendous and valuable medical talents.  

I also know that in a post-Roe world which restricts abortions in many states; if Republicans want to deprive couples from using the science of IVF to conceive and welcome children into a loving family then Alabama today finds itself in a awkward position.  A place where you are forced to give birth if you naturally conceive along with being a place where you cannot obtain IVF treatment if you really, really want to have a family. 

Having classified frozen embryos as children has complicated things.  Fearful of being civilly or criminally liable and arrested and thrown in jail or otherwise get cross-ways with the Alabama Supreme Court nobody knows what to do with all the frozen embryos.  The Law of Unintended Consequences has brought IVF treatment to a screeching halt.    

Reproductive stuff is complicated and the more Republicans continue to insert themselves into the reproductive lives and decisions of ordinary people the more they will continue to have a much larger problem with getting suburban women to vote for them on election day.  It's a fine kettle of fish they have concocted for themselves.

And don't forget.  Alabama is a Capital Punishment state.  They will put you to death for murder.  They're going to have a whole heap of trouble on their hands once they begin executing moms and dads and medical professionals over any mishandling of frozen embryos.

Sweet Home Alabama!

Comparison

Not my work - found on the interweb.

Yes, this is photo shopped.

Taken with the same camera, from the same location at similar times, two separate images were merged into one.

It is a very good tool for identifying the key characteristics differentiating a gray wolf from a coyote. 

 

Wile E. Coyote

The scientific name for the coyote is Canis latrans – literally barking dog.        

A diurnal or crepuscular creature (namely active during daylight hours or at dawn and dusk) coyotes that reside in closer proximity to people tend to be more nocturnal.  Unless they become habituated to our presence wild coyotes will make every attempt to steer clear of people.   If you were to inquire of a wildlife biologist they would tell you that there are nineteen subspecies of coyote that are exceedingly well-adapted to living in urban, rural and wild America.  

Male coyotes tip the scales at about 44 pounds while females weigh-in slightly less.  For scale my Labs weigh-in at 75 and 80 pounds respectively.  Coyotes dine on large prey and also eat snakes, insects, rodents, fruit and other mast.  As an opportunistic hunter coyotes have been known to prey-upon small pets and livestock.  In an urban setting they will eat garbage and pet food left on a deck or patio.  The coyote is a gregarious animal - socially-inclined - like the wolf.  This is likely a consequence of the need for a family unit or pack of animals combining to bring down large game. 
 
Recent genetic studies suggest that coyotes are not native to the eastern United States - The implication is they largely evolved on the Great Plains.  As the eastern old growth forests were cleared for settlement and agriculture coyotes adapted to the new environs.   It is thought that coyotes dispersed to our neck of the woods early in the twentieth century.  These canids are presumed to have come from the northern Great Plains and are unique in their genetic origins.  Additional coyotes dispersed from here to New England via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada meeting in the 1940s in New York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes have inter-bred with gray wolf and Eastern wolf populations adding to their own unique genetic diversity and further contributing to their hybrid vigor and ability to adapt to an ever changing environment.  Coyotes here are known as the Northeastern coyote.   

Tag Team - Two

Yesterday I posted a couple of photos of a duo of coyotes on the hunt.

Today there is this short, silent video vignette. Same date, different location and slightly different time.

You have to be quick to notice the hind quarter of the lead coyote in the very opening frame - this was the animal that triggered the motion-activated camera.  It is the second animal that is worthy of observation.

 

She pauses to pee and then scratch to finish marking her territory before moving on.  This territorial marking is no different than that of our Labrador retriever.  Likely the same for your dog too.  The difference is that around here is is a constant battle to mark territory.  The coyotes pee and scratch, the Blonde Lab sniffs it out and then proceeds to mark it and scratch it herself.  The coyotes pee and repeat. The cycle does not end.

It's an on-going contest to determine who's Boss Dog of theses here parts......

Rare Vistor Pays a Call

I stumbled-upon a technological hiccup with a recent upload of photos from our Snapshot Wisconsin (DNR) trail camera.  It would appear that back in February a routine upload to the cloud network failed to send all of the photos.  Last weekend that SD card found it's way back into the upload rotation and sure as shooting a big slug of photos from January and February showed-up.  Good thing because this infrared gem was in the collection......

click on image to enlarge

I captured my very first picture of one of these in February of 2019.  Again in March and October of last year.  And the end of January this year.  Woot Woot!   

This is Martes pennanti - the Fisher.  One of the larger members of the weasel family - only the river otter is bigger.    

Characterized by a soft and supple pelt this highly-prized furbearer was oft referred-to as the American Sable.  Once widely distributed across Wisconsin - the great cutover of our northern forests and unregulated trapping eventually led to the extirpation of this species.  Only very small remnant populations retreating to the northern-most reaches of Wisconsin and Minnesota. Nevertheless, the species persists as a consequence of reintroduction efforts and reforestation of marginal farmland.  Four photos over three consecutive years is not happenstance and it would appear that southern Door County is now part of an expanding range. 

These are habitually solitary animals and while a pregnant female will den-up for a period of time - males are always on the prowl with a typical boy requiring as much as 150 square miles of territory.  March and April is mating season for the fisher and is characterized by a reproductive curiosity featuring a delayed implantation period of 10 to 11 months.  Possibly stimulated by longer daylight - the blastocyst (the earliest stage of the embryo) is then implanted in the uterus.  Gestation is 6 weeks followed by the birth of three to four kits.  Since mom is capable of mating immediately afterwards females spend virtually all of their adult lives either pregnant or lactating.  By the end of summer the young will leave the den and disperse to establish their own territories.  Males contribute nothing to the raising of the young.

Another fun fact is that this critter is an accomplished swimmer and quite comfortable in the water.  You're probably thinking - how many fish can a fisher fish?  The answer is none.  The fisher does not fish.  Their smaller mink cousins are better fishermen than the fisher.  An opportunistic feeder this animal will dine on mice, voles, dead fish, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and an occasional house cat.  Seasonally they'll help themselves to reptiles, amphibians, nuts, berries, eggs and fruit.  Equipped with cat-like retractable claws this is one of the few predators that will take-down a porcupine with little to no ill-effect. 

I'm positively tickled to capture another photo with an ever-patient, motion-activated woodland sentinel.

Raising a toast to big weasels and second-rate fishermen....

Howling At The Moon

The first full moon of 2021 rises tonight. 

According to Native American tradition January's full moon is also known as a Wolf Moon.  Legend suggests that wolves howled more at this time of year due to winter hunger.  

Wolves have made their presence known around here on very rare occasion and what I know for sure is that with all the dang deer on the landscape if any have found their way across the ice to the peninsula they will not be hungry.  I fully expect that any howling I hear this evening will be from the resident coyotes.  Like their larger wolf brethren any vocalizations will be social in nature - locating pack members, reinforcing their familial bonds, defining territory and such.  

 

NASA image

Prior to European settlement the Lakota people know this as the Hard Moon, the Cree called this the Cold Moon and the Assiniboine fittingly refer to this as the Center Moon - the demarcation of mid-winter.

Watch for the moon to rise from the east at sunset tonight and tomorrow.  It will reach its highest point around midnight.  If you are an early riser you can locate the moon above the western horizon before sunrise. 

Fingers-crossed for cold, clear, winter night skies.

Edit to add:

 

 

Midnight Stinker

Meet Mephitis mephitis - the Striped Skunk. 

 

Generally nocturnal, this is a solitary and secretive animal that has a distinctive pungent scent.  Found throughout Wisconsin you'll smell it before your spot it.  

A member of the weasel family it is an omnivore that rambles-about in a shambling gait in search of food. This animal does not hibernate but it will hole-up in it’s den for weeks at a time during extended cold snaps. 

This is not an aggressive critter as a consequence of a unique defense mechanism.  If threatened it will stamp its feet, arch its back with tail raised, teeth chattering and launch a spray of oily stink from glands located near its anus. This critter can nail a bullseye at up to fifteen feet. Most predators give this animal a wide berth – the exception being the great horned and barred owl.  

Breeding season begins in February – March with 6-7 offspring born naked and blind in May – June.

Rare Daylight Appearance

Meet Procyon lotor – the Northern Raccoon. 

The word raccoon comes from the Native American word arakum meaning - he who scratches with his hand. 

While a raccoon‘s paw has five fingers they do not have an opposable thumb.  As a consequence, raccoons lack the dexterity of primates.  Nevertheless, they will use their hands to pick-up and carry objects, hunt and fish. They are intrepid climbers and can swim as well.  

A nocturnal animal they can grow up to twenty pounds and a couple of feet in length. While the animal in the photo looks cuddly and huggable you should never make a grab for a raccoon as they’re not going to reciprocate your advances and will likely bite and scratch.  They are also known to be rabid or infected with roundworm, leptospirosis and salmonella. 
 
Raccoons do not hibernate during the cold winter months – however they do sleep a great deal and put on an extra layer of fat for the duration. Should this be a female of the species - mama will whelp a litter of three to six offspring per year – usually in May.  Born with their eyes closed a newborn is called a kit.  A group of raccoons is called a nursery or a gaze and they’ll leave the den at seven to eight weeks of age.

This trail camera photo was actually taken today at 9:18 AM.  A rare daytime appearance for this animal.

Paleofeces



The Lloyds Bank Coprolite. Photo by Linda Spashett CC by 2.5

This is a coprolite.  A feces fossil.  Petrified poop.  And the third and final scatological entry to be published for a spell.

 

These trace fossils - coprolites - can provide archaeologists valuable information and clues about the diet of the living creature that produced it. 

 

The paleofeces sample pictured above is a fossilized human turd known as the Lloyds Bank Coprolite. It is likely the largest and most valuable on record.  It dates back to approximately the 9th century and the person responsible is believed to be a Viking.  It currently rests at the Jórvík Viking Centre in the city of York, England. 

 

Analysis has revealed that the individual to whom this belongs consumed large amounts of meat.  The stool sample also contained eggs from parasitic roundworms including:  Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and Ascaris lumbricoides (maw worm).  Yeech! 

 

You can learn more about this coprolite - including how it earned its name - and additional background on the study of fossilized poop here.