Well, I've been in Minnesota for four years now, but
haven't seen a toad until yesterday. Toads have always been a favorite
critter of mine. Back in California, my parents have hundreds of the
warty Anurans at their citrus ranch. A guy can always find one lurking
under a rock or a board near their house. But, here in Minnesota, I
hadn't encountered one, and considered it my loss.
So, yesterday, I was out in the backyard, sweatily
mowing the lawn. As I mowed around the lilac bushes near the back fence,
I saw a movement, and there he was, unscathed by the rapidly spinning
blade of the mower.
Just a little guy, about 3" long, but with a long
name. Bufo Americanus truly did exist here in the state. Slow
moving, as always, he sat there while I shut the mower down. I scooped
him up for a closer look, then took the little fellow into the house to
show my long-suffering wife. She tolerates my boyish fascination with
critters with some amusement.
While I was doing my show-and-tell routine, the little
amphibian uttered a long, plaintive chirp, which I recognized as what's
called a release call. It's normally given when a male toad makes
the error of trying to grasp another male in the toad's version of an
embrace. Well, as a male myself, I can understand the consternation the
warty guy felt, so I took him back outside and deposited him in an
overgrown area that is well away from anywhere I mow. May he continue to
help rid my yard of mosquitoes, hornets, and other noxious bugs. Perhaps
I'll see him again one day.
7/11/08
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Adding insult to injury, another species of non-native
mussel has shown up in Lake Superior, according to DNR officials. The
muagga mussel, native to the Black and Caspian seas in Eurasia, competes
with native wildlife by consuming microscopic lifeforms.
In other Great Lakes, the quagga mussel has reportedly
harmed stocks of alewives and smelt, fish which are eaten by game and
commercial fish. Quagga mussels have been in the other Great Lakes for
some time, but are recent residents in Lake Superior.
They join the zebra mussel in the lake, another exotic
that is troublesome to fish management folks. The end result is unknown,
as is the effect on the fishing industry, both commercial and for sport.
1/11/07
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A wayward flying carp (Canada Goose) slammed into a
power line transformer Wednesday in Rochester, putting 1200 customers in
the dark. Power has been restored, but no word on the fate of the goose.
I'm guessing that this particular goose is cooked, though.
My Personal Preference for Goose
10/08/06
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According to this
story in the Star Tribune, a Bloomington family had an unwelcome
guest for Thanksgiving dinner. A wild turkey flew through their dining
room window while preparations for dinner were ongoing. Made a big mess,
too, and required the services of several local police officers to
corral the wild beast and get it out of the house.
Worse, the same thing happened around Christmas two
years earlier. I believe I'd take this as a notice from the world of
Nature and plan some other sort of meat for holiday meals from here on
out.
Apparently, the woman of the house, though, was not
amused by all this ruckus, even though laughter no doubt rang through
the house during all the commotion.
11/25/06
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A wayward moose has lost its life in its bid to move in
on the Metro area. Shot and killed in Minnetonka, Bullwinkle wandered
the highways and byways of the western Metro for a time, amazing
residents and blocking traffic.
Scott Calrson, a DNR Conservation Officer, put an end to
the wandering moose near the intersection of Eden Prairie Rd. and
Excelsior Blvd. yesterday, in the interest of public safety. The meat
from the moose will be distributed by Second Harvest Heartland.
A sad story, to be sure, but we really can't have
animals the size of moose on our freeways. Deer are bad enough, causing
way too many accidents each year. Still, a moose in the Metro...that's
pretty cool, overall.
11/10/06
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We're all familiar with the animal denizens of our
yards...or so we think. The squirrels, the birds, the chipmunks, the
rabbits, the deer. All visit our yards daily or from time to time. But
that's in the daylight. At night, an entirely new group of animals
visits our yards, and most of us never see them.
From the little herds of mice that feed on the scattered
debris from our bird feeders to the owls and bobcats that hunt them,
there's a small menagerie of critters populating our urban and suburban
lawns and gardens. It's dark out there, our curtains are closed, and we
go about our evening affairs unaware of the activity outside.
Not me. I keep my living room curtains open, along with
my eyes at night, and enjoy watching the drama unfold on my lawn. Last
night, I had a rare opportunity to see one of the least known of the
evening visitors...a Northern Short-tailed Shrew.
Ranging in size from about 4-5" long, these little
critters weigh less than an ounce. Their dark gray to black fur makes
them hard to see, except at twilight. They're voracious eaters, and have
to be to maintain their ultra-fast metabolism. Typically, they will eat
a third to a half of their own body weight each day. Their diet? Worms,
insects, centipedes, fungus, and just about anything else they can
catch, including the rare mouse on occasion. Often mistaken for voles or
mice, they're little predators instead, scurrying about in the late
evening and nighttime, under the leaf cover and through the garden,
always seeking their next meal.
These guys have one other trait that makes them unique.
They're the only mammal in the United States that produces poisonous
venom. It's in their saliva, and it is powerful enough to paralyze
insects for later dining. It's not really dangerous to humans, but a
shrew bite on a finger will cause swelling and pain that lasts a few
days.
So, there I was, last evening, near the end of the
twilight, sitting on the couch, looking out my big front window, when I
saw a little black creature scurrying across the concrete driveway and
heading for the lawn. Leaves on the lawn rustled as the tiny predator
searched under them.
I jumped out of my chair, went out the kitchen door and
slowly approached the area where the shrew was hunting. Amazingly, the
little guy was so intent on his search that he didn't even notice my
approach. I got right up to it, crouched down and put my face just a
foot or so away from the shrew, while it continued to hunt for food.
Now, I didn't see anything to eat there, but the shrew found several
small insects and gobbled them down, then moved to the next leaf and
stuck its pointy nose under it to look for more.
I got a good look at its tiny pink feet and short, naked
tail. It remained oblivious to my presence, so I got to watch it for
several minutes. I moved with the shrew to keep myself close. I wondered
how the shrew would react if I touched it, since I was so close. So I
did. I just touched its back lightly with the tip of my finger.
The shrew reacted instantly, turning its head around,
emitting a shrill squeak at me and opening its mouth to threaten. Then,
it went right back to searching for its meal. It now knew I was there,
certainly, but still did not scamper off. Amazing. Here I was,
enormously larger than the tiny mammal, yet it wasn't afraid of me. Its
threat display was made to warn me not to touch it again, but it didn't
seem to mind if I observed it. A brave little fellow, indeed.
I watched a bit longer, and was satisfied with my
observation of the shrew, then went back to my sofa as the evening grew
too dark to see well. As I walked back, past the huge silver maple in
the yard, I could hear the mice under the bird feeder, scrambling for
their dinner.
Look out your window in the twilight and see what you
can of the nighttime wildlife. It's out there. I guarantee there are
little critters in your yard in the evening, including shrews that will
let you approach closely. Even the mice will continue to feed under your
bird feeder if you approach, as close as ten feet or so, then remain
still. I sometimes set up a lawn chair near the feeder and sit out on
warm evenings to watch them. If you do this regularly, you can move the
chair closer each day, until you're sitting almost among the feeding
mice.
Learn
More About This Critter Here.
10/20/06
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No, it probably wasn't Bullwinkle, but a moose was
sighted in Waite Park in Central Minnesota, near a swamp. It sorta
threatened to come into town, but wandered off into a nature preserve.
Rumors of a squirrel traveling with the moose are unconfirmed at this
time.
Officials are puzzled, however, by two foreign-looking
individuals with heavy Russian accents, who were seen following the
errant Moose. Homeland Security officials have been called in.
10/6/06
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What a year for wildlife stories. Now, we hear that
freshwater jellyfish are showing up in lakes in northeast Minnesota.
More proof of global warming, as Joe Soucheray would say, no doubt. Not
much is known about these little critters, which are less than an inch
in diameter, but they've shown up in Little Sturgeon Lake and Dodo Lake,
near Hibbing and Duluth, respectively.
We do know a little, though. They're called Craspedacusta
sowerbii, and they're not really jellyfish at all, but members of
the Hydrozoa class of critters, which includes the more common hydras.
They're kinda cute, and are completely harmless.
Just one more critter to watch for on your local lake.
6/29/06
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Are you ready? Have you battened down all the hatches,
sealed all the windows, weather stripped the doors? This summer's warm
dry weather is promising to deliver a bumper crop of these pesky, but
attractive little bugs. They'll swarm on your door and window screens,
poop on your vinyl siding, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
Harmless to everyone and everything, the adult bugs (Leptocoris
trivittatus), are attracted to vertical surfaces, and somehow find
their way into our homes, garages, cars, and more. What to do about the
pesky little guys? Well, the simplest thing is to do nothing. They'll be
gone as quickly as they arrived. If they get into your house, just
vacuum them up and forget about it. On the outside of your home, you can
wash them off with a strong stream from your hose.
Some folks use insecticides to rid their property of the
bugs, but that seems like a bit of overkill to me. Since they don't
bite, don't eat anything you like in their adult form, and don't carry
any diseases, I'm going to just let the little insects be.
If only we could breed a species of this bug that would
eat the leaves in my gutters, I'd be overjoyed. No such luck, though, so
I'll just watch them. They'll be gone soon enough.
9/27/06
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Five Meerkats at the Minnesota Zoo were killed for
rabies testing. One of them had bitten a nine-year-old girl who climbed
a rock and stuck her hand inside their enclosure. All the meerkats had
been given rabies shots, similar to those given to domestic dogs and
cats. But the girl's parents insisted that the creatures be killed for
testing, and the Minnesota Department of Health went along with them.
All five of the meerkats were free of rabies, the postmortem test
determined.
Humans are more important than meerkats. I just want to
say that before I go on.
Here's how I look at this thing. OK, kill the meerkats,
if necessary. Then, bill the parents for the cost of replacing these
popular zoo animals. Shocking? I don't think so. There are signs all
over the zoo, cautioning people not to attempt to feed or touch the
animals. Indeed, there are signs at the meerkat exhibit telling people
not to climb on the rocks. Where were this child's parents? A
nine-year-old is surely old enough to be told to get down from the rock
and not to stick her hands in the enclosure.
We've gotten to the point where parents no longer take
responsibility for their little brats' behavior. They let little Andrea
or Andrew do whatever they want, signs be damned. I think it's time to
begin holding parents responsible for the damage their children do.
The little girl got a small bite from animals that had
been immunized against rabies. Still, in an excess of zeal, the little
carnivores were killed and their brains examined for the microscopic
Negri's bodies that identify rabies. The little girl got a bandaid.
Bill the parents for the meerkats, then prohibit them
from ever entering the Zoo again. Fair is fair.
8/4/06
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Someone netted about 150 Koi carp from Scenic
Specialties Landscape Center in Stearns County, back about 10 days ago.
Swiped 'em right from a pond, then scarpered off to destinations
unknown. That's a lot of carp to carry off. You ain't putting them in
your backyard pond, I guarantee. Valuable, too. Some of the larger ones
were worth more than $100. You do the math.
So, there's a statewide crime alert out for the scaly
loot. Be on the lookout for colorful carp. But, who would steal them?
Another Koi dealer? Probably not, at least not in Minnesota. The members
of the Minnesota Water Garden Society know these fish, especially the
big ones. They lust after them for their own backyard ponds, but would
never dream of stealing them. If you can afford a home Koi pond behind
your McMansion, you can afford to buy the lovely critters.
An out of state Koi dealer? Well, perhaps, I suppose.
There are Koi sellers and breeders in Iowa, but it would take a pretty
good-sized tank to transport them that far. Kids? Nah. This is too big a
heist for kids. Wild animals? Nope. They eat them one at a time. I used
to have a Koi pond in California. My Koi kept disappearing. It was a
mystery, until I saw a raccoon eating one. But it took him a couple of
weeks to handle just 24 of the expensive swimmers.
I have a different theory. I'm betting this was a prank.
I have no idea who would bother with a prank this large, but keep your
eyes on the paper. One of these days, before too long, you'll see a
headline that reads: "Fisherman Lands Colorful Koi in Local
Lake." You know, like the annual catch of piranhas we read about every
year.
Minnesota has a lot of ordinary carp in its lakes and
rivers. Even urban lakes, like Gervais Lake, in Little Canada, have a
bounty of large, slow-swimming carp (Read
More). Koi will have no problem adapting to the local waters.
They're sturdy buggers, and they can get big, too. They're friendly,
too; they've grown used to being fed by humans.
Anyhow, I feel really bad for the company that lost
these, and hope they were insured for the loss. But, I think we'll hear
about these colorful carp a little ways down the road. Some fisherman's
gonna be really surprised when he hauls in something that looks like
this:
7/22/06
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The City of Woodbury, Minnesota, is taking steps to
reduce the number of Canada Geese in public areas of the city. (News)
As every Minnesotan knows, Canada Geese, also known to some as "Sky
Carp," have their own little population explosion going on. I've
even detailed this on this blog, here.
Mostly, we just tolerate the animals as they cross roads, clog lawns,
and decorate the landscape with green slime.
The City of Woodbury, however, has just had enough of
the pesky fliers. Their new plan is to kill the critters, then donate
the resulting meat to local food shelf organizations. That's a good way
to deal with the carcasses, but a guy's gotta wonder what prompted this
extraordinary action.
Well, that guy doesn't have to wonder too long. It seems
that the tipping point was reached when the goose infestation at the
Eagle Valley Golf Course got out of hand. Seems the geese, right now in
the process of getting the new generation fledged, took umbrage at the
presence of the golfers, and began chasing them off the
carefully-groomed fairways and greens. Worse, the golfers were soiling
their ever-so-costly golf shoes with green slime.
I guess the moral of the story, if there is one, is that
a nuisance won't get abated until the golfers, typically the movers and
shakers of any community, get some goose crap on their shoes.
7/2/06
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Nature's a wonderful thing...well...most of the time. A
widespread, but little-known plant in Minnesota isn't such a wonderful
thing. Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) is a foreigner to our
parts, introduced who knows how long ago. It's a relative of the carrot
and other umbellifera, and tends to grow in damp, sunny spots.
It's easily confused with other plants of this genus, so
it's best to leave them all alone unless you're into botany.
It's dangerous, because it's juices, plus ultraviolet
light from sunshine, can cause severe burns and discoloration on human
skin. Cutting the plant or using a weedwhacker on it during eradication
is the most common way to get the plant juices on your skin. Trust
me...you don't want the burns from this plant. The juice is most
dangerous while the plant is in bloom, with its umbels of small yellow
flowers. Best to just leave this plant alone, unless you're
willing to wear protective clothing while clearing it.
6/26/06
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Minnesota is blessed with a wide variety of birds. Among
these is the Canada Goose. If you live here, or come here in the Spring,
you'll get plenty of chances to "gander" at geese. It's the
time of year for the goslings to appear, as well. Aren't they cute?
You may not think so after being here for a while.
During June and July, driving around the Twin Cities is frequently
interrupted by large groups of geese and their offspring. You see, they
eat grass for a living, and there's lots of grass in the Metro.
Apparently, to the geese, the grass on the other side of the street is
far more appetizing than the grass they were just eating. So, Mom and
Dad escort their goslings (which grow at an alarming rate) from one side
of the street to the other. Frequently. Every block or two. Constantly!
Lots of people love geese. Ignoring them as they cross
the road is a bad idea. Should you hit a goose, or worse, a cute little
gosling, you may be sure that a nice lady wielding an umbrella will be
close behind the geese. It's not a pretty sight. So, when the geese
cross the road, traffic comes to a complete halt.
Worse, geese are not particularly bright birds. They
often venture into the road, then become indecisive and turn around to
go back, then turn around again. This may occur several times. Often,
they travel in multi-family groups, too, and can string the group all
the way across a four-lane street. Between the size of the gaggle and
the indecision amongst the adult geese, it can take a good long time for
them to finish their journey, leaving motorists to stew in their own
juices....literally...as their air conditioning cannot keep up.
"Oh well," you may say. Oh well, indeed! If
crossing the road were the only bad habit of geese, it might be
tolerable. However, they have another bad habit. I did mention that they
eat grass, right? Well, what goes in must come out, and geese eat a
great deal of grass. They convert it to a sticky, greenish goo, which
they deposit virtually everywhere. Some Minnesotans have simply resorted
to installing carpet of a matching color in their homes. It's that bad.
All the same, we honor our Canadian visitors. We give
them the right of way. We don't even eat them much. Goose hunting is no
longer the popular sport it once was. To thank us, the Canada Goose
breeds in ever-larger numbers each year. What can you do?
6/13/06
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Sitting out on the lawn, yesterday, I heard a familiar
sound that had been absent for some time. Right in my ear...a
high-pitched whining buzz. Slapping at my ear reflexively didn't work.
It never does. All jokes about Minnesota's State Bird aside, I hate
mosquitoes! I hate their whining sound, especially in the house, after
the lights are out and I'm trying to get some rest. Bzzzzz...turn on the
light, and they're gone. Bzzzzz...slap your ear and you're bound to
miss. That trick never works, and leaves you with a sore ear.
The bites? Those don't bother me all that much, really.
I've found that using a fingernail to press a cross-shaped depression in
the swollen area generally dissipates the itching fairly quickly. If
that doesn't work, a bit of cortisone-laced stuff out of a tube works
just fine as a last resort. It's the darned noise that drives me nuts.
Apparently, everyone else feels pretty much the same
way, and I expect to see the MMCD
(Metropolitan Mosquito Control District) to be out spraying again soon.
Good riddance to these noxious pests.
I don't worry so much about West Nile Virus, although I
know it makes a few people sick each year. I don't even worry about
viral encephalitis, also spread by mosquito bites, even though I almost
died from it about 15 years ago.
It's that damned whining buzz! Did I say that I hate
mosquitoes?
5/29/06
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Minnesota is fairly overrun with squirrels. Gray
Squirrels, Fox Squirrels, Red Squirrels...they're every darned where.
What's a guy to do, then? My neighbor calls 'em tree rats, and thinks
they should be exterminated...every one of the things. Another guy I
know likes squirrels very much, indeed...in stew or a nice crusty pie.
The nice lady across the street has most of her life savings tied up in
trying to keep her bird feeders full. An attic full of squirrels just
about drove a friend of mine stark raving bonkers last winter.
No question about it: Squirrels can be a nuisance, but
what can you do? Get rid of one of the pesky critters and three more
move in. Heck, I enjoy watching them chase each other around the yard
and up my silver maple. It's even more fun watching them try to figure
out how to get into my newest "Squirrel-Proof" bird feeder.
Ha! Squirrel-proof. Right!
So, I have abandoned all hope and have decided to tame
the little buggers. It turns out not to be a tough job at all to get
them eating right out of your hand. In fact, they pretty much tame
themselves. Here's the strategy I used, for better or worse:
-
Pick a nice spot in your yard near where you've seen
squirrels and set up a couple of lawn chairs...maybe a little table,
too. You might as well have a cool beverage while you're taming the
rascally rodents.
-
Buy yourself a nice big bag of roasted, unsalted peanuts
in the shell. Squirrels love 'em. For a few days, scatter a few nuts
near where the squirrels are already marauding your bird feeders,
making a trail toward your chairs. Don't sit out there, though, just
yet. Do this at the same time every day...whatever time you will
have free later on to commune with your new friends.
-
Once the squirrels figure out that there are peanuts
to be had in your yard, and at what time, keep scattering the nuts
in the same pattern, but go out and sit in the chairs, have a beer
or a glass of wine, and wait. Pretty soon, they'll be sneaking over
near you to grab a nut.
-
Once they're approaching you, stop putting nuts
anywhere but right near where you're sitting. You'll have to sit
pretty still, but don't worry. That phase will be over soon. Don't
put out a huge pile of nuts...just enough to get them over near you.
When those are gone, toss a few more out. The squirrels will run
off, but be right back.
-
After a few days of this routine, stop throwing a
bunch of nuts out, and just throw one or two, working ever closer to
your feet. Once the gluttonous little tree rabbits seem pretty calm
about coming right to your feet, stop throwing the nuts out at all.
Bend over and put one on your shoe, then wait for a squirrel to take
it.
-
Finally, begin holding a peanut in your fingers and
bend down and hold it still. It will take a minute or two, but Mr.
Fluffytail will shortly creep over and take it.
-
How far you go with this is entirely up to you. You
can get the squirrels to climb your pant leg for a peanut, or even
sit in your lap. Use caution, though, and don't try to pet your new
friends. They have sharp teeth, and many of them will bite you if
you try. Don't say I didn't warn you.
What can happen, in the end if you keep coaxing
squirrels to take peanuts? Well, this
video, will show you an extreme case. Never mind...by the time you
get to that point, all the neighbors will think you're nuts anyhow.
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5/17/06
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