Your Zoo On Line

The Return of a Native

2009-10-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

From the time that European immigrants arrived on North American shores half a millennium ago, wolves have been hunted mercilessly and driven from the landscape. Poisoned, trapped and shot for their pelts or to prevent them preying on our livestock, millions of wolves were slaughtered over the last few centuries, ostensibly making the country safer for us all.

The truth is that wolves have never posed a serious threat to human populations. Verified accounts of wolf attacks on people are almost nonexistent. Also, confirmed losses of livestock due to wolf predation have traditionally been less than those due to coyotes, extreme weather or poor ranching practices. Despite these facts, by the mid-1900s wolves were systematically eliminated from nearly all of the lower 48 states. Biologists pointed out the ecological “hole” that the wolf’s removal had created and called for its return.

Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, became the site of a symbolic wildlife reintroduction. In January 1995, 14 wolves captured in Canada were transported to the northwestern corner of Wyoming, housed in large outdoor enclosures, and allowed to form cohesive social units prior to their release. Problems encountered during the early stages of the reintroduction were eventually overcome, so that wolves not only roam throughout Yellowstone once again, but have dispersed and successfully re-populated the neighboring Rocky Mountain states of Montana and Idaho. The renewed presence of wolves has also been documented or is suspected in Oregon and Washington, further re-establishing the presence of this threatened species throughout its former range.

The wolf’s “successful return” resulted in its removal from the Endangered Species List and is viewed as something of a mixed blessing. The loss of its endangered status reduces the level of protection afforded to re-established populations and renders them vulnerable to hunting once again. Simply stated, wolves appear to be winning the natural battle for survival, but the legal battle to protect this species continues.

Wolf Myths, Legends and Stories

2009-10-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

Humankind’s relationship with the wolf is one that has sometimes been based more on fiction than fact. While some cultures have revered wolves, others have feared and even demonized them. Morals taken from Christian scriptures, for example, epitomize the wolf as evil, while other legends portrayed it as a devil or a witch. Still other ancient societies believed that wolves were guardians of the dead. By contrast, a number of European cultures regarded the wolf as a symbol of fertility or a protector of crops. Viking warriors donned wolf skins in hopes of acquiring superhuman strength during battle. Native Americans did the same in order to conceal themselves when hunting. In addition, they looked to the wolf as a sacred pathfinder and a teacher. Clearly, our historical opinions of the wolf were strong and diverse.

The opinion that modern day children have of wolves is definitely colored by the oft read Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood. Just about every child can recite the famous exchange between the title character - “My, what big teeth you have!” – and the wolf disguised in Grandma’s nightgown – “The better to eat you with!” Other children’s stories that cast the wolf in a bad light include one of Aesop’s many fables, A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, another Brothers Grimm tale, The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids, the English classic Three Little Pigs and the Russian story and musical composition Peter and the Wolf. Then there are the legends of werewolves - humans that take the form of wolves and prey upon other people when the moon shines full. Werewolf legends date back to the Middle Ages, but have spawned dozens of modern horror movies.

Few animals have such a long, powerful and varied history with our own species. In our next blog we’ll take a look at how that has affected the wolf’s status in the world today.

Gray or Timber Wolf II

2009-10-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

The animal we call timber wolf is a very social creature. We’re all familiar with the terms “a pack of wolves” and “wolf pack,” which describe the normal family unit of this species. The typical wolf pack is built upon a nuclear family – a male, female and their offspring. Packs can range in size from two to 20 animals, but average about eight. The term “lone wolf” describes the exception to the rule, an old animal that has been driven from its pack or a young wolf seeking a new territory. Either one must survive by its own cunning.

The average timber wolf stands about two to three feet tall at the shoulder and weighs perhaps 80 to 85 pounds. Its dense coat of fur makes the animal look much larger, so people have a tendency to over-estimate a wolf’s true weight. However, a few very large wolves have been documented, including some that tipped the scales at 175 pounds or more. Females tend to be a little bit more than three-quarters the size of males.

Timber wolves feed on a wide variety of prey including animals as large as deer, elk, bison and moose, but they will essentially feed on whatever is available, even carrion. The method of stalking prey is basically to conceal the approach and give chase when their quarry attempts to flee. Although wolves have great stamina and can run for many miles, the typical chase lasts only for a few hundred feet.

In order to find sufficient food, a wolf pack must range over and defend a large territory. Like other members of the canid family they scent mark these territories with urine, males more so than females. Wolves also scent mark their kills to deter neighboring packs from feeding on the bounty.

Gray or Timber Wolf

2009-10-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

The gray or timber wolf is a member of the family Canidae, which includes several other wolf species, coyotes, foxes, jackals, bush dogs, raccoon dogs, the Australian dingo, the African wild dog, and the many different breeds of domestic dogs. All canids have specialized teeth - molars and premolars - that are adapted for slicing flesh.

Fossil evidence suggest that the first true canids appeared approximately 40 million years ago and that ancestors of the modern gray wolf first appeared in Europe and North America only a few million years ago. One of these, the dire wolf, was perhaps the largest member of the dog family ever to exist. It lived alongside mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, saber-toothed cats and camels that used to inhabit this continent. The dire wolf became extinct approximately 10,000 years ago.

Today, wild members of the family Canidae are found on every continent except Antarctica. The smallest species is the fennec fox of Africa, the largest is the gray wolf. Most canids live in social groups called packs that mark and defend a territory.

Trundling Turtles

2009-10-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

Set against a background of fallen leaves on the forest floor, the well-camouflaged box turtle can be difficult to see unless it’s moving. And even then, its forward progress may be slow enough for it to escape detection at a casual glance.

When I was young, box turtles were fairly common. However, they have become rare through the years as their woodland and field habitats have yielded to housing and commercial developments. They also fall easy victims to automobiles when their travels take them across roads and highways.

Box turtles played a significant role in the in the lives of the indigenous Lenape people who divided themselves into three clans – turtle, wolf and turkey. The turtle clan was considered the most important and usually the one from which the chief or sachem was chosen. Box turtle shells were also used to fashion ceremonial rattles. Of course, the turtle’s first contribution to his captors might have been at dinner.

The average life span of a box turtle is about 40 years, but individuals can reach the century mark. That’s one hundred years of feeding on fungi, berries, roots, slugs, worms, insects and even a few of its fellow vertebrates.

Enter the Heron

2009-09-29T05:42:00.001-07:00

The frogs and toads that inhabit our backyard ponds are rewarded with meals provided by the many insects and other invertebrates that are attracted to the habitats we create. The amphibians also serve as food for predators such as snakes, opossums, skunks, raccoons, crows and even large wading birds like the great blue heron. I was shocked one autumn morning a few years when I looked out the window to see a three-foot tall bird only a few steps from my back door. The heron began making its way stealthily around the pond, its long beak pointed to the water’s edge, obviously in hope of spearing some hapless cold-blooded creature.

I’ve yet to see the heron make a kill, but each year at this time it arrives in my backyard and spends several days patrolling the pond. To the bird’s disadvantage, it’s just about this same time that the nearby maple and oak trees begin shedding their leaves and that my wife and I decide to stretch netting over the water to keep the leaves out. I doubt the heron comprehends our actions and I hope it doesn’t take them personally. We’re not purposely denying him a meal or trying to make his life difficult. We’re just trying to keep the pond from becoming choked with leaves and stagnant.

If you have a backyard pond or decide to install one, you’re sure to be rewarded with a daily cast of wildlife characters, including some that will surprise and impress you.

If You Build It …

2009-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

One sure way to attract wildlife to your backyard is to install a small pond, water being an essential ingredient for life and a prominent feature in most natural habitats. My family and I embarked upon a backyard pond project a number of years ago, but we never seem to complete it. The routine maintenance really doesn’t have to be very labor intensive, but I always seem to be re-landscaping the perimeter or tinkering with the waterfall feature. In some ways it’s very therapeutic.

Installing a pond can be a small project or a huge endeavor, depending on how ambitious you are. Just about all the materials you’ll need can be purchased at the local hardware or department store, and there are an endless number of pamphlets, books and websites that provide step-by-step instructions for the beginning pond installer.

One of the first surprises we received after our pond was dug and filled was the arrival of green frogs, which I had never seen in our backyard before starting the project. About a half dozen showed up within a matter of a few weeks. They hung out all summer long and into the fall, but disappeared well before the water’s surface iced over in winter, only to reappear the next spring. The cycle continues. They still hop from their lily pads into the water when I approach on a warm sunny September afternoon, but it should only be a matter of weeks before they submerge to enter a state of hibernation

Danger from Above

2009-09-21T15:28:00.001-07:00

By making your backyard more attractive to wildlife, you invite both predators and prey species in search of water, food and shelter. It’s unavoidable. A bird bath or feeder attracts not only the seed-eaters and insect-eaters, it also attracts bird-eaters. Most experts will tell you to locate bird feeders out in the open to ensure the safety of your avian guests. With an unobstructed view of the skies and landscape that surrounds them, they are less likely to become lunch for lurking felines or dive-bombing raptors.

The sharp-shinned hawk is an aerial acrobat and a lethal predator. The first sign of one’s approach in my backyard is the muffled explosion of wing beats – a dozen or more mourning doves simultaneously taking to the skies as Nature’s version of a heat-seeking missile rockets down upon them from above. All I see is a blur streak past the window, followed instantly by a cloud of feathers from the hawk’s unlucky victim. Within a few seconds the predator begins making a meal of its prey, and it’s only a matter of minutes before he has satisfied his appetite.

Some people find it difficult to observe activity at the top of the food chain – watching one animal take the life of another – but these are normal goings-on in the natural world. A sharp-shinned hawk dive-bombing a dove is no different from a frog snatching a dragonfly from the air and gobbling it down or a spider ensnaring a grasshopper in its sticky web.

A Snake in the Grass

2009-09-17T07:08:00.001-07:00

If you haven’t already, sooner or later you’re likely to come upon a small striped serpent in your backyard or perhaps even in your cellar. The eastern garter snake – most people call it “garden snake” – is a common resident of rural and even urban landscapes. Garter snakes don’t grow very long, a three-foot specimen would be a large one and anything bigger would be a “giant” for this species. The most distinguishing mark on its thin brown body is the prominent yellow stripe that runs down the center of its back, flanked by two less distinct stripes on each side.

The frogs, toads and salamanders that I wrote about in the last two blogs happen to be among the garter snake’s favorite foods. However, it will eat most other smaller creatures that cross its path including millipedes, spiders, earthworms, slugs, crayfish, fish, mice, nestling birds and even other smaller snakes. Garter snakes are one of the first snakes to emerge from hibernation in the spring here in the northeast. During the cold winter months they remain hidden and dormant inside rotting stumps and logs, old stone walls or in underground burrows.

Although two types of venomous snake are native to Pennsylvania – rattlesnakes and copperheads – your chances of coming upon them are slim to rare. All snakes can bite, however, and may do so if picked up, but the bites of garter snakes and most other species are not dangerous.

“Morning” Doves

2009-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

Some creatures are so common around our homes – sparrows and squirrels, for example - that we sometimes forget they are wildlife. Add mourning doves to the list for my backyard. Dozens of them feed and take shelter year round only a few yards from the bay window that looks out from the rear of my kitchen. I can count on seeing them each morning the same as I do my dog and my cats.

The mourning dove’s name doesn’t come from the time of day you might first see it – the morning – but from the male’s plaintive call to females. The species, part of the pigeon family, ranges throughout North America from Canada all the way to Panama. The bird itself is no more than a foot from head to tip of tail and weighs less than half a pound. Seeds make up the overwhelming bulk of its diet, which is why the dove is a regular at my backyard bird feeder seeking corn, millet and sunflower seeds. Having such an enormous range and ready food supply, the mourning dove population is estimated at nearly a half billion individuals.

The passenger pigeon was a close relative of the mourning dove. Biologists believe that it numbered several billion animals in the 19^th century – the most abundant bird on the continent. Unfortunately, uncontrolled hunting drove the species to extinction early in the 20^th century.

Creatures of the Night

2009-09-10T07:38:00.001-07:00

If you want to experience the full range of animals that inhabit your backyard, you’ll have to grab a flashlight or strap on a headlamp and take a walk outside after the sun goes down. Otherwise the world of nocturnal creatures will remain a mystery.

The gray tree frog, pictured above, can be abundant and inconspicuous at the same time. During the day, when it’s typically at rest and silent, your chances of finding it are poor, especially because it can vary its color and blend with the vegetation. At night, however, when it is wide awake, vocal and in search of insect prey, its call can be used to guide your flashlight beam through the branches overhead. Before beginning your nighttime exploration, you might consider going online and listening to the calls of native frogs and toads, which are featured on a number of websites. This will aid your search and ensure the proper identification of your quarry.

As you become more familiar with the wildlife that inhabits your backyard and surrounding neighborhoods, you may want to share your findings with others. Consider participating in Wildlife Watch, a citizen science program of the National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch/.

Look Closely

2009-09-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

A walk through your backyard may not be as thrilling as an African safari. However, if you put on your jungle explorer hat, you’re almost certain to stumble across one of Nature’s miracles right under your nose. The key is to look closely, especially when you spy something out of the ordinary.

Take, for example, the cecropia moth (pictured above) that landed on a stone garden gnome outside a friend’s house one afternoon. Seeing the large beautiful moth was a thrill in itself and a welcome photo opportunity. The moth cooperated beyond our expectations, allowing us to approach closely and me to use my camera’s macro lens. That’s when I noticed two small cream-colored objects near the moth’s hind end. Fastened to the garden sculpture with a brownish “glue” secreted from the insect’s body, the objects turned out to be eggs – the normally unobserved beginning of a new cecropia moth generation. After mating, the female cecropia moth can produce hundreds of eggs, which are typically laid at night on the underside of leaves, so I’m unsure why the one I photographed was active during the day and had chosen a garden ornament during this critical part of its life cycle.

Perhaps the best part of an unusual wildlife sighting is the trip to the library or the internet search afterwards, which help to round out our knowledge of natural history.

Impostor

2009-08-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

If you plant a garden in your yard especially to attract butterflies and hummingbirds, you may be visited by a creature that resembles a cross between the two. You’re most likely to take it for a hummingbird at first glance, based on its manner of hovering when extracting nectar from flowers, but closer inspection will reveal the paired antennae that identify it as an insect. The creature is a day-flying moth that goes by several names – clearwing moth or hummingbird moth here in the United States or bee hawk-moth in Europe.

After hatching from tiny eggs laid on the underside of hanging leaves, the small green larvae feed voraciously on viburnum, honeysuckle and related plants. As the caterpillars develop, their round heads and spiky anal horns turn bluish in color. Inconspicuous brown cocoons lay dormant on the ground under a protective layer of leaf litter until it’s time for the adult moths to emerge in search of food. Teasel and honeysuckle are favorite items on the hummingbird moth’s menu, but the species also seems to be attracted to butterfly bush, butterfly weed, trumpet vine, bee balm, joe-pye weed, phlox and other flowering plants that homeowners regularly plant in their garden.

If you are fortunate enough to have a hummingbird moth visit your home garden, be sure to grab your camera. If you approach it slowly and cautiously, you should be able to get close enough for a nice photo of it hovering as it feeds.

For the Birds

2009-08-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

Reliable sources of food and water are two essential elements for attracting wildlife to your backyard zoo. Last week’s blog focused on bird baths. This week I’d like to speak about bird feeders. According to wildlife authorities, Americans spend in excess of $2 billion dollars each year feeding birds in their backyards. That’s only a fraction or what we spend each year on pizza, hamburgers or coffee, but I’m willing to bet it’s more than the public spends each year visiting zoos and aquariums across the country.

If you don’t already have a bird feeder hanging outside your window, you don’t know what you’re missing. Hardly a day goes by at my house without our avian neighbors putting on a show, some unexpected visitor showing up or a pesky gray squirrel figuring out how to pilfer a share of the seeds or nuts we provide. Bird feeders come in every imaginable variety, designed to dispense different types of food to different species. The feeder in the photo above is designed to provide small thistle seeds, a favorite food of goldfinches. You can wind up spending a pretty penny on some of the more substantial varieties, but you can also construct them out of common household items at little to no cost. Either way, you’ve given resident and migrant birds a reason to visit your backyard.

If you decide to install a bird feeder in your backyard, I recommend first going to the library or going on-line and doing a little research. There is a wealth of information available regarding where to place feeders, which foods attract which species, and how feeding wild birds affects their behavior and ecology.

Bath Time

2009-08-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

No matter how wild your backyard might be, one sure fire way to attract more critters to it is to provide reliable sources of water for them. Wildlife has three basic needs – food, water and shelter – which can be provided at relatively low cost and with minimal effort. Install a birdbath on your property and you’ll be rewarded with an array of avian visitors.

A shallow pan of standing fresh water is all that’s required, whether the container is constructed of stone, ceramic, metal or hard plastic. Stylish birdbaths mounted on decorative pedestals certainly can enhance your backyard wildlife garden. However, robins, blue jays, grackles and other likely bathers aren’t stopping by to admire a homeowner’s art. They come to wash in or drink from the artificial puddle we’ve provided. What’s essential is that the water level not be too deep, the slope not be too steep, and the water be refreshed regularly. It’s also important to place your bird bath in a fairly open location where predators cannot hide and attack the innocent bathers.

Bird baths offer excellent opportunities for amateur nature photographers. Visiting birds quickly become accustomed to someone with a camera sitting nearby and put on a show each time they wade in, dip their wings and splash themselves with water.

Hocus Pocus, Abra Cadabra!

2009-08-10T10:44:00.000-07:00

If you’ve located a patch of milkweed plants in your backyard or close to your home, perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to observe a white, yellow and black-striped caterpillar feeding or maybe even a shiny green chrysalis suspended from a leaf or stem. The chrysalis is the pupal stage in this insect’s magical transformation or metamorphosis.

About two weeks after it hatches from its egg and begins feeding, the caterpillar stage of the monarch butterfly reaches its full size and is ready to pupate. It secretes a thin silken thread from its hind end, attaching itself to the plant in an upside down position. Miraculously, the caterpillar’s body morphs into a glistening emerald green capsule that bears no resemblance whatsoever to its former self. It looks more like a hanging pendant.

For 10 days this living jewel hangs immobile from its silken stalk. Then, without any warning, the thin outer wall becomes transparent, allowing us a peek inside. Voila! In a matter of minutes, a beautiful orange-and-black butterfly takes shape before our eyes, dries its wings in the hot summer sun and lifts off into the sky.

Milkweed Munchers

2009-08-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

The tall patch of common milkweed in my backyard may be just a bit unusual, since this is a plant more often seen along roadsides or in open fields. I decided to plant milkweed many years ago so that I might pick the leaves and use their poisonous white sap to treat a pesky wart. Native Americans apparently used the plant in this same fashion and I can attest to its effectiveness. Look, mom, no warts!

Certain chemicals in the milkweed’s sap are toxic to many creatures, but not monarch butterfly caterpillars. In fact, milkweed leaves are the only thing they eat! Just before dinner yesterday evening, I watched a female monarch flit from one milkweed leaf to another, depositing a tiny, whitish-yellow egg on the undersurface of each. The eggs will hatch a few days from now, each one yielding a tiny worm-like larva. Almost immediately the new creature will begin munching the leaf on which it was born. Gaping holes lined with milky sap are telltale signs of the caterpillar’s meals.

Milkweed plants aren’t the only ones that butterfly larvae find tasty. As you walk around your yard, take some time to examine the leaves of different plants, shrubs and trees. Check for evidence of hungry insects and maybe you’ll meet some caterpillar neighbors.

Flutterbies!

2009-08-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Of the millions of insect species that inhabit the planet, butterflies are unquestionably among the most pleasing to our senses. We go to great lengths to attract them to our gardens, planting shrubs and flowers that serve as food for both crawling caterpillars and winged adults.

It’s the adults that you and I are most likely to encounter in our backyards as they flutter from flower to flower in search of sugar-rich liquid nourishment. A butterfly’s sensitive antennae help guide it to plants that hold essential nutrients. Special chemical receptors on its legs allow it to taste and a long thin proboscis is used for drinking.

The butterfly in the photo is a common species known as a clouded sulphur, found throughout much of the United States. I came across this one in a weedy patch in my backyard. The female clouded sulphur lays greenish-yellow eggs, one at a time and typically on clover, alfalfa or pea plants. The adult butterflies prefer open habitats like lawns and meadows. Dandelions, asters, marigolds, coneflowers and thistle are among the many plants from which they extract nectar.

If you don’t already own a field guide to our native butterflies, this would be a great addition to your home library. Use it to make a list of the different species that visit your backyard. And while you’re at it, note on which flowers they come to feed.

2009 Insects

2009-07-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

By far the greatest number of creatures that you’ll find in your Backyard Zoo will be insects – ants, flies, mosquitoes, bees, bugs, beetles, butterflies, crickets, grasshoppers and more. This is because your backyard is a small slice of the world at large, which insects and other invertebrates have ruled for hundreds of millions of years.

Yesterday, I stumbled across this large European hornet struggling to hold on to a day lily leaf. It seemed like odd behavior to me, but it gave me the opportunity to photograph this creature in a somewhat unusual pose.

The European hornet is a large, aggressive member of the yellow-jacket family that was introduced to the United States in 1840. The first records of its presence come from New York, but its range now extends westward as far as the Dakotas and south as far as Florida and Louisiana. European hornets build large paper nests that tend to be located in tree cavities, not suspended from branches like nests of the bald-faced hornet. A typical colony will harbor several hundred workers.

It’s not likely that you’ll find the nest in your backyard, as these insects fly over great distances to find food. Prey species include crickets, grasshoppers, flies, butterfly and moth caterpillars, and even other yellow-jackets, hornets and wasps. Some people regard European hornets as pests, especially on summer and autumn evenings when these scary nocturnal predators are drawn to porch lights in search of an easy insect meal. Although hornets can deliver a painful sting, you need not consider them dangerous. Just back away a step or two and observe them from a short distance.

Eyes a Poppin’ and Ready for Hoppin’

2009-07-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

We’re following the development of a cottontail rabbit nest in my backyard vegetable and herb garden. My wife discovered the nest a little more than a week ago. At birth, the six tiny “kittens” – which is how biologists refer to baby bunnies - were blind, deaf, hairless and helpless. Over a matter of only a few weeks, as you can see from the photo above, they have rapidly transformed into miniature versions of their parents. What’s remarkable about this transformation is that the mother rabbit has not shown herself to us once the entire time, but has managed to sneak back to her nest for a few minutes each night to nourish her young.

If you’ve also been exploring your own Backyard Zoo for evidence of rabbits and other native creatures, I’d like to offer just a few words of advice. Observe wild animals carefully and try not to disturb their natural behavior. For example, when my wife and I examine the rabbit nest and take photos to post on this blog, we tread lightly in the garden, remain quiet and probe the vegetation with great care. At some point, perhaps within only a few days, the young rabbits will be ready to leave their nest and disperse into the surrounding landscape, but we don’t want to frighten and send them into the outside world prematurely.

Once they do set out on their own, the six young animals will become potential meals for a variety of local predators. Being cute doesn’t count for much in the struggle for survival. In addition to owls, hawks, foxes and skunks, young rabbits can fall prey to our own cats and dogs. If only one kitten from this nest survives to adulthood that will be a lot. Cottontails breed two to four times each year, each litter can contain as many as eight young, and females are able to produce young in the first year of their lives. If the survival rate wasn’t low, our world would be overrun with rabbits.

In a few days, when the young rabbits disperse, we’ll begin searching the rest of our Backyard Zoo for other interesting creatures.

Raining Cats and Dogs on Rabbits

2009-07-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last night the heavens opened up and the rain came down in buckets, so I was anxious to examine the rabbit nest this morning and see how my little “lagomorphs” were doing. Rabbits and hares are mammals belonging to the Order Lagomorpha along with another cute little critter - the pika - that makes its home high in the mountains of the American west.

Well, I needn’t have worried about the little bunnies. Despite the heavy rain, their garden patch wasn’t flooded at all and the nest appeared undisturbed. I peeled back the overhanging thyme plant to get a closer look. Their eyes weren’t open yet, but it was obvious that they had grown in size significantly in just a couple of days. Their heads were much larger, their ears were longer and their fur coats were heavier. I could only make out two heads clearly in the wriggling mass, each marked by a prominent white blaze. I don’t recall ever noticing a white patch on an adult cottontail’s forehead, so perhaps this marking disappears with age.

My wife was more concerned than I about last night’s rain, thinking that it might drown the babies. She’s also been a bit uptight because she hasn’t seen any evidence of the mother rabbit tending her young. My assurances gave her little comfort, so I had her read an article written by a veterinarian who routinely receives calls from people asking advice about caring for the “abandoned” bunnies in their backyard. The truth is that mother rabbits spend very little time with their young, typically returning to the nest only at night and then only for a few minutes to nurse them.

Got milk?

I’ll write again when the babies eyes open, which should only be a matter of a day or two. In the meantime, keep exploring your own backyard and let me know if you’ve found any evidence of nesting rabbits.

It’s Thyme for Rabbits

2009-07-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Each year my vegetable garden decreases in size. The surrounding trees grow taller and cast longer shadows on the soil. This makes it more difficult to grow sun-loving plants like lettuce, tomatoes, beans and squash. However, a couple of hardy herbs – oregano and thyme - have taken root and are taking over a corner of the garden.

The other day, my wife called me into the garden to have a look at the spreading bed of thyme. Smack in the middle of the plant was a shallow hole covered by a thin patch of greyish-brown fur, surrounded by a mass of tiny green leaves. Beneath the thin cover was a wriggling mass of baby cottontail rabbits. We looked around the yard but saw no evidence of the mother. Very carefully, we peeled away the protective covering for a closer look and counted five small heads. The young rabbits’ eyes were still closed, their skin resembled peach fuzz, and looked as though all five would fit very comfortably in the palm of your hand. After I snapped a couple of photos to document our discovery, we gently replaced the thin mat of hair that the mother rabbit had plucked from her own fur coat to protect her young, leaving the nest essentially undisturbed in anticipation of her return.

I’ll keep you posted on their progress.

If you’ve noticed cottontail rabbits hopping around your neighborhood, take a walk around your yard and search for possible nests in the grass, gardens and underbrush. If you do find a nest of baby rabbits, be careful not to disturb them, but keep an eye out for the mother and take some time each day to observe how the young develop.