A Nature Hike at The Ridges

This past Monday I co-led a trip to The Ridges with the Ohio University Wildlife Club, of which I am the secretary. This trip was a nature hike that was aimed at finding herps, finding insects, doing some birding, and basically looking at whatever else caught our attention as we made our way through The Ridges, which is on the outskirts of Athens. We had a much, much larger group than we expected (we had about 15 members show up but were honestly only expecting 5 or so), most of which were freshmen.

While up on the Radar Hill Trail earlier last week, I noticed a lot of Common Milkweed individuals. I thought it would be fun to fan out and search the plants for any caterpillars (especially Monarchs) that might have been chowing down.

Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, is probably the most common milkweed species here in Ohio. The photo above (Taken at Rhododendron Cove SNP in Fairfield County) shows what they look like earlier in the Summer as they are flowering. I've previously covered Common Milkweed, and other milkweed species, in a post that you can read here. At the time of the trip up to The Ridges, the flowers were long gone and the plants each contained a few "seed pods," better known as follicles. These follicles contain many silk-like hairs that are attached to seeds. These silky hairs are known as pappus, which help scatter the seeds when they are caught by the wind. 682 acres of the land at The Ridges is actually set aside as a land lab where Ohio University faculty and students teach and conduct research. As a result, I'm pretty sure all these Common Milkweed plants have been planted there and did not just occur naturally. That is actually a very good thing, as I will get into here in a moment...

The main goal I had in mind, as I stated before, was finding Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus, caterpillars. We fanned out and began searching the milkweed individuals for the caterpillars. A few minutes in, a voice called out exclaiming they found one. We all closed in to get a closer look at the nicely-sized green-white-and-yellow caterpillar. Monarchs are completely dependent on milkweed species for survival. Eggs are laid on milkweed, the caterpillars hatch and eat the milkweed, they metamorphose, then the adults mate and lay more eggs onto more milkweed and the cycle begins again. In fact, there are 4 generations of Monarchs a year. The overwintering adults migrate from Mexico up to the US each Spring and lay eggs; this is the first generation. Then, those of the first generation lay the second generation, and those lay the third. The interesting ones are the fourth generation. Unlike the first three generations, which die after laying their eggs, the fourth generation actually migrates over a thousand miles to Mexico. This migration happens in October. As for our individual, I'm pretty sure he (or she) is part of the 4th generation, which means after he metamorphoses in his chrysalis, he will begin his very long journey to Mexico to overwinter!

The milkweed the caterpillars consume isn't just important as a food source, however. Milkweed species contain a type of toxin known as cardenolide glycosides. Cardenolide glycosides in the plant are consumed by the caterpillars and stored, rendering the individual toxic to predators. After metamorphosis, they still retain the toxin, but they move much of it to the wings as some predators will attack the wings first. This toxin makes the wings taste very bad, and will also make the predators, namely birds, sick. Other species simply tear off the wings of butterflies and eat the body right away. As a result, Monarchs store the most potent toxin in their abdomen, which upon ingestion will make a predator quite sick. Although the Monarch individual might be killed, this will most likely ensure that predator will never again eat a Monarch, thus overall improving the chance of Monarch survival. The bright coloration of the adults warns predators of such a fate that might come from eating them. Monarchs aren't the only species to capitalize on this toxin; many other insect species which feed on milkweed are also toxic and brightly colored to warn predators of that toxicity.

An adult Monarch Butterfly from Pickaway County a few years ago.

Now, many people on the trip were surprised when I told them Monarchs are badly in trouble. As in "their population has declined by 90% over the last 15 years" badly. Yes, 90%. Their population, which had a high of over 1 billion overwintering individuals in 1996, was only 33.5 million in 2013. The average is about 350 million overwintering individuals a year. This decline is so bad that many are pushing to list Monarchs as threatened, a move I am for as well. So why the dramatic decline from 2012 on? Well, there are many factors. One is the 2012 drought which killed many. Another factor was the cold temperatures of the Spring of 2013, which slowed the growth of the first generation and messed up that year's schedule. Monarchs are also facing a severe loss of habitat in their overwintering grounds in Mexico, which is hurting overwintering survival. However, they are hurting for breeding habitat too. Monarchs require milkweed, and milkweed population has declined by about 60% in the last decade. This is due to many factors such as drought, new agricultural methods, and the mowing of roadsides (a favorite place for milkweeds to grow). As an aside, please consider growing milkweed on your property. Any bit helps. Anyway, all these factors have come together to decimate the population. You might have noticed that you haven't seen many, if any, Monarchs this Summer. That's not because you're missing them, that's simply because their population is that low right now. It's horribly sad, and if this trend continues their future looks very, very grim.

We also were able to relocate a deer skeleton that I stumbled across last Spring semester. I found a semi-decayed carcass in probably March or so, and the months following that had gotten rid of everything remaining but the bones. I led the group back along a small creek and had them look for any remains of the White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, among the tall boneset flowers. We scanned the area once and found nothing. We gave up and turned back to the main trail. A few seconds later someone called out they saw bones. I parted the 2-foot tall plants covering the area and saw a rib and some assorted bones. A quick search of the immediate area found much of the skeleton, including the skull and both jawbones. We decided to take those back with us to show others during the next club meeting. The photo above shows the skull with the jawbones in the place they would normally be.

As Alayna, the president of Wildlife Club, pointed out, the skull was quite small. She suggested it was a fawn. I looked at one of the jaw bones and sure enough it was a fawn. How can you tell quickly? Take a look at the photo above. Deer are just like humans; new teeth form and erupt as they grow through childhood. The photo above, which has one of the molars removed, shows another molar buried in the bone. A thin piece of bone partially covers the molar. Eventually, this bone would shrink back and the molar would erupt through the gum. You had the same exact process happen as your molars formed when you were young.

So just how young is this fawn? Well, the teeth give can help us find that out. I put the above photo together quickly to help explain. So, we know it is young, but is it a yearling (1.5 years+) or a fawn? Well, a yearling has 6 fully erupted teeth. This individual only has 5, so that means it is a fawn. So, how old of a fawn? Well, the first two permanent molars, M4 and M5, have erupted completely. This places the fawn in the 6 month to 14 month range at least. We can close this gap even farther by examining how far along the third molar, M6, is. In this individual, it has not begun to erupt yet, so that closes the range down to 6-11 months. The M6 molar is, however, close to beginning to erupt, so that puts it a little bit ahead of 6 months. As a result, I would age this individual at 9-10 months, +/- 1 month.

Overall, the nature hike was really fun and really productive. I will definitely do a few more this school year hopefully. Thanks for reading! I know this was a wordy post, but there's just so many interesting things to talk about. I could have gone on much longer, but I tried to keep it somewhat sane! Thanks again!

The Wilds

Last Sunday I went out with the University Wildlife Club to The Wilds in Muskingum County. Normally I cover native Ohio plants, animals, and the like, but this post is a bit different.

For those of you who don't know, The Wilds is a wildlife center. It houses endangered (and non-endangered) animals in large pastures that used to be exposed strip mines. AEP donated the top 6-8 inches of land (they kept the underground to still be able to get oil and natural gas) so it could be converted back to a more natural environment. Now, The Wilds is a massive expanse of land (over 9,000 acres) that is dedicated to conservation of endangered species and public education.

It is open to the public from May to October and is...well, it's sort of like a zoo. Except instead of people looking at animals in an enclosure, the humans are the ones in the enclosure while the animals are free. You tour the facilities in a bus that drives through the giant pastures, so animals can literally be outside the bus window. You get amazing views of many animals, like the Sichuan Takins above.

The Wilds was not open to the public when we went (they open in May), and as far as I could tell we were the only non-worker people that were on the grounds that day. As a result, we were able to get some "special treatment" and behind the scenes access. One of the activities we were able to experience was the Columbus Zoo's Animal Ambassadors program (The Wilds works alongside the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium). The Animal Ambassadors is a public outreach program where people can get up close with some interesting animals, like the Tamandua above. They also brought out a young American Alligator, hedgehog, cornsnake, and Three-Banded Armadillo and allowed us to pet the alligator, cornsnake, and armadillo.

We were then taken behind the scenes to the rhino house. I had no idea this was going to be part of the trip, but it was definitely the most amazing part. Not only did we get up close with Indian and Southern-White rhinos, but we were allowed to pet the 9 individuals too! Petting a rhino was definitely on my list of "Things I'll probably never get the chance to do," but sometimes life surprises you.

We were also allowed to hand-feed one of the rhinos. Their upper lip is prehensile and was almost like an elephant trunk. It would reach out and grab the grass out of your hand.

They currently had two baby rhinos as well. They sort of acted like dogs; they loved the attention and would run and jump trying to play with you. It wasn't all fun and games though; rhinos have a very poor sense of body-awareness, and as a result you had to be very careful around them. There was a big metal fence between us, but that didn't do much. The mom of this individual sneezed at one point, scaring him. I was petting his horn-stub at the time and the baby jumped from fright and almost smashed my hand against the metal fence. The mom almost hit a few people with her massive horn on accident too. It's not that they're trying to hurt you though; they have poor eyesight, and couple that with huge bodies and unbelievable power and you get an animal that doesn't always realize what it's doing to other things around it.

Fear aside, it was completely exhilarating to be this close to such amazing animals. It honestly felt like the part in Jurassic Park where Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler have their first encounter with a dinosaur (the sick triceratops), and they're overcome with amazement as they pet it.

Of course, The Wilds isn't just for captive animals. The Wilds is also known for its amazing birding, and I (along with two other birders) were birding the entire time. The swan above is a Trumpeter Swan, one of the three species of swans that normally occur in Ohio. Of those three, only two are native (the Trumpeter and Tundra Swan). The other, the Mute Swan, is an invasive species. The Trumpeter Swan almost went extinct decades ago, but has since began rebounding due to conservation programs. The Wilds is part of a Trumpeter Swan conservation program and has raised and released many individuals. This one however is a wild-born one, as can be told by the lack of a green band on its neck. Other species from that day included dozens of Eastern Meadowlarks, Buffleheads, Ring-Necked Ducks, Tree Swallows, Eastern Phoebe, and many more.

And here is the group that went! I am the one on the very left with a gray "Ohio University" shirt on. It was definitely an amazing trip and I hope it will happen again next year. If you're looking for a zoo-like experience, but want something a little bit different from the usual zoo trip, definitely think about going to The Wilds. You won't regret it.

Tracks in the Snow

Saturday the 7th brought a lull in two back-to-back snowy days, so I decided to head out after lunch to The Ridges in Athens, OH, to get some relaxation in before finals week and see what I could find.

The snow wasn't too deep; in fact much of the gravel trail had already melted in places, but the forest floor was still covered as you can see. I was the first human on this trail, but far from the first animal.

One of the first tracks I came across, and one I wanted to share, were these. These are the tracks of a Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo. Notice the distinctive shape. These are large prints and definitely stand out from the other tiny, half-inch songbird prints you might find around. I had not found turkey at The Ridges before, but had assumed they were probably in the area. Finding these tracks confirm my suspicions, and now the next step is to see them.

While at one of the cemeteries along the trail, I came across these tunnels. They were very small, but what made them? I'm not exactly sure, but I know it was either a vole, mouse, or shrew species. Come snow fall, those tiny mammals are probably happy to be able to hide in tunnels they dig all around instead of being exposed.

I came across these tracks a few miles in on the trail. They were grouped like this and went across a bridge and off into the forest. There was a decent sized gap in between these "clusters" of tracks, meaning whatever it was was running over the bridge and into the forest. So what made these tracks? Well, there was some snowfall in the tracks so they weren't the crispest which made it hard to see all the details that would make an ID easy. Also add that to my little knowledge of animal tracks, and you have a stumped blogger. I knew it was some sort of carnivore, specifically a canine or feline species, but that was it.

So I posted these photos on the Facebook group Mammals Ohio for some help. In comes naturalist Joe Letsche. He said he "Can't say for sure, but they appear to be Red Fox tracks based on the trail width, the oblong shape of the track outline, and the gait. Bobcats rarely run unless they are chasing something or being chased." I had originally thought it might have been Bobcat tracks because there are supposedly multiple Bobcats at The Ridges; however, after comparing these and Red Fox tracks, I agree with Joe Letsche in this most likely being Red Fox Tracks.

I also found hundreds of deer tracks, raccoon tracks, and some songbird tracks on the trip, but I didn't get photos of them. Also, since my first semester is over, I will have some time to go back and write some more posts on photos I might have saved away, so keep on the lookout!