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Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates

© Marlene A. Condon

September, 2012

Naturalist-pic — Potter wasp nests often resemble familiar structures such as vases or, in this case, a little oven. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

Several years ago, as I was removing plant debris from one of my small, artificial ponds, I discovered gelatinous blobs adhering to the undersides of some of the leaves that had fallen into the water. Up to that point in time, I had never seen these blobs when maintaining my ponds. Thus I was mystified and hugely curious as to what they were.

Although I couldn’t make out anything inside the clear jelly-like substance to suggest there was something within it, I surmised that the blobs were egg masses of some animal, probably freshwater snails. The appearance of the blobs coincided with the arrival of the snails in my ponds.

I returned the leaves with the blobs to the pond because you should never destroy something in the natural world when you don’t know what it is. After all, every organism has a function, so you don’t want to get rid of anything unless you have a good reason to do so. Otherwise, you could interfere with the proper functioning of the environment, which, in this case, meant the proper functioning of my pond.

The mystery of the unidentified blobs eluded me until just a few months ago when I was absolutely thrilled to come across Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney.

As I thumbed through the pages and pages of photographs, I noticed a picture of my blobs! And yes, they were indeed the egg masses of my freshwater snails. I had to own this book!

If you love learning about the natural world and you’ve often wondered about a mysterious “sign” left behind by some critter, then you may want to own this book, too. You might want a copy of this book just to see and read about the many kinds of tracks, eggs or egg cases, cocoons, scat or droppings, or sheltering structures that are out there for all who pay close attention to their surroundings to see.

Insects may be the most numerous and ubiquitous of the creatures that you might find in your immediate environment, but this volumn also covers worms, snails, spiders, crayfish, and numerous other invertebrates (animals without a backbone).

Additionally, if you love visiting the beach, sea creatures are included, such as squid, crabs, periwinkles (I’ve always loved this name), and even octopuses!

One type of insect sign that I am always thrilled to find is the nest of a potter wasp. There are numerous species of these wasps, but they are miniscule so you rarely get to see the insects themselves (don’t worry; they don’t sting people).

But if you keep a sharp eye out, you may notice their tiny—and I think cute—mud nests that let you know they are around. My favorite potter wasp nest is one that really looks just like a teeny-tiny vase that has been thrown by a potter; hence the name for this kind of wasp. Other kinds of potter wasp nests look like tiny ovens where bread was baked in previous centuries and perhaps even now in some countries.

Although in a natural setting these nests would be attached to twigs, I have found them attached to plant cages around my tomatoes or to an outdoor lounge chair that hadn’t been used for a while (your author doesn’t have time for lying around relaxing!).

After a potter wasp female builds her nest, she provisions it with tiny caterpillars or grubs (the larvae of beetles) that she has stung and paralyzed with venom. She then lays a single egg upon the inside wall of the nest and seals it.

When the egg hatches, the wasp larva feeds upon the immobilized critters inside the nest until it’s ready to pupate. Following pupation, the newly developed adult wasp chews its way out of the nest to fulfill its own role of helping to limit the numbers of caterpillars and grubs to sustainable levels.

The natural world is chock full of absolutely amazing life forms, some of which you may never get to actually see, but which will leave behind clues to their existence. Happily, if you pick up a copy of Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates, you are likely to be able to figure out which organisms have passed through your vicinity or are living there now.

For years I’ve photographed tracks, scat, pupae, nests, and eggs that I couldn’t identify if I didn’t spot the critter leaving them behind because I couldn’t locate such things illustrated anywhere. Tracks and Sign is an immense repository of such hard-to-find information gathered together into one fine book.

If you find learning about the natural world as fascinating as I do, this book is a must for your library.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates

Winter Temps and Insect Numbers

© Marlene A. Condon

October, 2012

marlene-dondon-frog — The author has two small artificial ponds on her property that teem with numerous kinds of critters (such as this Green Frog), many of which feed upon mosquito eggs and larvae. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

People have the mistaken idea that cold winter weather kills insects and other invertebrates, thus limiting the numbers of these animals by the time spring arrives. But if it were true that harsh winter temperatures kill these critters, there wouldn’t be any of them at all in areas north of Virginia, where it typically gets much colder every year than it does here.

These animals need to make it through freezing conditions to perpetuate their kind. If they hadn’t figured out how to survive such conditions, they would have gone extinct by now. Therefore it’s actually adverse spring and summer conditions, such as drought, that are more likely to negatively impact the number of invertebrates each year.

Conversely, folks tend to think that mild winter temperatures will increase invertebrate numbers, but, in fact, this situation can be deadly. Many kinds of hibernators, such as insects, may die if they become active during the winter in response to warm temperatures because there simply isn’t going to be much food available for them. The lack of food at this time of year is one of the reasons they need to hibernate.

In 2012 the Centers for Disease Control blamed mild winter temperatures for the faster spread of West Nile Virus by mosquitoes. However, in a naturally functioning environment, such a scenario would be highly unlikely to happen.

If it’s warm enough for mosquito eggs to hatch or mosquito larvae to become active in ponds or still areas of streams, it’s also warm enough for their aquatic predators to be actively feeding upon them.

The result is that few mosquito larvae would be able to survive to adulthood, only enough of them to maintain the proper functioning of the environment. And, of course, adult mosquitoes would also be taken by predators, reducing the numbers of mosquitoes available to reproduce. The same holds true for artificial ponds in your landscape, as long as you allow them to work naturally.

If, however, you instead treat a pond as an aquarium that gets cleaned out every year and perhaps has chemicals added to it, wildlife will have difficulty surviving within it—and that means you won’t have your natural system of checks and balances to keep the pond (and yard) functioning properly. Under these circumstances, of course, you may indeed help mosquitoes to proliferate.

Other common ways in which people create breeding habitats for mosquitoes is by leaving standing rain water within gutters that need maintenance, kiddy pools, toys left outside, and tarps over outdoor furniture. Water features that function as gardens only (i.e., they are used only for growing plants instead of functioning as genuine ponds full of life) are problematic as well. These areas will usually be devoid of animals that feed upon mosquito eggs and larvae.

As for bird baths, they should be emptied every day and fresh water put in. It should be obvious that you need to replace the water daily because birds leave behind visible waste and debris. Yet retailers advertise mosquito dunks to use in birdbaths, even though this pesticide is totally unnecessary. It’s also not as harmless as many folks believe.

Mosquito dunks are composed of Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis, a bacterium that specifically kills mosquitoes (and their close relatives). Although this pesticide is touted as nontoxic to humans, if bacterial spores are inhaled or rubbed onto the skin, they act as foreign proteins and can cause allergic reactions. Thus Bti should be handled with care.

Additionally, studies have shown that Bti, which is used in spray programs, could be more persistent in the environment than previously believed, with the potential for bacterial proliferation and thus an increased accumulation of these bacteria in mosquito habitats. Such Bti persistence would lengthen the amount of time that organisms are exposed to the insecticide, increasing the risk that target insects could acquire resistance to it.

Bti spores have also been found in untreated areas, raising the concern that microbial insecticides can spread, causing ecological harm.

If homeowners were better about correcting the conditions on their properties that allow mosquitoes to increase in number, localities could do away with large-scale pesticide-spray programs that many citizens and all health departments demand, but which pose threats to the environment.

Additionally, if most folks weren’t constantly trying to banish practically all wildlife (except perhaps birds and butterflies) from their yards, they would not be faced with the need for pesticide usage in the first place. This is exactly the wrong course of action. Without a variety of organisms in your environment to keep populations balanced, you end up with overpopulations that can’t help but be pestiferous—to themselves as well as to people!

The reality is that we cannot change the way the natural world works. Instead we must change the way we live.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Winter Temps and Insect Numbers

Eastern Red Bat

© Marlene A. Condon

November, 2012

Naturalist-bat — This female Eastern Red Bat was clinging to the wall right outside the entrance to a grocery store in Crozet. You never know where you’ll spot wildlife so keep your eyes open, no matter where you are! (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

The Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis) is perhaps the easiest of the 16 recorded species of bats in Virginia for people to get to see well. This beautifully colored flying mammal often migrates in fall during daylight hours when its red coloring is quite noticeable. Male red bats have bright orangey-red fur while females sport a dull brick-red or chestnut pelage (the technical term for a mammal’s fur coat).

Watch for red bats flying near woods and water as these animals move from northern states to southern ones. Historical accounts from the late 1800s tell of large migratory flocks of red bats flying during the day along the Atlantic seaboard, using the same routes as migratory birds. Sadly, there were no such reports during the 20^th century, indicating a decline in their populations.

In Virginia, it’s not uncommon to see one or more red bats flying as late as December, usually on sunny days with temperatures in the 50s when there can be midge and stonefly hatches.

Midges are tiny insects related to mosquitoes, but only some species bite. The larva, or immature form, develops in water. When the adult stage is reached, the midges emerge in large numbers that can be seen as clouds of insects in the vicinity of streams. Stoneflies also spend the immature stage of their lives in water, emerging as adults in large numbers. Red bats can easily feed on these hatches by flying through them and catching the little critters directly in their open mouths.

If you are lucky enough to see red bats feeding, you will have the opportunity to watch them for several minutes as they swoop around in a limited area, providing you with great views. I’ve watched Eastern Red Bats feeding over my yard. I’ve also seen them flying in Douthat State Park in Bath County as I was birding.

On December 19, 2002, my husband reported seeing two of these animals flying along route 664 near Sherando Lake in Augusta County. This road runs by a stream so there could have been a hatch to feed the bats as they flew at, or just below, tree level.

Naturalist-bat-door — This female Eastern Red Bat was clinging to the wall right outside the entrance to a grocery store in Crozet. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

The red bat feeds exclusively upon insects. Moths, beetles, plant and leaf hoppers comprise much of its diet in summer. In colder weather, flies and moths are its main sources of food because these particular insects are more active in cooler temperatures than most kinds of arthropods (invertebrate animals with jointed legs, a segmented body, and an external skeleton, known as an exoskeleton).

Stomach biopsies have shown that the red bat doesn’t just feed upon flying insects. It may glean cicadas from leaves as well as take crickets and grasshoppers from the ground.

It’s not unusual for red bats to rest on buildings during migration. If you notice one resting, keep your distance so you won’t scare it. You can get a good look by using binoculars.

And, of course, never handle a bat. Although the incidence of rabies is low in our wild animals (otherwise it would wipe them all out, as it is a deadly disease), you should never chance getting bitten by trying to pick up an animal with your bare hands. Remember this general rule of thumb for all wild animals, and you are highly unlikely to ever be bitten by one unless you sit or roll over or step on one or otherwise somehow threaten the animal’s well-being.

Although Eastern Red Bats inhabit Virginia, I’ve only ever seen these bats during their migration. One spring day in May I spotted one clinging upside down under the overhang of my carport. I feel confident this animal was on its way north because otherwise these bats typically hang by one foot in trees. They are thought to resemble dead leaves, a form of camouflage which protects them from predators.

The environmental role of the Eastern Red Bat is to help prevent overpopulations of a variety of insects so the environment can function properly. The bat is itself a food source for such animals as hawks, owls, and opossums.

You can help all of our species of bats by allowing caterpillars to survive on your plants during the growing season. Those caterpillars that transform into moths become a prime food source for these flying mammals. (And caterpillars of all types provide a critically important food source for adult birds to feed their nestlings.)

You needn’t worry about caterpillars seriously harming your plants if you create a nature-friendly garden that supports numerous kinds of predators. Predators keep caterpillar numbers limited to a level that will only impact your plants aesthetically—and only for a few weeks at that. Both herbaceous and woody plants will re-grow leaves, unless it’s late in the season when it’s time for plants to go dormant.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Eastern Red Bat

A Spectacle of Nature: Periodical Cicadas

© Marlene A. Condon

May, 2013

This mating pair of periodical cicadas will leave behind fertilized eggs in the tips of small branches and twigs of trees, but that is not harmful to these woody plants. Photo: Marlene A. Condon.

Because a large emergence of periodical cicadas is expected in May, you’ve probably heard a lot about it. Unfortunately, much of the publicity is negative when, in reality, the emergence of these insects is a spectacle of nature.

Periodical cicadas spend, depending upon the species, between 13 and 17 years in the nymph (immature) stage of development in Virginia. Going about their lives unseen beneath our feet, nymphs exist underground where they feed upon plant juices that they suck from roots.

Once the nymphs have reached maturity, they exit the soil to mate. These adults die soon afterwards, but the females will have left behind fertilized eggs. More than a decade later, the next generation of periodical cicadas will again enter our sphere of existence.

Most of a particular population will come out in one particular year, as has been predicted for 2013 in the Eastern United States. While these insects can be very loud when many thousands of males emerge and sing simultaneously, I disagree that their en masse singing constitutes a “substantial noise problem” that is “annoying.” Rather, it’s truly an other-worldly experience that should be considered quite marvelous!

The singing insects are not deafening. If you are in an area where you can clearly hear the chorus of cicadas without the interference of other sounds, you will feel as if you are in an outer-space movie. It’s amazing!

It’s sad that people don’t allow themselves to enjoy such a unique and uncommon phenomenon. On the other hand, I can see where it could be unpleasant to find thousands of these insects underfoot once they die. However, all you need to do is to move the dead insects away from the house to a less-trafficked area of the yard.

You can accomplish this chore by sweeping the bodies into a dust pan from patios or decks and delivering them to their final destination. If you need to remove them from the yard right around your house, you can use a rake to get the carcasses to where you want them.

By doing this, you allow Mother Nature to dispose of the remains by recycling them, as is supposed to happen. Numerous kinds of critters will come to feed on the bounty of dead animals and the bodies will be gone in no time.

Virtually every article tells us that cicadas will cause damage to trees, both large and small. The “damage” refers to brown twig tips and brown leaves that appear some time later.

The tips of tree branches die after female periodical cicadas make slits in them to hold their eggs. But the dead twig tips, even on small trees, are simply not a health problem.

People have become obsessed with the idea that the natural world basically needs to be made safe from itself! Goodness, how could trees have survived throughout the eons of time if this impact were as detrimental to them as entomologists and others would have you believe?

Yes, the brown tips may be aesthetically displeasing to human eyes, but the cosmetic manicuring of the natural world is nonsense that is truly disastrous for our environment. We need to get away from it.

The reality is that many of the tips will break off naturally on windy days. You may consider them to be “littering” your lawn. But they will not harm your grass and you can certainly rake them off to the side of the yard if you are so inclined.

But please, don’t remove them from the yard by sending them to a landfill or burning them. These twigs are important to many kinds of critters as well as to the proper functioning of your yard.

The twigs will provide food for animals, such as some kinds of grubs (immature beetles) and termites, whose job is to recycle wood. By keeping dead wood within your immediate environment, you don’t force these animals to look to your home as a food source.

When the wood-eating organisms defecate, they return to the soil some of the nutrients they obtained by eating the twigs. In other words, they fertilize your growing plants so you don’t need to do it.

These recyclers will themselves provide nutrients for the many species of birds (such as Pileated Woodpeckers), skunks, lizards, salamanders, and numerous other kinds of wildlife that will search for them.

The twigs that don’t fall off the trees thanks to the wind will be broken off by the kinds of birds and squirrels that need such small dead twigs to make their nests. They cannot reproduce without them.

Extension agents, landscapers, and pesticide applicators often cite problems where none really exists because they don’t see the big picture. My hope is that by way of this column, you now do.

Adults and children alike should take advantage of this somewhat rare opportunity to enjoy what is truly an impressive show put on by Mother Nature. Periodical cicadas are big insects that are easy to observe; they don’t bite or sting; they won’t come after you (although they may buzz right by you!); and they are remarkably colored with their black bodies, orange wing veins, and bright-red eyes.

We should appreciate the free entertainment provided by these creatures as well as their role in helping so many other organisms to survive.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: A Spectacle of Nature: Periodical Cicadas

The Natural World Is an Open Book That Anyone Can Read

© Marlene A. Condon

November, 2013

Although American Goldfinches can be seen almost the year-around in Virginia, the birds you see in summer are not the same individuals you see in winter, despite what you may read to the contrary. Photo: Marlene A. Condon.

About the middle of April, just after the azaleas have begun to bloom in our area, you can expect to spot a male ruby-throated hummingbird. The males leave Central America before the females to head into the United States and Canada, where they seem to follow the northward progression of azalea bloom.

Many folks immediately put up sugar-water feeders once they know that these tiny birds have arrived, but then are puzzled and disappointed when the hummers disappear by May. Most people then assume that the first hummingbirds of spring are migrants with no intention of staying in Virginia and so they have left to continue their journey northward.

But that assumption is incorrect. Although the ruby-throats appear to be gone, I can assure you that they do not leave the area.

Every spring when the tulip poplar trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) start to bloom, hummers desert feeders to obtain their nourishment from tulip poplar blossoms. I’ve been taking notes about the natural world for many years and the hummer “disappearance” each year correlates exactly with the blooming of the tulip poplar trees in my area.

And thanks to a microphone on my porch where the feeder is located, I know these birds are still in the vicinity because I continue to hear a hummingbird around the porch. The hum of its wings is quite audible. It doesn’t make use of the feeder, but it comes by once a day as if it just wants to make sure that the feeder is still there!

Tulip poplars produce huge flowers that provide an abundance of nectar to many kinds of insects as well as our hummingbirds. Consequently, the hummers do not need to depend upon human handouts because they can just spend each day up high in the tree canopy, visiting the tulip poplar blossoms that dwarf them.

By looking up at the tall tulip poplar trees with binoculars, anyone can ascertain that is, indeed, where the hummingbirds are “hanging out.” You might not always spy one up there (the trees are fully leafed out at this time), but with due diligence, you’ll get an opportunity to see that the hummingbirds are definitely still around. And once those trees have stopped blooming, the hummers will immediately be back at the feeder!

Sometimes people have expressed doubts when I’ve put forth this information. But what’s wonderful about the natural world is that it’s truly an open book that anyone can read and from which anyone can discern the truth.

All you need to do is to observe what takes place when there is no manipulation of nature by man. Of course, you must also have an open mind that harbors no prejudices as a result of what you’ve previously heard or read. It also helps to document your observations.

Having a microphone outside and keeping detailed notes helped me to discover the truth not only about hummingbird behavior in spring, but also about goldfinch behavior in fall in Virginia.

The American Goldfinch is a gregarious bird, so if you keep a feeder of sunflower seeds and/or a water pan filled with fresh, clean water in your yard, numerous goldfinches will visit for food and drink every day without fail.

But by the end of September, just a few weeks after the young-of-the-year goldfinches have left the nest (these finches are our latest-nesting birds), the goldfinch chatter and the “crying” of the juvenile goldfinches begging to be fed will be absent.

The feeder and the water pan will be far less busy because the goldfinches—young and all—have left.

The word from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is that goldfinches migrate, but only a short distance south and only from the coldest areas of the United States and southern Canada where they nest in summer. They move to more southerly regions where the minimum January temperature is no colder than zero degrees Fahrenheit on average.

Therefore experts consider our Virginia goldfinches to be “permanent residents,” which suggests that all of them will hatch, live out their lives, and die here in our state. Look in any guidebook or bird checklist and that is the description that you will see. Look up the definition of “resident bird” and you’ll find that it’s synonymous with “non-migratory.”

But the experts are wrong. Although the disappearance of goldfinches goes unnoticed by most bird watchers (and, apparently, scientists) who don’t have an expectation that these birds will leave, I have been paying such close attention to what’s going on in the natural world for such a long time that I know for a fact that our goldfinches disappear for about a month or so every autumn.

One fall morning in 2011, I was outside well before the sun was due to come up when I suddenly heard goldfinches chattering from high above me in the pitch-black sky. I could tell they were going over from north to south in the darkness, as many of our migratory songbirds do. I couldn’t see the birds, but their abundant chattering for a minute or so suggested that there were quite a few of them on the move.

Birds don’t move northwards as the weather gets colder so our summer goldfinches have undoubtedly moved a bit farther south come fall when they disappear. When goldfinches again appear, then, they must be migrants flying into the area from farther north.

The fact is that each and every one of us can freely take note of the natural world that surrounds us and we can often do this without special equipment and often without needing to leave home. Yet an incredible amount of misinformation is put out to the public, some by “experts.”

For example, entomologist Doug Tallamy writes in his well-known book, Bringing Nature Home, that the tulip poplar “is one of the least productive forest species in terms of its ability to support wildlife—insects and vertebrates alike.”

Yet nothing could be further from the truth, as you should expect for a native plant! This stately tree provides nectar for an array of insects as well as obviously being an important food source for hummingbirds.

The numerous seeds that result from the fertilization of the blooms by the great variety of nectar-feeders provide a crucial supply of food for birds (such as titmice and cardinals) as well as mammals (such as squirrels and mice) from late fall into winter.

The leaves are fed upon by many kinds of caterpillars (such as those of the tiger swallowtail butterfly and the tuliptree silkmoth) and when the tree is young, deer feed upon the leaves that they can reach.

I can’t explain why so much information published about our natural world is incorrect. I suspect a lot of it has to do with people writing about subject matter that they have little, if any, personal experience with. And then this misinformation gets perpetuated by others who repeat it as if it must be true and soon no one questions it.

But if you pay close attention to the natural world, you can’t help but find out for yourself what information is correct and what isn’t. You might even discover something that no one else has noticed before.

According to a poster in my office given to me by my husband, “Discovery” results from “venturing beyond the obvious to see what others don’t see!”

Blue Ridge Naturalist: The Natural World Is an Open Book That Anyone Can Read

Tallamy’s Oak

LUNA-MOTH-LIGHT-IMG_4740adjtrimARTICLE-541x420 — Planting an oak to support caterpillars that feed birds is useless when ubiquitous and overly bright nighttime lighting keeps so many moths (such as this Luna Moth) from mating. (Note the numerous dead insects at the bottom of this light fixture that burned for days when the absent owner forgot it was on.) Photo: Marlene A. Condon.

©Marlene A. Condon

January, 2017

Seed catalogs are arriving in the mail now, exciting gardeners with visions of the beauty they can enjoy during the upcoming growing season. Whether you are planning your next garden makeover or your first garden ever, I hope you are giving the natural world due consideration.

When you create a nature-friendly garden, your reward is extra beauty and excitement from the numerous kinds of critters that will visit or make your yard home. You can feel proud that you are providing desperately needed wildlife habitat.

If you are interested in helping wildlife, you may have heard and taken to heart Doug Tallamy’s advice to plant an oak tree. This University of Delaware ecology professor has been working hard to encourage folks all across the land to plant one.

Unfortunately, his message has been lost in translation as garden columnists and bloggers tend to misinterpret the advice and spread misinformation to the public. They often tell readers that planting an oak will provide food for over 500 species of Lepidoptera (moth and butterfly) caterpillars, which will provide an abundance of food for a chickadee (a cute bird anyone would want to assist) and its chicks.

However, a single oak tree is not going to live up to that expectation. Professor Tallamy is referring to the entire genus of oaks, comprising about 60 species of these trees in the United States. Your lonesome oak is only going to support a fraction of the species total promoted by the professor.

Should you still heed this ecologist’s advice? In many cases, the answer would be no, even if one tree did indeed host that many species of caterpillars.

If you own a small yard, it is never wise to plant a tree that is going to attain great height and breadth. As the tree grows ever bigger, its expanding area of shade will severely limit your ability to grow a variety of plants on your property that would create a thriving habitat. One tree does not a habitat make.

If you own a large property that can easily include one or more oaks without shading most of your land, is planting an oak tree the best thing you can do to bring nature home? Again, the answer is no.

Although Sudden Oak Decline (brought on by stressors, such as severe drought or ill-timed frost) has been occurring in the United States, we still have plenty of these trees in our area to feed the moth larvae and the few species of butterfly larvae that need them for sustenance. (You can verify this fact by visiting a forest near you.)

The real problem is not a dearth of oaks, but rather an overabundance of lights. They burn at night inside and outside of buildings (including homes), in parking lots, along roadways and walkways, and in many public parks. These lights attract moths (that comprise the majority of the 500-plus species mentioned by Professor Tallamy) that do not then fulfill their destiny of mating and producing the next generation.

Artificial lighting has been disastrous for these insects, which are such a hugely vital component of a properly functioning ecosystem throughout the various stages of their life cycles. As light pollution has increased, moth populations have plummeted.

Moths are practically nonexistent nowadays compared to when I was a child. When you have a dearth of moths, you have a dearth of caterpillars for those chickadees—no matter how many oak trees you plant.

Furthermore, in most people’s yards, Professor Tallamy’s oak becomes, essentially, nothing more than an invitation to reproductive failure for many kinds of moths and butterflies. Although some lepidopteran species manage to escape the effect of our artificial lighting to mate successfully, they leave behind offspring that overwinter underneath leaf litter that many people habitually remove.

When people take away the protection afforded by the fallen oak leaves, these caterpillars and pupae do not make it to spring when they would have transformed into adults. So again, when fewer adult insects exist to mate, fewer caterpillars will exist to feed those chickadees—no matter how many oak trees you plant.

If, as a society, we are to increase caterpillar numbers for the benefit of our birds (and other critters), we must alter many of our life practices. To accomplish this goal, you must recognize what is truly important in life (maintaining the health of the environment) and what is not (removing leaves from underneath trees and excessive artificial lighting).

If your yard is large enough and you can keep the leaf cover where it belongs, you might want to plant an oak tree as part of a multidimensional nature-friendly garden. However, living in agreement with nature is not quite as simple as Professor Tallamy suggests.

Please do not let yourself be fooled into believing that all it takes to make a significant difference in the numbers of moth and butterfly caterpillars is to plant an acorn.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Tallamy’s Oak

You Shouldn’t Need Honey Bees for Pollination

HONEYBEE-ON-PEACH-tighttrimadj-277x300 — The European (more accurately known as the “Western”) Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) was brought to America in hives by European settlers. It escaped domestication and can now be found in feral colonies. This one helped to pollinate the author’s peach tree, but many native pollinator species also assisted. (Photo credit: Marlene A. Condon)

By Marlene A. Condon –
December 4, 2015

At Cornell Orchards in Ithaca, New York, the scientists and managers of this 37-acre research and outreach facility decided this past spring to take, as they put it, “a leap of faith.” They chose to forego the assistance of commercial honey bees (hives of European bees trucked from growing area to growing area to ensure crop pollination) to see if their apple trees might still get adequately pollinated. To their surprise, they got a great crop of apples.

This news release astonished me. I’ve been to Ithaca, where there are many natural areas that include deep forests, wetlands and waterfalls, and dense brushy habitat for wildlife. How could resident researchers from the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science and the Department of Entomology at Cornell be surprised that there would be plenty of native pollinators in the area?

It might be because nowadays people think that they must personally orchestrate the workings of the natural world. But an orchard would only require the assistance of non-native honey bees if people had destroyed the biodiversity of the area—the incredible numbers of species that exist to perform such tasks as pollination.

Indeed, such eradication is taking place around the world, thanks to an increase in pesticide usage and development of the landscape, along with a decrease in natural-area preservation. A natural area un-trampled by humans maintains a reservoir of organisms for the future, should people ever again recognize the value of nature to their lives. Until they do, honey bees will continue to be needed to pollinate about a third of commercial food plants world-wide.

I’ve written hundreds of articles, and even a book, about nature-friendly gardening. Yet folks are still resistant to the main tenet of my thesis, which is that in order to be a successful gardener or farmer, you must blend your garden or cropland into the environment.

In other words, your food-growing areas must meld with the larger landscape around it so as to become one with it. This means you must allow native and naturalized plants (normally viewed as “weeds”) to grow among and in the vicinity of the plants you transplanted or started from seed.

When you follow this natural mandate, you don’t encounter the usual problems with insects and other invertebrates that most home and commercial gardeners believe are inevitable. Unfortunately, people doubt this truism, especially because scientists and extension agents talk about “pests” as if they are, indeed, a given when growing plants.

But the scientists, extension agents, garden writers and talk-show hosts are wrong. The problem for gardeners is not that certain organisms exist solely to kill their plants, but rather that gardeners haven’t provided habitat for the predators needed to keep plant-eating organisms in check.

Logic and common sense should tell us that no animal is supposed to eat itself out of house and home by killing the very plants it is dependent upon. If an organism destroys its food source, how will it survive to reproduce? And should it manage to reproduce, how will its progeny survive if there’s no food for them?

Thus when predators keep populations of plant-eating organisms limited to a population level that doesn’t seriously harm or kill the food plants of those organisms, the predators are aiding those creatures to keep their kind from going extinct. They are also allowing the food grower the ability to grow food without the use of pesticides that poison his world.

In order to invite predators to any property—large or small, commercial or private—you can’t treat it as a room inside a house that needs to be kept perfectly neat and sanitized. The overly ordered appearance of a property signifies ignorance of how the natural world works and how to garden or farm in agreement with nature.

Don’t get caught up in today’s societal standards that dictate a manicured look instead of a natural one. Garden cleanliness is definitely not next to godliness. It results in the need for pesticides to try to do the job predators could have done free of charge and much more safely, without effort on the part of the grower.

Instead, go wild! And don’t apologize for it.

My yard teems with numerous kinds of trees, shrubs, flowers, and wild grasses. Best of all, it’s absolutely alive with a variety of critters. A landscape teeming with wildlife is a landscape that is healthy.

To be a successful gardener or farmer, keep or create a variety of habitats to provide food, water, shelter, and nesting sites for a mix of wildlife. Accept that all wildlife is providing services so don’t be prejudiced against particular organisms.

There’s no harm in moving along critters that have taken up residence right around your house or farm buildings where you might experience an unpleasant or unsafe interaction with them. But you should never attempt to rid an entire property of particular kinds of animals.

Consider wasps: They limit the numbers of insects and spiders in addition to pollinating plants, which are all vital to the proper functioning of the environment. But if wasps start to build nests on or right by your house, you can tend to it in an environmentally friendly way.

Check every day all spring to very early summer to discover where nests have been started. As long as morning temperatures are still in the 40s, you can easily knock down nests without getting stung. There will be very few wasps per nest at this time of year and they can’t fly or even move much when it’s chilly. Therefore they will drop to the ground when you hit the nest.

But you must check carefully almost every day to get all the nests down before morning temperatures reach 50 degrees or above. By that time, very few wasps are still trying to start a nest. Vigilance is the key to avoiding or dealing with possible wildlife problems.

You needn’t take action at all if the location of a wasp nest poses no danger to you because, for example, it’s so high on the house that no one will ever be close enough to it to get stung. And don’t just turn to pesticides or poisons. It’s your responsibility to do your best to avoid serious problems with wildlife, and I’ve found that where there’s a will, there’s a way to deal with difficulties in a safe manner for you and the environment.

Why not make your New Year’s resolution the resolve to create a nature-friendly garden that’s safe for everyone—people, pets, wildlife, and the environment. It’s the only way to live.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: You Shouldn’t Need Honey Bees for Pollination

Foxes, Skunks, Coyotes, & Raccoons, Oh My!

NOV2015-CROGAZ-IMGP0658raccoons — Although the Common Raccoon is often thought of as a “pest”, a family of raccoons is fun to watch.“Mom” peeks out from a wildlife box (about 30 feet from the author’s kitchen door) that has often been used by screech owls. The sow’s two kits were playing on top. (Photo credit: Marlene A. Condon)

By Marlene A. Condon
November, 2015

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [Genesis 1:24-1:25]

But man does not necessarily agree. In fact, he finds many of God’s creations to be so pestiferous, especially if they go after his livestock, that he has coined a word to describe them: “vermin.”

Even our state wildlife department refers to some kinds of mammals as “nuisance and problem wildlife,” even though part of its mission statement reads that this agency exists “to provide educational outreach programs and materials that foster an awareness of and appreciation for Virginia’s fish and wildlife resources [and] their habitats.”

Indeed, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) should not be employing words, such as “nuisance” and “problem wildlife” that carry the connotation that certain animals exist solely to vex mankind. On the contrary, God created every living organism on Earth to support mankind’s very existence!

You can know this statement is true by simply examining the order in which God brought about his creations. Everything came before mankind, which makes sense.

So why does man insult his Creator by implying that some of the Lord’s creations are anything but “good”? Usually this attitude is the result of a lack of knowledge regarding the functions of wildlife in the natural world.

For example, consider the red and the gray fox, as well as the eastern coyote. These mammals will take chickens and/or their eggs, and lambs if they can get to them.

Predators exist for the express purpose of limiting the populations of other kinds of animals. By doing so, they make possible the perpetuation of all species of life (including plants) on Earth by not allowing one particular kind to overwhelm the limited resources of the environment.

Predators were not given the ability to comprehend that man’s farm animals are off-limits to them. Man is the one who was endowed with the ability to think about how to coexist with the other critters that share this planet.

Additionally, he was given the proper anatomy to be able to physically act upon whatever actions his thought processes tell him he must perform—humans have opposable thumbs.

Opposable thumbs allow people to grasp objects so they can build the structures necessary to keep out predators and keep in their vulnerable animals. In other words, chickens and their eggs, and sheep giving birth, need to be inside structures that protect them from predation.

The problem is that even though people have the brains and the thumbs to keep farm animals safe, their initiative to take action falls far short of the motivation of predators to go after livestock. Thus they often take the easy route of just killing off predators, something DGIF currently and wrong-headedly encourages with coyotes.

Instead, VDGIF should educate farmers about the necessity of predators in the environment. For example, it’s precisely because we lack large predators that we have overpopulations of White-tailed Deer and Canada Geese.

If farmers own too many animals to protect by way of structures, an alternative is to employ large guard dogs or llamas to protect their livestock. In fact, llamas are a common sight now in Highland County, Virginia, where I hear there are more sheep than people!

And it should go without saying that babies, young children, cats, and small dogs should never be left alone where predators—including the human kind—roam.

The striped skunk (found in the eastern half of Virginia) and the common raccoon are often considered “nuisance and problem wildlife.” Because skunks and raccoons feed upon ground-nesting birds and their eggs in the wild, they will also feed upon chickens and their eggs if the farmer hasn’t taken the proper precautions to keep his fowl safe.

But in addition to their role of limiting the numbers of birds in the wild, skunks and raccoons also fulfill other important roles in nature, such as preying upon insects or their larvae, such as grubs, which are the immature forms of beetles.

The function of a grub is to feed upon dead plant roots that need to be recycled so they don’t take up precious space that another plant could use. But if the number of grubs becomes too high, the grubs will run out of dead roots and by necessity start feeding upon the roots of living plants in order to survive. This kind of feeding could be harmful to live plants.

By digging up grubs in the soil, skunks and raccoons limit their numbers so that the immature beetles don’t run out of their preferred food. Thus the mammals help the plants to remain healthy so they can perpetuate themselves.

Yet instead of accepting the free assistance of skunks and raccoons, people usually complain about their digging, even though the dug-out soil is easy to push back into the holes the animals made. When folks refuse to let these mammals do their job, they cause the grubs to increase in number and thus become problematic for their plants. Then people spend time and money to apply pesticides that are quite harmful to the environment, unlike the skunks and raccoons whose “harm” is only aesthetic and temporary in nature.

Even organic pesticides, such as Bt and Milky Spore Disease, are detrimental to the proper functioning of the environment. In addition to killing the nonnative grubs of Japanese beetles that are a big concern for folks, these pesticides also kill native scarab beetles that are closely related to Japanese beetles.

The purpose of pesticides is to kill as many animals as possible, but it’s never appropriate to wipe out native animals of any sort—they are here for a reason! This statement is true even if you believe all species are the result of evolution instead of God. No matter the origin of life, every wild critter fulfills several functions.

It’s important to recognize this truism, especially if you do believe in God. Otherwise, you insult your Maker by implying that you know better than He does about how the environment should function, and you show disrespect by destroying his creatures instead of coexisting with them when you should.

“Should” refers to situations in which the animals are not really causing harm, such as when skunks and raccoons make holes in the lawn or garden, or when you are responsible for creating an attractive nuisance, such as by allowing easy access to chickens and lambs to animals that are very hungry.

Yes, sometimes there may be collateral damage, such as a plant being dug up that you didn’t want harmed. But you should keep in mind that you could have lost more plants than the one if the skunk/raccoon hadn’t done its job and limited the number of grubs in that location for you.

To paraphrase the ancient Greek philosopher, Zeno, the goal of life should be to live in agreement with nature.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Foxes, Skunks, Coyotes, & Raccoons, Oh My!

Nuclear Energy More Wildlife-friendly than Most “Green” Alternatives

POWER-PLANT-CHESTERFIELD-DUTCH-GAP — Dominion Resources’ Chesterfield Power Station is the largest fossil fuel-powered plant in Virginia. Replacing such plants with solar and wind farms isn’t necessarily the best choice. (Photo: Marlene A. Condon)

By Marlene A. Condon –
February, 2016

Thanks to the burning of fossil fuels, global climate change is now a term everyone knows. But do we talk about limiting population growth and the particular aspects of consumerism that have brought about this dangerous alteration of our atmosphere?

After all, as long as the human population keeps increasing, there will be a corresponding increase in demand for energy just for basic needs, such as heating homes and cooking—never mind the energy gluttony of our modern era of computers, cell phones, automatic doors that open and close constantly, etc.

Yet as power companies attempt to provide the energy that our modern lifestyles are commanding, they are lambasted for their efforts. In Virginia, a lot of contentiousness exists about bringing fuel through the state via three huge natural-gas pipelines as well as the movement of electricity through gargantuan transmission towers.

That’s not surprising. What person who appreciates the natural beauty of a rural area wants such unnatural-looking features running through it? However, every American whose house is larger than absolutely necessary, or whose computer runs 24/7 for no good reason, bears some responsibility for these situations.

Many people insist that we don’t need coal or fracked hydrocarbons (environmentally destructive sources of energy) to supply our energy demands. They suggest we just need to develop “green” energy, such as can be obtained from sunshine, wind, and water.

But these so-called green energy sources are not synonymous with “harmless to the environment” as many people seem to think. Although “green” power sources may emit fewer or no carbon emissions as compared to coal, their use—when employed on a large scale—results in a variety of wildlife losses, both directly by infrastructure and indirectly by habitat alteration or destruction.

Dams built across rivers to create hydropower stop migratory (and edible) fish from being able to continue as far as they need to go in order to abundantly reproduce. And the concept of gathering energy from wave action presents such problems as alteration of habitat for benthic organisms (creatures that live at the lowest surface of a body of water, including on the sediment surface and in some sub-surface layers) and animal entanglement due to underwater moving parts.

Huge wind turbines kill migratory birds and bats that hit the spinning blades. Placing the bases of these structures within the ocean creates noise that can negatively impact sea life, especially cetaceans (whales and dolphins) that must communicate with one another over long distances.

The deployment of acres and acres of solar-panel arrays destroy habitat for the variety of wildlife they displace, and in some instances, the solar array itself has caused the deaths of particular species of birds, many of which are already recognized as endangered.

That said, solar panels on top of a roof (which are very common) and small wind turbines in a home landscape that no longer supports wildlife anyway are both great ways to obtain energy for the homeowner’s needs. However, large-scale solar- and wind-energy projects are too destructive of the environment. If people are going to continue to demand enormous amounts of energy instead of using energy more frugally—as I believe they should—the “greenest” alternative to coal is nuclear power.

Yes, people tend to be terrified of this radioactive fuel source, and admittedly with good reason. Radioactivity can be exceedingly dangerous should we be exposed to too much of it by a radioactive release from one of these power plants. And, of course, there’s the problem of leftover radioactive waste that needs to be properly disposed of. But are nuclear power plants “prohibitively dangerous,” as I’ve seen written?

There have never been deaths in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or Europe due to nuclear power. Indeed, it has been in use now for over five decades and has a very good safety record.

The sum total of accidents in over 16,000 cumulative reactor-years of commercial nuclear power operation in 33 countries is three: Three Mile Island (United States, 1979), Chernobyl (Ukraine, 1986), and Fukushima (Japan, 2011).

Three Mile Island was contained without anyone being harmed, and there were no adverse environmental consequences.

Chernobyl involved an intense fire in a reactor designed without provision for containment of radioactive material should an accident occur. This design flaw is not allowed in Western countries. This incident killed 31 people and the ensuing environmental and health consequences have increased that total to at least 56.

Fukushima was designed to withstand an earthquake, which it did just fine. The operating units shut down and backup diesel generators started automatically to keep the nuclear safety systems powered. The problem was the huge tsunami that knocked out the backup power systems, allowing the reactors to overheat and release some radioactivity. Lessons have been learned; in the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission now requires that portable electric generators and water-pumping equipment be stored onsite in a building away from the units so it’s available if needed to keep them safe.

Some folks worry that a nuclear power reactor might explode like a nuclear bomb. However, the fuel is not enriched anywhere near enough for that to happen.

Can spent fuel rods be enriched and then employed in bomb-making? Yes, but that’s why operating staff are monitored carefully, especially if they handle fuel. And new methods of mining uranium and improved technologies for building reactors that run on less-enriched uranium fuel should help make nuclear power even safer.

Although nuclear power stations emit about 17 tons of carbon dioxide per megawatt when producing power (compared to coal at a whopping 1000 tons), that’s not much more than wind and geothermal power, which emit the lowest amounts.

In terms of electricity production, the main advantage of nuclear power is that it delivers energy almost constantly. This makes it well-suited for providing the always-on “baseload” power supply we depend upon for reliability.

The main disadvantage in terms of electricity production is the problem of nuclear waste. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, all of the used nuclear fuel produced over the past 50 years, if stacked end to end, would cover a single football field to a depth of about 21 feet.

The plan is to eventually store nuclear waste in underground repositories, but for now it is stored onsite at nuclear power plants in steel-lined, concrete water-filled vaults or in massive steel or steel-lined concrete dry containers. Although some folks worry about the possibility of equipment failures and personnel errors, there has yet to be a major incident.

Energy conservation should be practiced much more than it is, but the reality is that people are highly unlikely to change their ways. This fact was demonstrated by the need to legislate the use of more energy-efficient bulbs when people could have simply shut their lights off. That said, nuclear is far “greener” than most other sources in terms of maintaining the very existence of our natural world.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: Nuclear Energy More Wildlife-friendly than Most “Green” Alternatives

A Black Vulture a Day Keeps Disease Away

VULTURE-OTIS-_MG_7549copy — The Black Vulture’s preference for feeding upon putrefying (bacteria-ridden) carcasses makes it extremely important to our own health. (Photo: Otis Sowell, Jr.)

Many farmers have decided that the Black Vulture is a predator that takes newborn calves and lambs. And when a problem arises nowadays that involves wildlife, the attitude of most people is to simply kill the offending animals.

However, that knee-jerk reaction can bring about much more serious problems in the long run because all organisms provide services that are vital to our own well being.

For example, the value of vultures to our waterways is largely overlooked. They help to limit health hazards throughout the 64,000 square miles that comprise the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Some 150 major rivers and streams, plus innumerable smaller tributaries, deliver water to the bay, and I have observed vultures performing their important purification services along my own local river.

One day as I was exercising, I noticed vultures perched in the trees up ahead of me. They were overlooking the river that the road parallels, and I knew their presence was a sure sign that there must be a dead animal somewhere in their vicinity.

When I got closer, I could see several of these big birds standing on a dead deer that was lying in the river. It’s likely the deer was hit by a car but not immediately killed, and then managed to reach the river just a short distance away where it then died.

It’s also possible the deer was ill before it perished in the waterway. Although most wildlife is healthy, sometimes animals get sick, just as we do, and a severely ill animal often makes its way to water. It knows it will continue to require this vital substance to remain alive, but unfortunately, it may then succumb to its illness in or near the water it had sought.

When carcasses end up in or along waterways, they can contaminate them if not removed in short order. Indeed, when vulture populations plummeted in South Asia, it led to a proliferation of rats and a rise in infectious diseases as a result of carcasses left to rot on the ground. (http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/156[birdlife.org])

When an animal dies, it begins to decompose almost immediately. Particular species of bacteria work to recycle the dead creature and in the process produce bio-toxins. These natural poisons can sicken or kill people and most animals other than vultures.

Therefore a vulture is the ultimate sanitation worker to provide carcass removal services because it’s able to metabolize the noxious substances found in decaying flesh. It’s protected by highly acidic stomach liquids.

Wildlife conflicts between vultures and people must be resolved by the Wildlife Services division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture because these birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But farmers haven’t been satisfied with the federal handling of their complaints, so they talked a state senator into introducing a bill this legislative session to make it easier for them to kill Black Vultures.

Because vultures reproduce very slowly and would be unable to quickly rebound in numbers, killing too many of them could impact the health of waterways and subject the bay to yet another stressor. Additionally, disease would be allowed to linger in our environment.

A female Black Vulture nests only one time each year, laying one to three eggs that take over a month to hatch. The young remain in the nest for two to three months, which comprises most of the breeding season.

Senate Bill 37 (SB37) to allow farmers to kill Black Vultures is quite likely to become law, but it shouldn’t. The crime the Black Vulture is accused of—killing lambs and calves—doesn’t make sense. This bird is not designed for hunting.

American architect Louis Sullivan wrote, “Form ever follows function, and this is the law [of nature].” With flat, weak feet and blunt talons that are not capable of grasping (form), the Black Vulture is clearly designed for scavenging (function).

So how and why is this species killing newborn animals instead of feeding only upon dead ones? When animals start behaving unnaturally, there’s a logical reason for it. The answer to the vultures’ strange behavior in Virginia is obvious if you’ve been paying attention to our environment over the course of the past 20-30 years.

Many farmers have done away with hedgerows, the mix of shrubby and herbaceous growth that had served as protective windbreaks as well as habitat for wildlife, such as Northern Bobwhite Quail that have disappeared in Virginia along with the hedgerows.

Today’s farm is typically wall-to-wall fescue (grass) with a few large trees. This unnaturally barren land has not only destroyed wildlife habitat, but has also done away with a “birthing room” for cows and ewes where they can safely give birth.

Pregnant females actively seek a spot away from the rest of the herd or flock where they can hide from predators while bringing new life into the world. But a field devoid of cover forces them to give birth out in the open, where they can be easily seen by predators and vultures that, like any hungry animal, will take advantage of a situation that presents the opportunity for an easy meal.

In this case, the vultures have learned that the afterbirth (the placenta, which is the membrane that transfers nutrients from the adult female to her young in the womb) will be expelled shortly after the birth takes place and they wait for it. As for the claim that Black Vultures deliberately kill newborn lambs and calves, I believe people are misinterpreting what’s actually happening.

Newborn lambs and calves are covered in mucus, a mixture of water, sugars, proteins, and other substances that are just as appealing to vultures as the afterbirth. These scavengers could be simply trying to feed upon this mucus, rather than intentionally trying to kill the newborn animal.

Additionally, Black Vultures are often getting blamed for killing newborns when, in reality, the young were born sickly and abandoned by the mother or succumbed to the cold. The natural time of year for most mammals to give birth is spring, but farmers often manipulate births to occur in late fall or winter, which is unnatural and thus inappropriate.

The difficulty that farmers are experiencing with the Black Vulture is a relatively recent development that mirrors the growing disconnect between humans, their environment, and their livestock. When people refuse to live within the context of the natural world, it invariably creates problems.

Farmers have a duty to take reasonable steps to ensure the welfare of their animals, and they should use their intelligence to accept, and work within, the constraints set by the natural world, rather than trying to ignore real-life limitations on their actions.

Blue Ridge Naturalist: A Black Vulture a Day Keeps Disease Away