Nature Archives - Page 36 of 56

Helping an “Orphaned” Baby Animal

by Winding Pathways | Jun 8, 2017 | Birds, Garden/Yard, Nature

“Oh my gosh! I just found an ‘orphaned’ baby bird sitting on the front porch. What do I do?”

“There’s an ‘abandoned’ fawn in my hostas! What do I do?”

“Oh, the poor baby bunnies, they have no mom. What do I do?”

We get these type comments all the time at Winding Pathways. The short answer is: Do Nothing!

The babies are ready to “branch out!”

This summer millions of Americans will discover baby birds, fawns, bunnies, and a host of other seemingly helpless newborn animals in their yards and face the dilemma of “What do I do?”. Usually the baby is all alone with no mother in sight. It’s easy to assume the poor baby’s mother suffered a tragic fate and that the baby is doomed to an early death unless people “help” it.

We’ve often found baby bunnies and birds at Winding Pathways and we know the best way to help it is to leave them alone. A cottontail nest we found last spring is a good example.

Female rabbits sometimes make a shallow nest in lawns. They leave the nest along and only return to nurse the young.

Cottontail mothers bear their young in a small hole they dig in the ground, frequently at the edge of a lawn or near a shrub. Mom knows that predators ranging from house cats to owls would love to dine on her babies, so she’s developed a sensible strategy to protect them. She stays away except for twice-a-day feedings.

If you see a cottontail sitting quietly on a spring or summer lawn there are good odds she’s above her nestlings and they’re enjoying breakfast or dinner of her rich milk. Stay away and keep your pets inside so she can complete her job. Other than at feeding time she stays away so predators don’t spot her and find the nest.

There’s a common misconception that if a human touches a baby fawn or bird it will be rejected by its mother. Not true! Maternal instinct is stronger than fear of people and many videos have shown fawns touched by people quickly reunited with their mothers. Birds have little or no sense of smell so can’t detect human scent. Still it’s not a good idea to touch a baby. The baby is likely a fledgling and learning to fly.

Many baby birds go through a growth phase we call “branchers”. Babies quickly outgrow space in the nest. When it’s too crowded they hop out and sit on a nearby branch, or a front porch, or a driveway. With the parent not visible it’s easy to assume the baby is orphaned or abandoned, but that’s hardly ever the case. It’s normal for parent birds to feed their young after they’ve left the nest, so mom and dad are probably out foraging and will return soon. The babies need energy and may be resting and waiting for a snack, so, again, keep pets and kids inside and stay away. Occasionally, placing the baby on a low branch may be appropriate in areas where there are lots of activity and the baby would be at risk of getting stepped on. Otherwise, leave the babies alone.

The best way to help wildlife babies is to stay away and quietly enjoy watching them from a distance. It’s likely you’ll soon see the parent or parents caring for its young.

Spring Haikus

by Winding Pathways | Jun 1, 2017 | Bugs, Nature, Wonderment

Reminiscing on some Haikus from the past. These seemed a good way to honor spring and welcome summer.

March
Quivering seed pods
Last year’s fruit, This year’s promise
Red buds produce life.

April
April ‘to Open’
Birds beckon, flowers unfold
Hope, re-birth, re-new.

May
Dampness Awakens.
Slow green shoots appear and grow.
Spring bursts in splendor.

How goes butterfly
So gaily in morning dew.
Quiet. Elusive.

Surf booms, with great roar.
Coquinas ride waves to rest
On white, clean beaches.

Pelicans I
Spring aerial art.
Wheeling, gliding all in sync
Pelicans migrate.

Pelicans II
Spring aerial art
Banks, wheel. Dive. Glide in sync
Pelicans migrate.

Mountain tall, distant
Shelters small creatures that live
In harmony there.

Laughter tumbles free,
From souls to the earth.
Children, living gifts.

Understand
Begin where we are
Understanding nuances
Plain talk ease nerves.

: Bleeding Hearts

: Wheeling overhead

: Rolling a log.

: Butterfly on flower

Foiling Chipmunks

by Winding Pathways | May 28, 2017 | Mammals, Nature

Our dining room table overlooks a tiny pond circled with large stones. Many wild animals come to drink or bathe. One of our favorites is the sleek Eastern Chipmunk. Often, chipmunks fill their cheeks with seeds that fall from our bird feeders and carry them off to a stash.

This chipmunk figured out how to tunnel under the trap to get the seeds.

One summer we watched a clever chipmunk problem-solve how to access seeds from a live trap without getting trapped itself. The ingenious chipmunk tunneled under the trap and up through the wire, helped itself to the food and returned back out the tunnel to store its treasure for later eating.

We love chipmunks but many people utterly hate them and ask us how to rid their yard of the tiny mammals. Although they can undermine rock walls by tunneling otherwise chipmunks do slight damage. They are most commonly found in shady yards with woodpiles or rock walls.

Chipmunks may be unusually numerous in suburban yards because people discourage their predators. Bull snakes love dining on tasty chipmunk dinners but few homeowners want a six or eight-foot-long snake sharing their yard. Many hawks also devour chipmunks but, like snakes, they aren’t common in town. So, these small rodents have few predators to fear other than marauding house cats.

An effective way to keep chipmunk numbers in control is to encourage predators. If snakes can’t be tolerated, removing woodpiles and rocks will eliminate chipmunk homes.

Occasionally chipmunks and white footed mice climb into vent pipes plumbing or clothes dryers. An easy way to discourage them is to buy a few stainless-steel scrub pads sold in most grocery stores. These are balls of coarse, somewhat sharp metal. Put the pad in the pipe in a way that fills the void but doesn’t cause the pad to compress much. It acts like a filter, allowing air to move through it but not letting rodents pass.

But, mostly just enjoy your chipmunks.

A Tale of Free Trees

by Winding Pathways | May 21, 2017 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging, Nature, Trees/Shrubs

This is a tale of free trees. Our friend, Marilynn Keller, learned how to plant the best tree species in her yard at no cost and with little work.

She simply didn’t mow a tiny area of lawn where she wanted a tree to grow. As if by magic, a White Oak, Sugar Maple, and Shagbark Hickory sprouted there this spring. Although the spot is too small for three trees Marilynn can simply decide which one she wants and mow the others off.

Likely a squirrel buried a nut that has sprouted.

Last fall an industrious squirrel gathered acorns and hickory nuts and buried them in her yard. The squirrel might have forgotten his hidden cache or perhaps died. Either way the unrecovered nuts sprouted.

Although squirrels often eat maple seeds, it’s most likely that Marilynn’s baby maple sprouted because a gust of wind pulled the ripe seed off a nearby tree and it helicoptered to her yard.

While Maples are usually easy to transplant, and are widely sold by nurseries, not so Hickories. Although any of the many Hickory species make outstanding shade trees, as soon as a nut sprouts it sends an enormous taproot deep into the ground. Moving a hickory is difficult and often unsuccessful. Commercial nurseries avoid them.

The same goes for white oaks, one of our favorite trees. It’s difficult to buy one to plant in the yard. Because they are slow growing and challenging to transplant, few nurseries bother with them. Fortunately, they readily sprout on their own.

In autumn Maples glow with color.

Anyone living where there are mature Hickory, Oak, or Maple trees nearby can use Marilynn’s tree planting method. Simply don’t mow a patch of lawn where a tree is desired. Odds are one will appear on its own next spring. If more sprout than the spot can support just mow the others off and put wire screening around the new tree to protect it from hungry cottontails and deer.

If a tree sprouts in the wrong place it can be easily transplanted with just one shovel of dirt. Move it before the tiny tree has grown a long taproot.

Lawn Discoveries!

by Winding Pathways | May 16, 2017 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Garden/Yard, Nature, Trees/Shrubs

We never spray our lawn at Winding Pathways. Occasionally, that yields an exciting discovery like what happened in early May.

Rich shows the tiny oak seeding.

We wanted to plant a tree, preferably an oak, on the south side of our garage. But, we got busy and never found time to buy or plant one. One morning Rich, while walking across the lawn to fetch the morning newspaper, spotted a baby white oak tree that sprouted exactly where we wanted to plant one. It was serendipity.

Seed Banks”

Plant ecologists talk about the “seed bank.” In land that hasn’t been greatly disturbed by plowing, spraying or compacting of soil, seeds of desirable native plants often remain dormant in the soil for years or decades. Then, when conditions are right they’ll sprout like magic. Other desirable plants spread their seed through the wind or enlist the help of a hungry squirrel to carry and bury a nut or acorn. That’s probably how our new oak got planted.

Before mowing walk across your unsprayed lawn. You may discover a plant you want that is starting to grow. Just mow around it to let it thrive. Mark it with a stake or fence it off from rabbits and deer. If the plant is not quite in the right place, remember that tiny plants are usually easy to move with just a shovel full of dirt.

We protect volunteer trees that grow where we want them.

About seven years ago we found another baby oak in our lawn. We protected it from mowing and ran a screen around it to keep hungry deer away. It’s now about seven feet tall and growing rapidly.

That black oak didn’t cost a penny and will grace our yard long after we’re gone.

Another way to go about natural or plant and wildlife friendly yards is to deliberately plant certain forbs and grasses to attract a variety of beneficial insects and interesting birds and other wildlife.

May in Northeast Iowa

by Winding Pathways | May 10, 2017 | Birds, Flowers/Grasses, Nature, Travel/Columns

May is about the most exciting month to travel and camp out in Iowa. We took in the Driftless area of Iowa and Wisconsin where we learned more about mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument, ate at funky Café McGregor, took in Starks and Cabelas in Prairie du Chien, and entered our favorite forest over the “Forest Road” into Yellow River State Forest.