by Winding Pathways | Nov 2, 2015 | Mammals, Nature, Pests
On Halloween day a buck was hot on the “tail” of this doe and yearling.
Drivers, be cautious! Across most of North America early November is the most likely time for a car to collide with a deer. Too often it happens even in suburban neighborhoods and a collision usually does extensive damage to a car, injures or kills the deer, and sometimes even people are killed or hurt.
At our home at Winding Pathways we watched a buck chase a doe on Halloween afternoon. That’s slightly early, but during the next two weeks more cars will hit deer than in any other time period in the year.
In early November female deer come into estrus in northern states with peak activity a week or two later in the south. Big antlered bucks have the uncanny ability to stay out of sight most of the year, but in November they abandon caution and run through backyards and cross roads at any time of day or night. A doe in heat is usually followed closely by an eager buck.
Within weeks nearly all does will be pregnant and the rut fades, but usually it’s followed by a somewhat less intense breeding time in about a month when any nonpregnant does mate. By Christmas nearly all does are pregnant and will give birth late next spring.
When driving through deer territory always be careful, but in early November be especially cautious. Go easy on the gas pedal, keep your eyes open and if one deer crosses the road in front of you expect others to follow. Look in the direction the deer came from. Others likely will be about to cross.
An interesting overview on deer rutting can be found at The Noble Foundation.
by Winding Pathways | Sep 15, 2015 | Bugs, Nature
As leaves tumble off our trees each fall we usually spot one or two round or football shaped gray wads of paper clinging to branches. They’ve been there all summer but hidden by leaves.
This fall many people will discover similar baldfaced hornet nests and be alarmed that they’re sharing their yard with stinging insects.
A fertile bald faced hornet queen overwinters under a log or in the ground. As the weather warms she flies to a branch and makes a tiny nest of paper-like material. She’ll lay an egg or two that hatches into a worker. Workers forage for tasty insect food and expand the nest. As the nest grows the queen lays more eggs until the colony has many hornets. By summer’s end it’s full size just before leaves begin to fall.
Bald Faced hornets are normally content to go about their business building their nest and catching tender insect food. They have little interest in stinging people unless someone molests their nest. Get too close or bother the nest and you likely will get stung many times. Dozens of hornets will instantly attack and multiple stings are the norm.
There’s a simple way to avoid being stung. Leave the nest alone. That may be easier said than done. A few years ago a neighbor teenager spotted a nest in a backyard tree. He hurled rocks at it, and his aim was good. Angry hornets boiled out and attacked! The boy retreated in pain but with an education he won’t forget.
As the weather cools the colony creates more queens that mate and then find a snug place to overwinter in solitude. Worker hornets die and the nest soon becomes empty and disintegrates during winter wind and snow.
A bald faced hornet nest by a front entry. Leave it be until freeze up.
If you find a hornet nest in early to mid-fall LEAVE IT ALONE. It may still be occupied. If it must be removed wait until cold weather sets in. By then it will be abandoned and can be removed safely. At Winding Pathways we leave our nests in place and gradually watch them disintegrate.
by Winding Pathways | Sep 12, 2015 | Mammals, Nature, Pests, Trees/Shrubs
A pair of winter sheds all polished.
One year at Winding Pathways we planted a few trees and tended them all summer. They were doing great until one September night. A buck deer decided that our new trees were perfect for rubbing off the velvet that covered his newly formed antlers. Just a few minutes of determined rubbing killed our precious trees!
Deer antlers start growing in early spring and by late August are fully formed. Velvet on the outside of the growing antlers is rich with blood and minerals. By September its purpose is done. Bucks rub the velvet off to prepare their antlers for battle with rivals when the mating season starts in November.
Deer have the uncanny knack of rubbing the most valued trees in a yard, and often they remove all the bark, thus killing the tree.
Fortunately, damage is easy to prevent. Just drive fence posts into the ground a few feet out from the tree and attach wire mesh to them to physically keep deer away. Plastic tree guards that attach directly to the trunk also help prevent damage.
Do this now before the deer start to rub. Or you may lose all your new trees in just one night.
by Winding Pathways | Sep 9, 2015 | Birds, Nature
An old legend has it that seeing a bluebird guarantees a day of good luck. At Winding Pathways we’re enjoying daily good fortune because a pair of these delightful birds is raising youngsters in our yard.
In the days of diverse farms with hedgerows separating fields, closely cropped pastures, and wooden fence posts that often had nesting cavities, bluebirds were abundant.
The switch to metal fence posts didn’t help them, and then farms grew larger, hedgerows and posts were ripped out, and pastures and hayfields became oceans of corn and soybeans. None of the changes helped bluebirds just as pesticides eliminated their insect meals.
Fortunately, bluebirds readily move into bird houses, and this spring we erected one in the corner of the only lawn we continue to mow. The box is mounted on a steel post with a predator guard below the house to keep marauding raccoons away from the birds.
We didn’t expect bluebirds to move in. There aren’t many around and they are notoriously fussy about nest sites. Good news came when a pair moved in and raised what’s likely their second brood of the summer.
Bluebirds are fun to watch. Ours perch on the flagpole and a post that holds a big bell at the entrance of our labyrinth. We delight watching them beeline to the lawn and emerge with a tasty bug to feed their youngsters.
Bluebirds nest in suburbia. Anyone with large lawn has fair odds of attracting them. If you erect a box in early spring, remove any “squatting” sparrows, avoid pesticides, and add a predator guard to keep raccoons at bay, you just might attract bluebirds and be assured of good luck.
DID YOU KNOW THAT SOMETIMES BLUEBIRDS CAN BE SPOTTED IN THE DEAD OF WINTER, EVEN IN THE FRIGID NORTH? When cold weather arrives bluebirds shift their diet from insects to frozen and dried fruit. They often moved from grassy to brushy places. Look for them in thickets even in the dead of winter. So be sure to plant fruit bearing shrubs like High Bush Cranberries along with other native species.
For more information about bluebirds or nearly any other species go to Cornell Lab of Ornithology and click on the photo of bluebirds or the species you would like to learn more about.
by Winding Pathways | Aug 22, 2015 | Amphibians/Reptiles, Nature
Many Iowans, even those living in urban areas, may be startled to see a fast moving snake in their yard. No worries. Most likely it is a garter snake. While startling to see, they are a desirable predator in yards and natural places. They are easily identified by it s small head and the three stripes running down its body. The name may be a misspoken form of German or refer to ‘garters’ that people used to use to hold up stockings. At any rate, they are interesting, helpful , and thus, desirable reptiles to have in the yard.
Garter snakes eat snails, worms, insects, small rodents, and nearly any other animal life they discover. However, they are also on the list of prey for other predators from raptors to other snakes. So this petite species normally flees when it detects danger. They also can emit a foul smell when threatened. Females give birth to as many as 70 babies in late summer or fall. These six inch mini snakes can be common in yards. Most do not survive because other predators gobble them up. So if you see one slithering under leaves or a rock to get out of danger, let it be. It helps keep the balance of nature in your yard.
Many species of garter snake inhabit North America. Three species – the common and plains garter snakes and the ribbon snake – live in Iowa. All have slender bodies with lines extending from head to tail. These native reptiles thrive in a diversity of habitats but usually prefer living in moist places near streams or in well-watered gardens. They are excellent swimmers and move quickly and gracefully over the ground.
The common garter snake ‘s range is wide spread and more cold tolerant than most reptiles and even inhabits southern Alaska. In Iowa they are sometimes spotted in late fall after other snakes have entered hibernation.
Of all snakes the garter is the one most likely to be seen in town. Although they startle humans this colorful and shy wild animal is no more harmful or dangerous than goldfinches or cottontails. Winding Pathways encourages folks to respect and thank them for the part they play in keeping the balance of nature.
by Winding Pathways | Aug 10, 2015 | Flowers/Grasses, Nature
Late summer bloomers like cup Plant attract many pollinators.
One of the most interesting wildflowers has a long blooming season from mid-summer until early September and is host to a vast diversity of wildlife.
The Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) gets its name from cups that form along the square stem of this large Silphium. Heavy dew and rain channel down leaves and stems to collect in the small cups of the leaves that gather around the stalks (perfoliatum) where birds and insects sip the moisture. This plant is nature’s watering hole, but it does even more to attract wildlife.
The showy flowers are sunflower-like and their brilliant color reflects the late summer hues of male goldfinches. This bird loves cup plants, where it drinks water, snacks on insects attracted to it and later in the fall eats the seeds. When in bloom cup plants are loaded with pollinators. Bumblebees and yellow and black swallowtail butterflies are frequent guests.
Cup plants live from the Great Plains east to the Atlantic and usually can be found in moist soil on the edge of woods. They thrive in yards but beware! This plant can grow to be ten feet tall. They are easily propagated from roots and tend to spread.
We have a big clump of cup plants near our back deck at Winding Pathways and enjoy watching a never ending stream of insects and birds visit the blooms. They are tall and block vision, so when the last seed is gleaned by an autumn goldfinch we cut down the stems but look forward to next year’s regrowth.
