Striped Skunk Digging
Better late than never! Here is that Striped Skunk frenzied grub feeding video that I promised you. That HD footage is in normal speed…they are just that fast with those claws! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreGroundhog Day?
Groundhog Day? Not quite! The grass is a little too green for that…but this woodchuck was on guard while having an evening meal and keeping a watchful eye over the yard. It seems to be casting a little bit of a shadow, even without all those TV lights surrounding it. Does that mean we will have six more weeks of summer?
Read MoreSkunk Showdown
This…this is no good. In between all of the time the pictured Striped Skunk spent foraging, digging zealously for grubs in the wet soil, it had an encounter with a local cat. I did not think this showdown was going to end well for the neighborhood feline to say the very least. I personally know this cat to be a bold, inquisitive and mostly fearless individual – in other words, a cat. I focused on the skunk in the above photo and the cat in a subsequent shot having to keep the aperture wide open in the low evening light. You can see the skunk is entirely engrossed in its snacks....
Read MoreDouble-banded Grass-veneer Moth
This looks to be a Double-banded Grass-veneer moth (Crambus agitatellus), and I thank it for leaving the grass to provide these easier views. When you are walking through some lawn or short grass and see tiny moths kick up briefly from the ground they are often grass-veneer species like this one that were hiding on long blades out of your sight. If something like this can go so easily unnoticed what else are we missing in the natural world around us? Always be observing! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreStriped Skunk
Happy Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) Saturday! I met this friendly individual – from afar and thanks to a helpful window – last evening while it was foraging in this yard. The skunk was using its powerful claws and paws to dig through the ground for grubs. All of the heavy rain that has been saturating the earth across the local area and much of the Northeast as a whole has been creating ideal conditions for grubs to come to the surface. This also makes it easier for the skunk to dig into the ground for a tasty treat…many, many tasty treats. Skunks are beneficial...
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