Cat Patrol
Why oh why is this cat outside? They kill literally billions of birds across North America each year before we even mention their damage to the small mammal population, the majority of these strikes being for play or to satisfy an instinctual need – not survival. Let us also remember the safety of these furry family members as we enter the cold weather season apart from all of the other threats such as vehicles, chemicals, larger mammalian predators, and so on. Please, please, please keep your cats in your home. They live far longer this way and your vet bills will go down as...
Read MoreFish Crow Marauders
This is a marauding Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus), as identified by voice, flying through a neighborhood and searching for nests to raid. If you have a lot of experience with them you can get used to picking out the slightly smaller Fish vs. American Crow as well. Whether it is tiny hatchlings or developing eggs the many nests that fill our lands, from forest to shore, are often extremely tempting targets for corvids at this point in the season. Both a male and female Baltimore Oriole were aggressively attacking this bird until it vacated the area. Groups of Fish Crow are an enormous threat...
Read MoreGrowing Fox Family
As summer approaches, these little ones will be on the move more and more in order to prepare themselves for life on their own. Red fox kits typically stay with their mothers until they reach about seven months old. During that time, they will develop their hunting skills through playtime, hunting the prey brought back by mom and slowly through their own exploration outside of the safety of their dens to seek and stalk prey species close by. By fall, these young foxes will be on their own and will have to rely on their own hunting skills to get a meal. These little ones living down the...
Read MoreFox Friday
While we have done Frog Fridays from time to time, I thought we could change it up a bit and do a Fox Friday post. While Scott’s got some cute Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) kits growing up outside his place, I’ve got some little foxes growing up just down the street from where I live right near Chautauqua Lake. As the sunny days have been increasing and the temperatures have been on the rise, the activity of wildlife and this year’s growth of many plants have begun. During sunny, warm days these little kits have been coming out of their den to sit and sun themselves. They also...
Read MoreCuru Wildlife Refuge
Curu Wildlife Refuge is home to endless amounts of trees fruiting with coconuts, mangrove estuaries, and rows upon rows of mango trees that have long since forgotten how to fruit. Amongst one of these patches of mango trees is our other banding station, and tucked along the trails that bisect a unique edge habitat of White Mangrove trees are our nets. We placed the 22 nets strategically so they would bisect the many attributes of this unique habitat. We catch a wide variety of resident species, whose unique attributes and colors blend them into the harsh environment of this unique tropical...
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