Bark is a Protective Covering

Bark is the hard protective covering or rind of the trunk, stem, branches, and roots of a tree, as distinguished from the wood. The bark consists of an inner and an outer layer but only the inner layer is alive. Bark is found primarily on older trees.
Very young trees have a thin skin called cork. Cork is composed of layers of dead cells which are saturated with waterproof substances called suberin and tannis. These chemicals are commercially extracted for use in tanning leather. In some ways cork is somewhat like our own skin, which is composed of dead skin saturated with the waterproof protein keratin. Keratin is a tough, fibrous protein that is especially common in skin, claws, hair, feathers and hooves. As with the cork of young trees our skin prevents diseases from entering our bodies.
When the cork layer of a tree becomes thick is called bark. The bark of western cedars can be as much as a foot thick (30cm).
The bark of a tree is full of openings that permit air to pass freely between the outside cells and the living layers of cells beneath. The openings allow the gas exchange through even the thickest tree trunks. The layers of cells underneath the bark grow and die, becoming converted into bark in the process.
Bark is used commercially in the tanning of leather (as mentioned above), in canoe building, and in basket making and in the manufacture of clothing and shoes, food flavoring, medicine, and cork and cork products.
The Native North Americans used birch bark to cover canoes and tepees, which were sturdy, light and easy to transport. The natives of British Columbia made coats and hats from pine bark, and rain wear from elm bark.
The spice known as cinnamon has been cultivated for centuries and is a popular aromatic and flavoring ingredient in foods, soaps, and medicines. A cinnamon farmer typically strips the bark off the stems of a cinnamon tree and collects the calyx from the base of each yellowish-brown cinnamon berry Fragrant cinnamon oil results from distilling the bark and calyx, and cinnamon sticks are made from the tightly rolled and dried bark of the stems.
Common witch hazel belongs to a group of deciduous flowering shrubs that are cultivated for their fragrant, colorful, frost-resistant flowers. Although grown as an ornamental, witch hazel is also valuable for the chemicals that can be extracted from its bark, wood and leaves and used in the manufacture of coagulants, cosmetics, and liniments.
The bark of the American Basswood had many uses. Inner bark fibres were twisted into twine, string or thread and used in mat weaving, bag weaving or with birch bark for building wigwams. The inner bark of the American beech was ground into flour and used in bread making.
The inner and outer bark of many native trees were used as medicine by aboriginal peoples, early settlers and today herbalists include many in their medicinal collections. It should be kept in mind however, that many plants in our region are poisonous or harmful and may cause adverse reactions if consumed or used externally. Trial and error is not the way to find out which will sicken you and which will not.

Speaking of Nature
Jim Ferguson, 5313 River Road, R.R.5, Renfrew, Ontario K7V 3Z8 Phone 613-432-2738 email jamesh@nrtco.net

A Different Place for a Clutch of Eggs

A family living at Calabogie, Ontario was digging their new potatoes and came upon a different clutch of eggs.
The four specimens were white and about half the size of your little finger. The family thought they were turtle eggs but they were the wrong shape and the wrong size. They had a feeling that they were snake eggs.
They placed them in a margarine container with a layer of garden soil under and over them: about two inches deep, the same as in the potato hill. The eggs hatched in a few days and three little snakes about four and a half inches long and half the thickness of a pencil emerged. The fourth egg appeared to be damaged and did not hatch. The little snakelets were dark above with a green luster and whitish below with no other markings. These are the field marks of an immature Eastern Smooth Green Snake.
The adult female smooth green snake lays her eggs in July or late August. They are deposited in the soil, under boards or flat stones where the heat of the sun helps incubate them. There are usually four to six eggs, but there may be as few as three or as many as eleven.
The eggs are elongated and thin-shelled. They are well advanced in development when laid so hatching is usually complete within one or two weeks. The eggs of most Ontario snakes require from seven to nine weeks to hatch. The tiny, dark snakelets that emerge from the eggs measure about four and a half inches (11.5cm) long. They are able to fend for themselves as soon as they leave the egg.
The Eastern Smooth Green Snake is common in Ontario. It averages from 16 to 20 inches in length (40-50cm); the body is almost the same diameter for most of its length. Because of its protective colouration, it is seldom seen.
The smooth green snake received its name because the scales are smooth, of a satiny texture and keeless (without ridges). In Canada the species ranges from Prince Edward Island to Central Saskatchewan. It frequents grassy meadows and clearings where soil is moist. It is seldom seen in the open possibly because its colouration blends so well with the green vegetation.
This little snake is very beneficial to gardeners. Among its favourite foods are insects, grubs, worms, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars and earwigs. It is very fond of hairless green caterpillars that are about an inch long.
Snakes always prey on other animals, none eat plant material. They may be either egg-laying or live-bearing. The Northern Ringneck Snake, Eastern Smooth Green Snake, Eastern Hognose Snake, Blue Racer (extremely rare) and the Eastern Milk Snake are hatched from eggs. The Eastern Garter Snake, Northern Ribbon Snake, Queen Snake, Northern Water Snake, Brown Snake, Red Belly Snake and the Massasauga Rattle Snake (extremely rare) are born live.

Speaking of Nature

Jim Ferguson, 5313 River Road, R.R.5, Renfrew, Ontario K7V 3Z8 Phone 613-432-2738 email jamesh@nrtco.net

False Impression, False Name

I am regularly contacted by people disturbed with seeing a snake they describe as having the appearance and habits of a rattlesnake. While their observations are certainly true, the snake in question is most likely a milk snake. And its name is a misnomer: this reptile does not take milk from cows but does search for food in barns where cattle may be present.
The markings of the milk snake are very much like those of copperhead and coral snakes. Both are extremely venomous but live in the southern part of the United States. Since when frightened or cornered the milk snake will rapidly vibrate its tail, making a sound that could be mistaken for that of a rattlesnake, few people wait around to study it at close range. Milk snakes are not intentionally harmful but will bite if handled carelessly.
Milk snakes are brightly coloured, smooth-scaled snakes that show a wide variety of blotches and colours from one part of their range to another. The base colour is creamy to light gray. A prominent series of brown, black-bordered blotches run down the back from head to tail of the slender body. Two sets of blotches run the length of the sides. The belly is a striking black and white checkered pattern. A prominent black or brown Y or W-shaped mark on the top of the head is a key field mark. A maximum length of 132 cm (four feet) has been recorded for this species but 91 cm (three feet) is considered large in Canada.
Southern Ontario and a narrow slice of Quebec along the Ottawa River seem to be the only areas blessed with the presence of the milk snake. The snake has been recorded fewer than ten times in Algonquin Park, which is on the northern border of their range.
About 90 percent of a milk snake's diet is made up of small rodents, mice, voles, moles, bats and chipmunks. Other food items include small fish, other snakes, and also birds and their eggs.
The milk snake kills its prey by constricting it in the coils of its body much like the boa constrictor of tropical areas. It does not however, crush its victim as the boa does. When a mouse is caught the milk snake quickly and tightly coils its body around its prey. Each time the mouse breaths out the coils tighten. The final result is that the prey dies by suffocation rather than being crushed.
Female milk snakes gather in egg-laying sites early in the summer. Often several clutches of eggs will be deposited within a meter of one another. Each female will lay up to 20 elliptical eggs which take about two months to hatch. The young do not reach sexual maturity until they are three years old and have a life span of seven years.
Milk snakes are very beneficial for rodent control but they are a bit feisty and are best left alone.

A Horrible Thought, No Doubt

In terms of their ability to survive, humans come in second best. The horrible thought is that insects are far more apt to survive than we are. As we swat at never-ending swarms of fliying pests it's easy to believe that some day they may just wear us down by their relentless ability to annoy us.
We spray them, trap them and try to annihilate them in every possible way but they scatter and attack us from every angle and with more ferocity than before. In many cases we do more harm to other creatures than to the target pests: the now outlawed use of DDT is a good example.
There are more species of insects than all other classes of animals combined. What they lack in size, insects make up in sheer numbers. It has been calculated that if all the insects in the world could be weighed they would measure more than all other life on earth combined.
Because of their amazing ability to adapt to changes in the environment, it has been suggested that these meddlesome creatures could eventually inherit the earth. But why are insects so successful? It’s because of their body shape for one thing. They can adapt to whatever is required of them to fill most spaces in nature from sewage lagoons to toxic landfills to radioactive sites. There are over 650 000 insect species in the world, 88 600 in North America and each has their own specialized habitat.
While most creatures have to crawl around on the earth, insects have the ability to fly during some stage of their lifecycle (usually adult). This allows them to move to any location suitable for their lifestyle. For example, the 2100 species of termite may live anywhere in the world – from the north to south pole – where there is plant life, regardless of temperature or annual rainfall. After mating, a queen bee, wasp or ant carries with her enough fertilized eggs to begin a new colony many kilometers from her home nest. She then lays her eggs in the ground and when only when conditions are suitable, the eggs hatch and a new generation begins. By this time, the female that laid the hatching eggs may be dead for many years.
The surface of every bit of water in the world is home to some form of insect. These waterways functions as highways, trampolines, skating rinks, communication systems, and food sources for insects. Water treaders, whirligig beetles and water striders are among the thousands of insects that spend their lives on water.
When it comes to insects, are the good and the bad (and the ugly). The good: bees that produce honey and pollinate plants, moths that produce silk for clothing, lady bugs that keep gardens free of aphids. The bad: leaf miners that destroy food crops, grasshoppers that suck sap from grain stalks and earwigs that eat anything in their path.
When it comes to living in harmony, maybe we can strike a deal with the insects and learn to get along for our mutual benefit.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

Your Local Wildwood Pharmacy

Gaultheria procumbens has the ring of a profound and mysterious elixir from the druggist's shelf. In laymen's terms it is called checkberry, mountain tea, teaberry, aromatic wintergreen and wintergreen. We know it best by the name wintergreen of which there are over 100 species worldwide. Our native species is named after Doctor Gaultier of Québec, who used wintergreen extensively in his home practice. Aboriginal people throughout the world have been familiar with this healing herb for thousands of years.
Wintergreen is a member of the heath family. It grows in almost all soils under all conditions from wet and organic to dry and rocky. The plant is evergreen, and grows to about 15 centimetres (6 inches) tall. Its shiney forest-green leaves, which turn to a gleaming maroon in winter, have a leathury surface that prevents loss of moisture during extreme summer drought.
The flowers are white and urn-shaped with five small lobes at the tip. They hang below the leaves on curving stems and appear early in June. The bright red berries ripen in September and remain on the plants until the following spring.
Wintergreen has its own arsenal of fungicides and bactericides and is seldom infected by disease, however, its delicious flavour and food value is its worst problem. White-tailed deer, black bears and the eastern chipmunk relish the plants and keep it cropped off close to the ground. Ruffed grouse, spruce grouse, ring-necked pheasants and wild turkeys eat both berries and leaves. Honey bees use the high-quality nectar during dry weather to make a superior honey.
It is as a medicinal herb that wintergreen is best known. Oil of wintergreen, distilled from the leaves, is composed primarily of methyl salicylate, a poison if used in large quantities. Minute amounts of this oil are used in flavouring toothpaste and other dental products, candy and lozenges. Aspirin, the most widely used drug after tobacco and caffeine, was originality extracted from wintergreen. When the poison (methyl) is removed from the oil, the crystalline material left behind is acetylsalicylic acid, the effective ingredient in aspirin.
As well as oil, the leaves of wintergreen contain a compound called arbutin. This material is more stable when it is heated than when it is cold, meaning that it retains its medicinal qualities when heated or rubbed into muscles for treating various aches and pains including rheumatism. A few drops of wintergreen oil on a soft cloth and placed on the brow is a common time-proven cure for headaches. As well, the stems of the plant are chewed by people around the world to prevent tooth decay. Wintergreen can found in the wild or may be grown from cuttings or seed in your garden. Choose a shaded area in dry, sandy soil amended with compost or a little peat moss.

When is a Red Fox, Not a Red Fox?

When it’s a black fox, a cross fox, a silver fox, a bastard fox or a Samson fox. The name "Red Fox" does not begin to describe all the colours found in the species. As a result the red fox is often referred to as the coloured fox, or polytypic: having many representatives.
The red fox can have several possible colour schemes, some of which may occur in the same litter. There are three recognized colour phases: red, silver and cross, and two naturally occurring mutations: bastard and Samson.
Between 45 and 75 percent of foxes are considered red phase. Red phase foxes may be found in much of North America but the silver and cross are seldom found south of Canada. The mutations are usually found in Canada.
The silver phase, which makes up between 2 and 17 percent of red foxes, may be black or silver depending on the amount of silver-tipped hairs which occur. Silver foxes are black except for a white tip on the tail and a silver frosting on the tips of some or nearly all the guard hairs.
The third phase, the cross fox, (about 35 percent of all red foxes) is dark with light buffy patches near the legs, shoulders and hips, and a distinct cross of dark fur across the shoulders.
The bastard fox is described as a cross fox with a red streak down the back rather than a dark one. This mutation may be the offspring of red and silver parents. The second mutation, often referred to as the Samson, lacks guard hairs and has only short underfur giving the animals a wooly appearance. The Samson is usually sooty gray in colour.
The genetics of coat colour in red foxes is very complicated. Variation within families may occur but in the wild only the three basic colour phases are present. Selective breeding of ranch foxes has resulted in some unusual colour phases, and changes in in temperament (more people friendly) and the adrenal glands.
Red foxes molt once a year beginning in April, triggered by the lengthening of days, and by June most foxes look rather ragged. However, the new fur coat begins to grow during summer and is most brilliant during October and November. But by mid-January the wear and tear of survival depletes the guard hairs, leaving only the soft underfur.
The rabies prevention program initiated by the Ministry of Natural Resources has resulted in an increase in fox numbers. This may provide more opportunities to see members of the multi-coloured red fox.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

The Cross and the Square

Two very prominent shapes in the night sky are the Northern Cross and the Great Square. The first is formed by the five brightest stars forming a cross in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan); the latter is called the Great Square of Pegasus as it is part of the constellation Pegasus.
In Greek mythology Cygnus was the friend of Phaethon, the son of Helius who was the god in charge of carrying the sun across the sky in his chariot each day. When a teenage Phaethon begged his father to let him drive the chariot, Helius relented. On the chosen day Phaethon and Cygnus boarded the chariot and sped recklessly across the sky with the sun in tow. To save the earth from the sun's heat, Zeus, the god of gods, threw a thunderbolt at the chariot causing Phaethon to bethrown from the chariot into a river. Cygnus leapt out of the chariot and saved Phaethon from drowning. To honour Cygnus, Helius turned him into a swan and placed him in the sky.
To find Cygnus (the Northern Cross) follow a line through the two stars on the handle edge of the Big Dipper and as it rises northwest. The Northern Cross is the dominant constellation in this area of the night sky. The best time to view these constellations is between 6 pm and 8 pm, any evening in December. Deneb, the star in the tail of the Swan, is 1600 light years from earth and has 60 000 times the power output of our sun. Albireo, the bright star at the head of the swan is really two stars. When viewed with binoculars the stars appear in two different colours.
To locate Pegasus follow the line from the pointer stars in the Big Dipper through Polaris, the North Star, toward the south. It is twice as far from Polaris to the Great Square as it is from the Big Dipper to Polaris. The Great Square of Pegasus (the winged horse) represents the body of the horse. The four stars in the square are about the width of your fist apart. In the night sky Pegasus is flying upside down. His head and neck are the chain of stars below the Square and his feet are the stars above.
Alpheratz, the star in the upper left hand corner of the Great Square, is one of the stars in the constellation Andromeda. If you search the area on a clear night, it is possible to see the Galaxy Andromeda with the naked eye. It appears as a fuzzy ball.
Before using binoculars, a spotting scope or a telescope, get to know some of the guideposts in the night sky. On a clear night it is possible to see 3000 stars with unaided eyes – enough for anyone starting out. The Big Dipper is the number one guidepost. The two pointer stars on the front edge of the dipper point toward Polaris, the North Star. From this point, with the help of some sky charts, all planets, constellations and galaxies can be located.

Paul Bunyan Started It All

Legend says that Paul Bunyan, the mythical giant logger, was the first to make a set of snowshoes to fit an animal. One winter the snow was so deep that Big Blue, Paul's faithful ox, couldn't see over it and kept running into Paul and knocking him down. Paul was not one to stand for such treatment and made the shoes so that Big Blue could see where he was going.
Horse snowshoes were first used in Newfoundland for pulpwood logging to enable the animal to draw bigger loads and work in deeper snow. An article in the 1931 January edition of The Canadian Illustrated Forest and Outdoors magazine describes and illustrates very clearly how they were made.
For the basic style, three holes were drilled in the upper surface of an oblong birch plank (9"x12"x2) to fit the calks – or metal knobs – of the horse's shoe. Three other holes where made through the plank to accommodate 1/2" hemp rope, two loops of which buckled in front with a leather strap to hold the shoe to the horse's hoof. Strips of wood were nailed to the plank's undersurface to prevent the horse from slipping when the pull came.
A more elaborate and perhaps better type had a rim (12" to 14" in diameter and an inch or so thick) made of hardwood sapling or metal rod. This rim was connected to a central ring by rope, chain or wire. The shoe was attached to the hoof in a manner similar to that of a wooden shoe.
It was said that the shoes could be attached in about five minutes and cost between $2.50 and $10.00 for a set of four depending on the make. If the teamster was careful and removed the shoes when the horse was travelling on hard roads the shoes would last for several seasons.
The use of snowshoes was said to decrease the ground pressure of the animal per unit of area by three or four times, making it approximately the same as a man (about seven pounds per square inch).
Snowshoed horses were used for breaking roads in deep snow or for off-road skidding and wood hauling when the snow was deep, but not excessively loose. On warmer spring days the shoes were used to prevent horses from punching holes in logging roads with their hooves; this saved on horseflesh and allowed the horses to do more work. The shoes were also used in summer, especially in Newfoundland, to prevent horses from miring when working in swamps.
Loggers in the rest of Canada were doubtful about putting snowshoes on their horses, as a result I have never or seen a set of snowshoes made for a horse. Maybe some of our seasoned shantymen readers could shed some light on the issue.

Peat - Only Good When It Turns Bad

Peat is one of the many materials we put on our vegetable and flower gardens to enrich the soil and help it retain moisture. It is a natural soil conditioner; it can also be dried, cut and used as fuel. In Ireland and Scotland peat is still used in rural areas as the main form of heating fuel.
Peat comprises biogenic deposits incompletely decayed, the remains of a variety of plants and sometimes trees that have accumulated in waterlogged areas over the past hundreds or thousands of years.
Peat develops in areas where there is continuous growth of vegetation that is allowed to die and accumulate in thick beds. Moderate to high levels of rainfall are mandatory and the level of free oxygen must be very low to prevent the growth of bacteria that would break down the vegetation. Poor drainage also helps saturate the mineral soil surface.
Our present peat beds developed upon the retreat of the last great ice sheet ten to fifteen thousand years ago. When the ice retreated, huge amounts of water were left lying in every depression of the landscape. Although slow to develop, this situation resulted in large amounts of peat being laid down in bogs and fens. Deposits are a minimum of 45 centimetres (1.5 feet) deep but mostly two to twelve metres (seven to fourteen feet) deep.
Peat, because of restrictions on decomposition (cool, damp summers), forms at a greater rate than it breaks down. Only part of the pine needles, leaves, stems and roots decompose; with time they are slowly transformed into peat.
The Hudson Bay Lowlands form one of the largest peat producing areas in the world. Growth is extremely slow because of the cold wet conditions in summer. A tamarack cut near Moosonee on James Bay was three metres (nine feet) high and 6.5 centimetres (2.5 inches) in diameter but under the microscope it was shown to be 127 years old. A similar tree found near Hudson Bay was determined to be at least 450 years old.
Much of these modern peat beds are made up of mosses, primarily sphagnum moss, and plants that are able to survive in acidic, nutrient-poor soils. Sphagnum moss is very well adapted to poor growing conditions and forms a thick mat that is collected and sold as peat moss. The mat sometimes floats on the water and is dangerous to walk on because there are places where a person can fall through (experience talking).
There is an extremely delicate balance between growth and decay in peat bogs. Any disturbance, such as heating of the atmosphere, will upset the balance and cause the beds to be completely destroyed. The mess of rotting vegetation that would remain after such a catastrophe would not support any form of life.
In contrast, the ancient peat beds from 300 million years ago were much different from these relatively new plots. The great shallow seas and swamps that covered much of the tropical and subtropical regions in ancient times were thick with giant club mosses, horsetails and ferns. Eventually, these partially decaying plants created gigantic beds of peat, that under pressure and high temperatures, slowly turned from peat into fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas.
Photo by Clayton Rollins.

Fish - They Get the Vibrations

The old adage – be quiet, the fish will hear you – is very true. One of the amazing things about fish is that, like bats and bees they have senses which are not shared by humans. It is therefore difficult for us to imagine a whole special world underneath the water.
Fish have the extraordinary ability to feel vibrations in the water and this is tremendously useful to them. Vibrations are made by both prey and predator alike: swimming partners (for those fish that live in schools), a clumsy person walking too heavily on the bank, and even rippling water moving around a stone or a plant. All of these movements send out vibrations of various intensity, tone and speed. Fish can sense and read each one. The sound of a snake swimming is not the same as the sound of a frog swimming. Fish of prey sense the difference. The thrashing of an injured or entangled fish is sensed by predators long before they can see the fish that is in distress.
The extraordinary sense organ is in the lateral line and all fish have it. Bottom feeders like catfish, mudpout and carp have the most prominent and sensitive lateral lines. A catfish for example can sense the presence of a moving worm up to four metres away. The lateral line is really a long groove located on both sides of the body from tail to head. Small pores, each lined with receptor cells, which have hairs, fill the groove. Above the hairs and enclosing their tips is a mass of jelly-like material secreted by the cells. The receptor cells respond to waves, currents or disturbances in the water. The water moves the jelly-like material (cupula) and causes the hairs to bend. This results in messages being sent to the brain as to direction and intensity of the vibrations.
Of special importance is the arrival of spring that the lateral line communicates to a fish. A kind of thermostat, it tells the fish how many degrees the water has warmed to, and how long the fish should remain still until its body adjusts to the change. It then tells the fish to move to a higher and warmer spot. In this way the fish knows when to move upstream to the gravel beds where breeding occurs.
The lateral lines of the fish in our lakes and rivers must get quite a workout when the motorboats and snow sleds invade the surface of their world. There has not been enough study done to tell us just how much the fish are disturbed, whether they have adjusted to the underwater noise or how it affects their breeding habits.
One thing we are sure of is that fish populations are in decline. Are we killing them with toxic pollutants, altering their habitat with dams and modifying their basic breeding instincts with underwater noise? It’s time we found out -- and acted accordingly.
Photo by Clayton Rollins

Called Many Names But Often the Wrong One

A common animal of woodlands and dense vegetation is one that carries itself well off the ground above other lowly creatures and appears to be all legs. Daddy longlegs, or the harvestman, is an animal that most of us recognize at a glance but mistake for spiders. They belong to the same class as spiders, mites, ticks and scorpions but are in a class by themselves. The Daddy longlegs is an animal not a spider.
Daddy longlegs have eight legs like spiders but otherwise they are quite different. The body is an egg-shaped glob perched between and slightly below the first joint of the legs. The legs look too long to be controlled by the small body and appear to impair the animal’s vision. The two eyes are placed back to back on turrets in the middle of the daddy longlegs’ back. Two small arms (pedipalps) at the front of the body are used to steer any food into range between the jaws.
The most important of the daddy longlegs’ legs are the extra-long second pair. They touch the ground ahead of the others and are equipped with special sense organs that allow the daddy longlegs to get an advanced taste and feel of the ground ahead.Daddy longlegs must drink often and are therefore found in moist areas. The two front pairs of legs are rested on the surface of the water and the jaws are lowered until the animal can drink.
These tiny animals are not capable of killing or poisoning their prey and thus resort to eating dead animals or the eggs of insects and spiders. They will accept bread or animal fat and therefore do quite well in a home terrarium.
It seems impossible but it must be done: daddy longlegs have a hard outer shell that must be shed during the molt and at regular intervals as the animal grows. To accomplish this, the skeleton splits at the front end and the body partly emerges through the gap. The jaws then bundle the bases of the legs together and force them toward the jaws, which draw each one of the legs out through the slit in the old skeleton. The new skeleton is soft at first but then it hardens and expands to allow for more growth.
Daddy longlegs do not need all eight legs to get by, in fact in some cases they are able to get along on only two. Unfortunately they are unable to grow replacement legs, as some other insects and animals do.
The daddy longlegs paints a rather humorous picture as it walks along: all eight legs moving at a different time, joints moving up and down like the needles in a knitting machine, the small body with two eyes on turrets gazing around and all the while two glands on their sides putting out small puffs of a sulpher-like gas to protect them from their enemies.
Photos by Jennifer Dykxhoorn and Clayton Rollins

The Plant That Makes Us Hop on One Foot

Who has not stepped on a thistle in their bare feet? When we preferred going in our bare feet rather than wear shoes, some part of every day was spent removing the needle-like spines of thistles from the soles of our feet. The dried leaves of the many thistles would pierce our skin with regularity. The operation was usually accompanied by many 'ouches', especially early in the summer, before the skin on the soles of our feet had toughened up.
Thistles are a group of plants well known because of their spiny leaves and large flower heads of purple or, in one species, yellow. Most forms of the species are biennials that form rosettes of prickly leaves that overwinter the first year.
Thistles are generally divided into two groups, those that have spines on the stems and those without. One of the most common variety is the Canada thistle, an import from Europe and not home-grown. Thistle seeds arrived on this side of the ocean among grains that were planted as food crops. These seeds grew with abandon and before long outnumbered our native species. Along the way, new varieties were established and today there are several types growing in most locales. The seeds have tufts of hair that provide buoyancy so they can be spread on the wind over long distances. Thistle seed is a common food for many small mammals and birds, especially the finches.
In its native Europe it was known as creeping thistle because it sprang from creeping roots. The branching stem has many unstalked leaves that are deeply lobed and feature many rigid spine-tipped teeth. The purple flower heads are surrounded by spine-tipped bracts.
The bull thistle is a common thistle and a very prickly customer. Its stem is covered with sharp spines and the leaves have several long, sharp spines that pierce the skin upon contact. The large purple flowers have rigid yellow-tipped spines on the flower bracts; the leaves are pale and woolly underneath. This thistle grows up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) high.
The Scotch thistle is another prickly contender. The stalk is covered with very heavy triangular spines along its entire length. The leaves are fitted with sharp spines as well. The solitary flower head is pale purple with spreading yellow spines.
The swamp thistle is our tallest thistle: one to three meters (three to nine feet) tall. It grows in wet areas suitable for sustaining its rapid growth. The flower heads are two to three centimetres (one to two inches) wide and purple to rose-purple in colour.
Thistles are a common sight in most parts of Canada. Their purple flowers turn white as the seeds develop. With a puff of wind they scatter to settle on new ground to begin another life cycle.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

Could We Not See the Trees for the Forest?

Canada’s confederation was back in 1867. However our National Arboreal (tree) Emblem was not chosen until June of 1996. I have asked, "Could we not see the trees for the forest?". The provinces and the territories did not do a great deal better. It was just in the past twenty years that they got their act together and each chose an arboreal emblem, the latest being when Yukon named the sub-alpine fir.
The Canadian Government chose an entire class of trees to be our National Arboreal Emblem. With the maple leaf featured on our flag, there was no doubt that our emblem had to be the maple (acer) genus.
There are ten species (some have as many as three different names) of maple tree native to Canada. They grow in all areas of the country except the territories.
The sugar maple, an eastern species, may be called hard or rock maple, and is the principal source of maple syrup and sugar. It takes 40 litres of sap to make one litre of syrup. A stylized version of the leaf is on the Canadian flag.
The black or black sugar maple is restricted to southwestern Ontario, with a few scattered along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa River Valleys.
The bigleaf, broadleaf or Oregon maple, is native to Vancouver Island and the coastal mainland. The bark retains moisture and in the warm climate of southern British Columbia, the trunk and larger limbs are often covered with moss, liverwort and fern. Large leaves identify this distinctive species.
The red maple, swamp maple or soft maple, is a common species in eastern Canada. This maple is highly variable and goes by several different names. It also hybridizes with the silver maple causing several intermediate varieties to occur. Young trees provide browse for deer.
The silver maple or soft maple is native to southwestern Ontario, but because it is widely planted as a shade tree it may be found across the country. Trunks of dead silver maples are often hollow and provide homes for squirrels, raccoons, owls and ducks.
The Manitoba maple, box-elder or ashleaf maple, is the only maple with a compound leaf (like the ash). It’s a hardy tree in the Prairie Provinces where it has been planted for shade and in shelter belts.
The mountain maple is the most wide-spread maple and serves as understorey in most forest areas. It does not grow to any great size and is found as a large shrub or at best, a very small tree. It is a common upstart on cut-over forest land. The stripped maple, sometimes called moose maple or moosewood is a shrubby understorey tree exceptional because of its smooth, green bark with whitish stripes. Young shoots are a favourite with deer and moose.
The Douglas or Rocky Mountain maple is found in much of British Columbia and a few locations in Alberta. It is a large, scrubby shrub rather than a tree and is planted as an ornamental in gardens because of its bright fall colouring.
The vine maple is another shrubby maple tree found mainly as understorey in southern British Columbia. The young shoots are a favourite browse for elk, deer and goats.
As you can see, the maple family is large and glorius, especially when its various species light up the fall scene with their brilliant colours!
Photos by Clayton Rollins

The Early Plant Gets the Sunshine

Many of our wildflowers, especially those that grow in mature, hardwood forest habitat, must get their act together early in the season if they are to acquire enough sunlight to produce seed. The plants are called spring ephemerals which means they last for only a very short time, sometimes only a day. This is especially true in Canada’s high Arctic.
They flower early and disappear soon after, but for a short time the forest floor is covered with their blooms. That they exist at all is only because they have been able to solve the problem of low light intensity. After the leaves of the hardwood forest emerge, it is a dark place and few plants on the forest floor are able to survive.
The spring ephermals have solved the low light problem by storing energy over winter in a bulb or tuber. In the spring when conditions become favourable – temperature, sunlight and soil moisture – they release this stored energy and throw up leaves and flower stalks. They bloom as soon as possible and produce seed while there is still enough of light. However, if spring passes too quickly these plants do not get time to set seed and must wait another year to mature.
Hepaticas are often the first to bloom. In fact, before any leaves appear they flower. All their stored energy is put into flower heads and they forget about the leaves.
Some of the previous year's leaves may still be able to catch some sunlight and produce enough energy for their needs. New leaves are produced later when the seed is produced. Bloodroot (so named because of the orange-red sap that oozes from its roots and flower stalks) spring beauty and blue cohash are other early bloomers. The flowers attract whatever insects which are active, ladybird beetles for example, to pollinate the flowers.
The leaves of the wild onion, purple and yellow violet, trilliam, Dutchman's breeches and squirrel corn soon spring up through the fallen leaves. The blotched, green leaves of the yellow trout lily (dog-tooth violet) appear as soon as the snow melts. Only a small percentage of trout lilies actually bloom and only where conditions are perfect. Wild onion is the opposite of the early blooming hepatica. Their leaves are among the first to appear, often while there is still patches of snow about, the flowers appear a short time later. The leaves grow quite large but die from the lack of sunshine as soon as the trees leaf out.
As summer approaches, the forest crown becomes thick with leaves and the forest floor darkens. The petals of the violets, lady slippers, red trilliums and clintonia drop off and the wildflower show in the hardwood forest is over for another year. Fortunately, the ephemerals have stored next year's energy in an underground bulb and are ready for a quick start when the sun is just right the next spring.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

For the Monarch, A Long Journey Both Coming and Going

When the milkweed is in full bloom and its sweet smell fills the air, the time is right for the monarch butterfly to produce the offspsring that will travel to the traditional wintering grounds of central Mexico.
The journey south is a dangerous one, but while making the trip has its challenges, surviving winter in Mexico has its own problems. In 2002, severe weather conditions resulted in the loss of 80% of the wintering populations. Many, many millions of monarchs died from the cold.
Unlike migrating birds, monarchs do not live long enough to make the trip down and back. To solve the problem, the wintering monarchs produce a new generation of monarchs in the area surrounding the Gulf of Mexico as the butterflies move north each spring. The females continue to lay eggs on the flowering milkweed plants along their route to Canada. These new butterflies find their way north without previous generations to show them where to go.
In summer, monarchs produce many summer generations and have the capacity to recover their winter losses. But, if Canada has a cold wet summer or an early snowfall it can reduce the length of the egg-laying season and therefore fewer summer generations are produced.
Monarchs are very sensitive to any environmental disturbance that reduces the crop of milkweed and other flowering plants required to feed the larvae and provide fuel for long distance migration. As well, indiscriminant herbicide and insecticide spraying can devastate a generation of monarchs, making recovery that much more difficult.
To increase awareness, the monarch has been listed as a species of special concern, and by working together Canada and Mexico have created an international network of monarch butterfly reserves. In Canada they include Long Point National Wildlife Area (Lake Erie), Point Pelee National Park (Lake Erie) and Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area (Lake Ontario). Many millions of monarchs congregate in these areas before they head out across the Great Lakes. Conditions must be perfect before they leave: 60-80% cloud cover, temperature about 20 degrees Celsius and moderate northwest winds to push them along.
Help the monarchs by planting native flowering plants that provide blooms from May through October. Where the milkweed species is left uncut it provides food for the larvae and a place to spin a cocoon. Goldenrod, although not a favourite with alergy sufferers, provide an important nectar source for all pollinator species. We can reduce the use of insecticides and herbicides where possible, especially along roadsides and fencerows. This is often difficult to achieve but consider trading the sprayer for the scythe or the sickle.
There are several websites dedicated to the monarch. For information on nectar-producing flowers, or to learn about volunteer-based monitoring programs such as those offered by Monarch Watch visit: http://www.monarchwatch.org/
Photos by Clayton Rollins

Butterflies Prepare for Winter

Butterflies in Canada pass through the winter in a dormant state referred to as a diapause. The diapause may be spent in any one of their four life stages. It could be as an egg attached to a food plant, as a caterpillar hidden under a piece of bark, as a pupa concealed under a branch or as an adult butterfly. Because of cold temperatures, very few butterflies survive a Canadian winter as adults. Some hibernate, the mourning cloak for one; others migrate to warmer climates: the monarch may be our best-known example.
Although it is precariously late in the season for butterflies to be active, white cabbage butterflies, sulpher-coloured butterflies and many fritillaries (large orange butterflies with white and black spots) still visit flowers late into the fall.
As butterfly caterpillars (larvae) grow they must molt or shed their skin because it will only stretch so far. Caterpillars that hatch from the egg are called first instar (first stage) larvae. They may pass through as many as five instars, each one larger than the previous, until the final molt reveals the pupa case rather than another caterpillar.
Butterfly pupae are exposed to the weather rather than being encased in a cocoon as moths are. To prevent it from becoming food for birds and other animals the chrysalis is coloured to blend with its surroundings, and decorated with barbs to resemble curled-up dead leaves.
The pupa is usually attached by a series of hooks that are locked onto a silken pad left by the caterpillar and supported around the middle by a girdle of fine strands of silk. During this phase the hormone that causes the caterpillar to form a pupa is held in check by the juvenile hormone. When the amount of juvenile hormone decreases, the final molt and pupal stage are allowed to develop. The pupa is said to be the resting stage, yet it is a time of the most complicated of all changes when many of the caterpillar cells begin to break down and another group of cells begins to grow and multiply. It is these new cells, with the help of hormones and their own DNA, that create the adult butterfly.
When all changes have been made and the adult butterfly is ready to emerge, it splits the pupal case at the head end and crawls out. The body of the butterfly is full of fluid that it immediately begins to pump into the small, thick wings. After a few hours in the sun the wings are completely extended and dry and the adult butterfly is ready to seek a mate and renew the lifecycle.
Butterflies are extremely sensitive to changes in habitat and are an early indicator of trouble in the environment.
From a worm to a butterfly is a big and extremely complicated step however, billions of butterflies flawlessly go through this process each year.
Photo by Jim Ferguson

The Butterflies-in-Your-Stomach Blues

The 'blues' are a subfamily of Lycaenidae which also includes butterflies with such colourful names as harvesters, coppers and hairstreaks.
The Eastern Tailed Blue, Western Tailed Blue, Spring Azure, Summer Azure, Silvery Blue, Northern Blue, Greenish Blue, and Arctic Blue may be found throughout Canada. The Square-spotted Blue, Rocky Mountain Dotted Blue, Arrowhead Blue, Melissa Blue, Boisduval's Blue, Shasta Blue, Acmon Blue and Cranberry Blue are primarily western species. The Marine Blue, Reakirt's Blue and Cherry Gall Blue are extremely rare at any location in Canada. There has been some discussion about whether the Cherry Gall Azure is a separate species.
All the males of these species are blue. The females have varying amounts of brown or gray, sometimes with blue. They have a complex pattern of dark spots and bands on the underside of the wings. All have rounded wings, are weak fliers and are regularly seen on flowers or hovering near food plants. The eggs are laid on flowers. The larvae eat flowers and fruit. Hibernation may be as an egg, larvae or pupa.
The Eastern Tailed Blue is a common species in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrance forest of central Ontario. The male is purplish blue and the female is dark brown. They have a series of scattered black spots on the upper side of the wings. The trailing edge of the hind wing has a several black spots, rimmed with metallic blue and with conspicuous orange caps.
They have a wingspan of 16 to 26 ml (.5” to 1”). They are often found near cow vetch and red and white clover where the female lays her eggs. They are a fickle species common one year and absent for several.
Spring Azure is a confusing species. Ongoing studies have revealed that at least six species hold this name. At present the only way to tell them apart is by their choice of food. The male spring azure is pale blue with a broad black border on the outer quarter of the fore wing, wingspan is 18 to 28 ml (.5” to 1”).
The eggs are laid on flower buds. The larvae eat flowers and fruits. They produce a sweet honey-dew secretion that is attractive to ants which tend to the larvae in exchange for the honey-dew and protection from predators.
The Summer Azure was thought to be a second-brood form of the spring azure but such is not the case.
Both male and female are pale blue with an extensive dusting of white scales. Both Spring and Summer Azures are most often found feeding on dogwoods, meadowsweet and viburnums.
The Silvery Blue and the Greenish Blue butterflies can be identified by their forewing colour as their names suggest. The former is a silvery, light blue and the latter a pale, metallic blue. The eggs of both species are laid singly on flowers and fruits. The larvae eat both and are tended by ants.
The larvae of the Silvery Blue prefer clovers and alfalfa and will change colour depending on the type of food the are eating. The Greenish Blue eat white and alsike clover but not red clover.
It is difficult to distinguish one blue from another while they are flying. They are easily caught with a net but must be handled carefully because they are very delicate.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

The Butterflies-in-Your-Stomach Blues

The 'blues' are a subfamily of Lycaenidae which also includes butterflies with such colourful names as harvesters, coppers and hairstreaks.
The Eastern Tailed Blue, Western Tailed Blue, Spring Azure, Summer Azure, Silvery Blue, Northern Blue, Greenish Blue, and Arctic Blue may be found throughout Canada. The Square-spotted Blue, Rocky Mountain Dotted Blue, Arrowhead Blue, Melissa Blue, Boisduval's Blue, Shasta Blue, Acmon Blue and Cranberry Blue are primarily western species. The Marine Blue, Reakirt's Blue and Cherry Gall Blue are extremely rare at any location in Canada. There has been some discussion about whether the Cherry Gall Azure is a separate species.
All the males of these species are blue. The females have varying amounts of brown or gray, sometimes with blue. They have a complex pattern of dark spots and bands on the underside of the wings. All have rounded wings, are weak fliers and are regularly seen on flowers or hovering near food plants. The eggs are laid on flowers. The larvae eat flowers and fruit. Hibernation may be as an egg, larvae or pupa.
The Eastern Tailed Blue is a common species in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrance forest of central Ontario. The male is purplish blue and the female is dark brown. They have a series of scattered black spots on the upper side of the wings. The trailing edge of the hind wing has a several black spots, rimmed with metallic blue and with conspicuous orange caps.
They have a wingspan of 16 to 26 ml (.5” to 1”). They are often found near cow vetch and red and white clover where the female lays her eggs. They are a fickle species common one year and absent for several.
Spring Azure is a confusing species. Ongoing studies have revealed that at least six species hold this name. At present the only way to tell them apart is by their choice of food. The male spring azure is pale blue with a broad black border on the outer quarter of the fore wing, wingspan is 18 to 28 ml (.5” to 1”).
The eggs are laid on flower buds. The larvae eat flowers and fruits. They produce a sweet honey-dew secretion that is attractive to ants which tend to the larvae in exchange for the honey-dew and protection from predators.
The Summer Azure was thought to be a second-brood form of the spring azure but such is not the case.
Both male and female are pale blue with an extensive dusting of white scales. Both Spring and Summer Azures are most often found feeding on dogwoods, meadowsweet and viburnums.
The Silvery Blue and the Greenish Blue butterflies can be identified by their forewing colour as their names suggest. The former is a silvery, light blue and the latter a pale, metallic blue. The eggs of both species are laid singly on flowers and fruits. The larvae eat both and are tended by ants.
The larvae of the Silvery Blue prefer clovers and alfalfa and will change colour depending on the type of food the are eating. The Greenish Blue eat white and alsike clover but not red clover.
It is difficult to distinguish one blue from another while they are flying. They are easily caught with a net but must be handled carefully because they are very delicate.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

A Coat of Many Quills

The porcupine's Latin name Erethizon dorsatum can be loosely translated as "the animal with the irritating back." Its common name porcupine - or thorny pig - comes from the Latin word "porcus" meaning "pig" and "spina" meaning "thorns". Both names are very descriptive of its appearance.
We have two species of porcupine in North America. In the east we have the Canada, with dark brown guard hairs, and in the west the yellow-haired featuring white to yellow guard hairs.
The lowly porcupine is one of our best-known animals but the one least likely to be kept as a pet. It’s definitely not your cute-and-cuddly type.
I came upon an immature porcupine feeding on some tender shoots of alfalfa in the middle of one of our hay fields this week. Although young, it insisted on turning its better side toward me, with quills extended. It was in the open, over 100 m away from the nearest tree, during the early morning and without parental protection. A good demonstration of the faith in has in its ability to protect itself.
The porcupine is also one of our most lackadaisical animals, it does not move far nor does it move very fast. It takes a lot to excite this prickly mammal.
The porcupine has been estimated to have 30 000 quills. There are none on the muzzle, legs and under parts of the body. Each hollow quill is attached to a muscle that pulls it upright when the animal is alarmed. The business end of the hollow quill has several dozen small black barbs that feel slightly rough to the touch but when moist, as in your skin, swell and work the quill further in.
Porcupines are unable to throw their quills. During threatening displays they will thrash their tails causing loose quilts to dislodge and fly about giving the impression they are thrown. If caught in a trap they will often imbed quills in their own skin while struggling to get free. A porcupine is capable of removing these quills or those from another porcupine with its teeth and front paws. An animal that has attacked a porcupine and has a mouth full of quills suffers a great deal of pain but seldom gets infection because quills contain an antibiotic.
The slow moving porcupine is a frequent victim of forest fires and highway traffic. Climbing accidents, disease, especially rabbit fever. Predators such as the fisher and humans take their toll as well.
Porcupines do destroy some trees, chew on wooden guardrails, buildings — particularly those made of plywood, or any other material that contains salt.
A porcupine repellent (trade name Ropel) is available at feed stores. It has a very bitter and unpleasant taste. Chewing animals such as mice, deer and porcupines won’t return for a second taste.

Little Brown Bats

Bats in your belfry, bats in your attic, what a catastrophe, call in the exterminators. For such a small animal, 10 cm (4”) long, bats have an infamous reputation for being able to do something terrible. However, I am not sure just what.
The bat we know best is the little brown bat, the most common of our flying mammals. There are others. The northern long-eared bat, the silver-haired bat and the hoary bat all spend at least seven months of the year in the Ottawa Valley. The latter three have been seen less than five times in this area, which does not mean they are rare only seldom seen.
The silver-haired and the hoary migrate out of the country for the winter. The brown and the long-eared move into winter quarters, usually in caves and mines where temperatures stay above freezing. It is unfortunate that bats have such a bad reputation. They eat half their weight in insects each day. Few people have seen a bat and fewer still have had any contact with them. Bats feed at night and avoid any animal that might use it for food, people are included in the " animals to be avoided category".
Bats have many unique abilities. They are the only mammals that can fly. Their wings consist of a thin membrane, rather than feathers, that stretches from the hind feet to the special bones in the forearm. Bats are able to fly in total darkness by sending out high-pitched sound waves whose echoes make perfect sense to them. This "echo location system" allows them to catch their prey and yet avoid colliding with solid objects.
The old adage "blind as a bat" is false. Bats are indeed able to see. When a bat's sensory system makes contact with a moth (gypsy or codling) or other large flying insect, the bat approaches its prey and scoops it into a pouch formed by the wing membrane which extends between the hind feet and the tail. The prey is then passed to the mouth and eaten while the bat is still in flight.
Female bats give birth to a single young each year. For the first few days the mother carries her young on foraging trips. The youngster is strung across her breast, its front feet grasping the hair in one armpit and nursing from a teat in the other.
There is no doubt that accumulations of bat dung can cause respiratory problems in humans and therefore bats should not be allowed to live in the attics of our homes. To get rid of the bats using pesticides and insecticides can be more dangerous than the problems created by the bats. There are better ways to get the bats to move out of your home and into one of their own. In this way we can still benefit from the bats ability to destroy harmful insects.
The best way to get the bats to move is to find the holes where they are getting into your house and cover them with heavy screening. Wait until the bats leave for a hunting excursion at night before covering the holes. Place a bat house nearby so that the animals have shelter.
Contact Jim if you would like plans to build a bat house.
Photos by Clayton Rollins

The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail – A Rare Treat

Have you checked your lilacs and flower beds lately? If not you are missing a rare treat: when flowers are in bloom, Canadian tiger swallowtails are usually up and about. This species of butterfly is the only member of the worldwide swallowtail family to live this far north.
Lilac bushes will often have two or three-dozen swallowtails fluttering about courting and feeding. Although never quite still they stay put long enough for us to get a good look at them. An excellent opportunity to try out your camera. The best time is in the morning before the butterflies have warmed up and inclined to fly out of focus.
The familiar yellow and black wings and body are a common sight from mid-May until late June. Its strong soaring flight and addiction to garden flowers bring it close to our homes. However, its natural habitat is at the edge of hardwood forests.
Once the adults have dried their wings and warmed their bodies to a point where they can fly efficiently they take off for the day’s activities. The males in search of unmated females and the mated females in search of host plants on which to lay their eggs, most often birch, black cherries and aspens.
The larvae are said to be tasty to birds but swallowtails do have a few tricks to help them survive. The first hatch of larvae arrive in spring before leaves are on the plants and during vulnerable times between molts they look like bird droppings, not a favourite with birds. Later hatches are green to blend with the green leaves. The caterpillar also has a defense system called an osmeteria. The ostromerium, a forked organ behind the head, gives off a foul odour if the caterpillar is disturbed. This feature is unique to swallowtails.
Female swallowtails tend to lay their eggs less than 2.5 metres (eight feet) from the ground on exposed leaves on the south side of host trees. When the eggs hatch, the larvae are exposed to the warm sun and protected from the wind. This speeds up the growth of the larvae so that they have a better chance of completing their development before being found by predators or parasites.
It is common to see large numbers of adults getting liquid from a puddle on roadways. Several species go "puddling" (maybe pubbing) but only the males demonstrate this behavior. What are they looking for and why?
In a few cases the swallowtails are hunting for protein but in most cases it's road salt dissolved in water that they crave. Since the plant material butterflies feed on contains very little salt, they must source it elsewhere; thus the puddling. Females do not partake in puddling because they get most of their salt from the male during mating when salt gets deposited in her eggs.
Until recently the Canadian tiger swallowtail was considered a subspecies of the tiger swallowtail, a species found in extreme southern Ontario. It is now a distinct species-- a unique population living in the yellow birch and aspen forests of Canada. The caterpillars have an excellent chance of survival because they have developed a way to destroy the poisons present in host trees. The tiger swallowtails, southern variety, all die when they feed on the same host trees. Conversely, the tiger swallowtail is able to survive on the tulip trees in the Carolinian forest while the Canadian tiger swallowtail does not do well at all on this vegetation.
Photos by Clayton Rollins