A Delicate Balance

The word 'ecology' is defined in Webster's New World Dictionary as 'the complex of relations between a specific organism and its environment."  Because so many species are dependent on other species for their survival or cooperate with each other you never know what will happen when you remove one species from the equation. You can go to my 'Mutual Admiration Society' post for some examples of inter-species cooperation.  There has been a lot of discussion about whether wolves should be on the endangered list or not.  After they were introduced in a couple of areas research showed an interesting result - the relationship between wolves, pronghorns, and coyotes.

Wolf  Source:  Wikipedia

Pronghorn antelope  Source:  Wikipedia

Coyote  Source:  Wikipedia

As it turns out, coyotes are major predators of pronghorn fawns, but when wolves are present, more fawns survive!  Pronghorn fawns are just too small for the wolves to bother with, but coyotes avoid areas where there are wolves.  Since wolves have been introduced to both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, the number of pronghorns in the parks, which was on the decline and feared to become almost nonexistent, has nearly doubled.  This result is probably the opposite of what might be expected.  Even though they are cousins, the larger wolves help keep the number of coyotes in check.

Good news for the pronghorns in these areas!  Protecting wolves also helps protect the pronghorn.

Constricted Cormorants

One of the rarest birds in the world is the Flightless Cormorant, also known as the Galapagos Cormorant, because it is only found in the Galapagos Islands.  Like so many other species in the Galapagos, it has unique characteristics - in this case it has lost its ability to fly.  Its wings are about the third of the size needed to get this 35- to 40-inch bird off the ground.

Source:  Wikipedia

But like other cormorants it still has the webbed feet and strong legs needed to swim and dive for its dinner - mostly fish and eels.

Source:  Wikipedia

The female usually lays a clutch of three eggs, but it is not unusual for only one chick to survive.  Both the male and female take care of the chicks, but once the chicks reach a certain size if food is plentiful the female will leave 'dad' in charge and go off to find a new mate and lay more eggs.

Evolving to become flightless birds because of no real predators, since people have arrived on Galapagos bringing with them dogs and cats, the population has been as low as 400 individuals.  They are also vulnerable to getting caught in fishing nets.  The latest estimate is around 1600 birds, but there are still conservation efforts in place for this unique member of the bird family and most live within the Galapagos National Park and Marine Reserve.

Source:  Wikipedia

For a couple of videos, click here and here.

Slug Slime

So I was out feeding the slugs this morning...  Whaaat?  No, I don't normally feed the slugs, although sometimes I sprinkle a little cat food close to the edge of the patio in the evening so they eat those pieces and don't slime the cat food I actually put out for the cats.  Normally slugs are nocturnal, but this morning was humid and cloudy so when I went out to get the dish for the canned food I fed the stray cats I saw a big slug in the dry cat food dish.  I picked it up and put it closer to the garden and gave it a couple of pieces of dry food so it wouldn't end up in the dish again.

(I can attest that they really are slimy!  And you can't wash it off.  I kept trying to rinse the slime off my fingers and the water just kept it slimy.  I finally used a DRY paper towel and got it off that way.)  I happened to glance around and saw not one but three slugs braving the daylight.  The first slug ignored the dry cat food and started toward the garden.  I guess after being picked up and moved from the cat food dish it decided it was time to get the heck out of Dodge.  It actually played dead for the first few minutes after I moved it.  I gave it a small scrap of canned cat food that was still in the dish I had come out to get.  It picked it up and/or ate it and headed back to the garden.

It seemed a lot fatter and shorter when it was in the cat food dish, but stretched out at full length it was pretty impressive at about four inches.

Here's a picture of one of the other slugs with its slime trail.

I was worried about these guys because the sun was starting to come out so I broke another piece of dry cat food into several pieces to make it easier for them to eat.  They both went for the smaller piece and found their way back to the garden just in time.  You can clearly see its little antennae in this picture.

You can learn more about slugs in my 'Salute to Slugs' post.

What is it?

A few weeks ago I was in my backyard and noticed this.

It looks like part of a skull almost of something and it was just sitting on top of one of the railroad ties that are used to frame my garden.  There were no other bones around anywhere so I'm still wondering exactly what it is.  What do you think?

We Called Her Miss Kitty

I dubbed her Miss Kitty, perhaps not too original but I was actually honoring the saloon owner in the old Gunsmoke TV series who was always addressed as Miss Kitty by Festus.  (Am I dating myself?  Are you old enough to have any idea what I'm talking about?)  The Miss Kitty in the TV series was a feisty gal and so was her namesake.  Unfortunately, my Miss Kitty passed away on Tuesday.  She was part of the 'three musketeers' - three stray cats that hung around in my yard on a regular basis.

Miss Kitty had a quirky personality and if you tried to pet her she would hop away like she thought you were trying to grab her.  I could manage to get a few strokes in as long as she didn't see my hand coming in her direction.  She had been improving on that in the past few months.  She would also stick out a paw and try to grab your ankle once in a while.  While Romeo is the sweetie and Van Gogh is the shy one, of the three strays she definitely had the most personality.  Miss Kitty always had a sparkle in her eye.

Last week she wasn't acting like she felt very well and I didn't see her for a day or two.  When she returned she acted like she was moving carefully and I thought maybe she'd been hit by a car.  She gradually came around and seemed to be almost 100 percent again.  But I didn't see her at all on Monday and she wasn't around for breakfast Tuesday morning.  I mentioned to my neighbor that she was 'missing' again.  I walked right by my neighbor's yard and didn't see her.  Then my neighbor across the street knocked on my door Tuesday afternoon and said that Miss Kitty was found dead in my next door neighbor's yard.  It was a sad day indeed, but at least I know that in the last few years of her life she had all the food she needed and as much care as I could give her without actually bringing her inside to the disgruntlement of my own cats.  Miss Kitty, RIP.  You will be missed.

Torpid Turtles

August and September is the time when Rhode Islanders can occasionally see sea turtles in the waters off our coast as they migrate to nesting sites in warmer waters.  The most common sea turtle seen here is the leatherback.

Source:  Wikipedia

Leatherbacks are super turtles - the largest (6 to 7 feet long in total length) and the most hydrodynamic with its teardrop shape.  Using their powerful flippers, they are also the fastest swimming being clocked at over 20 miles an hour.  And they are the deepest divers among sea turtles able to reach depths of 4,200 feet with dives lasting up to 30 minutes or more.  Leatherbacks also have the widest distribution of all sea turtles from the Arctic to South Africa.  Their one weakness (as with all sea turtles) is that they are very susceptible to ocean trash because they feed almost exclusively on jellyfish and often mistake plastic bags or other plastic for jellyfish.

Loggerheads can also be seen this time of year - they also have a wide distribution, but are still considered endangered because of their low reproductive rate and loss of nesting areas.  They also often fall victim to fishing nets.

Source:  Wikipedia

Loggerheads have the most varied diet of any sea turtle, including clams and crabs (their powerful jaws are perfectly capable of opening shells), sea urchins, sand dollars, sponges, fish and plants.  Speaking of shells, the loggerhead is the largest hard shell turtle (leatherbacks have a hard skin shell hence its name).

An occasional green sea turtle can also be seen in shallow lagoons feeding on seagrass.

Source:  Wikipedia

It gets its name from the green fat that can be found beneath its shell.  It has a much flatter appearance than the leatherback or loggerhead.  While the average size of the green turtle is around 3 feet long, they can grow up to 5 feet and weigh almost 700 pounds.

If you are really lucky you can also spy a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle - the most endangered of all sea turtles.

Source:  Wikipedia

The Kemp's Ridley is a smaller sea turtle although it can weigh up to 100 pounds.  Its main diet is crayfish, shrimp, algae, seaweed and sea urchins.  It is only found on the US eastern coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

I was very privileged to watch a turtle laying eggs on a beach in Florida on a family vacation MANY, MANY years ago when I was a teenager.  I can't tell you what kind of turtle it was, but I still remember the thrill.

Click here for a video of a green turtle.  Click here for a video of a loggerhead.  Click here for a video about the conservation efforts for the Kemp's Ridley.

Stuff and Things

Not a lot going on here on these lazy summer days.  I know you're probably tired of "butterflies on my butterfly bush" pictures, but the last week there have been scads (not quite enough to call it a swarm) of Painted Ladies on my butterfly bushes.  Maybe they can tell there's a change in the air and September is closing in, but for whatever reason they are showing up early in the morning and staying around the entire day.  There are at least 20 or more that have been coming every day.  I really need a video camera to capture the scene because trying to get shots of many butterflies at one time is a challenge to say the least.  To capture many in one shot with their wings open so that you can actually tell where they are AND get them in focus is almost impossible.  They are constantly moving both on the flowers themselves and going from blossom to blossom.  Once in a while they all fly up in the air and then settle back down again.  Here are just a few shots that turned out not too bad.

I think there are six butterflies in the last picture.  This monarch had to "share" with so many Painted Ladies around.

There was also one I called Broken Wing because almost all of its hind wings were missing on both sides along with part of one fore wing, but it still managed to get around just fine.

The other day I also caught a very unwanted guest in one my shots.

And I had to include a photo of the one of the huge bumblebees that also are attracted to the blooms.  I love these big guys.

I also caught a photo of a spider just as another bug had flown into its web and got to watch it secure its prize.

And last but not least we had an unexpected surprise in the skies a few days ago as it flew overhead - the Hood blimp!

By the time I could grab my camera and capture it, it was almost too far away.   The Pawtucket "air show" was not quite as exciting as the one in Hewitt, eh Lynne?