Monthly Archives: May 2016

To Catch A Venomous Mammal…

May 23, 2016MammalsKate St. John

ZooDom veterinarian Adrell Nunez (center) draws blood from a solenodon for DNA samples, Dominican Republic (photo by Taras Oleksyk and Yashira Afanador)

There are only 16 (maybe 17) venomous mammals on earth and more than half of them are endangered. One of the rarest is the Hispaniola solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), native to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Solenodons are nocturnal mammals that look like large, big-footed shrews. They eat beetles, crickets, worms, snails and even birds and reptiles which they paralyze with a bite containing their venomous saliva. Interestingly, solenodons aren’t immune to each others’ venom so if they fight they succumb when scratched by the teeth of a combatant. (The Hispaniola solenodon is so poorly studied that we’re not even sure if it fights very often.)

Solenodon paradoxus (photo linked from The Mantis Shrimp blog) — Solenodon paradoxus (photo by Miguel A. Landestoy, linked from *The Mantis Shrimp* blog)

These mammals evolved in the absence of predators so they are slow, clumsy runners and tend to trip and fall when pursued. They are now so rare and so endangered that they’re expected to go extinct in the next 10-20 years because of habitat loss and predation by dogs, cats and humans.

With time running out for this animal, scientists wanted to sequence its DNA before it disappeared, and they had to catch it in a manner that was safe for the animal and for them. But how?

The researchers shown above caught the venomous mammal by allowing it to walk across their bodies at night in the forests of the Dominican Republic.

Yikes!

Yesterday’s Outing at Schenley Park

May 23, 2016Books & Events, Schenley ParkKate St. John

Schenley Park outing near the Westinghouse Fountain, 22 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Yesterday morning, twelve of us braved the foggy chill to look for birds near the Westinghouse Fountain at Schenley Park.

My original plan was to walk on the Steve Falloon Trail but it was a sea of mud after so much rain. Instead we walked along the Serpentine Road with a good view of the treetops.

The birds weren’t particularly active so we were happy to see these Best Birds: blackpoll warblers, chestnut-sided warblers, an eastern wood-pewee, scarlet tanagers and Baltimore orioles. We also saw a half-completed Baltimore oriole nest hanging from a branch high above the road.

At the end of the walk we stopped near the Schenley Park Visitors Center and on Flagstaff Hill to see two peregrine falcons (flying and perched at the Cathedral of Learning), a red-tailed hawk, and a Coopers hawk.

Thanks, everyone, for coming out on a gray day.

(photo by Kate St.John)

Lady Slippers In A Cage

May 22, 2016Deer, Mammals, Plants & FungiKate St. John

Pink lady's slipper, Ohiopyle State Park, 18 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John) — Pink lady’s slipper, Ohiopyle State Park, 18 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

This flower is in a cage at Ohiopyle State Park.

Pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule) orchids are found in Pennsylvania, but increasingly rare because deer like to eat them. The deer bite off the flower, leaving the stem and leaves behind.

Here’s what the entire flower looks like. Imagine it with a headless stem!

And here’s how these beautiful flowers are protected: a deer exclosure. Notice the 10-foot high fence with the yellow X. The sign explains why the exclosure is necessary.

Deer exclosure at Ohiopyle State Park containing pink lady's slippers, 18 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John) — Deer exclosure at Ohiopyle State Park containing pink lady’s slippers, 18 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

Outside the fence I found five lady’s slippers with the chopped off heads. 🙁

We humans are the reason why there are too many deer in Pennsylvania and, so far, we haven’t the will to reduce their population to a sustainable level.

In the meantime we’re putting our most precious wildflowers in cages.

(photos by Kate St. John)

Why Wild Geranium is Called Cranesbill

May 21, 2016Plants & FungiKate St. John

Wild geranium -- a.k.a. cranesbill -- flower and seed pods (photo by Kate St. John) — Wild geranium — a.k.a. cranesbill — flower and seed pods (photo by Kate St. John)

North America’s wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) is also called cranesbill but you have to examine a seed pod to find out how it got the name.

Shown above is a wild geranium flower with some aging seed pods in the background. Here’s a closeup.

Wild geranium seed pods -- like a crane's bill(photo by Kate St. John) — Wild geranium seed pods, like a crane’s bill(photo by Kate St. John)

Notice that the seed pods look like a crane’s bill. (Click here to see a crane with its bill up like this.)

Ta da!

(photos by Kate St. John)

The Blue Jay’s Many Sounds

May 20, 2016Bird Behavior, Crows & RavensKate St. John

video embedded from Lesley the Bird Nerd o n Y o u T u b e

20 May 2016

Blue jays are making interesting sounds and gestures lately but what do they mean?

In the spring I often hear blue jays say “tweedle” and, on rare occasions, I see one bounce and gurgle.

Tweedle? Gurgle? Lesley the Bird Nerd explains it all in this video.

p.s. Only females make the “Rattle” call.

(video by Lesley the Bird Nerd on YouTube)

Now Blooming: Few-Flowered Valerian

May 19, 2016Plants & FungiKate St. John

Few-flowered valerian at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 17 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John) — Few-flowered Valerian at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve, 17 May 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)

This is a stellar year for Valeriana pauciflora at Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve in Beaver County, PA. Its common name is “Large-flowered Valerian” but its scientific name means “Few-flowered.” Confusing!

To find this 1.5-3-foot tall wildflower, walk the Jennings Trail between the two Beaver Trail intersections (along the cliff) or visit the spot where Jennings meets Meadow Trail and the creek. Click here for a map.

Read more about its confusing name in this Throw Back Thursday article: What-Flowered Valerian?

Visit the Wildflower Reserve soon to see it.

(photo by Dianne Machesney)

Messy Nest

May 19, 2016Nesting & Courtship, PeregrinesKate St. John

Terzo and Hope hold a black-feathered prey item, C1 looks on (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) — Terzo delivers a black-feathered prey item to the nest. Hope retrieves it. C1 watches (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

In years past, Pitt peregrine watchers were used to seeing a very messy nest on camera. Dorothy, the previous resident female, usually plucked prey at the nest soon after she was done brooding. In those years the nest normally looked like this.

This year the nest has been amazingly clean … until yesterday. At 6:45am Terzo brought a black-feathered prey item to the nest. Hope took it from him and plucked it while C1 watched. (It was a male red-winged blackbird.)

Hope plucks the prey item - a red-winged blackbird -- at the nest (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh) — Hope plucks the prey item – a red-winged blackbird — as C1 looks on (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

I finally figured out there’s a good reason for making a mess. C1 will soon be old enough to eat on his own and will need to know how to pluck prey and tear it up. The best way to learn is by watching. Yesterday Hope showed him by example.

By the end of the month C1 will be grabbing the food and plucking it himself. In the meantime I’m sure he’ll watch more food preparation demonstrations.

Breakfast is served.

(photos from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)

More Robins, Fewer White-throated Sparrows

May 18, 2016Bird Behavior, Climate ChangeKate St. John

American robin, white-throated sparrow (photos by Marcy Cunkelman)

18 March 2016

We humans are starting to respond to climate change. The birds already have.

In a study on two continents — North America and Europe — data from 1980 to 2010 shows that populations of our common birds have been affected by climate change and the gap is growing. Bird species expected to do well due to climate change have substantially outperformed those expected to do badly over the 30 year period. It’s the first real demonstration that climate is having a similar, large-scale influence on the abundance of common birds in widely separated parts of the world.(*)

Here are two examples from North America:

American robins (Turdus migratorius) are an adaptable species whose range has expanded as the climate warms. Robins don’t have to go as far south in the winter and now they breed in Alaska.

White-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) are a common winter species in the Lower 48 but when it comes time to breed they’ll be in trouble. As the climate heats up and they move northward, the forest they require for breeding gives way to treeless landscapes such as tundra. It takes decades to grow a forest and the climate is changing faster than the plants can catch up. White-throated sparrows are losing ground. Click here to see their changing map.

More robins, fewer white-throated sparrows. The populations of common birds are affected by climate change.

Read more about the study here in Science Daily(*). See Audubon’s climate website for details on North American birds.

(photos by Marcy Cunkelman)