17 June 2026

Now that western Pennsylvania’s rivers are warming up for the summer, female plain pocketbook mussels (Lampsilis cardium) are ready to complete last year’s reproductive cycle by luring a fish. As soon as it strikes she’ll release her larvae into the fish’s gills where they’ll feed and mature and fall off as tiny mussels. Amazingly both sides of this parasitic relationship are unharmed. Here’s how it works.

The mantle in mussels is a fleshy sheet-like tissue that lines the inside of the shell and uses minerals from the water to build and repair the shell. Because she needs a fish lure, the plain pocketbook mussel (member of the Unionidae family) has fancy flaps on the edge of her mantle that stick out in the water.

Wikipedia explains:

All Unionidae are known to use the gills, fins, or skin of a host fish for nutrients during the larval glochidia stage. Lampsilis cardium accomplishes this by having the inner sides of its mantle flaps marked with longitudinal stripes, resembling a small fish [eastern shiner] of the genus Notropis . When these are attacked and ruptured by a striking predatory fish, especially [Redeye bass] Micropterus coosae, the mussel larvae are released into the gills of the host fish, where they feed and develop.

— Wikipedia: Lampsilis cardium

Her mantle flaps have eye spots and stripes that make them look fish-y.

She moves them like a fish!

And here’s her favorite host, redeye bass.

The mussel larvae, called glochidia, typically clamp on to the gills of the fish, but may also attach to tails or fins, where they will complete their next transformation. For several weeks the mussel larvae harmlessly ride along on the fish as the fish swims around doing fish things. Eventually their metamorphosis is complete and they drop to the river bottom as a mussel.

— USFW: Freshwater Mussels and Fish: A Timeless Love Affair

This is approximately what they look like when they drop off (rainbow mussels, related to plain pocketbooks).

After she’s released her glochidia she’s ready to start over with fertilization (warmer water triggers male sperm release), brooding (in her gills for as long as 11 months) and release of the glochidia next year.

Plain pocketbook mussels live in our area. Here’s a female in the Kiskiminetas River in a video posted by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Facebook.

Read more about Freshwater mussels and fish: A timeless love affair at US Fish and Wildlife.

4 May 2026

This goldfish looks familiar. Someone didn’t want it or couldn’t keep it anymore so they dropped it off in the nearest waterway to let it “swim free.” Big mistake.

The goldfish above was found at Presque Isle State Park but I’ve seen them this big in Schenley Park’s Panther Hollow Lake. Goldfish are in the carp family (Cyprinidae) and live 12-20 years.

Awww, but it was so tiny when I bought it! Not anymore. During their long lifetime goldfish reach 6-10 inches in a tank but grow much bigger outdoors where they can weigh up to 4 pounds!

Your pet store goldfish after two years in the wild: ‘Call me Megalodon.’ [an extinct giant shark]

This goldfish isn’t supposed to be here. But someone released it, thinking they were being kind. Instead, they created an invasive problem that can last decades.

Goldfish grow massive in the wild, where they can turn lakes and waterways into murky messes, steal food from native fish, and wreck water quality.

If you can’t keep your fish, rehome it. Just don’t let it loose.

— Facebook Post for Invasive Species Week, 25 Feb 2025 by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Goldfish are invasive in many states including Pennsylvania and Minnesota. This 4+ minute video shows what happens in the wild and provides answers for your unwanted goldfish problem.

Remember, if you have an unwanted goldfish it is illegal to drop it off outdoors. Rehome it (give it away), take it to a Pet Surrender Event, call a pet or aquarium supply store, or call a Nature Center for advice. Don’t put it outdoors!

p.s. Goldfish create lousy, murky water quality. I’ll bet they are part of the problem at Panther Hollow Lake.

30 April 2026

We’re used to watching out for pests while turning over the soil but here’s one you may not recognize. Asian jumping worms (Amynthas agrestis) are an invasive species that writhe and jump unlike our relatively placid earthworms. Earthworms benefit the garden but Asian jumping worms ruin the soil. If you have them, get rid of them!

Here’s a quick video from Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York that describes the worms and an easy way to get rid of them.

You can tell when a bird catches a jumping worm because the worm constantly twists and writhes. The worm can even break off its tail and keep on living. Watch a grackle catch one … and most of the worm escapes anyway. Boo!

Learn more in this vintage article from 2019, including links to Pennsylvania jumping worm news.

p.s. How to get rid of them? Put them in a sealed plastic bag in the sun for at least 10 minutes.

7 April 2026

Heads up: If you don’t like snakes you won’t want to look at this. 😮

Perhaps you’ve seen a garter snake stand up to look over the grass.

But this small feat is nothing to what this snake did at the zoo. Eventually it swayed too far to the left and … plop.

How do snakes do this?

To find out, scientists studied three brown tree snakes and a scrub python moving on a path with a vertical gap in the middle. At first the gap was 12 inches and each snake easily moved up to the higher level. For subsequent runs, the vertical gap was increased until the snakes had to stand straight up to reach the higher one 31 inches away.

The brown tree snakes could reach the upper perch even when the vertical distance exceeded 50 percent of their total body length. The scrub python’s climbing abilities were even more impressive, exceeding 70 percent of its total body length.

— Smithsonian Magazine

Here’s one of the snakes running the course. Watch what he does.

After collecting the data …

The researchers used mathematical modeling to make sense of the snakes’ gravity-defying feats. The animals probably focus their muscle activity on a “boundary layer” at the base of their bodies near the lower perch, the team found. When the snake holds the part of its body above the “boundary layer” in an upright, nearly straight position, gravity has little leverage to pull the creature down.

“Curvature and muscular activity are large near the lower perch where the snake turns upwards, while in regions where the snake is vertical, no muscular forces are required since the gravitational torque vanishes there,” the researchers write in the paper.

Getting into the vertical pose doesn’t seem to require much energy. But holding the pose appears to be much more demanding, which is probably why snakes sway a bit when they’re upright.

— Smithsonian Magazine

And that swaying is why the zoo snake fell down.

Read more in Smithsonian Magazine: How Do Snakes ‘Stand’ Upright Nearly Stick-Straight? New Research Points to How They Pull Off the Gravity-Defying Feat.

31 March 2026

Yesterday on McMichael Road at Conneaut Marsh we saw thousands of ducks and were serenaded by the jingling sound of spring peepers, the quacking of wood frogs, and a mysterious growl that reminded me of anhinga courtship.

Using frog-call phenology from earlier this month (From Peepers to Bullfrogs: Here’s Who Sings When) I figured out they were northern leopard frogs. This MrLundScience video shows what they look and sound like. Notice the amazing air sacs.

Why did the frog sounds remind me of courting anhingas?

When I visit southeastern Florida to escape northern winter I make sure to stop at Wakodahatchee Wetlands to see the water birds. At that time of year anhingas are courting and nesting on top of low shrubby trees surrounded by water (pond apple trees?). Their courtship calls could almost be mistaken for frogs except that the anhingas make a big show while they do it.

The leopard frogs and anhingas both growl and rattle to attract mates.

29 October 2025

In late August Jim Chapman and Pattie Relosky were exploring public land in northwestern Pennsylvania when they were surprised to see a snake basking by the trail. It was an endangered species they had heard of decades ago but never seen: an eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus).

Eastern massasaugas are one of only three venomous snakes native to Pennsylvania. 125 years ago they lived in parts of Butler, Clarion, Venango, Mercer and Armstrong Counties (historic map below). Nowadays, there are only four small populations left out of 19 historic populations in Pennsylvania.

Jim and Pattie stood far away and used their binoculars to look at the snake. Jim zoomed his cellphone camera to take distant photos. The photo at top looks as if he was close but the image was cropped like this.

Fortunately the snake stayed frozen in place until Jim and Pattie left the area. Jim showed his photos to an expert who confirmed the snake’s identity and explained that this one was a pregnant female. Here’s why she was visible.

Pregnant females will choose sparsely vegetated dry areas to bask until they give birth to their young in August or early September. Females reach breeding age at four years and give birth to an average of six or seven young every other year.

— Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: Eastern massasauga rattlesnake

Amazing to me, massasaugas are ovoviviparous, meaning they carry their eggs inside them while the embryos develop and ‘hatch.’ The female gives birth to live young.

If you are lucky enough to see an eastern massasauga in Pennsylvania, keep in mind that it is endangered …

… and if you harass it, the snake can become dangerous. This species does freeze in place to avoid detection, but “if molested or injured the same snake will often strike repeatedly, with great accuracy.” — from Snakes of North America: Eastern and Central Regions by Alan Tennant, Lone Star Books, 2003. So don’t molest or injure the snake.

And finally, because they are endangered eastern massasaugas are well studied. Click here to see a young (small) snake being examined by a field biologist (photo from Wikimedia Commons).

A Caution to Commenters: Snakes can be an emotional topic. Please be respectful, stay on topic, avoid offensive and inflammatory language and personal attacks. If you post a comment that could inflame others, I may edit or delete it.