More animal sightings & sounds . . . & readings

Cicada

First "c-i," then "c-r," then "k-a” – or “cicada, cricket, katydid,” for the alphabetical order of lovelorn singing insects outside right now.  Cicadas call during the day, crickets start around dusk and katydids take over from late night till dawn’s early light.  It’s all about insect love, and the male choruses are out there with imploring surround sound.  

So, relatively small critters head up the list of animals we can easily spot, or hear, this month.  Fireflies – aka lightning bugs – were around last month, although they seemed to be fewer in number and here for a shorter stay. 

                                                                                     George Ross/Getty pic

Monarch butterflies found our milkweed bushes on July 17, right after flowers appeared.  Basically orange, patterned and beautiful, they need milkweed in transit, and found it here before flying on. 

Spider webs seem to have proliferated this summer, stretching long distances (often inconvenient for gardeners) and displaying spiders’ trapped prey.  A groundhog – the first ever spotted in our yard – visited for a while last week, while on sunny afternoons the bird bath still attracts what I’ve decided are paper wasps.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/paper-wasps-yellowjackets.html?campaign_id=34&emc=edit_sc_20200721&instance_id=20480&nl=science-times&regi_id=20760274&segment_id=33950&te=1&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd

Nor can we ignore the far less welcome Japanese beetles and the dreaded spotted lanternfly, “an invasive insect that can suck the life out of some trees and continues to destroy crops like vines used for wine grapes,” according to the local paper.  (Citizen tipsters can report lanternfly sightings to this hotline number: 833-223-2840.)

Snakes’ bad rap

                               Pete Oxford pic
Timber rattlesnake's rattle

From as far back as Genesis, and up to the snake-pit scene in True Grit, snakes are not seen as friends of humans.  In fact, “our culture has taught us to associate serpents not only with danger but also with evil.”  

The sight of a snake typically prompts people to shriek or run.  We don’t usually give them credit for being shy or scared themselves. 

And yet, a recent article makes a good case for snakes – minding their own business and not attacking unless they’re threatened first.  In the case of a young timber rattlesnake the writer encountered on Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, it stayed still and quiet (no rattling sound!), right where it was spotted.

She later learned that “The rattle is a last-ditch defensive strategy against predators. They’d much rather hunker down and wait for trouble [in this case, two humans] to leave.”

Like so many other animals, snakes are losing habitat and being killed, needlessly, by humans.  But one key point to remember about them is that they can be dangerous, yet still pose very little threat to people.  

Education about snakes and other reptiles is believed to be the best way to stop snake-killing and promote co-existence.  The Orianne Society (https://www.oriannesociety.org/), a conservation non-profit, can help.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/opinion/rattlesnakes.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20200622&instance_id=19607&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=20760274&segment_id=31539&te=1&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd

Save the chickens!

White Leghorn Hen

Although I had read the review of Barn 8 (Graywolf Press), by Deb Olin Unferth, the book caught me by (very pleasant) surprise.  True, it’s about family, friendship and eventual growing up . . . but it’s also about countless chickens.  The details about how most of them “live” these days hit hardest.

No wonder so many of Unferth’s quirky characters set out to “remove” or “rescue” a million layer hens.  The story of how they decide on this mission, then with meticulous plans and an army of  volunteers, carry it out is part fantasy, part hilarious and all animal love. 

If this book is representative of Unferth’s work, I’m hurrying back for more!

Tiger Day

Wednesday, July 29 is International Tiger Day – a time to raise awareness for the conservation of wild tigers and preservation of their habitats, as well as the suffering of tigers in captivity.  

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