found foxy

•

In "Look Homeward, Angel" Thomas Wolfe writes, "A stone, a leaf, an unfound door; of a stone, a leaf, a door. And all the forgotten faces." The novel's young protagonist, Eugene Gant, was seeking happiness and looking everywhere he could—behind every leaf, stone, etc.—to find it.

Me? I was seeking a little brown bird. Finding it represented a different form of happiness.

Three weeks ago I was looking for a fox sparrow, a forgotten face I hadn't seen in awhile. Like Wolfe I searched, but found none.

Last week the lost face presented itself to me, just outside my office window in the leafless shrubs behind a large stone. There's was no unfound door or my analogy would be perfect.

Ijams vet Dr. Louise Conrad noticed it and pointed out the gray and reddish-brown bird to me. Fox sparrows are only found here in the valley in winter, but not in great numbers. To find one, you often have to look behind every rock, leaf and lost door.

Or just wait until one presents itself outside your window.

•

skeletonizing

•

Pity the poor milkweed leaf in August. The caterpillars of the milkweed tussock moth (a.k.a. milkweed tiger moth) are ravenous. They're a common mid- to late-summer feeder on both milkweed and dogbane.

As Wiki reports, “Early instars appear slightly 'hairy' and gray. They skeletonize whole leaves gregariously, leaving a lacy remnant. They are gregarious until the third instar. Later instars sport tufts of black, white and orange (sometimes yellow) setae. The head capsule is black. The later instars wander much more, and may appear alone or in small clusters.”

I cringe anytime I hear the word “skeletonize.” Remember the basement acid scene in Vincent Price’s “House on Haunted Hill”? Reduced to a skeleton in a blink of an eye; not a pleasant way to go.

Dr. Louise was taking our albino turtle out for a little sun when she found the cluster of caterpillars clinging to the skeletal remains of a milkweed leaf.


- Photo taken at Ijams Nature Center


•

cuteness

•


God forbid, if I should ever post a photo simply because it was cute. God forbid.

Well, God forbid. Education director Jennifer Moore took our new baby opossum out for a stroll two days ago. And if you can get a sugar rush from eating too many sweets, is it possible to overdose on cute? Well then find me a place to come down from my drunkenness.

The baby opossum is the newest member of our education staff at the nature center. She has a vision problem in one eye and would not survive very long in the wild. Our wildlife biologist Pam and vet Dr. Louise worked out her transfer from UT Veterinary Teaching Hospital where the young marsupial was treated after being rescued from the wild.

- Photo taken at Ijams Nature Center.

•

leave them be

•

At this time of the year, Sheila gets a lot of phone calls at the front desk. Many of the callers ask questions like:

“I found a baby bird, do you want it?” or “I’ve got a baby robin, it’s fallen out of its nest, how do I raise it?”

Last Saturday we arrived at work to find a basket with baby birds inside. No note. Nothing. A trio of orphans set adrift like Moses in the bulrushes times three. In this case, staff member Kara Remington played the role of the Pharaoh's daughter.

As Ijams veterinarian Dr. Louise Conrad says, “Unless you find the bloody dead parent, don’t assume it’s an orphan.”

Baby birds are fidgety; they often fall or get pushed from their nest. The parents are well aware of where they are but cannot retrieve them. But they continue to bring food to the nestlings. They’re good parents. When their wings develop, the young bird flies to rejoin its family.

Dr. Conrad says that research also shows that if something does happen to the parent birds and the young are truly orphaned, other parent birds of the same species will often bring food to the calling orphan. In other words, an adult robin may respond to the food call and bring food to an orphan of its own kind.

Baby birds need to be fed several times an hour. They grow very quickly. It’s a difficult task for a human; besides, we cannot teach a wild robin how to be a wild robin. It is also against state and federal laws to adopt a baby bird as a pet.

Wild animals need to remain wild. Nature finds a way. In this case, doing the right thing means leaving them alone.

•

show & tell

•

Yesterday was Show & Tell Saturday at the nature center.

At 11 a.m., I led a group, the Weekend Academy (pictured above), on a spring wildflower walk. At 1 p.m. part-time vet Dr Louise Conrad unveiled our newest education animal, a baby albino box turtle (pictured below); and at 3 p.m. wildlife biologist Pam Petko-Seus, fed the snapping turtle in the exhibit hall for all to see.

A beautiful day to be at Ijams. A good time was had by all.




•