DOG PARTY

April 28 to May 4, 2015

It was dog days at the cottage with 4 dog cousins and their humans. Piper, Tilly, Lucy and Bella brought Jennifer, Leigh, Andrea and Ugo together for a wild play and romp. This was the first meeting of the cousins and it went splendidly. They all got along beautifully – and they all got more exercise than they have had in awhile.

Just before leaving for the cottage, Piper was diagnosed with Lyme Disease – most likely from a tick she picked up at the cottage on a previous visit last spring or fall. The ticks are REALLY on the rise! After each walk with the dogs, we would give them the once-over looking for the little beasts. We always found several. I have removed 3 off myself, so humans are not immune. Tick season is spring and fall so summer visitors may not be afflicted too badly, but I’d suggest that all dogs get good tick repellant and humans do regular checking. Andrea is now a tick removing expert.

All in all, except for the tick bonanza, the dog party was a barking success!

Good night to all good dogs.

September 16 – Toads and cockroaches

Sydney woke me up with her shaking and shivering and chattering of teeth several times during the night.  Not a good sleep for me, worse for her I suppose. I wonder if she is not only suffering from some neurological disturbance but also a little night time anxiety.

Here is a photo of Sydney the Wonder Dog as a young girl standing down by the lake after a refreshing dip.

Syd and I trotted over to Mum’s cabin this morning and as I opened the screen door, I felt something drop on to my arm then fall to the ground.  Here’s what fell, a lovely little toad.  I call it a toad because of the warty looking skin and when I used the amphibians of North America book to identify it, the closest match was the Grey Toad.

But I suspect it is actually the  Tetraploid Gray Treefrog, a species more common to Ontario.

Tetraploid Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor)

• has the ability to change colour, from greenish-gray to gray-black
• the skin appears mottled, bumpy and toad-like. It is often referred to as a tree toad
• each toe has a toe disc, which aids in climbing
• has 48 chromosomes which is twice that of other North American species of Hyla

Habitat:

• inhabits trees and shrubs close to temporary or permanent bodies of water
• after breeding in the spring they move away from the wetlands and into the forest

Cockroaches??!!

Big controversy here – a few roach, beetle looking things have been seen in both cottages.  This isn’t a great picture, because this poor specimen has been squashed by my foot before having its portrait taken.  David at the Bakery was insistent that they were wood beetles – but, after a careful review of the insect guide, it looks like they are indeed cockroaches!  The brown cockroach, to be exact.

  There was a huge issue because several groups insisted they were cockroaches and that if we didn’t kill them all, we’d be overrun and never get rid of them.  I’ve been reading up on them and it looks like they need heat and humidity to survive.  Since the uninsulated, unheated cottage will be spending many months suffering through an intensely cold winter, I suspect we’ll be OK by spring.  If not, I’ll get the exterminator in.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

I found a beautiful swallowtail butterfly in the yard – dead, but perfect. I looked it up on the iPhone and think it might be the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. These pictures were taken with the phone and this post is being done entirely with the iphone. Yes I am a tech geek!

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was once considered to be a single species, but is now divided into three species; the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis), the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and the Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio appalachiensis). These three species are very similar to one another, and can be hard to tell apart. The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail has a wingspan of 7.9 to 14 centimeters (3 to 5.5 inches). The adult male is yellow, with black “tiger stripes”. There are two morphs of adult females, a yellow one and a dark one. The yellow one is similar to the male, except there is a patch of blue on the hind wing. In the dark morph, the yellow areas are replaced by dark gray or black.

Porky

Not exactly pretty, but kind of exotic..

 

The common porcupine can be found in most of Canada, the western United States and as far south as Mexico. It makes its den in caves, decaying logs and hollow trees. The porcupine doesn’t hibernate, but it may stay in its den during bad weather. Some things I didn’t realize are that the porcupine is a good swimmer, its hollow quills help keep it afloat. It is also an excellent tree-climber and spends much of its time in trees.  Have you ever seen one sitting in a tree?  I haven’t. 

 

We know that we have quite a population of them at the cottage from the clues they leave behind … Was it Spruce who managed to get a snout-ful?    Here’s a picture of our more recent porcupine damage – they had a little chew-fest on the small dock last winter.

The small dock this spring – porcupine food

Most porcupine damage occurs during the winter when woody plants become a staple diet. Extensive gnawing of branches, twigs and bark is evidence of porcupine attack. Susceptible trees include pine, spruce, poplar, elm, fruit-bearing trees and numerous shrub species. Girdling of the tree bark, if severe, will kill the plant. In summer, porcupines will eat fruits, vegetables and succulent plants. Occasionally, porcupines find buildings, open air sheds and other wooden structures including boat houses and piers where they can seriously damage beams and other support structures with their gnawing.   

 

Porcupines have soft hair, but on their back, sides, and tail it is usually mixed with sharp quills. These quills typically lie flat until a porcupine is threatened, then leap to attention as a persuasive deterrent. Porcupines cannot shoot them at predators as once thought, but the quills do detach easily when touched. 

Want to look for evidence of porcupines? (besides chewed-up docks)  Here are porky’s tracks and trail pattern. 

 

On the rocks

On a grey day this spring.    Sydney loves to wander all over the property, just quietly sniffing…

Food for wildlife

One of the objectives of our cottage property is to enhance wildlife habitat. One thing we can do that is to provide the birds and animals with food and shelter. We may want to consider planting some (or some more) of the plants and trees below to help our place better support the wildlife. 

  

PLANTS			WILDLIFE
	White-tailed Deer	Ruffed Grouse	Duck (general)	Wild Turkey	Moose	Snowshoe Hare
Dogwood	***	***		***	***	***
Maple	***				***	***
White Cedar	***
Poplar	***				***
Aspen		***
Hemlock	***
Birch		***			***	***
Oak	***		***	***
Grape		***		***
Sumac	***	***		***		***
Corn			***	***
Apple	***	***
Mountain Ash					***

I don’t know about the corn…but we can’t forget the milkweed for the monarchs – spread those seed pods around!  

The endangered list

Here is the list of all the threatened and endangered species that may have a range that intersects with the property.   I’ve cross-checked against several lists on the net and pulled out only those species that may conceivably be in our area.  We should get all cottage goers interested in looking for signs of anything on the list.  I’ll be posting fact sheets for each of these here over the next few weeks.  I’m also making up a book of pictures and fact sheets to leave at the cottage for any other armchair naturalists – to see if they can find any of the species listed.

Taxonomy	Common Name	Scientific Name ▲	OMNR Status
Fish	American Eel	Anguilla rostrata	END
Birds	Short-eared Owl	Asio flammeus	SC
Birds	Whip-poor-will [PDF fact sheet]	Caprimlugus vociferus	THR
Reptiles	Snapping turtle [PDF fact sheet]	Chelydra serpentina	SC
Birds	Black Tern	Chlidonias niger	SC
Birds	Common nighthawk [PDF fact sheet]	Chordeiles minor	SC
Reptiles	Spotted Turtle	Clemmys guttata	END
Plants	Small White Lady’s-slipper	Cypripedium candidum	END
Insects	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	SC
Birds	Cerulean Warbler	Dendroica cerulea	SC
Reptiles	Blanding’s Turtle	Emydoidea blandingii	THR
Fish	Grass Pickerel	Esox americanus vermiculatus	SC
Reptiles	Wood Turtle [PDF fact sheet]	Glyptemys insculpta	END
	Northern Map Turtle
Reptiles	Eastern Hog-nosed Snake	Heterodon platirhinos	THR
Plants	Swamp Rose-mallow	Hibiscus moscheutos	SC
Plants	Goldenseal	Hydrastis canadensis	THR
Birds	Least Bittern	Ixobrychus exilis	THR
Reptiles	Milksnake	Lampropeltis triangulum	SC
Birds	Red-headed Woodpecker	Melanerpes erythrocephalus	SC
Plants	American Ginseng	Panax quinquefolius	END
Reptiles	Gray Ratsnake (Frontenac axis population)	Pantherophis spiloides	THR
Fish	Channel Darter	Percina copelandi	THR
Plants	Broad Beech Fern	Phegopteris hexagonoptera	SC
Plants	Ogden’s Pondweed	Potamogeton ogdenii	END
Birds	Prothonotary Warbler	Protonotaria citrea	END
Birds	King Rail	Rallus elegans	END
Plants	Toothcup	Rotala ramosior	END
Birds	Louisiana Waterthrush	Seiurus motacilla	SC
Reptiles	Eastern Musk Turtle	Sternotherus odoratus	THR
Reptiles	Eastern Ribbon snake		THR
Birds	Barn Owl [PDF fact sheet]	Tyto alba	END
Mammals	Grey Fox	Urocyon cinereoargenteus	THR
Birds	Golden-winged Warbler	Vermivora chrysoptera	SC
Molluscs	Rainbow Mussel	Villosa iris	THR
Birds	Canada warbler [PDF fact sheet]	Wilsonia canadensis	SC
Birds	Hooded Warbler	Wilsonia citrina
Plants	Blunt-lobed Woodsia	Woodsia obtusa	END
Reptiles	Common Five-lined Skink (Southern Shield population)	Plestiodon fasciatus	SC

The whip-poor-will

I’ve spent many hours now, compiling a list of all the threatened and endangered species that may have a range that intersects with the property.   I’ll be posting the status sheets and information on the endangered birds, mammals, plants, amphibians and fish.  I’ll also be listing which of the threatened species we have discovered finding sanctuary on our property.  Hope there are a lot of success stories to tell… 

I can start with our first “success” story – the Whip-poor-will.  This bird, though rarely seen, continues to drive us crazy at night as it continually hoots it’s very loud and mournful cry, seemingly throughout the night. 

 

The Whip-poor-will is usually found in areas with a mix of open and forested areas, such as open woodlands or openings in more mature, deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests. It forages in these open areas and uses forested areas for roosting (resting and sleeping) and nesting. It lays its eggs directly on the forest floor, where its colouring means it will easily remain undetected by visual predators.