Monthly Archives: August 2025

Striped Skunk

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While on a walk in the woods, I heard the shuffling around of leaves. Closer examination revealed a creature rooting through the forest floor looking for something to eat. The Striped Skunk is one of the most recognizable of North America’s animals and is a popular figure in cartoons and children’s books.

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This mammal is stoutly-built and short-limbed, with a small, conical head and a long, heavily furred tail. The color patterns of the fur vary greatly, but generally consist of a black base with a white stripe extending from the head which divides along the shoulders.

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Like all skunks, it possesses two highly developed scent glands, which provide a chemical defense against predation. Because of its formidable defensive capability, it has few natural enemies, with their most notable predator being the Great Horned Owl.

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The Striped Skunk inhabits a wide variety of habitats, particularly mixed woodlands, brushy corners and open fields interspersed with wooded ravines and rocky outcrops. Some populations, particularly in northwestern Illinois, prefer cultivated areas over uncultivated ones.

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While primarily an insectivore, they are adaptable enough to incorporate other animals and even vegetable matter into their diet. They use their sharp claws to tear apart rotting logs to find grubs, dig in the soil for insects, and pin down prey. Their practice of digging creates small-but-noticeable pits in the ground, which can provide evidence of their presence in an area.

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This animal has firmly embedded itself in American culture, with songs “Dead Skunk” by Loudon Wainwright III and cartoon characters – the Warner Bros. character “Pepé Le Pew” and the Disney character “Flower” from “Bambi.”

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Cicada Parasite Beetle

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While walking in the wooded lot across the street from my house, I came across this very interesting insect that I’ve never seen (or heard of) before.

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Cicada Parasite Beetle adults are large, stocky, dark brown insects that are about one inch long. They are flattened dorsally with a downward pointed head.

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This species is known from southern Ontario to Florida, west to Colorado and Texas. These beetles are interesting due to their habits and lifestyle.

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The adult beetles lay their eggs bark cracks; the eggs hatch into slender, active larvae called triungulins. These larvae burrow through the soil seeking out cicada nymphs.

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Once a cicada nymph is found, the triungulin larva molts into a slow-moving, grub-like larva that grabs onto the cicada nymph and feeds on its hemolymph (blood).

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Mature larvae pupate and emerge as adults in the same years when periodical cicadas emerge. Although both females and males fly, the females are usually found motionless on the side of the elm trees.

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Black Chokeberry

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While hiking in the Indianapolis Area of Indiana, I came across this neat plant. This is a species of shrub in the Rose Family native to eastern North America, ranging from Canada to the central United States. Its natural habitat can vary from bogs and swamps to dunes and rocky outcroppings.

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It is multi-stemmed and deciduous, growing 4 to 8 feet in height. Black Chokeberry’s clusters of white to pink-tinged flowers bloom in April through May. The blooms are followed by fruit that turns from red to blackish-purple. These tart fruits are edible and are the subject of University of Maryland research for their potential use as an alternative fruit crop. The fruits are unpleasant when raw (hence the common name), but when processed they have culinary and nutraceutical value.

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In recent history, Black Chokeberry has been extensively produced in Russia as a small fruit used in juice products (mixed with apple juice), wine, compote and pickles. It has been commercially grown in Europe where its fruit is used in juice, alcoholic beverages, energizing beverages, and as a food colorant. Its fruit has higher levels of antioxidants than any other temperate fruit.

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In Autumn, its foliage of turns to brilliant shades of red and burgundy. Over time, it tends to sucker profusely (form new shoots from the base) and may produce a thicket of growth when free from competition of other plants.

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In wildlife habitat and in wildlife gardens, Black Chokeberry provides browse for White-tailed Deer and Rabbits, and fruit for Ruffed Grouse, Sharp-tailed Grouse and Prairie Chickens.

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Fingernail Clam

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While catching tadpoles in the pond across the street from me, I’d occasionally net what looked to be a small tan pebble. Closer examination revealed something different though. Fingernail Clams, also called Pill Clams or Pea Clams, are members of a family of small to tiny freshwater clams that are common, but rarely noticed.

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Like other clams, Fingernail Clams have two mirror-image shells that are hinged together that are generally rounded to triangular in shape. Their shells are thin and fragile, often translucent, the outsides typically shiny, fairly smooth, and gray, tan, yellowish, or whitish. Fine growth lines are often visible, but they are not strongly raised, ridged, or rough.

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Fingernail Clams are found in a variety of aquatic habitats, usually in places with mucky or sandy substrates, and usually at or just under the bottom substrate. Some species of fingernail clams are adapted to live in vernal pools — temporary ponds, usually in woodlands, that fill with water in Springtime, then dry up during Summer. As the pool dries, the Fingernail Clam burrows down several inches into the soil, where it is moist enough for it to survive until the next Spring.

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Like other clams, scallops, mussels, oysters, and most other bivalve mollusks, they are filter feeders that remove suspended organic materials from water, such as algae, tiny planktonic animals, and plant and animal detritus.

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They have tubelike siphons that draw in water and tiny, drifting food particles into their shell cavity. A pair of flaplike, mucous-covered gills collects the food and channels it into the animal’s mouth.

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Like its relatives, the Fingernail Clam has a foot, which is used to dig down into the pond bottom where it can burrow. Fingernail Clams (like most other mollusks) are hermaphrodites: each individual can produce both eggs and sperm. Fingernail clams are able to fertilize their own eggs.

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Apparently Fingernail Clams can move from one isolated vernal pool to another by clamping on to a finger or toe of a salamander, frog, or other animal. Since they can fertilize their own eggs, only one individual can start a population.

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Sow Thistle

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I recently saw this plant growing on the corner of my street. Sow Thistle is native to Eurasia, but has spread to other countries. In the United States, grows in areas such as pastures, roadsides, bushlands and the shorelines of lakes, rivers, and sea coast.

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Many people tend to confuse Sow Thistle with Dandelions. Sow Thistle usually has many flowers sprouting out on each stalk, while Dandelion only has one flower per stalk. Sow Thistle leaves grow all the way up the stalk, as well as at the base of the plant. Dandelion leaves are only at the base.

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Sow Thistle’s flowers are grouped in loose clusters at the end of stalks. A plant may have up to 20 flower heads, with only a few blooming at once. The flowers open two to three hours after sunrise and close around noon.

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The flowerheads mature to form fluffy spheres that are three to four inches diameter and comprised of seeds with long, slender beaks on white, umbrella-like structures that aid in their dispersal by wind. The fluffy sphere of seeds looks similar to that of a Dandelion, only much larger.

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This plant’s leaves are alternate, simple, and are the broadest near or above the middle – they can be up to a foot long. They are deeply lobed along the margin and the spiny toothed, lobed leaf bases clasp Sow Thistle’s stem.  Its stems are filled with milky white sap.

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This plant is also known as Field Milk Thistle, Field Sow Thistle, Perennial Sow-thistle, Corn Sow Thistle, Dindle, Gutweed, Swine Thistle, or Tree Sow Thistle.

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