Red-bellied Cooter

Posted on September 15, 2023 by tspuckler

This is an aquatic turtle with a dark, highly domed shell and a distinctive red belly. It can be found basking along the edges of ponds, streams and rivers throughout the Potomac River and in coastal portions of Maryland and Virginia.

They are not native to Ohio, but I frequently see them in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. These examples are probably released pets.

Red-bellied Cooters are also called Redbelly Turtles. They get their name from their reddish plastron (the underside of their shell).

This reptile is usually found in areas with deep, fast-moving water, with a muddy bottom and lots of aquatic vegetation. Red-bellied Cooters will sun themselves on rocks and logs to control body temperature, but will disappear into the water when alarmed. In Winter, this turtle hibernates in the mud at the bottom of rivers.

Males can have a shell length of 10 to 12 inches long; while females have shell lengths of 11 to 13-1/2 inches. They can weigh up to 12-1/2 pounds. Red-bellied Cooters are estimated to live more than 50 years. Females reach maturity at 13 to 20 years, while males reach maturity at a younger age.

Females begin nesting activity from late May to early June. They typically nest within 300 feet of the water’s edge. Their nest holes are dug at about four inches deep. This species typically lays 10 to 20 eggs that hatch in 70 to 80 days.

Like some other species of turtles, Red-bellied Cooters have temperature-dependent sex determination. Nests with warmer temperatures produce females, while cooler nests produce males.

The diet for this species is herbaceous (they consume only vegetative matter), consisting of submergent aquatic macrophytes, such as hydrilla, brushy pondweed, eel-grass, arrowhead, and mud plantain.

Although it does not belong in my home state of Ohio, it’s always a neat experience to come across one of these impressive reptiles while out hiking.

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Rainbow Darter

Posted on September 8, 2023 by tspuckler

While investigating a creek in Ohio, I turned up a few of these small, but colorful fish. Rainbow Darters only grow to be about 3 inches long. They can be a very brightly-colored creatures, depending on their sex and whether it is breeding season.

Females have brown stripes, while males usually have blue stripes that are separated by orange coloring. The first dorsal fins usually have red coloring close to the body, with a blue fringe. However, in female rainbow darters, this coloring is not very well developed and may simply appear as thin lines.

Rainbow Darters inhabit small rivers and streams in eastern North America. They have been widely located in vast numbers in the Ohio River Valley and the tributaries of the Great Lakes. They are also found throughout the Mississippi River, as far north as Minnesota and as far south as southeastern Louisiana.

This species prefers the fast-moving currents of shallow riffles in creeks and small rivers. They also have a preference for gravel or rocky-bottom streams. Typically adult fish are found in faster and deeper running waters, while younger rainbow darters are more common in slower, shallower areas and pools.

Rainbow Darters are considered shy and stay hidden for most the day between or along rocks unless they are looking for food or reproducing. They feed on a variety of aquatic insect larvae, small snails, and crayfish. They also feed on various fish eggs, typically either minnow or lamprey eggs.

It was great to be able to capture a few of these cool creatures while out in the field.

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Slippery Elm

Posted on September 1, 2023 by tspuckler

Slippery Elm is named after its slick, mucilaginous inner bark, which was chewed by the Native Americans and pioneers to quench thirst when water was not readily available.

This tree may reach 60 feet tall by 50 feet wide, when found in the open. It grows best and on moist, rich soils of lower slopes and flood plains, although it may also grow on dry hillsides with limestone soils.

In Spring, Slippery Elm is one of the first trees to come into flower, its wind-pollinated flowers are produced before its leaves, usually in tight, short-stalked clusters of 10–20.

Slippery Elm’s flowers soon develop into rounded samaras. The reddish-brown fruit is slightly notched at the top and the single, central seed is coated with red-brown hairs.

The inner bark of this tree is used for a number of herbal preparations, many of which relieve throat and digestive issues. The light, fluffy bark is commonly used as a binder for making herbal pills.

For me, the thing about this tree that is most unexpected is the leaves, which are broadly elliptical and are sandpapery rough on both the upper and lower surfaces.

This tree’s other common names include Red Elm (in reference to its reddish brown heartwood), Gray Elm, Soft Elm, Moose Elm and Indian Elm.

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Banded Garden Spider

Posted on August 25, 2023 by tspuckler

This is a neat spider that I have not only found while out and about, but also have occasionally seen in my backyard. For me, Banded Garden Spiders are not as commonly encountered in Ohio as Black and Yellow Garden Spiders, although they inhabit similar locations.

This orb weaver produces a large, concentrically patterned web in areas of tall grass and shrubby vegetation. The web is strong and capable of holding fairly big and active insects like wasps and grasshoppers. The webs of these arachnids have both sticky and non-sticky silk. Non-sticky silk is used for the threads which radiate from a central point like spokes on a bicycle wheel. The spiral threads are composed of the sticky silk that captures the spider’s prey.

A behavioral study of web construction determined that the majority of Banded Garden Spiders orient their webs along an east-to-west axis. The spiders hang head-down in the center of the web with their abdomens facing south. Since the underside of the spider is mostly black, the position of both web and spider is believed to maximize solar radiation for heat gain, which is an important consideration for spiders that are active late in the year.

At about an inch in length (not including its legs), the Banded Garden Spider can usually be observed resting in the center of the web, although it may drop readily if disturbed. Its body’s background color is a pale yellow with numerous lateral bands of black. The legs are also a pale yellow with darker spots or bands.

Banded Garden Spiders use a “wrap-and-bite” strategy to quickly dispatch their prey. When a victim becomes entangled in their web, the spider rushes over and wraps the prey in a thick shroud of dense webbing. They it bites through the victim’s exoskeleton. The bite delivers neurotoxic venom that halts its prey’s struggling and necrotoxins that dissolve its food’s insides.

Banded Garden Spider adults can be found from mid- to late Summer through the first freeze. Their egg sacs are deposited in early Fall and consist of several hundred eggs. The immature spiders emerge the following Spring.

The Banded Garden Spider is a colorful and fascinating creature that I look forward to seeing every Summer.

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Everlasting Sweet Pea

Posted on August 18, 2023 by tspuckler

I often see this plant on the edges of roadsides in the Summer months. Everlasting Sweet Pea is an old-fashioned, herbaceous perennial climbing vine with beautiful, bright flowers that grows up 10 feet tall.

A non-native, it was introduced from Europe as a horticultural plant because of its showy flowers.

This plant’s habitats include meadows with history of disturbance, woodland edges, sites of old homesteads, vacant lots, fence rows, and gardens. It has distinct stems that look “winged” on each side.

Everlasting Sweet Pea produces pink or white flowers in summer. Its flowers are clustered in groups, about one inch long, in the typical pea-flower configuration, with a large standard (upper petal); rose-purple, rose-pink, or white. Despite their name, the flowers are not fragrant.

Bumblebees pollinate the flowers. Butterflies visit the flowers for their nectar, but do not pollinate them. Fabricius Blister Beetles, the caterpillars of the Oithona Tiger Moth and some herbivores feed on the leaves. However, the seeds of Everlasting Sweet Pea are poisonous.

The flowers are followed by hairless flattened seedpods, about two inches long and half an inch wide, with several seeds inside. The seedpod, which is initially green, gradually turns brown, splitting open into curled segments, flinging out the seeds.

This old heirloom vine was grown by Thomas Jefferson and it also known as Perennial Pea-vine, Everlasting Peavine, and Perennial Sweet Pea.

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House Wren

Posted on August 11, 2023 by tspuckler

We’ve had at least one of these birds visiting last year and again this year. I put up a birdhouse specifically for it. The male sits on or near the birdhouse, puts twigs in it and frequently calls in efforts to attract a female. A familiar backyard bird, the House Wren was named long ago for its tendency to nest around human homes or in birdhouses.

The House Wren has one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the New World. It breeds from Canada through the West Indies and Central America, and southward to the southernmost point of South America.

Very active and inquisitive, bouncing about with its short tail held up in the air, pausing to sing a rich song, the House Wren adds a lively spark to gardens and city parks despite its lack of bright colors. These birds feed on a wide variety of insects, including beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, moths, flies, and many others. They also eat spiders, millipedes, and snails.

House Wrens nest inside tree holes and nest boxes. As the season progresses their nests can become infested with mites and other parasites that feed on the wren nestlings. Perhaps to fight this problem, wrens often add spider egg sacs into the materials they build their nests from. In lab studies, once the spiders hatched, they helped the birds by devouring the nest parasites.

Weighing less than two quarters, House Wrens are feisty and pugnacious animals, considering their tiny size. They are known to occasionally destroy the eggs of other birds nesting in their territory by puncturing their eggshells.

House Wrens range far and wide, spending summers over a large part of the United States and wintering anywhere from Florida to the southern tip of South America. Only a few stay here in cold months, as they are replaced by the aptly named Winter Wren visiting from the mountains.

The House Wren is a plain looking songbird, but its bubbling songs, nonstop activity and willingness to live near people make a pleasure to observe.

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Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Posted on August 4, 2023 by tspuckler

This is a big, handsome, black dragonfly with spotted wings. In addition to its size, the male Twelve-spotted Skimmer is easily recognized by its wing spots. Females have a brown body with yellow lateral stripes with similar wings to the male, but lack the white patches.

These insects have two sets of wings. They have twelve dark brown or black wing spots (three spots per wing) – hence, the name “Twelve-spotted.” The Twelve-spotted Skimmer averages just over two inches in length and their wingspan is just under two inches.

Dragonflies are very efficient hunters and catch their insect prey by grabbing it with their legs. Adult Twelve-spotted Skimmers will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect, including mosquitoes, flies, butterflies, moths, mayflies and flying ants and termites.

Skimmers are the most common and colorful members of the dragonfly family. Their wings are held flat and extend outward from the body when at rest.

Males typically are very territorial at breeding sites, displaying aggression by chasing competing males in what can be likened to an aviation performance of vertical loops and side-by-side flight displays.

The Twelve-spotted Skimmer is found in southern Canada and in all 48 of the contiguous United States. Its habitat is ponds and nearby fields. As visual hunters, nearly all of a dragonfly’s head is eye, so they have incredible vision that encompasses almost every angle except right behind them.

It is always cool to see one of these fine creatures when out and about. Dragonflies were among of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago and had wingspans of up to two feet.

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Obedient Plant

Posted on July 28, 2023 by tspuckler

This is a neat species of flowering plant that is in the Mint Family. It is native to North America, where it is distributed from eastern Canada to northern Mexico.

Sometimes known as “False Dragonhead,” it is more known commonly as Obedient Plant, because when a flower is pushed to one side, it will often stay in that position.

It grows 3 to 4 feet tall and forms dense spikes of white, pink or lavender flowers. Its leaves are opposite, stalkless, narrowly lance-shaped, sharply toothed and up to five inches long.

Obedient Plant occurs in the moist soils of fields, prairies, thickets, woodland openings and borders, along rivers and streams, and lakesides. It is commonly sold as a garden plant.

A sure sign of Summer is seeing the attractive upright spikes of snapdragon-like flowers abundantly borne atop this robust perennial.

Its very attractive flowers persist for a month or more from late Summer into early Fall. The flowers are often visited by by Hummingbirds, Bumble Bees and Carpenter Bees.

As one of our most handsome native mints, it’s hard not to enjoy the beauty of the Obedient Plant.

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Rainbow Trout

Posted on July 21, 2023 by tspuckler

While fishing in the Ohio & Erie Canal, I caught this fine fish. It is widely farmed both as a table fish and to stock lakes and rivers as a sport fish.

The Rainbow Trout is native only to the rivers and lakes of North America, west of the Rocky Mountains, but its value as a hard-fighting game fish and tasty meal has led to its introduction throughout the world. This popular fish has been stocked in almost every one of the United States and on every continent except Antarctica.

Also called Redband Trout, they are attractive fish that derive their name from their beautiful, multi-hued coloration. Their bodies are blue, green, or yellowish, shading to silvery white on the underside, with a horizontal pink-red stripe running from the gills to the tail and black spots along their backs.

Steelhead and Rainbow Trout are the same species, and members of the Salmon Family. Rainbow Trout are freshwater only, and Steelhead are anadromous, or go to sea. Unlike most Salmon, Steelhead can survive spawning and can spawn in multiple years. Adult Rainbow Trout and Steelhead range in size. They can reach 45 inches in length, but are usually much smaller. They can weigh more than 50 pounds, but a more typical weight is 8 pounds.

This is a cool- to cold-water fish species that does best in areas where the water remains below 70°F. Rainbow Trout are carnivores and feed on a wide variety of prey including insects, crustaceans, mollusks, fish eggs and fish. In habitats that are dense with aquatic vegetation, they often have the opportunity to eat arthropods that fall into the stream.

A group of rainbow trout is called a hover.

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Raccoon

Posted on July 14, 2023 by tspuckler

This is a common, but interesting creature that often visits our backyard. A highly successful mammal, I often encounter it on my travels as well. Raccoons are found across southern Canada, throughout most of the United States, and into northern South America. Scientifically known as Procyon lotor, Raccoons are commonly associated with washing their food. Their species name, lotor, means “the washer.”

Three of the Raccoon’s most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws, its facial mask, and its ringed tail. It is noted for its intelligence, as studies show that it is able to remember the solution to a task for at least three years.

Raccoons are usually nocturnal and omnivorous, eating about 40% invertebrates, 33% plants, and 27% vertebrates. In the natural world, Raccoons snare a lot of their meals in the water. These nocturnal foragers use lightning-quick paws to grab crayfish, frogs, and other aquatic creatures.

The original habitats of the raccoon are deciduous and mixed forests, but due to their adaptability, they have extended their range to mountainous areas, coastal marshes, and urban areas, where some homeowners consider them to be pests.

During Winter in cold northern climates, Raccoons sleep for extended periods, although they don’t actually hibernate. To prepare for cold Winters, Raccoons pack on extra body fat in fall. This extra fat helps provide the animal with energy when it’s too cold to search for food.

Raccoons live for around one to three years in the wild. In captivity, where the raccoon doesn’t need to contend with finding food or outwitting predators, some have lived as long as 20 years.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Red-bellied Cooter

Rainbow Darter

Slippery Elm

Banded Garden Spider

Everlasting Sweet Pea

House Wren

Twelve-spotted Skimmer

Obedient Plant

Rainbow Trout

Raccoon