April Showers
Bring May Flowers!
And we've definitely had enough showers to help our flowers grow! This is the perfect time for a spring flower scavenger hunt! Can you find the plants below on your hike? Be careful where you step, though--there are a lot of other plants just coming up out of the ground, including baby trees!
Spring woodland plants take advantage of all the sunlight that makes it to the forest floor before the trees grow their leaves! Since they are the first to germinate and flower, they are the first to feed bees and other hungry forest-dwelling critters such as chipmunks and deer. Their importance in the ecosystem highlights the need to remove invasive plants so they don't out-compete these native species!
Want to be able to identify more native plants?
Check out this handy little app--Picture This! Just point and click and it will identify the plant for you! Get the first week free!
Making a case for the dandelion.
Most people view dandelions as a pesky weed; however, they are loved by people all over the world and have been used as food and medicine for hundreds of years. Aside from being an early spring flower loved by many pollinators (like honey bees!), they do wonders for lawns! Their deep tap roots can grow down to depths of 15 feet reaching nutrients like calcium deep in the soil and making them available for other plants as well! Its roots loosen packed soils, reduce erosion, and aerate the soil. The friendly dandelion has been used medicinally to help increase the efficacy of the digestive system and to help filter toxins from the body! They pack quite a nutritional punch--more than most of our domestic vegetables! One plant can live for years offering all of these services and at their end, they even help fertilize the soil! So think twice about ridding the lawn of those pretty bright yellow flowers and remember all the great things they offer us and other wildlife!
Critter Corner!
Last week's critter was none other than the White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)!While different varieties of deer can be found all around the world, the White-tailed deer is native to North, Central, and South America! Male deer, known as bucks, begin growing antlers in the spring and early summer.
Antlers are bones that grow from the skull of the buck and are covered in a soft fuzzy tissue known as velvet. Velvet contains veins and arteries that deliver nutrient-rich blood to help the antlers grow. In the fall, the velvet is scraped off when bucks rub their antlers against trees. Bucks will use these antlers to defend their right to mate with does during rut season, which typically takes place in late October through November. Antlers grow larger each year and can be very heavy for bucks to carry, causing the deer to use up a lot of extra energy! Luckily, antlers fall off (like losing a tooth) during the winter months and can be found in fields and forests, usually with small teeth marks from mice chewing on them as a source of calcium. Contrary to popular belief, the condition of the deer's teeth is a much better way of aging a deer rather than its antlers since antler size is related to diet and heredity.
This time of year, something magical is happening! Fawns (baby deer) are being born to does (female deer)! Fawns are born with white spots and a lack of scent to help protect them from predators. They are also born with an instinctive behavior to lay and be still so they cannot be seen! Does will often leave their fawns lying in thickets of tall grass and graze (eat) several hundred yards away so they do not give the location of their fawns away to predators! On your next visit to River Bend, watch for itty bitty deer tracks in the mud--they're usually accompanied by their mother's much larger tracks! If you find a fawn, do not go near it--you don't want to startle it! Observe it from afar and be in awe of one of nature's amazing wonders!
Spring woodland plants take advantage of all the sunlight that makes it to the forest floor before the trees grow their leaves! Since they are the first to germinate and flower, they are the first to feed bees and other hungry forest-dwelling critters such as chipmunks and deer. Their importance in the ecosystem highlights the need to remove invasive plants so they don't out-compete these native species! Want to be able to identify more native plants?
Check out this handy little app--Picture This! Just point and click and it will identify the plant for you! Get the first week free!
Most people view dandelions as a pesky weed; however, they are loved by people all over the world and have been used as food and medicine for hundreds of years. Aside from being an early spring flower loved by many pollinators (like honey bees!), they do wonders for lawns! Their deep tap roots can grow down to depths of 15 feet reaching nutrients like calcium deep in the soil and making them available for other plants as well! Its roots loosen packed soils, reduce erosion, and aerate the soil. The friendly dandelion has been used medicinally to help increase the efficacy of the digestive system and to help filter toxins from the body! They pack quite a nutritional punch--more than most of our domestic vegetables! One plant can live for years offering all of these services and at their end, they even help fertilize the soil! So think twice about ridding the lawn of those pretty bright yellow flowers and remember all the great things they offer us and other wildlife!
For more facts about this amazing little flower, click on the links below!
It's a Hoot--The Animal Joke of the Week!
What is a snake's favorite subject?
-Hissstory
Riddle Me This...
As small as your thumb,
I am light in the air.
You may hear me
Before you see me,
But trust that I am
There.
What am I?
(A: dribgnimmuh detaorht-ybuR)
Phenomenal Phenology!
Here's what's happening in our area this week:
- Beavers are birthing their kits!
- Black-eyed Susans begin blooming!
- American Woodcock (in decline) chicks hatch!
- Monarch Butterflies (vulnerable to critically imperiled) begin arriving!
- Blanchard's Cricket Frogs (endangered) begin calling!
- Karner Blue Butterflies (endangered) begin to emerge!
Critter Corner!
This time of year, something magical is happening! Fawns (baby deer) are being born to does (female deer)! Fawns are born with white spots and a lack of scent to help protect them from predators. They are also born with an instinctive behavior to lay and be still so they cannot be seen! Does will often leave their fawns lying in thickets of tall grass and graze (eat) several hundred yards away so they do not give the location of their fawns away to predators! On your next visit to River Bend, watch for itty bitty deer tracks in the mud--they're usually accompanied by their mother's much larger tracks! If you find a fawn, do not go near it--you don't want to startle it! Observe it from afar and be in awe of one of nature's amazing wonders!
Can you guess this week's critter?
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| Snapshot Wisconsin & River Bend Nature Center |
That's all for this week! Enjoy your spring flower hike!
And as always...
Stay wild and free and healthy as can be!
-CT
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