School is ending, but Eberwhite Woods is active all summer!

Though Eberwhite Elementary is finishing their 2017-2018 school year this week, the woods surrounding the school are as active as ever. Insect activity is increasing, plants are growing with vigor and speed, baby birds are hatching, painted turtles are migrating, and the ponds are slowly shrinking. As the summer passes, the ponds and forest of Eberwhite Woods provide important habitat and resources that vary as animals' requirements change over the season. We often assume that animals living or reproducing in ponds spend their entire life in water, but this is not true for many creatures. Many animals only spend part of their life cycle in water and use the surrounding habitat as their home. Thus, it is important to protect and conserve Eberwhite ponds, and also the surrounding forest, meadows, and grasslands.

Daytime Raccoons

There have been some interesting and perhaps surprising observations in the past few weeks. A raccoon was seen intently digging in the mud bordering the small pond around 10 am. Typically, raccoons are active at night (nocturnal). This raccoon would dig, eat, and then wash its hands, repeating the process over and over. It did not seem to mind a group of about 20 people watching it from the other side of the pond. Clearly, the food source was worth the risk of being out during the day. Bill Dowd, of Skedaddle: Humane Wildlife Control, offers a few reasons why a raccoon would be active during the day:

"Raccoons can come out during the daytime hours if they have found a food source available at a particular time.

They may have been frightened from their den site by a person or dog causing them to relocate themselves to one of their other homes in the area

Mother raccoons can have their usual patterns disrupted during the spring and summer birthing season when nursing a litter of babies can force mother raccoons to forage for their own food during daylight hours.

Juvenile raccoons are more likely to be active during the day and are less strictly nocturnal than adults"

Migrating Turtles

Many turtles in EWW pond; painted turtle (stock photo), painted turtle laying eggs in her nest (stock photo)

Another activity that local folks have been observing is turtle migration. Painted turtles (the most common turtle in North America with various sub-species) that we observe in the Eberwhite ponds do not complete their entire life cycles in these ponds. Painted turtles hibernate during winter and usually pass the winter in mud at the bottom of the pond or near shore, or in burrows on land. In the early spring, after emerging from hibernation, turtles breed in the ponds. They have an interesting courtship where the male will wave his claw in front of the female or stroke her head/neck. They do this repeatedly until the female dives to the bottom of the pond/lake, the male follows, and they mate. In early summer, the females, who are carrying eggs, will leave the ponds and look for a good nest site. They may travel hundreds of meters away from the pond and even cross roads to find a good place to build a nest. They look for sandy soil and good sun exposure. They will dig a nest, lay their eggs, bury them, and return to the ponds. The young turtles hatch, and independently head back to a water source to live. If they hatch in late summer, they may overwinter in their nest. Some painted turtles may travel several kilometers at a time just to look for food, especially in late summer when temporary aquatic areas are drying up. Watch out for migrating turtles crossing roads or your backyard!

Toad on a Log

This American toad was observed at the end of a fallen tree in the upper portion of Eberwhite woods, far from the ponds where we recently heard them calling for their mates with high-pitched trills. It was sheltering during the day because it is nocturnal. When the reproductive period is over for American toads (early-late spring, depending on how far north they live), the toads migrate away from water bodies and live their lives in any sort of vegetated habitat.  Our local American toads live in Eberwhite Woods, but this species can survive almost anywhere with semi-permanent bodies of water, dense vegetation for hiding and hunting, and a good supply of insects for food. American toads eat snails, slugs, earthworms and all kinds of insects, sometimes up to 1,000 insects/day!

Squirrels in the Owl Nest

The artificial great horned owl nest that Eberwhite Elementary students installed last fall has been taken over by a squirrel. The owl pair did not lay eggs this year, but made nightly visits to the nest through May hooting and even rearranging branches to their liking. A few days after their last visit, a squirrel built a nest in it. To recap, see if you can follow this: the squirrels took over the artificial great horned owl's nest that was put up because the great horned owl babies destroyed their nest which was an old squirrel nest their parents had taken over! The babies haven't emerged yet, but here is a video compilation of an up-close view of a squirrel building her nest.

Stay In Touch This Summer!

We will continue to publish the Weekly Woods Watch over the summer, but it will not be sent out from the school. If you would like to receive it directly, please enter your email address here. You can also contact the Eberwhite Woods Stewardship Committee directly with questions or comments by emailing them: eberwhitewoods1946@gmail.com.