The Mystery of the Pile of Legs

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I hope that title caught your attention. It WAS a mystery, and it WAS a pile of legs.  Spindly black legs all piled up on the ground beneath a part of the stucco wall that is often covered with legions of harvestmen, (some people call them daddy longlegs).  I find them congregating in various parts of the deck; sometimes they cluster on the stucco wall, other days I may find them all packed into the corners of the ceiling or hiding behind the water tank.  

 

Harvestmen are nocturnal so their roaming about and hunting for food is something I don’t get to witness, although, a night on the deck with a flashlight might be interesting. The gregarious clumps I see are the way they spend the day. Safety in numbers I suppose but they seem awfully conspicuous and I often wondered if the birds ever found them to be a tasty treat.  This pile of legs seemed to be the answer to that.  I had just recently read a nature article about the Hill Country where the author mentioned that he could tell his wrens had had 4 harvestmen for breakfast by the number of legs strewn about his patio!     

Aha! I have several pairs of wrens in the yard, both Carolina and Bewick’s wrens and for the last month a pair of recently fledged Bewick’s wrens have made the back deck their number one hang out.  They have been endlessly entertaining as they land on the clothesline never expecting it to swing, flapping to keep their balance. They also find sleeping in a straw angel hanging on the post not only the best place for them to hunker down but a proven way to startle me each morning when they fly out.  And most recently, they have found underwear on the line to be the perfect cradle for a nap by day.  Discretion kept me from taking a picture of that!  So, it seems to me that they may be the likely suspects.  Not that that would hold up in court.

Of course, the only really edible part of this creature is its one body part.  In Harvestmen, as in mites or ticks, their head and thorax are fused together and called a cephalothorax. Insects have three body parts and spiders have two.  Although they are included in the Arachnid class, that one, not two, body parts earn them their own Order, Opilliones.  (I love the way that word rolls off the tongue, so very Italian sounding)  It’s hard to imagine getting your fill on this one small body part but I suppose if you eat enough of them it must count for something, for it was a substantial pile of legs.

As a defensive gesture they do have the ability to jettison a leg when trying to evade a predator. And that leg will continue to twitch around for a while distracting the would-be-assailant, but this pile had too many legs to have been caused by that.  I am still putting my money on the wrens.

The harvestmen’s other defense is a pair of scent glands located next to their eye that gives off a foul odor, ostensibly to discourage anything making a meal of them.  “Giving someone the stink eye” could take on a new meaning in this context! For that matter, some people think their mass groupings are for the purpose of really putting out a substantial stench when threatened.  I can’t say I have ever noticed an odor, but then I have never seen them being threatened.  When I get to close to them, they all start gyrating and do an impressive amount of push-ups but that’s all.

Once again, where was the camera?  Not with me, and when I went back the next day the wind had blown all those delicate legs away; the crime scene had vanished.   Now I check daily to look for other signs of feasting but so far, no luck.  Which is why I always say, if you see something out of the ordinary in nature, get excited about it now, for you may never see it again.

By the way, the name harvestmen comes from the fact that, in cooler climes, like the Cape, they are most often seen at harvest time.  Here in Texas, they are my year round companions.  Remember, they are not true spiders ergo; no fangs, no venom and no danger to you.  Plus, they have this amazingly wide diet including aphids that you would be happy to be rid of, decaying vegetation and (no accounting for taste) bird poop, so welcome them if they come, your deck may be cleaner for it!

Frogs in the Flowerpots

Yesterday, while watering the potted plants, I had not one, not two, but three “make-me-jump” encounters with fully-grown Southern Leopard Frogs.   

The pots need watering every day due to the heat so it would seem I have made a nice amphibian hideout under the lantana leaves. Leopard frogs are great leapers whether they are the northern or southern species so it even freaked out the dog that was looking to get a drink from the hose.  There was practically a mid-air collision between Tuck’s nose and the flying frog!  They aren’t small frogs either, probably 8-9” when in full leap mode.  Neither Tuck nor I achieved the 3’ long leap they are capable of making either.  The gold clearly went to the frog.

I believe I have mentioned in many of these Texas blogs that there seems to be a lot of variation in the animal life that appears in summer and it all seems to hinge on the winter and spring rains.    

In the previous three years, cute, tiny, gray tree frogs often would ride along on top of my watering can.  Toads on the steps in the morning weren’t uncommon either, but these large frogs took me by surprise.  With my New England centric mind frogs belong on the ponds edge, or in the reeds along a marsh but not in a dry Texas yard.  Well, live and learn. 

Leopard frogs, both species, lay their eggs in shallow water but when   There, they are mostly nocturnal, staying cool and moist under a rock by day.  Well, it is bone dry under the rocks here, so any yard sporting flowerpots must be a good destination. 

summer comes, many of them head for the hills, the woods, or the fields where insect life is plentiful.

This past spring we had almost Biblical proportions of rain and I remember the night serenades of many a frog and toad.  Leopard frogs take 60- 90 days to go from egg to tadpole to frog so, amazingly, the creeks must have kept enough water to see them through their metamorphosis.  They lay their eggs in shallow water so I guess the rain fed creek must have been good enough.   Congratulations to these survivors though for when the rain stopped, it really stopped.

For that matter, we had our first rain in over 5 weeks just the other day.  When I walked the dog the next morning there was a sad amount of carnage on the road.   Unfortunately  rain draws many frogs and toads out to party on the cool roadways.  We are a small development with little traffic so I was surprised to see such a spattering of splatterings   Poor dears, good sized frogs too, “goin’ out a courtin’ “frogs.  I believe in these warm climates, any rainy time is a good time for some lovin’! 

This “On a dark and stormy night” sort of death is common all over the world and some places are kindly trying to alert drivers.  Not that there is much chance you will be able to see and then swerve to miss them, but still, it is the thought that counts.

Leopard frogs are fairly widespread throughout the eastern side of the US so it is likely you know them.  Some of the identifying characteristics of leopard frogs are a light spot in the middle of their tympanum (eardrum) the round spot you see to the side of their eye.  They come in variations of green or brown and they have these lovely two lines on either side of the body that look rather golden and have really impressive names-dorsolateral folds. 

 Also if you are of a certain age, and took any biology, this frog is probably the one you dissected: the one that reeked of formaldehyde that would often ruin your lunch if you, like me, happened to have said biology lab right before lunch.  Perhaps now they do virtual dissections.  I am sure the frogs would be happy if that were true.

Generally, leopard frogs will return to their water at the end of the summer.  If the El Nino comes through, maybe they will be able to do just that.  Otherwise, I had better treasure the year it was wet enough to rain frogs down on my flowerpots.

By the way, the picture of the frog in the flowerpot isn’t mine, they leapt away too fast for a picture, and although I have checked several times today, they have not chosen to return to the same pots.  Maybe the near collision with Tuck was too traumatic. The one of the frog in the flowerpot was from seabrookeleckie.com.  Thank you seabrooke, wherever you are, for helping me to illustrate a point.

I hope your summer has also provided you with close encounters of the amphibian kind.  It just wouldn’t seem like summer without them. 

Animals That Don't Break A Sweat

I was out watering plants that look like toast after our week absence.  Sweat was rolling into my eyes when a butterfly flitted by looking totally at home with the 102 degrees it was.  

 

A black beetle scooted by my feet, also looking nonplussed by the weather.  Well, of course they weren’t, not being warm blooded (homeothermic) as mammals and birds are, they literally don’t sweat the small stuff!  Cold blooded animals (poikilothermic ) as many of us know, must use their environment to cool down or warm up. I am sure that beetle would soon be heading under the mulch, where I must say it still must be 100 but that is within their range of tolerance.  These are Texas beetles after all, they wouldn’t be here if they couldn’t take it.

But how about those other mammals around you, most of them are using other methods than sweat to do the cool down trick.   If your body is covered in fur, than sweating under that would only make matters worse.  We all know our dogs pant to shed their heat to some degree, but they also sweat between the pads of their feet.  Cats have them too between their pads. Note the little wet cat or dog prints that are in the house when there is no rain without.  But here is something new I learned.  When your dog or cat is licking, licking and licking their legs, and you think, “Enough already, you’re clean!” they are really  just doing what your sweat glands do.  Putting moisture on top of their fur that then will cool down as it evaporates.  I never knew that.  I thought my dog had arthritis or some ache he was trying to ease.  Kangaroos lick their fore paws too. Should you find yourself in Australia in the presence of a licking kangaroo you will be well informed!

My squirrels are always sprawling on the railing of the deck, cooling off that underbelly, but they also claim that a curled tail over their back helps too.  The under part of the tail is light colored and so absorbs less heat than when the dark side is showing.  Which is why you will always see me dressed in beige and white the whole summer through, the equivalent of a squirrel with its tail turned up.

Being long and skinny as lizards and snakes are helps them with a more rapid heat exchange.  The shape allows them to cool down faster or warm up more quickly so it works for both extremes.  Cold blooded animals need far less input of energy to keep their cooler fires burning so no need to dash about all day capturing fly after fly, just lay low and chill out and you will indeed chill out. 

 

Birds have higher internal temperatures than you or I, more like 105 to our 98, so this weather must mean they feel the same on the inside as the out.  But they also have a higher rate of metabolism so you will see them doing their own form of panting on hot days, rapid respiration that dispels some of the heat.  Bare patches on their face, their legs etc. allow the heat to transfer more quickly and then, of course, how grateful they are when you provide a birdbath and shade trees. 

African elephants have huge veins in those large ears so all the flapping is to cool their blood down.  Jackrabbits with those long, almost transparent ears, are using a similar technique with the veins close to the surface shedding the excess heat.  Even whales living in a cool ocean have to overcome the insulating blubber when a fast paced swim has them heating up.  Their blood is shunted to large veins in the fluke where close contact with the water will work as their AC.

No end of diversity then in this manner of cooling off.  Shall we not mention that the vultures around here will urinate on their legs to get relief from the heat? No feathers there and you don’t see them at your birdbaths so, a birds gotta do what a birds gotta do. 

 It does seem, however, that I will be the only one out there mopping my brow unless, of course, I come in to write about it as I just have and ahhh, I am much more comfortable now.

The “Snerfelings of Armadillos”

For weeks, the mulch was lying there, inert, doing its “mulchy” thing, but then just the other morning, I stepped out to see a maze of trenches zigzagging through the bushes.  Aha!  A clear sign that there has been a whole lot of “snerfeling” going on in the night.  “Snerfeling” is my own term for the routings of Armadillo’s, following their nose through the mulch in search of some yummy beetle or other.  It’s the term I use with school kids on my nature walks and it is one of the easiest animal signs in this area to come upon.  It is a combination of the armadillo’s nose pointed to the ground, plowing through the mulch sniffing, and shuffling along in search of its food that leaves these curving trenches. The “er” in “snerf” makes it sound more like a verb to me. 

Armadillo’s have a great sense of smell, perhaps I have told you before, and can sniff out its insect meal several inches under ground.  I would love to see my nighttime visitor, tunneling its way through my mulch but I never have.   Most times it is doing me a favor, keeping the population of beetles down, beetles that might be happy to eat at the roots of these plants.  Just as a skunk helps you keep the grubs in check in your yard is doing you a favor that saves you money and time spreading grub control. 

They say July and August are the peak “love” months for armadillos.  Now I can wonder if the many trenches I saw were made by one industrious armadillo or a pair out foraging together. No lifelong commitment for the armadillo but I have read that the male will follow the female while she is feeding, but if he doesn’t keep up, she will leave him in the dust.  Focus Mr. Armadillo.  A wagging tail shows that she will accept his overtures and the rest is too delicate to discuss. 

 The amazing thing about armadillo’s is that it is one of those rare mammals that can delay fertilization, somehow keeping it all on hold for a year if the season rolls around again but no males come calling.   

My bucket list of things I wish I could see an armadillo do:

Leap into the air with all fours when startled by something; they call it bucking.

Carry its nesting material close to its chest while hopping backwards towards its den. That’s how the books describe it.

Find their scat!  For all the armadillo signs I see, this is never one of them!  They say they often make a scrape, use that, and then cover it up, so clearly not an easy thing to come upon.  But I can hope.  After all, all this apparent snerfeling that lead no doubt to eating should inevitably lead to what I seek, should it not? 

Watch an armadillo swimming across water where it will gulp air as it goes, rising ever higher in the water, as it gets more buoyant.  I would need special equipment to see their other mode of crossing the creek, which is just tiptoeing across the bottom, hippo style.  It turns out they are really good at holding their breath, so if it is not too far, that’s the method they use.

Until I see any of these things, I will just have to take it on faith that they do them.  Just the way you will have to take it on faith that “snerfeling” is a perfectly good word. 

A New Scat in Town

 

New to me, that is.  To any Texan who keeps his eye on the ground these may be familiar droppings.  Chunky brown, then white on the end, not quite the “Dairy Queen” swirl of turkey droppings but reminiscent of it, only larger.  As I thought about it, I had an “Aha!” moment.  What had I noticed crossing the road here several times- the neighborhood Roadrunner. God bless the Internet that can show you images of such things and Bingo!  There it was on the page just as I had seen it on the road. 

I have seen roadrunners far more frequently this year and it makes sense.  All that rain lead to “amphibian heaven” which I’m sure is a real treat not only to snakes but the roadrunner too.  90% of its food is animal matter, anything from insects to lizards (watch out my cute little anoles!) small birds, and just to dazzle us with it’s bravado, scorpions and reportedly rattlesnakes.   One account said they saw a pair of roadrunners work together, one distracting the snake while the other went for the head.  Check out their hefty bill, capable of doing some damage it would seem.

Here’s something to put on your bucket list; they say when a roadrunner catches a snake that is longer than it is, it just eats what it can and lets the rest dangle from the beak eating it as space allows!  Seeing them with lizards dangling is fairly common but one assumes they are either bringing it to the nest or to a more private place to dine.

The pair that got the rattlesnake just may have been a “pair” for roadrunners stay with their mate throughout the year, and both are territorial.  Their home range is about a half a mile wide, so indeed, these are “our” roadrunners.  Male and female look alike so I don’t know which one I am seeing at any given time.  I haven’t spotted any juveniles yet, but with the bounty of food I bet they are out there.  I had a chance to help feed a young roadrunner at the Wildlife Rescue and boy, there’s a face only a mother could love!  Huge scarlet-lined beak, speckled, almost starling-like in color and sooooo loud.  There was no need to wonder if someone had fed it or not!

And about that scat that ends in white, or that white splatter that is adorning your windshield, have you ever wondered why it was white when most scat tends to be brown?  You know you have.  And perhaps you know the answer.  With birds and reptiles, all waste products come out from one opening in one tidy or not-so-tidy (if you have been around sea birds or large herons, you know what I mean) bundle.  The white is uric acid and has all the nitrogenous products in it, in a white paste.  That way their bodies eliminate the waste with far less water loss.  Now you know.

And forgive me for the somewhat erroneous title of this entry for technically, bird

droppings are not referred to as scat but as, well, droppings or guano but to my mind that conjures up sea bird colonies or bat colonies.  But either way it isn’t called scat.  It just sounded better in the title!  “A New Dropping in Town”, doesn’t have the same ring to it.  So, the next time a bird festoons your car with droppings you will have a real conversation starter won’t you? No need to thank me.

Why did the roadrunner cross the road? To give Pat something to blog about on this too-hot-to-be-out day!  And many more hot ones to come.  What obscure topics will I find to keep me in by the fan?  Stay tuned and we shall see.

Trying to Embrace Sweating

Trying doesn’t imply succeeding.  While I was gadding about in the East, my yard was sending out vines enough to ensnare a castle.  They were creeping over pathways, up trees, covering the deck.  And such variety; Mustang grape, Virginia creeper, Texas Bindweed, Wild Morning glory, Cowitch Vine with its fleshy leaves that smell like cigars to me and of course Poison Ivy and the intentional by previous owner but getting so out of control, English Ivy. 

Many of the vines have their good attributes, berries for birds, hiding places for lizards, ground cover that lets the beetles and so many insects, mosquitoes included, find good hiding and breeding grounds.

  But for the trees they are growing over, not so much.  So wielding my clippers and kneeler and a big jug of water I go out each morning to do battle.  And instantly, I am sweating.  How do the construction workers, roofers, landscapers do it?  Clearly made of sterner stuff than yours truly.

Kneeling in all this ivy does put me right in chigger and mosquito land.  Both love this damp soil shaded by the ivy, both are more than happy to see “meals on wheels” delivered to their door.  So along with embracing sweating I must find some positive angle to scratching.  No luck on that one so far.

The positive side, I suppose, is thinking that the trees and bushes that had been bound up in bindweed are stretching those branches out when I am done. The elbow tree that hasn’t seen the sun but just a curtain of wild grape may get its chlorophyll factory going again.  The path covered with vines will no longer be a set up to see if maybe I could break another arm or leg.  So the toil is worth it.

Sightings of insects, birds etc. add a measure of joy.  I was just about to remove the stalk of an old yucca plant when a lovely dragonfly came and perched on it, then flew his territorial square and came back to land on it again.  Dragonflies often have a favorite perch so I am glad I left it.   

The most exciting thing I saw while pulling vines was a beautiful, unmistakable butterfly called a Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charitonia). 

 

 You are probably more likely to see these in Mexico or Central America but they have wandered our way fairly often.  My “Mother Nature” friend has a gorgeous passion vine and perhaps it is this host plant that draws them.  Females are pretty choosy about where they lay their eggs and if other eggs have been laid there, they will go in search of another spot so the larvae don’t eat the poor plant to death.   AND, how cool is this, some of the vines grow their own “egg like” protrusions on their leaves to fake out the butterflies!

Butterflies in this Heliconiidae family are also unique in that they don’t simply drink nectar, but they have a way of dissolving the pollen too and it is their own fountain of youth.  While many butterflies live no more than a few weeks, these, with their fortified diet, can live for up to 6 months.  AND if you can believe what you read (USDA info page on Zebra longwings) then they add another notch to their belt by being said to be intelligent! Not “go to Harvard” intelligent but they have a pecking order when roosting, oldest butterflies choosing the best perches, and they say they nudge each other when it is time to “get up and get at it”! AND although everyone thought their toxicity came from the plants they eat, some scientists are saying, “Not so fast”. It could be that they somehow produce the toxins themselves.  Mysteries to be unraveled by all you up and coming entomologists!

 

 So, no, I have not warmed up (pun intended) to sweating away out there, but at least it is not without some rewards.  If I had stayed in the house, I wouldn’t have seen that lovely and so savvy butterfly.  Which is what I always told the people I walked with.  I cannot guarantee nature. Who knows what we might see?  But I CAN guarantee that if you stay inside, you won’t see as much.  Not entirely true is it?  If you have windows that look out on any trees or open space you still will see a lot IF you are looking. But you get the idea.  I am just trying to talk myself into going out there each day!