Spinning Tales About Rabbits

Rabbits are small hopping mammals.  North America harbors more than half the population.  Families include bucks, does, and kits (bunnies); habitats vary from deserts, to wetlands, to suburbs.

Though they are related, hares are usually bigger overall.  Baby hares (leverets) are precocial—born with fur, eyes opened, and capable of movement; however, kits are born altricial—with little or no hair, eyes closed, and helpless. 

Ubiquitous defines the eastern cottontail which reaches reproductive maturity at 2-3 months.  It breeds nearly year round in Florida, but mainly from February through September.  A nest is dug into a cup-size depression lined with fur and grass, even in an open yard.  Gestation endures 26-30 days, producing 3-4 litters yearly with 4-7 kits.  Kit mortality is at least 1 in 3 (nest flooding a factor).  After birthing, breeding immediately resumes.  In the wild, lifespan is 3 years.

This rabbit frequents edges offering cover and does not burrow.  It is most active at dawn and dusk—crepuscular.  It consumes green vegetation—herbivorous.  In the winter, nourishment consists of buds, twigs, and bark.  Chisel-like incisors neatly clip plants.  Incidentally, deer damage is ragged.

Nature accommodates survival.  Brown or gray fur provides camouflage.  Advantageous are long ears and fine vision.  Thumping forewarns danger.  Tails are helpful.  For example, when the eastern cottontail is pursued, its short and fluffy white tail becomes the focal point of the predator, such as a hawk or dog.  During the chase, the rabbit zigzags and the perplexed aggressor has to refocus on its prey.  This rabbit can flee at 18 miles per hour.  If apprehended, it kicks its powerful, large hind legs, applies its sharp claws, and bites.  

In Florida, another species is the marsh rabbit, an able swimmer.  The Lower Keys marsh rabbit, a subspecies, is labeled the “playboy bunny” because the Playboy Foundation partly funded its research.  The black-tailed jackrabbit, an introduced desert species, is actually a hare.  It displays characteristic long black-tipped ears.  Selected in the 1930-40 decades to train greyhounds in the Miami area, it still thrives particularly around Miami International Airport.

The invasive, burrowing European rabbits, are widely domesticated for pets, meat, and fur in a variety of colors and patterns.  They were extensively kept in ancient Rome.  The rex (named after the rex gene), from France, has velvet-like fur.  The Angora, from Turkey, is raised for yarn.  The Florida white (with albino red eyes) is popular for show.  The Belgian hare is a rabbit bred to resemble a hare.  Hares are not domesticated.

Eastern Cottontail - photo Brett Pigon

Did you know?  A fecund female rabbit might generate 800 descendants yearly.  When happy, rabbits jump in the air (a “binky”).  Their teeth wear down but never stop growing.  Their meat is leaner than chicken.  Their nitrogen-high urine enriches lemon trees.    Supposedly, around 600 BC in Europe, rabbit feet became lucky charms!

    

    Jumping Bunnies!!!       

Haiku by Hailey R. Scalia, 9
 Hip hop bunny flop

Out at morning out at dusk

      Goodbye fluffy tail!

Spinning Tales About Frogs

Frogs are cold-blooded amphibians.  Adaptations insure survival in various habitats:  on the ground, in fresh water, in trees, in burrows.  Flooded areas provide temporary dwellings.
Moisture is essential because of smooth, permeable skin susceptible to dehydration.  Frogs do not drink but absorb water (and oxygen) through skin.  Nostrils also inhale oxygen.  Insufficient oxygen underwater causes drowning. 
Skin is camouflaged in brown, gray, and green.  For many frogs, changing color regulates body temperature.  Some colors declare toxicity:  red, blue, yellow, black.  Predators, such as birds and reptiles, are further deterred with distasteful or toxic milky secretions, often containing mucus.  Besides moistening the skin, slimy secretions hinder capture. 

Pig Frog - photo Charlie Corbeil

Southern leopard frog - photo Brett Pigon

Barking treefrog - photo Brett Pigon

Cuban treefrog (invasive) - photo Brett Pigon

Handling frogs is unsafe.  Toxins may cause rashes, hallucinations, or death.  The golden poison dart frog of the Colombian rainforest harbors enough poison to kill ten men.  
Did you know?  Bulging eyes furnish outstanding vision.  Blinking while swallowing sinks eyeballs, causing a swelling on the roof of the mouth which squeezes food down the throat. Seeing and hearing (ears are circles behind eyes) is possible underwater.  A cleft tongue, attached in front, readily captures insects.  The upper jaw has teeth to secure prey.   Long, muscular hind legs and webbed toes facilitate swimming.  Springy tendons promote jumping 20 times one’s length.  Some with short back legs tend to walk.  Rings formed in bones during hibernation determine age—similar to trees.  Molting occurs routinely; own shed skin is usually consumed.  Though frogs and toads entertain similarities, neither spreads warts to humans!
Unique adaptations exist.  Burrowing frogs have toe extensions (spades) for digging; tree frogs have large adhesive toe pads for climbing; some rainforest frogs have flaps to glide from tree to tree. 
During the mating season, a male’s vocal sac (or sacs) inflates like a bubble and amplifies sound; mating songs may travel a mile.  Mostly males sing—helpful for sexual identification.  When imperiled, silence prevails.   
The majority of species practice “prolonged” breeding, frequently involving annual migrations of thousands.  Small Florida wetlands are choice breeding shelters.  Eggs are generally laid in the water, hatching into fish-like tadpoles (polliwogs).  
In Florida, intriguing frogs are the sizable bullfrog sometimes measuring 12 inches outstretched.  The hind legs are a delicacy.  The second largest is the mostly aquatic pig frog which mimics the guttural grunts of a pig. 
Regrettably, frogs are encountering fungal disease and abnormalities involving missing or extra legs.  Hopefully, they will endure because they are beneficial, particularly in the development of pharmaceuticals.  Moreover, on a spring evening with heavy rain anticipated, the mating croaks of an army (group) of frogs are soothing.  
Lindsey Mattessich placed 1st for grades 9-12, at this year’s The Charlie Corbeil Conservation Awards Youth Arts Contest.  Lindsey claims, “The collage was inspired by my interest in Floridian birds and all Floridian wildlife….Conservation is important to me because I feel it is our responsibility to protect the planet we are living on.  We need to give just as much as we take.”   

collage by Lindsey Mattessich

Spinning Tales about Florida Vultures

Vultures are scavengers regularly misidentified as buzzards (birds from the Buteo genus).  They are reviled because of their nourishment:  primarily carrion (dead animals), preferably fresh. 

Turkey Vulture - photo Charlie Corbeil

Two species inhabit Florida—New World vultures.  Turkey vultures are dark brown with bare red heads; black vultures, slightly smaller, display bare gray heads.  Both species are social and occasionally flock together.

Wingspans extend up to 6 feet for turkey vultures and over five feet for black vultures.  They glide on thermals (rising air currents) searching for carrion.  Wings positioned in a slight “V” distinguishes turkey vultures, master soarers.  Less efficient black vultures soar with wings straight and flap more.  Besides flight, food quests rely on keen eyesight, smell, and sound.

Turkey vultures possess a heightened sense of smell.  They are instrumental in locating gas-line leaks (which smell like carrion) because they circle above.  At times, they fly low to detect gas escaping from beginning decay in animal remains.  Black vultures are deficient in smelling abilities; a group might have to follow a turkey vulture (commonly forages solitarily) and seize its meal.

Preferred habitats are relatively open areas, including suburban regions.  Routinely, vultures (referred to as a “wake” when feeding) devour roadkill, hopping while boldly dodging traffic.  Vocalization is released in grunts and hisses.  Harassment promotes regurgitation to reduce weight for immediate flight.  Moreover, the malodor deters aggressors.

Turkey Vulture - photo Brett Pigon

Occasionally, vultures need to kill for survival—sick or disabled prey, rarely healthy.  Ranchers abhor black vultures because they aggressively pursue newborn calves and periodically cows giving birth.  

Since carrion harbors disease, featherless heads allow cleaner feeding (also regulate body temperature).   A spread-wing stance bakes off bacteria.  Corrosive stomach acid, almost comparable to battery acid, kills ingested bacteria.  Consequently, excretions are free of disease.  Therefore, urine released on legs serves as a sanitizer and cooling agent.  Perilous are toxins, lead, and drug residue in consumed carrion.  In India and surrounding countries, veterinary diclofenac in cattle carcasses acutely reduced vultures.

Reproduction commonly includes laying 2 eggs, perhaps on the ground or under palmetto

Black Vultures - photo Brett Pigon

thickets.  Little or no nest structure exists.  Black vultures might decorate the surroundings with colored plastic debris, glass shards, and bottle caps.  Weak legs and blunt talons are ill-adapted for grasping and transporting food to chicks; therefore, nourishment is swallowed, stored in the crop (pouch in throat), and later disgorged to offspring.

Unquestionably, vultures are invaluable:  they restrict the spread of disease by consuming carrion.  Furthermore, scientists anticipate training vultures to locate crime victims.  Appreciation occurs yearly in September during International Vulture Awareness Day. 

Black Vultures smell a meal - photo Brett Pigon

Eagle watches the vultures to steal a meal

 - photo Brett Pigon        

 

 

 

 

 

Joseph Scalia, 7, placed 1st in the writing category for his age group at this year’s The Charlie Corbeil Conservation Awards Youth Arts Contest.  Joseph claims, “Conservation is important because the trees help make oxygen and give the animals a home.”  He submitted a haiku.

Viera Wetlands at Night 

I heard a strange sound

I think it was coyotes

Roaming the Wetlands

Turkey vultures and coyotes have a somewhat symbiotic relationship.  Even with hooked beaks, vultures sometimes find a hide impenetrable.  Persistent, they circle above.  Eager coyotes are alerted; these able mammals rupture the hide and partake first.  When they are satiated, the vultures finally feed

 

Is Dinner Ready?  - photo Brett Pigon

 

Spinning Tales About Hawks

Hawks are the most common birds of prey.  These raptors seize, carry, and kill prey with powerful feet tipped with sharp claws (talons). 

They prevail worldwide except Antarctica.  Various habitats are suitable:  deserts, open savannahs, woodlands, marshes, rainforests.  Exposed areas for hunting are preferable.  During migration, a kettle of hawks may cover 1,000 miles.

While pursuing mates, male hawks perform unique aerial displays.  Pairs construct nests high above the ground (except for a few ground-nesting hawks).  Nesting and hunting occur in the same territory yearly.  Females are larger and more pronounced in some species.  Many pairs are monogamous for life; when mates die, new ones are promptly replaced.

Red Shouldered Hawk - photo Charlie Corbeil

In the wild, survival is 13-20 years.  After 1900, deforestation decreased the red-shouldered hawk population.  Now, most common in this country is the red-tailed hawk.  This fairly non-aggressive raptor is harassed by such birds as crows and owls.  In Native American cultures, it is sacred, and its feathers are used in rituals.  Trained, it performs tasks for our armed forces.  

Other interesting hawks include the ferruginous hawk, the largest of its kind and often mistaken for an eagle.  This species can be trained for falconry (game hunting).  The rough-legged hawk is named for feathered legs down to the base of the toes—adaptation for warmth in the arctic home range.  The sharp-shinned hawk male is the smallest hawk in North America, similar to a jay in size.  It is a daring acrobatic flier.  

Broad Winged Hawk - photo Brett Pigon

Intelligent and skilled, hawks are opportunistic feeders; they are mostly diurnal and solitary.  Game may include birds, rabbits, and insects.  Carrion is also consumed.  Hunting skills are enhanced by flight speed and exceptional eyesight.  Eyes are positioned to cover 280 degrees.  Vision is eight times better than humans—presumably, some prey is spotted from two miles.  Color is distinguishable.  

Some hawks swoop upon prey from concealed perches.  Others spot game while soaring 100 feet in the air, then dive at 150 miles per hour in pursuit.  Pouncing upon victims, they grab them with mighty talons and keep on flying.  Understandably, hawks are feared because of fierce hunting skills and gruesome shredding of prey with hooked bills.

- photo Brett Pigon

While eating, a hawk covers food with its tail and wings:  mantling.  Nourishment is hurriedly swallowed and stored in its crop (in the throat area) for later processing, enabling it to prudently fly away.  The following day, fur or feathers are coughed up in a pellet. 

Actually, hawks can be essential or detrimental.  Some control rodents and insects which destroy crops, and some snatch poultry (chicken hawks).  Good or bad, these predators are breathtaking:  majestic wings gracefully gliding in the open sky.

Swallow-tailed Kites - photo Brett Pigon

Haiku by Hailey Scalia, 9            

  Soaring very high                                       

   Using sharp vision to hunt 

   Predator swoops down    

Kestral - photo Brett Pigon

     

Spinning Tales About Scorpions

Scorpions are arthropods—classified as arachnids.  They prevail worldwide except Antarctica.   Fossils, some revealed in coal and amber, suggest they existed around 430 million years.   Special features are molting exoskeletons, 8 legs, crab-like claws, and forward curled tails tipped with stingers which release neurotoxic venom.  Vibrations and sense of smell compensate for poor eyesight—even with up to 12 eyes.  Coloration provides camouflage and depends on where they live; it may include red, yellow, green, tan, brown, or black.  Some are white—as babies or after molting.  Adult length is less than l inch to over 8 inches.  Longevity usually spans 3-5 years.
During courtship, mates grasp pincers and dance.  Females are commonly larger.  Following live births, scorplings cling to mothers’ backs until molting.  Broods range from 2-100.  Females may eat their young to survive.
Loose soil and warm, dry climates are preferable, but habitats are adaptable:  deserts (common), rain forests, even the Himalayas.  In snowy areas, hibernation occurs.  Incredibly, researchers froze scorpions overnight, and, when thawed out the next day, they walked away. 
Extremely sensitive to light, they might take shelter during the day in sand, rocks, burrows, trees, or potted plants.  Thus, they avoid predators like birds and also retain crucial body moisture.  They may invade homes, especially under construction, since they squeeze through cracks as thin as credit cards.  They glow under ultraviolet light—beneficial to exterminators.
These opportunistic nocturnal predators relish insects.  Prey is crushed with pincers or paralyzed or killed with venom.  Digestive fluids liquefy prey before ingestion.  When food is scarce, scorpions can endure 6 to 12 months of starvation. 

Florida scorpon - photo Wildflorida.com

Among species, venom is unique.  Smaller species are often more toxic; larger species sometimes need only intimidate.  Newborns should not be underestimated.  To conserve venom, dosage is regulated according to victims; dry stings occur.  
Approximately 90 species inhabit the United States, chiefly in the Southwest.  Most dangerous in North America are the Arizona bark scorpions.  They are robust and can survive nuclear ground zero.  Though scorpions are customarily solitary, this species lives in packs.   Probably, the world’s deadliest are the fattail and the deathstalker scorpions of Africa and the Middle East and the Indian red scorpions.  Fortunately, Florida’s 3 species are considered minor pests.
Less than 5% of humans (particularly the young, elderly, and allergic) need treatment for stings delivered by threatened scorpions.  Stings are generally just painful—comparable to a wasp sting.  Fatalities are rare in this country. 
Scorpion venom is used in insecticides and vaccines.  In Pakistan, the venom of large black scorpions is worth thousands of dollars for medicinal research.  Ancient Chinese physicians used scorpion venom for drooping eyelids.  Helpful scorpions!

Spinning Tales About Spiders

Spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks, and harvestmen are arachnids, not insects.  They are arthropods:  invertebrates with molting exoskeletons (external skeletons), segmented bodies, and jointed limbs.   

Except in Antarctica, spiders exist worldwide.  They may dwell in houses, trees, or underground.  Significant features are eight legs, mostly four pairs of eyes, venomous fangs, and two body segments. 

Females sometimes eat their counterparts (males are usually smaller) before, during, and after mating.  To survive, some males choose mates weakened from molting.  Yet, it seems cannibalism is not typical—even with black widow spiders. 

Dozens to hundreds of eggs are laid in one or more silk sacs which are carried, dragged, or safeguarded in nests or webs.  Mothers generally feed and carry their offspring.  Females live longer; lifespan is up to two years.

Spiny-backed Orb Weaver - Charlie Corbeil

Silk is emitted from spinnerets (silk-spinning organs) for weaving webs which offer protection and trap nourishment.  Webs with sticky or fluffy silk ambush insects which may be numbed and wrapped in fine silk.  Non-sticky silk allows resident spiders to travel in certain web areas.  Silk threads provide safety lines to escape danger.  Spiderlings colonize by parachuting (flying) hundreds of miles on threads. 

Banana spider - Brett Pigon

These arachnids, are mostly solitary, but some species build communal webs—a four-acre web in a Baltimore building housed 107 million spiders.   Webs facilitate arachnid classification.  For example, the orb weaver builds the spiral web, and the sheet web spider forms a sheet.  At maturity, some males abandon web weaving to pursue mating.  Webs may be eaten for energy.  Some are rebuilt, repaired, or abandoned as cobwebs.  However, certain species do not utilize webs.

Banana spider and web - Brett Pigon

In 1973, Anita and Arabella, two spiders, participated in Skylab 3 mission.  The space webs produced were finer and not uniform in thickness as earth specimens.  During the mission, they died.  Their bodies are at the Smithsonian. 

Arachnophobia, fear of spiders (over 40,000 species), affects more women than men.  Although spiders bite when threatened, most have harmless small and weak fangs.  For instance, the female black widow has large venom glands, with venom more potent than a rattlesnake, but she needs a good grip to inflict serious harm—which is rare. 

Web in morning light - Brett Pigon

Did you know?  The tarantula is a fried delicacy in Cambodia.  The brown recluse, which damages tissue, is sparse in Florida but falsely blamed for insect bites.  The female bolas spider hunts by swinging a sticky silk globule (bola) a the end of a thread.  The spiny-backed orb-weaver, found in Florida’s orange groves, is most colorful.  The barn spider in Charlotte’s Web could write.

Research continues for spider venom in medicine and as non-polluting pesticides.  Studies of silk elasticity (greater than steel) may lead to artificial tendons.  Furthermore, spiders control pests.  Essential creatures!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Spinning Tales of the Nine-banded Armadillo

The armadillo (little armored one in Spanish) originated in South America.  The United States claims only the nine-banded armadillo—7-11 bands are possible.  These bands are joined by flexible skin.  The leathery armored shell consists of bony plates covered by scales.  The anteater and sloth are relatives.

During reproduction, a female can delay implantation for months if stressed or planning to colonize.  This mammal usually delivers Identical quadruplets.  Babies have soft shells—similar to human fingernails.  The adult weighs about 12 pounds.   Longevity spans 7-20 years.

In Florida, the armadillo is common because it seeks moist soil and warm climates—cold can be fatal.  However, increasing temperatures are promoting northward expansion.  Forests, grassland, or yards are suitable habitats. 

This solitary, primarily nocturnal animal is a lawn and agriculture pest.  It excavates several burrows with multiple entrances for shelter.  Such burrowing destroys gardens, especially plant roots.  It also exposes foundations and utility areas.  Filling and blocking tunnels sometimes discourage revisits.  It is also effective to avoid excessive irrigation and fertilization, since moist soil and luscious vegetation bring earthworms and insect larvae (armadillo candy) to the surface.  Scavenging, especially for insects, is facilitated by a long, sticky tongue, capable claws, and a keen sense of smell which substitutes for poor eyesight. 

Armadillo - photo Brett Pigon

 
Dens provide refuge from such animals as black bears and alligators.  The protective armor and fast, short legs also allow quick escapes into thorny patches.  It is a misconception that the nine-banded armadillo rolls up into a ball for defense—only the three-banded armadillo qualifies.   Realistically, the biggest threat is becoming roadkill.  Though its body is small enough for a car to pass over, it jumps high when startled and encounters the undercarriage of the vehicle.

Since the armadillo can hold its breath up to 6 minutes, it can walk on a river bottom for a short span.  To swim above water, it inflates its stomach for buoyancy. 

Low body temperature renders the armadillo susceptible to Hansen’s disease, leprosy.   Mangabey monkeys, rabbits, and mice can also contract leprosy systematically.  Yet, the event of a person acquiring leprosy by handling an armadillo or consuming the meat is extremely low.  (Never undercook the meat.)  During the Great Depression of 1929-39, many safely consumed the armadillo—flavored and textured like pork.  Sarcastically, it was labeled the Hoover hog after President Hoover was vilified for the economic collapse.   
 
Because of leprosy and a weak immune system, the armadillo is ideal for research—especially identical quadruplets.  As usual, some benefit is found in every creature.