Red Fox Suprise Visit

One humid morning, as I was hiking and exploring some off beaten trail in Arcadia, I stepped from the dense forest trees and into a jungle like parking lot that was overgrown with weeds and small trees. The anxious signal call of a blue jay drew my attention and as I entered the small clearing I noticed a small flock of birds chatting away in a small bush to my left. But immediately in front of me, stalking close to the ground was a red fox that now stared at and stalked me. 

It was ridiculously close at around ten feet. In most cases this red fox should have quickly turned and bounded away into the dark forest but it suddenly took three or four steps directly towards me as if to attack. I backed up, raised my hands and yelled as loudly as I could. I was not in the mood to be attacked by a sick red fox and wait in line to get some life-saving rabies shots. My yelling and odd behavior worked and it turned and disappeared quickly into the summer woods. The last thing I remember seeing as it scampered off was a fuzzy white tip on the end of its reddish furry tail.

Since that time I usually have seen foxes at dawn or dusk while I am in my car. So it was a complete treat to have a red fox trot through my yard and spend five minutes rolling around and scratching itself in the afternoon sun. I grabbed my camera, hushed the kids and had them watch through the kitchen window as I took as many pictures as I could. The general rule is that it is bad sign to see a fox during the daylight hours because it may indicate that they are rabid. But this fox was keen on scratching itself, rolling around in some dust pit and marking its territory with urine near the hulking oak in the far back of the yard.

After this red fox scurried away, I placed a trail camera in my backyard to see if I could get a night time picture. Instead of the red fox coming back for an encore, two gray foxes stole the show. Gray foxes are a bit more secretive and are excellent tree climbers. They also have a black tip on their tail and do not have the “black boots” on their feet that red foxes have. I learned that red and gray foxes do not have territories that overlap but a few years ago, my trail camera caught both foxes exploring a trail on the same night.

The trail camera pictures show both flash and infrared images of the gray foxes. The infrared images do not show color but the advantage is the lack of a flash which can spook nocturnal animals. If it was not for this recent camera technology, I would have to rely on chance and luck to observe the behavior of wildlife in the back yard.

 I enjoyed seeing both the red and gray foxes, but overall, the serendipitous observations of the red fox with family members will always be more memorable than observations made with technology.

Flash camera was in use for this gray fox picture.

Shooting Stars and Satellites

“There is going to be a show tonight!” This is what I used to think when I was younger and the sunset promised a clear, dark night time sky. Watching the night time sky is not unlike wildlife viewing. You never know what you are going to see. Sometimes it turns out to be a dud, other times a once in a lifetime event occurs.

Persieds

Even though the peak of the Persied meteor shower has passed, there is still a good chance to see one of the greatest misnomers ever created. A shooting star. If a star really grazed our atmosphere we all would be in big trouble. Shooting stars are really bits of rock, sand and dust that burn due to our atmosphere’s friction against the object. It may even be space junk burning up above our heads. A while ago Taco Bell tried to capitalize on this. An archaic Russian satellite was projected to enter our atmosphere and burn as it was being drawn in by Earth’s gravity. Taco Bell placed a bulls eye in the ocean and advertised that everyone would get a free taco if the satellite hit the bulls eye. It missed, but I remember that Taco Bell took out an insurance policy to cover its expenses if it really happened. Talk about good advertising. Hope that doesn’t catch on though. I would like to think about life, stars and far away galaxies when I gaze upon the sky. Not a free taco.

Within the next few days, if you look northwest and if the sky is dark you may see one of the brighter Persied meteors. This year the Persied’s were projected to be a dud because the light from the full moon prevents you from seeing the fainter meteors. But to me, it’s still worth to look because the moon is not bright enough to prevent you from seeing the brighter meteors or even a fireball.

Hearing a Meteor

Technology is amazing. If it is cloudy out and you still want to be a part of the action, I recommend using http://spaceweatherradio.com/ . The US Air Force's Space Surveillance Radar captures the ghostly “ping” of a meteor as it is burned in our atmosphere. I have to admit that the white noise can grate on your nerves, so I would rather use my sense of sight than my sense of hearing. But it is worth a try.

Satellites


When I was younger I thought the faint dots crossing silently over my head were high flying planes or even U.F.O’s. Now I know that I was seeing a human made satellite. And if you want to know exactly what is being seen orbiting the Earth, this site can tell you. http://spaceweather.com/flybys/. According to this site, at 9:06 pm tonight, if you look southwest you will see one of the brightest objects in the sky besides our sun and moon. The ISS or International Space Station. This spacecraft looks like a constantly moving, luminous point of light gliding across the sky.  These sightings along with meteors and summer constellations make me connect back to when I was a bit younger when I looked forward to a full night of star gazing. Before the Internet, video games and 4000 different channels on television, there was always going to be a good show if twilight led to a dark, star filled sky. 

The above picture is a Persied meteor as seen from the Space Station! Thanks to astronaut Ron Goran for taking this picture. I personally like our atmosphere. It looks tenuous and fragile in this picture and we should treat it as such. 

Alligators in Rhode Island

Maybe I should be calm about this. Maybe I should pretend I live in Florida. But I’m a little trepid about an alligator living in Rhode Island. In reality I know it is not a big deal. I’m not going to be eaten alive by a three foot alligator. But if I step into a muddy river or venture to Carr’s Pond, I really don’t want to worry about an alligator taking a nip at me.

I don’t know what would be more upsetting; injury from an exotic animal or the wait to see a doctor in the emergency room. It’s the latter. But I digress.

Last week a three foot long alligator was seen in Providence. It was in the Woonasquatucket River near Atwells Avenue. Someone said that this alligator snapped at them. The Department of Environmental Management said that they will not trap it and will just leave it alone because it cannot survive the freezing winters in Rhode Island. They also stated that people need a permit for exotic animals. With that said, here is the simple solution to people setting their exotic pets free and freaking me out as a result.

The Solution

When someone applies to have a permit for an exotic animal such as an alligator, the DEM inserts a GPS and ID number somewhere inside the animal. Where do they get the money to purchase this technology? They raise the permit fees to pay for this. This will be expensive but not for me. Exotic pets call for exotic and excessive permit fees. If this was done, they could use the GPS technology to find the alligator, catch it and fine the irresponsible pet owner who let it go.

In addition anyone who has an exotic pet, especially a pet that can inflict damage on you, should be required by law to let the neighbors know that they have this animal. If my neighbor had a mountain lion as a pet, I would think twice about letting my kids play outside without my hawk like eyes watching their every move. Awareness that your neighbors have an exotic pet would make us safer. And if we see a mountain lion in our backyard we can help expedite the process for getting them home by calling the neighbors instead of 911.  So there is your two pronged solution to the irresponsible pet owner issue.

Don’t think that your neighbor might have a mountain lion as a pet?  Remember Narla? Narla was a mountain lion that lived in Chepachet since 1996. Big Cat Rescue rescued Narla in January, 2010 because the owner of the cat could not take care of her anymore. At least this is a good example of a pet owner not letting their exotic pet into the vast wilderness of Rhode Island and freaking me out.

Coyote Trouble

I could have gone to a hundred different places. But for some reason I was drawn to a place that I have not visited in 15 years. As I drove to this area I felt isolated, surrounded by towering white pines on either side of the car, dust flying up behind me, insects banging on the car windows and hood, sometimes sounding like large solitary raindrops hitting the car. ‘Good thing I wasn’t walking through this’, I thought to myself. I would have been bitten by horseflies, mosquitoes and no-see-ums.  The road narrowed and I was now driving over tall grass that brushed the bottom of the car and the sound of a constant high pitched “thrash” seemed to be coming from the bottom of my feet. If I was Fred Flintstone, I would have needed DEET on my legs to keep the ticks off.

As I ended the long straight drive through thick, dark forest I turned left around the only curve over the past three miles. Suddenly, the landscape changed and I found myself driving past a brilliant, eye-squinting sand pit on my right bordered by a large stand of dark forest. On my left there was a huge wide meadow with chest high tawny grass blowing gently in the morning breeze. A hawk screeched from above the field. Probably upset with this large vehicle disturbing its morning hunt.  At the end of the grassy road I saw a pup slowly emerge from the forest. Gray fox? Red fox? Wolf pup? Something was not right. Its face reminded me of Dobby from Harry Potter. Was this some sort of house elf genetic experiment gone wrong? Nope. Just a coyote pup.  But not your average happy go lucky coyote puppy. This puppy had seen hard times. And it showed this with its haunting black eyes.

As it sauntered towards my car, I was amazed that it had not scampered away into the dense forest. As I quickly reached for my camera, I knew that I had a few seconds to take a picture before instinct told it to run from this huge, engine-whirring monster. But I was dead wrong. This pup was not afraid of a 2000 pound car.  It had other things on its mind. It must have had little sleep, because it stopped every few seconds to bite and scratch at a different part of its body. Its eyes looked right through me. I felt its despair. The coyote pup lowered its ears and then quickly perked them up if an insect buzzed by. I watched it catch and chew a small flying insect that literally flew right into its mouth.  This carnivore was definitely starving. I took a few more pictures and then watched as it leaped into the woods to chase some unknown sound. I had a strong feeling that it was an orphan. And I know that orphaned animals do not last long in the wild.

Even so, this rarely happens. I have seen coyotes before but never a coyote cub. Most animals hide and watch as you hike by. This was such a unique experience that I brought my daughter to the same spot later that afternoon. I just wanted to show her where I saw the pup and teach her about the tracks and the coyote scat I found nearby. But again, as I turned left around that corner, the coyote pup was there! Right in the middle of the road and it was eating an unusually large gray squirrel. The pup grabbed its meal and moved it under several pine trees to protect it against me or any other predator that may want to take it away. But as it was moving its catch, something caught my eye. Its food was not a gray squirrel. It looked just like the coyote cub itself. The gray scraggly hair, long thin legs and black pointy nose; it must have been a sibling. No wonder its black eyes looked right through me earlier that morning. Starvation was forcing it to consume a fellow pup that it probably played with just a few months earlier. If I was that hungry, I would not have been afraid of a 2000 pound engine-whirring monster either.

Road Kill in Rhode Island

Road Kill in East Greenwich

I feel awful when I think about it. Yesterday I hit a chipmunk with my car. Most of the time I give a quick honk to scare any animals off the road if I see them but in this case I saw the chipmunk a bit too late. It was so small, literally hugging the road’s surface when it dawned on me that this small “stick” was a living, breathing Tamias striatus or Eastern chipmunk. I review it in my head and yes, I beeped my horn and even minutely swerved a little, but I felt and heard a “thump” under my tire. I gasped and took a quick look in my rear view mirror hoping to see it scurry away but there was only a lifeless lump near the side of the road.  Unfortunately in East Greenwich, I am not alone.

Road Kill Data

Since 2002 I have had my students collect road kill data, analyze it and practice their graphing skills by hand and on computer. They graph the “Top Ten Road Killed Animals in East Greenwich”, the “Five Deadliest Streets” and the “Deadliest Quadrant” which is found by using the free map given out by the Chamber of Commerce. You can see this data near the bottom of a webpage at this link. http://bit.ly/nuxrvb 

Every year the data reveals things that are a bit different but there is one glaring constant. Squirrels are number one on the animals killed list. A quick addition exercise had me count 487 squirrels as road kill since 2002. Compare that number to 87 chipmunks killed in the same time and you can see the huge discrepancy. I think I found the crux as to why squirrels are always going to be number one for this study. Reproduction.

Gray squirrels mate twice a year giving birth to between 2 to 8 young. The first litter arrive in early spring and the next litter are born in June or July.  The only time we collect road kill data in East Greenwich is in the fall so there is a possibility that a lot of the sightings are of inexperienced squirrels trying to cross the street or of any squirrel trying to gather food to stock up for the upcoming winter. In addition, squirrels are most active at dawn and dusk when drivers are rushing to work or hurrying to come back home. Overall, it still remains a mystery and it is pretty sad to see any dead animal along the side of the road.

How to Avoid Hitting Animals

I have asked law enforcement officials what to do when you see an animal in the road. The answer is counterintuitive. Do not swerve. If you swerve, you risk going off the road or going into oncoming traffic. You could obviously injure yourself and others if you swerve. When I swerved yesterday, I made sure I stayed in my lane.  In addition to the non-swerve advice, brake gently and honk your horn if you have time.

But I believe one of the biggest ways to reduce road kill is to be aware. Be aware of the animals and of the time of day. Animals are most active at dawn and dusk so pay extra attention at those times. Just last year, I was driving along Carr’s Pond Road and my car was picking up speed around those bends. I realized that the sun was setting and I slowed my car down only to see two deer camouflaged by the side of the road a few minutes later. Lucky deer and lucky me.

Two Animals That Can Kill You in Rhode Island

There are two animals that can kill you in Rhode Island. Black bears and mountain lions. You may snicker at how unlikely it is to happen, but it is not impossible.

Rhode Island is a Refuge for Young Black Bears

A black bear mother literally chases its young bears away and out of its habitat two years after they are born.  If you have a friend that has a child that is in their thirties and still living in the basement, you may want to tell them what black bear mothers do. So this may be the reason why young black bears find themselves in Rhode Island, looking for their own habitat.

If you followed the news last spring, a black bear was blamed for killing some sheep in southern Rhode Island. The Department of Environmental Management sent an official to look for the bear. What this really means is that when they find the bear they will shoot it to protect Rhode Islanders. But the official never found it. My guess is that the bear moved on into Connecticut or Massachusetts. But there is a possibility that it is still in Southern Rhode Island.

How to Protect Yourself Against a Black Bear

Make noise. Be very loud. Hopefully you will have a plethora of friends with you so all of you will make crazy menancing noises. If it attacks, fight back. Do not be submissive and do not run away. You cannot outrun a black bear. If you are only hiking with one other friend, at least outrun your friend so that the bear catches your friend first. Then you have the easy job of calling for help while your friend tassels with the bear. OK, seriously, help out your friend and fight the bear even if it catches your friend.

To make up for killing any black bear that even thinks "Rhode Island", the Department of Environmental Management made this cute, informational brochure about black bears. http://1.usa.gov/nC6XQl

One of my favorite parts of the pamphlet is the "Don't Fear the Bears" phrase. I totally agree with this statement. Do not fear them. Unless you see one in your backyard or out in the woods while hiking. In that case fear would be a positive thing because seeing a large predator and being scared go hand in hand. Fear may actually help you back away or run a bit faster from a dangerous situation.

New England is now Cougar Country
I thought it was huge news that the DEM reversed their position on a mountain lion sighting in Matunuk and actually confirmed it! More on this can be found at this link http://bit.ly/oDtrss. In most cases when someone spots a mountain lion the DEM tells them that it must have been a large coyote or a bobcat and that is the end of the story. Very frustrating for the people that actually see the large tail, the black marks on the face or the cold stare of its eyes. After reviewing a map of southern Rhode Island, I can see how an elusive mountain lion can be living around the Great Swamp area.

How to Protect Yourself Against a Mountain Lion

Do not play dead! You must fight back! Make yourself look bigger. Stare at the mountain lion. Do not take your eyes off of its face. If you have a child with you, pick up the child to protect them. But you have to fight. Throw a rock, back away, yell, call for help. So fight the good fight, and if the child is not one of your own, you can even offer up the child as a sacrifice so you can escape. OK. Not really. That's really mean. But do fight.

One Brown Moth in Rhode Island

I stepped out onto my deck at 10:45 pm  to see if there were any foxes, coyotes, deer or mountain lions rummaging around in my backyard. Dead silence. Very calm and serene. Nothing seemed to be moving but one wrong step and this moth would have been smushed. Down by my feet was this big brown moth. I took a picture and looked it up and of course, absolutely no pictures matched this moth. The closest ones were called a Clothes Moth and a Potato Tuber Moth but I'm pretty sure it was not one of those. And although I almost stepped on the well camouflaged animal, it was intelligent enough to stay on the warm deck. The bats above my head would have a lovely meal if its radar bumped off of this Goliath!

Unknown Moth. If it is a new species I may name this melissifica to honor my wife!