Critters!

The arrival of (mostly) warmer weather has meant more activity among the critters in the Hollow. The previous post featured some butterflies, but I see many others. Above are three Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus), which are the most abundant lizard I see around my house. I hadn’t encountered one on my walk until I heard something rustling leaves beside the road and saw the one on the left perch on a fallen tree branch. A large skink (I think it’s a Broad-Headed) lives around the house, too, but it’s too quick for me to get a photo.

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Other reptiles live close by, too. I stepped out the basement one day last week and almost stepped on this Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoletus). I watched it crawl up into the sweetshrub/ Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus). You can watch it here.

It pains me to think of this now, but I grew up catching lizards and “Horned Toads” in New Mexico, and we had a large tank with various turtles (and a caiman!) we had collected on trips around the state and the southeast. Now I am more of an advocate for nature, and the local Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) is one of my favorite animals. They are beautiful, and their long lifespans mean that I sometimes see the same ones year after year. Sadly, I occasionally find where one has been crushed by a careless driver, and I worry about the impact of trucks hauling supplies to the house under construction. (Read here to learn what to do when you see a turtle in the road.)

This year I was excited to see a small Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) in the little branch that runs through the Hollow. Unfortunately, it was down a steep bank, and I couldn’t get close enough for a better photo.

The Hollow is full of squirrels and chipmunks, and I occasionally see a rabbit. One mammal that most visitors want to see (from a distance) is a Black Bear (Ursus americanus); too bad no one but me was here when this one passed through the meadow last week! Watch! I was glad that the other critters had eaten all the food, so he didn’t find anything to tempt him to return!

You know, of course, about the deer and turkeys that come to eat in the meadow and may remember from earlier posts that the deer sometimes rest near the house to chew their cuds. (This fellow is back up there again today as I am writing this, and a turkey walked by as I was watching.)

The warmer weather has brought flies and other pests that bother the deer, and I noticed that one of the young bucks has “warts” (cutaneous fibromas). He’s not the first one I’ve seen with this condition, and I always hope the warts will be a deterrent to hunters later in the year. The pregnant does are beginning to “show,” and it won’t be long before I’ll be posting photos of fawns!

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(The recent rains may have flooded the neighbors’ road, and the gate was open so they could use our road.)