A Look at the Season's Main Events
By Virginia Barlow
July
Canada lilies are blooming / Look for otter latrines on stream banks and old beaver dams. Otter scat is often slimy and gelatinous looking, the result of copious amounts of digestive mucus that the animals use to break down vertebrae, chiton, and fish scales / As caddisfly larvae grow, they add new material to the front ends of their cases / Many of the sphinx moth species flying now are attracted to the porch light / Young red foxes are learning to hunt
Downy rattlesnake plantain is blooming / Some of the dragonflies now zipping around have been clocked at up to 60 mph / Damage by the larvae of alder flea beetle is clearly visible. These black caterpillars usually occur in innocuous numbers, but occasionally there is a population explosion / Spotted salamanders are underground and rarely seen in summer. They don’t dig burrows from scratch but use cracks, crevices, or abandoned small mammal tunnels to keep out of sight
Bitterns eat small rodents, fish, snakes, crayfish, salamanders, and waterbugs / Fledglings are everywhere. Birds that have finished breeding may begin to wander / The cabbage butterflies in the garden have spread across most of the U.S. since arriving from Europe in 1860. Chemicals from the larvae’s food make them distasteful to birds / Raccoons, skunks, and some snakes prey on American toads, despite their skin secretions, which are toxic to dogs and cats
July 28–29: Peak of Delta Aquarids, on a moonless night / Large dragonflies such as the green darner (Ajax junius) may replace flying with some gliding on hot days to prevent overheating their flight muscles / The summer menu of screech owls features large insects: moths, June bugs, katydids, and crickets / Oyster mushrooms are found in large, overlapping clusters and are considered choice edibles. Often, shiny black beetles have gotten to them first
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These listing are from observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on you latitude, elevation - and the weather.
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© 2009 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.
