Yip-yip-yip-yahooie!! It’s that time of year again! The time of year when I twirl my virtual lasso, round up all the {new} critters we espied in 2018 and include a Fresh Fun Fact™ with each one. Let’s ride!
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| Pacific Wren, WA |
FFF™ = The male builds multiple nests, then tours the female, so she can choose the best one. Chivalry is not dead!
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| Black Rat Snake, OH |
FFF™ = They hibernate in the winter, often in dens with copperheads and timber rattlers. Egads.
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| Blue Grouse, MT |
FFF™ = Their nickname is “The Hooters.” Don’t tell the owls.
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| Prairie Rattlesnake, SD |
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| American White Pelican, NE |
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| Sharp-shinned Hawk, KS |
FFF™ = It’s the smallest hawk in the U.S. but the females outweigh the males by 50%.
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| Ornate Box Turtle, KS |
FFF™ = Scutes (plates) on upper shell (carapace) grow one ring yearly, which means you can tell their age by their rings like trees. Do you see seven on this little feller, too?
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| Coachwhip, KS |
FFF™ = They can move up to 4 mph, the speed at which humans walk. So run.
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| Woodhouse’s Toad, TX |
FFF™ = They can bellow like a screaming baby calf. Just because they can, doesn’t mean they should.
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| Walking Stick, TX |
FFF™ = The females can reproduce asexually, which produces more females only, which leads me to wonder why there are male walking sticks in the first place.
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| Collared Lizard, TX |
FFF™ = They swish their tails like cats before they pounce on their prey. Or maybe cats swish their tails like collared lizards, did you ever think of that?
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| Gopher Snake, TX |
FFF™ = They are very good rattler impersonators as they will flatten their heads, coil, hiss, and shake their tails. I think that’s a bit of overkill. They’re already snakes.
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| Tarantula KS, TX |
FFF™ = They can live up to 25 years and are said to be affectionate pets. They’re also said to be spiders, so by definition, NOT pets.
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| Vermilion Flycatcher, TX, AZ |
FFF™ = They are complete carnivores, feeding entirely on insects (no seeds, etc.) My kinda bird!
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| Queen Butterfly, TX |
FFF™ = The black dot on the male’s hind-wing is a pheromone dot. Smelly male hindquarters. Sounds about right.
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| Pink-edged Sulphur, TX |
FFF™ = They’re pretty. (OK, not fresh and not an objective fact, but I could not find anything truly fascinating. If you find a FFF™, leave a comment!)
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| Pipevine Swallowtail, TX |
FFF™ = The larvae feed only on the pipevine plant. It’s a beautiful vining trellis plant. You should make a Victorian butterfly garden and plant some. The Pipevine Swallowtails are depending on you!
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| Green Jay, TX |
FFF™ = They can use sticks as tools to extract insects from tree bark. There is no hiding place.
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| Black Witch Moth, TX |
FFF ™= They not only look like bats, but they also use echolocation to avoid bats! And scare the hell out of you when they fly out from under your RV looking like bats.
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| Javelina a.k.a. Collared Peccary, TX |
FFF™ = The babies are known as “reds” due to their reddish coats. Despite their very pig-like snouts, they’re not even related to pigs and are apparently quite stinky and destructive. Which is why, when I see them, I like to clap my hands together and shout, “Oh, look at the cute little piggies!”
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| Kingsnake, TX |
FFF™ = They are immune to rattlesnake venom and eat them! Luck-eee, gosh.
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| Kiskadee, TX |
FFF™ = Their most-feared predator is the coral snake, and they will avoid anything with that same color pattern. So like the German flag, for example.
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| Mexican Jay, TX |
FFF™ = They don’t migrate, being one of the most sedentary birds in North America (i.e. the ones we saw in Big Bend live there always.)
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| Phainopepla, TX |
FFF™= Their name means “shining robe” honoring their glossy blue-black plumage.
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| Acorn Woodpecker AZ |
FFF™ = The name says it all — they hoard acorns and stuff them in holes they make in trees and telephone poles. If I was a squirrel, I know who’d be my bestie.
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| Lesser Goldfinch |
FFF™ = They have a wheezy song, which often includes snippets from the songs of other birds. They shouldn’t feel lesser, though, just because they have to cover other birds’ songs.
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| Auodad (Barbary) Sheep TX |
FFF™ = Males will not spar with an opponent that is unprepared or off-balance. Females don’t spar, but they’re organizing and rallying to get the right to.
Both my critter corral and my heart are full. I hope whatever brings your heart the most joy filled 2018 for you, too.
Capy 2019 to you all!