The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

Ced Vig
wisconsin woodsmoke

“There’s the chickadee. It loves a human audience and comes to the backyard feeder as much for companionship as a snack.”

Dion Henderson

Bird help

If you’re feeding the birds, you’re doing good. Research studies show that when the temperatures plunge below zero for five days, 93 percent of the chickadees that have access to a feeder survive, whereas only 67 percent of those chickadees that have no access to a feeder make it.

Delayed implantation! What’s that?

Bears mate in June and early July. During the first part of the 225-day gestation period, the fertilized eggs float around free in the uterus. However, in late November and December the eggs implant themselves to the wall of the uterus and begin developing into cubs which will be born in late January or early February.

The bears are in their dens

Where do the bears den up in the Northwoods? Dr. Ray Anderson, bear researcher from UW-Stevens Point says, “about 65 percent of the dens in our research area partial excavations, usually starting under a root tip or stump. Only about 10 percent of the bears used excavated dens and about 25 percent den on top of the ground, under brush piles or even out in the open. Only four percent of the dens are used again.

A bit about birds

To keep squirrels and larger birds, such as blue jays, from raiding the bird feeders, a large chicken-wire basket can be placed over the feeder. The little guys can get to the food, but the big birds can’t.

Many of the smaller birds keep warm in the winter by huddling together in some type of a shelter. Some bird species are fortunate to have more feathers in winter than in summer. House sparrows have 11 percent more feathers in winter. When it is cold outside the chickadees fluff up their feathers to keep warm, resulting in their appearing much larger in winter than in summer.

Birds taste little of the food that they eat, having only 10-60 taste buds compared to a person’s 10,000. There are no taste buds on a bird’s tongue—only in the roof of the mouth.

There may be a cardinal at your feeders this winter. Their numbers appear to be growing this year! The male cardinal is just about all red except for a conspicuous black mask on his face. The female cardinal’s overall color has been called buff-brown and yellowish olive, although she has touches of red on her crest, wings and tail. The immature cardinals do not have all of their adult redness.

Look at those impressive crests on the cardinals—the pink beaks on the adults! The immature birds’ beaks are colorless. The birds may not sing their “pretty, pretty, pretty” or their “cheer, cheer” or “dear, dear” songs this winter, but they will offer a “chip” note which has the quality of a small bell being rung.

Plant talk

The red flowers on your poinsettia plant are not petals—they’re bracts. The real flower parts are those small green buttons in the center of the red bracts. These buttons will develop into small yellow flowers.

There are at least three kinds of cactus that we call “Christmas Cactus.” They should be called “holiday” cactus. All three are jungle, not desert, cactus. Natives of Brazil, they have showy flowers of several hues and combinations.

Your amaryllis plant will soon be in blossom. To prolong the bloom, when the flower buds open use tweezers to remove the pollen-bearing anthers before they begin to shed.

Questions answered

Q. How old do beavers get?

A. Their life span is about 16 years. They generally weigh 40-60 pounds. A million years ago a beaver’s ancestors grew to be eight feet long and weighed 800 pounds.

Q. What use was made of beaver fur?

A. The principal use of the fur was to manufacture hats. Only the hairs of the undercoat (wool) were employed. The nature of the scales on the beaver hairs gave them a high felting quality by interlocking.

Q. What’s the average life expectancy for a dog?

A. Dogs mature sexually within six to nine months. This makes a dog-year equivalent to five or six human years.

Guess what?

A flock of mourning doves are at the feeder—eating cracked corn. They visit the water bath and feeding area several times a day. Mourning doves are the most abundant doves in North America and the most widely hunted and harvested game bird. Their flesh is most tasty.

The mourning doves like to hang around the bird bath. They drink water like a horse—suck it up. I also notice that they have the filthy habit of defecating in the water, resulting in my changing the water daily.

Both males and females produce a milk-like food in their crops. Crop milk is very nutritious. The milk contains more fats and proteins than does cow or human milk. The squabs are fed milk for about two weeks, by both sexes.

The female has an even brown on head and neck. The male has a light gray crown and iridescent sides on its neck. Young doves are known as squabs. Mourning doves have fleshy feet which are easily frost bitten during winter. A few may lose all of their toes. If they can find food, they will remain all year round.

Never a fat coyote

Coyotes are frequently condemned for killing deer. A few years ago I talked with a wildlife biologist, Greg Smith, when he was doing research on coyotes in the Lake Tomahawk country. He said that most of the venison that coyotes eat is carrion. It’s true that coyotes kill some deer but not as many as automobiles. Generally the largest kill be coyotes comes after the deer hunting season is over. That’s when there is a large number of cripples in the woods. Smith also said that one never sees a fat coyote.

Two natural problems that prey upon the coyotes are bear and the timber wolf. Humans are the major threat through hunting, poisoning and trapping. Most coyotes do not live longer than 6-8 years.

P.S.

“True hunting success is not measured by the size of the antlers or pounds of venison. You can relive your deer hunting memories all your life—long after the delicious venison is gone and the antlers are collecting dust.”

Homer Moe

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