🌲Trailblazer Tuesdays🌳
This week is all about night critters; raccoons, possums, skunks and owls. Ontario is home to many animals especially nocturnal ones. Nocturnal is by definition active at night, but Im going to mention the animals that may look scary but are really harmless.
Raccoons
According to experts in both Northern and Southern Ontario, there is a higher-than-usual number of raccoons roaming around the province this year. The last two years the population’s kind of exploded. They’re destructive little critters… and are commonly found rummaging through garbage cans, and around anything that might smell sweet. Like most wildlife, it’s best to refrain from feeding them and petting them. Trimming tree branches back from houses and cottages can help keep them away, as it prevents them from climbing on roofs. Keeping a lid on your garbage can, and refraining from dumping any form of liquid cleaner or dish-soap "over the fence". Keeping a fence around the vegetable garden, they will bend the tops of corn stalks down, just to eat the tops of the ears of corn, they also break open watermelons and scoop out the delicious fruit, anything they can get their hands on.
Their ability to adapt to different habitats, combined with their curiosity and intelligence, has allowed them to become town and city dwellers. This often brings them into conflict with humans as they seek food and shelter. Sadly, they can also carry Rabies/or distemper, which is a devastating disease with no cure, which can infect both animals and humans. If you have pets in your home, such as cats and dogs, it is important to ensure that they are vaccinated against Rabies each year.
If you are worried and want to remove a raccoon safely and are in the Elgin area check out http://www.elginpestcontrol.ca/Racoons.html
Possums
The Possum, or Virginia Opossum, is not native to this part of Southern Ontario, but began to arrive here several decades ago, from the USA, and appears to be breeding successfully in this area.Here in Southern Ontario these little creatures are mostly seen at night, as they check out the garbage cans for dinner, or at the side of the road, dead.They have adapted to living with people in the countryside and in small towns, but have not adapted to the presence of fast moving cars. Sadly, hundreds of them are killed each year on our roads and highways. Although they prefer to avoid confrontation, these gentle, placid little creatures will hiss, growl and show their teeth when cornered!
They are true omnivores and will eat insects, snails, rodents, berries, fruit, grass and leaves, eggs and vegetables.They suffer predation by dogs, cats, hawks, and owls, and of course, humans (and cars).Occasionally, Possums become a nuisance and need to be removed, so you can contact http://www.elginpestcontrol.ca/ who may be able to remove the possum and relocate him elsewhere, using a humane live animal trap.
Owls
Owls are specially adapted for life in the dark, but let me get something out of the way first: not all of the owls in the list are active only at night. In fact, the snowy owl, great gray, northern hawk owl and short-eared owls are often active during daylight. These four species breed in the far northern reaches of Ontario and beyond into the Arctic where summer daylight is extended and where a purely nocturnal hunting strategy could lead to empty stomachs! In some years these species can migrate southward well into Southern Ontario and can yield great daytime observations.
In Southern Ontario there are several types of Owls, including the Snowy Owl, Great Horned Owl, Short Eared Owl and Screech Owl.
These birds vary greatly in size, ranging from very small Saw Whet Owl, to the large Great Horned Owl.They are mainly nocturnal and typically have the large eyes and facial disc of their species, sensitive hearing and in general, are rodent eaters.
These birds all have short tails and large heads, and hunt for food on the wing. Females are usually larger than the males, whereas in other birds, the opposite is the norm.
Screech Owls however are most commonly found and can also be the most annoying. Simply because of their unique call. These birds are small and agile and are usually found in shades of brown with the undersides being of a white pattern, however, they are sometimes found in shades of gray and reddish-brown.
You need only a few tools to help you search for owls:
- good pair of binoculars
- trusty field guide
- good footwear
- backpack (complete with nutritious lunch and safety equipment)
- weather-appropriate clothes
- a companion
You can also search at the base of trees for owl pellets! Pellets are compressed packets of indigestible bones, teeth and fur from the prey owls consume. Owls express pellets from their mouths once or twice a day and they can accumulate beneath frequently used roosts. A great activity is to tease apart an owl pellet (soak it in water with a few drops of dish soap) and try to reconstruct the prey’s skeleton. Scanning fields and fence posts or searching in dense conifer stands can yield owls. A favourite trick of naturalists is to search for white-wash on trees. As owls roost during the day, they express waste from their perch which often decorates the tree with a white sheen, visible from afar. Keep a camera and a log book handy when you go in search of owls.
Skunks
The black and white skunk is familiar to most residents of Southern Ontario, as we see them as they wander in our yards and gardens.In this area we often see them after they have been hit by a car at the side of the road, dead.
Skunks are mammals and are best known for their ability to excrete a foul odour. They are usually black and white, although some individuals are brown and white, and they belong to the family Mephitidea. They are carnivores and will eat most food that comes their way - insects, snakes, lizards, worms and berries, fungi and nuts. One of their less attractive habits is foraging in the garbage outside our homes!They seem to be most active at dawn and dusk and can often be seen in this area checking out the contents of garbage bags, the night before pick-up - it must seem like a delicious buffet to them! When adult these animals can be up to 36" long and weigh between 3 lbs and 14 lbs, and are the size of a domestic house cat.These creatures often announce their presence by their unpleasant, strong odour, which is sprayed from its anal glands when the animal feels threatened.On occasions this has made life difficult at our house - my hubby once set a trap to catch a Raccoon which had been raiding our hen-house. A skunk only has enough musk at any time for about five sprays. Since it can take up to two weeks to completely refill its scent glands, spraying musk is a last line of defense. When threatened, a skunk's first reaction is to run away. If the skunk feels trapped, it will face its attacker and stamp its feet and growl. A Spotted Skunk will even do a handstand-- pointing its rear over its own head. Again if you have a critter and need it taken away safely contact http://www.elginpestcontrol.ca/
Thanks for reading!
Refrences
naturecanada.ca
