Frog and His Pad by Jeff Dehmel
Sometimes you just want to chill!!
Jeff took this last August. See more in his Fall 2020 gallery & get the latest on Jeff’s Flickr!
Michigan town says NO to tigers
A few weeks back, the Port Huron News-Herald reported that the town of Marysville, Michigan has banned a long list of animals as pets including badgers, cougars, coyotes, kangaroos, pheasants, and even tigers. Apologies for the delay in reporting & please adjust your pet plans accordingly. 😉
Joe took this photo at the Detroit Zoo back in 2010 & shares that this tiger wanted to play badly, but his mate was definitely NOT interested. Shot through the trees which explains the out of focus branches running through the foreground. Head over to his Flickr for more.
Say Hello to Oliver & Charlotte
Red Fox Pups (Vulpes vulpes) by John Dykstra
The Social Security Administration has shared the 100 most popular baby names for each state in 2020 to their online list. For Michigan in 2020, the most popular male name was Oliver & with Charlotte as our most popular female name. Amelia, Olivia, Eva & Emma completed the top five girl’s names while Noah, Liam, Henry & Elijah rounded out the top boy names.
The lists go back to 1960 when David & Mary led the way.
While John didn’t report the actual names of these two when he shared the photo back in 2009, the little guy on the left is definitely an Oliver! See more in John’s Michigan gallery on Flickr.
An American Bug: The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly by David Marvin
The University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web entry for the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) says in part:
The eastern tiger swallowtail ranges from Alaska and the Hudsonian zone of Canada to the southern United States, east of the Rocky Mountains.
This species occurs in nearly every area where deciduous woods are present, including towns and cities. It is most numerous along streams and river, and in wooded swamps.
As with most butterflies, Eastern tiger swallowtails tend to be solitary. Males “patrol” for a mate, flying from place to place actively searching for females. “Patrolling” male tiger swallowtails can recognize areas of high moisture absorbtion by the sodium ion concentration of the area. It is believed that the moisture found by these males helps cool them by initiating an active-transport pump. Both male and female tiger swallowtails are known to be high fliers. Groups of fifty butterflies have been spotted in Maryland flying 50 meters high, around the tops of tulip trees.
The tiger swallowtail is thought of as the American insect, in much the same way as the Bald Eagle is thought of as the American bird. It was the first American insect pictured in Europe; a drawing was sent to England from Sir Walter Raleighs’ third expedition to Virginia.
You can read on for more including photos. I also found a page with a listing of Michigan butterflies and apparently we have eight species of swallowtail butterfly!
Beautiful capture by David. See more in his 2022 Calender gallery on Flickr!
Happy (belated) World Turtle Day!
World Turtle Day (May 23rd) is an annual day of recognition that was started in 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue to raise awareness about turtles & help preserve endangered turtles worldwide. Although it was yesterday, I can’t let it pass without comment & really hope you take the time to Know Your Michigan Turtles. We have TEN native species in Michigan, including the common map turtle!
David took this photo back in 2014 and you can see more from him in his Lansing gallery on Flickr.
Fox Friday: Blessed are the curious…
Love this shot of two fox kits!! Julie observes “Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures…” and we have to agree!
See more in Julie’s Wildlife gallery & stay curious people!!
Wolf Making the Rounds
Wolf Making the Rounds by Bill Joyce Ziegler
Bill got some stunning photos of one of the wolves in a pack south of Amasa in the UP. He shared this & another in the Pure UP group on Facebook. Check it out! Bill also wrote an article last year about the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s plans to take wolves off the Endangered Species List in Michigan. This happened in January 2021 but it’s worth a read:
Michigan DNR wolf surveys indicate there is a minimum wolf population of 662 adult wolves. This is a minimum population since young of the year wolves are not surveyed.
Cody Norton, Michigan DNR Wolf Specialist said the average wolf litter is likely about four to six pups based on research in other similar states. Norton goes on to say in other studied wolf populations “up to 60 percent of the pups may die in the first six months due to disease and malnutrition.”
Norton stated, “The 2018 survey indicated there are 139 wolf packs in the U.P.” (mainland).
He went on to say the average U.P. pack was about five wolves. Norton continues, “Packs are typically comprised of a breeding pair, pups from the current year, offspring from previous litters, and occasionally other wolves that may or may not be related to the breeding pair.”
Norton said surveys indicate, “Wolf territories range in size from 5 to 291 square miles in the U.P., with an average of about 45 square miles. However, territory size has decreased over time, and the number of packs has stagnated, as the wolf population in the U.P. has increased.” Norton added “The U.P. wolf population appears to have been stable for the last eight years or so suggesting they’re likely nearing carrying capacity. This follows a long period of population growth from when we initially surveyed the first three known wolves in 1989 until 2011.”
…Regardless of how you feel about wolves, their population recovery in Michigan has been a success of a native species re-establishing itself. No matter what happens in terms of federal and state wolf management, residents of the Upper Peninsula will continue to live with wolves and will occasionally hear the howl of the wolf.
Just Cruising at the Mighty Mac
Just Cruising by Marsha Morningstar
Seems like everyone’s going to the Straits these days to check out the ice at the Mackinac Bridge!
More from Marsha on her Flickr including a close up shot of these two cuties!
Woodchuck Weather: Groundhogs dash hopes of early spring
America’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, performed his ceremonial weather forecasting duty this morning & predicts six more weeks of winter. Closer to home, the Howell Nature Center shared a Facebook Live (below) of Michigan’s own prognosticating groundhog, Woody. Sadly, her forecast matched Phil’s so I guess winter will be with us for a while.
Tate got this shot of a woodchuck not hogging the ground at all back in March of 2007. You can see another on his Flickr.
Otter at Otter Lake
Otter at Otter Lake by Nicholas McCreedy
Nicholas writes that this otter spotted him at Otter Lake in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. See a couple more shots & follow him on Facebook!
Michigan in Pictures 