Wildlife Report from N.H. Fish and Game -- June 23, 2004

The fireworks of July are at hand. That's right -- fireflies, or lightning bugs, will soon fill New Hampshire's warm evening skies. Spring will quickly transition to summer over the next few weeks. Shrill morning songs of the multitude of brilliant birds will slowly fade away, to be replaced by the evening broadcasts of big baritone bullfrogs. Hectic morning spring life seems to shift to the slower subtle sounds and sensations of the long summer evenings and warm nights. It is the evenings that we remember most of summer.

The thousands of baby birds, raccoons, skunks, foxes and all sorts of critters born in the spring will soon be stretching their legs and wandering. This year's youngsters will show up in unexpected places in our yards and neighborhoods. We have to just let them wander and learn life, as they must to survive. Never pick them up, no matter how cute or lost they seem to be.

Even the tadpoles of spring are transitioning to the land, as they sprout legs and shed their gills. Baby toads, too, will be scampering out of the wetlands on tiny toad trips. Move that mower blade up a couple of notches to skim over them. The wonders of summer are at hand, so make sure you make the most of it by slowing down, too, to enjoy all that is wild in New Hampshire. -- Eric Orff, Wildlife Biologist

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In this issue of the Wildlife Report:

• Sizing Up Snakes
  
• How Can I Keep Deer Out of my Garden?
  
• Otters Make a Comeback
  
• Feeding Time at the Heron Rookery
  
• Loon Festival July 17
• Last Chance to Give to 2004 Nongame Appeal

Sizing Up Snakes

Summer is a great time to spot snakes in the Granite State. Why not learn to like them? We have 11 different species of snakes in New Hampshire. They are beneficial -- insects, rodents and amphibians are the mainstay of their diets. Most are shy and just want to go about their lives and avoid humans as best they can. Following are some useful facts about a few of these often-misunderstood reptiles:

• As you're cooling off in the local pond this month, don't be spooked if a snake slides by you in the water. There's no cause for alarm -- it's most likely a northern water snake. Just because this snake is a great swimmer, people often mistake it for the venomous water moccasin, or cottonmouth, a snake not found in New Hampshire at all. The northern water snake is found anyplace there's water in the southern half of the state; it is most active at night. It's not venomous, but may inflict a wound if handled.
  
  
• New Hampshire's most common snake -- the one you're most likely to see -- is the eastern garter snake, which has bright, yellow stripes down its back and sides. Its closest relative is the eastern ribbon snake, which looks like an extremely thin, elegant garter snake; it also has bright yellow stripes down its back, but no markings on the belly.
  
  
• One of New Hampshire's largest snakes, the northern black racer, commonly grows over six feet long. Black racers are rarely seen.
  
  
• On the other end of the spectrum, the redbelly snake is no more than a foot long. As its name suggests, it has a bright red-orange belly. It is found throughout the state in marshy areas and woods. Its jaws and long, thin teeth allow it to twist snails out of their shells.
  
  
• When threatened, the eastern hognose snake will spread its head into a hood, much like a cobra, even though it is actually completely harmless. If the threat doesn't disappear, it will wiggle as though it is dying, roll on its back and let its tongue hang out. The eastern hognose snake is a threatened species.
  
  
• The rarest snake in New Hampshire is the timber rattlesnake. It is a member of the pit viper family, which uses venom to kill its prey. New Hampshire's timber rattlesnakes are nearly black, with a black velvety tail that has a rattle at the end. There are only a few left in the state in a very remote area; they are protected as an endangered species.
  
  
• The milk snake, patterned with reddish-brown blotches, can vibrate its tail to produce a buzzing sound, but this snake is quite harmless. Milk snakes are commonly found in the forests and fields of southern New Hampshire. Their name comes from the fact that they are often found around barns, leading to a fable that they stole milk from cows.

If you encounter a black racer, eastern hognose snake or a timber rattler, please leave it alone, but report your sighting to N.H. Fish and Game Wetlands Biologist Michael Marchand at (603) 271-3016. -- Judy Silverberg, Wildlife Educator

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How Can I Keep Deer Out of my Garden?

Home gardening as a hobby to produce fresh produce, vegetables and flowers has no rivals in its popularity. Soil preparation, weather watching, planting, and nurturing your plants through fungal diseases, slugs, and insect pests requires practice and skill. Once the growing season is underway, it's important to anticipate and have a strategy ready to protect your gardens from being eaten by deer, woodchucks and raccoons. Gardeners know that plants grow better when they are fertilized and well tended in rich soils. This same practice also makes these plants taste better and provide more nourishment than naturally occurring food plants, making them appealing to wildlife as well as people.

When trying to control deer damage on a small-scale planting, a number of deer repellents are available to the homeowner. Most deer repellents rely on fear-inducing compounds that release sulfurous odors (such as predator urine, meat proteins or garlic). Avoidance of these compounds suggests that deer perceive these odors as indicators of predator activity. Examples of fear-inducing repellents that can be used on food crops would be Deer-Off and Plantskydd, two products available at garden centers and many hardware stores. Another good summer garden repellent is Hinder, which is made from the ammonium soaps of higher fatty acids. One "home-remedy" repellent to try is small nylon bags of human hair or small wrapped soap bars hung about 3 feet apart.

The most effective way to protect your plantings from wildlife is with a fence. Conventional deer fences should be 6-8 feet high, and thus are not usually a viable option for the home gardener. I prefer an electric fence design that will keep out all the usual mammal suspects found eating in your gardens. This fence would consist of four strands of conductor (wire, tape, or rope) to carry the voltage on fiber-posts that are easy to install and move around. The lower two strands of conductor should be at 5" and 10" to deter raccoons and woodchucks, and the other strands should be at 25" and 40" in height. Bait the 25" conductor with aluminum foil and peanut butter to train deer to the fence voltage. -- Rob Calvert, Biologist II, Wildlife Damage Specialist

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Otters Make a Comeback

This time of year, secretive river otters are weaning their young, called kits, and teaching them the tricks of survival. River otters are slee, darkly furred and highly energetic creatures, appearing playful as they slide from the shore into the water, dive and quickly swim in search of their favorite food -- fish.

The sleek appearance of the otter belies the powerful muscles under the relatively short-furred pelt. Its powerful head muscles enable it to chew turtles, and the power of its limbs allows it to swim great distances under the ice of ponds and streams in winter.

Female otters usually breed at age 2 or 3; their young are born in April. Except for these family units, otters are generally solitary animals. Although they are capable of living on their own in 5 or 6 months, young otters usually stay with their mother through the first winter and leave her just before the next young are born. In New Hampshire, female otters give birth to two or three offspring each year. They can live to be 12 to 15 years old, although most survive only 5 or 6 years in the wild.

Today, otters live in nearly all the rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in New Hampshire. This has not always been the case. Early historians described otters as being common throughout the state, but unregulated trapping and hunting, pollution of water and elimination of beaver - whose dams create otter habitat - led to the near demise of the otter in the state by the late 1800s.

The otter population has come back over the past four or five decades thanks to improvements in habitat and protection through limited trapping seasons. A resurgence of the beaver population beginning in the 1940s has created excellent otter habitat on nearly every stream in the state. Otter are still harvested by trappers during a highly regulated fall and winter trapping season; during the 2003-2004 season, 352 otters were trapped in New Hampshire. River otter are now more common in New Hampshire than they have been in about 200 years, yet their secretive lifestyle hides their existence from all but the most observant people. -- Eric Orff, Wildlife Biologist

Find out more about otters at a Family Friday Night program at the Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester. Otters, Beavers and Muskrats, Oh My! will be held on July 9, 2004, from 7-8 p.m. $5 per family. For information, call (603) 626-3474.

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Feeding Time at the Heron Rookery

One of the true pleasures of summer in New Hampshire is catching the sight of a regal great blue heron stalking along the water's edge, its dagger-like bill poised to spear a frog or fish. These magnificent, lean gray birds stand 4 feet tall.
In late March, great blue herons return to New Hampshire. Males bring sticks to females, which arrange them in the nest. Old nests can become quite large, but new ones look sparse. Courtship includes neck stretching, crest raising, bill clapping and feather nibbling. Mating occurs on or near the nest. Other than during courtship and when young are on the nest, the birds are quiet.

Great blue herons are colony nesters, meaning that they nest together in groups. In New Hampshire, the nest areas, or rookeries, tend to be in remote places often associated with beaver impoundments; each has from one to more than 50 nests. It's best if rookeries aren't easily accessible, because human activity can cause herons to abandon their nests.

Herons lay eggs from mid-April to early May, depending on the weather. Both males and females incubate the 3-5 eggs. Young herons hatch after 28 days, and both parents are kept busy feeding the young. When the birds are small, one parent will guard the nest and the other will find food. Herons first feed their young herons by regurgitating their own food, and later switch to providing whole fish. As the nestling grows, both parents are kept busy hunting for food.

By early July, the young herons are almost as big as adults and look way too big for the nest. Young herons stay in the nest for seven to eight weeks, and most have fledged by late July. The parents continue feeding them for two to three weeks after they leave the nest. Once the parents stop feeding the young, the herons disperse in all directions, starting in mid-September. -- Judy Silverberg, Wildlife Educator

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Loon Festival July 17
The Loon Preservation Committee's 27th Annual Loon Festival is set for Saturday, July 17, 2004, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Loon Center in Moultonborough. Free admission. Loon slide show; live animals from N.H. Audubon and the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center; loon carving demos; crafts and face painting for the kids. Call (603) 476-5666.

Last Chance to Give to 2004 Nongame Appeal
Friends of nongame and endangered wildlife have until June 30, 2004, to send in contributions to the 2004 Annual Fund Campaign. If you want to be a donor, click here.

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