This time last year, we were watching Mayflies, keeping an eye out for salamanders, and contemplating inflation. We’re still contemplating inflation and the thatch ants have decided that it is in fact warm enough to be active.
Mayflies
True to schedule, the mayflies have returned. Of course, the mayflies didn’t wait for May proper… they’ve been with us for the past month at least. Here’s the shed skin of one I watched emerging this past week. Note the three tail filaments – this is how you can tell it is a mayfly skin.…
Usually I don’t see Salamanders
We seem to have made a good location great for salamanders – ours are long-toed salamanders. Despite being in a near-perfect location for salamanders, most of the time we don’t see them. The information is online- and the field guide does a pretty good job explaining why we see them rarely. They’re classified as “mole”…
Now That’s Inflation
A bit less than 10 years ago, my department head, Donna Hess, retired. As a gag gift, I bought a million dollar Zimbabwe note – everyone should retire as a millionaire. It cost me a little less than 8 dollars US on ebay. The note, and the sentiment, circulated around at retirement events throughout the…
Thatch Ants
Our mound-building ants in this part of the country are Western Thatching Ants, Formica obscuripes.These ants are rather special because they generally have multiple active queens in a single colony – the young queens often help out and reproduce at home, instead of founding their own new colonies…
Trego's Mountain Ear 