Elk Rapids Almanac - September 2020
September 9 - A young possum seen under a tree in Bay Breeze - all alone and very scared and didn’t know how to play dead so it just stopped and stared at me, not moving a muscle. -Christine Petersen.
September 10 - Waiting for a mulberry, this young kit and his brothers (or were they sisters) were very frequent visitors this year. Their favorite foods are high protein-rodents, insects, & young squirrels and rabbits, but they love fruit and cheese and peanuts. -Kathie Carpenter.
September 16 - A good week for raptor sightings: driving north on Route 31 I spotted through my sunroof a mature bald eagle. It was cruising at treetop level following Tobago Creek going east to the marsh.
On two days this week a small hawk landed on a low limb of a white pine in our back yard. The give-away was silence: usually, our backyard is a cacophony of bird call of well-fed birds and squirrels. Should a hawk land… then , …quiet like Communion Sunday. Then the ID challenge; out came our hawk books. After considerable research we pronounced it a Cooper’s Hawk . -Ken Bloem.
TAKE NOTE: Audubon Bird Guide has a free app containing more than 800 species of colorful North American birds and uses the month, location and details you provide to help you identify birds. www.audubon.org/app
MORE NOTES: What is a gathering of possums called? A “passal” of possums. A possum (also called opossum in North America) is a marsipul, meaning it carries its babies in a pouch, like a kangaroo. It is omnivorous (eats plants and animals), especially eats lots of ticks, thus slowing the spread of Limes Disease. It seldom gets rabies. Females are called “jills”, males are called “jacks” and young ones are called “joeys”. (More info at kidskonnect.com, which has great worksheets for teachers and homeschoolers; also www.nationalgeographic.com).
September 9 - A young possum seen under a tree in Bay Breeze - all alone and very scared and didn’t know how to play dead so it just stopped and stared at me, not moving a muscle. -Christine Petersen.
September 10 - Waiting for a mulberry, this young kit and his brothers (or were they sisters) were very frequent visitors this year. Their favorite foods are high protein-rodents, insects, & young squirrels and rabbits, but they love fruit and cheese and peanuts. -Kathie Carpenter.
September 16 - A good week for raptor sightings: driving north on Route 31 I spotted through my sunroof a mature bald eagle. It was cruising at treetop level following Tobago Creek going east to the marsh.
On two days this week a small hawk landed on a low limb of a white pine in our back yard. The give-away was silence: usually, our backyard is a cacophony of bird call of well-fed birds and squirrels. Should a hawk land… then , …quiet like Communion Sunday. Then the ID challenge; out came our hawk books. After considerable research we pronounced it a Cooper’s Hawk . -Ken Bloem.
TAKE NOTE: Audubon Bird Guide has a free app containing more than 800 species of colorful North American birds and uses the month, location and details you provide to help you identify birds. www.audubon.org/app
MORE NOTES: What is a gathering of possums called? A “passal” of possums. A possum (also called opossum in North America) is a marsipul, meaning it carries its babies in a pouch, like a kangaroo. It is omnivorous (eats plants and animals), especially eats lots of ticks, thus slowing the spread of Limes Disease. It seldom gets rabies. Females are called “jills”, males are called “jacks” and young ones are called “joeys”. (More info at kidskonnect.com, which has great worksheets for teachers and homeschoolers; also www.nationalgeographic.com).
Possum photo: Christine Petersen
|
Fox photo: Kathie Carpenter
|