Photo Credit: Gary Stolz/ US Fish and Wildlife Service

Although garter snakes as a group are the most common reptile in the U.S., a few of the 13 recognized subspecies of garter snakes are endangered and require conservation plans to manage their populations. The most common pressure threatening garter snake populations is habitat loss. Snakes will live in close proximity to humans, but they need suitable habitat for their semi-aquatic lifestyle, which requires a sunny area for basking and a year-round wet area like a pond, marsh or stream edge. They also need prey, and some subspecies are more picky about dinner than others.

Living in close proximity to humans presents other survival dangers for threatened garter snake subspecies. Roads that warm up before the surrounding ground make good basking areas, until the snake becomes roadkill. Living in suburban yards puts snakes at risk of being run over by lawnmowers. Conversion of snake habitat to agricultural purposes may expose the snakes to agricultural chemicals or alter the surrounding wetlands to reduce prey. Rare garter snakes living in vacant urban lots are susceptible to trapping to be kept as pets, either by the person catching them or for sale on the illicit pet market. Trade in threatened and endangered snakes is for the most part prohibited, but collectors may flout the rules to acquire a rare specimen. While being kept as a pet may actually extend the individual snake’s lifespan, it removes the animal from the breeding population. The one snake may live, but at the expense of producing dozens of offspring. Particularly for these endangered garter snakes, keeping a diverse breeding population in a safe habitat is essential for their subspecies survival. (continue reading…)

Photo Credit: Gary Stolz/ US Fish and Wildlife Service

In March, Wildlife Wednesday takes a look at snakes.

If you’ve seen one wild snake, chances are it’s a garter snake, the most common reptile in North America, Their prevalence is largely because they aren’t picky about what they eat or where they live. As a rule, if a garter snake can catch and swallow it, a garter snake will eat it. They live in fields, roadsides, yards, vacant lots and ditches as far north as Alaska. If there’s a place to bask in the sun to absorb solar heat, a garter snake probably lives there. (continue reading…)

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons User R6MaY89

Last week, Wildlife Wednesday took an up-close look at the benefits groundhogs can have in a yard, both for their ecological impact and the fun of watching wildlife. As with any non-disease-carrying wildlife in the yard, if a groundhog isn’t causing a problem, the best strategy is to live and let live.

As a rule, in any battle between humans and wildlife, the animals will win; they simply have more time to devote to the fight. However, not all groundhogs are quite as trouble-free as mine, especially if they get into the backyard garden. Groundhogs start fattening up for their winter hibernation right around the time most garden produce is at its peak, and woodchucks, like most foraging animals, look at a garden as a convenient source of high-quality food. Groundhog burrows under a home, deck or outbuilding can also cause structural damage and undermine a building’s foundations. Those 700 pounds of dirt that the woodchuck chucks out of its burrow don’t hold anything up when they’re piled on the grass. When a groundhog starts causing problems, it’s time for action. (continue reading…)

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons User R6MaY89

Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are common in many areas of the U.S. Though they are generally skittish, they will live in close proximity to humans and may establish burrows under sheds or decks.

My own house came with at least one groundhog in residence, and the main entrance to his burrow is under the outbuilding at the back of the property. I’ve always called it a “him,” though the presence of a second groundhog foraging in late summer may indicate it’s actually a female. By now probably the second or third generation of groundhog to establish in that den, since I’ve lived here longer than most groundhogs live in the wild. (continue reading…)

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons User R6MaY89

Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, range through most of the eastern United States. Last week, Wildlife Wednesday introduced groundhogs and looked at the origins of Groundhog Day. This week, take a look at the family life of groundhogs and facts beyond their supposed weather-predicting prowess.

Groundhog Family Life

Groundhogs live about 2-6 years in the wild, so they tend to start reproducing early, most commonly the year after they are born. Around March or April, shortly after groundhogs come out of hibernation, they seek out a mate. Usually, the males leave their home dens and go in search of a female. The mated pair shares the female’s home den for much of the monthlong gestation period, but the male leaves and returns to his home den before the young, called cubs, are born and takes no part in raising the young groundhogs. (continue reading…)

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons User R6MaY89

Yesterday, the groundhogs woke up to tell us whether we get to expect six weeks of winter or an early thaw. Staten Island Chuck, Wiarton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil each offered their weather forecasts for the coming spring, with Chuck coming out for an early spring, without biting the mayor of New York this year, and Willie and Phil both predicting more winter to come.

Groundhogs, (Marmota monax, also known as woodchucks or whistle pigs), are a common rodent that ranges from Alaska south through Canada and the eastern United States. At about a foot and a half to two feet long and weighing up to 9 pounds, they’re about the size of an average house cat, though they have much shorter legs and a broader body than a cat. They’re one of the largest common relatives of the squirrel. Captive groundhogs, like Punxstawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck, and groundhogs that have a large foraging area to themselves, grow somewhat larger than wild woodchucks who face competition for food sources; Phil’s keepers put him at 12 pounds. (continue reading…)

Thermograph of a polar bear, courtesy of arno / coen

Polar bears are built for the cold. As the photo to the left shows, polar bears lose almost no body heat except through their eye area, nose, tail and paw pads. Polar bears’ Arctic-weather adaptations are so good at keeping body heat in and taking advantage of what heat there is in the Arctic that polar bears run a much higher risk of overheating than chilling. While you may not need to battle 30-below temperatures, you can take some lessons from polar bears in keeping your family warm and safe when they venture outside in the cold weather. (continue reading…)