natureswondersbyclyde

     Every year, September is the time of the elk rut in the wooded hills and cultivated fields of northcentral Pennsylvania.  The loud, raucous squealing of stately bull elks echoes through the hills each late afternoon into the night, which is exciting to hear.      I am thrilled to see and hear those majestic bulls through a live camera, mounted by the Pennsylvania Game Commission in a state game lands field, and our computer screen.  And I am happy to experience other kinds of mammals, and a variety of birds, by the same camera.  This field reflects some of the wildlife living in northcentral Pennsylvania, and following are some of the interesting wildlife highlights.      Both genders and all ages of elk mingle in that field during the elk breeding season.  Up to 18 elk, including two or three large bulls with magnificent antlers, cows, and calves of the year, might be in that field at once from dusk into the night.  They all nibble grass and other plants, and the big bulls sniff

     Suburban lawns in southeastern Pennsylvania are homes to a handful of adaptable mammals.  But skunks, chucks, bats, coyotes and other kinds are not usually welcome.  However, cottontail rabbits and gray squirrels, though they can cause trouble on lawns, are more appealing to many folks.       Cottontails have large, dark eyes and soft, brown fur.  Gray squirrels are intelligent and inquisitive and, therefore, interesting.  The squirrels plot treetop routes among the boughs, and figure how to get to squirrel-proof bird feeders, often to the dismay of human owners.  Both these furry species are active on many lawns the year around, the rabbits mostly at night and the squirrels during the day.  I even see cottontails silhouetted on snow on our lawn at night.        This kind of rabbit is a creature of protective shrubbery and vine thickets next to habitats of grass.  Gray squirrels inhabit deciduous woods.  Older suburbs are human-made habitats of lawns, and planted bushes and trees,

      In August and September of 2024, while driving through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland, I saw several alfalfa and red clover hay fields, abandoned, overgrown meadows and roadside edges populated with several kinds of lovely flowering plants and intriguing insects.  All those species of adaptable life flourish through summer and into autumn in those human-made habitats called croplands.      The alfalfa fields and red clover fields were spangled with cabbage white butterflies, yellow clearwing butterflies, bumble bees and honey bees, all sipping nectar from alfalfa and clover blossoms.  And there were other kinds of butterflies in those hayfields, including at least a few each of monarchs, swallowtails, fritillaries, red admirals and skippers.        Many local meadows have been abandoned because of a reduced milk business.  Some of those pastures had been plowed and planted to corn and soybeans.  Others were planted with deciduous trees, which caused succeeding habitats o

      Some mammals in southeastern Pennsylvania, including white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, beavers and gray squirrels, have tails that warn others of their respective species of potential danger.  Those tails are obvious when needed, and invisible when not needed to communicate danger, which helps hides each kind of mammal from predators.      Each deer has a furry tail that is over a foot long and dark on top.  But the under-tail is white.  When a deer senses danger, it snorts a warning, stamps a front leg and raises its tail like a white banner.  Then the deer might run for cover, waving its obvious, white banner from side to side, as it heads for shelter.  And when the deer reaches cover, it drops its tail, which covers the white hairs, and the deer mysteriously disappears, much to the confusion of a persuing coyote, wolf, dog or mountain lion.       Cottontail rabbits also have white under their tails.  Those white hairs are invisible when the rabbit is sitting, camouflaged,