Why are the so Many Dead Owls on the Side of the Road?

March 16, 2018

Question: “Why are there so many Barn Owls dead along the highways as I travel work in the oil fields, Dr. Dirt?”

Aaron
Lea County, NM

Answer:  Aaron, thanks for the question and for watching the Dr. Dirt videos created at the Western Heritage Museum for public education. Your question is not a ‘stumper’, as I see numerous Barn Owls killed along the roadways too.

Most of these owls are killed on their hunting forays. Roads and highways have been constructed with bar-ditches that are usually filled with native vegetation. Then the bar-ditch abuts rangeland interfaces outside of the cities and towns. What has been created is an ideal environment for several species of mice, rats and young gophers that heavily feed on the wild grasses and weeds which the owls prey on.

Barn Owls are keen hunters of the night with their vision and off-set ears to pin point sound of a mouse rustling or squeaking in these right-of-way’s. These areas are attractive hunt zones for the Barn Owls. When Barn Owls are hunting they fly about 2 – 4 feet above the ground. This make them an easy target with any fast-moving vehicle traveling down a roadway at night.

Another source that is killing Barn Owls that is on the rise is the improper use of rat and mice poisons. These small mammals ingest the poisons and concentrations build up in the rat or mouse. The Barn Owls swoops down onto its prey, which is fully laced with a poison. Once the owls begin to digest their meals they are poisoned by their food source…ultimately misapplication by human hands. Now, I will caution the reader, this can affect your cat(s) or dog(s) as they will eat these same animals in an outdoor setting. Many Bird Refuge Biologist and Veterinarians are seeing this problem more often and autopsied birds reveal the evidence.

Dr. Dirt

Worm Facts

March 16, 2018

Question: What are some other interesting facts about worms in the soil, my yard and garden?

Helen
Seminole, TX

Answer: The term ‘worm’ can have several meanings. Generally, a worm is an immature larval stage of insects, which can be good or bad. Example, caterpillars on plants. Is that worm eating your favorite flower? Bad worm! As this worm pupates, lives to make a cocoon and lives in it for a while and then emerges turning into a beautiful butterfly. Now, this butterfly has become a great pollinator. Other worms, change into hard shell beetles and not so pretty and do damage as living adults.

What I think you are referring to, is the earthworms. They are very beneficial to the soil and they do not eat your favorite flowers roots either.

Did you Know – Facts:

Depending on soil quality, there can be 250,000-1.75 million earthworms per acre of land, in the common soils of Lea County it’s closer to the 250,000…lots of worms!

Here’s an interesting note. An average farm with livestock, the weight of the worms beneath the soil’s surface will likely outweigh the livestock that walk on top.

Earthworms can consume half to one times their body weight every day. They are nature’s garbage disposers and consume a wide variety of organic matter, tiny rocks; enriching the soil profile.

Certain earthworms can live up to 50-years old and other types living up to 4-8 years of age. Many only live for 1-2years as they are the bottom of the food chain for a great hosts of other animal life.

There are 6,000 species of earthworms known, and a 120 species are widely dispersed around the world.

Dr. Dirt

Batty for Bats

Question: Does Lea County, New Mexico have Bats active in our night sky?

Answer: Yes, several species of Bats fly in Lea County. There are actually 25 species found throughout the New Mexico.

Types of Bats: Mexican free-tail, Eastern red, Brown, Leaf-nosed, Vesper, Hoary, Mouse-eared to name a few, but there are more. 

Bat Facts:

·       Carlsbad Caverns National Park caves hosts 17 species of bats, Free-tails most common.

·       Brown bats can capture 500 to 600 mosquitos per hour.

·       Bats can live up to 40-years in age.

·       1300 different bat species reside around the world, 42 species America, 25 New Mexico.

·       Bats are great pollinators for certain plants and eradicators of farm insect pests.

1.     Bats are the only ‘true-flying’ mammal –they are NOT birds, fur covered and warm blooded.

2.     They are communal dwellers, living in large colonies in caves, canyon walls, tree tops, under large man-made structures such as bridges/overpasses and even in structures-buildings.

3.     Baby bats are known as pups, and usually one pup is born in June by live birth. They feed off of their mother’s rich milk supply. Pups, from the Mexican Free-tail bats grow quickly on this rich milk and are ready to fly in 4 to 5 weeks from birth.

4.     Some bats create a ‘maternity’ colony. ALL MOMS! NO MALES to deal with, the boys create a ‘bachelor’ colony away from the maternity colony. The small Mexican free-tail bats can have up to 500 pups per square foot –now that is a lot of baby bats, yet each mom can find her own pup by sense of smell and knowing the sound the pup’s call. WOW that’s is an amazing feat. Especially, when you have 1,000’s of baby bats hanging in the maternity colonies.

5.     By August/September, ALL pups are flying and foraging for insects and water on their own. This the time to visit Carlsbad Caverns or numerous bat-flight caverns and other sites in Texas to witness spectacular emerging masses of bats that have doubled in size with the baby bats flying with the adults. This is a short-lived event as the cooler weather of October signals to the bats to begin their annual migrations to Mexico for their over-wintering ranges.

Caterpillar Question

Question:  I have photos of two different caterpillars. I would appreciate identification as well as what kind of butterfly and/or moth they turn into.

The one caterpillar is munching on Spanish Broom. The other is crossing our drive. The area is 15 miles east of Hagerman NM. Thank you! Marcia

Answer:  Good day to you…I have received your email about the two caterpillars you are asking questions about and identification.

1.       Known by two names the Broom Moth/Pyralid Moth are one and the same. It is also known as the Genista Moth because moth feeds on this genus/family of plants which your Spanish Broom belongs too.

These moths are not very attractive, they are not butterflies with lots of color. Broom moths are a golden medium brown on their outside wings with some darker spots. The inner wings are a brighter gold to yellow. They are a small moth and have a pointed snout with large brown to black beady eyes.

They are considered a pests, since they eat landscape plants and they do feed on other types of vegetation. You can find a few or by the thousands of caterpillars attacking a shrub or tree.

2.       The other large caterpillar is known as the (tomato) Hornworm. They can be found in shades of green, to pinkish and a flesh tone depending on the host plants they are feeding on, the other color is a camouflage. They are easily identified with the signature horn on their rear-in. Vegetables are a main food source and there are several rangeland native plants they will be found munching on in the wild. This caterpillar does turn into the Sphinx Moth, and is also known as the Hawk or Hummingbird moth as they do mimic the flights and patterns of hummingbirds feeding

       The adult moth can have a wing span of 3 inches, they are a moth that has color and designs on its body instead of a normal brown to dull grays on other moths. The Sphinx Moth is an excellent evening to night-time pollinator. For control on veggies pick them off and put them on large leafed-plants in the rangeland such as jimson weed another plant they will eat. I personally enjoy this moth during the summer months to fall, a lot of folks mistake this moth as a hummer.

Black Witch Moth

In the Dark of Lea County - Black Witch Moth

Mariposa de la Muerte – Butterfly of Death

Here is a uniquely different night harbinger-for-bearing death. What the heck are your writing about Dr. Dirt? 

It is the elusive Black Witch Moth that is frequenting our cities and towns in Lea County. It is a creature of the night that can startle you when spooked by your presence. A lot of folks miss-identify the Black Witch moth as a bat as it flies a very erratic path much like a bat at dusk. It is larger than the Mexican Free-tail bats of Carlsbad Caverns fame.

This is the largest North American moth. A female will have a wing span of 7 inches tip to tip and a white marbled line through the wings. Males are smaller and do not have the white line. The caterpillars of this moth are 2.50 to 3 inches long and they are voracious eaters of mesquites, acacias and legumes that grow in our desert southwest boondock country. They feed at night, crawl under ground debris during the daylight hours. The larvae spin a large cocoon on the ground under cover, as they pupate, over a few weeks the unusual Black Witch moth emerges as an adult and lives for a few weeks looking for a mate during the cover of darkness. One good thing, they are NOT an agricultural farm/ranch pest.

These extremely large moths migrate from Brazil, up through Mexico, from the Caribbean Islands, into the United States and northward to the Canadian provinces and they even wing their way to the Hawaiian Islands too. The only thing wrong here, it is a one-way migration and NO return to the south-ending in death.

In folklore of many cultures in Latin America and the Caribbean Islands, it’s associated with death and misfortune.

Known as in:

Mexico -                 Butterfly of Death or Mariposa de la Muerte

Jamaica -                Duppy Bat or Lost Soul

French-speaking Caribbean Islands -         Dark Sorcerer or Sorei’re Noire

According to folklore, if the Black Witch Moth flies into your field of view, it conveys a curse from an enemy. If it flies over your head, it will cause your hair to fall out. If it flies into your home when you are sick, you will not get well. You will die.

Now, on a happier note, if the Black Witch Moth appears before you after someone has died, it represents the soul of the person returning to bid you farewell. Should one alight on you, you will become rich. Should a Black Witch Moth land above the door of your home, you will win the lottery. (Hummmmh!)

It has its life’s hazards too. The Black Witch Moth is active at night, and darkness adds a measure of protection, but it does fall prey to hungry, feeding bats and giant orb spiders, waiting to entangle a flying moth into its web. A daytime flight of a spooked moth could mean a meal for several birds that would feast on it.

Even in literature they are noted…

“I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in the quiet earth,” the character Lockwood said, at a graveside, in Emily Bronte’s dark and disturbing novel Wuthering Heights.

This is a precursor to a new museum exhibit coming, “In the Dark”. I will have one of these moths for display in this upcoming exhibit.

Crepe Myrtles in Wet Climates

August 11, 2017

Question: Dr. Dirt, I want to grow Crape Myrtles in my yard and I live in Chicago, Illinois. Can you give me some pointers and recommendations? Erin, my sister who works at the Western Heritage Museum and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame, referred me to you. 

Christie

Chicago, IL

Answer: Christie, thank you for asking for some gardening help on growing Crape Myrtles in the Chicago area.

Crape Myrtles are usually thought of as "Southern" (south of the Mason Dixon line to the Gulf Coast areas) to grow as beautiful flowering shrubs to tree-form types. Your request is unique, but I have seen Crape myrtles growing in downtown Chicago landscaped beds, raised planters and street medians while attending gardening conferences in your city.
The USDA plant hardiness for Chicago proper and coming off Lake Superior is zone 6a. Areas west and south of Chicago-land are zoned 5b, zones that have colder temperatures that will kill most varieties of Crape Myrtles. Your growing zone 6a will allow Crape myrtle varieties (i.e., Lagerstroemia fauriei) to be grown in your landscape. The Fauriei cultivars are somewhat winter-hardy in zone 6.

Growing Tips: The cold-hardy Crape Myrtles still require some gardening measures you must do to help them survive in your zone 6a.

➢ Treat the Crape Myrtles as a perennial plant. Dying to the ground and re-sprouting in the spring.
➢ Plant them in micro-climates in your landscape. (Near your home, warmest, most protected spot in your yard. Then they may not totally die-back from the winter freezes.)
➢ Plant them in full-sun and a hot location as they love the sun and heat.
➢ Plant the Crape Myrtles in spring to early summer, getting their roots to establish in your soil fast. DO NOT plant them in the fall, a sure death.
➢ Perennial technique, after hard-killing freezes cut stems/trunk to 2 to 3 inches above the ground. Cover the Crape with landscape fabric, then collect leaves and cover over the core plant with a foot or more of leaf matter and at least 3 to 4 feet out from the plant. Leaves act as an insulation cover lessening freeze-damage to the plant and roots. Remove organic matter and fabric as spring arrives in your area. They will re-appear late, as the soil must warm them up and activate their growth from winter's slumber.
➢ Fertilize early in the spring season, irrigate them if in a dry period.
Cultivar Notes: The US National Arboretum has been hybridizing Crape Myrtles for several years for cold weather tolerance. They have developed 25 cold-hardy cultivars for northern climates and zones. Check your plant tags for the botanical name noted for the cold hardiness factor. A plant nursery that sells these cold-hardy types is called The Crape Myrtle Company (http://www.crapemyrtle.com/). Check them out online.

A few Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia fauriei) cultivars to consider and look for are:
Pocomoke - A dwarf, rosy pink
Tonto - is a water melon red
Hopi -a light pink
Sioux -bright pink
Cherokee -a deep red
Okmulgee -dark red

Christie, I hope this gardening information helps you out on your quest for enjoying Crape Myrtles and growing them successively in the Chicago area. THANK YOU, for a truly unique garden question.

Dr. Dirt

A Moment with Nature: Kangaroo Rat

From the Western Heritage Nature Trail System

Featuring: Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys deserti)

The Desert Kangaroo rat is one of 22 species of kangaroo rats that can be found in the North American arid southwest. New Mexico is home to 3 of the kangaroo rats. These small rats inhabit the lowest, hottest, and most arid regions of our seven western states, they can be found in northern Mexico and up to the Canadian provinces too.

Habitat:

The Desert Kangaroo rat prefers arid climates with sparse vegetation covering sandy ground. Desert Kangaroo rats burrow into the sand dunes, they are rarely found on hard or gravelly soils These rats are one of the few animals to establish colonies and exist in shifting sand dunes. A colony will effectively dig 6 to 12 burrows with in the dunes, complete with entrance and escape holes, cache rooms for food supply storage, nesting areas and even a nursery for rearing the neonates.

Appearance:

A Desert Kangaroo rat size ranges from 3 to 6 inches. They have an extremely long tail up to 7 inches long and it tapers with white-tipped guard hairs along the top to the tip end. These rats have small forelimbs and long, strong hind legs which modified for jumping, hence the name “Kangaroo” rat. The legs have long hairs aiding in their defense tactics. Desert Kangaroo rats have the thickest hair in their genus that is a pale brown on their backs with scatterings of black hairs along the spine. They have indistinct white markings above their eyes, on their feet and underbelly. 

Breeding Season:

Desert Kangaroo rats mate in the spring coinciding with spring rains that bring on an abundance of food sources. The female Kangaroo rat is the ‘hussy’ of the rat-world, she will mate with several males. Once she has conceived this rat produces a fetal plug and no other males can breed with her. Droughts diminish the breeding populations considerably. The female can produce 2 litters a year and have 1 to 6 neonates (babies). Her gestation period is 29-32 days. The young are born head-first and the mother assists in delivery by pulling on the fetal membrane during the birthing process. Baby Desert kangaroo rats can breed at two month of age. Their life-span is 3 to 5 years.

Communication:

Desert Kangaroo rats have a keen sense of smell, extraordinary hearing, and excellent night vision. They are not vocal, but can make soft squeaks. All Kangaroo rats are “drummers”, they thump the ground with their powerful hind legs to make a loud noise when their burrow entrances are disturbed and danger is present. Drumming of their hind feet also signals the colony that food sources are found.

Food:

Desert Kangaroo rat diets comprise primarily dried seeds, nuts, leaves of certain food plants, mesquite bean pods. They can and will at times eat an insect, but mostly plant matter. They have fur-lined cheek pouches in which stuff the food sources and transport back to the colony and store in underground food chambers. They normally do not drink water, as their unique bodies metabolizes moisture from their food.

Predation Action:

All kangaroo rats are nocturnal creatures. During the day their colony entrances are packed with sand to keep predators out. These little rats with the unique hind legs sever in two purposes, one for travelling and the other for fear-flight response when a predator is hunting them down. Their hind legs can propel these rats 6 to 8 feet in a rapid response to escape.

Another unusual action of these little rats, is they can be staunch and aggressive for their size. I mentioned above about the long hairs on their hind leg to feet. When disturbed by a predator they will turn around and face the predator and begin kicking sand into the enemy’s eyes. This gives them a possible chance of escape by boing-boing off into a safe zone away from the predator.

Animals that do feed on the kangaroo rats are, hawks, owls, bobcats, skunks, coyotes, foxes and snakes.

So, when you are on the Western Heritage Nature Trail you won’t see a live Desert Kangaroo rat, but you can see a bronzed replica of this little amazing rat of the Lea County sand dunes. On any give moon-lit night, travel down some of the back county roads of Lea County’s oil patch and you will see the Desert Kangaroo rats hopping across the road in your headlights. 

This bronzed Desert Kangaroo rat is off to the South side as your walk to the front entrance of the museum. Oh, by the way, you may see a large Pack rat and some Cotton rats that are inhabiting the biomes in the trail system as you walk along.