MOTHS PROVIDE NIGHTTIME OF ENTERTAINMENT

Ken Kaufmann points out attracted moths

 

The Black Swamp Bird Observatory and the Toledo Naturalist's Association teamed up to sponsor a Moth Night. It was a fun event and at least 30+ people showed up to endure many mosquitoes. Ken Kaufmann mentioned how there are far more species of moths than butterflies in the U.S., over 11,000 to be exact. Mercury vapor lamps and black lights were set up alongside a white tent to attract them. They also painted moth bait on the trunks of three trees in the woods. The "bait" is made from a concoction of stale, cheap beer, very brown bananas, and brown sugar.

Came to lights by tent

There is a lazy man's way of capturing and viewing moths that they use in the UK. Just open the bathroom window on a warm summer night, tape a white cloth to the mirror, close the door, then grab a beer and go watch TV for several hours. Then, open the bathroom door with a camera and begin snapping photos. Afterwards, turn the bathroom lights off, shut the door and go to bed. The next morning, all the moths should be gone, providing you left the window open wide.

Came to bait on tree

There's a new name for people who watch moths, which is a growing form of entertainment. They're called "mothers", often spelled moth-ers to avoid confusion. It's a great family pastime and can cure your children of NDD (nature deficit disorder). You can make the intoxicating moth "bait" in your kitchen and then go moth "sugaring", or paint a sweet, intoxicating brew on your yard trees to attract hungry moths. You can start sugaring in the spring, but you'll get more and more takers as you move into summer. Shoot for warm, still nights. Here's how to whip up a batch of "moth bait": 

1. Gather together some ripe bananas, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup of beer, a paintbrush, rubber band, red tissue paper, cellophane, and a flashlight.
2. In a blender, puree the banana, brown sugar, and beer.
3. Outside, use the brush to paint magazine-size patches of the moth brew on the trunks of several trees near your home.
4. Use the rubber band to secure the tissue paper over the flashlight lens (the red light keeps your eyes adjusted to the dark). At night, head out with the flashlight to see who's feeding.



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Worldwide, there's 160,000 species of moths; they outnumber butterfly species 9 to 1.  As Ken Kaufmann mentioned, we must appreciate the moth, for after daytime birding, it offers us evening entertainment. Also, he mentioned, many birds feed on moth larva. As I roamed the Black Swamp Bird Observatory grounds, checking the three trees with moth bait and the mercury vapor lamps and black lights by the white tent, I noticed bats flying overhead. Many bats feed on moths, but the clever tiger moth fights back by emitting ultrasonic clicks that jam the bats' echolocation. It's the humble banded woolly bear caterpillar grows up to become the Isabella tiger moth.

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Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000 lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad sale revenues will be donated to Monarch Watch. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it by contacting us!

REDESIGN THE AMERICAN LAWN WITH WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY SPACES!

Lawns suck! At least if they cover your entire yard, that is. A little bit of turf grass around your estate is OK, I guess. But the disadvantages of growing grass is growing astronomical, and we invite you to watch the video below...it's hilarious! 

 

First, you have to cut it all the time, since unmowed grass  breeds discontent amongst neighbors and ticks that transmit serious diseases. The cost and maintenance of your lawn mower is high, not to mention the gas and risk of injury. Let me explain a bit about lawn mowers. Each year 80,000 Americans require hospital treatment for lawn mower accidents. The majority of those accidents are associated with children under the age of 15 and adults over the age of 60. The most common injuries are strikes by debris that is picked up and thrown by the mower’s spinning blades.

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According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System’s statistics, 663,000 Americans were seen in emergency rooms for injuries sustained while using lawn mowers from 1996 to 2004. This means that approximately two of every 1,000 emergency room visits results from injuries sustained during lawn mower accidents, which amounts to approximately half the number of annual firearm-related injuries. 
        
Here's some more related facts about the dangers of lawn mowers:

• Projectile injury: Mowers can throw debris at high speed. That debris may originate from the environment or from a broken part or component of the mower itself.

• Blade injury: Feet are the most affected body part, as mower blades are backed over or propelled onto feet during use.
• Finger amputation and lacerations of hands: During repair or cleaning of mowers, many hand and finger injuries occur.
• Pollutant inhalation: According to a 2001 study, many mowers emit as much carbon monoxide pollution per hour as a 1992 model automobile does when driven for 650 miles. The EPA is required emissions reduction by at least 35 percent by 2011, because of this high health risk.
• Hearing loss: Mower usage may result in hearing loss due to their significant production of noise. Lawn mowers are typically dirty and noisy.

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OK, enough of the scare tactics. Let's move on the chemical usage. Turf grass has a large demand for certain chemicals such as nitrogen, to stay in top shape. Without regular and timely applications of properly balanced fertilizers that include special micro-nutrients, a lawn will lose it's vitality and decrease it's ability to withstand diseases and insect damage.

Funny thing, though. My Chemlawn neighbors fertilize their grass every year and I don't. Why is it then, that right now their lawns are brown, dead, wastelands, and my front yard is green and full of life? Well, because my yard has grass and a mixture of "weeds" that I used used pesticides to kill. They seem to help the grass live and bear this long drought we've been having. Pesticide usage on American lawns is unbelievable. Suburban lawns and gardens receive more pesticide applications per acre (3.2-9.8 lbs) than agriculture (2.7 lbs per acre on average). In fact, pesticide sales by the chemical industry to farms average $9.3 billion, whereas annual sales to the landscape industry exceed $35 billion.

Not surprisingly, lawns are huge polluters of our streams and rivers. If you have a massive lawn, unbroken by wildlife-friendly spaces, try not to use pesticides. Stop buying "weed killer" and learn to love dandelions...and children. Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides, 13 are probable or possible carcinogens, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity, 26 with liver or kidney damage, 27 are sensitizers and/or irritants, and 11 have the potential to disrupt the endocrine (hormonal) system.

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Yes, for the sake of our children, stop using lawn pesticides! Pregnant women, infants and children, the aged and the chronically ill are at greatest risk from pesticide exposure and chemically induced immune-suppression, which can increase susceptibility to cancer. Scientific studies find pesticide residues such as the weedkiller 2,4-D and the insecticide carbaryl inside homes, due to drift and track-in, where they contaminate air, dust, surfaces and carpets and expose children at levels ten times higher than preapplication levels.

On top of all this, the pesticides also kill beneficial insects and birds that feed on harmful insects.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000 lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad sale revenues will be donated to Monarch Watch. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.

SHOREBIRDS ARE BEAUTIFUL BEACHCOMBERS ALONG LAKE ERIE

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Well, call it whatever you will, but fate made me miss a shorebird field trip this morning. It started at 10am at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ottawa County, Ohio. It's on the shores of Lake Erie about 8 miles due north of Oak Harbor. At 10:00 a.m.. The Toledo Naturalist's Association (TNA) teamed up with the ONWR to sponsor this shorebird event. The TNA and guests, like me, were to meet Rebecca Hinkle from ONWR, then hook up with field trip leaders and carpool back into a special location along the north dike of the estuary. As a TNA spokesperson said, "That will provide us point blank views of shorebirds foraging on the mudflats. This is your chance to view the birds from within the refuge on higher grounds providing a panoramic view of the estuary. This spot yielded a Piping Plover a few years ago during a shorebird survey I participated in, and at least 20 species of shorebirds have been reported in the last week - including American Avocets, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwits, Red Knot, White-rumped and Baird's Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Short and Long-billed Dowitchers, and Wilson's Phalarope."

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Ohhhhh....I wanted to go so bad! I was on my way at 9:30am when my car drove over a board full of nails on the way. Changing and repairing a tire replaced my morning chances of viewing sandpipers, godwits, and dowitchers. Bummer! Oh, well, the free coffee at the garage repair wasn't bad.

The TNA sounds like a nifty organization to mingle with! They even have their own Toledo Naturalist's Association Facebook site.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S believes urban sprawl can be offset by creating wildlife-friendly spaces in America's 25,000,000 lawns, one yard at a time! Click HERE to learn why. A portion of Ad sale revenues will be donated to Monarch Watch. Do you have a wildlife-friendly space? Please share it! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.

DON'T MAKE GOD MAD- PLANT A BUTTERFLY GARDEN!

GOD’S VIEW OF A YARD

BUT, HE SPEAKETH TO ST. FRANCIS…
GOD: St Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

St FRANCIS:
It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

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GOD:
Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST FRANCIS:
Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD:
The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.
GOD:
They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS:
Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD:
They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST FRANCIS:
No, Sir, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

GOD:
Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST FRANCIS:
Yes, Sir.

GOD:
These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it, so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD:
What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.

ST. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

 

GOD:
No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD:
Are you making this up? And where do they get this mulch?

ST FRANCIS:
They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD:
Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE:
Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a story about....

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. writes about the natural world and promotes converting America's 25,000,000 lawns into wildlife-friendly spaces...one lawn at a time! Do you have a Website, WebBlog, personal story or project, photos or articles to share on this site about how you created or protected a wildlife-friendly space? Please contact us at the secure Bpath Mail Form. We'd enjoy hearing from you!