CRITTER NOTES—

The above photo shows one of the largest “sea” shells I have found around the pond. It measures 6” wide, 3” front to back and 2 ¼” high. Likely its common name is a Freshwater Pearly Mussel. The animal which used to live in this shell probably was eaten by a hungry raccoon. In fact, it is not uncommon to find these shells scattered throughout the woods.

These critters are on the endangered list. In the 1850s a large pearl was found in an Ohio clam and that triggered a rush not unlike the California Gold Rush of that period. In the early 1900s factories in the US harvested an estimated 600 million live shells annually to make buttons.

Recently, while scrubbing mildew off the siding I was startled by motion at my left elbow. It was a Brown Bat trying to escape from his daytime roost behind a shutter. I stepped down from the ladder and he seemed to calm a bit, then went back to bed. I continued my task by giving his accommodations a wider berth.

Meanwhile, the Canada Goose family has been gone for a couple of days now. That is not unusual but it is always somewhat mysterious. Wherever they went, they had to walk. Then, recently I had a pair of adults show up, alone, and spend an hour or so in noisy, animated discussion before flying off again.

About the same time I saw Momma Merganser on the pond—with no chicks either. That made me wonder if the geese were my nesting pair and had lost their family as well.

By human standards, it’s a tough world out there.

On the other hand, in each of the above cases, some predator likely was grateful for its meal.

Finally, May 9th the first Indigo Bunting of the season arrived. It’s a male who looked like he was just molting into his “I’m a very handsome fellow” breeding plumage.

His attitude probably is fairly perky about now.