Small Mammals – Tendrils

Pokeweed

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). A poisonous, herbaceous, perennial plant with red stalks that can grow to be 3 to 10 feet tall. And under perfect conditions can reach more than 20 feet tall. It’s native to eastern North America, the Midwest, the South, through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to the West Coast. All parts of the plant are highly toxic resulting in a variety of symptoms including death in rare cases. The berries are especially poisonous. If you must handle pokeweed, use protective gloves.

But Pokeweed does have a good side. The attractive green to dark purple berries are a good food source for many songbirds and other bird species. Small mammals, impervious to the toxins, also benefit from the berries. Pokeweed multiplies exclusively by seed which birds help to distribute. Those little seeds have an incredible viability of up to 40 years in the seed bank.

White Wood Aster

White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata), is an herbaceous perennial plant native to eastern North America. It’s encountered mainly in the Appalachian Mountains but can be found scattered in other places in the east.

Stems that are not perfectly straight, take on a reddish/purplish hue as the season wears on. Heart-shaped leaves with serrated edges. Plants can be densely covered with blooms late summer through autumn.

White Wood Aster flowers are composites, with about 10 snowy white (or sometimes a pale purple) ray florets arranged around brilliant yellow disc florets much like a daisy. Those bright yellow disc florets change color as they age turning a ruddy purple.

The flowers with a width of one inch are a favorite of bees and butterflies. Speaking of butterflies, that butterfly in the first picture? It’s an American Lady Butterfly. Birds and small mammals eat the seeds. If not eaten, the seeds are equipped with cream colored bristles and wisps of hair which allow the wind to take the seeds up and away.

Woodland Sunflower

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus). An herbaceous perennial that often grows to 5 – 7 feet tall. It’s native to eastern and central North America and can be found along rocky trails and dry open sites.

As this example, as it dances in the dappled sunlight shows, the leaves are opposite with a smooth to slightly toothed margin and hairy underside.

Butterflies, Silvery Checkerspot (pictured above), Gorgon Checkerspot, and Painted Lady use the Woodland Sunflower as their larval host plant.

An abundance of other insects are attracted to Woodland Sunflowers. Some even to the point of exclusivity. There are certain bees which visit Woodland Sunflowers that will go to only this species of flower, or flowers of the Helianthus, or Sunflower genus. They are said to be oligolectic. Their larvae must be fed the pollen or nectar of those particular flowers in order to develop properly.

Woodland Sunflowers spread by rhizomes forming colonies. In the autumn as the flowers fade those colonies become prime territory for game birds, song birds, and small mammals gathering to enjoy the seeds.

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Common Snapping Turtle

Much to my surprise it just showed up one day on a path behind my cabin. A tiny Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). They have a reputation as having a combative disposition but this creature was so little I could hardly think of it in those terms.

A short distance from where I first saw this little critter is where I saw him the second time, in my little man-made pond. And from then on, for five years it was a constant resident of the little pond.

Common Snapping Turtles eat a wide variety of things. Insects, spiders, worms, fish, frogs, small turtles, snakes, birds, crayfish, small mammals, and carrion. But their diet is mainly plant material.

These turtles are almost entirely aquatic and spend nearly all their time in water. They’ll emerge and roam on land during mating season and to lay eggs. That’s about it.

Twenty to forty ping-pong ball-sized eggs are laid in May or June in a shallow depression dug by the female turtle using her hind legs. She choses a well-drained, sunny location for the nest which she covers after laying her eggs and returns to the water.

The sex of these turtles is determined after fertilization. The temperature of the developing eggs is what decides whether the baby turtles will be male or female. Eggs in an environment of 68°F produce only females; eggs maintained at 70-72°F produce both male and female turtles; and those kept at 73-75°F produce only males.

I don’t know what happened to that first little Common Snapping Turtle. Maybe one day another will come by to take up residence in my pond.

Purple-flowered Raspberry

I had no idea such a thing existed. A raspberry bush with such pretty flowers. Raspberry blossoms of a bright magenta rather than white. Being up on Skyline Drive at just the right time, during bloom time revealed this unusual plant to me. Purple-flowered Raspberry (Rubus odoratus).

Since it was growing in Shenandoah National Park, I knew it was native to this area. Sure enough it is a native deciduous perennial of Eastern North America. That was a signal to me. Get that plant for at least one of your gardens!

Now I have small bushes, still growing, getting bigger. They could possibly grow to be six feet tall and twelve feet across.

Autumn turns the leaves that resemble maple leaves into a golden hue. And surely you are wondering about the raspberries themselves. That is the downside of this bush. At least for humans. Everywhere I find the raspberries described as “insipid” or “somewhat dry, crumbly and unappetizing” but that is offset by the fact that the bushes are helpful to many birds, both game birds and songbirds. It’s also beneficial to butterflies and bees, and mammals both large and small. A good one to have.